Holistic Mental Health: Combining EMDR, Mindfulness, and Somatic Practices

Danielle Cotter
Sep 30
5 min read

Why a Holistic Approach Matters

When people think about mental health care, they often imagine traditional talk therapy—sitting across from a therapist, talking through challenges, and finding new insights. While this approach has helped countless people, it doesn’t always go far enough. For many of my clients, healing requires more than just understanding why something happened. True healing happens when mind, body, and spirit are all included in the process.

That’s where holistic therapy comes in. Holistic mental health care looks at the whole person—your thoughts, emotions, body, nervous system, and relationships. Instead of treating symptoms in isolation, we create space for the full range of human experience. By weaving together evidence-based methods like EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and Internal Family Systems (IFS) with practices like mindfulness, somatic awareness, and nervous system regulation, clients find not just symptom relief but deeper transformation.

If you’ve been searching for a way to heal that feels more connected, embodied, and sustainable, holistic therapy might be what you’ve been longing for.

What Is Holistic Mental Health Care?

Holistic mental health care means looking at your struggles—and your healing—through a whole-person lens. Instead of focusing solely on symptoms like anxiety, depression, or trauma triggers, we ask:

What’s happening in your body when distress arises?
How is your nervous system responding to stress?
What core beliefs or inner parts of you are being activated?
How can mindfulness, movement, and breath reconnect you with the present?
What supports—relationships, spirituality, creativity, nature—can nurture your healing?

This approach doesn’t mean we ignore science. In fact, holistic therapy is most powerful when it combines research-backed treatments like EMDR with body-based practices that help integrate healing at every level.

EMDR: Reprocessing Trauma in a Safe, Effective Way

EMDR therapy is one of the cornerstones of my practice. Originally developed to help people heal from trauma, EMDR has decades of research showing its effectiveness. It works by helping the brain reprocess distressing memories so they no longer feel overwhelming.

Instead of needing to relive trauma, EMDR uses bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tapping, or sound) while gently focusing on parts of the memory. Over time, the emotional intensity decreases, and new, healthier beliefs can take root—like moving from “I’m not safe” to “I survived, and I am safe now.”

What makes EMDR so powerful in a holistic framework is that it’s not just about the story of what happened. It works directly with the nervous system and the body’s stored trauma responses. When combined with mindfulness and somatic awareness, EMDR helps clients not only think differently but feel differently.

Mindfulness: Coming Home to the Present

If trauma and stress pull us into the past or launch us into the future, mindfulness brings us back to the here and now. Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention, on purpose, to the present moment without judgment.

In therapy, mindfulness helps clients:

Notice emotions without being swept away by them
Create a pause between trigger and reaction
Develop self-compassion rather than self-criticism
Reconnect with the body in gentle, non-threatening ways

When used alongside EMDR, mindfulness creates the grounding needed to do deeper trauma work safely. It helps clients recognize when their nervous system is activated and learn how to bring themselves back into balance.

Somatic Therapy: Healing Through the Body

Trauma and stress don’t just live in our minds—they live in our bodies. Tight shoulders, a racing heart, a gut that clenches when fear arises: these are all ways the body carries experiences.

Somatic therapy focuses on these physical sensations as pathways to healing. By slowing down, noticing what’s happening in the body, and allowing those sensations to shift, clients often release stored tension they didn’t even realize they were holding.

In Minnesota, where I practice, I’ve seen how incorporating somatic therapy helps people move from “thinking about healing” to actually feeling it in their bodies. It’s particularly powerful for clients who have tried talk therapy before but still feel stuck.

The Power of Integration: EMDR + Mindfulness + Somatic Awareness

Each of these approaches—EMDR, mindfulness, and somatic therapy—offers something unique. But their real power comes when they’re combined.

Imagine a client who struggles with panic attacks. A holistic therapy session might look like this:

Mindfulness: The client begins by noticing their breath and grounding in the present moment.
Somatic Awareness: Together we explore where the panic shows up in the body—maybe a tight chest or shaking hands.
EMDR Processing: We use bilateral stimulation to target the underlying memory or belief fueling the panic.
Integration: As the memory loses its charge, the client practices mindfulness again, noticing the shift in body and mind.

Over time, this layered approach helps clients not just understand their struggles but embody new ways of being.

Internal Family Systems: A Holistic Partner to EMDR

Alongside EMDR and somatic practices, I often incorporate Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy. IFS works with our inner “parts”—those different voices or feelings that show up inside us. You might have a part that feels anxious, a part that’s critical, and another that wants to keep you safe by avoiding vulnerability.

Instead of trying to silence or fight these parts, IFS helps you get to know them with compassion. This fits beautifully with holistic therapy, because it honors every aspect of you—mind, body, and spirit. Many clients find that blending EMDR with IFS helps them release the past while also transforming how they relate to themselves in the present.

Nervous System Regulation: The Missing Piece in Many Therapies

One of the most important aspects of holistic therapy is teaching clients how to regulate their nervous system. When we’re triggered, our body automatically shifts into survival mode—fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. These states aren’t bad; they’re how we’ve survived. But if we stay stuck there, it can lead to anxiety, burnout, or emotional numbness.

Holistic therapy includes practical tools for regulation, such as:

Deep breathing and grounding exercises
Gentle movement or stretching
Visualization and guided imagery
Using sound, rhythm, or touch to soothe the body

When clients learn to recognize their nervous system states and bring themselves back to balance, they gain not just insight but resilience.

What Clients Often Notice in Holistic Therapy

Clients who engage in this integrative approach often report:

Feeling calmer and more present in daily life
Fewer trauma triggers and less emotional reactivity
A stronger connection to their body’s wisdom
Greater self-compassion and less self-criticism
The ability to navigate stress without shutting down
A sense of empowerment and wholeness

In other words, they don’t just learn to manage symptoms—they build a new foundation for living.

Who Is Holistic Therapy For?

Holistic mental health care can be supportive for many concerns, including:

Trauma and PTSD
Anxiety and panic attacks
Depression and grief
Stress and burnout
Relationship struggles
Identity exploration and life transitions

It’s especially helpful for people who feel like traditional talk therapy hasn’t gone far enough, or who want to integrate mind, body, and spirit into their healing journey.

Taking the First Step

If you’ve been longing for a therapy experience that feels deeper, more connected, and more whole, holistic mental health care might be the right fit. By weaving together EMDR, mindfulness, somatic therapy, IFS, and nervous system regulation, you can begin not only to heal from the past but to thrive in the present.

Healing is not about fixing what’s broken. It’s about remembering your wholeness, reconnecting with your inner strength, and learning how to live in alignment with who you truly are.

Final Thoughts

Holistic therapy honors the truth that you are more than your thoughts, more than your symptoms, and more than your past. By combining evidence-based practices with body-based and mindful approaches, we can create space for lasting healing and growth.

If you’re in Minnesota and looking for somatic therapy, EMDR and mindfulness, or holistic mental health care, I’d be honored to walk alongside you on your journey. Together, we can explore the mind-body connection, release old wounds, and cultivate a life rooted in presence, compassion, and resilience.