Not all healing happens in a therapist’s office. Sometimes, it happens on your couch. You can be wrapped in a blanket, staring at the screen, watching someone else crack open and piece themselves back together. Television becomes a healing ground, beyond entertainment. We're forced into reflection and emotional rehearsal. And yet, sometimes, it can bring comfort, catharsis and clarity.
Here are five shows that left something with me. Ok, not just the messy plot twists or quotable scenes, but real lessons about boundaries, grief, ambition and survival. The kind of lessons that find you when you need them most.
SUCCESSION — "Boundaries Are Protection, Not Punishment."
In a family where love is weaponized and manipulation masquerades as connection, Succession reminds us that boundaries are more than buzzwords. They become someone's lifeline in the midst of conflict. Watching the Roy siblings navigate power, proximity and parental trauma, you realize that sometimes survival means stepping back. Choosing distance isn’t cold. It’s clarity.
THE LAST OF US — "Love Makes Us Brave, and Brutal."
What began as a post-apocalyptic story became a meditation on love. We're talking how these people navigate trauma in all its tenderness, its violence, its consequences. In The Last of Us, love is what drives people to risk, to fight, to lose and to hold on. It asks the uncomfortable question: what would you do for the person who saved you — or broke you — or both? The answer isn’t always noble. But it’s always human.
YELLOWJACKETS — "You Can Carry Trauma and Still Keep Going."
No one comes out of the woods the same. In Yellowjackets, the trauma isn’t just in the wilderness. It’s in the aftermath. What struck me most was how each character carries their past in wildly different ways, and yet… they’re all still here. Flawed, haunted, surviving. It’s a reminder that healing doesn’t always look like closure. Sometimes it looks like chaos. And an on-going journey.
THIS IS US — "The Past Doesn’t Go Away. But It Can Teach You Everything."
This one’s personal. This Is Us held so many of us through loss, transition, memory and the ache of not having the right words at the right time. It taught me that our wounds don’t disappear, but they can become portals to deeper empathy, that is, if we let them. It also reminded me that ordinary moments are where everything meaningful lives. The kitchen scenes. The car rides. The quiet forgiveness. It's all so incredibly human.
INDUSTRY — "Ambition Can’t Replace Meaning."
Industry is chaotic. Ruthless. Addictive. But beneath the sharp suits and even sharper dialogue, it’s a show about emptiness. About what happens when you chase validation instead of value. Watching Harper unravel (and rebuild) is a masterclass in what happens when you confuse your worth with your performance. We’ve all been there.
But the real work is learning to come home to yourself... after all the noise fades. Relatable? Raising my hand.
Maybe we’re all just watching to feel something. To see ourselves in someone else's script. To remind ourselves that the mess, the mistakes, the slow unfolding, it’s all part of becoming. So next time you feel like doing “nothing” by watching a show you love, know this: You’re not wasting time. TV is teaching us how to live again.
Apply, exhale and press play. Healing takes many forms.
* If you’re cueing up an episode tonight, pair it with a ritual that feels just as reflective.
The Quantum Mud Mask is our go-to for quiet evenings, a detox for your skin and your nervous system.