Blog - Shira Aharony - Connecting Threads

he blog is a long-standing home for my writing across different platforms, and I’m excited to invite you to visit

This is a chance to get a closer look at my approach as a therapist for teens and young adults, and to discover the unique and powerful benefits of creative therapeutic work.
If we haven’t met yet and you’re curious about how I began writing – you’ll find that and more in the post ‘Glad You’re Here!’.
You’re warmly invited to read, share your thoughts (even on older posts – I read everything), and reach out.

I’m here.

Glad You are here!

I’ve always written. Poems, heartfelt birthday wishes, youth group activities, love letters, long lists of dreams and personal boundaries, reflections, reminders, travel journals, and memories…

Birthday wishes from me to you

Today is my birthday. A birthday that comes after a year in a different, distant country. I narrowed it down, and a year passed; I narrowed it down again, and a decade has already gone

TRY SOMETHING NEW

On the door of the school counselor, there are three words, and they are the heart of the educational approach at this school

On Pain and Aggression

Three months and two days since we landed on the moon. So much has happened since then, so hard to capture in words. Still, I’m starting to try.

The Here of There

I’m still a little afraid to write. I’m afraid to think, afraid to understand what’s happening, even though we’ve been preparing for this move for quite a while, we really haven’t spoken about it much

The wicked sisters of trauma

Guilt and shame are the cruel sisters of trauma; they amplify its weight, deepen despair, and obscure the paths to healing.

It’s okay

It’s okay to feel that everything you thought you knew about things, about life — doesn’t apply right now, or that you don’t have access to any of it. Your connection with yourself will be

When the carriage is a pumpkin

Graduating High School and Stepping into Life. There’s a feeling that a fun celebration is happening, but your daughter feels like she’s not part of it. This drama might seem exaggerated to us, but for

What if…

If I had chosen differently — what would I do? I try to imagine a place where there is no sorrow, a routine so simple, earthly, maybe even monotonous, filled with familiarity and a long-term

Beyond Divisions: Humanity Inside a Mental Health Ward

You woke up this morning, everything was completely normal, you got ready and left the house, and while searching for something in your bag—you tripped badly because of a small uneven floor tile that you

And then came Easy

For 16 years, we raised a difficult and complex dog, and I thought that's just how dogs are—everyone has quirks and complexities, like adopting an orphan from a war-torn region. It always required a lot

On Manifestation and Repair : The Quiet Power of Art Therapy

We all have something to fix—something we put aside or tucked away in a drawer, saying, “It’s probably lost.” Maybe we threw it out, or passed it along with a “travel warning”: This is broken

The Date That Will Make the Difference

I realize this isn’t exactly a time that inspires going out, and there’s no shortage of unexpected changes and complications. But maybe that’s exactly why it’s so important right now to initiate and create opportunities

Supporting Teens Through New Year’s Celebrations

Tonight, like every night, but perhaps a little more, I ask you to open your eyes and listen closely to what’s happening outside. Teenagers, just looking for reasons to celebrate, went out today to mark

It’s Never Too Late to Learn a New Language

"Therapy is a language that stays in the soul long after it ends. I know this from my own experience as a client, and thankfully, I also hear it from clients and parents who get

“But how does it help?”

What real benefit can come from creating—working with materials—beyond simple enjoyment? How is art-making connected to therapy? How can it be that creating art could act as a kind of medicine, a solution to a

“It’s Not a Big Deal – But It Might Really Help”: Talking Therapy with Teens

There are quite a few things in life that we know are important, beneficial, or will ultimately improve our lives—but we still postpone or avoid them for long periods of time. Why? Because they involve

From the Beginning

That moment when I’m standing by the door, just a minute before a first meeting, makes my mind race at 200 km/h—trying to connect the few known dots from our earlier phone call into some

The Colors of Hila: When Material Meets Muse

Let me begin with a slightly odd confession: When someone teaches me something new or introduces me to something I wasn’t familiar with—I immediately name it after them. For example, I don’t have Alcea setosa