methodology
what is holistic therapy?
Holistic therapy addresses our being as an interconnected network of body, mind, spirit and environment in which each aspect impacts the other. When one element is out of alignment or in a state of disconnection our ideal state of homeostasis is affected. This may cause feelings of fragmentation and imbalance, which can manifest in a variety of symptoms such as anxiety, depression, illness, injury and addictions. With a holistic approach, the symptoms of imbalance are addressed by working with entire network, bringing us together into wholeness through: somatic movement, gentle hands on body work, nervous system regulation, intuitive empathic connection, embodiment practices, intra and interpersonal communication, ritual and deepening connection to our natural environment. Essentially, it is a vast toolbox of resources rooted in somatics, transpersonal and eco-psychologies that help to relationally integrate all parts of our being in order to live with greater ease and wellness.
transpersonal psychology
Transpersonal psychology supports spirituality as a component to physical and mental health, with a principle of trust in one’s psychological process, with the implication that consciousness has within itself inherent tendencies toward growth and evolution. Transpersonal Psychology (TP) was developed in 1967 with the purpose of creating a new psychology that would honour the entire spectrum of human experience, including various non-ordinary states of consciousness. TP recognizes the genuine nature of transpersonal experiences and their value through observations of transcendence such as mystical states, cosmic consciousness, psychedelic experiences, trance phenomena, creativity, and religious, and artistic inspiration. The concept of interconnectedness, wherein no one can be wholly independent from the larger system in which we all exist, is foundational to Transpersonal Psychology.
eco-psychology
Eco-philosophers relate systems science and deep ecology with the ancient teachings of indigenous cultures, in which our world is a dynamically interrelated whole. As kin to the animals and plants, rocks and winds of this sacred world, we can tap its powers, take part in its healing. I believe one’s true place is in/of nature and we have a unique ecological role to serve and nurture the web of life and a specific way of belonging to the biosphere. The essence of the human soul cannot be separated from the wildness of nature. The symbiotic joining of our ecological world with our interpersonal world is where both wounded disconnection and healing connection can arise, intersect and in their integration hold implications for health and wholeness. As such, holistic healing is inspired by and often actualized through nature.
somatic therapy
‘Soma’ comes from the latin word for body. Thus it is an integrative, body-centered approach that works with the physical body rather than just the cognitive story. It is rooted in the understanding that life experiences, stress, and past traumas leave physical imprints in the nervous system, muscle tissue, and emotional body, which cannot be resolved through talk therapy or intellectual reasoning alone. Somatic therapy brings awareness back down into physical sensation to help the nervous system discharge held stress, regulate its state, and restore innate wholeness.
