A love letter to therapists, practitioners, and healers of all kinds

I am so grateful to you. I see you- you who have threaded your way through the tunnel of your own pain, spent countless hours studying the healing arts, wondered how you could make ends meet while also doing the work you love. Thank you for jumping through all those academic hoops, sitting for those exams, reading all those books, mostly to learn that the best therapy of all is simply a combination of presence, attunement, and compassion.

Thank you. Some of you have been therapists, teachers, friends, and healers for me, and I thank you. You have held space for my tears and my pain. Thank you for your patience and your love. Thank you for being willing to navigate rupture and repair with me.

Some of you have been my clients, and I feel immensely honored each time we are together, what a gift to witness your growth and healing. I see myself in you. I probably mess up with you sometimes, and I’m sorry. I’m willing to learn, to find the best way to be with you, to do it better next time.

Thank you for being a witness to human suffering and for wishing to alleviate that suffering. Thank you for using your authenticity for good. Thank you for coming back to your heart, yet again. Thank you for not taking stuff personally. Thank you for getting stuck in shame spirals and then finding your way out. Thank you for accompanying yourself, while at the same time accompanying others, through life’s tender moments.

I am writing you this letter because I want you to know that you are valued, you are needed, and you have a profound impact on those who come to you for healing. Like me, you probably forget your value and your impact, especially when you are holding space for clients in a lifetime of pain. Like me, you have also probably made some mistakes, wondered if you should stay in your profession at all, and lost hope, only to (somehow) be reminded once again of the essential goodness of humans and found your way back to your heart.

I want you to know that I see you doing your best, and your best is beautiful. I see you, showing up for another day, another human.

Thank you.