Talking therapies aren’t necessarily for everyone, it might not be financially or practically accessible for you at the current time or you might benefit from other tools. The alternatives listed are also useful to think about using alongside talking therapies. There is no moral hierarchy to how you choose to help yourself out, experiment and find something that works for you within your present circumstances and be open to that changing and expanding as you do.
1.Community support
Living under a colonial capitalist system can sometimes trick us into thinking that healing is something we do alone but most of us need community of some sort. This is a key aspect of the therapy I practice with the idea that if much of our pain comes from our relationships with others then it is in relationships that we must heal. Finding community can be difficult but get creative with it, think of what you can contribute, ask yourself where the people you want to be around might be.
2. Spiritual traditions
This can be a tough one for people who have religious trauma. We all have cultural and religious traditions in our history, look at your background and connect with the spiritual traditions of your ancestors. I am someone who has Irish and British cultural background, in my spiritual practice I explore celtic festivals and traditions which help me ground myself at various points in the year. Exploring spiritual traditions from your own background can also help you think about your wider ancestral connections.
3. Self help books
There are so many self help books out there that it can be overwhelming but it can be an interesting place to start on your journey- I will be sharing some of my favourites in the coming weeks.
4. Somatic therapy
A lot of the counselling I do incorporates the body and brings attention to the process of the body in our emotions, thoughts and feelings. Somatic therapy/ bodywork can be an excellent complimentary healing tool and is so valuable for releasing trauma stored in the body, helping us feel our feelings, bringing presence as well addressing some physical symptoms.
5. Journaling/drawing
If in doubt, write it out! There are no rules when journaling or drawing. Give yourself permission to be creative with this and find what works for you, whether that is googling journaling prompts and starting there or free writing or playing drawing games with friends or people at work, it can be cathartic to just begin and have the written page reflected back at you like a mirror of your mind.