Healing Together: The Art of Becoming
In May 2013, I stood on the Isle of Iona, surrounded by ancient ruins and swept by wild sea air. It was a moment of both exhaustion and renewal, a pilgrimage born from a season of trials with my own health. Beneath pewter skies, the stones of a 13th-century nunnery seemed to breathe with stories of resilience, devotion, and belonging. In that sacred stillness, the words of John Philip Newell echoed through my mind: “We will not be truly well until we are all well.”
That moment crystallized a truth I had begun to understand. Healing is not a solitary act—it is communal, relational, and deeply interconnected. My journey as a psychotherapist started with a misguided belief that I could “fix” others, but life’s lessons and my clients’ bravery slowly unraveled that illusion. Healing, I now know, is not something I do to or for someone else. It is something we experience together.
In therapy, we explore the wounds that life carves into us, uncovering the truths we’ve abandoned to survive. It’s a journey of un-scripting the stories we’ve been told and re-membering the parts of ourselves that were left behind. But this work doesn’t stop with the individual. As we heal, our transformation ripples outward—touching our relationships, our communities, and the collective fabric of humanity.
Psychodynamic therapy teaches that healing is not just personal but also collective. It’s not about labeling behaviors as “problems” to fix but engaging deeply with the narratives that shape us. In this process, the divine emerges in the space between us, reminding us that we are not alone.
At The Art of Becoming, we believe in creating a brave space where healing is mutual and transformative. Here, we reject the idea that healing is a formula or a product. Instead, we embrace the beauty of showing up as we are—imperfect, curious, and open to connection. Healing is not about scarcity or isolation; it’s about belonging and growth.
As my supervisor once told me, “A psychotherapy that does not move you and your client further into the world is not a complete therapy.” This wisdom reshaped my understanding of the work. Therapy is not about retreating into ourselves but about stepping deeper into the world, together.
The wildflowers that pushed through the cracks on Iona remind me of this truth: healing is a collective restoration. As we tend to our own wounds, we tend to the world’s. And as we heal, we create the possibility for others to heal too.
Healing is not just “mine” or “yours.” It is ours. Together, we become threads in a shared tapestry, weaving something far greater than ourselves. Here’s to the courage to heal, the beauty of connection, and the sacred work of transformation—together. This is the art of becoming.
