I recently added a link on my blog to Permission to Heal, a new blog written by my friend and colleague Dr. Abby Caplin. Abby is a physician with a master's in counseling psychology who has a private practice in mind-body medicine and counseling. She is also an incredibly warm, caring person who brings a wellspring of intelligence and grounded spiritual presence to every encounter.
The word in Hebrew for physician or health care provider is rofeh/rofah, which means healer.
The title, Permission to Heal, gave me pause to reflect on these words and this idea–permission from whom? Why would someone need permission to heal? Are we waiting for some imagined permission from an unknown person or source in order to fully engage in our own healing journey? And if we did actually have permission, perhaps then we would feel a sense of freedom, personal power and possibility.
photo courtesy of JLR
This depends of course on one's definition of healing. Healing does connote qualities like comfort, care, restorative, growth, process, progress, evolving.
There was a well-known book published a number of years ago called The Courage to Heal, also an equally evocative title. Healing is facilitated not only with permission, but also with courage. Whether it's a paper cut, a trauma, grieving the death of a beloved, a medical procedure or a broken heart, healing takes time, usually not a timeline of our own choosing.
Healing is about relationship, about brokenness, about restoration and connection. Thank you, Abby, for naming and blessing the journey with the permission and freedom to heal.