The cure of the part should not be attempted without the treatment of the whole. No attempt should be made to cure the body without the soul.
~~Plato
I read a quote the other day that said, “You are here to understand yourself, not to be understood.” If everyone accepted this idea, I’d happily be out of a job both as a psychologist and soul-healing practitioner.
Soul evolution is an interesting thing. Although I’ve been committed to growth and healing for nearly all of my life, I don’t always see a new wave of my own evolution coming until it stops me in my tracks. Regardless of how much I work with others to realign their lives, I’m still sometimes blindsided by what the Universe has in store for me.
The Soul of Psychology series was birthed just over a year ago when I realized I needed to write about “the soul side” of mental health conditions. For those who want to delve into a deeper form of treatment for emotional concerns and/or experience the various soul-healing sessions I offer, I spend a great deal of time explaining how various forms of discomfort or dis-ease can stem from soul-based wounds or misalignments. Although many people are aware of the body and mind factors that contribute to emotional upset, far fewer know to go deeper to explore soul-related origins of their persistent distress.
The psyche and the soul are often confused. In fact, many think they are the same thing. However, they are fundamentally different aspects of who we are. The psyche is the totality of the human mind, including the conscious and unconscious thoughts and processes that influence our actions or behavior. In contrast, the soul is defined as the eternal energy—the unique essence within each of us—that drives all aspects of life. The soul influences every aspect of who we are, not just how we utilize our brain. Overlap exists between the psyche and the soul, but they are vastly distinct qualities of being human.
Despite the fact that both Hippocrates, the “father” of medicine and Carl Jung, one of the founding fathers of the field of psychology,
emphasized that the soul was present in every illness and organ within the body, nowhere is this vital aspect of our essential being acknowledged in either medical school or psychological training. No one really knows why the early awareness of our core essence was removed or dismissed in these therapeutic traditions, but one thing is certain: the soul needs to be returned to its rightful place in both healing and evolution in order to help people feel whole again.
The more I engaged in my own healing and watched many others rely on modern medicine or psychology to answer the toughest questions, the more I knew there was something much deeper going on. Medication and most forms of psychotherapy can’t reach the level of the soul, so many people are left to manage their symptoms rather than heal the core of what is actually amiss. It has been through my own healing process that I’ve discovered the deeper aspects of resolution that are more sustainable and complete.
I began writing The Soul of Psychology Series to expand the understanding of the core origin of a person’s experience of common mental health-related conditions. It is in bringing the soul back to the forefront that the essence of an individual is returned to the center of treatment rather than remaining focused on the symptoms that have come to define them. Only when all aspects of health—body, mind and soul are addressed will the picture of healing action be complete.
In starting that process by writing Anxiety: Treating Body, Mind and Soul, 
I had no idea it would set me on another evolutionary path of my own. I thought I’d sit down to write a book and all would flow easily, quickly and smoothly. That did not happen.
I realized that the language used by medical professionals, psychological practitioners and soul-healing specialists was vastly different. At first I struggled to find common ground to bring these worlds together. I then realized that I needed to address many more soul-based aspects of our being than originally intended. In doing so, I expanded
The Soul Health Model™ to add additional factors that influence our experience of the human condition as well as included a “root” system which depicts the various factors that explain the soul side of life. This newly expanded model is called The Whole Soul Model©. In creating this image, I realized that it will serve as the basis for the Soul Health Scholars four levels of certification. It provides a roadmap to help others understand the various layers of both the human and soul condition that affect everyday life.
In the midst of writing early chapters of the book, I also talked about The Three Levels of Healing—the stages people go through in their restorative process. Intellectual Healing (making sense of how wounds or symptoms first began), Emotional Healing (learning to release unresolved or unattended emotion) and Soul Healing (acknowledging and addressing the deeper origins of concerns) were topics I have spoken about for years, but never before had I thought to create a graphic image to help others understand the levels more thoroughly. That image has now been created and copyrighted to use in future books and teachings as well.
Finally, as I wrote the first book in the series, I used the words “Soul-Informed Care” to
help readers understand that something deeper than previously known must be included in the conceptualization of symptoms and reactions to return a person to a state of “whole person health”. Thus, yet another model and graphic image emerged.
While the treatment of all mental health concerns has lacked a key element ever since the fields of modern medicine and psychology were established, in writing Anxiety: Treating Body, Mind and Soul, it became even clearer that both modes of treatment are often insufficient in returning a patient to a state of whole person health. Frequently, it is the less-known soul-based origin of emotional concerns that must be addressed to help a person feel complete. Just writing the book and creating the various images for it helped me see the vital importance of reintroducing the soul back into healthcare even more. I evolved personally and professional in the process of trying to provide another tool for others.
The first book of the series, Anxiety: Treating Body, Mind & Soul offers a comprehensive view of the origins of many anxiety-related concerns and emphasizes deeper aspects that may have created the initial emotional disturbance or block full healing when traditional methods aren’t enough. Many source factors such as epigenetic influence, ancestral suffering, past-life trauma, and various other soul wounds are discussed. Up-to-date categorization of the psychology of anxiety disorders is discussed along with corresponding soul-related factors that may affect each concern. Anxiety is the fastest growing worldwide mental health concern and “good enough” management of symptoms is no longer adequate. It is time to address all aspects of an individual for true healing to occur.
While I started The Soul of Psychology series by writing about anxiety (I shared stories concerning various bouts of my own anxiety-related concerns), it is really my experience with depression that made me realize treatment needed to go deeper to create lasting results. Book Two, Depression: Treating Body, Mind and Soul is next in line.
I’m sure the Universe will introduce a whole new set of lessons as I finish that book.
No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness.
~~Aristotle
Katherine T. Kelly Ph.D., M.S.P.H.
With 35+ years of direct clinical experience, Dr. Kelly doesn’t just believe in helping others to heal; instead, her mission is to help them to evolve. Using her own integrative and trademarked framework—the Soul Health Model—Dr. Kelly approaches her work with clients from a “whole person” or “whole organization” perspective. She provides a uniquely progressive, yet down-to-earth approach and is well-known in therapeutic, medical and corporate communities. She thrives as she helps clients and organizations to reach what she calls “conscious evolution” through a variety of self-designed strategies. Her dedication to healing has been widely recognized as she was the recipient of the Provider of the Year Award by the regional Mental Health Association and was nominated as an Incredible Woman for a local community television network, which spotlights role models to inspire young women to pursue their own passions.