There is strength and meaning to be gained in sitting with suffering. All too often, we lose the ability to turn compassionately toward ourselves in difficult moments. When we are able to do so in the presence of a compassionate other, as in therapy, we remember how to love ourselves.

By unflinchingly holding company and deeply empathizing with our pain, this “other” broadens our being by helping us make contact with the hidden resources of our jeweled Self. It requires nothing short of a leap of faith that we are larger than our pain…which we are.