14/02/2026
As a therapist, I once worked with a woman who had been “the strong one” for as long as she could remember.
She was the eldest child. When her father fell sick, she helped manage the house. When her mother was overwhelmed, she stayed quiet about her own fears. At school, she never asked for help because she didn’t want to “be a burden.” By the time she became an adult, strength wasn’t just something she had it was who she believed she was.
In our sessions, she spoke clearly, logically, almost clinically about her struggles. She handled work stress alone. She handled relationship conflicts alone. She handled grief alone. Every time I gently asked, “Who do you lean on?” she would smile and say, “I manage.”
And she did manage. That strength helped her survive years when support wasn’t available.
But one day, after describing yet another week of holding everything together, she paused. Her voice cracked just slightly. “I’m tired,” she said. “I don’t know how to not be strong.”
That moment was powerful. Not because she broke down but because she allowed herself to say she was tired.
Over time, she learned something new: strength and support are not opposites. The same resilience that helped her survive could now help her risk vulnerability. She started sharing small truths with a close friend. She allowed herself to cry in session instead of explaining her feelings away. She practiced asking for help awkwardly at first.
Nothing about her became weaker.
In fact, she became softer. And in that softness, there was a different kind of strength the kind that doesn’t come from carrying everything alone, but from knowing you don’t have to.
As a therapist, I learned something through her journey:
Some people learned to be strong early because they had to.
That strength saved them.
But healing adds another option.
You can still be strong and also lean.
If you’re the one who has always held it together, let this be your permission slip:
You don’t have to carry everything alone anymore.
Start small.
Tell one safe person how you’re really doing.
Say “I’m tired” instead of “I’m fine.”
Reach out for support whether that’s a friend, a mentor, or a therapist.
Strength got you here.
Support will help you go further.
It’s okay to talk