by Brian Warriner
The
landscape of mental healthcare is changing, and the options in treatment for
mental health disorders are changing. With the holistic approach, you are
treated as a whole person (Better Help, Editorial Team, 2025). This means that
mind, body, spirit, and every aspect of your life are included in your
treatment, including your sex life, emotions, cognition, social interactions,
and eating habits. From this, one can link everything together and enhance one's
treatment. If this includes medication, your healthcare team needs to be
informed about your treatment.
As a
holistic health practitioner, I have spent years learning and practicing
different modalities, including massage therapy, Reiki, energy healing, and
Eden Energy Healing. Through my education and career as a massage therapist, I
learned how aromatherapy and massage can help with physical ailments and reduce
stress through massage therapy. I worked in corporate spas like Hand and Stone
or Massage Envy. When I taught massage therapy, I spoke to my students about
energy healing and how to incorporate it into their massages.
My
passion has been energy healing, and for my birthday one year ago, I bought
myself a Reiki certification. I went to a teacher who taught me levels one and
two together. Then, I was certified at level three as a Master Teacher. The fun
part was performing my first session with my teacher. Then, afterwards, I
received some feedback and learned what I could do to improve. Since then, I
have learned about and read about various energy healing modalities and have
fallen in love with holistic. Moreover, how can you incorporate them into your
medical and healthcare treatments? I have written a book about energy healing
and Reiki titled With The Hands of a Healer. I discussed the chakra system,
offered ways to incorporate energy work into your life, and explained how to
ground your energy. It was something I was proud of, as it combined my years of
study and practice into one place.
I have made holistic health my life’s work, and now I am starting a new chapter in my passion and career. I believe that improving your energy field can help prevent diseases and alleviate the pain of cancer treatment and many other health issues. Through this post, you will see that passion as I educate you, my wonderful readers. I hope you include this in your mental health treatment.
Mind-Body Connection
I
have mentioned this in different terms in previous posts. The Mind-Body
connection is a relationship between your mind and body. Where your mind reacts
to your word and your body reacts to your mind. For example, when you keep
repeating a certain phrase, you develop a physical issue. It is well documented
through the works of Dolores Cannon and her Quantum Healing Hypnosis Technique.
She discussed how we think ourselves into disease. This is the truth: We say
things like, “My back is killing me.” “I cannot stomach life.” Alternatively,
“My head is killing me.” If we say it often, we will develop physical issues.
You break your back, or develop stomach cancer, or you have a stroke. You spoke
those things into existence. We need to stop that and start to program for
positive things.
Mind-body
connection is a relationship between your mental and physical health. This can
also affect your emotional and bodily states (McGarvie, 2025). It is important
to understand how our health is interconnected. Our words create the world
around us, our mind reacts to those words, and our body reacts to the mind.
Making the mind the healer and the killer. Because we do think ourselves into
sickness and disease, we can think ourselves into disease by saying things that
create the sickness. Also, why don’t we think ourselves into health? Saying
things like, “I am healthy.” “I am strong, healthy, and all my body systems
work in perfect working order.”
I do
recommend that when you meditate, you go through your body systems and your
cells, bringing them to a healthy state. When you listen to a live lecture of
Sylvia Browne’s, she walks you through a meditation to bring your systems up
and to rinse your body clean of any pain, except for pain that is a warning
sign that you should see your doctor. However, the pain that we put on our
bodies.
Types of Holistic Health Practices
There
are many forms of holistic health practices that can be brought into your
mental health treatment. Practices like massage therapy, meditation, movement
therapy, and energy healing. These practices have been proven to improve your
overall health. It is because when you express what is going on with you, you
release it and get it out. Then, we try to fill the hole the release has left.
It keeps us stuck in the same place. Thus, we are stuck in the same cycle
because it keeps us in our comfort zone. I have seen this in my energy healing
work and my massage work. During massage sessions, clients often come in with
pain in their necks. I would ask them, as I massage, who is a pain in the neck.
It would be their spouse, children, boss, or work, whatever it may be. I would
say take a deep breath in and let it out. We would do that three times, by way
of breath, we are releasing the pain in the neck and bringing in healing energy
to replace it. That is how I included energy work into my massage sessions. My
client would feel the pain go away. I explained to them and my students when I
taught massage therapy. Everything that bothers us starts on an energetic level
and, over time, eats away at our aura till it hits the physical body. That is
how we manifest physical health issues. We will feel it before it gets to our
physical body.
Energy
work was something that I had done in the past. My spiritual journey started in
2009, and a mini session led to a full session. After my first full session, I
felt like a drug addict going through withdrawal. I have talked about it in my
first book, which is Retired, The Spirit of Me: Coming Out as a Medium. I
discuss my spiritual journey and what I have learned up to 2013. I have since
seen other healers and learned more, and right now I am not able to, but I do
wish to continue my personal energy work.
Benefits of Holistic Health
The
benefits of holistic health practices are improved mental health and mood. One
can also see that their sleep has improved, their energy has increased, their
anxiety and stress have reduced, and they have a greater sense of peace and
well-being (Baron, 2024). Depending on the practice you employ, there are other
benefits. For example, if you are doing tai chi or yoga, you will notice
improved flexibility, strength, and range of motion in your joints.
When
you are using a holistic health check with your doctors, you might have an
issue that is contraindicated for massage, especially if you have an infection
and are on antibiotics. You cannot receive a massage when you have an active
infection and are on antibiotics. Once you are done with the antibiotics, you
must be cleared, and most places require a doctor’s note to receive a massage.
I have had to turn clients away for this. Furthermore, if you were in the
hospital on a Monday and were discharged on a Friday, then do not make an
appointment for a massage on a Saturday. Because you will need to be cleared by
a medical doctor in order to receive a massage. I have several years of
experience as a licensed massage therapist in the state of New Jersey.
I
have worked as an energy healer for many years and studied different modalities.
I learned Reiki, and its noninvasiveness adds to its appeal. Because, unlike
massage, the client does not have to undress to their comfort level. They get
on the table for their session. I taught about energy healing and demonstrated it
on a student who was going through a lot at the time. Afterwards, I sat with
her and discussed in private what I was picking up. Normally, I share as I
conduct the session, but not in a group setting like that. She validated what I
was picking up. If you have a session with me, I will share what comes up with
you, and we will work to clear it. Sometimes, the need for silence, to do the
energy work, and to guide the energy is an important part. It is really what
the helping spirits say.
You
can apply these holistic health practices to your mental health treatment,
especially if you are recovering from addiction, stress management, management
for your anxiety and depression, and for other mental health conditions (Himas,
2025). Along with these practices, nutrition also plays a role. When you make
positive changes for your health and wellness, your body may start to demand
them. Like changing what you ingest, your body may have you cut out the caffeine,
processed foods, and fast foods. Furthermore, you might start eating fresh, clean,
organic foods and beverages. When you treat yourself better and introduce these
holistic health practices into your mental health treatment, you will start to
feel better. However, I want to stress that you should never discontinue your
mental health medication and treatment without discussing it with your mental
health professionals.
In
conclusion, when you include holistic health practices in your mental health
treatment plan, remember these important points. Make sure your team is in communication
with each other. That your doctor prescribes medication is an integral part of
your treatment plan. Even if they do not believe in a holistic health approach,
research and studies support its effectiveness, and a true practitioner of
holistic health will show you. It is about you, the client, and treating you as
a whole person, and getting to the root of your issues.
If you wish to purchase a copy of my book With the Hands of a Healer. Click on the link below.
References
Better Help, Editorial Team. (2025, February 28). The
Holistic Approach to Mental
Healthcare:
Exploring Holistic Health and Therapy| Better Help. Betterhelp.com
McGarvie, Susan. (2025, April 16). Body-Mind
Integration: Training Attention For
Mental
and Physical Health. PositivePsychology.com. Positive Psychology
https://positivepsychology.com/body-mind-integration-attention-training/
Holistic Therapy: Types, Uses, and Effectiveness.
(2025, September 6). Helpguide.org.
https://www.helpguide.org/mental-health/treatment/holistic-therapy
Baron, M. (2024, September 20). Holistic Approach to
Mental Health Care-
Moriah
Behavioral Health. Moriah Behavioral Health.com
https://www.moriahbehavioralhealth.com/holistic-approaches-to-mental
health-care/
Himas, R. (2025, September 10). Understanding Holistic
Approaches in Mental Health
Centers.
Mental Health Centers.
https://www.mentalhealthcenters.org/understanding-holistic-approaches-in-mental-health-centers/
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