Virtual & In-Person holistic and somatic therapy, Toronto, Ontario

Holistic & Somatic Psychotherapy

A holistic approach to psychotherapy recognizes that our traumas and struggles don’t just affect our mind – they also affect our body, our nervous system and energy system, and our spirit. As such, we work with the whole person rather than just the mind in order to facilitate healing, process old traumas, or settle anxiety or stress. This approach can also be referred to as “somatic therapy” and the terms are often interchangeable.

How does Holistic/Somatic psychotherapy work?

While talk therapy is the foundation of all of my therapy practice, there are situations when using a holistic approach can be helpful. It can be difficult to rationalize with your mind when it’s in a fear state or when it has very strong limiting beliefs or chronic stress or trauma. You may feel good after a therapy session but then find yourself struggling again between sessions, because you go back to old patterns. When working solely with the mind isn’t working, we can use a “bottom-up approach” instead. Our brain, our body, our nervous system, and our energy system are all connected and they communicate with each other. When you cannot access your mind to tell it you are safe, you can instead work with the body so that it can send the message to your mind to calm down so that you can feel safe again and change longstanding patterns that are causing stress. It can also be helpful in releasing old stored trauma from your body and nervous system, help you to release anxiety and help you to feel safer in your body.

A holistic approach to psychotherapy can:

Reset your nervous system so that you can shift out of chronic stress
Assist with healing chronic anxiety and fear
Release unhelpful and stuck patterns
Help you to process emotions and traumas when you aren’t even sure where they come from
Regulate your emotions so that you feel safer to feel them and change them
Help you to release old traumas & limiting beliefs
Relax your body and mind to help facilitate physical healing and chronic body pain
Help you to build a “toolbox” of evidence-informed strategies that you can use in your daily life or when you are triggered
Regain your belief in yourself and your ability to feel safe to change and grow into the life that you want.

Holistic psychotherapy combines talk therapy with evidence-informed somatic (body) techniques, skills teachings, and energy psychology practices to help your whole system feel calmer and safer.

Our work together can also involve teaching you and guiding you through simple, evidence-informed strategies that you can use in your daily life to help you to heal. These techniques are short in length – I know you’re busy and don’t have time for meditating for hours a day or changing your whole life. My goal is to find the tools for you that fit with your life and your comfort level so that healing doesn’t have to be a full-time job. These tools can also help you to regain your belief in yourself and your ability to handle stress and shift the patterns that have been standing in the way of living the life that you desire.

Healing doesn’t just happen through the mind.
It also involves our body and our nervous system.

HOLISTIC PSYCHOTHERAPY APPROACHES

All of my work is custom-designed just for you and what you need and feel most comfortable with. As such, I offer a wide range of holistic strategies for you to choose from. These can include:

Biofeedback and nervous system regulation strategies
Skills teaching
Guided somatic processing techniques
Clinical Emotional Freedom Therapy (EFT Tapping)
(talk therapy with self-acupressure tapping)
Mindfulness-based relaxation strategies
Applied Kinesiology (muscle-testing)
Reiki (Certified Level 3 Practitioner)
The Emotion Code® (Certified Practitioner)
Heartmath® stress reduction practices (Certified
Clinical Practitioner)
Energy psychology practices
Identifying and releasing limited beliefs, unhelpful
emotions and programming that are contributing to distress and imbalances

What Does a holistic therapy session look like?

Free 40-minute consultation

I understand that understanding all of these terms and approaches can be confusing. It’s okay, you don’t need to understand them all before starting therapy. During this free call I can provide you with more information about my different approaches as well as spend some time getting to know you and what your goals are.

Booking a session

If we determine that we are a good fit to work together we will agree on a time and date and I will send you an invitation through Jane App. This software meets all privacy standards and allows you to book or cancel session, pay securely, and also provides a secure video platform for virtual sessions. I also use Jane App for booking in-person therapy sessions as well.

Our first session(s)

Our first session(s) will likely be solely talk therapy to begin with. These first sessions give me a chance to better understand you, what your life looks like, and what your goals are. It also gives you an opportunity to get to know me and help you to feel safer with me so that we can move forward with bringing in more holistic practices. I may also share suggestions for approaches that I feel would work well for you moving forward in our work together. I will remind you that you are always in charge and get to have final say about the approaches we use at all times.

Ongoing sessions

A typical holistic or somatic therapy session with me can look different each time according to where you are at. However, sessions could include any of the following:

Teaching you new evidence-based strategies for managing anxiety or challenging thoughts at home. I always practice these strategies with you so that you feel more comfortable.
Doing guided somatic processing or EFT tapping together. I will always go over the instructions before we start and I always close my eyes or keep my eyes down to allow for greater emotional safety for you
Figuring out practical strategies for reducing distress in your daily life
Checking in with you about your progress and how we are meeting your goals
Teaching you about your nervous system and brain so that you understand yourself and your struggles in a different and more compassionate way
Talk therapy

Support between sessions

For those who are interested, I may also send you relevant videos or handouts so that you don’t have to write down or remember what we practiced in our session together. This helps you to be able to try out new strategies at home and to build your own wellness toolbox.

WHERE I WORK

Virtual Care throughout Ontario

Thrive with Kali Therapy provides holistic and somatic therapy to individuals throughout Ontario. Sessions are available through secure and PHIPA compliant video platform on Jane App or by phone.

In-person Therapy, Antidote Wellness Lab | West Toronto

In person holistic & somatic therapy is offered through Antidote Wellness Lab at 2843 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON, M6P 1Y6 (Dundas West & Keele). Antidote is located in the vibrant Junction community.

book a free 40-minute consultation

I am here to support you as a whole and unique person – regardless of what you are struggling with. Please contact me for a free consultation to find out how holistic psychotherapy can help.

Book your free 40-minute consultation for online holistic therapy

Book your free 40-minute phone consultation for in-person holistic therapy through Antidote Wellness Lab (2843 Dundas St. West, Toronto)

HAVE QUESTIONS?

Are you interested in learning more about Thrive with Kali? Please fill out the form below and I’d be happy to answer all of your questions. Kali typically responds within 1-2 business days or less.