Holistic Counselling therapy in Melbourne
At Holistic Counselling
What happens during session heavily depends on the type of counselling you are receiving. However, there are a few common procedures. Your first session is solely about getting to know your therapist and letting your therapist get to know you. The first session tends to be longer, averaging 90 minutes to 2 hours. During this time, you will discuss your goals with your therapist, your concerns, ask any questions, and see if you and your therapist are a good match!
From there your therapist will create a program for you and you’ll be seen accordingly. Holistic counselling is great for anyone struggling with emotional disorders such as depression, anxiety, personality disorders, mania, panic, and many others. Remember, the body was designed to heal itself, you just have to allow it to do so!
Holistic Counselling Melbourne
Probably one of the most integrative forms of therapy, holistic counselling is centered around the concept of seeing the whole of the person.
This type of counselling (often) does not support the use of pharmaceutical treatments for behaviour change. Instead, the practice is based on using holistic methods to help a person change their behaviour from the inside out. Traditional psychotherapy uses what is known as a top-down approach. Talk therapy, CBT, psychodynamic therapy are all top down approaches.
A relatively new approach, at least in the Western world, is called a bottom-up approach. Somatic therapy, is a bottom up approach. This synergy between a top down, as well as a bottom up, is what I constitute a holistic modality to psychotherapy.
One’s sleeping habits, as well as diet and excercise also fall under the domain if holistic therapy. Holistic therapy is ideal if you’re looking to make significant changes to your life that are long-lasting, without adding in unnatural medications or practices.
What happens in Holistic Therapy in Melbourne ?
What happens during session heavily depends on the type of counselling you are receiving. However, there are a few common procedures. Your first session is solely about getting to know your therapist and letting your therapist get to know you.
The first session tends to be longer, averaging 90 minutes to 2 hours. During this time, you will discuss your goals with your therapist, your concerns, ask any questions, and see if you and your therapist are a good match!
From there your therapist will create a program for you and you’ll be seen accordingly. Holistic counselling is great for anyone struggling with emotional disorders such as depression, anxiety, personality disorders, mania, panic, and many others. Remember, the body was designed to heal itself, you just have to allow it to do so!
Holistic Counselling Melbourne
Probably one of the most integrative forms of therapy, holistic counselling is centered around the concept of seeing the whole of the person.
This type of counselling (often) does not support the use of pharmaceutical treatments for behaviour change. Instead, the practice is based on using holistic methods to help a person change their behaviour from the inside out.
Traditional psychotherapy uses what is known as a top-down approach. Talk therapy, CBT, psychodynamic therapy are all top down approaches. Bottom up psychotherapy on the other hand, begins with the felt sense, the feelings, the heavyness you may feel, or that tight chest that comes along with feeling anxious for example.
This synergy between a top down, as well as a bottom up, is what I constitute a holistic modality to psychotherapy. One’s sleeping habits, as well as diet and exercise also fall under the domain if holistic therapy.
Holistic therapy is ideal if you’re looking to make significant changes to your life that are long-lasting, without adding in unnatural medications or practices.
Types of Holistic Counselling
There are varying types of holistic counselling, most of which are often performed by a psychotherapist – which is someone who trained in using psychological practices to help people change their behaviours.
Some popular forms of psychotherapy include somatic therapy, meditational practices, and dream analysis, journalying, art therapy.
People who find a profound connection to or a belief in symbolism may benefit from art therapy or dream analysis. Both of these practices are centered around the idea that what we see in our dreams or how we choose to draw out our lives represents what our inner subconscious is feeling or interpreting.
Based on the works of Carl Jung, dream analysis is said to be a valued practice where clients discuss reoccurring or unique dreams with their therapist and then analyse them to determine what they may mean and how they apply to their lives today.
Somatic Therapy
Somatic Therapy and Focusing Oriented Therapy is a type of psychotherapy that combines various elements from different therapeutic traditions, including psychodynamic, experiential, and systemic approaches. Somatic Therapy and Focusing Oriented Therapy is based on the idea that individuals have different “parts” within themselves, each with its own thoughts, feelings, and intentions.
According to Somatic Therapy, these internal parts can be in conflict with each other, leading to emotional distress and various psychological symptoms. The goal of Somatic Therapy is to help individuals explore and understand these different parts of themselves, fostering self-awareness and self-compassion.
The key concepts of Internal Family Systems include:
- Self: In Somatic Therapy, the term “Self” refers to the core, undamaged, and compassionate aspect of a person. The goal is to help individuals connect with their Self, which can then provide healing and balance to the internal system.
- Parts: Parts are the different aspects of an individual’s personality or psyche. Each part has its own unique characteristics, emotions, and beliefs. Parts can be protective (trying to shield the individual from pain) or exiled (containing memories or emotions that the individual finds difficult to handle).
- Different Parts: We can have different parts that can sometimes “get in the way” or need to be understood deeply, to allow for more inner harmony. Some parts try to control and organize life to prevent pain, while another part may act impulsively to distract from or extinguish emotional distress. And there are other parts that carry the wounds, traumas, or painful memories. All of these parts deeply need to be understood.
- Felt Shift: Somatic Therapy involves helping individuals work with their parts, acknowledging and understanding their roles, and releasing burdens carried by these parts. This process aims to bring about healing and integration.
- Inner Harmony: The ultimate goal of somatic therapy is to help individuals achieve inner harmony by developing a relationship with their internal parts and facilitating communication and cooperation among them.
Somatic Therapy is used for a variety of mental health concerns, including trauma, anxiety, depression, and relationship issues. It is often seen as a non-pathologizing and empowering approach, as it views internal conflicts as understandable responses to life experiences rather than as symptoms of pathology.
Interoception
Somatic Psychotherapy is another highly beneficial therapy technique that focuses on the inner landscape known as Interoception – an awareness of minute changes that occur in the body when processing trauma.
This practice helps clients centre themselves with their subconscious mind and tune inward to get a deeper understanding of how they are feeling, how to react to external situations, etc.
This practice is well sought-after and highly beneficial to clients who need help calming down during high-emotion circumstances, avoiding panic attacks, addressing how they feel about trauma, etc.
Psychotherapy often incorporates whole-body focus orienting therapy, which assists clients who are experiencing overwhelming emotions such as anxiety, panic, depression, etc. as well as for people who experience chronic or reoccurring pain with no successful treatments.
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