Why the butterfly?

Each of us transforms. 

There is no more striking symbol of transformation than a butterfly. From egg to larva, to leaving the safety of the cocoon and emerging as a butterfly in her unfurling glory, the transformation that takes place almost before our eyes symbolically represents hope and new beginnings.

If nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies

There’s no better symbol for The Royal. Our core belief is in the possibility of transformation — transformation that can happen with a little help from the right people. 

Our team of dedicated researchers and mental health care workers are bent on a single mission: to give patients with mental illness the tools they need to leave the darkness of their cocoons and emerge as butterflies.

The Royal is a centre of excellence where patients embark on new beginnings, families heal, and communities unite. The butterfly represents mental health care at its best. The Royal is here to shine a spotlight on patient care, community focused education, and breakthrough research. 

Much like the transformation that changes a single egg into a complex and breathtaking butterfly, the world-renowned research happening at The Royal transforms single ideas into some of the most significant scientific breakthroughs in the field of mental health research today. And patients are the direct beneficiaries of this work.

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty."
— Maya Angelou
The transformative process for patients with mental illness isn’t easy. But at The Royal, the butterfly also represents possibility – that new beginnings are real, that re-birth can happen, and that, like butterflies taking flight after emerging from their cocoons, patients can recover and reach new heights in their lives.