It’s no coincidence that my therapy practice, Grow, is often described as “warm,” “comfortable,” and “not like a therapy practice.” This is the exact feeling I set out to cultivate when I imagined opening up a private practice for mental health in 2012. A space that felt like someone’s private living room, where they could sit with a cup of coffee or tea and feel comfortable opening up.

Sometimes it’s not enough to simply “be aware” of our emotional experience, or of our thoughts. We need to be able to honor these, instead of noticing or even justifying them (these are two different things). Next time you’re in a self-reflective space, challenge yourself to expand, to grow a little bit more by finding and holding one additional truth in your head and heart space.