Wolcott Counseling & Wellness, LLC

01/12/2026

Healing in the first year doesn’t look like a dramatic “before and after.” And that’s important to say out loud. 🌱

In year one, healing is often quieter than people expect. It looks like noticing your triggers a little sooner. Pausing instead of reacting. Feeling your emotions more clearly, even when they’re uncomfortable. It might mean setting one boundary and feeling guilty about it, then setting it again anyway.

There are moments of relief, insight, and hope, alongside moments of grief, exhaustion, and doubt. This isn’t a sign that therapy isn’t working. It’s often a sign that it is.

Real healing is layered. In the first year, you’re not erasing the past, you’re building safety in the present. You’re learning how your nervous system works, unlearning survival patterns that once protected you, and practicing new ways of relating to yourself and others. 🧠🤍

At Wolcott Counseling & Wellness, we don’t measure progress by how “fixed” someone feels. We look for increased awareness, greater self-compassion, and a growing sense of choice where there once was only reaction. That’s the foundation everything else is built on.

Change isn’t comfortable. Healing isn’t linear. But with the right support, it is real, meaningful, and deeply transformative.

If you’re curious what trauma-informed healing can look like for you, explore our therapists and their specialties on our website using the link below:

https://wolcottcounseling.com/about/

01/10/2026

01/09/2026

Most people approach healing with goals ✨

Be less anxious. Feel better. Finally move on. But trauma recovery doesn’t begin with goals, it begins with safety.

When a nervous system has lived in prolonged stress, danger, or unpredictability, it doesn’t respond well to pressure. Pushing harder doesn’t create change. It often creates shutdown, avoidance, or burnout. This isn’t a lack of motivation or discipline. It’s a system doing exactly what it learned to do to survive.

Here’s the part many people don’t get: a nervous system that doesn’t feel safe 🔥cannot sustain growth.

Before goals can take root, the body needs cues of safety. Before transformation, there has to be stabilization. Before change can last, your system needs to know it won’t be punished for slowing down. 🧠💛

Trauma-informed therapy doesn’t start by asking what you want to fix. It starts by asking what your system needs in order to feel supported enough to grow. When safety comes first, clarity follows. When regulation comes first, change becomes possible. 🌱

Healing isn’t about doing more or trying harder. It’s about creating the conditions where growth can finally happen.

01/07/2026

This is for the helping professional who’s been holding everyone else this year.

If you’ve been pouring out care, showing up strong, and pushing your own needs to the side, this is your invitation to pause. The Brave Space Retreat is a four-day, trauma-informed experience designed to help you reconnect with yourself through creativity, movement, reflection, and community.

Held April 23-26, 2026, in Hilton Head, this retreat blends expressive arts, mindful movement, nature connection, and evidence-based therapeutic practices in a setting that feels safe, grounding, and deeply human. Facilitated by Lisa Wolcott and Cheryl Childers, both Daring Way-trained facilitators, Brave Space is intentionally crafted for helping professionals, trauma survivors, and those seeking meaningful personal growth.

✨ Early bird registration is now open.

If you secure your spot before February 1, 2026, or if you book with a group of 4 or more, you’ll receive 15% off!

This isn’t about escaping your life. It’s about returning to it with more clarity, softness, and resilience.

💡 Learn more and reserve your spot here: www.bravespaceretreats.com

01/06/2026

https://www.instagram.com/p/DTI0cmkgEhk/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

01/05/2026

You don’t fail at change because you lack discipline.

Most people struggle because they were taught to chase goals before building safety.

When the nervous system doesn’t feel supported, even the best intentions collapse under pressure. Not because you’re lazy. Not because you don’t want it badly enough. But because your system is protecting you from overwhelm.

Here’s the part most people miss:

Lasting change doesn’t come from willpower. It comes from creating conditions where growth can actually take root.

Small, consistent practices matter more than big declarations. A few minutes of mindfulness. One honest boundary. A system that works with your nervous system instead of against it.

Change isn’t something you force yourself into. It’s something you build, gently, over time. And when safety comes first, growth becomes possible.

If this resonates, the January blog explores how real change happens and why systems matter more than goals.

Read the full post to learn how to approach 2026 with compassion, not pressure.

https://wolcottcounseling.com/creating-the-change-you-want-to-see-in-2026/

12/31/2025

12/28/2025

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Love these questions

12/27/2025

I don’t know who needs to hear this today but here it is. From Jen Hatmaker’s Awake.

”…Rilke wrote: ’Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.’ Somehow I must hold on to both my pain and my hope; they each deserve my belief. They are both real, and they both matter.

I am on the gurney. I am underground. I am pushing toward the light. I am developing roots no one can see. I am waiting on spring shoots. I am still in winter.

I am all of these things, but none of them last.

Tomorrow will be different from today.

So I’ll just keep fu***ng going.”

12/26/2025

You’re not lazy. You’re not crazy. Your body might just feel unsafe.

Ever canceled plans at the last second, felt exhausted for “no reason,” or gotten irritable when someone offered help?

Your nervous system could be sending a message: “I don’t feel safe right now.”

😬 Your stomach drops when a certain person texts
😶🌫️ You go emotionally numb during conflict
🛑 You overcommit and then completely shut down

These are just a few ways your body tries to protect you, especially if you’ve lived through complex trauma.

So let’s talk about it.

What’s one moment you realized your body was reacting before your brain could catch up?

Drop it in the comments 👇