One of the concepts I return to again and again in therapy is duality—the idea that two seemingly opposite things can both be true at the same time.

We live in a world that often pushes us toward “either/or” thinking. You’re either strong or weak. You’re either happy or sad. You’re either succeeding or failing. But real life doesn’t work that way. Most of the time, our experiences hold more nuance, more layers, and more truth than one simple category can capture.

What Duality Looks Like

You can feel grateful for your life and still wish things were different.

You can love someone deeply and feel hurt by them.

You can be proud of yourself and still want to grow.

You can crave independence and long for closeness.

None of these cancel each other out. Instead, they sit side by side—complex, real, and fully human.

Why This Matters in Therapy

When we give ourselves permission to hold both truths at once, something shifts. The pressure to “pick a side” eases, and space opens for compassion and curiosity. Instead of fighting yourself—trying to silence one part of your experience—you learn to listen to all of it.

This is where healing often begins: not in forcing yourself into one category, but in softening into the wholeness of your experience.

A Gentle Invitation

Notice today if there’s a place in your life where you’ve been stuck in either/or thinking. What happens if you allow it to be both? You may discover that your heart has more room than you thought.

At Everroot, this is the kind of space I hold: a place where contradictions can coexist, where you don’t have to shrink or split off parts of yourself to be accepted. Here, you get to be fully human—complex, layered, and whole.