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“Holistic” is a term thrown around a lot when it comes to our wellbeing and mental health care, but what does it actually mean? I find that sometimes as mental health professionals we use terms that aren’t necessarily widely understood which can leave people feeling excluded and alienated when what we what is the complete opposite! I thought it would be helpful to provide a breakdown of what I believe are the domains integral to holistic counselling.
Before looking at the domains I want to note 3 things:
1- These are brief overviews of complex topics; I’m not covering them in-depth.
2- How relevant each domain is will vary depending on a client’s hopes, needs, and wants for therapy.
3- These aspects overlap and complement one another- which is part of a holistic approach in itself!
Holistic Counselling is… Intersectional
Intersectionality recognises that people embody multiple social identities (e.g. race, gender expression, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, ability neurodiversity) and that these identities interact and intersect in ways thatcan lead to unique challenges and experiences. An intersectional lens is especially important when working with people who belong to marginalized or underrepresented groups as they often face intersecting forms of discrimination and oppression.
In counselling sessions, we might explore your own unique social identities and how they interact to influence your experiences, values, relationships,and overall wellbeing. Social justice and advocacy are integral to intersectionality; so we may work together to help you to develop coping strategies, resilience, and self-advocacy skills to navigate and resist oppressive systems.
Holistic Counselling is…Sensory Sensitive
Individuals are unique in how we process sensory input and information. Sensory preferences develop when we are young and tend to continue with us, but the way we live our lives isn’t always accommodating to our sensory needs. Holistic counselling respects that all clients come with their own unique needs and preferences and that exploring and bringing awareness to these in sessions can be invaluable.
Responding to sensory needs in counselling helps to:
Build a sense of comfort, trust and safety
Encourage greater self-expression
Support emotional regulation
Increase self-awareness
How we adjust sessions to meet an individual’s sensory needs varies but examples include:
Adjusting lighting
Changing seating arrangements
Opening/closing windows and doors
Using essential oils or mists
Use of sensory items (e.g. fidget toys, weighted blankets)
Incorporating safe movement (e.g. stretching, walking)
Integrating mindfulness
Incorporating expressive counselling strategies
Holistic Counselling is...Body Aware
The holistic approach acknowledges that our body and mind are inextricably linked and have a mutually beneficial role in overall well-being. Being Body Aware means understanding that our thoughts, emotions and behaviours are interconnected with our physical health experiences. At times we can experience disconnection between body and mind- this can be conscious or subconscious. In some instances it is protective; a form of coping mechanism in response to mental and/or physical distress or trauma.
Areas which may be helpful to explore in sessions include:
Physical health conditions/challenges
Health distress and anxiety
Relationship with body, food, movement, and exercise
Chronic conditions/pain
Body-related discrimination and stigma (e.g. regarding weight, size, fat phobia)
There are a range of different strategies and techniques we can use in sessions to help strengthen the body-mind connection. These include:
Neuroeducation (e.g. learning more about the brain-body connection)
Mindfulness
Grounding exercises
Safe movement (e.g. stretching, postural changes)
Expressive activities (e.g. using art, role-play and movement)
Holistic Counselling is...Climate Aware
Holistic counselling recognises that people are intricately connected, embedded in, and inseparable from, the rest of nature. It understands that the natural environment (which includes animals and beloved pets) can have significant impacts on personal wellbeing and suffering. Being climate aware means taking seriously the psychological impacts of climate change, natural disasters, extreme weather events and loss of biodiversity- i.e. on our behaviour, thoughts and emotions.
Research indicates that many people around the world, especially young people, are experiencing some level of eco-distress- which can manifest in feelings of anxiety, grief, hopelessness or sense of disconnect from nature. Therefore, if this is an area relevant to you, we might:
Explore the concepts of eco-distress, eco-grief and/or eco-anxiety and their presence in your life
Look at broader human-nature relationships and systems
Look at the role the natural environment plays in your life
Identify environments where you feel most comfortable and connected to place
Apart from talk-therapy, we might us more specific strategies in our sessions such as:
Nature-based mindfulness activities
Horticultural therapy (e.g. gardening)
Incorporating nature in sessions (e.g. going for a walk, bringing plants and other natural items into sessions)
Journalling (e.g. about day to day interactions with nature)
Holistic Counselling is...Trauma Informed
Being trauma-informed is pivotal to holistic counselling. It means understanding that trauma experiences are complex with vast psychological, physical and cognitive impacts. Some key understandings from a trauma-informed lens are:
Experiences of trauma are highly personalised and contextual; they’re influenced by socio-cultural factors.
What is experienced as traumatic for one person may not be for another.
Responses to, and memories/triggers of, trauma can be sudden, unexpected and frightening.
Re-traumatisation is a risk that needs to be respectfully and gently managed in sessions.
Neurological aspects of trauma can significantly impact counselling- i.e hyperarousal, dissociation and emotional dysregulation
For all of these reasons, trauma-informed, holistic counselling places emphasis on:
Transparency, collaboration and empowerment- i.e. where clients dictate that pace and content of sessions
Trust and safety- making the counselling space emotionally, physically and psychologically safe
Being flexible and adaptable about what is explored in sessions and what modalities are used
The client’s right to autonomy and choice
Clients strengths, skills and resilience
The counselling relationship can help to restore a sense of safety, control and self-efficacy which are often undermined by trauma experiences. In order to regulate the nervous system and support healing, we might use techniques like:
Mindfulness
Emotional Regulation
Grounding exercises
Sensory modulation
Neuro-education
Compassion-focused activities
Holistic Counselling is...Welcoming
Certain issues will bring you to counselling, but getting to know about you apart from those issues is invaluable and can help to build a greater sense of trust and safety in the counselling relationship. It can also help to personalise counselling strategies and approaches- what will fit best for you and be most sustainable long-term. Getting to know you more fully as a person also helps to build (and re-building) confidence, self-compassion and self-acceptance.
In sessions we might explore:
Interests and hobbies, likes and dislikes
Strengths and skills- what are you good at?
World beliefs, spiritual or faith practices
Values- what matters most to you
Hopes for the future
It’s quite common to find these topics challenging to speak about- especially in the midst of the issues bringing someone to counselling. Some specific strategies and interventions we might use in sessions include:
Values-based activities from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Internal Family Systems/Parts Therapy
Tree of Life/metaphor-based activities
Creative activities (i.e. use of journalling, art, music)
Holistic Counselling is...Systems Aware
Individuals exist within a network of relationships and interconnected systems- i.e. family, work, friends, community, etc. Issues or changes in one system can have ripple effects on others e.g. problems in the family system might impact on the individual’s well-being and/or work system. From a systems perspective we might focus on:
Understanding your systems; how they influence your experiences, behaviours and emotions
Developing/growing confidence and communication skills to help navigate and influence relationships and systems more effectively
Strategies we might use when exploring the systems you are a part of and how they might be impacting you include:
Visually mapping out your systems
Experiential techniques (e.g. role-play)
Circular questioning- exploring patterns of communication
Why do I choose to use a holistic approach?
I've found that taking a holistic approach helps to build a strong therapeutic alliance (essentially the relationship between me as counsellor and you as client). Overwhelming research evidence tells us that the therapeutic alliance makes up for over 70% of positive therapeutic outcomes. Therefore, for me, it makes sense that I choose an approach which emphasises relationship building, safety and trust.
To sum up, here is a list of my favourite things about working from a holistic approach:
Focus on connection, safety and respect
Emphasis on collaboration, choice and autonomy
Embraces people as multi-faceted and dynamic
Open-minded, genuine and transparent therapist
Encourages curiosity and self-discovery
Adaptable and doesn’t expect clients to “fit” therapy
Facilitates integration of various therapeutic modalities (rather than strictly following a certain approach)
If you’d like more information about my Holisitic counselling approach or the therapeutic modalities I draw on, please get in touch!
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