Women do not heal in isolation

Women do not heal in isolation.

The older I get, the more convinced I become of this.

Recently, after one too many cocktails the night before (the hangovers in your 40s really are something else), I dragged myself to a garden centre with a friend.

A decade ago, we'd have been getting ready for another night out. Now we were debating compost and houseplants.

Afterwards, I ended up asleep on her sofa.

We ordered McDonald's.

Another friend joined us while nursing a migraine.

And we spent the afternoon talking about everything: relationships, parents, children, work, perimenopause, love, dating, life.

Nobody solved anybody else's problems.

Nobody had a breakthrough.

Nobody left with a five-step plan.

But I went home feeling lighter.

More understood.

Less alone.

As a therapist, one of the things I notice most often is how many women believe they should be able to cope by themselves.

That needing support is weakness.

That everyone else has worked it out.

That they're somehow behind.

But when women come together and speak honestly, something powerful happens.

We realise we're not the only one struggling.

We're not the only one questioning things.

We're not the only one feeling exhausted.

The conversation doesn't necessarily change the situation.

But it changes how we carry it.

And sometimes, that's enough to help us keep going.

What's one conversation you've had recently that left you feeling less alone?