Holistic vs traditional therapy: a therapist who does both.

People ask me all the time whether I do "regular therapy" or "that holistic stuff." I always feel a small twitch when the question comes in that form, because the way it's framed assumes those are two different things. They're not, really. Or at least, they don't have to be.

I'm a licensed clinical therapist trained in CBT, ACT, EMDR, and traditional clinical practice. I'm also trained in somatic work, parts and inner child healing, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, tantra, and energy work. I bring all of it into the room because the person sitting across from me is bringing all of themselves into the room.

Here's what I mean by that, and how to know which approach (or combination) is right for you.

What "traditional" therapy usually means

When most people say "traditional therapy," they mean talk therapy with a licensed clinician — usually rooted in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), psychodynamic work, or something similar. You go in, you sit on a couch or chair, you talk about what's going on, the therapist helps you understand patterns and develop new ways of thinking and coping, and you go home. It's evidence-based, structured, and works really well for a lot of people and a lot of issues.

It's also often only working from the neck up. And that's the limitation.

What "holistic" therapy usually means

"Holistic" is one of those words that means a hundred different things depending on who's saying it. At its best, it means therapy that treats the whole person — mind, body, history, relationships, energy, spirit. It includes the things traditional therapy includes and also the body, the nervous system, somatic experience, breath, movement, and (for some practitioners) energetic and spiritual layers.

At its worst, "holistic" is a vague label slapped on by practitioners with very little clinical training, sometimes selling things that don't have much grounding. That's a real problem in the field, and the reason a lot of people are (rightly) skeptical.

The split is mostly artificial

Here's the thing nobody talks about: the body has been part of therapy for a long time. Trauma is stored in the nervous system. The vagus nerve is real. Polyvagal theory is real. Somatic experiencing has decades of research behind it. EMDR is part talk therapy, part body-based intervention, and it's one of the most evidence-supported trauma treatments we have.

"Holistic" isn't unscientific. It's just newer to the mainstream.

The actual split that matters isn't traditional-vs-holistic. It's whether your therapist has the training to work with all the layers — the cognitive, the emotional, the relational, the somatic, the historical — or only some of them. A good therapist with broad training can move fluidly between modalities depending on what you need in any given session.

What this looks like in my practice

An average session with me might include:

• 15 minutes of talking about what's been going on this week
• A noticing exercise where we tune into what your body is doing while you tell me a hard story
• A few minutes of guided breath to settle the nervous system before we go deeper
• Some parts work — exploring the part of you that's afraid, or angry, or tired, and what it needs
• Practical tools you can use between sessions
• Closing with a check-in about how to land before you walk out the door

That's not "holistic" or "traditional." It's just therapy that doesn't pretend the body isn't in the room.

How to know which one you need

You probably don't need to choose. What you need is a therapist who can do both, and who'll meet you where you are. Some sessions will be 90% talking. Some sessions will involve a lot of body-based work. Some sessions will be quiet and slow. The right therapist follows what you need on any given day, instead of forcing you into a fixed protocol.

If you're shopping for a therapist, look for someone whose training spans both clinical evidence-based approaches (CBT, EMDR, ACT, etc.) and at least some experience with somatic, body-based, or mindfulness work. That combination is what gives you the most flexibility in the room.

What I'd actually tell you

If I were sitting across from you and you asked me whether holistic therapy or traditional therapy is better, I'd probably laugh a little and say neither. The right question isn't "what kind of therapy is this." The right question is "does this therapist see all of me, and do they know what to do with all of me when I show up." If the answer is yes, the rest of the labels don't matter.

Curious how I work? Read more about my approach, or reach out for a free consultation. We'll figure out together if I'm a fit.