Marian, meanwhile, is taking the opportunity to read further into Buddhist Psychology and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: A Clinician's Guide, and was only half listening. 

"...Uh, wait, sorry, what does 'aperiant' mean?" Also she doesn't know half of those foods or herbs or whatever, but it's not like she has to pass the class. 

"It's the laxative."

"- Oh, huh. Soft eggs are a laxative? Also I have no idea what a 'ptsian' is." 

"It is a kind of the plant."

"I guess most medicines from that time period were probably plants." 

Marian goes back to staring - well, kind of glaring - at her textbook. 

Over the course of the last two decades, methods and concepts that have been associated with Buddhism for centuries have become the central focus of much CBT research and development. CBT has been described as undergoing a third wave of innovation (Herbert & Forman, 2011) that has everything to do with a proliferation of methods based in such Buddhist-informed concepts as mindfulness, acceptance, and compassion.

To varying degrees, both CBT and Buddhist psychology train people to cultivate a present-moment-focused awareness of our experience, in order to cut through the influence of delusional beliefs and destructive emotions (Dalai Lama, 1991; Kwee, Gergen, & Koshikawa, 2006).

Furthermore, both schools of thought employ forms of analytic reasoning to question the merit and believability of distressing thinking, as well as contemplative, experiential techniques to reduce psychological suffering (Baker et al., 2009; Guenther & Kawamura, 1975).

"......Okay so I think this textbook might be reasonable and true? But it - keeps saying things where I'm, like, 'that sounds plausible but I'm not sure', and then it gives a citation? And the problem is that I can't look up the citation! ....I guess I could ask the void. Maybe that's a reasonable thing to ask the void for?" 

"You can try? Are there things in the textbooks that aren't true?"

"I'm not sure! It just keeps....saying things that are really hard to even cash out into something where I could check if it were true or false? Okay, so, -"

And she pauses and reads out loud from the textbook in a singsong-rote sort of tone. 

This blend of positive psychological change, based both on knowledge and in direct experience, is a primary characteristic of the integration of Buddhist psychology and CBT.

".....What does that even mean? I mean, just - I did an entire psych rotation in nursing school and stuff! And I totally read a whole bunch of stuff about CBT - cognitive behavioral therapy, sorry, not sure if that's come up in your books before - but I don't think I ever saw anything about that being combined with Buddhism? And then this book is just talking about it like, like it's some kind of known fact that the Buddhist understanding of psychology fits perfectly with the CBT understanding. Which I kind of doubt, honestly! And it just - feels like kind of a dirty rhetorical move? But now I can't check!" 

"I know about the Buddhism? Maybe I can help."

She is even mostly certain which things are Buddhism and which things are Daoism.

"Great! Because I think this stupid textbook mostly doesn't know how Buddhism works! ....I mean, not that I do either, so I guess I wouldn't be able to tell? But, just...." 

Marian trails off, shrugs, and goes back to glaring at her stupid textbook. 

As many of us who have chosen to go into the helping professions have experienced, Siddartha found himself deeply, emotionally moved in the face of human suffering, and committed his life to understanding it, and to freeing himself and others from suffering.

".....Ok, you know what, fair enough. Fucking fair enough. - Sorry Wen Qing can you please change the subject if you don't want me to start crying because otherwise I'm about to start crying about this." 

"--I want to diagnose my brother? Is that far enough away?"

"- Uh, sure? Do....you have a particular diagnosis in mind, or particular symptoms you're worried about?" 

"He is scared of the people. He can't speak any of the languages other than the Mandarin, no matter how hard he studies, and I know he studies. He is too meek to fight, even in the practice." 

"- Right. Okay. I - I'm not actually sure if the psych diagnoses that the mundane world came up with are going to be useful for this? Because, like, being shy by itself isn't a diagnosis, though he could probably be diagnosed with social anxiety, and over there not wanting to fight is almost more normal and healthy than wanting to fight? Having a lot of trouble learning new languages is - I guess it's more surprising if it's literally a survival thing, he would've studied a lot harder than most kids do. He might have some kind of learning disability but that doesn't really narrow it down much. I could try to get something from the void on diagnosing learning disabilities? And then - well, I don't think there are actually drugs that fix it, but if we know what the exact problem is, it might be easier to help him work around it." 

"He's very scared of the people, I think, even for the mundane world? He doesn't like expressing the preferences, he just does what everyone wants from him."

Nod. "Poor kid. I, uh - how horrible were your parents, on the horrible parents scale? Especially to him in particular. Did they, like, punish him for getting wrong answers when he was studying, or, uh, having preferences?" 

"My parents are not like Jiang Fengmian and Madame Yu, you understand? They did well parenting me. I am smart and athletic and I have an affinity that's useful inside and outside the Scholomance."

Oh, oops, did she offend Wen Qing. "- Yeah that makes sense. I - think a lot of parents find it easier to parent kids who are smart and talented and...like them? I mean, my parents were great with me and - way less great with my sister, she was less like them and had different problems and they didn't really understand them?" 

"My brother is hard for any parent, I think. He's a sweet boy, kind to the animals, loves to garden, always works hard, always a kind word for everyone. But he is not bright and he is very meek. And so he is a disappointment to my parents. And then because he's a disappointment, he's more scared. And being scared makes him more of a disappointment. They gave up on him before I left for the Scholomance. I was very scared that he wouldn't get a spot."

"....Yeah. That really sucks. But - maybe it could be better here? Since they're not around, and he's in a new environment. ...Does he have friends here? How do the other freshman treat him?" 

"The other freshmen-- pick up their attitudes from the adults, I think. Masozi seems to like him, and Ayako and Mei are kind to him."

"That's something. And obviously you care a lot about him. - Actually, speaking of Masozi, I'd wanted to ask you how he's doing. And whether you know anything about his background before coming to the Scholomance? I - just, I noticed he seems really jumpy and easily startled, and he - does that thing where if something startles him he hides behind the other freshman kid and looks terrified. I realize this makes more sense with the magic death monsters, but the other Shanghai kids aren't like that, so I just...was kind of concerned." 

"I think he's also-- uh, I don't know the word-- the bad parents but more than the bad parents--"

"Traumatized? ...Like, had lots of bad experiences and now he - expects things to go badly and that people he doesn't know will hurt him?" 

"Yes. That. Traumatized. He left his family and traveled from Malawi to Johannesberg by himself with no one to rely on but himself for killing mals."

"He– wow. That's...holy crap. That's really unusual, right?" Marian is trying to remember if she knows literally any facts about Malawi, including how far it is from Johannesburg, which is...the capital of South Africa, she's pretty sure, so presumably south? 

"I haven't met anyone else who did it."

Nod. "I - god, it's probably a good idea to...ask him a bit about it, so we can, uh, get a better sense of what kinds of things are going to be especially scary for him? But I'm...kind of nervous to find out! Also I think he's scared of me, maybe because I'm an adult?" She shakes her head. "He - must be pretty smart and resourceful, though, if he survived that. Is he, like, making friends and stuff?" 

"He seems to fit very well into the freshmen's group dynamic, although he's scared of Jiang Cheng."

"Uh, sorry, which one is Jiang Cheng again? And do you think there's any way you could ask him to be less scary with Masozi specifically? Adjusting to being here has to be hard enough for him without being scared of his enclavemates too."

"The one with the angry eyebrows." She demonstrates.

Marian snickers. "- Sorry. Yeah, I know who you mean." She frowns. "Does Masozi seem to be eating enough now? I don't think he was malnourished enough arriving here for suddenly getting more food to cause health problems, but I remembered that's a thing that can happen and I don't actually...know how to check for it, here - I think in the mundane world you would maybe do blood tests? I really wish I could test him for common micronutrient deficiencies too but making sure he has multivitamins will have to do for now, I guess." 

"Nie Huaisang reports he's been eating regularly."

"Oh, good! Anyway, back to your brother. Do you think he'd talk to me? Or is he too scared of adults? - Oh, right, also he only speaks Mandarin. So I'll have to have you translate anyway if I want to do a learning disabilities assessment." 

"I think he'd talk to you but he'd give you the answer you seem to want."

"...Well, that would make it harder to assess, but I think for most cognitive tests he wouldn't be able to guess the right answer. Uh, what in particular does he have trouble with for other languages - is it mostly just saying the words right, or learning letters and reading, or remembering and understanding words when other people use them? ...It'd be useful to know if you remember whether he learned to talk later than most kids, or if he had a lot more trouble than usual learning to read and write in Mandarin." Actually it would be pretty surprising if he learned Mandarin writing fine but couldn't manage to learn the English alphabet, which in Marian's understanding is much easier. "Does he also have trouble with math?" 

"It's hard to know. In language classes he just freezes up whenever anyone asks him anything. He can make flashcards, he makes really good flashcards."

"Hmm. So that could be mostly just a social anxiety thing, and maybe for him that affects writing less than talking out loud? ....Is there any way to cast spells by writing them down? Or, I don't know, in sign language. Maybe he would find sign language less scary because it'd feel more like writing than like talking, but it's a complete language..." 

"You can cast in the sign language but not many people have so there aren't many spells developed for it."

Marian sighs. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense, though - if it's something where he would freeze less in scary situations, that might still be worth it even though it'd be a lot of extra stuff to learn." Shrug. "I'm just tossing out ideas right now, anyway. Probably the best way to have him work on this would be something exposure therapy-y, like, starting with an exercise that's really easy and doable even for him now, until he's used to that and doesn't find it scary, and then building up from there?" 

"Like... have him try to hit Wei Wuxian while Wei Wuxian stands very still?"

"Yeah, like that! Or, uh, maybe starting even smaller than that - I'm not exactly sure what would be a smaller step than that, maybe hitting a punching target with a picture of Wei Wuxian's face on it, I don't know, or practicing spells on fake models of mals instead of real ones?" 

"Tap him on the shoulder."

"Yeah, like that! And there might be things in that same vein for languages, or talking in front of people in class?" 

"You think the languages is a problem with the anxiety and not the learning the languages?"

"It seems pretty plausible to me that that's at least making it worse! Like, maybe he's in fact slow at learning languages, but I think even in the mundane world it's really common for kids with learning disabilities to end up with a lot of trauma around school, because their teachers are impatient or don't know how to explain the material in a way they can follow or punish them for wrong answers. But with enough patience and breaking things down into tiny steps, I think usually even kids with serious learning disabilities can often get pretty far?" 

"Oh, that's good! And there is no one here disappointed in him or who's going to yell."

"Yeah, I think that'll help a lot! Though it might still be stressful to practice with you, if he wants you to think well of him, which I think people really often do with their older siblings? ...I wonder if he could practice with Masozi. He's trying to learn Mandarin now, right? If they get along well, then maybe he would be less intimidating for Wen Ning to practice with, and Wen Ning could make him flashcards and stuff if he's good at that?" Marian herself has made some very brief forays into trying to learn a bit of Mandarin in her free time, since it seems kind of important here, but it turns out that it's INCREDIBLY HARD especially the writing. 

"That seems like a good idea, I'll ask him. Masozi is getting restless anyway, since he can't really go to class because people might assassinate him."

“He— shit, what? That’s awful! Is he upset about it?” 

"Well, he's upset he can't go to the class?"

“I just - if I were in that position I’d be really scared, and I assume I’m way less traumatized than him! Has anyone been, like, checking in with him and how he’s feeling about it?”

"...why would we do that? Is it that stressful to have a new possible way that you might die?"

“….Right, I guess you’ve got some - different baseline assumptions. It still might be more upsetting to have people after him because they think he’s evil, than if it’s just mals? Especially if there’s some risk it’d cause a war. But yeah, I don’t know him well, I guess it might be way less of a big deal to him.”

"He mostly seems restless? --I have heard from the Anglos that you are doing the group therapy."

"Yeah! We had the first session on Wednesday, it went - okay, I think? Didn't go all that deep into anything, yet, but I think people needed a while to just get used to the idea and meet each other and stuff. I'm...hoping it'll end up being helpful?" 

"I want to do the therapy for my brother and Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian. Can I set up a group?"

"Oh wow, yeah, I think that's a great idea! ...We can probably get more, like, into serious vulnerable stuff if it's all kids from Shanghai, too, I think a bunch of why Julia's group stayed kind of shallow and surface-level is that the indies are all trying to impress New York and don't want to look bad? ...Also I can totally get chocolates and tea and stuff from the void if it's for group therapy. Apparently. Or - whatever candy is popular as comfort food in China, I guess it's probably different?" 

"I think it's good for Wen Ning to talk to the people who didn't grow up with him... I might talk to Hanoi, Van is having trouble since his boyfriend died in that dustup last year, and Chang'an has their pet mundie. Wei Wuxian is already getting along with her."

"I don't think I know anyone from Chang'an or Hanoi yet, but - yeah, that makes sense. Seems worth trying. Uh, do you have a place to run it, or should we plan on doing it here?" 

"There's not many people-- we could do it in Wen Ning's room?"

"Sure, yeah, we can do that. Were you thinking, like, in the evenings, or on a weekend...?" 

"Maybe a weekend... how do you do the group therapy?"

"Uh, honestly, I'm...not really qualified to do this? In the mundane world, being a therapist is a totally different specialty from being a nurse, with different training. I've been reading a lot and I have some vague idea now? For Julia's one I mostly let her lead it, since she knows the kids and was partly doing, like, a relationship-building thing with them? ....I think basically the idea is that you have prompts for the participants to talk about their experiences and how they feel about it, and relate to each other about it. And you can sometimes do roleplay-y type exercises - like, having people practice a thing they want to be able to say next time another kid is bullying them, or whatever, but having someone else pretend to be the bully?" It sounds excruciating to her. 

"Can you ask the void for a book? It's the medicine, right?"

"Yeah, it definitely is! I might as well try and see what I get - although, uh, half the time the stuff I've gotten when I was asking about therapy was, like, painfully unreadable? But it seems worth a try, and maybe it'll work better now that I have a specific plan for using it?" 

She will go and attempt to ask the void nicely for group therapy guides or worksheets or other material! 

The void produces a copy of 103 Group Therapy Ideas & TIPS!

"Ooh! That looks like it might be pretty well targeted for this, actually? - Here, do you want to read it, you can have it." 

Wen Qing puts down the Avicenna and starts to read the book.

A few minutes later, she says, "are the puzzles therapeutic?" and turns the book so Marian can see:

"I– what? That's so weird! ...I guess, uh, maybe it's an icebreaker sort of activity, just to - give people something to talk about while they get used to each other, instead of trying to dive right into talking about feelings when everyone feels all tense and awkward? I don't know. The thing Julia did for that was handing around weird themed meditation chocolates that I got from the void, some girl did Tarot card readings for people to pick which chocolate. It...didn't really have much of a point in itself but I think it was helpful just, like, as a way for people to get to know each other?" 

"I guess? I don't think this one will work. No one speaks English that well."

"Okay, yeah, we shouldn't use it then. Are there any, like, fun silly puzzle games or something you can play in Mandarin? ...I won't be able to understand it but I think if it's just to be an icebreaker that's fine. And doing an activity that's fun sounds way more therapeutic than - well, I don't know if it's just me, but if they asked me that question in group therapy I think it'd kind of stress me out!" 

"It is supposed to teach the people to think flexibly to solve the problems?"

"I....guess it makes sense that that's an important skill to practice? Maybe we can come up with something else that'd still work in Mandarin." 

"I don't think this is the kind of thinking inflexibly that Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian have trouble with?" Read read read. "The lessons about helping people remember each other's names are in the next chapter. Wouldn't that come before the flexible thinking?"

"Huh! Yeah that seems really weird. Maybe it's not actually supposed to be in order? - What sort of thinking inflexibly do Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian have problems with?" 

"Jiang Cheng gets stuck on being angry at people."