From the Desk of Melanie 🖊️

This week at Haven, we focused on body image, and it reminded me how important it is to slow down.

We move so quickly from one experience to the next, jumping from task to task, conversation to conversation, that we often miss the opportunity to truly connect with one another. Add in the constant pull of our phones and screens, and we start missing even more: the subtle cues, the discomfort behind someone’s silence, the pain behind someone’s smile.

During group this week, we almost misunderstood a resident's reaction as disrespect. But when we slowed down and looked closer, we realized she wasn’t being rude, she was uncomfortable. Deeply uncomfortable. The topic of body image touched a wound that had been there for years.

And it made me wonder, how many others are walking around with that same wound?

How many of us have been told we were "fat" or "ugly" or “not good enough” by someone we loved, someone we trusted, or even just a passing comment from someone we barely knew? And how many of us now carry that voice with us, hearing it on loop, every time we look in the mirror?

Here’s the thing: just because someone presents as confident, doesn’t mean they feel that way.

We never really know what someone is carrying unless we take the time to see them. And that starts by slowing down.

So today, I invite you to pause. Look up. Notice who’s in front of you. Listen with your eyes as much as your ears.

Because real connection, the kind that heals, only happens when we’re present enough to receive it.

💛 With love and awareness,

Melanie Barwick

MSW,LCSW, LCAS, CSI

Clinical Director