Integrative and Transformative Mental Wellness
The Numinus Integrative and Transformative Mental Wellness model reflects our core mission of creating a world where everyone feels connected and whole by creating opportunities for transformative healing.
This functional medicine model uses evidence-informed approaches that address whole-person health, including lifestyle and behaviour changes in which physical and mental health are deeply connected–not existing in isolation.
Functional Medicine
Integrative and Transformative Mental Wellness encompasses Functional Medicine, a systems biology understanding of human health wherein genetic, environmental, mental, emotional, social, spiritual, and other factors all contribute to influence the emergence of long-term wellness or illness.
Integrative and Transformative Mental Wellness acknowledges that mental health symptoms are expressions of core imbalances in mind-body health that develop over time. These imbalances are especially influenced by extreme or prolonged stress responses that may begin during vulnerable periods of early childhood development, adult life, or both.
An integrated Integrative and Transformative Mental Wellness psychotherapy approach aims to identify and treat root causes of mental health conditions by helping people to identify and shift core habits and patterns in how they react and relate to themselves and their lives. These factors are transdiagnostic.
Conventional Mental Health Treatment Approaches
By contrast, conventional approaches typically focus on managing symptoms, such as with long-term use of ‘anti-depressants’ to treat depression. This symptom-management approach isolates the symptom as the problem, rather than looking for and resolving the source of the symptom.
Integrative and Transformative Mental Wellness shifts away from a symptom suppression approach to one where clients are accompanied by skilled therapists to carefully turn toward their experience. Clients are supported to feel and confront rather than to avoid challenging experiences. A psychedelic medication may be used to catalyze or accelerate an internal process of healing (The Institute for Functional Medicine, 2021).
References
The Institute for Functional Medicine. (2021). The Institute for Functional Medicine.