In this conversation, I sit down with family therapist and writer Lakshmi Krishnan for a wide-ranging and quietly powerful reflection on what it means to heal; across generations, across continents, and across the invisible spaces between language and the body.

Lakshmi shares her journey from South India to Canada, from a young girl raised in silence to a clinician who helps others find their voice. We talk about her work with clients living with eating disorders, and how their symptoms often speak in code, expressing what hasn’t yet been given words.

She offers insight into the slow, relational nature of true recovery, the legacy of a mother’s sudden death, and the quiet resilience required to move forward one step at a time. This episode is for anyone supporting others through pain, or navigating their own.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why eating disorders often emerge as the body’s way of speaking what can’t be said
  

• The limitations of “tools and strategies” in the face of deep emotional pain
  

• How trauma, grief, and culture live on in our nervous systems
  

• What it takes to accompany someone through the long arc of recovery
  

• The power of naming what was never named—and sitting patiently until the words come
  

• Why real healing is often slow, creative, and profoundly human
  

About Lakshmi:Lakshmi Krishnan is a registered clinical social worker, family therapist, and writer based in Calgary, Canada. With decades of experience, she brings a relational and intergenerational lens to her work. She’s also a gardener, a piano student, and someone who continues to learn. You can read her writing and learn more at www.lakshmik.com.

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