🐾 Shells, Whiskers, and Healing Spaces: The Therapy of Caring for Torti and Dua

In the quiet corners of my Zen Garden, healing doesn’t always wear a human face. Sometimes, it walks slowly on four clawed feet, or curls up in a sunbeam with soft fur and ancient eyes. Sometimes, healing is a tortoise named Torti, and a cat named Dua, my companions, my teachers, my family.
People often say, “It’s just a tortoise. It can take care of itself.”
But that’s not true. And it’s not kind.
Anything living, be it a tortoise, a cat, a child, or a plant, needs love, rhythm, and relationship to grow. To blossom. To feel safe enough to unfurl.

🐢 Torti: The Unexpected Heale

Torti was left behind. Unasked for, unplanned. A gift without consent.
She arrived with a hard shell and wary eyes, abandoned in my garden like an afterthought. But I couldn’t turn away. Because in therapy, we learn that the ones who seem the hardest to reach are often the ones who need us most. So, I built her a home. I named her. I fed her. I spoke softly.
And today, Torti will receive her first lukewarm bath, a ritual of trust, a message that says: “You are not just a shell. You are family.”
She walks the garden now, exploring narrow passages, lifting her head to find me. That’s not instinct. That’s connection. That’s the beginning of attachment.

🐈 Dua: The Guardian of Grace

Dua, my beloved cat, has been my shadow through grief, illness, and rebirth. She watches over Torti with curiosity and quiet acceptance. They are not the same species, but they share a language of presence. When Dua and Torti are happy, I am happy. Because their peace reflects the safety I’ve cultivated in this space.

🌿 The Therapy of Animal Care

Caring for an animal is not just feeding and sheltering. It’s:

• Attunement: Learning their rhythms, their fears, their joys.
• Consistency: Showing up, even when they don’t respond.
• Boundaries: Protecting their space and yours.
• Symbolic Rituals: Bathing, feeding, speaking, acts that build trust and identity.
• Emotional Reflection: Animals mirror our moods, our energy, our healing.
  In trauma-informed therapy, we speak of co-regulation, the way nervous systems sync in safe relationships. Torti and Dua co-regulate with me. When I’m calm, they soften. When I’m anxious, they retreat. They teach me to breathe, to slow down, to listen beyond words.

💛 A Shell Is Not a Barrier

Torti is not just a tortoise. She is a soul in a shell.
And that shell is not a barrier, it’s a metaphor. For protection. For history. For the slow unfolding of trust.
She is not here to entertain. She is here to belong.
And where we go, she and Dua follow.

By: Naazi Morad – for the love of animals