Anyone incorporated holistic therapies with counselling?
Just wondering if anyone does both and your thoughts on something like this? Would it work? I know its a huge question and I've asked a very open question but just would like to hear intial responses. Thanks.
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RE: Anyone incorporated holistic therapies with counselling?
Hi
This is one of the things that I would eventually like to achieve and I am planning on starting a BACP accreditied counselling course inSeptember through the local college. I think it is important for all therapists to have some counselling skills as the very nature of our work means we here about people's differing problems etc. However I would like to take it further and merge counselling treatments with aromatherapy treatments in order to treat the whole person. I really would like to develop some ideas I have had about treating people suffering from post natal depression.
RE: Anyone incorporated holistic therapies with counselling?
I have found that a good understanding of different therapies is more powerful than specialising in just one.
Personally I use essential oils with NLP and hypnotherapy.
Essential oils affect our emotions and feelings in a very powerful way. On a biochemical levelcertain oilsinfluence the limbic system, and the pineal and hypothalmus. These release hormones into the body, and as I am sure you are aware, hormones and emotions are very closely related. Also, the olfactory, the sense of smell, is the most influential sense we have, and is very long lasting. For example, I bet you can remember a time way back in your childhood when a certain smell still reminds you of that occasion. Maybe it was the smell of homebaking, and every time you go to the bakery, it reminds you of a happy home.
A word of caution though. Whilst it is very easy to create positive anchors, or emotional release using essential oils, when used incorrectly, in conjunction with counselling, it is very easy to create negative anchors, and cause distress, reminding people of some traumatic times in their life. This is something which even though the intent may be good, you must be aware of.
Best of luck in this venture. The use of oils can certainly benefit you and your business in a profound way. The biggest trap for a counsellor is that the client becomes dependent upon them. The use of oils can be a way of putting the client at cause, instead of effect. They are certainly a great add on for residual income.
RE: Anyone incorporated holistic therapies with counselling?
Not specifically councelling, but I have used a short (15 minute) Reiki treatment at the end of an EFT or FREEWAY-CER treatement to help the client feel relaxed and to end the session. Works wonders.
RE: Anyone incorporated holistic therapies with counselling?
Interesting post! I regularly do massage with EFT and Reiki with EFT, where the EFT is part of the massage or Reiki treatment. So I guess that's a kind of "yes" to your question. I probably do an average of 3 a day, 4 days a week, as it is reasonably popular at our clinic. I also do some work with an amazing kinesiologist and Aura Soma therapist where we combine kinesiology, colour therapy and EFT. And one of my clinic colleagues incorporates spiritual healing into her EFT treatments. This is just a few examples! I'd say go for it, although I'd recommend a more punchy method than just talk therapy for the counselling bit - at least basic NLP is essential imho. The results are really amazing.
RE: Anyone incorporated holistic therapies with counselling?
I agree with Giles,
I start with EFT but finish with 10-15 mins of Reiki to 'fill up' with positive energy where the negative energy releasedhas left a vacuum.
Clients seem to like this!
I do find I use counselling skills during the consultation, but less obviously if things arise out of the massage. Sometimes doing bodywork will release stored memories and the client may start crying or start talking to me.
I think its useful for complementary therapists to have some basic knowledge of counselling skills. Occasionally a client can become quite emotional after experiencing deep relaxation for the first time during therapy -and some soothing words can help to calm them again.
However, counselling as a stand-alone therapy requires some knowledge of psychology as well and so one needs a recognised qualification and reliable insurance first.
I think we use counseling skills in our every day life whatever we practice, but I got to the point that I needed to know more so I've signed up for a counseling course at our local university. As it is part time it will take years before I am qualified, but even though this is the first module we have discussed a lot of issues and I've discovered that people are multi-layered and the peeling back and digging out what really is the problem, is really interesting.
Now trying to juggle everything is as usual causing problems, but I have a chance this week (got a terrible cold - yet again!) to decide how, what and why I want to do this, carry on doing what I enjoy (reflex, ihm, essental oils, etc), keep up the day job for the time being, add to the mix being a wife, mother and homemaker. The journal writing is a very useful tool as it helps clarify issues that pop up.
As you can see, the course has openned up a whole lot of questions, but I do know I want to continue.
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Going with the flow of life, just like a bit of driftwood floating down the river, sometimes hitting something, other times almost coming to a complete stop, but always moving forward and never looking back.
Hello, I trained and worked firstly in bereavement counselling and trauma support and my complementary therapies developed from this so yes, I believe very much so that there is a potential synergy between counselling and complementary therapies. It’s offering a truly holistic approach which is the key benefit that I find to be most useful.
Major grief and trauma can become such physical conditions, many people become totally consumed by grief, its often held and nurtured in every part of there body. Having witbessed this first hand, it occurred to me that a truly holistic approach to trauma would be beneficial and I now firmly believe that it is. Counselling is great, the talking cure may be extremely powerful but sometimes for some people it may prove impossible to express trauma and grief by words alone and complementary approaches often help, be they on on spiritual, emotional or physical levels.
The therapeutic power of touch and non verbal communications can be very helpful.
Bob
The healer I go and see does this...I go and see her for an hour and a half and the first hour or a bit more is spent in a Spiritual counselling session then she does 20mins of Gaia healing at the end and while she does the healing she does an attunement to see which deep acting flower remedies are needed...
It really is amazing and it feels like its covered everything when you leave! Especially 'cos you have a flower remedy blend which lasts for about 6weeks..
To me, the important bit is to find out what your client wants and expects, and tailor the treatment to them - if the client is expecting only "talk therapy" and you feel it would be useful and appropriate to supplement it with any type of touch therapy, it is important to explain these options and the reasons for them and get their informed consent.
Some people may reluctantly agree to be touched, not feeling confident enough to refuse even if they don't want it, and as a result may feel tricked into paying for something they didn't expect or asked for, or, worse, violated.
I am all for mixing and matching different approaches and love the flexibility of integrating a wide range of therapeutic tools, but believe that it is necessary to proceed with caution.
A word of caution though. Whilst it is very easy to create positive anchors, or emotional release using essential oils, when used incorrectly, in conjunction with counselling, it is very easy to create negative anchors, and cause distress, reminding people of some traumatic times in their life. This is something which even though the intent may be good, you must be aware of.
I tend to agree with the above posted by Rich and in this respect I would prefer to keep a counselling session as a separate session. Emotional release happens with all kinds of complementary therapies because body/mind/emotions are all connected and it is a useful to have counselling skills to help you respond to your client's experiences.
Anyone incorporated holistic therapies with counselling?
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