Today I dove twelve feet down to the bottom of the pool to retrieve a ten-pound brick.
I’m required to be able to do this, without goggles, as part of my training to become a swim instructor.
Many times before, I made the attempt unsuccessfully and resurfaced early without the brick.
Moving through the blurry, diffuse waterscape, a familiar anxiety crept in—echoes of the day, many years ago, when a wave pulled me under at the beach and I couldn’t find my way back to the surface. Terrified, I thought I would drown. Luckily, my uncle saw me and pulled me back to the surface and to safety.
Diving underwater may be part of my training, but it also represents something deeper: memories I once feared, and the part of me that did not trust myself to participate in an activity that reminded me of imminent danger.
Fear makes sense when you’ve been pulled under before. It takes time and support to believe you won’t drown again. Now, thanks to my swim instructors, I know more about how to move my body through the water—how to relax, when to exhale, and when to conserve my breath. Today, brick in hand, I felt pure joy as I propelled myself off the bottom of the pool and returned to the surface.
For me, retrieving that brick isn’t just a triumph of breath and muscle. It’s also a reclaiming of an important part of myself. I am conquering old fear and reconnecting with the part of me that once enjoyed and loved the water.
Like my dive into the deep water, therapy can reconnect us with our full selves. With the support of an experienced therapist, we can go beneath the surface, revisiting the parts of ourselves, when we first learned to hold our breath, to squeeze down hurt, silence grief, and disconnect from our true selves.
And for many of us, especially those who live between cultures, that silence wasn’t just survival; it was tradition. We were taught to be strong, to be quiet, to keep going. Naming our pain or seeking help wasn’t always allowed—or safe.
Reconnecting with Ourselves:
1) Trauma disconnects us from ourselves.
2) We could choose to get support to reconnect to ourselves.
3) Reconnecting with ourselves is healing and powerful, and feels good.
Just like deciding to dive once more into the deep water, therapy begins with a courageous step: to get support, to get more information. And the result can be a deeper and more meaningful connection with yourself—one built not on avoidance, but on presence, strength, and self-compassion.
At Transcultural Clinical Services, I engage your cultural values, your language, and your stories as essential parts of your healing journey. Therapy should never ask you to leave yourself at the door—it should help you come home to who you are.
What would you find if you dared to go all the way down and bring back what you’ve been told to leave behind?
If you’re ready to explore what’s beneath the surface, let’s work together. We can begin with a 15-minute conversation, just one step to start the journey.
