PUBLICATION EXPECTED IN 2026

55 Minutes on the Sofa

Stories to My Therapist

Charley Burton

Fifteen years ago, I met a young trainee who unknowingly helped me begin the journey of discovering my true self. Eventually, our paths separated, and life carried us in different directions.

Fifteen years later, we reconnected. This time, she walked beside me as I was confronted with the pain, confusion, and wounds of my past. Throughout that journey, I recorded videos, filled journals with my deepest fears and darkest secrets, and documented the difficult but transformative process of healing.

This book invites you to witness that journey firsthand—not as a story about mental illness, but as a story about mental healing. It is an honest account of moving from the devastation of abuse at the hands of a predator to the acceptance, self-love, and freedom that can be found on the other side of trauma.

My hope is that this book reaches those who have experienced abuse, shame, or self-doubt and shows them that healing is possible. If you are searching for hope, understanding, or a path forward, this book may be for you.

This is a profound, brave, and deeply necessary premise for a book. I am transforming my personal survival, raw vulnerability, and the complex dynamics of therapy into a roadmap for others. Writing about the transition from trauma to self-acceptance—especially from a black trans-male perspective—is incredibly powerful, as these stories are still far too rare.

It is also written for professionals in the healing field, offering a rare and intimate look at the relationship between a therapist and client and the journey they walk together. Raw, honest, and deeply personal, this story may be one that readers need to absorb a little at a time. Yet its message is an important one: healing is possible.

Within these pages, you will experience my journey from brokenness to wholeness and witness how I became the man I was always meant to be.