Phases of Healing: What Physical Recovery Can Teach Us About Emotional Healing
Healing is Healing
In physical therapy, healing is never rushed. The body moves through a sequence of stages on a somewhat consistent timeline. Each phase is vital, and each one requires different care. As a PT and someone who has personally walked through deep emotional pain, I’ve come to see just how closely emotional healing mirrors physical recovery.Understanding these phases can help quiet the self-judgment that often shows up during emotional healing - and replace it with understanding, patience, and grace.
The Acute Phase: Stop the Bleeding
When the body is injured, its’ first priority is protection. The acute phase is loud: swelling, pain, and inflammation are signs that the body is on high alert. This is not a time for pushing through - it’s a time for stabilizing, calming, listening to what the body needs, and honoring the trauma response.Emotional trauma brings a similar flood as physical trauma. After a betrayal, loss, or crisis, your system may feel hijacked. Your body will likely keep you from sleeping and focusing, and you will likely feel more reactive to just about everything. This isn’t weakness - it’s your body’s natural, protective response to overwhelming pain.In both physical and emotional recovery in this phase the priority is safety, rest and nervous system regulation. This phase requires gentle presence and awareness to move through. It’s the foundation everything else is built upon.
The Proliferative Phase: Tender Rebuilding
Once the body stabilizes from a physical injury, it begins to rebuild. New tissue forms and mobility returns, but the area is still vulnerable. Overdoing it can set healing back. I tell my PT patients that you may have a day - or even a week- just after a burst of energy, where fatigue surprises you and takes over. I hear it all the time – “I have no idea why I’m suddenly so tired!”. Rebuilding puts a great metabolic load on the body. This phase is also similar in emotional healing. Emotionally, this is the stage where glimmers of self begin to return. You may start feeling stronger or more open, but you’re still easily fatigued, unsure, or vulnerable in unexpected ways. Trust may remain shaky. Some days bring renewed hope, some days bring on onslaught of doubt. Some days bring progress, others bring setbacks.This is a fragile but hopeful space. Healing happens quietly here, in the daily choices to show up, care for yourself, gently do the steps you need to continue building, and reimagine what life can be.
The Chronic Phase: Healed, but Still Healing
Eventually, a physical wound is labeled “healed.” But that doesn’t mean the physiological work is done. There may still be scar tissue - tightness, tenderness, or limitations that need ongoing attention. Stress or fatigue may flare up old patterns. Scar tissue can change over weeks, months and even years.Emotional healing is no different. From the outside, you may look fine. Inside, you're still learning how to live fully with everything that’s changed. What left scarring still needs to be tended to and not ignored, but the body and mind feels more stable and strong. This is the season of reclaiming strength - of expanding your capacity, tending the lingering soreness and residue from the emotional injury, and trusting that you’re not starting over, you’re building forward.Reflection & Invitation:What phase are you in? Where does your body and soul feel inflamed, your energy inconsistent, or your strength returning? Are you expecting yourself to “move on” when your nervous system is still telling you it’s in the acute stage?Give yourself permission to meet your healing where it truly is - not where others think it should be. Your mind, heart and body know the pace. Listen to them. Because healing - real healing - isn’t about rushing forward. It’s about rebuilding on ground that’s been shaken, tuning into what your body and spirit need, learning to trust them to hold you again.If you’re ready to explore how movement, breath, and body awareness can support your emotional recovery, you’re not alone, this space is built for you. Subscribe, reach out, explore deeper or simply return when you need a place that honors both your pain and your progress.