This Pain is Real
Featured Video ▶️
Lyrics ✍️
(Slow, haunting piano)
Verse 1
They say “violation” if I whisper through the wire
Every bridge to you, my son, set ablaze by her fire
This legal maze is built with traps I can’t afford
One misspoken word… becomes a “court order” ignored
They warn me coaching’s what she’ll scream into the void
Turning hope to proof… that I should be destroyed
(Chorus - Swells)
So I starve in silence while the lawyers trade their blows
Counting every second as this poison river flows
My arms are empty prisons where your laughter used to lie
This documented patience… is a slow, relentless die
Oh, this agony is temporary… they swear
But temporary’s endless… when you’re not there
(Verse 2 - Raw intensity)
I dream of stolen seconds on a “friendly” phone
But your small voice confessing… would leave you all alone
“Guilty” for the secret… “blamed” for loving me
While witnesses turn hostile… in her twisted decree
She watches like a vulture… for the slightest slip
My love becomes a weapon… in her grip
(Chorus - Deeper despair)
So I starve in silence while the calendar pages lie
Screaming “I love you” to the empty sky
These ink-stained letters scream what I can’t say
Locked in a drawer… for some future day
Oh, this agony is temporary… they plead
But temporary shatters… when a heart can’t bleed
(Bridge - Urgent, building tension)
I pace the neutral park bench… every Saturday dawn
Praying for a shadow… that never comes
Therapeutic contact? A cold, monitored screen
While she paints me as chaos… a danger unseen
My lawyer’s silent inbox… a deafening roar
“IS THIS CONTEMPT IF…?” slams the door…
(Breakdown - Whispered, shattered)
I document the offer… “Mutual friend called…”
I document my “No”… as my whole world stalls
I write the unsent letters… “Be kind to Mom, my light…”
While drowning in the darkness… of this endless night
(Final Chorus - Crushing weight)
So I starve in silence… let the court transcripts rise
Burning every instinct… behind these hollow eyes
This “clean” and “strong” performance… is costing me my soul
While she holds the only fragment… that makes me whole
Oh, this agony is temporary… they claim
But temporary feels… like a life in flames…
(Outro - Fading, broken spoken word over lone piano)
“…document your restraint… documented patience… temporary… court notices… reunion date unknown… love you more than… follow the grown-up rules… temporary…”
(Final piano note hangs, then cuts to silence)
Therapeutic Significance 🌱
- Title: This Pain is Real
- Artist: Doctor Shrink
- Genre: Legal Battle Ballad
- Focus: Parental Alienation Trauma
- Duration: 6:22
- Release: 19 August 2025
- Therapeutic Approach: Restrained Survival
The Battlefield of Love 🧠
This song captures the impossible choices of high-conflict custody:
The Silence Paradox (Verse 1):
“Whisper through the wire” - communication as violation
“Documented patience” - restraint as survival tacticWeaponized Love (Chorus):
“Empty prisons” - arms that can’t hold
“Temporary endless” - legal system’s cruel timelineDouble Binds (Verse 2):
“Friendly phone” becomes evidence
“Love becomes a weapon” - parental bond turned against itselfSystem Failure (Bridge):
“Therapeutic contact” mocked by monitoring
“Neutral park bench” as battlegroundSoul Accounting (Outro):
“Document your restraint” - the cost of compliance
“Love you more than…” - unfinished thoughts to children
⚖️ Legal Trauma Framework
| Lyric | Legal Reality | Psychological Impact |
|---|---|---|
| “Violation if I whisper” | Communication restrictions | Forced emotional starvation |
| “Lawyers trade blows” | Adversarial system | Secondary trauma |
| “Monitored screen” | Supervised contact | Performance anxiety |
| “Documented patience” | Evidence gathering | Authenticity erosion |
| “Temporary… life in flames” | Court delays | Prolonged grief |
Clinical Vision 🩺
“The Pain is Real” is: The anthem of parental alienation survivors.
This ballad gives voice to the impossible choices forced upon loving parents in high-conflict custody battles:
- Verse 1 exposes the communication traps
- Chorus embodies the starvation for connection
- Verse 2 reveals the double-bind dilemmas
- Bridge showcases system failures
- Outro is the soul’s accounting
THERAPEUTIC NOTES:
- For parents experiencing similar battles
- Validate the trauma of legal abuse
- Process grief for lost moments
- Channel righteous anger constructively
- Maintain hope during “temporary” purgatory
In solidarity,
Doctor Shrink
“La Douleur est Réelle” est : L’hymne des survivants d’aliénation parentale.
Cette ballade donne voix aux choix impossibles imposés aux parents aimants dans les batailles de garde:
- Premier couplet: pièges de communication
- Refrain: famine affective forcée
- Deuxième couplet: dilemmes doubles-contraintes
- Pont: défaillances systémiques
- Outro: comptabilité de l’âme
NOTES THÉRAPEUTIQUES :
- Pour parents dans des batailles similaires
- Valider le traumatisme des abus légaux
- Traiter le deuil des moments perdus
- Canaliser la colère justifiée
- Maintenir l’espoir durant le purgatoire “temporaire”
En solidarité,
Doctor Shrink
Survivor Impact 💬
Musical Architecture 🎵
The composition mirrors legal trauma:
- Instrumentation Journey:
- Opening: Single piano (isolation)
- Verses: Cello enters (aching longing)
- Chorus: Distorted guitar (systemic violence)
- Bridge: Dissonant strings (system failure)
- Outro: Piano returns alone (exhausted compliance)
- Vocal Therapy:
- Restrained verses: Legal self-censorship
- Cracked chorus: Pain breaking through
- Bridge shouts: Momentary rebellion
- Whispered outro: Institutional defeat
- Rhythmic Therapy:
- Mechanical verses: Court process
- Unresolved cadences: Never-ending cases
- Missing beats: Lost childhood moments
Credits & Rights 📜
- Release: 19 August 2025
- Lyrics & Music: Doctor Shrink
- Copyright: Doctor Shrink
- License: All rights reserved
- Tags:
This song documents the invisible wounds of parental alienation - where love must be restrained to prove itself worthy, where every natural instinct becomes legal liability.
The “documented patience” is the cruelest demand - to perform sanity while being systematically destroyed. To starve so the children might one day eat at your table again.
Clinical Insight:
The composition embodies Complex PTSD from Institutional Betrayal through musical structure. The tension between melodic longing and rhythmic restraint mirrors the impossible position of alienated parents.
This is my testimony about love in chains - about choosing permanent scars over momentary relief because the system counts restraint as the only valid currency of care.
For all parents walking through this fire - your pain is real, your love matters, and this temporary hell is not the end of your story.
About the Artist 🎤
“My music is emotional archaeology - uncovering the artifacts of our becoming.”
Based in Brisbane, Australia, Doctor Shrink combines expertise in data science frameworks with the alchemy of musical healing.
Produced by thedatashrink™ record label.