turning inward to grow - psychotherapy Kim Ann Clay

Turning Inward to Heal and Grow

How are you making use of this challenging and uncertain time we are living through? Within the challenge also lies the potential for growth, understanding, and new ways of being. This time is calling us to be real, be truthful, speak from the heart, and stand in our integrity, and remember that we are all deeply connected. 

Speak Your Truth Without Negativity

How you speak impacts other people and your relationships with them, so it’s important to speak your truth without negativity. Being honest and true is important, but if you are negative and hurtful, it can hurt others and create more stress and anxiety within yourself. 

Although your negativity might be directed towards another person, that negativity lives inside of you, and that’s where it stems from. It’s not really about the other person – you’re hurting yourself. What is that internal process doing to your energy? When you emit negative energy, that’s your energy spewing out. There’s so much fear – fear of other people, fear of different ideas. That separation polarization lives inside of us as individuals and inhibits our ability to heal and grow. We either work with it in a conscious way or spew it out and create more negativity in the world.

Turning Inward to Grow

So rather than focusing on “other”, turn the lens on oneself. We have been given the preciousness of time: slow down and use it as a time of regeneration and renewal. Grow the inner muscle of awareness and consciousness with your thoughts, actions, and words. It’s important to remember our words and actions are powerful and leave imprints – either for good or to do harm. Becoming conscious of our words and actions, taking responsibility for them, and making amends for when we have spoken harshly or done harm is a way we can each contribute to the collective transformation, growing, and healing of humanity.

We can’t do this work on our own – we need the presence of another person to accompany us on that journey inward to be supported or challenged. I work somatically, meaning helping you realize the connection between mind and body. What are you feeling emotionally? What are you feeling physically? When you feel angry or fearful, what happens to your body? Do you feel hot? A pain in your chest? Jaw clenching? You might not know or be aware of what’s going on physically, so I help orient you into your body and bring awareness to the physical sensations. We go past the anger or fear, to figure out what’s happening below the surface. Is there an unmet need? Anxiety? Sadness? Grief? It’s often easier to go to anger than sadness, so it’s helpful to have a therapist there to tease out your feelings. Drop into yourself a little – you might realize that you’re not angry about what’s going on, but angry about a particular person or situation, and the anger gets wrapped up into external circumstances. You might be feeling disappointed in yourself, so you push your anger out towards other people. Our internal processes and our unmet needs are more than what is being projected outward.

Slow Down, Begin to Heal, and Grow

We have to slow down and tolerate some of the discomfort that is taking place inside of us. Through that process of slowing down and becoming aware, is when change starts to take place. This is the work I’m passionate about – helping people change and transform in this way. If you are ready to start the process of internal healing and grow into your full potential, contact Kim Clay.


“Without a sense of grounding in the deep self and soul within us the upheavals in life can overwhelm us with fears and crushing anxieties. If we can’t imagine a creative, resilient core within, there can be no consistent source of centering, no resting place or sense of refuge. Fear is the enemy and embodied wisdom is the antidote when the world threatens to overwhelm the ego or “little self.” Embodied wisdom connects the mind with the heart and the body with the soul.”

~ Michael Meade


Posted by Kim Ann Clay