We all have life lessons as part of our soul's evolution--
The soul was at the forefront when fields of both medicine and mental health were formed. However, as these disciplines have become more modernized, the innermost self of the individual has been dismissed and forgotten. However,
more and more people are looking toward spirituality to answer life’s biggest questions and explain the sometimes “unexplainable” concerns. Over the years, many people have left churches and distanced themselves from organized forms of religion because they’ve felt what once helped them no longer provided solace, comfort and guidance.
When I created my holistic health model nearly two decades ago, I first called it the “Whole Health Model”. I couldn’t get myself to formally publish the image and didn’t know why. It wasn’t until I realized that I talked about the soul all the time, but didn’t include it in the model that I KNEW I needed to re-introduce the soul into health and mental health related topics. For years, I taught the model to healthcare providers, coaches, clergy, educators and administrators to explain the biggest challenges clients/patients face. I used the model to explain why people struggle with trauma, grief, weight/difficulty with emotional eating, regrouping after crises, care-giver stress, and more.
Many years into teaching continuing education classes for professionals, I was encouraged to create a certification for providers to learn more about the model. But it wasn’t until I started writing my Soul of Psychology book series—a series to explain the “soul side” of mental health issues—that I recognized the need for a visual model to illustrate the fact that the soul encompasses ALL of what we consider to be health, but little to no attention is paid by traditionally-trained providers.
The truth is, the soul shows up in EVERYTHING. However, very few people understand this. What this means is that health and mental health care fall short in addressing a person’s most vital issues. It also means that people will continue to struggle because the most important aspect of who they are is wounded, hurting or blocked so progress and healing is greatly impeded.
The primary “bio-psycho-social” model that is taught in both medicine and mental health implies that the body is the most important component in health, with some attention being giving to the psychological and social aspects.
My Soul-Informed Care Model© emphasizes the fact that although the majority of attention is given to the body and some to the mind, the soul greatly encompasses both—far beyond what traditionally-trained practitioners understand. Everything from simple medical illness, accidents etc. to emotional health concerns (depression, anxiety, trauma, etc.) all involve the soul, even though most modern practitioners don’t recognize this.
To provide fully effective care to clients and patients, practitioners must begin to understand that the soul plays an integral role in both feeling unwell and more importantly in the healing process. To understand Soul-Informed Care, not only will practitioners understand the need to look deeper, but the individual will feel inspired and empowered to take charge of the entirety of their health as well. Body, mind AND soul must receive attention to experience Whole Person Health.
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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.