Memoir | Self Harm | Mental Health

I Hated Her and Wished Her Dead

And it’s been a long journey back to love

Photo of Author: Purple Moose Portraits . Part of engaging in photography was an act of celebrating the vehicle of life, my body. She has produced children, healed from broken bones, and has chosen pleasure.

‘Self-love’ was not a concept I was familiar with growing up.

It wasn’t until I started my journey in becoming a counsellor that I encountered permission from the human realm to love myself.

I say ‘human realm’ because animals have always been a source of comfort for me. As I write this, there a warm purring cat curled up on my lap.

Animals offered unconditional love, connection, and a grounding space to just be.

Animals make us human -Temple Grandin

Unfortunately, I couldn’t take animals with me wherever I went. Therapy animals, like dogs and horses, were not as common as they are today. Yet, understanding their healing power of animals would ultimately inspire me to become a therapist.

Self-Harm: A Hidden Reality

‘Self-harm’ was another concept unfamiliar to me during my youth.

Never mentioned in school, methods of self-harm were as absent as free condoms and tampons. Come to think of it, mental health as a whole was never talked about — unless someone in the school passed away and a grief…