Embracing Holistic Healing: How to Transform Pain into Purpose

Insights from trauma counselor Kate Massey on integrating faith and mental health.

In the journey of life, we often encounter pain and trauma. But what if that pain could lead to profound healing and purpose? In this episode, we explore holistic healing through the lens of trauma counselor Kate Massey. With her expertise and personal experiences, Kate reveals how integrating faith into counseling can transform lives.

What is Holistic Healing?

Holistic healing approaches health by addressing the whole person—mind, body, and spirit. According to Kate, holistic healing involves recognizing the interconnectedness of physical, spiritual, and mental health. In her counseling sessions, she emphasizes the importance of allowing God into the healing journey, which can significantly impact the client's recovery process.

Understanding holistic healing is crucial for anyone seeking comprehensive recovery from trauma or distress. It allows for a more integrated approach to mental health that acknowledges spiritual needs alongside emotional and physical ones.

Personal Story: Finding Purpose in Pain

One of the most profound aspects of Kate's work is her personal story of overcoming trauma. She candidly shares about her experience and how it shaped her journey as a counselor. By recognizing the purpose behind her pain, she found a calling to help others who have faced similar struggles.

As Kate Massey illustrates through her insights and personal experiences, holistic healing is not just about addressing symptoms, but about transforming pain into purpose.

If you find yourself struggling with trauma or seeking deeper meaning in your pain, consider embracing a holistic approach that integrates faith. Remember, you are not alone on this journey; support is available, and healing is possible.

Next Steps

Want to dive deeper into holistic healing? Check out Kate's book, Purpose in the Pain, for more insights on how to navigate your healing journey with faith. 

Get Purpose in the Pain book from Amazon

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

You're welcome. This is the 40 Days of Reconciliation Podcast. Today we have a guest, Kate Marseille. She's a trauma castler, licensed professional castler. She has written a book, Purpose in the Pain, and she's from South Carolina, United States of America. You're welcome, Kate.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Today we are going to focus on holistic healing. You've written extensively on that topic. You're practicing this same. So would you like to help us by defining holistic healing?

SPEAKER_00 0:39

So, holistic healing is when we are able to address different areas of your life. It's going to be everything from your physical, physical, spiritual, mental, everything just coming together. And in my counseling specifically, what I do is I, when the clients allow it, I allow God to come into our sessions. And it's interesting to see the difference that someone has in their healing journey when they allow God to come into that process versus when they're not open to that.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Thank you very much. From your experience, which people have you given gasoline to? I mean the categories?

SPEAKER_00 1:18

So I've worked with anything from narcissistic abuse, sexual abuse. I've worked a little bit with some sex trafficking, just different things. I've worked with anxiety and depression as well. But trauma is really where I feel like God has me working with people.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Would you like to tell us what inspired you to write the book with the title is very interesting purpose in the day?

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Yeah, so I always wanted to write a book when I was younger. And back in it was 2014, or 2024, I was sitting in church and our pastor was talking about God-given dreams. And it was in that moment, I had never spoken this dream to anyone, never written it down, and I heard God say, now's the time. And I said, okay. And he gave me the title. And I was like, okay, what do you want me to write with that? Because I have experience in the clinical. And God said, I want you to share your story. There have been a few different traumas that I have experienced in my life that I addressed in the book, but it's all about showing people exactly what happens and giving them some clinical advice for things that can help with their symptoms until they can get into counseling. But also the main thing is recognizing where God is in our story. When we're going through pain or trauma, God doesn't abandon us. It can feel that way, but that's not what he does. And so looking through all of this, like for me, I have gone through and each chapter at the end address where God was in that situation because he was always there. No matter what the hardship was, he was there. His hand was right next to me. And I just want people to be encouraged that no matter what we're facing, you're not alone. All we have to do is reach out and touch his hand, and he's there for us.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

You have talked about inviting God into our the situation, which is really a very great idea. And then also you might have learned, as you've said, you've learned from the hardship that you have faced. How have you found God at work in a counseling session? Like somebody is in pain and you want and believing, but you want to bring in God into the situation. How has that been easy on your side?

SPEAKER_00 3:40

So it's interesting looking at it from a clinical perspective, there are a lot of things that we talk about clinically that actually are backed by the Bible. And it's interesting because a lot of Christians are like, oh, we shouldn't go to counseling, we should turn to God, which is true, we should turn to God. But sometimes God uses things to help bring that healing. If it's a physical thing, sometimes he'll use a doctor or he'll use medicine. But with mental health, sometimes it's a counselor. And remembering that the counselor isn't the one who's healing you. You're still getting healing from God. They're just helping you on that journey.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

We have different types of people who might need counseling. There is that person who actually doesn't believe at all. And there's that person who is already a Christian. There's also that one who is at the beginning and has too many questions. So yes. Would you like to tell us your experience on each of those three?

SPEAKER_00 4:36

So with each of them, it's interesting. Like as I'm working with my clients, I can see where God is will prompt me to bring something up. Or even realizing it can sometimes be challenging as a Christian counselor if they don't want faith-based to point out how it's connected to the Bible because it's so strongly in there, right? But it's really open to the client of what they want. But I mean, even looking at mental health nowadays, right? We talk about reframing your thoughts. That's a big one. No matter what you're going through, we all could use the reformation of our thoughts. And whether it be something that you think negatively about yourself or your situation, whatever it is, if you look at that, look at Romans 12, too. This is something God has told us to do. It's in the Bible. And so a lot of times people don't realize that. But once they start allowing God to come in, it's amazing to see that shift. I personally have seen clients who come in that aren't Christian or have like walked away from God. At first they'll be like, oh, I don't, I don't want to do that. I don't want to have that be a part of my counseling. But through the process, they actually will bring God into the sessions. I've had a lot of people who will start coming in and they'll say, you know, I started going back to church. I started reading my Bible again, whatever that might be. And that gives us an open door to address that aspect of it.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

I guess your personal relationship and connection with Christ makes the difference. They watch you say come. Right. Back to this topic purpose in the pain. Would you like to help us identify? You could identify one pain from any situation. Obviously, you are an expert, so I don't I will not need to remind you. You are an expert. So we without mentioning people, of course, which you can't do, but just pointing out one pain and why how it helped the the person identify the purpose that was in it.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

So I'll use myself as an example for that. One of the things I talk about in my book is I went through sexual abuse myself. And that was something that my mind had blocked out for years. But it was interesting when God allowed me to remember it, it was a time when I was counseling a lot of people who had sexual abuse in their life. And having that in my own life allowed me to be a better counselor to that person because I can understand where they're coming from. I can understand the emotions that they're going through. And even though that was something that the enemy had happened to me, I want to be clear about that. It wasn't something that God had happened to me. That's not who God is. But the enemy tried to come in my life at that point. And what God did is he used it. And now I'm able to help minister to other people because of the pain that I've been through.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

So it's more related to you recognizing your calling and using your pain to help more people. It's your response to serve God. Right? Yes. Yeah. And then let's talk about spiritual growth. When we talk about bringing Christ into God, into the center of a situation, how quick is it for an individual to sense God can take away the situation? And I want to say really, I want to say as you answer before you answer, I want to say that the the the the model, what you're modeling is excellent because God is the is the answer. He's the one who provides permanent change. Obviously, let's first deal with that first question. Do people usually quickly perceive that God can solve their problems or they first have to they are a bit resistant at the beginning?

SPEAKER_00 8:26

So I think it depends on the client. One thing that I'll that I've noticed throughout counseling with different clients, there are two things that greatly impact how a client heals, specifically within the Christian realm. There's if they understand their identity in Christ and their authority in Christ, that greatly impacts the speed at which they heal. But that takes us recognizing who God is first and who is he to us, right? And going to the Bible and saying, okay, what does the Bible tell me about God? It tells me that he's my comforter. It tells me he's my father, that he's a good father. Well, what does that mean? And looking at it from the perspective of, like in the Bible, it talks about how if he's a good father, imagine what an earthly father would do that was good. And so if we have that perspective, we're able to see the things around us a little bit differently.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

What would you say to a person who tells you, please don't bring in God, just stay on the side of counseling minus God?

SPEAKER_00 9:32

So with that, it again goes back to a lot of the things that we're seeing in the counseling world. A lot of, as a counselor, we have to have evidence-based theories. And with that, science is backing up what the Bible's been telling us for years. And what's interesting is the secular world will take it and reframe it and try to remove God from it without mentioning him. But it's exactly what he's been saying to us for years. Like another thing is when you're going through anxiety or depression, if you praise God, like the Bible tells us to do in those times, the part of your brain, the amygdala that works anxiety and depression, also works praise. So when we follow what the Bible says and we start shifting to praise or gratitude, that part of our brain cannot be dealing with depression or anxiety at that time because it's focusing on praising. But the world just doesn't mention it that way. They just say, think of gratitude, or they're still doing the same things, just from a different perspective.

SPEAKER_01 10:35

Have you practiced both systems? If at all if we could call them systems, the godly pathway and the secular perspective. Yeah. What has been your experience if we were kind of compare these two?

SPEAKER_00 10:49

I would say the biggest difference is the clients who are really bringing God into their sessions genuinely. And it's not even just their sessions, but during the week, there's work that they need to do on their own. And when they bring God into that, they see such great reward in how quickly their healing process goes. And it's different for everybody, right? Depending on what you're coming in here for. But I've had some clients graduate in as few as four sessions when they have invited God in. Now that's a rare case, but and that was someone who is a Christian. But when you look at it from that perspective, when we allow that to happen, it does, it's like it spiritually charges the situation to push it further, quicker.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

Have you ever experienced failure? Like you've you're working walking with somebody one-on-one, but then doesn't work. This person has not perceived. Have you ever experienced that?

SPEAKER_00 11:49

I sure have. And a lot of times it goes back to what I mentioned earlier. In those moments, ever since we're born, right, the world tries to tell us who we are. It tries to define us, whether it be your skin color, your political party, who you are, what your job is, who your family is, whatever it is, the world tries to define us. And they don't have the authority to do that. The only person who has that authority is God. And so when we're listening to what society is saying or what we perceive society to be saying about our situation, it makes it worse. And that's when when people start to listen to what the earth is saying or what the world is saying, that's when they start to have the setbacks.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

So of the two, the secular model and the godly or holistic perspective, the pathway, which one is likely to fail and which one is likely to be more successful and why?

SPEAKER_00 12:45

So, in my perspective, from what I have seen in counseling, when you have a biblical counseling model that you're working with, nothing compares. But part of that is, like I said, the client has to actually be putting in the effort to really understand those biblical moments. And it's also, we all, if we've grown up in a Christian household, right, we hear the things and we know kind of what the Bible says, but it's actually understanding it and putting it away in our heart. Not just being like, yeah, yeah, I've heard that since I was younger, but allowing ourselves to really understand and resonate with that.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

So it looks like when you are following the spiritual, the biblical, I like the way you termed it, you say it biblical canceling model. What quickly came into my mind is when somebody is supposed to repair a house, but they ignore the engineer, the first the architect. That that would be the the secular model when they they remove. I tend to think there is a possibility that this could cost a lot of resources because the people have not actually found what the the true there is some hidden information. I I don't know what to think about that.

SPEAKER_00 14:01

I agree a hundred percent. It's sometimes when you're working with secular clients, and this isn't the case for all of them, but sometimes when you're working with those secular clients, it's like they're fixing the symptoms and not treating what's actually wrong with what they're dealing with. So they're fixing, okay, I have anxiety. Okay, I have my coping tools, I have all those different things that I need. But the anxiety is still coming up because they haven't treated the root of understanding their identity or understanding their authority. And so with that, you're not gonna find that deeper level of healing because that's being ignored.

SPEAKER_01 14:42

Before we continue, tell us about your book because I don't want us to finish what uh this episode, and then you haven't told people where to find your book.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

My book it addresses different areas or chapters of my life where I have experienced pain. It addresses everything from sexual abuse, family trauma, being bullied to struggling with suicide, all of those different things. It talks about each one. And one thing that I love is when I was writing it, I felt like God told me to incorporate in each chapter where he was in that situation, looking back, because he's in every pain with us, every trauma we've ever faced. He's right there. And so I wanted people to really be able to see when we're looking for him, we'll see him, whether we're in the pain or we're out of the pain. But this perspective shift is what really makes the difference there. And then he also has me address people who he placed in my life, whether it be in that area or that time period, that really were gifts from him that helped me through those traumas. And some of the people have no idea that they impacted my life in the way that they did. But recognizing, too, that's the same thing with us, is we never know how we're impacting the people around us. And understanding that as well is in our pain, we can also impact people in a positive way if we have the right perspective.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

We are continuing to look at holistic healing, and you have an inspirational topic here, which actually you've produced as a book. Purpose in the pain. But right now, where I would like you to help us is where you, as a godly child, you see problems in people, you see a problem in a person, and you feel like you are going to give them some professional counseling, but you feel like God is speaking to them as well. Have you ever had such an experience? And how did you address that?

SPEAKER_00 16:51

I have had that experience actually quite often. It's interesting, it depends on the client, right? Some people are very open to talking about how they hear God and things like that, just different perspectives. But some of that is rooted in what our denomination is, right? Different denominations believe different things. But a lot of times when God does that, he provides the way of bringing it up. It's not something that I have to do. He will give me the words. Sometimes it's as just an encouragement. Sometimes it's saying, I feel like God's telling me to tell you this. Whatever it may be, it shifts with every person.

SPEAKER_01 17:33

So right now, I would like us to focus on the counselor's spiritual growth. And we leave the clients uh a little bit. So, how does the counselor's own spiritual growth impact the counseling journey?

SPEAKER_00 17:50

So that is huge. And I think a lot of times Christian counselors don't necessarily understand how big of a factor that is. But part of it is as a counselor, your job is to lead someone on their healing journey. I can't lead someone if I don't understand where we need to go. And part of that is hearing God. And the way that we hear God is by spending time with him, spending time in his word, spending time in prayer, worship, whatever it may be. But when we spend our time in prayer and worship and in his word, that it helps on two different fronts for the counselor. It helps us to be able to hear his voice in a clearer way, but it also helps the counselor because God a lot of times will give us things. I can't tell you how many times I've read my Bible in the morning, and something that I read that morning, God has me use in my session, and it'll be just what the client needed to hear. And if we allow ourselves to grow deeper, we can't guide someone without knowing or experiencing that ourselves.

SPEAKER_01 18:57

As you were speaking, there is something that I remembered that counselors actually, when they grow their relationship with God, they actually are doing the work of God. But also there's something that places a spirit, I mean a holistic counselor, a godly counselor into a great position. Uh because you see there's somebody who works inside a person when they have the Holy Spirit. You remember the Holy Spirit is termed as the counselor, so it looks like God is inside people healing situations. And here you are, healing situations, obviously by his spirit, and you have a lot of experience. Now, when you compare with bearing fruit, which you've already done excellently because you've written a book, have you considered training more leaders like you so that you can have greater harvest?

SPEAKER_00 19:57

I actually have considered that. I don't think right now that is where God has me, but I do feel like in my future, um, I'll say that in America, we don't have a whole lot of resources for Christian counselors and training. There are universities. I went to a Christian university, and so that really helped me. But there are a lot of people who are Christian counselors that went to secular schools. And so for them, having someone who can come in and say, okay, this is biblically what it's based on, right? It's not on my opinion, it's not on anything else. But when we look at the Bible, that's the truth. The truth. It doesn't change. And so if we can teach people things that are rooted in the truth, that will shift a whole bunch. And I know that there are some other counselors that I know that also feel like this is going to be an area that God's going to be opening up soon of having trainings for other Christian counselors where we can build that community because in the counseling world, there's a lot of secular counselors. And as a Christian counselor, it can kind of feel lonely or like you're kind of pushed to the side by other professionals. And so building that community for counselors, I think, is also huge.

SPEAKER_01 21:12

Yeah, Kate, we've just finished. I've just finished working on the 40 days of reconciliation. And part of the purpose of that was to help people, especially in the leadership arena, to know that we don't have to conform. Romans 12. We don't have to conform to the standards of this world or be intimidated. We need to reconcile with God and understand the responsibility we have because we've seen God loves his people and he has the solutions they need. And so the purpose is to show you can actually connect with God and serve all people without necessarily trying to make all of them look like you. Yeah. Here for people who are listening to this. Episode. Oh, I I I am sure here the focus is not trying to say you must be a Christian in order to receive counseling. But here Kate is showing us the working model which she has tested and written about. And is and I'm sure which is accessible. Her book is accessible that people can tap into by reading the book. I encourage people to come and read, find the book, and Kate will again remind us where exactly people can find this book, especially internationally. Yes. Yes. But here I would like you to speak to somebody who feels that some some some effort, some some force is trying to challenge them to do things just the ordinary way. To leave God outside the situation. And they feel overwhelmed. They think they feel like they are it's like they are beating about the push because they feel God must come into the situation. But the environment, it seems to tell them, leave God alone. This is just a job. You need to do it. What message would you say? What would you tell this person?

SPEAKER_00 23:17

So I think the first thing is understand that you are God's child. And one thing that I have had spoken to me and that I put in my life was read Psalms 91 over yourself. I recommend to clients, if you are going through a hard time, first read Psalm 23 and then read Psalm 91 over yourself every day. A lot of times when we're feeling overwhelmed, it's because we're trying to do things out of our own power. And we don't have that power, right? We can't heal ourselves. And so if we just turn to God and open that door to him, he's ready to walk you through the healing. He's ready to hold your hand and be your comforter and guide you, all the things that you could want. He's just there waiting. But we have to open that door. He's not forceful. He's going to stand outside the door until we're ready to let him in. And if you let him in, I promise you, you will see such a shift in your situation, in your perspective. And God just can heal you in a way that you could never imagine. But like I said, he's not going to force himself. Welcome him in.

SPEAKER_01 24:32

I think at this point, it would be good to know that books you're writing. You said are there two which are coming?

SPEAKER_00 24:38

So I have two that I've written, but I haven't published yet. The first one is Purpose and the Pain. The second one is Purpose in the Waiting. And the third one is Reignite Finding Your Joy Again. And Purpose and the Pain, if you want to look it up, it's available on Amazon. Um, and it's also available at Barnes Noble. Any major book retailer, it should be available at.

unknown 25:06

Wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 25:06

May God enable you to publish those books in time and to have a widespread reach. Thank you so much for the great work you're doing. And this episode was not just to talk about what you're writing, but it's been educational. It's been it's it's it's going to help people see that actually God is at work. God, when we allow him to be in the center, actually he solves problems faster. So we would like you at this point to give your final encouragement. Maybe first of all, you are our guest, so I would like to know whether you agree to what I have just said. Feel free to say I disagree. Yeah, because you are our host today. And then after that, after that, you give your final encouragement to fellow counsellors. Yes, but but also I guess the challenge here is we in addition to the work of counseling, the goal here is the inspiration is to add knowledge. And again, I want to emphasize if there is any book I would recommend, it is from obviously as you see from this episode, it is Purpose in the Pay. And Amazon prices are usually affordable. Please look for the book. We we will try to, when you go to our blog, we'll try to put the link there. And then you've had it's on Amazon. You can search by the names, you'll find it. Yes. Back to you, Kate, your final comments, and we close.

SPEAKER_00 26:40

Thank you so much. Um I just feel like people need to know that they're not alone. Whether it be as a Christian counselor in the counseling world, someone who's going through the pain, you're not alone. There are people that God places in your life that want to help you. There's God Himself there waiting for you to open that door. And I just encourage you to find those people. Find God. Because when you do, I guarantee you that your life will shift in a way that you could never imagine. It might be a wild ride, but it will be so worth it.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

Thank you so much. It's been a blessing hosting you on the 40 Days of Reconciliation podcast, and you're always welcome.

SPEAKER_00 27:24

Thank you so much.