Integrative Psychotherapy... "A Mind Body medicine Approach" How can this type of Holistic Therapy/Counseling help you Elevate Your LIfe?

Happy November 1, 2020!!!!.. This hope of this post is to explain why Integrative Psychotherapy (IP) is different and how it can help you elevate your life to the next level.  Well lets make this simple and sweet.  When you look at anything through a holistic lens it helps you identify and therefore address issues on a multi-faceted level increases the potential of transformative change. 

What makes (IP) different than other types of traditional psychotherapy?   There are over 400 different varieties of psychotherapeutic approaches and it has been a common practice to choose one type of therapy and apply it with clients (Zarbo, Tasca, Cattafi, & Compare, 2016). An Integrative Psychotherapy model is different, IP integrates multiple types of approaches based on what the client needs to meet their goals and to elevate their life to the next level. 

​Here is the Professional explanation in the research literature...
"The integrative psychotherapy model aims to respond to the person, with particular attention to affective, behavioral, cognitive, and physiological levels of functioning, and to spiritual beliefs. Integrative psychotherapy allows for a better adaptation of the therapy to the distinctive characteristics and needs of each client, by allowing the therapist to tailor their knowledge of evidence-based treatments and approaches"(Zarbo, et al., 2016)

Basically, Integrative Psychotherapy allows us to look at the whole person to determine what they need and then apply the tools that will give the best result for their individual issues.  More people are definitely moving towards these integrative models of care due to the effective results and the inclusive nature of the IP approach. One size doesn't fit all!!!  

Integrative Psychotherapy with Mind Body Medicine... When I decided to get my Ph.D. I was so excited to train in Mind Body Medicine (MBM) along with IP with Dr. James Gordon from the Center of Mind Body Medicine. In mind body medicine we include practices that are evidence-based mind-body techniques such as mindfulness meditation, guided imagery, biofeedback, journaling, visualization, healthy life habits, creative expression and nature therapy. 

So how will you benefit ... In these IP and MBM sessions with me you will address issues not only from an Integrative Psychotherapy approach but also have the added benefits of MBM into the sessions.  A few quick examples that I use quite frequently include:  to learn and practice the tremendous impacts of belly breath, how to use relaxation and guided imagery to decrease anxiety, and to learn grounding practices in nature that can be life transforming.  All of these practices can literally be implemented in a few minutes a day!!!!

This is how you Elevate your life!!!!  

Dr. Melisa

Reference:
Zarbo, C., Tasca, G. A., Cattafi, F., & Compare, A. (2016). Integrative Psychotherapy Works. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 2021. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.02021