We talk a lot about music as healing. But we don’t always talk about how long it can take to even begin that healing. Or how fear can sit in the body like a bruise for years — until something shifts. Until you decide you’re ready to tell the truth.

Kat Button was supposed to release her first single 17 years ago. But fear is its own kind of delay — one that doesn’t always look like resistance. Sometimes it looks like silence. Like waiting for the world to feel safer than it is. Like believing your story is too much to share.

Now, she’s not only released two back-to-back singles about her mental health journey, but she’s on the verge of putting out her debut album, Refocus, a sonic journal of OCD, anxiety, ADHD, low self-worth, therapy, burnout, and hope.

Before our conversation, I reflect on “Liability” by Lorde — that devastating, gentle hymn for anyone who’s ever been told they’re “too much,” and believed it. I’ve felt that shame in my chest. Kat has too. And yet, here we are — making something beautiful out of the very thing we once tried to hide.

This episode holds:

* The long pause between wanting to be heard and actually speaking

* How intrusive thoughts and diagnoses shaped Kat’s music and identity

* What it’s like to write and release when the wounds are still fresh — and why she’s no longer afraid

* How she supports young people through anxiety and low self-worth using music

* The honest, non-linear story of healing — and what it means to come back to yourself

This one is for anyone who’s been waiting to begin again.

About Kat:Kat Button is a songwriter, educator, and advocate for mental health whose music helps make the hard things speakable. Her debut album Refocus (out this fall) is a raw, hopeful collection of songs tracing her journey through OCD, ADHD, and the long road back to self-trust. You can find her on Instagram at @katbutton_songwriter.

If this story gave you something real:Send it to someone who needs a little courage.Or better yet—send them a song.

Mentions & Links:

* Follow Kat: @katbutton_songwriter

* Theme song by: Lincoln Parish

* Featured song reflection: “Liability” by Lorde

* Subscribe to the show: comebacktoearth.substack.com