Rubus allegheniensis sound straight out a a magical world, but it is actually the scientific name of the Allegheny blackberry. This variety of blackberry grows native to Virginia. Deep in humid July months, blackberries ripen to the delight of my family as we beat the heat with early morning walks.
The bushes grow all over including sometimes finding their way into beds meant for flowers or where construction has taken trees down. The thick shrubs can provide a formidable foe for the various landscapers. But for my family they are just one of the delights of the region and a welcome sight as it is native vegetation.
In considering how to represent Chantilly, Virginia, I considered native trees like the Tall Cedars that line our streets or the lace and cream inspired by the French Chantilly. However, I liked the process of change of the blackberry and how it serves as a metaphor for therapy.
There are periods in our healing and learning with speech therapy that are more like the blackberry bush in winter. All you can see are the thorns at first. In the spring we see buds for new leaves and flower forming. Sometimes not all those flowers or leaves fully form. The blackberry bush has to keep holding on. As summer comes, the flowers mature, and again we meet with early challenges of the fruit fully forming. For blackberries, cold snaps, animals, and high wind may stop progress for some fruit. However, eventually, we get to enjoy the full ripened bush. The interesting thing to note though is the thorns are still there. In the beauty of the spring flowers, the hope of the young berries, and during the harvest, the thorns are there the entire time. The thorns have not actually changed, but we can see them for what they really are.
We can come to therapy hoping for a fundamental change. Sometimes we get that in speech therapy. More often we have growth around our challenge, and our perceptions of challenges can be like how we perceive the thorns of the blackberry bush. Our work in therapy will yield growth and fruit, but it not be the removal of the thorn but beauty in the midst of the thorns.
Chantilly Speech Therapy logo has the blackberry flower featured. I choose the flower for the logo to offer the first glimmer of hope amidst the thorns that bring you to my services. I love how it can represent my own growth as a clinician and a business.