Therapist: Welcome back. What brings you in today? 

Charity: (sighs deeply) Another grant application. 

Therapist: Tell me more. 

Charity: It’s the deadlines. They loom like storm clouds. We thought we had weeks — now it’s due on Tuesday. And don’t get me started on the budget table. 

Therapist: Mmm. Budget tables. Very triggering. 

Charity: And the word counts! “Describe your project in 250 characters.” I can barely say hello in 250 characters. By the end, our groundbreaking idea sounds like “We do good. Please fund.” 

Therapist: That does sound reductive. 

Charity: Oh, and the data. Funders always want numbers. But how do I measure the number of lives changed by a warm smile? Or cups of tea shared? Try putting that into a pie chart! 

Therapist: (nods sympathetically) Very common. Go on. 

Charity: Then there’s the rejection. Weeks of effort, hours of rewriting… and then that email: “Unfortunately, not this time.” Honestly, it stings. We pretend it doesn’t, but it does. 

Therapist: Understandable. That’s grief. 

Charity: And yet — we can’t stop. Every “yes” means someone has a bed, a meal, a safe place. We’ll keep writing. Even if it feels like group therapy with Excel. 

Therapist: So what I’m hearing is… you’re exhausted, frustrated, but still deeply committed. 

Charity: Exactly. Grant writing: it breaks your heart, but it also funds your heart’s work. 

Therapist: (smiles) That’s progress. Let’s book in another session before the next deadline, shall we?