Spiritual Therapy

Spiritual therapy is part of a holistic approach to treating mental health symptoms and diagnoses. It acknowledges that you have unique spiritual and existential beliefs, values, and experiences about what it means to be human, that influence your understanding of yourself, others, and the world around you. Unlike conventional therapy, which may focus solely on psychological issues, spiritual therapy takes a more holistic approach and recognizes that your beliefs about the world and the meaning of life deeply impact your healing journey. 

Spiritual Therapy, also called transpersonal therapy, or spirituality therapy, combines traditional evidence-based therapeutic modalities like CBT, IFS, and DBT with mystical and metaphysical psycho-spiritual practices drawn from eastern spiritual traditions, ancient wisdom traditions and metaphysical sciences. These spiritual practices might include existential questioning, meditation, mindfulness, guided visualizations, and energy work such as Reiki or tapping (EFT).

It’s important to acknowledge that spiritual therapy is part of a holistic approach to mental health treatment and not a standalone treatment modality. Approaching mental health concerns from only a spiritual perspective can lead to spiritual bypassing. Spiritual bypassing is when you use your spirituality and spiritual practices to avoid your suffering rather than grow through it. Learn more about spiritual bypassing here.

What is Spiritual Therapy?

Understanding is love. If you can’t understand, you cannot love.
When you understand yourself, your suffering, you love yourself. - Thich Nhat Hanh

How Does Spiritual Therapy Work?

Spiritual therapy is all about folding in the deep ‘meaning of life’ questions into the therapeutic work.  Our spiritual therapists honor and recognize that the mind, body and spirit are connected and that there are many roads to healing. We believe that when you honor and include your spirituality in therapy, you can supercharge healing and growth.

Through exploration, reflection, and guidance, our spiritual therapists can help you explore your spiritual and existential beliefs, experiences, and questions in order to cultivate a deeper sense of meaning, purpose, and fulfillment in your life. During your therapy sessions, this might look like exploring practices such as meditation or breathwork, discussing your spiritual journey and personal practices; or it shows up in how you and your therapist explore your personal healing  journey and evolution. 

Our spiritual therapists are trained in spiritual counseling and employ various techniques, such as mindfulness, meditation, visualization, and sacred rituals to facilitate this exploration. By integrating spirituality into the therapeutic process, you can gain insight into your innermost self, heal past wounds, and find the strength and resilience needed to grow.

Spiritual therapy offers a space to explore and discuss spiritual and metaphysical topics including but not limited to:

  • Consciousness and conscious evolution

  • Accessing your intuition

  • Soul contracts and your soul journey

  • Cord cutting

  • Psychedelic experiences

  • Ascension symptoms and the ascension process

  • Your Human Design

  • Your Enneagram type

  • Astrology

  • Meditation techniques from the yoga sutras

  • Yoga psychology

  • Past life experiences

  • Lucid dreaming

  • Crystals and healing frequencies

  • Energy work

  • Kundalini awakening

  • Support for your spiritual awakening

  • Understanding and using your struggles as spiritual practices 

Spiritual therapy might be a great fit for you if:

  • You are on a deeply personal spiritual journey and want this part of your life honored and incorporated into the therapeutic work.

  • You are looking to heal from religious trauma, or are experiencing a crisis of faith.

  • You are experiencing an existential crisis.

  • You are spiritually curious and wanting to explore the spiritual side of being human.

Here at The Holistic Counseling Center we recognize that you are a complex being with interconnected physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions. Spiritual therapy is integral to holistic counseling because it addresses the spiritual and existential aspect of your human experience, which plays a significant role in your overall wellness journey.

By incorporating spiritual therapy into holistic counseling, our therapists can provide you with comprehensive support that honors all aspects of yourself. Spiritual therapy encourages you to explore your spiritual and existential beliefs, and values, in order to cultivate a deeper understanding of yourself, your struggles, and uncover the most impactful tools for your unique healing journey.

Spiritual Therapy at The Holistic Counseling Center

Techniques Used In Spiritual Therapy

Spiritual therapy offers many techniques for improving your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health.

Traditional therapy modalities are used in spiritual therapy and may include:

In addition to traditional talk therapy, spiritual therapy may also incorporate the following holistic tools and techniques into your sessions:

  • Existential questioning 

  • Guided meditation

  • Guided visualizations

  • Mindfulness practices

  • Grounding practices 

  • Grounding meditation

  • Breathwork

  • Reiki

  • Energy healing 

  • Manifestation practicesTapping - Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)

  • Nervous system regulation practices

  • Shadow work

  • Intentional spiritual rituals 

  • Prayer/mantras/connecting to Source

  • Yoga therapy

  • Exploring altered states of consciousness through meditation

  • Somatic practices

Is Spiritual Therapy real Therapy?

It’s important to note that ‘spiritual therapy’ is a pop-culture term for the field known as transpersonal psychology.  Transpersonal psychology is a recognized school of psychology and was the fourth wave of psychological thought to emerge in the late 1900’s, after the psychodynamic, behaviorism, humanistic and existential schools of thought emerged. Spiritual, or transpersonal schools of thoughts expand beyond traditional psychology models that reduce peoples symptoms to being a result of unconscious drives, observable behaviors, or maladaptive social reactions to include explorations of consciousness, mystical experiences and the spiritual meaning of life. This movement has been influenced by thought leaders in the field like John Welwood, Ken Wilber, Abraham Maslow, Sri Aurobindo, Rudolf Steiner, Brant Cortright and Stanislav Grof. 

A note about our therapists’ qualifications: All of our therapists hold a master’s degree in counseling psychology and are licensed by the Board of Behavioral Sciences to practice psychotherapy. In addition to these credentials, our spiritual therapists have extensive personal experience and professional training in spiritual healing modalities including mindfulness, meditation, yoga teacher training, reiki energy healing, manifestation techniques, past life exploration, soul contracts, shadow work and energy psychology. Please reach out to our founder, Kim Burris, LMFT if you have any questions about spiritual therapy.

What Issues Can Spiritual Therapy Treat?

  • Anxiety

  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

  • Social Anxiety

  • Panic Attacks

  • Healing Insecure Attachment 

  • Burnout

  • Childhood Trauma

  • Complex Relational Trauma (C-PTSD)

  • Crisis of Faith

  • Religious Trauma

  • Depression

  • Major Depressive Disorder

  • Existential Crisis

  • Midlife Crisis

  • Grief

  • Intergenerational Trauma

  • Life Transitions

Spiritual Therapy is effective in treating a variety of mental health symptoms and diagnoses, including: 

  • Perfectionism

  • Relationship Stress

  • Spiritual Awakening

  • Trauma

  • Shadow Work

  • Self-Sabotage

  • Spiritual emergence

  • Spiritual emergency

  • The spiritual meaning of anxiety

  • Exploring your life purpose 

  • Conscious evolution 

  • Understanding your family of origin from a spiritual and soul perspective

  • Processing soul contracts

  • Parenting as a spiritual practice

  • Conscious relationships 

  • Using your life as a path to awakening 

  • Sacred sexuality practices

  • Integrating psychedelic experiences (psychedelic integration work)

  • Find meaning in your life 

  • Helping you access your highest self and inner wisdom

What People are Saying

★★★★★ 

“Perri brings fierce compassion, calm and intuitive wisdom into each session. Her genuine presence and capacity for going deeply into the shadow realms with her clients is truly a gift.”

- Kim, El Dorado Hills, CA

Meet The Team

Life’s too short to just survive,
Our therapists can help you thrive!

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Kim Burris

Anxiety, Postpartum Depression, Shadow Work, Existential Crisis + Conscious Evolution

MA, LMFT, Founder

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Dr. Susan Pomeranz

Anxiety, Stress/Burnout, Life Transitions, Disordered Eating, Couples + Spirituality

Ph.D, LMFT

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Perri Griffin

Anxiety, Shadow Work, Postpartum,
Existential Crisis, Life Purpose + Spirituality

MA, LMFT

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Tessa Wendell

Anxiety, Self-Esteem, Motherhood,
Relationships, Couples, Teens + Moms

MA, AMFT

Ready to work together?

Here’s how to get started:

  • Spiritual therapy recognizes spirituality as a fundamental aspect of the human experience, influencing your beliefs, values, expectations and behaviors. It provides you with an opportunity to explore your spirituality in a supportive and non-judgmental environment.

  • No, spiritual therapy is inclusive of all spiritual beliefs, whether religious or secular. It respects and honors your diverse spiritual perspectives and experiences. Spiritual therapy works well if you are on a spiritual journey and want to have that experience be part of your therapy journey. It’s also helpful for people who have religious trauma or are having a crisis of faith and want to explore these challenging experiences.

  • Our therapists work from a transpersonal orientation and are here to help you find your own spiritual truth. We do not give input or advice from any particular religion and will not ask or encourage you to participate in any particular faith based practices unless this is something you already practice and would like to weave into your work. We deeply honor your personal spiritual journey and are here to facilitate a deeper connection with your self and your own experience of god/source/the universe.

  • Spiritual therapy incorporates spirituality into your therapeutic process, whereas traditional therapy typically focuses on your psychological and emotional concerns. Spiritual therapy takes a holistic approach, considering the interconnectedness of your mind, body, and spirit.

  • Spiritual therapy can benefit you if you are seeking deeper meaning, purpose, and connection in your life. It may be particularly helpful if you are grappling with existential questions, grief, loss, or seeking personal growth and transformation.

  • If you’re ready to explore Spiritual Therapy, make sure to work with a licensed therapist or counselor with training in Spiritual Therapy. All of our therapists here at The Holistic Counseling Center are licensed to to practice psychotherapy and are trained in Spiritual Therapy.

    Before choosing a spiritual therapist, there are a few things to consider:

    Make sure that the spiritual therapist is a certified and qualified professional. Counseling and therapist licenses can include: AMFT, LMFT, LPCC, APCC, ACSW, LCSW. A licensed professional will have at a minimum 3 years of clinical experience.

    Make sure that their spiritual support and orientation is compatible with your beliefs and expectations. It's totally okay to ask your potential new therapist how they work with your particular spiritual and/or religious beliefs to make sure you feel comfortable working together.

    Decide if you are looking for an in-person therapist, or open to virtual tele-therapy.

    If you are in California we'd love to support you! We are accepting new clients for in-person counseling in our El Dorado Hills location, and offer virtual therapy for anyone in California. You can book a consultation call HERE.

    If you are outside of California, you can begin your journey to finding a spiritual therapists by researching “spiritual therapist near me” online, or by asking family or friends for referrals if they have had positive experiences with a spiritual therapist in your area.

  • If you’re ready to get started with Spiritual Therapy, we’d love to support you! We can help you access your higher self, tune into your intuition, explore your past and help you create a life you love. Reach out to schedule a free consultation call to discuss what’s going on in your life, look at logistics like fees and schedules, and if it feels like a good fit, you can schedule your first appointment for spiritual therapy!

FAQ’s About Spiritual Therapy

Make an Appointment With A Spiritual Therapist Near You

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Feeling ready to explore Spiritual Therapy with a Therapist? Let’s chat! Click below to schedule your complimentary consultation call and our intake coordinator will reach out to discuss logistics and schedule your first appointment.

If you have any other questions feel free to send a message through this contact form and we’ll get back to you in the next 48 hours.