Spiritually integrated psychotherapy simply means integrating our soul essence into psychotherapy. Traditional psychotherapy focuses on the mind-body connection. Spiritually integrated psychotherapy is focused on the mind-body-soul connection.

In the past few years I have had children and adolescents present with traditional symptoms that fall under the diagnostic criteria of oppositional defiant disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. During the course of their treatment their symptoms were only slightly reduced even with the addition of medication. Upon doing my own research to find effective ways to help these children and adolescents I found psychologists incorporating spirituality into their practices. As I discussed the information with the childrens parents they were astounded as to how much the description fit their child. The overlapping symptoms included defiance, anxiety (such as excessive worrying and difficulty with sleep), fears, difficulties with certain social interactions, certain social skills, distraction, explosive feelings/words and sensory issues.

The term Indigo Children comes from the indigo color in their aura (energy center around our bodies) and is connected directly to their intuition (inner knowing). Below are some of the traits an Indigo child and you can see how some of them overlap the above mentioned diagnoses:

  • They are your most difficult child to parent, they do not respond to your parenting style like your other children do
  • Punishment does not work ( it does not change their behavior)
  • They are gifted in an area (academics, music, sports)
  • They cannot hide their feelings and at times cannot explain why they are feeling the way they are
  • They have a smaller window of comfort (they can’t tolerate certain smells, foods, emotions, sounds, sights or touch)
  • They are strong willed
  • They cannot be rushed
  • They refuse to do certain things (and it’s a constant fight to get them to do it)
  • They will challenge and become very argumentative when things aren’t fair
  • They struggle with certain social interactions
  • They hate certain rules and will argue incessantly about them
  • They can speak disrespectfully to people (you can’t believe what is coming out of their mouths)
  • They hate to be reminded of homework and/or things they have to do that they don’t like
  • They waiver between grandiosity (think they are the best) and low self-esteem
  • This list of traits is not intended to be a diagnostic tool as the term Indigo is a spiritual label. It is only meant to be informational.
  • The above list does not include all of the identified traits of an Indigo.  As with all labels one does not need to have every one to qualify.

In addition to the Indigo children, I have children and adolescents whose spiritual gifts include clairvoyance, clairaudience and clairsentience. What all these kids have in common is that their intuition is fully functioning. These children and the Indigos cannot ignore their intuition, their “inner knowing” and when they do symptoms emerge. As I have mentioned above the symptoms I am finding are the same ones that correlate to the three diagnoses mentioned above.
The treatment component of spiritually integrated psychotherapy consists of a holistic healing approach that incorporates some traditional psychotherapy approaches with a spiritual approach. The spiritual approach helps them understand how their energy works and how to release it. Techniques utilized include how to utilize creative expression, movement, nature, grounding techniques, meditation, mindfulness techniques, chakra & aura clearing, affirmations, religion, prayer, angels, sound, nutrition, essential oils and metaphysical properties of crystals.
I offer individual and group spiritually integrated psychotherapy for children and adolescents. If you think your child or adolescent would benefit from spiritually integrated psychotherapy please call to make an appointment. If you think your child may have the traits of an Indigo please contact me and we can set up a free 30 minute consultation.