🌿 Getting to the Root: Healing Beyond the Surface

In both therapy and nature, true healing often begins below the surface — at the root.

It's easy to focus on the visible symptoms: the anxiety, the depression, the sadness, the conflict, the fatigue. But symptoms are just the things we can see on the surface.

If we want real change, we have to travel deeper, to better understand ourselves and the layers underneath. We have to get curious, not just about what is happening to us, but why. What environments, experiences, or patterns are feeding this cycle? How are our internal thoughts interacting with our external environments? What needs to be uprooted, healed, nurtured, or simply seen in a new way?

In therapy, it's important to take time to look at the whole picture — not just isolated symptoms or experiences, but also the environments, relationships, internal beliefs, and histories that have shaped us. We each view our experiences through our own unique lens, and taking the time to sit with your perspective is an important part of the process. Healing requires curiosity, patience, and a willingness to understand ourselves as an interconnected system — not with judgment, but with the intention to learn and grow.

If you’re noticing signs of distress in your life — emotional, mental, or physical — here’s a simple starting point:

A Mini Map for Exploring the Roots:

🌿 Notice: What symptom or pattern keeps showing up?

🌿 Name: What triggers seem connected to it?

🌿 Nurture: What part of you needs care, not criticism?

🌿 Navigate: What environmental shifts (internal or external) might help you heal at the source?

🌿 Network: Bring your reflections into therapy. Working together with your therapist can help you explore the deeper roots with support and care.

Understanding why we are the way we are — the awareness of the structures and foundations that everything else stands on — is where real change begins. Healing happens when we care for what’s underneath, not just what’s visible on the surface.

This blog is intended for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional therapy, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are in need of support, consider reaching out to a licensed mental health provider.