Depth Psychological Series Part Three

Understanding Fibroids as Messages Worth Listening To

"The body remembers what the mind may not always articulate."

We often think of our body as something that either works or breaks. When symptoms begin to appear, many times our first instinct is to ask, “What is wrong?” Modern medicine has made extraordinary advances in identifying illnesses, understanding physiology, and developing treatments that improve and save lives. This knowledge is invaluable, especially for Black women, whose pain is often dismissed or misdiagnosed within traditional healthcare systems.

However, depth psychology invites us to ask an additional question.

What if our body is not only biological but also symbolic? What if symptoms are not solely conditions to treat, but experiences that invite us to listen more deeply to ourselves?

Our experience of illness is never purely physical. Every diagnosis enters our individual emotional life. It shapes our identity, relationships, hopes, fears, and the stories we tell ourselves about our bodies. A depth perspective invites us to explore this inner landscape with the same curiosity we bring to physical healing.

Rather than only asking, “How do I remove this fibroid?” it is also important to ask, “How has living with fibroids shaped my relationship with my body, my emotions, and my sense of self?”

These questions do not replace medicine—they expand our understanding of healing.

The Body as a Messenger

From a depth lens the psyche and the body are deeply interconnected. While the body communicates through physical sensations, the psyche communicates through symbols, dreams, emotions, images, and meaning. Together, they create a dialogue that is often overlooked in traditional healthcare.

Our bodies constantly communicate with us.

A rapid heart might alert us to fear.

Tight shoulders might signal prolonged stress.

Chronic fatigue might reveal that our internal resources have been depleted.

Pain often demands attention when our lives have left little room for rest.

These experiences are not simply inconveniences to silence. They become invitations to pause, reflect, and ask what our bodies may be trying to communicate about our lived experience.

This invites us to become curious rather than dismissive. Not because every symptom has a hidden psychological explanation, but because every symptom becomes part of our psychological story.

Beyond What's Wrong? to What is this Experience Asking of Me?

Medicine understandably asks:

• What is the diagnosis?

• What treatment is appropriate?

• How can symptoms be reduced?

A depth framework asks different but complementary questions:

• How has this illness changed my relationship with myself?

• What emotions have I had to carry in silence?

• What have I learned to endure without acknowledgment?

• When and where have I become disconnected from my own body?

• What part of myself is asking to be heard?

These questions move us beyond pathology and toward meaning. Meaning does not eliminate suffering. But it can transform how we relate to suffering.

The Black Female Body Has a Story

For many African American women, listening to the body also means listening within a cultural context.

Black women have inherited powerful messages like: 

“Keep going.”

“Don’t complain.”

“Be strong.”

“Take care of everyone else first.”

These messages have helped generations survive unimaginable hardship. Yet these survival strategies often come with a cost. When our vulnerability is discouraged, the body may now become a place where exhaustion, grief, fear, and emotional overwhelm live. Now the body becomes a place where it carries the impact of living with the lack of vulnerability. 

It’s important to note that understanding fibroids through a depth lens is not about blaming women for their illness. It is about honoring the possibility that illness might become an invitation to reconnect with ourselves in ways that society has not always permitted.

Listening with Compassion

Envision yourself approaching your body not as something that has betrayed you, but as something that has remained with you through every season of your life.

Instead of asking,

“Why is my body doing this to me?”

Gently ask,

“What has my body been carrying?”

“What have I been asked to hold for everyone else?”

“Where have I stopped listening to myself?”

These questions are not intended to produce immediate answers.

They are invitations to listen intentionally overtime.

Invitations into deeper self-awareness.

Into compassion and into healing that honors both medicine and meaning.

Reflection

As you reflect on your own journey, consider these questions:

• When did I first begin to disconnect from my body’s signals?

• What emotions have I felt unable to express?

• How has living with fibroids changed the way I relate to myself?

• What would it look like to approach my body with curiosity instead of criticism?

• If my body could speak without words, what might it want me to know today?

A gentle reminder that healing is rarely one-dimensional. It is physical, emotional, relational, spiritual, cultural and for many women, it is profoundly symbolic.

Depth insights reminds us that healing begins not only by treating the body, but also by listening to it.

Perhaps our bodies are not simply failing us. Perhaps our bodies are asking us to begin a conversation we have been taught to avoid. The ultimate question is whether we are ready to.

Coming Soon: Womb Trauma and the Unconscious.