Why healing isn't what you think
If you’ve landed here, there’s a good chance you’ve already done a lot of work.
You’ve read the books. Asked better questions. Sat in the therapist’s chair—or across from it. Maybe you’ve spent years supporting others, or studying the science, or trying to apply what you know to your own life and wondering why it’s still not enough.
That’s not because you’re missing something.
It’s because most models of healing don’t fully account for what you’re actually up against.
We’re taught to believe healing is linear: gain insight, make changes, feel better. And when that doesn’t happen, we start to question ourselves. We push harder. Or burn out. Or quietly resign.
But insight isn’t integration.
Understanding often doesn’t create change.
And healing—real healing—isn’t just personal. It’s neurological. Relational. Embodied. Contextual.
If you’ve felt that—whether in your body, in your practice, in your daily living or in the people you serve—you’re not alone.
This space exists because too many people are doing everything “right” and still feel stuck.
Because professionals are holding space with no space held for them.
Because psychedelics are getting headlines, but integration is barely a footnote.
Because research is advancing, but real-life application still feels murky.
Because dopamine is driving more than we think it is, and most frameworks still treat the brain like it floats in a vacuum.
And because somewhere in the middle of all that, people like you are still trying. Still learning. Still asking: what actually helps?
What you’ll find here:
This isn’t a self-help space. It’s not a research digest. It’s not a confessional, well not for the readers.
It’s a space to name what’s hard—and stay curious anyway.
To ground complexity in clarity. To bring science, story, and nervous system truth into the same conversation.
We’ll explore trauma, psychedelics, dopamine dysfunction, neurodivergence, burnout, emotional regulation—and the moments that hold it all together or tear it apart.
Some posts will be deeply clinical. Others personal. Some will pull from research. All of them will be real.
New essays land in your inbox every Sunday morning.
If you’re here, you belong here.
Thank-you for your attention
—Joanna