Inside clay, there are air pockets

Inside clay, there are air pockets. They are a product of the clay’s naturally turbulent world, waiting quietly until pressure finds them, and then the whole piece will fail.

Wedging does not force them out. It works them through, slowly, by process, until they are integrated into the clay itself rather than working against it.

Only then does the clay reach the wheel. Only then can it hold a shape without breaking apart.

The body holds trauma the same way. It is not a memory to correct or a story to retell. It is something trapped in tissue, waiting for pressure to reach it. Therapy work is not extraction. It is integration, worked through just as slowly, until the form can bear weight without breaking.

Whitney Petree - LPC/MHSP Knoxville, TN