In this conversation, Goodman draws on the work of philosopher Emmanuel Levinas to reimagine therapy not as a space for self-optimization but as an encounter with responsibility—a call to become more available, interruptible, and open to the world beyond ourselves. If I’m teaching someone how to think about their anxiety, beliefs, and thoughts without being open to what’s their experience and what it means, then I typically hand them a language that doesn’t have them asking hard and big questions about who they are, how they’re living, what life is, who’s in their life, who they’re responsible for, and so forth.