Myth of Healing Alone
There’s a cultural fantasy that healing is best done in solitude—on mountaintops, in silent retreats, or deep in the woods with nothing but books and willpower. If we can get quiet, still, alone, we’ll finally feel okay. But what if that story is incomplete?
In reality, most of us don’t thrive in isolation. Our nervous systems evolved in connection. We are co-regulating creatures. Healing often happens with others—not apart from them.
Healing Isn’t Solo Work
It’s normal to crave solitude at times. Many of us—especially sensitive, neurodivergent, or chronically ill people—seek it as a form of protection. The world is noisy, fast, and often unkind to those who don’t fit its narrow norms. It's not surprising that solitude can feel like safety.
But over time, that safety can become a wall. Alone, it’s easy to spiral into self-blame or numbness. Connection helps us remember who we are, how we matter, and that we were never broken.
Even people who seem to live happily in solitude often maintain invisible threads of connection. Whether it’s through shared stories, rituals, or relationships that transcend geography, we’re always in relation. And that’s a good thing.
Real Connection, Real Joy
Studies consistently show that our relationships are one of the most important predictors of long-term happiness. But this doesn’t mean you need a traditional nuclear family or a giant friend group. What matters most is the quality of connection, not quantity.
Are you being seen for who you are? Do you feel safe to show up messy, tender, or unsure? Are you allowed to change?
Those are the aspects of connection that matter.
When You’re the One Who’s Always Been “Too Much”
In my therapy practice, I work with people who’ve felt like outsiders. People who’ve masked for years—whether because of neurodivergence, chronic pain, spiritual disconnection, or trauma. Many have spent years trying to self-heal alone. They’ve read the books, tried the meditations, visited the retreats.
And still, something’s missing.
Often, it’s witnessing. The kind that says, “You make sense.” This witnessing doesn’t rush to fix or pathologize. It allows you to be while you slowly begin to feel again.
Creativity as a Bridge
One of the most accessible and profound ways to reconnect with yourself—and eventually with others—is through intuitive art journaling. You don’t need to be an artist. You don’t even need to like art.
This practice is about making marks on a page as a way of listening to your inner world. It’s somatic, meaning it connects you to your body. It’s gentle, meaning there’s no right or wrong. And it’s expressive, so it helps you externalize what may be tangled to say aloud.
If you’re participating in ketamine therapy or other altered state work, art journaling is also a powerful integration tool. After a session, you might be left with images, emotions, or sensations that don’t make sense. Bringing those into form—through color, line, or collage—helps your system process and metabolize the experience.
And when we meet again in session, we can explore your art together. As a trained art therapist, I hold space for the messy, mysterious, and meaningful. Your artwork becomes a doorway—not into diagnosis, but into deeper connection with your intuitive knowing.
Creativity Beyond Therapy
Art journaling doesn’t have to stay in the therapy room. It can travel with you—into your mornings, your seasons of change, your quiet evenings. It can become a place to track growth, reconnect with aliveness, or simply be with what’s real. Creativity reminds us that we don’t have to be coherent to be complete. We don’t need to explain ourselves to feel understood.
Over time, creative expression becomes more than a practice—it becomes a way of relating. Sharing your art can create moments of resonance and reflection. You might show a page to a friend and hear, “I feel that too.” You might inspire someone else to pick up a brush or pen. Creativity invites community, even when shared quietly.
Small Shifts, Real Change
Happiness isn’t often found in big epiphanies. It’s built, over time, through daily presence. Practices that reliably grow your sense of wellbeing include:
1. Do Something Kind, Then Reflect on It
You could leave a note of encouragement for a friend. Or consider sending an anonymous donation, then writing about it afterward. Doing and reflecting work together to rewire your nervous system toward joy.
2. Keep a Gratitude Journal
Write down 3–5 things daily that you’re thankful for—including yourself. Gratitude for your efforts is just as important as gratitude for the world.
3. Identify and Use Your Strengths
What virtues come naturally to you? Creativity, humor, curiosity? Use them daily, even in small ways. This builds integrity and authentic confidence.
4. Celebrate Others’ Joy
When someone shares good news, allow yourself to respond with enthusiasm if you feel it. This “high-energy positive responding” strengthens both your relationships and your brain’s happiness circuits.
These practices are small. They’re also powerful. The more you practice showing up—compassionately, creatively, consistently—the more your nervous system learns that it’s safe to be alive.
Relationship Repair Over Perfection
You don’t have to fix everything. The healthiest relationships tend to accept what can’t be solved. Researcher John Gottman calls these “perpetual problems.” They’re not failures—they’re just part of the terrain.
So instead of trying to fix your partner, friends, or yourself, try this: Enjoy them. Notice what’s lovable. Celebrate it. Say it out loud.
Appreciation is one of the most healing forces on earth.
Letting Go of Thought Loops
One more thing. If you feel stuck at work or in a relationship, it might not be the situation—maybe it's the narrative.
Not every thought deserves your full attention. Some are just passing waves. Let them go.
That doesn’t mean bypassing your feelings. It means recognizing when a particular thought-pattern is keeping you stuck. Ask yourself: Is this thought helping me move toward the life I want? If not, let it pass.
Wherever you are right now—whatever the job, the role, the season—look for what feels even a little bit nourishing. Follow that thread.
You’re Allowed to Be Held
Healing doesn’t mean becoming a different person. It means coming home to the parts of you that always knew how to love, feel, and connect.
You don’t have to do it alone. Whether through therapy, community, creativity, or spiritual practice, you’re allowed to be supported. You’re allowed to be messy. You’re allowed to be in process.
If you’re seeking support that honors your full self, including sensitivities, wisdom, and weirdness, I’m honored to walk with you.
I specialize in somatic therapy, art therapy, and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy for people navigating anxiety, chronic illness like Long Covid or Autoimmune Disorders, ADHD, trauma, and spiritual emergence. Together, we’ll create space for integration, insight, and connection.
Ready to begin?
Book a free consultation and let’s see what healing could look like—together.