The Role of Mind, Body, and Spirit in Overcoming Trauma – Interview With Irish Dhindsa

With all the odds against her and life throwing twists and turns unexpectedly, Irish learned to alchemize struggles into opportunities, failures into important lessons, and pain into purpose. Irish’s life experiences became the catalyst that initiated her journey as a writer, author, psychotherapist, peer supporter, wellness coach, grief educator, and mentor. 

Born in India, Irish migrated with her family to Canada at 8 years old. Living with a childhood progressive physical disability, the move to a new country was not short of challenges. Despite the difficulties, over the years, Irish managed to complete a double Bachelor in Business Management & Hospitality from the University of Toronto and Humber College. After experiencing the death of her partner and father within 4 years, Irish pursued a career change and completed her Masters in Counselling Psychology from Yorkville University. Irish has also completed various certifications and training in coaching, Brainspotting, trauma-focused and informed practices, Jungian psychology, and existential therapy. 

In her work as a therapist, Irish works with a holistic healing (mind, body, and spirit) lens that incorporates creative methods to help clients develop holistic integration and alignment between all parts of being. The eclectic and creative approach Irish applies involves depth psychology, mindfulness and somatic practices, existential exploration, and developing coherence between various parts of the psyche. As a humanistic therapist, Irish believes in the innate power of humans to be creative, unique, and capable of reaching their full potential (moving towards individuation). 

Irish aspires to connect with people through her work and support them in discovering self-empowerment, creative expression, unique exploration of purpose and meaning, self-compassion, self-knowledge, and self-wisdom. 

Irish Dhindsa, Holistic Therapist | RP(Qualifying)

What led you to become a grief and trauma therapist?

I believe that experience creates the deepest level of understanding; therefore, what I know of about grief and trauma originates from having gone through those experiences. My experiences guided me in a direction that I may not have come across otherwise. The support I received in my grief and trauma showed me the value of being present for another going through these challenges in their life.

My work in peer support was the first time I provided support to another person who was also going through a loss. The more I worked with people as a peer, the more I learned how to hold space for challenging human experiences, and the more attuned I became with an empathetic and compassionate understanding of grief and trauma. 

What started with peer support evolved into gaining further education to learn how to hold therapeutic space for individuals who have experienced grief and trauma. Today, I work with clients who have gone through various types of losses, from death loss to health loss to loss of autonomy or the loss of something meaningful in their lives. 

I have learned that trauma and grief go hand in hand because trauma involves loss and loss causes grief. Trauma and grief have holistic impacts on a person, which can cause disintegration and incoherence between the states of being (mind, body, spirit). My passion and sense of purpose come through my collaborative work with clients. I support them in re-establishing coherence and holistic alignment to encourage well-being and self-wisdom.

What is the story behind your practice, Irish Oak Wellness?

Irish Oak Wellness is my solo private practice in counselling and psychotherapy that I started in 2024. The name of my practice incorporates my first name with the symbolism of the Irish Oak Tree. 

The Irish Oak Tree represents truth, strength, courage, and wisdom, which are all aspects involved in the holistic therapy that I provide at my practice. The work I do with clients strives to bring a sense of stability and empowerment into their lives, which are also representations of the Irish Oak.

The colours of the practice are forest green and mauve, which represent the elements of inspiration, artistic expression, new beginnings, and growth. Irish Oak Wellness is a complete representation of holistic healing expressed through the earthy elements to the creative ones that invoke feelings of grounding (body), curiosity (mind), and enlightenment (spirit). 

Photo Credit: Amanda Yates Photography

What drives you to practice holistic and integrative therapy?

The type of therapy a therapist provides is an extension of themselves. A therapist’s values will shine through the way they chooses to practice. For me, a holistic and integrative approach creates space for a unique exploration of the client’s world and informs creative ways of providing support. 

A holistic model considers an individual’s existence on the physical, mental, emotional, and

spiritual plane. Since each person expresses and processes experiences differently and each aspect of their existence interacts with the others uniquely, the therapeutic process becomes quite creative and integrative.

I provide a humanistic, holistic, and integrative approach to therapy, which involves working with the clients collaboratively, profoundly, and creatively. I incorporate different therapeutic elements and interventions into the therapeutic process by carefully observing the client’s experiences through a holistic lens. One common and consistent element that I work with is trusting in the client’s intuition. If a client struggles to connect with their intuitive self, I will support them in connecting with their intuitive self by encouraging autonomous expression in therapy. 

I believe creativity to be an essential human power that we express into the world by the ways we choose to be in the world. Being alive is being creative, and we can be alive in many different ways. My therapy work, writing, reading, connecting with others, and so much more brings aliveness into my life and it allows me to share my creativity with the world in many respects. 

What is your philosophy and identity as a therapist?

As a therapist, part of my work with clients involves supporting self-development, and identity work is a significant portion of that, so it is only expected that I have done my identity work to acknowledge who I am as a therapist. 

My therapist philosophy is rooted in the humanistic approach, which acknowledges each person as unique and places a high value on understanding the client’s world phenomenologically. I also align with existential therap,y which is a part of the humanistic approach and focuses on the experience of being in the world. The humanistic view is the foundation of my therapy philosophy because I believe that the human experience plays a pivotal role in shaping us. 

My therapist identity foundationally is of a humanistic therapist, which is layered by my values of holistic and integrative work. My beliefs and values associated with creativity further deepen my therapist identity and define the lens through which I approach therapeutic rapport and treatment. The interventions and therapeutic approaches I use in my work with clients are selected based on the values I place on humanistic and holistic work. These interventions and approaches include Jungian psychology, therapeutic arts, parts work, somatic work, and Brainspotting.

Like any identity formation process, my therapist identity will continue evolving and become more nuanced with experience. I look forward to growing in this space and greatly appreciate how far I have come. 

How do you develop a therapeutic relationship with clients?

As I shared, my foundational therapist philosophy is rooted in the humanistic approach, therefore my connection with clients happens in humanistic ways. 

Within the humanistic approach lies a person-centered lens where one views another through the uniqueness of that individual and their experiences. Similarly, I hold a human perspective when working with clients, which includes believing that all humans carry an innate goodness within them. Holding the perspective of innate goodness acknowledges that each person has the right to be understood as they are. In the therapeutic space, I engage with clients through empathy, non-judgment, and authenticity. 

The therapeutic rapport continues to develop through collaborative work and the therapeutic connection that forms between client and therapist over time. As a therapist, I am committed to showing up authentically and consistently for the client, which plays a pivotal role in building the therapeutic relationship. 

What does creativity mean to you? How do you bring it forward in the work you do?

If I could describe creativity in one word, I would say self-expression. When a person has the opportunity to explore their ever-evolving inner world and get to express that outwardly, they are practicing creative expression. Creativity can take any form, it is unique to each individual, and it is a crucial part of our lives as humans. When our self-expression is restricted, we may find our well-being challenged. 

I practice creativity through writing, drawing, painting, and taking on new hobbies. These practices, among many more, support me in expressing my inner world outwardly. Some other aspects through which I express myself are my beliefs, values, personality, and communication. 

I published my book Drawn To Feel: A Poetic Expression of Love, Loss & Soulfulness last year, but it took me about 7 years to write. During the years I wrote the book, it became my canvas to express my experiences, feelings, thoughts, curiosities, beliefs, and values. Not everything I wrote made it to the final product that was published, but the experience of writing it is where I felt the highest level of creative fulfillment.

Through the work I do, whether that be professional or personal, I empower my creative expression and creative capacity to shine through. Creativity is life, and it is strongly connected to my feelings of purposefulness.

What is one message you would like to give about yourself, your business, and your book for the readers?

My book, my practice, and I share some common themes: creativity, spirituality, curiosity, contemplation, self-wisdom, and self-expression. I may be missing a few, but these are the core themes.

My message to the readers, which incorporates all these themes, is that we are humans, and we live to experience life, but sometimes things can happen that disconnect us from our capacity to experience life how we wish to. In these circumstances, we may need to find resources to support ourselves and transform in ways that help us reconnect with ourselves so that we can self-express again through a re-established sense of safety. The journey to self-reconnection may not be an easy one, but it can be vital to regaining the capacity to experience life again in ways that one wants to.

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