Six Facets of Integrative Care
By Jenni Kay Long, RYT, LCSW, ADS
Over the years, we at Day by Day have found patterns and themes within the healing work that we do with our patients. This, coupled, with our own personal healing journeys, have led us to develop our “Six Facets of Integrative Care” which serve as the foundation for the services that we offer. Here’s a little bit about each facet.
Belonging
Friendship and community are vital components of well-being for all people. Brene Brown sums it up well, writing, "In the absence of connection, love, and belonging, there is suffering." Some of us have never experienced this fully and others of us have had glimpses of belonging off and on throughout our lives. When we have never experienced unconditional love, it can be very difficult to approach ourselves with kindness and fully experience friendship with others. And so, here at Day by Day, we explore what it means to be in community - to trust our capacity to love and be loved.
Authenticity
Growing up many of us were taught that it is "wrong to lie", but simultaneously learned that we must not express our feelings, perspectives, or be fully ourselves. In an effort to create some sense of safety, we slowly gave up bits and pieces of ourselves. Later on in life it can sometimes feel as though we have no idea how to be truly honest, real, authentic. And when we start to show up in our lives as more authentic, it can be quite frightening and disrupt our current relationships. At Day by Day, we explore what it means to be authentic, gently peel back the layers, and get to know ourselves with compassion and acceptance.
Soothing
Many of us have gotten used to self-punishment, believing that harsh self criticism will make us better people, more likable, or successful. At Day by Day, we work challenge this belief, and instead cultivate ways of being with ourselves (and others) that are based on compassion and kindness.
Nourish
A gift from the Earth, food is one way that we can show ourselves care and nurturing throughout the day. And, as Hippocrates famously taught, it can serve as medicine. Certain foods have medicinal properties that help nourish our organs, boost our immune systems, and heal imbalances.
Feeling
Emotions let us know important data about the present moment. For example, if we experience fear, we know that we are in a situation that does not feel safe and we can then take the necessary steps to find safety. Sometimes it can be hard to discern what emotion we are experiencing, and in turn, know what to do with that information. Additionally many of us were taught that it is "not okay" to feel certain emotions which makes it difficult to relate to others. For example, if we have never been taught how to healthily navigate anger, we may end up pushing that emotion down and act out in passive aggressive ways. Whether we are conscious of it or not, we all experience a wide range of emotions every day. Our emotions - or internal messengers - are a bridge between our minds, bodies, and relationships. We are committed to helping you gain insight about the emotions you experience, where you feel those feelings in your body, and what to do with the information.
Moving
Our bodies hold our stories, our traumas, our fears, our joy and excitement. They are the reason we can move through the world and live into our hopes and dreams. Sometimes our bodies can feel like achy burdens that are impossible to tend. When a lot of trauma has occurred in our lives, the body can feel like our enemy - a thing to be avoided or punished. Movement is the sixth component of our integrative care wheel because healing can't happen if the body is left out and neglected. To fully know who we are and to live into our goals, we must reconcile and reclaim our bodies. Movement brings us into the here and now and we settle into our selves in every way - physically, emotionally, mentally - and organically we begin to feel more whole.