07/02/2026
Shout out to Dr. Amitta Parker, Ph.D, MSW!!!
Healing Begins Before Therapy
One of the questions I have found myself reflecting on recently is this: What happens while someone is waiting for therapy? More importantly, what happens before someone is even ready for therapy?
As clinicians, we often view therapy as the intervention. We encourage people to seek help, make referrals, and celebrate when someone schedules their first appointment. But healing does not begin when someone sits on a therapist’s couch. Healing often begins much earlier—in moments of curiosity, connection, and small acts of courage.
The Transtheoretical Model reminds us that change is a process, not an event. Some people are unaware that they are struggling. Others know something feels wrong but are unsure what to do about it. Some are ready to act but find themselves on waitlists or facing barriers like cost, transportation, childcare, or fear. Each of these stages deserves support, even if therapy has not yet begun.
This challenges us to rethink what it means to help. If our only intervention is therapy, we unintentionally leave people unsupported during some of the most important parts of their journey. What if we instead viewed community as an intervention? What if learning, volunteering, movement, faith, creativity, peer support, and meaningful relationships were recognized as legitimate pathways toward healing?
Perhaps our role is not always to move people into therapy as quickly as possible. Perhaps our role is to help people move one stage closer to readiness. Sometimes that means providing education instead of insight. Sometimes it means offering belonging before vulnerability. Sometimes it means creating spaces where people can simply observe others healing until they believe healing is possible for themselves.
This perspective also removes the pressure to “fix” people. We cannot force readiness. We can, however, cultivate environments where readiness can emerge. Just as a seed cannot be pulled from the ground before it is ready to grow, people often need time, safety, and connection before they are prepared to engage in deeper therapeutic work.
As I continue to develop Values-Based Healing, I find myself believing that therapy is one expression of healing, not its beginning. Healing begins the moment a person chooses curiosity over avoidance, connection over isolation, or hope over resignation. Therapy may deepen that work, but it does not own it.
The question, then, is no longer, “How do we get people into therapy?” The better question may be, “How do we honor where people are today while helping them take their next faithful step?”
Because every stage of change deserves compassion. Every stage deserves support. And every person deserves to know that they do not have to wait for a therapy appointment to begin healing.
