“Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Some of us live too long with one foot in both.”
— Susan Sontag, Illness as Metaphor
The Loneliness of Illness
The story our culture tells about illness is often incomplete.
But there is strength in writing a new one—on your own terms.
Living with an autoimmune disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, or fibromyalgia can feel like moving through a world that’s moving far too fast for your body to keep up. You may be in remission from cancer, yet still carrying the fear that it could return, and swimming with heavy scanxiety weeks/days leading up to your scans. Or you are recovering from a neurological or gastrointestinal disorder, while silently adjusting to your “new normal”—one with slower processing, less stamina, or unexpected symptoms that come and go without warning.
The experience isn’t always about physical symptoms. Often, it’s about the loss of energy, the frustration of slowed functioning, and the isolation that comes from not being able to keep pace with life as it was before.
And still, life continues to demand performance. And, society expects optimism. Productivity. A can-do attitude. You're told to “stay strong,” “keep fighting,” or “look on the bright side.” But when your lived experience doesn’t match the cultural script of triumph and recovery, it can feel like you're failing at something no one else can see. And that quiet dissonance—between what’s visible and what’s real—can be profoundly lonely.
In our work together:
We won’t pretend your body is the same as it once was.
You won’t be asked to perform or become someone you're not.
Therapy becomes a place to exhale and rest from the pressure to “push through.”
Our goal isn’t to return to “normal”—but to move forward into something more sustainable, honest, and whole.
We’ll build tools that help you function in a demanding world—without abandoning your truth.
Through mindfulness, somatic awareness, and trauma-informed care, we’ll explore new ways of relating to your body, your limits, and your worth. You don’t have to be “better” to be worthy of care.