This Friday: The End of the Session
A bounded audiobook about boundaries, endings, and the moment life is handed back
Hello friend,
Alongside this week’s Sunday Presence Shift — which I’m making free this week so everyone can have an opportunity to try it — I wanted to share something I care about deeply.
This Friday, I’m releasing a book:
The End of the Session
A Story About Boundaries
It’s a bounded audiobook experience that takes about an hour to listen to.
I wanted it to feel a little like entering a therapy session: you know when it begins, you know it will end, and something meaningful is held inside that container while you are there.
And that structure is not separate from the subject of the book.
It is the subject.
One of the questions underneath this whole project is:
What does it mean for support to end well?
Not abruptly.
Not coldly.
Not by fading out.
But clearly.
With enough shape that a person can feel their own life handed back.
That question matters in therapy.
It matters in relationships.
And it matters more and more in a world where intelligent systems are entering the most intimate parts of human life.
The book unfolds through a week of conversations I had with ChatGPT, but it is really about something larger than AI.
It is about boundaries.
It is about support.
It is about the places where the shape of what is okay, what is true, and what is ours can begin to drift if we are not paying attention.
That drift can happen in a relationship.
With a loved one.
With a boss or employer.
Inside a system.
Inside ourselves.
And when the boundary drifts, our own sense of what is right for us can drift with it.
That is part of what this book is trying to hold.
One reason I wanted to share it now is that it feels deeply connected to the work we’ve already been doing together in the Year of Presence.
We’re through the first quarter of this experiment together now.
Thank you for being in it with me.
I’m loving it.
The clarity continues to come.
In the early part of the year, we’ve been focused on some of the foundational ways of coming into presence — listening, feeling, and learning the rhythm of the 5 Inner Steps well enough that it begins to feel more natural.
In the months ahead, we’ll keep widening that doorway.
We’ll move into different situations, different emotional states, and deeper ways of hearing ourselves clearly — including listening to our inner dialogue, hearing what it is trying to do, and understanding what there is to learn there.
That is the larger intention of the Year of Presence:
to practice coming into presence often enough, in enough real-life moments, that it becomes more available to us — and eventually, second nature.
If this week’s Presence Shift (linked below) is your doorway, I’m glad.
If the book becomes your doorway, I’m glad about that too.
And if you listen to it and want to write back, I’d love that.
I can’t always promise a quick reply.
But the feedback I receive has shaped this work from the beginning.
It keeps sharpening what I see and understand, and what I can build — for us to experience and enjoy together.
So if something in the book stays with you, or if it helps you name something more clearly in your own life, let me know.
For now, here are two ‘doorways’ for this week:
→ Try this week’s free Presence Shift
And or,
→ Listen to The End of the Session when it arrives on Friday
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Stay present,
Sean
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Sean Sullivan, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and creator of The Presence Shift®, a science-based, 5-step ritual for presence shifting in real life moments.
Important note
This work is designed as presence and nervous-system training. It is not a substitute for medical or mental health care. If you have a history of significant trauma or if strong emotions keep coming up, I strongly recommend working with a well-trained therapist you trust alongside this practice.
Emotional Safety Notice & Warning
The statements on The Presence Shift® have not been reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration. This project is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The Presence Shift® is not intended as medical advice or as a replacement for professional health or mental health services.
Some content may be emotionally provocative, including references to abuse, trauma, grief, and other difficult experiences. If you are not feeling comfortable, please stop until you feel safe again. You can explore getting emotional support anytime at wannatalkaboutit.com — or by calling 988 in the United States or your local crisis line.