I just had my aura read but I'm still going to therapy anyway

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing my dear friend and wonderful intuitive Susanna Merrick for office magazine. We had met at the beginning of the year in a workshop Merrick co-hosted – a workshop designed to empower cosmically aligned individuals to take control over their situation and make goals to manifest long-awaited changes.

When I attended the workshop, I had already made up my mind about a lot of things. I knew I wanted to shake up my career trajectory. I had recognized that I was feeling stifled and was lacking the type of creativity I craved in my everyday life. But (as a typical Capricorn) I had refused to give myself the authority and kindness of making an actionable plan to moving on to the next chapter in my life. Experiencing the freedom and power Merrick and her co-host Laurel Flynn had harnessed for themselves was the inspiration I needed to make those changes that were simmering in the background.

I’ve always been a casual believer in folk healing and insight methods. Given the opportunity, I’d jump to have my cards read, my palm analyzed, my birth chart dissected. I firmly acknowledge that part of the effectiveness of Susanna and Laurel’s methods might certainly lie within the mystique of their trades as intuitives. But while Susanna reads auras, there’s a lot more to what she does than color analysis.

When you have the chance to interact with Susanna (either during a session or simply over a cup of coffee) there’s a certain sense of calm connectedness that transports you from wherever you’ve let your mind take you to the present – nothing else really matters except the energy exchange between you and her. For some, myself included, this lowering of barriers is a pathway to personal insight. There’s a sounding board and reference for you to aim any lingering lack of clarity towards. It’s honestly really nice.

On the other hand, my husband is a psychotherapist – so, on paper, pretty much the exact opposite from the type of intuitive healing Merrick and Flynn provide access to. There’s been mainstream discussion recently into how complementary tarot can be during therapy sessions, however; Katie Heany recently wrote a piece for The Cut on a psychotherapist who is exploring the use tarot as a practical tool for insight.

Either way, the more help and insight I can indulge in, the better. I don’t discriminate when it comes to self-help, because that’s just the thing – through everything we do, we take what we need and ditch the rest. Even if that just means figuring out what color to wear on date night.

Read my interview with Susanna Merrick-Klinkbeil on office.

All images by Brendan Burdzinski.