1:1 Women's Holistic Psychology Sessions
For in-depth transformation from the core outwards
Online Psychologist | Online Holistic Psychology Appointments
Seeking psychologists online allows you to connect in the comfort of your own home / space, eliminate travel time and enjoy more flexibility with the ability to connect from almost any location. Here at DIVE Healing you'll also have access to a range of curated resources especially tailored for your online holistic psychology sessions.
Psychologist in person | In Person Holistic Psychology Appointments
Connect in person at our residential therapy space in Burleigh Heads, Queensland. You'll be able to soak up the good vibes we create here, and feel at ease in our space.
Hello dear soul,
Arissa Brunelli here, founder of DIVE Healing.
You've most likely landed here because you're finally ready to get to the core of what's really happening with your health, or you're sick and tired of just being told "there's nothing you can do". Deep down you know that there's far more to you than the prescription meds, diagnosis or label.
You are an intelligent being who is capable of healing and living a meaningful and fulfilling life, or making the most of what ever time you have left of this precious life. You are capable of experiencing a greater sense of ease, focus, self-love, and inner peace.
Within each of us is a wise, compassionate essence of goodness that knows and is capable of learning to relate harmoniously, and make decisions from a place of greater self-trust, rational understanding and intuitive knowing.
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Before we move ahead, let's get a few things straight so that you feel more confident knowing what is meant by the term "holistic psychologist" and can go ahead and make an informed decision about the kind of health care you're looking for.
What is a Holistic Psychologist?
Over the last decade the term “holistic” has become increasingly recognised, which I believe is largely attributed to the fact that many people are realising the nature of our inter-connectedness and that our health and well-being is far more than just a static ‘thing’ based up on our inherited genetics.
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The current state of our health, our perception of health, and what constitutes a 'medical problem', is complex and fluctuates as a function of our relationships, childhood and generational behavioural patterns and beliefs, the environment in which we live, the attitudes of our community, and the wider socio-cultural-political environment in which we are all a part. Additionally, societal norms and values develop at a continual pace.
When I first started practicing psychology, “holistic” wasn’t even something you’d hear in any mainstream narrative - it was largely dismissed by medical communities in favour of the symptom reduction driven rhetoric. Even so much as mentioning the word “holistic” would be met with a defensive response or dismissed as “woo”.
Fortunately, I learned to trust my intuition (a story I can fill you in on another time!), and for as long as I can remember, I’ve had the mission and vision to educate and inspire others to learn what practicing holistically actually meant, and to pave the way for a new approach to helping people realise their potential, expand their quality of life and awareness, and to heal their body, mind and spirit from a place of greater understanding, integrity, and conscious choice.
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Understanding Holistic Psychology
The term “holistic” is said to be derived from the Greek word “holos”, meaning “whole”. The notion of holism has been central to the understanding and application of healing practices around the world for centuries eg. our Australian Aboriginal ancestors, many Indigenous cultures around the world, and the Hermetics of Ancient Egypt.
HOLISM refers to the understanding that the character of “wholeness” meets us everywhere and points to something fundamental in the universe ~ that the essence of nature is to form ‘wholes’ that are greater than the sum of the parts through creative evolution.
In holistic health practice what this implies is working with and/or treating the WHOLE person and recognising the interconnected pieces that link to their presenting issue(s), not just their symptom(s) or disease.
Despite some of the best intentions, our medical system has become more about prioritising treatment of symptoms and reducing pain over understanding how patients entire lives contribute to their health and/or disease. Medical systems are designed to serve as many patients as possible, and shortages of medical providers mean that not all patients receive care when they need it.
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Conversely, a holistic health practitioner may ask themselves and their patients to deeply consider the ways that bodies, minds, spirits, relationships, and the spaces we inhabit all coalesce ~ manifesting and shaping one’s health outcomes and well-being.
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PSYCHOLOGISTS help people develop awareness and understanding of the links between their behaviours, thoughts and emotions. Ultimately, psychologists aim to help people address whatever unhelpful conditioning or patterns may be present, and thereby develop more flexible adaptive coping strategies and perspectives in order to help improve their psychological well-being, quality of life and relationships.
As a HOLISTIC PSYCHOLOGIST, I go a step further by helping people get a deeper understanding of and better manage the 'core' drivers linked with their presenting issue(s) or thought patterns by 're-wiring' things at the spiritual, emotional and body level ~ because our spirit and body is what ultimately ‘keeps the score’, and most (if not all) of our decisions and thoughts are made from the place of our emotions.
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How Does
Holistic Psychology Help?
Once we stretch the nervous system capacity and window of tolerance, and once the body feels safe and knows how to relax, we can then begin to grow our awareness and understanding of ourselves, and how exactly our ‘symptoms’ are linked with our thoughts and behaviours that may be interfering with us living the life we desire and dream of, or making meaningful change in our lives.
Ultimately, true change and an evolved awareness occurs when we understand and address the drivers of a particular issue or effect, rather than relying solely on treating the effect (ie. the symptom) with another effect (ie. a drug or medication) ~ which often only works at the surface level, and eventually leads to things either getting worse or repeating, or you have a host of new problems as a result of another effect.
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Furthermore, if we only change our mindset at a conscious level without addressing our underlying emotions and unconscious beliefs, or the chronically stressed state our body may be in, we’re very unlikely to get any kind of meaningful, profound, or lasting change.
So, whatever the issue being experienced, whether that be nail biting, panic attacks, feeling that you can’t sit still and always have to rush or be doing something more, out of control spending, smoking, drinking too much, depressed mood, sleep problems, fatigue, overwhelm, relationship discord, isolation, or suicidal thoughts and so forth ~ I believe a holistic practitioner’s ‘duty’ is to both educate and enable you see the bigger picture of which your symptoms are a part.
Meaningful change becomes possible when you make informed decisions and feel a sense of empowerment and responsibility for the ways in which you can improve your health, life and relationships for the better. It also helps us to build self-trust and a newfound self-love.
What type of therapeutic approaches do you offer?
Over the years I've learned how to facilitate meaningful change by crafting a health care approach that brings modern science and spirituality together.
It is a truly integrative and holistic approach that gets to the core of the issue and is personally tailored to support the whole of you ~ mind, body, soul and spirit. I offer a welcoming and sacred space where you can be supported in your healing journey.
Whilst each individual's therapeutic plan and journey will look a little different, sessions may include approaches that range from evidence-based trauma therapy treatments such as EMDR, modern behavioural therapies such as ACT and MCBT, and where appropriate, the integration of somatic (body) based therapies such as sound healing therapy. For more information on the sound healing therapy systems or approaches I use as a sound medicine practitioner, click here.
Yogic numerology of the Kundalini Yoga system may also be shared where appropriate, and serve purely as a springboard for building a regular practice of yoga and self-care to strengthen one's physical vitality, breath awareness, mental balance and spirituality.
With each individualised plan, the overarching goal always remains the same ~ to support you to make meaningful change and ultimately enable you to intelligently navigate life's landscape.
Let's work through your transformation together
Click the booking button below to reserve your appointment
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