The Sacred Journey: How Therapy Nurtures Soul Care and Healing
In my decades of pastoral ministry and now as a therapist, I've witnessed a profound truth: true healing encompasses not just the mind, but the soul. The therapeutic process, when approached with reverence and intention, becomes a sacred journey of soul care—a path toward wholeness that honors our deepest selves and our relationship with the Divine.
The Soul's Longing for Integration
As Henri Nouwen so beautifully expressed, we are each “the chosen child of God, precious in God's eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity.” Yet our souls often fragment under life's wounds. We compartmentalize pain, build protective walls, and disconnect from our authentic selves.
The therapeutic journey offers a path back to integration. Through approaches like Internal Family Systems therapy, we welcome back the exiled parts of ourselves with compassion. Through EMDR, we process traumatic memories that have lodged in both mind and soul. Through emotionally focused work, we restore connections with ourselves and others that reflect our inherent worthiness of love.
Bearing Witness to Sacred Stories
Every person who enters the therapy room brings a sacred story—one filled with both wounds and wonder. As a therapist, I consider it a profound privilege to bear witness to these stories, to create a sanctuary where they can be honored in their fullness.
There is something deeply spiritual about being truly seen and heard. When we share our stories without fear of judgment, when we speak aloud the truths we've kept hidden, something shifts in the soul. Naming our experiences in the presence of a compassionate other allows us to reclaim authorship of our stories rather than being defined by them.
The Courage to Face the Shadows
Soul Care requires courage—the willingness to turn toward our pain rather than away from it. In therapy, we cultivate this courage together, venturing into the shadows with gentle persistence and unwavering support.
Carl Jung spoke of the shadow as those disowned parts of ourselves that we've pushed into darkness. When we bring awareness to these shadows—our shame, our grief, our anger—they begin to transform. What once felt overwhelming becomes manageable. What once controlled us from the shadows can be integrated into our conscious awareness.
This process mirrors spiritual practices across traditions that invite us to examine ourselves honestly, to confess our struggles, and to seek reconciliation with ourselves, others, and the Divine.
Creating Meaning from Suffering
Viktor Frankl, who endured the unimaginable suffering of Nazi concentration camps, came to believe that humans can endure almost anything if they can find meaning in their experience. Therapy offers a container for this meaning-making process.
When trauma or loss shatters our assumptions about the world, therapy provides space to gather the fragments and create something new—not dismissing the pain but allowing it to transform us. Like the Japanese art of kintsugi, which repairs broken pottery with gold, highlighting rather than hiding the breaks, Soul Care and Healing honors our wounds as part of our unique beauty.
The Rhythm of Growth and Grace
Soul Care and Healing follows a natural rhythm that can't be rushed. Like a seed pushing through soil toward sunlight, our growth unfolds in its own time. The therapeutic process honors this rhythm, providing consistent nurture while respecting the soul's timing.
There are seasons of difficult excavation, when we dig deep into painful patterns. There are seasons of integration, when new insights take root. There are seasons of rest, when we allow healing to continue beneath the surface. And there are seasons of blossoming, when we experience the fruit of our work in newfound freedom, connection, and joy.
Throughout these seasons, grace remains a constant companion. In therapy, we practice extending grace to ourselves—recognizing that healing isn't linear and that setbacks are part of the journey. We practice receiving grace from others, allowing support and care to counterbalance isolation. And for many, we practice opening to divine grace, that mysterious presence that meets us in our brokenness and gently leads us toward wholeness.
The Embodied Soul
Soul Care and Healing acknowledges that we are eternal beings. Our souls don't float above our physical existence but are intimately connected with our bodies, which carry the imprint of our experiences.
Trauma research has revealed what spiritual traditions have long recognized—that our bodies hold wisdom and memory. Approaches like somatic experiencing and mindfulness practices help us attune to the body's signals, respecting it as a vessel of healing rather than an obstacle to overcome.
When we reconnect with our embodied experience, we often discover that the body itself knows the way toward healing. The quickened heartbeat has a message. The tension in our shoulders carries information. The breath that flows freely when we speak our truth affirms we're on the right path.
Community and Soul Care and Healing
While therapy often occurs in the intimate space between therapist and client, true Soul Care and Healing extends into our communities. As we heal, we bring our wholeness into our relationships, families, and broader communities.
The therapist serves not only as a guide but as a representative of the possibility of compassionate presence. This relationship becomes a template for connections outside the therapy room—connections characterized by authenticity, boundaries, and mutual respect.
Many clients find that as their own souls heal, they develop a natural desire to contribute to healing in their communities. Their increased capacity for compassion extends outward in widening circles, creating a beautiful ripple effect of transformation.
An Invitation to the Journey
If you're considering therapy, know that you're not simply signing up for symptom management or problem-solving (though these are valuable benefits). You're accepting an invitation to a journey of soul care and healing—a journey that honors your inherent worth, your capacity for growth, and your unique path.
This journey asks much of us. It requires vulnerability, perseverance, and the willingness to be transformed. But it offers even more in return: the freedom of self-acceptance, the joy of authentic connection, and the peace that comes from living in alignment with your deepest values and truest self.
Whatever has brought you to this point—whether crisis, curiosity, or a quiet longing for something more—I believe your soul already knows the way toward healing. Therapy simply provides the sacred space, compassionate witness, and proven practices that supports your soul's natural movement toward wholeness.
As a fellow traveler on this path, I can attest that the journey, while not always easy, is infinitely worthwhile. For in tending to our own soul care, we contribute to the healing of our relationships, our communities, and our world.
Leila Borders, MMFT, Rev. is a Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in trauma recovery, couples therapy, and faith-informed counseling in Franklin, Tennessee. With over thirty years of pastoral ministry experience and training in EMDR, Gottman Method, and Emotionally Focused Therapy, she offers a unique integration of spiritual wisdom and evidence-based therapeutic approaches