A few words about Healing

If you are reading this, then I’m assuming you are already on some sort of healing journey, or thinking about beginning one.

I first want to acknowledge and appreciate the courage it takes to step into this work, wherever you are on your journey.

I want to share here a few words about my experience of what it is to truly heal, to support you if you are either considering working with me or already coming to sessions. It is important to start by saying the healing journey is a marathon, not a sprint. Although we may come to this work wanting a quick ‘fix’ or ‘solution’ to whatever mental, emotional or physical experience we are having, in order to then return to our lives and carry on as before, in my work I understand the ‘unwanted’ symptoms as the catalyst for change, growth, and discovering more about ourselves.

If you are committed to true healing, it will most likely be a long journey within which you will seek the support of various types of therapies, and discover lifestyle changes which can support your mind and body to be in a healthful state, over the course of months if not years. This is what it means to work holistically. My healing work may be an important part of this journey, however I’m saying this to give some perspective, and reassure that there is no need to rush. For resources and recommendations to support your healing journey, please see my Healing Resources page for some of the most helpful things I have found in my own experience.

Similarly to talking therapy, no one expects one session of healing to ‘fix all their problems’. The modalities of energy and sound healing, even bodywork, can take a bit of time to develop a relationship with, depending on your level of sensitivity and connection to your body. The deeper relationship you have with this work, the more you are able to feel safe and trust the process, in order to open up the places you need to. This is why I always recommend coming for a series of a few sessions in order to establish this relationship and see how this work can support you.

Healing starts in the body, a place many of us are very disconnected from, but a place which holds a huge amount of wisdom. To even fully ‘be in’ our bodies can be very difficult, as this would mean feeling fully the sensations and emotions carried there. Particularly at first, a lot of the benefit you may receive from healing work is simply through allowing your nervous system to down-regulate, and to have periods of time to be present enough to be in your body, and to deeply rest. Many of us spend a lot of our time up-regulated, in a ‘fight or flight’ response to life, stressed, and rushing around doing all the things we need to do, and fully in our minds. This alone can cause a lot of issues in the body as we’re not allowing ourselves to slow down, stop, and supporting the automatic ‘rest and digest’ processes of the body to happen. Becoming familiar with the down-regulated state of your nervous system is an important step in any healing journey.

Talking Therapy Recommendations

Particularly for those who are going through challenging mental or emotional periods, or working to heal past trauma, I will always also recommend starting a course of body-centred talking therapy alongside my healing work. This is to help the mental processing of whatever it is you are experiencing, and be able link that up to the body sensations, and learn how to work through them. The healing work can bring up strong feelings to be processed so it is important to learn how to do this for yourself, and is an integral skill in your healing journey. In this way, I find the healing and talking therapy work in tandem really well to facilitate your deepening relationship with your mind, emotions, and body.

Not all types of talking therapy work with the body too (eg. CBT primarily works with the mind) but one modality that I do recommend is called Processwork. One aspect of Processwork that sets it apart from other talk therapy modalities is that it is not limiting in its approach, not having preconceived ideas of what is ‘normal’ or ‘healthy’ but seeing the undesired ‘problems’ as holding information about the solution (Paraphrased, Joanna Boj 2018). Please see the link below for a list of practitioners across the UK, most will do online sessions so location is not an issue.

https://www.processworkuk.org/processwork-practitioners/

Another type of therapy which works through the body is Somatic Therapy, sometimes called Somatic Experiencing Therapy. You can research therapists who practice this modality if you feel called to explore it.