What happens when what makes us suffer cannot yet be put into words—but persists?

Psychotherapy can begin there: someone is suffering—psychologically and, at times, physically—and comes to speak without always being able to say what is happening to them. They may experience anxiety, tension or confusion, or feel that something is overwhelming them. They do not need to have found the words or to know where to begin; at first, there may be only a sense that something cannot continue in the same way. Through speaking—and in the time it requires—some relief may emerge, while what troubles them can be articulated differently. What persists or repeats is not exhausted by an explanation; it may, however, find a place where it can be heard.