You Are Worthy of Love: Honoring All Kinds of Connection
Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash
At our core, every human being wants to feel loved—and to be able to give love freely in return.
This month, as the world celebrates Pride, we want to take a moment to gently affirm a truth that so many people are still learning to believe:
You are worthy of love. Exactly as you are.
We're told it should be instinctual, joyful, and fulfilling. And while it can be all those things, the reality is often more complex. For many, it also brings exhaustion, identity shifts, isolation, rage, grief, and anxiety. And yet, much of this remains unspoken. Stigmatized. Dismissed.
Not someday. Not once you've done the work. Not only if you fit into someone else's idea of what love "should" look like.
Right now. As you are.
Whether you’re partnered or solo, discovering your identity or quietly claiming it, surrounded by chosen family or learning to trust others again—your capacity to give and receive love is already whole. And it matters.
So many of us have been taught—by systems, by upbringing, by painful experiences—that our love is too much, not enough, too different, or somehow undeserving of space. But love is not something that has to be earned. It’s something that grows in safety, trust, and truth. It looks like friendships that hold you through the hard days. It looks like caring for yourself with tenderness. It looks like creating space where others can feel seen and known.
Here at Collaboration for Psychological Wellness, we hold space for all kinds of love—romantic, platonic, familial, communal, and self-directed. We work to affirm that healing happens in relationship: with ourselves, with each other, and with the world around us.
During Pride Month and every month, we want to say this clearly:
You deserve love that feels safe. Love that reflects your truth. Love that invites you to be your full self.
And you deserve to offer that kind of love, too.
With compassion,
The Team at Collaboration for Psychological Wellness
About the Author
After spending years in a local community mental health setting and group practice in leadership positions, Tina D. Shah (PsyD, LP) decided to start Collaboration for Psychological Wellness, LLC to expand access and reduce barriers to services.