Guiding Theories & Frameworks
Organic Intelligence.
Organic Intelligence® (OI) is a unique theory and clinical practice of human empowerment, trauma-safe mindfulness and compassion. OI challenges old clinical paradigms that say things have to get worse before they can get better. OI reduces the negative effects of stress and trauma by prioritizing positive reinforcement and establishing safety and connection within the relationship and the environment. It is a neurobiological-informed approach which emphasizes attunement to biological conditions and rhythms that will allow the body to experience auto-organization and biological synchrony.
Self-Compassion & Mindfulness.
Self-compassion is defined us the ability to extend compassion to yourself during time's of perceived inadequacy, failure, or general suffering. It incorporates self-kindness, recognizing, common humanity, and mindfulness. Mindfulness is the practice of nonjudgemental awareness (& curiosity) of your thoughts, feelings, sensations, and outer world. These are evidence-based and buddhist approaches that help you heal from self-criticism, perfectionism and shame.
Humanistic Approach.
Humanistic psychology is a holistic approach in psychology that focuses on the whole person. Humanists believe that a person is “in the process of becoming,” and engages clients in four specific techniques to help them with that process: congruence, active listening, reflective understanding, and unconditional positive regard.
Systems Theory
Systems Theory views human behavior through larger contexts. It illustrates that clients are members of families, communities, and broader society. Thus, a change to an individual client brings about adjustments in these larger structures. Contrarily, family, community, and societal changes also impact an individual's functioning. Systems theory also recognizes an individual client has his or her own system—with physiological, psychological, social, spiritual, and cultural components. If there is a change in one domain, it is likely to affect the others.
Rites of Passage
Rites of passage is when an individual goes through a significant life transition with the support of their community, involving ritual or ceremony as a marker of intention and embodiment. The model of Rites of Passage I am trained was developed by anthropologist Arnold van Gennep. He looked at rites of passage around the world and discovered that they all loosely organize around three stages: severance, threshold, and incorporation. A rites of passage is not only for one's self but rather it is in service to the whole. Meaningful transitions in which a rites of passage can be held include graduations, major life phases (childhood/adolescent/adult/elder), marriage, birth, new roles/jobs, death.
Neurosequential model.
A neurobiological-informed approach that focuses on regulating and integrating each of the four main areas of the brain (brainstem, midbrain, limbic and cortical). It uses a specific sequence of practices so you can move from survival mode (where the 'survival brain' is active and higher brain areas are offline) to growth mode where brain areas responsible for thinking, reasoning and emotional regulation are online. This sequence begins with cultivating safeness in the body through sensory experiences before moving on to regulating your autonomic nervous system through rhythmic activities, then regulating your emotions through relationships, and finally regulating your beliefs and behaviours through reflection and reasoning.
Polyvagal theory.
An embodied approach that focuses on regulating the autonomic nervous system via the vagus nerve. It helps you to understand how each autonomic state (safe-and-social, fight-or-flight and freeze) affects your thoughts, emotions and behaviors.
Intuitive eating.
This is an evidenced-based approach to eating that focuses on 10 principles to heal one's relationship to food and reconnect to their inherent ability to respond to your body's needs. The ten principles include rejecting diet mentality, honoring hunger, making peace with food, challenging the food police, discovering the satisfaction factor, feel your fullness, cope with your emotions with kindness, respect your body, movement, and gentle nutrition.
Health at Every Size (HAES).
HAES principles promote social justice while allowing for more inclusive, respectful, and compassionate health practices to emerge. HAES operates with four guiding principles: weight inclusivity, eating for well-being, respectful care, health enhancement, and life-enhancing movement. HAES helps you move away from fixation on weight and release shame, fear, and stigma around fatness.
Organic Intelligence® (OI) is a unique theory and clinical practice of human empowerment, trauma-safe mindfulness and compassion. OI challenges old clinical paradigms that say things have to get worse before they can get better. OI reduces the negative effects of stress and trauma by prioritizing positive reinforcement and establishing safety and connection within the relationship and the environment. It is a neurobiological-informed approach which emphasizes attunement to biological conditions and rhythms that will allow the body to experience auto-organization and biological synchrony.
Self-Compassion & Mindfulness.
Self-compassion is defined us the ability to extend compassion to yourself during time's of perceived inadequacy, failure, or general suffering. It incorporates self-kindness, recognizing, common humanity, and mindfulness. Mindfulness is the practice of nonjudgemental awareness (& curiosity) of your thoughts, feelings, sensations, and outer world. These are evidence-based and buddhist approaches that help you heal from self-criticism, perfectionism and shame.
Humanistic Approach.
Humanistic psychology is a holistic approach in psychology that focuses on the whole person. Humanists believe that a person is “in the process of becoming,” and engages clients in four specific techniques to help them with that process: congruence, active listening, reflective understanding, and unconditional positive regard.
Systems Theory
Systems Theory views human behavior through larger contexts. It illustrates that clients are members of families, communities, and broader society. Thus, a change to an individual client brings about adjustments in these larger structures. Contrarily, family, community, and societal changes also impact an individual's functioning. Systems theory also recognizes an individual client has his or her own system—with physiological, psychological, social, spiritual, and cultural components. If there is a change in one domain, it is likely to affect the others.
Rites of Passage
Rites of passage is when an individual goes through a significant life transition with the support of their community, involving ritual or ceremony as a marker of intention and embodiment. The model of Rites of Passage I am trained was developed by anthropologist Arnold van Gennep. He looked at rites of passage around the world and discovered that they all loosely organize around three stages: severance, threshold, and incorporation. A rites of passage is not only for one's self but rather it is in service to the whole. Meaningful transitions in which a rites of passage can be held include graduations, major life phases (childhood/adolescent/adult/elder), marriage, birth, new roles/jobs, death.
Neurosequential model.
A neurobiological-informed approach that focuses on regulating and integrating each of the four main areas of the brain (brainstem, midbrain, limbic and cortical). It uses a specific sequence of practices so you can move from survival mode (where the 'survival brain' is active and higher brain areas are offline) to growth mode where brain areas responsible for thinking, reasoning and emotional regulation are online. This sequence begins with cultivating safeness in the body through sensory experiences before moving on to regulating your autonomic nervous system through rhythmic activities, then regulating your emotions through relationships, and finally regulating your beliefs and behaviours through reflection and reasoning.
Polyvagal theory.
An embodied approach that focuses on regulating the autonomic nervous system via the vagus nerve. It helps you to understand how each autonomic state (safe-and-social, fight-or-flight and freeze) affects your thoughts, emotions and behaviors.
Intuitive eating.
This is an evidenced-based approach to eating that focuses on 10 principles to heal one's relationship to food and reconnect to their inherent ability to respond to your body's needs. The ten principles include rejecting diet mentality, honoring hunger, making peace with food, challenging the food police, discovering the satisfaction factor, feel your fullness, cope with your emotions with kindness, respect your body, movement, and gentle nutrition.
Health at Every Size (HAES).
HAES principles promote social justice while allowing for more inclusive, respectful, and compassionate health practices to emerge. HAES operates with four guiding principles: weight inclusivity, eating for well-being, respectful care, health enhancement, and life-enhancing movement. HAES helps you move away from fixation on weight and release shame, fear, and stigma around fatness.