Healing is a Spiral, Not Linear

Many people come to therapy hoping for a clear path forward—one that moves steadily from struggle to relief, from confusion to clarity. But healing rarely happens in a straight line. More often, it unfolds in a spiral.

In a linear model, progress means moving forward and leaving the past behind. But in the spiral, growth is cyclical. We revisit old wounds, patterns, and questions—not because we’ve failed, but because we’re ready to meet them with new awareness and capacity. Healing asks us to return, again and again, to the same terrain, each time with a deeper understanding of ourselves.

The Nature of the Spiral

In the natural world, everything moves in cycles: the seasons, the moon, the tides, and even our breath. There are times of expansion and contraction, light and darkness, growth and rest. These rhythms are not mistakes—they are the design of life itself.

Yet we live in a culture that tells a different story. Our Industrial Growth Society, as Joanna Macy describes it, values speed, productivity, and constant progress. We are taught to measure success in straight lines—upward growth, forward motion, continuous improvement. This belief shapes how we see ourselves and our healing: if we are not moving “ahead,” we assume we’re doing something wrong.

But nature doesn’t work that way, and neither do we. The truth is that healing is cyclical, seasonal, and rhythmic. There are times when life asks us to slow down, to rest, or to tend to what has been neglected. When we remember that we are nature—not separate from it—we begin to understand that circling back is not regression but an essential part of transformation.

Ecotherapy invites us to reorient to these natural patterns—to re-member, re-sensitize, and re-weave ourselves back into the web of life. Just as winter gives way to spring, our inner worlds move through cycles of integration and renewal. We are constantly being invited to begin again.

Relationship as a Spiral

Healing doesn’t happen in isolation—it happens in relationship. Our patterns in connection often mirror our earliest experiences of safety, love, and belonging. Attachment-based and relational therapies recognize that growth within relationships can follow the same spiral pattern: we come close, move away, repair, and return.

This rhythm can be challenging, especially for those who learned to protect themselves through distance or self-reliance. But as we deepen our capacity for awareness and regulation, we begin to trust that relationship, too, is cyclical. We can revisit difficult moments without collapsing into them. We can repair when things break. We can come back.

In this way, each loop of the spiral brings more resilience, more authenticity, and more possibility for connection.

Meeting Yourself with Compassion

In Gestalt and attachment-based work, awareness is central. We learn to meet what arises—thoughts, sensations, emotions—with curiosity instead of judgment. When you recognize that healing is a spiral, it becomes easier to meet yourself with compassion rather than criticism.

You may find yourself revisiting the same struggle or emotion you thought you had already “worked through.” But instead of asking, “Why am I back here again?” you might ask, “What is new this time? What am I ready to see or feel that I couldn’t before?”

Each return is an opportunity for integration. What was once painful to touch can become part of your wholeness.

Walking the Spiral Path

Healing as a spiral invites us to honor process over outcome. It’s less about arriving somewhere new and more about coming home to ourselves in deeper ways.

In therapy, this means allowing for cycles of insight and rest, activation and regulation, connection and solitude. It means trusting that your pace is not wrong, your timing is not off, and your story is still unfolding in its own natural rhythm.

When we embrace the spiral, we can find steadiness in the motion itself. Growth becomes less about fixing ourselves and more about remembering who we are—again and again, each time with a little more grace.

An Invitation

If you’re navigating change or noticing familiar patterns resurfacing, you’re not going backward—you’re deepening. Therapy can help you honor your own rhythm and walk the spiral path with awareness and compassion.

I offer individual and group therapy in Durango and online throughout Colorado. If you’d like to learn more, reach out for a free 15-minute consultation.