Dear Wild Ones,
I love witnessing the patterns that emerge across nearly all my sessions with clients. This month I have coined our thematic arc: the messy middle. Anxiety is high, uncertainty abounds, and the mind is desperate for solutions.
Sound familiar?
The Season We Are In
I believe that the first half of 2026 was a season for deep and profound soul reconstruction. While resting, in our dream states, and while immersed in creative practice, our spiritual body has been hard at work rewriting our cellular codes — in partnership with the energies of astrological transits, and the light pulses our galactic families have been sending to Earth to assist in our great Becoming.
Am I getting too woo-woo for you? Still with me?
Consider this: when the caterpillar enters the cocoon, it turns to complete liquid. Primordial guck and sludge. From this complete dissolution, the wings of the butterfly eventually emerge.
Our human process is no different.
July has been a hot and messy season of swimming in the goo. Our task is not to force a knowing or a solution. Rather, I believe, our work is to hold the liminal grid of the unknown — which then allows the emergence of what’s next.
Marion Woodman and the Fallow Time
Marion Woodman, a Jungian psychoanalyst, wrote extensively about what she called the “fallow time” in women’s creative lives — the periods that look like stagnation but are actually the soul doing its deepest underground work. She understood these dark feminine periods not as something to overcome, but as the very ground of transformation.
The body, she taught, is the alchemical vessel where this work happens. And the fallow time is not empty time. It is sacred time that asks something specific of us.
This teaching resonates deeply with the art therapy work we do at Fox + Feather — the understanding that healing is not linear, that the quiet seasons are not failures, and that what looks like dissolution is often the beginning of becoming.
What Woodman Recommended for the Fallow Time
Tend your dreams. Woodman kept a dream journal faithfully and encouraged women to record dreams immediately upon waking — not to analyze them intellectually right away, but to sit with the images and let them resonate. She believed the dream imagery “has the transformation right in it” and tracked the sequence of images to see where the energy wanted to go.
Bring the images into the body. Woodman taught that bodywork is soul work. She would lie on the floor, breathe slowly, and allow dream images to be felt in the body rather than thought about in the head — letting the energy of the unconscious move through her physically rather than managing it mentally.
Make something. Her BodySoul Rhythms work included art-making, mask-making, movement, voice, and ritual as ways of giving form to what was gestating underground. The point was not to produce a finished product, but to let the hands and body participate in the emergence. This is, at its core, what art therapy asks of every client who walks through our door.
Journal to bring it to consciousness. After movement or image work, she would write as a form of sacred witnessing. She believed we must bring the underground material to consciousness for transformation to complete itself.
Resist the urge to rush. Her teaching emphasized patience and organic timing. The trick, she said, is not to rationalize everything immediately, but to let things resonate in the deeper self — even when it feels chaotic or unproductive.
Face what you are avoiding. Woodman believed the neglected places are precisely where transformation begins. She encouraged women to face, not avoid; to address, not suppress; and to surrender, not resist the shadow parts — trusting that what we are willing to be with will eventually offer its gifts.
You Are Not Alone in the Goo
I’m right there with you, my loves — asking the big questions about who I am, why I’m here, and how to most fruitfully shepherd my gifts into the world.
If you are in your own messy middle right now, know that you do not have to move through it alone. Our team of licensed art therapists at Fox + Feather specializes in holding space for exactly this kind of deep, underground work — for women, trans-femme individuals, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, ages 8 and older, in Guilford, CT and via telehealth throughout Connecticut.
We offer a free 15-minute phone consultation. Reach out here or call us at 860-393-0940.
The cocoon is not the end of the story. It never was.
— Sarah Guercia, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, Founder + Owner
FAQ
What is the “messy middle” in the context of healing?
The messy middle refers to the liminal phase of transformation — the space between who you were and who you are becoming. It often feels like stagnation, anxiety, or confusion, but Jungian theory and art therapy both recognize it as a period of profound inner work. It is not something to escape. It is something to move through.
Who was Marion Woodman?
Marion Woodman (1928–2018) was a Canadian Jungian psychoanalyst, author, and teacher who wrote extensively about feminine psychology, the body, dreams, and transformation. Her work on the “fallow time” — periods that look like stagnation but are actually the soul’s deepest work — has influenced generations of therapists and healers. Her books include The Pregnant Virgin and Dancing in the Flames.
How does art therapy help during times of uncertainty or transition?
Art therapy provides a way to give form to what cannot yet be spoken — to make the underground visible, to move energy through the body rather than manage it mentally. For clients in the messy middle, creative expression becomes a container for the transformation that is already underway.
Does Fox + Feather work with clients going through major life transitions?
Yes. Our individual art therapy sessions support clients navigating a wide range of experiences — including trauma recovery, eating disorder healing, identity exploration, grief, and the kind of deep existential transition that doesn’t have a name yet.
How do I get started?
We offer a free 15-minute phone consultation. Visit our contact page or call 860-393-0940. We will help you find the right provider and the right fit.
Why Choose Fox + Feather Healing Arts
Fox + Feather is Connecticut’s only group art therapy practice specializing in eating disorder and trauma recovery. We understand that healing is not linear — that the fallow seasons, the messy middles, and the moments of dissolution are not setbacks but sacred ground. Our team of licensed art therapists holds space for the full arc of transformation, serving female-identifying clients, trans-femme individuals, and LGBTQIA+ community members ages 8 and older, in person in Guilford, CT and via telehealth throughout Connecticut. We accept Husky insurance and most FSA and HSA plans. Meet our providers or contact us to begin.
References
Woodman, M. (1985). The pregnant virgin: A process of psychological transformation. Inner City Books.
Woodman, M., & Dickson, E. (1996). Dancing in the flames: The dark goddess in the transformation of consciousness. Shambhala.