Healing Needs More Than One Relationship

Aug 17

Written By Katie Turner

One of the biggest misconceptions about healing is that there is one "right" way to do it.

There isn't.

Healing is rarely a straight line, and it doesn't happen through one relationship, one modality, or one breakthrough.

Different seasons call for different kinds of support.

Sometimes we need the quiet privacy of a book or podcast that helps us put words to an experience we've never been able to name.

Sometimes a self-paced course gives us the language and tools we've been missing.

Sometimes therapy or coaching provides the safety and individualized support to work through trauma, grief, or life's hardest seasons.

And sometimes...

The next step isn't more information.

It's relationship.

In my last newsletter, I wrote about therapy being one strand in our web of support—not the entire web itself.

Today, I want to explore another part of that web:

The unique kind of healing that can happen when we gather with others.

Sometimes the safest place to begin is privately.

A book.

A podcast.

A self-paced course.

These spaces allow us to learn without asking anything of us socially. We don't have to introduce ourselves. We don't have to share our stories. We don't even have to admit to anyone else that we're struggling.

For many people, this is exactly the right first step.

But it's often the first step, not the final one.

There are seasons when we need the intimate container of one-to-one work, such as therapy or coaching.

A confidential relationship where someone walks beside us through our unique story.

A space that is entirely focused on our individual healing.

I continue to believe deeply in this work.

And...

There are other seasons when the medicine looks different.

There is something profoundly healing about sitting in a room with people who understand, not because they've read about your experience, but because parts of your story live in them too. Because parts of all of our stories actually never stated with us to begin with. They have been rooted in our ancestral history and woven within the collective.

There is validation in being witnessed by one compassionate person.

There is another layer of healing altogether when you discover you aren't the only one.

Shame begins to soften.

Isolation begins to dissolve.

We stop wondering,

"What's wrong with me?"

and begin remembering,

"Oh...I'm human."

I also want to acknowledge something important.

Not all groups are healing.

In fact, my own first experiences with therapy groups in graduate school were, if I'm honest, more than a little traumatic.

I've also participated in groups over the years that taught me exactly what I never wanted to recreate.

For a long time, I avoided group work altogether.

Thankfully, I later experienced beautifully held circles led by teachers and mentors who embodied something entirely different.

Those experiences became corrective.

They showed me what becomes possible when a facilitator has the humility, emotional maturity, and capacity to hold complexity with care.

Over the past year, I've quietly begun creating the kind of group I spent years wishing existed.

A space for women who have already been doing their own healing work.

Women who value depth over performance.

Curiosity over certainty.

Accountability over blame.

Compassion over comparison.

This fall I'll be opening another intimate cohort of Divine Feminine Rising (maximum eight women).

If you've been longing for community that feels grounded, psychologically informed, spiritually open, and deeply human, I'd love to invite you to learn more.

There is no pressure.

Just a conversation to explore whether it's the right fit, for you, and for the group.

Reflection

I always like ending with one question to sit with.

Perhaps this week, consider:

What kind of support would serve me best in this season of my life?