When Healing Requires More Than Talk Therapy: Inside the World of Holistic Mental Health

Healing doesn’t happen in isolation, and it doesn’t live solely in the mind.

For many people, traditional talk therapy provides insight and understanding, yet something still feels missing. Patterns repeat. The body remains tense. Emotions surface unexpectedly. In those moments, the question naturally arises: Why do I understand my trauma, but still feel stuck?

In this episode of The Moon Collective Sanctuary Podcast, host Dr. Lydia Luna, Ph.D., licensed clinical psychologist and founder of Moon Collective Sanctuary, welcomes back Briana, a licensed clinical social worker and trauma specialist, for a deeply honest conversation about what it truly means to practice and experience holistic mental health care.

Together, they explore the evolving landscape of therapy, the rise of nervous system–informed healing, and why true transformation often requires engaging the mind, body, and spirit.

What Does “Holistic Healing” Really Mean?

Holistic mental health is often misunderstood as an alternative to evidence-based therapy when in reality, it is an integration of science, somatics, and meaning-making.

As Briana explains, healing requires more than cognitive insight. Trauma is not stored in logic alone, it lives in the nervous system, the emotional brain, and the body. While talk therapy can be validating and informative, it does not always access the deeper layers where trauma is held.

This is why modalities such as EMDR, somatic psychotherapy, trauma-informed yoga, breathwork, and nervous system regulation have become essential tools in modern trauma treatment. These approaches don’t replace therapy, they deepen it.

“When clients say, ‘I understand my patterns, but I still don’t feel better,’ that’s often a sign that the body hasn’t been included in the healing process.”

From Personal Healing to Professional Purpose

Both Lydia and Briana share openly about how their own life experiences shaped the way they practice today.

Like many clinicians drawn to holistic work, their journeys were not purely academic. They came from lived experience, moments of loss, trauma, and disillusionment with systems that offered insight but not relief. Those experiences sparked a question that changed everything:

“What else is there?”

That question led them beyond traditional frameworks into somatic therapies, spiritual inquiry, and embodied practices. Not as trends, but as necessary complements to psychological work. Over time, these tools became not only personal lifelines, but ethical clinical offerings grounded in training, supervision, and care.

Why Nervous System Language Is Everywhere Right Now

One of the most significant shifts in mental health today is the mainstream understanding of the nervous system.

Terms like regulation, dysregulation, activation, and attunement are no longer confined to clinical spaces. This cultural shift is helping people understand that behavior isn’t a moral failure, it’s often a physiological response to stress, trauma, or unmet needs.

From classrooms to workplaces to relationships, nervous system awareness fosters empathy and creates space for more effective support. As Briana notes, teaching regulation skills early, especially to children, can change the trajectory of an entire life.

Healing, after all, is not about control. It’s about safety.

Community, Connection, and the Limits of Technology

The episode also addresses the growing reliance on technology for emotional support, particularly the rise of AI tools in mental health conversations.

While AI can be helpful for organization, reflection, or practical tools, both clinicians emphasize an important boundary: AI is not therapy. It cannot attune, challenge, rupture, repair, or hold the emotional complexity that healing requires.

True therapeutic work happens in relationship, through human connection, co-regulation, and presence. This is why community-based healing spaces, retreats, and in-person experiences, like the Moon Collective Sanctuary offers, have surged since the pandemic. We are wired for connection, not isolation.

What It’s Really Like to Be a Therapist in the Holistic Space

One of the most intimate parts of the conversation centers on the therapist’s inner world.

Holistic therapists don’t just guide others, they must continuously tend to their own nervous systems, boundaries, and energy. From rituals that help close out sessions to conscious choices around rest, nourishment, and disconnection, self-care isn’t optional, it’s ethical.

Burnout, emotional fatigue, and loss of empathy are warning signs, not failures. And private practice, while freeing, requires intentional structure to remain sustainable.

As Lydia reflects, therapists are called to live the work they offer, not perfectly, but honestly.

Discernment in a Crowded Healing Industry

With the explosion of wellness content, coaching programs, and spiritual influencers, this episode offers a grounded reminder: not all healing spaces are created equal.

While life coaches and spiritual guides can offer meaningful support, trauma work requires training, ethics, and clinical discernment. Healing is not one-size-fits-all and promises of quick fixes often bypass the depth real transformation demands.

True healing takes time. It asks for patience, curiosity, and compassion, not perfection.

Final Reflections: Healing Is a Process, Not a Performance

This conversation is ultimately an invitation to slow down, ask better questions, and choose support that honors your full humanity.

Whether you are a clinician, a client, or someone navigating your own healing journey, this episode reminds us that growth happens through integration, not shortcuts.

“You’re allowed to ask questions. You’re allowed to seek second opinions. And you’re allowed to take your time.”

Listen to the full episode of The Moon Collective Sanctuary Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.

Explore upcoming events, retreats, and holistic healing offerings at our events page. Follow along on social media @mooncollectivesanctuary for continued insight and inspiration.

Meet the Guest: Briana Damavandi, LCSW

Briana Damavandi, LCSW, is a trauma-informed, certified EMDR therapist specializing in complex trauma, inner child healing, and somatic-based psychotherapy. Her work integrates evidence-based modalities such as EMDR, nervous system regulation, and parts work, alongside holistic and mindfulness-informed approaches that honor the connection between mind, body, and spirit. Briana is deeply committed to helping clients move beyond insight alone and into embodied healing, supporting long-term transformation, resilience, and self-compassion. Through both her clinical practice and conversations like this one, she offers grounded, ethical, and deeply human perspectives on what it truly means to heal.

Website: www.theholisticemdrtherapist.com
Instagram: @the.holistic.emdr.therapist