What’s in a name?
Why Kin Therapy?
Kintsugi | 金継ぎ
"to continue with gold."
kin (kɪn) | n.
"of the same kind or nature; having affinity."
Photo created by ededchechine
Several years ago I was introduced to the Japanese concept of kintsugi, a practice of repairing broken pottery by joining the pieces with gold. Roughly translated, the kanji (characters) mean “to continue with gold”. The object is not discarded or thrown away simply because something happened to it, it is worked carefully and made into something slightly different, repaired, continuing its life altered.
In Japan, these objects are considered even more beautiful for having been broken.
If there is ever a metaphor for therapy, this one is it. I truly believe what happens to us does not mean we are broken; it means we get to continue ourselves with gold.
When thinking of naming my practice, for ease of spelling I made the choice to drop the last part of the word and keep the first character - kin - which simply means gold.
It is an invitation to remember that no matter how broken we may feel, we can follow the gold thread, the gold light within us to transform, to grow, to heal.
The lantern in the logo can serve as a reminder of a warm, golden light that can call us home to ourselves.
It so happens that the word kin also has a lovely meaning in English. Given that relationship is one of the core ways I believe we can heal ourselves, reminding ourselves that we are all kin, all humans, all of a kind can remind us that we are never alone in this work.