Emotional Wellness Exploring Holistic Paths to Inner Peace

Emotional health is a key component of overall well-being, reflecting a person’s ability to manage their emotions and adapt to life’s changes. It’s an essential aspect of both mental and physical health.

Mental health refers to any condition diagnosed as a disorder, such as eating disorders, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. With the significant rise in mental health diagnoses today, it’s crucial to ask: What factors are causing this increase and how can it be prevented?

To explore this topic further, several holistic practitioners were interviewed to provide their perspectives and offer suggestions for empowering individuals to take positive steps toward healthier emotional well-being.

Mary Ann Doyle, a Thought Field Therapy Therapist, explains that Thought Field Therapy (TFT) is an energy-based form of psychotherapy designed to reduce symptoms of psychological distress by manipulating how energy flows in the body. TFT is based on the premise that bodies consist of energy fields and that imbalances in this system cause physical and emotional issues. According to Doyle, TFT can have rapid and lasting results in treating various psychological conditions, including anxiety, trauma, phobias, depression and addiction.

Says Doyle, “As I reflected on this, I realized that first, we all need to set our intention that we want to feel better; we don’t want to continue to repeat a problematic cycle of behavior that gets us nowhere. And what I’ve discovered over the years is that often in treating a trauma, it leads back to childhood experiences that cause triggers, flashbacks, nightmares and a dysfunctional pattern of living, to cope with what you lived through as a child.

“Thought Field Therapy allows you to heal from those traumatic events,” continues Doyle. “But you must decide and recognize what that pattern is, and, what you want to do about it. You can get relief, and you can unlock those triggers, so they no longer affect your daily living and increase your well-being, your ability to sleep, and your relationships to others. Because as you heal, you find strength and happiness within yourself.

“I’ve worked with children and adults for over 25 years,” she adds. “Many of the adults I’ve worked with have manifested physical disease. And really, when you think about that word, it’s ‘dis-ease’—not at ease within yourself, your body or your mental state. Anomalies that happen in the body are connected to unhappiness, to feelings of despair, to a constant state of anxiety, and so on. Mental health goes hand in hand with medical conditions you might be working with. Thought Field Therapy allows you to heal from the trauma that quite often is built up over the years and creates physical wellness.”

Acupuncturist David Garcia believes Chinese medicine is an integral part of a comprehensive approach to emotional health. “In Chinese medicine, we use all parts of the body as one, and, of course, the emotions are in there too,” he explains. “There definitely is an interaction between body, mind and spirit. Through acupuncture or herbal remedies, we can help balance a lot of different emotions so we can better control them. Emotions are natural, and they serve a purpose, but when they get out of hand, they become a problem. Finding natural ways to help control them gives yourself a little bit of an edge so that you’re able to get through difficult times. Acu-detox, which is acupuncture in the ears, is known for its calming effects and works immediately. When we are out of fight-or-flight response, it helps a person to make better decisions.” 

Garcia notes that Chinese herbal medicine can also be very effective for emotional health because it works with the organs, as traditional Chinese medicine associates different emotions with specific organ systems: sadness and grief with the lung, anger with the liver, fear with the kidney, joy with the heart, and worry with the spleen.

“In Chinese medicine, the heart is in control of joy,” says Garcia. “When we don’t have joy in our life, it allows all the other emotions and bad situations to take a bigger grip on us. So being able to give herbs that can stimulate and help the heart in terms of energetically to flow better, it can help us have more joy. There are herbs that benefit the liver system, and the liver has a lot to do with frustration and anger. A lot of times when the liver system gets out of hand, that energetic imbalance disrupts other systems in the body, such as the spleen. I mean, when we’re angry all the time, it takes away our joy and creates confrontation, which makes it accelerate more and throws off the energetic harmony of the body. There are many herbs that can help a person find good emotional health.”

Suesan Johnson, a classically trained homeopath, uses this gentle, noninvasive approach to relieve symptoms associated with depression, anxiety and trauma. Homeopathy is appropriate for all ages, easily administered, and has no harmful side effects. 

“I would like to start by saying being nervous, uncomfortable and having some anxieties is normal,” says Johnson. “Whether it’s a job interview or getting ready for an upcoming vacation, all those things can cause some anxiousness or nervousness and are normal within range. However, if those emotions interfere with your daily life, such as not wanting to drive because there’s too much traffic and you get nervous driving, or not wanting to see people because you maybe have a phobia of going out, these are some examples of when a homeopathic consultation could be helpful.”

When addressing specific homeopathic remedies for emotional distress, Johnson says several options stand out for their effectiveness:

Aconite: Used for something that happened very suddenly, like a car accident, that you’re not able to overcome.

Ignatia: Used for those suffering from a great loss or grief.

Arnica: Used for trauma—physical, mental and emotional—such as from an accident.

The insights provided by these holistic practitioners underscore the diverse approaches available for enhancing emotional well-being. Whether through Thought Field Therapy, Chinese medicine or homeopathy, each method offers unique benefits for addressing and managing emotional distress.