therapy for takeout

the blog

Therapy for Takeout began in 2021 as a collection of musings served in sessions with my therapist to maximize the hour we’re given to work together. Sometimes I make too much that I am asked to wrap them up to go, and I’ve lived long enough to know that I cannot consume all of this myself. It took a pandemic to finally give in to the urge to share all this someplace else. These essays are usually leftovers enough to satiate me in the next week, others transformed into different meals for consumption elsewhere. I share my carefully prepared feast here for three reasons: to hone my skill in writing, to document my neuroticism-based recipes on how to be good/human, and hopefully to help someone else process their own undoing.

the podcast

Formerly known as please say psych! where I hosted it with two of my friends Shaina and Alex, Therapy for Takeout is now in podcast form. It’s still about self-reflection and psychology, but with a bit more attitude and passion and grit. This is where I hope to unpack different topics that I care about, from mental health and psychology to media criticism and social issues.

the writer

I’ve been called all sorts of names online—local internet microcelebrity1, influencer2, clout chaser3 to name a few—that I’m not really sure how to introduce myself anymore. When given the chance to start on a clean slate, I say hi, I’m Dani, but people call me jusdani these days because of my username, and it’s a lot more catchy and unique than my generic government name. I’m a Taurus sun, Gemini moon and rising for my astro besties, Type 2 enneagram if you’re into that, and for MBTI enthusiasts, I swing between INFP and ENFP. My literally me characters are Lady Bird and Diane Nguyen—not literally me in an ironic way, but hopefully in a more self-aware, this-is-me-trying, Bleachers’ I Wanna Get Better kind of way.

I like to journal, work out, watch films, make oddly specific playlists, and share what I think even when no one asks me to. As much as I want to be mysterious, my digital footprint exists and this blog is proof that I cannot shut up for the life of me. I also want to keep telling stories, hence this blog. If you want to see more and convince yourself that you truly know who I am, you can check me out on Twitter and Instagram.