My favorite Brene Brown quote & why it matters in therapy

I have been a fan of Brene Brown’s writings for a long time. Her work on vulnerability and shame and feelings is so important – for all of us.

And there’s so much of it that resonates for me, both personally and professionally.

But there’s one quote that I keep saying, over and over, in my therapy sessions.

Strong back. Soft front. Wild heart.

It’s so simple but so good. 

What this Brene Brown quote encourages us to do

Feelings can be messy.

But it is possible to be able to feel more than one at a time.

To feel feelings that may seem to contradict each other – like softness and strength – at the same time.

To just be our wild-hearted, bad-ass selves.

How this Brene Brown quote relates to therapy

One feeling doesn’t need to define you. But somewhere along the way, that started to feel safer.

So you learned early on – you learned how to shove away or ignore the feelings that were “too much”. To embody just one role in your family – the good girl, the oldest, the one Mom doesn’t have to worry about.

And that worked for a while. Until it stopped working.

I think why this quote is so related to therapy (and to the way I work specifically) is that it holds – and invites – more than one feeling.

You don’t have to be just strong. Or just soft.

And you don’t have to be stuck – or disconnected from your feelings – anymore. 

Therapy can help you get unstuck from black & white feeling

What would it be like to feel a little bit of both? To hold one in each hand, to have the flexibility to move between softness and strength. To not be stuck.

To have the capacity for softness – in your relationships, with how you talk to yourself, with really feeling all your feelings.

And the ability to be strong – to make shifts in your life, to stand up for yourself, to draw clear boundaries

.And to remember and reclaim the wildness of your own heart – whatever that means for you.

This is the work of therapy.

Moving out of long-held patterns of how you show up in the world and how you feel your feelings (or don’t) can be scary – but you deserve to get unstuck.

If you're ready to get unstuck, I would love to connect.


Music therapist, Maya, smiles at the camera while writing in a journal & seated outside the New York Public Library in Midtown Manhattan. Women with anxiety, childhood trauma, high sensitivity (HSP) in NYC can get therapy here! Try online therapy too

About the Author

Maya is a music therapist and psychotherapist in NYC and online throughout New York State. She specializes in helping women with anxiety, childhood/intergenerational trauma and those who are highly sensitive (HSP) feel good enough, learn how to express their feelings without overwhelm, and show up in calm and confident ways in their work and relationships.

If you’re interested in working with Maya, you can learn more here or schedule your free phone consultation here

You don’t have to stay stuck - it’s time to reclaim your rhythm. 

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