“I love the lotus flower because while growing from mud, it is unstained.”
-Confucian scholar
The lotus flower begins humbly in a dark muddy pond. Eventually, it may plant deep roots, grow a thick but flexible stalk and sprout resplendent leaves. Such resilience and transcendency are the very features that eastern cultures have long revered as the lotus’s virtue and grace. Too easily forgotten, however, is the very specific environment essential for the lotus to take such beautiful form following its uncertain beginnings. First, although the mud is dark and murky, lotus flowers need the weight of mud for grounding and containment. As it begins to bloom, the lotus needs calm and stillness, lest its delicate leaves be torn or stifled too early. Additionally, lotuses need ample doses of sunlight, but also opportunities for shade.
As a clinical psychologist, I appreciate the opportunity to witness peoples’ capacity for not only surviving, but also thriving in today’s complicated world. My experience over the past decade has brought me to understand the many ways a therapist’s role is akin to that of the gardener tending to the lotus. Just as one could not do away with mud when growing a lotus, I respect the importance of understanding my client’s history in terms of how it has hitherto shaped growth or stagnation, but always remind the client that one can indeed grow far beyond this history. Just as the young lotus needs tender care and stillness, I provide a safe, nurturing and collaborative environment in which to move at just the right pace. Respecting the lotus’s need for sunlight, I approach therapy with warmth, empathy, openness and humor rather than cold, clinical distance. People can, with the help of good therapy, rise above stress, trauma, loss, ambivalence, troubling relationships and self-defeating patterns to find joy, fulfillment and connectedness. I look forward to working with you toward your fuller bloom.
Dr. Jonathan Huston-Wong, Clinical Psychologist 