At Its Core, Therapy Is Integrative Work: Holistic, Embodied Therapy in Santa Monica and Venice

Some people think of therapy as a place you go to fix something. I’m not fond of that perspective.

One of my mentors (who is a therapist as well), says to clients, “I have no interest in fixing you or making you better. My interest is in deepening your relationship to soul — and whatever brought you into the room is going to be our pathway.” I love this. It shifts the focus from symptom reduction to something far more meaningful: reconnection.

I like to think of therapy as a process of returning to Self — a gentle, intentional reclaiming of the parts of you that, at some point, became separated.

Trauma, in its many forms, fragments us. Not always in dramatic or obvious ways, but in quiet, subtle ones. Over time, we learn to disconnect from the parts of ourselves that weren’t welcomed — the parts that were shamed, silenced, or simply too tender to feel. When it’s too painful to be fully ourselves, we adapt by becoming less of ourselves.

Psychiatrist Gabor Maté speaks to this beautifully. He describes the early and often invisible moments in which a child must choose attachment over authenticity — the moments when staying connected to our caretakers means we must disconnect from our own truth. This abandonment of self may be emotional, physical, or both — but either way, it leaves a mark. We learn, consciously or not, that being accepted might require shrinking, hiding, or contorting who we are.

Over time, those patterns become survival strategies. And they work — until they don’t. Eventually, many people reach a point where the disconnection becomes too heavy, too limiting, too painful. The old strategies that once kept us safe now keep us stuck. That’s often when we find ourselves in therapy.

This is why I don’t view therapy as a “fixing” process. We are not broken — we are fragmented. And often, those fragments were born from deep wisdom. They protected us when we needed protecting. But just because we separated from certain parts of ourselves doesn’t mean they disappeared. They’re still there, waiting for our attention, our curiosity, our compassion.

To me, therapy is a reclamation. It’s an integrative process — one rooted in attunement, presence, and embodiment. We don’t rush in to fix; we slow down to listen. We learn to feel again, to inhabit our bodies, to sense what’s been exiled or unheard. We allow space for all that we are to come into the room.

Integration is not about becoming someone new — it’s about becoming more fully yourself. It’s about gathering what’s been scattered, softening what’s been armored, and returning to the Self that’s always been there underneath the coping.

I love this poem by Pesha Gertler…I think it encapsulates much of what I’m trying to express in these journal entry.

The Healing Time
Finally on my way to yes
I bump into
all the places
where I said no
to my life
all the untended wounds
the red and purple scars
those hieroglyphs of pain
carved into my skin, my bones,
those coded messages
that send me down
the wrong street
again and again
where I find them
the old wounds
the old misdirections
and I lift them
one by one
close to my heart
and I say holy, 
holy.

So if you're feeling the weight of disconnection — from your body, your intuition, your sense of aliveness — therapy can be a space to begin again. Not to improve or perfect yourself, but to remember who you already are.

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About Michele LoBosco:

My approach is relational, trauma informed, somatically oriented, and non-judgmental. I offer an open mind and heart, along with evidence-based tools, to help individuals face the human challenges of grief, depression, anxiety, life transitions, isolation, and complex trauma. I hold a master’s degree in clinical psychology with a specialization in Spiritual and Depth Psychology, and have training in a wide variety of modalities including Somatic Experiencing, Hakomi, Internal Family Systems (IFS), mindfulness, and Ecotherapy. The work I do addresses the whole person, weaves somatic and mindfulness-based approaches, and incorporates creative practices that align with each client’s core values. I work from a trauma informed lens and draw from somatic, humanistic, depth and transpersonal models of psychology. In addition to individual psychotherapy services, I also offer process groups and women’s circles.

I currently have openings for in-person clients in my Venice/Santa Monica office, as well as openings for virtual clients throughout California.