In a recent session, a client and I did something a little different: a quick tarot draw. I use it the way I might use a good question — as a mirror, a prompt, a way of naming something the client already half-knows but hasn’t said out loud. That day, three cards came up, and each one told us something different.
Fortune: This is a phase
The Wheel of Fortune came up first. Its message was simple: something is moving.
Nothing in life — even suffering — lasts forever. Circumstances change. We change. That isn’t the same as saying “everything will be fine.” It’s saying that where you are now is not necessarily where you will always be.
Strength: What’s already there
Next came Strength. Not the Victorian will kind but quiet inner knowing.
This card asked my client to notice something: strength that was already present, just not yet recognised as strength. Not something to build from nothing, but something to see more clearly.
Seven of Wands: Saying no
The last card was the Seven of Wands — standing your ground.
Something in my client had begun to say no. This isn’t how I want my life to be. It was a quiet no. Whatever form it takes, that voice matters. We have to listen to it — not to force ourselves into becoming someone else, but because some part of us already knows there’s more possible.
More than the problem
Three cards, three questions: What’s moving? What’s already yours? What are you no longer willing to accept?
They spoke to my client about what they had survived, and what might be possible next.
The Wheel keeps turning. My client had new questions to ponder. That’s usually the point — the cards don’t tell you what to do. They just make it harder to keep looking away from what you already know. That’s why they can be so powerful in therapy.