Healing vs Curing

<p>Often my mental health patients or Adventure Mastermind clients will ask me if they can be cured of their depression, anxiety, or complex emotional experiences.</p><p>I’ve also noticed that many of us use “healing” and “curing” interchangeably, which doesn’t really work since they’re actually quite different.</p><p>Looking for a cure often means we want to be rid of something, right? It implies not being ok with reality as it is. Wanting things to be different. To return the body, mind, or spirit to its previous state</p><p>This makes a lot of sense, because we are often deeply suffering from what we are trying to get rid of.</p><p>With physical ailments, a cure is more likely: like when we break a bone or get an infection. Or even in my case, when I had cancer <i>twice</i>. Fortunately, both happened to be cured.</p><p>But even with physical issues, cure isn’t always possible. I was lucky to not need ongoing management for my cancers. Other ailments like chronic pain, some cancers, or paralysis are incurable.</p><p><strong>Healing</strong> is not the same as curing. It is a return to - a moving toward - wholeness. And this wholeness can be even better than what we experienced before our dis-ease ever arrived.</p><p>It’s not about removing or stopping something. It’s about integration. Finding physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness.</p><p>With healing, there is a journey that provides you with intelligence from your experience. It may involve change and acceptance of that change.</p><p>While a healthcare provider may be involved in healing, it might require more involvement and self-awareness of the person being treated as they use their own resources to grow and gain sight.</p><p>It’s also important to keep in mind that even though healing and curing are different, they can be intertwined for different conditions.</p><p>For mental health conditions, it may not be as obvious if healing or a cure has happened, because the conditions look different person to person. They manifest differently dependi