For a time, whenever I talk to friends about feeling anxious or overwhelmed, a tinge of discomfort often lingers.

After all, I am usually on the other side of the conversation, ready with a cheerful disposition and a myriad of emojis.

As an operations and content manager at online counselling platform Talk Your Heart Out, my typical workday already involves managing a range of enquiries from both clients and therapists. I am not a therapist myself.

But in many cases, I am their first port of call. When I pick up the phone or open a new email, I would hear or read about someone else’s past experiences, recent transitions, and their ongoing struggles.

In this mode, I exist in a liminal space —  to clients, I am neither their therapist nor their friend.