The Roundness of Healing: The Soul’s Language
A reflection on spiritual integration therapy and the language of the soul in trauma healing.
Before sharing my reflections on this topic, I preface all of this by saying: it may or may not speak to you. You may or may not agree. And that is okay. I honor your wisdom just as I honor mine. Although if you made it this far, I have an inkling …
There are moments in my office that defy explanation.
Inviting the Soul Into the Healing Conversation
A client takes a breath and tears well up…not because the moment is perfect, but because it feels true. Something is unfolding, shifting, it is sacred.
My eclectic approach to trauma therapy includes spiritual integration therapy that isn’t about belief systems or doctrine. Instead, it’s about connecting with inner values and a sense of meaning, offering an invitation to explore practices or symbols that resonate personally and support an inward journey toward healing after trauma.
What Is Spiritual Integration Therapy all about?
It’s about making meaning. Making meaning of the anxiety, depression, or PTSD that lingers after an incident of trauma. It’s about inviting the soul into the healing conversation, not as an afterthought, but as a guide.
Trauma often fractures more than the body and mind; it disrupts our sense of meaning. It leaves behind tender, lingering questions such as:
Why did this happen to me?
Who am I now?
Where do I belong?
Spiritual tools or “soul work” offer a way to hold those questions gently, without rushing toward answers. They create space for mystery, for reverence, for holistic trauma healing that doesn’t always embody words.
If you are wondering what this looks like in session, this is for you.
Practices That Support Soul Healing
We repair existential rupture through methods such as inner child work, past life regression, womb healing, or soul retrieval, forms of somatic and spiritual therapy that invite reconnection and awareness.
We connect to something beyond the pain…whether that’s soul, universe, God, or a higher power unique to you.
We ground in rituals that soothe and anchor such as breathwork, meditation, intuitive journaling, movement, or yoga. Practices often used in somatic therapy to regulate the nervous system and support the body’s healing.
We utilize symbolic language for what feels too vast or beautiful for words yet deeply felt.
The Meaning of It All
What grounds me is the meaning behind this spiritual integration. It encompasses a search for purpose and the quiet inquiry into what matters most.
It is a connection to something greater: nature, humanity, divinity, or the sacred within.
It is an inner experience, a felt sense of truth, aliveness, or soul.
Values and practices that combine rituals, reflections, or acts of compassion that align with the deepest self.
It’s not about fixing. It’s about witnessing.
It’s remembering that healing is not just physical or emotional, it’s also spiritual.
This is holistic therapy.
A Holistic Path Toward Wholeness
These explorations are woven into therapy sessions with care and consent. They are offered, never imposed. They are invitations, not instructions.
Clients often say, “I didn’t know therapy could feel like this.” (I once said it myself).
This space creates room for mystery, for the kind of healing that lives beyond language.
That, my friend, is our soul.
Technically, this concludes my four-part series on integrative therapy. If you’ve followed along, thank you for witnessing, yet stay tuned…I’m not done here.
Meet Mallory
Written by Mallory Tedrick, LISW, psychotherapist and founder of her private practice in Cleveland, Ohio. Mallory helps individuals navigate life transitions, cultivate resilience, and rediscover clarity through therapy.
If Mallory’s words resonate with you, she invites you to take the next step toward your own healing journey. Schedule a free consultation today and explore how therapy can support you in moments of uncertainty and growth.