Chapter 1111 - 829: Pie Chart Technique

Jie Nianzhou planned to cancel the consultation today due to real-life pressure, which indeed posed a significant consultation crisis.

However, since Nan Zhubin has already resolved it and guided the visitor to frankly reveal the psychological activities behind his behavior, this crisis can now be transformed into a breakthrough or even a key node in the consultation process.

Nan Zhubin said, "This is a fact we need to recognize. It’s precisely the issue we need to address in this phase — the phase where we work on your cognitive structure."

This is the second point.

After saying this, Nan Zhubin raised a third finger, continuing to summarize the current state changes of Jie Nianzhou.

"Third, from the behavioral aspect. You made a change today. You initially called to cancel the consultation, yet now you’re sitting here, having a video call with me. This indicates that a part of you is still making different choices."

Nan Zhubin withdrew his three fingers.

"So your current situation can be understood as such: You haven’t failed; you’re just experiencing pressure. Pressure from outside our bodies, from the reality of the environment."

Nan Zhubin ended with a note of [Support]: "And naturally, pressure tends to worsen symptoms — if you had no reaction whatsoever, that would be strange."

"After all, in my experience and knowledge, nobody, including myself, is completely indifferent to pressure." Nan Zhubin chuckled.

This redefines the rebound of Jie Nianzhou’s symptoms as "a normal reaction under pressure," thus preventing the visitor’s self-blame.

It also sets the foundation for subsequent interventions.

In any psychological intervention, alleviating the visitor’s [stigma of disease] is the first step, ensuring that the already limited psychological energy of the visitor isn’t wasted on internal exhaustion.

Jie Nianzhou remained silent, but his breathing rhythm had slowed somewhat compared to before.

Nan Zhubin waited through two breaths, making sure this part of the information had entered Jie Nianzhou’s consciousness and been digested by him.

Then Nan Zhubin began to move to the next step.

"Next, let’s address the pressure you are facing today."

Nan Zhubin paused.

"Do you remember what we talked about in our last consultation? I gave you some homework." Nan Zhubin asked.

"Are you referring to... the [Responsibility Pie Chart]?" Jie Nianzhou tried to recall.

"Yes." Nan Zhubin nodded, "You mentioned before that you’ve reflected and analyzed situations, but sometimes you still feel that things happening around you are all your fault, worried about whether you’ll continue making mistakes, or even harm others."

"Even though you know these thoughts might be unreasonable, you can’t control them."

"This thinking pattern causes significant anxiety and is a major reason for your current obsessive symptoms."

Jie Nianzhou nodded continuously.

Nan Zhubin said, "At the end of the last consultation, my suggestion was that you could create a [Responsibility Pie Chart]."

After saying this, he paused for the duration of one breath.

"Let me first explain why you should create this."

Speaking as he was, Nan Zhubin extended his index finger and drew a circle in the air in front of the phone screen.

"The principle of the [Responsibility Pie Chart] is actually quite simple — some people, during painful events, have brains inclined to push every negative aspect onto themselves. This is an automatic cognitive bias."

Jie Nianzhou tugged at the corners of his mouth: "I’m one of ’those people’..."

Nan Zhubin nodded, jokingly saying, "Yes, exactly why I need to use this technique in our consultation."

Nan Zhubin opened his hands as if holding time-recording nodes in his palms.

"Regarding your former mentor’s issue, rationally, you know it’s not your fault, but emotionally, you still feel ’I ruined everyone’ is a real sensation."

"The role of the pie chart is to separate the ’emotionally feels like mine’ from ’factually belongs to me’."

The [Responsibility Pie Chart], or more accurately, [Pie Chart Technique], is an important externalization technique in psychological consultation. This technique aims to transform internal, vague feelings into an objective graphical representation.

When emotions are vague, they can inflate infinitely; however, once emotions are depicted as graphics, they have boundaries.

And once something has boundaries, it becomes something that can be examined and adjusted.

"Given today’s situation, this technical tool is more suitable for you than before." Nan Zhubin smiled.

"Because today you are simultaneously facing two sources of pressure — one is the sudden assignment from your current mentor, and the other is the deep self-blame from the event with your former mentor in the past."

Nan Zhubin extended two fists and brought them together.

"These two pressure sources are connected, but if we directly address the historical event, your current state won’t cope. So we change the approach — use current material to do an exercise, and the outcome of this exercise will naturally influence your perception of that event."

Jie Nianzhou listened while nodding, suddenly feeling some doubt.

"But regarding what’s happening now, my teacher sending messages tonight — I don’t feel there’s an element of self-blame involved."

Jie Nianzhou’s voice grew quieter: "Can the two... be resolved together?"

Seemingly hesitant as he voiced opinions different from the consultant, he showed a lack of confidence.

Nan Zhubin immediately provided affirmation with a smile: "Exactly. Objectively speaking, that’s indeed the case, and it’s great that you’ve noticed this."

Indeed, if Jie Nianzhou felt any guilt or self-blame because his mentor sent messages late at night, that would be a significant problem.