February 14, 2025
Confusing Stimulation With Transformation
I read a post reflecting on the idea of just because you went through a spiritual awakening yourself, does not mean one is qualified to facilitate transformation or healing in others. I sat with this a while and it got me thinking about my own experiences—both personal and professional.
I’ve been doing this work for nearly two decades now—walking alongside people in their deepest pain, untangling the roots of trauma, and helping them reclaim their power. And over the years, I’ve watched trends come and go.
The deluge of overnight shamans or priestesses, Instagram healers, and self-proclaimed “masters” who have never sat in the fire of their own reckoning—never faced themselves fully, never allowed their own illusions to burn away, never surrendered to the depths of their own healing before offering to guide others—has been disturbing to witness. And with it, I see a new addiction on the rise.
Not to substances, but to the constant high of spiritual spectacle. The rush of the next ceremony, the next activation, the next dopamine hit of being told you’re “ascending.” Chasing peak experiences instead of integration.
Confusing stimulation with transformation.
What does that mean?
It means they’ve never been cracked open by the weight of their own wounds, forced to confront the uncomfortable truths about themselves, their conditioning, their lineage, and the ways they, too, have contributed to harm.
They’ve never had to navigate the raw, humbling process of breaking down everything they thought they knew—sitting in the discomfort long enough to let it transform them, rather than bypassing it with a new title, a quick certification, or a spiritual persona.
Because true healing isn’t a trend or a title—it’s a lifelong initiation.
Real transformation doesn’t come from collecting tools, hopping from one modality to the next, or curating a perfect aesthetic.
It’s NOT a high-ticket program, a hypnotic sales pitch, or an endless cycle of ceremonies.It’s the slow, unglamorous, and deeply personal work of undoing illusions, sitting with the discomfort, and learning to hold yourself through it before ever holding space for another.
And yet, I see the harm caused when seekers—earnest, vulnerable, and yearning for real healing—end up in the hands of someone who hasn’t done that deeper work to recognize their own blind spots.
I’ve held those left broken by it, who were promised healing but walked away more fractured than before. Some don’t walk away at all. The cost of this irresponsibility is too high.
For those of us who have dedicated decades—if not lifetimes—to this path, witnessing the rise of surface-level spirituality can be disheartening, if not exhausting.
And yet, we don’t do this work for validation, competition, or status. We do it because it’s who we are.
Because truth doesn’t require a spotlight—it simply needs to be embodied.
The depth of this path isn’t measured by popularity but by the integrity with which it’s lived every day.
To those who have been burned, who have handed their power over and are now finding their way back: You are not broken. Your intuition is still intact. The right guides, the right spaces, and the real healing are out there. Slow down enough to feel what is true.
And for those of us who have spent years doing this work, who sometimes wonder if it’s worth it: It is. Because even if the noise is loud, even if the illusion is tempting, truth always finds a way.
If this resonates, please let us see you.
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Let’s keep standing in what is real.
With Appreciation,– Laura Bonetzky-Joseph
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