Holistic Counseling Explained

The What, Why, and How

With so many options for different types of counseling, how does one choose or know where to start? Therapists can be referred by friends or doctors, though many have waiting lists or the referral may not feel like a good fit. Sometimes people want to do some investigating before choosing a therapist or a particular type of counseling, or they’ve tried traditional talk therapy methods but feel like they need something more. If you are struggling with anxiety, high levels of stress, or the effects of past trauma and recognize that the life you’re living is burning you out, wearing you down, or doesn’t feel sustainable, then exploring holistic counseling is worth looking into. Let’s start with answers to a few questions and you can always contact me for additional information. 

What does holistic counseling mean? 

Why include more than just talk therapy?

How do holistic counselors provide holistic protocols in their practice? 

The WHAT

What does holistic mean in mental health therapy? 

The definition of holistic, according to Merriam-Webster, includes relating to or being concerned with wholes or complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts. In counseling, this means being concerned with the health of the whole human being, rather than addressing issues solely related to mental/emotional health. Our mental health is not the only part of us that suffers from constant stress, worry, anxiety, fear, or other issues that we deal with daily - our body, relationships, soul, and spirit are impacted as well. A holistic approach to wellness is essential for healing the whole human being. 

Is holistic counseling new agey or woo woo? 

The term “holistic” can sometimes be affiliated with  “woo woo” culture that focuses on spiritual, mystical, or alternative healing practices, which may or may not always be scientifically based or effective long term.  But practical, evidenced-based definitions and examples of holistic practices are becoming accepted in mainstream health fields due to their effectiveness in supporting sustainable well-being and in providing more culturally diverse options for therapy. Research on the effectiveness of holistic practices can be found on PubMed and through the Natural Institutes of Health.  

To be considered a holistic practice, therapy typically needs to include modalities that address the physical, mental/emotional, social, and spiritual aspects of health. I firmly believe that environmental aspects need to be considered as well, including our connection (or lack thereof) with nature and our sense of place and safety in our surroundings. 

The WHY 

Why should counseling include more than traditional talk therapy?

Traditional talk therapy certainly has its place and can be life-saving. Many techniques can be beneficial for gaining awareness and understanding of issues, learning to cope with challenges, changing narratives, identifying patterns, building ego strength and resiliency, and practicing rising above or moving beyond issues or limitations. Yet life isn’t limited to our conscious intellectual and emotional experience. It includes physical, physiological, environmental, and spiritual encounters that occur alongside others having their own physical, physiological, environmental, and spiritual encounters that deeply impact us, whether we are consciously aware of the impact or not.

Addressing the physical

A holistic practice that addresses the physical can support clients in examining how their lifestyles and eating habits may be impacting their mental health and well-being. Addressing physiological aspects can be explored by learning about the autonomic nervous system and its unconscious, automatic shifts into states (or responses) that can quickly impact our moods and behaviors. Using nature-based insights and activities can support our understanding of environmental impacts on our thoughts, emotions, intuition, and physiological responses, all of which can impact our mood and overall health. And addressing encounters related to spirit and soul helps us to understand our beliefs, our longings, and our need for connection with ourselves, with others, and with our origins or perhaps with that of a higher power or creator.  

Including spirit and soul

Regarding spiritual aspects of health, holistic treatment is often associated with the ascent to the spiritual through mindfulness, meditation, and other mind-body techniques. These are very beneficial in increasing recognition and acceptance of body responses, calming the body, and learning to be more present with what is. Yet, as emphasized extensively by author Bill Plotkin, many holistic practices fail to also recognize the importance of the descent into the animal body at the level of the soul, where intuition, deep emotions, and a lifetime of cellular experiences are embodied. Holistic should ideally cover both the ascent and the descent, going universally wide and individually deep.

The HOW

So, how does a holistic therapist address the concerns of the whole human? 

Each holistic therapist works to provide what they feel is vital for supporting the well-being of their clients, so their practices may look a little different and clients should ask for more information about the holistic techniques and modalities that they feel aligned with or drawn to. Within those differences, I believe some essentials must be considered including the importance of experiential modalities that offer clients opportunities to increase awareness of their internal representations of the world and the inclusion of psycho-education that focuses on the influence of our physiological responses, lifestyle choices, and the environment as they relate to our mental health and overall well-being. 

An Essential Piece: Experiential Therapy

Sharing difficult stories and becoming more comfortable with discussing our pain, challenges, or trauma can be quite helpful, but the lived experience of events that caused these issues may remain with us. Because we live through or embody these experiences on a cellular level, we need to find opportunities that allow us to drop into and hold space for these feelings and physical responses in a place of safety and connection, ideally with another. Healing sacred wounds and deep emotional pain requires an in-and-through experiential process that must be felt, not just discussed. For some, it’s necessary to find opportunities in healing that go beyond our words or conscious thought, particularly for challenges and traumas that were endured before there were words available to describe them or the feelings that they generated. For others, the opportunity for experiential practices allows for deeper connections, more creativity, and lower resistance when exploring personal challenges. 

Experiential therapies often include what is sometimes referred to as co-therapists. Co-therapists might include music, art, dance, Nature, somatic bodywork, sound, psychotropic medications, and other modalities. These encounters support us in experiencing ourselves in the presence of an “other” that can open us to all of our senses and often to non-ordinary states of consciousness.  This work can be very powerful and typically has better outcomes when assisted by a guide experienced in anchoring in safety and support while navigating the inner journey. 

An Essential Piece: Psycho-education

We genuinely have only limited opportunities to learn about how our physiology, diet, exercise, lifestyle habits, and the natural environment can impact our mental health, even if we’ve been through Master's programs for mental health counseling. We have even fewer opportunities to garner the support we need to fully explore and integrate healthy lifestyle patterns and interactions with nature, and to understand and work with our nervous system which impacts us on a minute-to-minute basis every day of our lives. 

I firmly believe that all of us need to understand our bodies better and recognize how the knowledge and acceptance of our needs and reactions can provide motivation for changes that improve how we feel and how we respond to challenges in our lives. This includes recognizing the responses of the autonomic nervous system, which is in charge of our fight, flight, and freeze responses, as well as our ability to connect safely with others. Additionally, the connection with nature is essential in appreciating our human-animal need for safety, connection, and a true sense of belonging in the world.  Although these influences get little attention in most therapeutic approaches, they are vital contributors to our sense of well-being and should be considered when addressing the health of the whole human being. 

Self-awareness: the key that fits the door to change 

My goal with clients is to provide opportunities for increased self-awareness in all areas of their lives as we cannot change that which we do not know about or understand. The human self can be safely explored from a variety of intrinsic perspectives and personalized lifestyle considerations that help us identify and better understand our unique physical and physiological needs and responses, emotional patterns and practiced beliefs, environmental cues and influences, instinctual and intuitional nudges, relational, social, and spiritual connections, and our soul’s deepest longings. 

When you’re ready, there’s a world of insight and adventure waiting within you and we can explore it together.

To learn more about my holistic counseling practice and therapeutic techniques visit my site https://www.bachandblueberries.com/

To share thoughts or questions, contact me at jess@bachandblueberries.com or call 540-525-1060