What to Expect in a Holistic Therapy Session

Starting a new kind of therapy can feel exciting — and a little uncertain. If you’ve ever wondered what actually happens in a holistic therapy session, I get it. Many people want clarity before beginning, whether it’s to feel prepared, reduce anxiety or understand how holistic therapy differs from traditional talk therapy. This guide will walk you through what to expect so you can decide if it feels like the right fit for you.

Why People Ask This Question

It’s common for prospective clients to wonder what happens in a holistic therapy session. In free consults, people often tell me:

• “I’ve tried therapy before, but I never felt like I was making progress. I’d talk for an hour, but then wonder—what now? How is this helping?”

• “I like the idea of holistic therapy, but I don’t know what that actually looks like. Will it be too different from what I’m used to?”

• “I just want to feel prepared. I don’t want to be caught off guard or waste time figuring out what I’m supposed to do.”

When people Google “what to expect in a holistic therapy session,” it usually comes from one of three places:

• The planners — high-functioning types who want to be prepared, never caught off guard. They want to know what’s coming so they can show up ready.

• The worriers — anxious types who feel soothed by demystifying the unknown. Clear expectations reduce the ambiguity and lower the “what if” stress.

• The seekers — people who’ve tried traditional therapy and found it lacking. They want to know if holistic therapy will actually feel different — more integrative, more connected, more effective.

No matter which camp you fall into, it makes sense to want clarity before starting. Therapy is an investment of your time, energy and resources. The good news is that holistic therapy isn’t about forcing you into a rigid mold. It’s about creating a session that feels grounded, flexible and attuned to your needs.

What Should I Bring (and How Should I Show Up)?

One of the most common questions people ask before starting is simple: How should I show up? The answer — exactly as you are. There’s no need to dress up for therapy. I encourage you to set yourself up in a way that feels safe and nourishing for you — not just “presentable” for me. Therapy should revolve around your life, not the other way around.

That might mean:

• Curling up in your coziest spot at home with a blanket, slippers or even your favorite candle.

• Bringing an emotional support beverage — whether that’s tea, coffee or sparkling water — to sip while we talk.

• Keeping a grounding object nearby (like a stone, journal or even a favorite pen) to return to when things feel intense.

• Making sure you have privacy — headphones and a closed door can go a long way in helping you feel at ease.

Some like to keep a journal or notebook nearby for jotting down prompts or insights that come up in session, though that’s always optional. You’re also free to express yourself however you need, swearing included. And for new moms, yes — you can breastfeed during a session or hold your baby for a contact nap. Therapy doesn’t need to interrupt your life. Instead, it adapts to it.

And if life doesn’t go according to plan? That’s okay, too. Sometimes you may need to join a session from your parked car or you might have your newborn in your arms. Therapy can flex with you — because the goal isn’t perfection, it’s showing up as you are.

The First Few Minutes of a Session

The beginning of a holistic therapy session isn’t about diving straight into “What’s wrong with you?” It’s about grounding, connecting and getting a sense of what you truly need that day.

For some clients, the first few minutes are simply space to vent — a frustrating situation happened at work or there’s a relationship conflict that feels too heavy to hold alone. In those moments, I become the safe, unbiased sounding board where you can unload.

Other times, you might arrive feeling rushed or frazzled. In that case, the first few minutes are about slowing down, taking a breath and remembering you don’t have to perform or please here.

Some clients come in prepared with notes on their phone or in a journal — things that triggered them during the week, reflections or even flashes of insight. When that happens, I lean in with curiosity. These notes often hold the breadcrumbs that point us toward deeper work.

And sometimes, the first few minutes bring big news — a promotion, a breakup, a health scare, a creative breakthrough. We may spend the session celebrating and integrating the joy or gently unpacking the pain.

Those first moments set the tone. Whether through explicit intention-setting (“What feels most important to focus on today?”) or simply following the natural current of what you bring in, we collaborate to decide where the session needs to go.

The Flow of a Holistic Therapy Session

Every session has its own unique rhythm, but there’s usually a natural flow. Think of it less like a rigid script and more like a collaborative arc:

1. Arrival + Check-In:

We start by settling in. This could be a little chit-chat, a check-in on how you’re feeling or space to transition from the outside world into therapy.

2. Intention Setting:

Together, we decide what feels most important to explore. Sometimes this is clear (“I need to talk about what happened yesterday”) and other times it emerges organically as you share.

3. Deep Exploration:

This is the heart of the session. Depending on your needs, we might:

• Explore what your body is communicating

• Process a recent trigger or a long-held pattern

• Practice regulation skills in real time

• Get curious about beliefs or narratives shaping your choices

4. Integration + Weaving Insights Together:

Here’s where we connect the dots. This stage is about meaning-making without leaving you wide open. Depending on what surfaces, you might:

• Process something and put it in the past

• Uncover a theme we’ll keep exploring in future sessions

• Identify an unhelpful belief and update it with a more supportive one

5. Closing + Carrying It Forward:

We wrap up by grounding the work:

• I might ask, “If only one thing from today stuck with you, what would you want it to be?”

• We may co-create a journaling prompt to keep the reflection alive between sessions

• We’ll talk about how to turn insights into tangible shifts, whether that’s asserting a need, doing body check-ins or noticing new patterns

• Sometimes I’ll guide a short meditation to let the helpful pieces sink in while releasing what’s no longer needed

That flow gives you a sense of what happens within a single session, but the therapeutic process itself unfolds over time. Each phase builds on the last, evolving as trust deepens and your goals become clearer.

Your First Session vs. Ongoing Sessions

Your first holistic therapy session is less about diving into your deepest trauma and more about laying the groundwork for safety and understanding. We’ll talk about what’s bringing you in, how stress shows up for you and what you’re hoping will shift over time. I’ll also share what holistic therapy looks like in practice so you feel comfortable and informed from the start.

After that, ongoing sessions take on a life of their own. They might include deeper somatic exploration, gentle mindfulness exercises, guided imagery, or time spent tracking what’s happening in your body as you talk. Over time, you’ll start to notice how you respond differently to stress and how your relationship with yourself changes.

Each session builds on the one before it, but no two look the same. Some days are about processing. Others are about integrating insights, setting intentions, or simply holding space to rest and breathe.

Clients often say something like, “I don’t know where to start,” and honestly, it doesn’t matter where you start. I always trust that your first therapy session (or any session!) goes exactly where it needs to go.

Something I often say in the first session is, “If you were to get everything you want out of therapy, what would your life look and feel like?” This is a way to invite clients out of the “there’s a problem to fix” mindset and into imagining their dream life — one that feels aligned, grounded and whole.

Body Awareness in Session

In holistic therapy, the body is never just a backdrop — it’s an active participant in the healing process.

Sometimes a client brings in language that speaks directly to the body:

• “I feel a weight on my chest when I first wake up in the morning.”

• “My job and the responsibilities that come with it are heavy.”

• “My stomach is in knots when I think about the possibility of divorce.”

These phrases aren’t just figures of speech. They’re doorways into the somatic world — the place where your body stores stories, emotions and memories that the mind may not have words for.

Other times, I notice the signals myself. I might see shoulders inching up toward the ears, the color draining from a face or a glaze coming over the eyes as emotions start to surface.

And here’s the thing: the first time I invite you to notice these signals, you might respond in a protective way. You might drop your shoulders and say, “Oh yeah, I always do that when I’m stressed out — anyway, back to the story.” Or you might brush it off with, “My stomach is just off because I had a big lunch.” That’s completely normal. We’ve been conditioned to ignore what the body is communicating — to grab a tissue, clear our throats, choke back tears and get back to being productive and presentable.

My job is to stay curious and keep gently inviting you into awareness. Over time, this practice helps you connect how you feel emotionally with how you feel physically.

Sometimes I’ll also invite you to exaggerate or stay with a natural movement or posture. For example, say you’re feeling sad and momentarily rest your face into your hand without realizing it. I might gently encourage you to explore that position and notice what happens. As you let the weight of your head be supported by your hand, you might discover a release you didn’t know you were holding onto.

When the timing is right, I may guide you into grounding tools to anchor the experience in real time:

• Placing a hand over your heart and noticing your breath.

• Feeling your feet firmly on the ground and letting gravity support you.

• Taking one slow, intentional breath and noticing where it lands in your body.

• Using gentle movement — a stretch, a shake or rolling the shoulders — to release tension.

• Noticing sensations like clothing against your skin or the feel of an object in your hand.

• Scanning your surroundings, noticing signs of calm like a bird outside the window.

Research even shows that movement and mindfulness practices can significantly reduce stress and anxiety, reinforcing why integrating the body into therapy is so powerful.

We never know exactly where somatic work will take us — and that’s part of what makes it so powerful. Awareness builds gradually and with it, a deeper sense of safety, release and connection to yourself.

Tools Clients Can Take With Them

Therapy doesn’t end when our session time is up. In fact, the deepest changes usually happen between sessions — when you take what we’ve uncovered together and begin applying it in your day-to-day life.

That might look like:

• Journal prompts to help you process emotions and uncover patterns.

• Body check-ins throughout the day (“How does my chest feel right now? Is my jaw tight?”) so you can notice your inner state before it overwhelms you.

• Self-compassion practices that help you respond to yourself with kindness rather than criticism.

• Behavioral experiments — for example, if we rehearsed setting a boundary in session, the real test comes when someone pushes against it in your everyday life.

These tools aren’t just for the therapy room — they’re meant to become part of your daily rhythm. For example, even something as simple as mindful walking can be transformative. I’ve even shared with Verywell Mind how walking meditation can help people slow down, reconnect with their senses and find calm in the middle of a busy day.

I often tell clients: I’m with you for 50 minutes, but you’re with you for the other 6 days, 23 hours. That’s why I make sure you leave each session with something concrete — whether it’s a practice, a reflection or a simple intention — so that the work integrates into your real life.

Why Holistic Therapy Feels Different

In free consults, I often hear something like: “I tried talk therapy before and it felt like I was just talking about my problems. Sure, I got some relief from venting, but I didn’t feel like I was actually changing — I’d leave sessions wondering, what do I do now?”

That frustration makes sense. Traditional talk therapy can sometimes leave people waiting for progress to “just happen” if they keep showing up and trusting the process.

Holistic therapy is different. My goal is that you don’t just walk away with temporary relief from talking — you leave each session with:

• An embodied shift — feeling different in your body, whether that’s lighter, more grounded, more expansive or more at peace.

• Tangible tools — practical coping strategies, boundary-setting skills and self-compassion practices you can actually use between sessions.

It’s this two-pronged approach — physical/emotional transformation in the moment and practical tools you can apply in daily life — that helps you reach your therapy goals and experience lasting change.

​​Every client’s journey looks different and that’s the beauty of holistic work — it’s tailored to you. If something in this post sparked curiosity, the next step is simple: take a look at my Holistic Therapy in California page and see if this approach feels like the right fit for you.

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Disclaimer

This post is meant for educational purposes only and isn’t a substitute for diagnosis, assessment or treatment of mental conditions. If you need professional help, seek it out.

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About the author

Hi! I'm Natalie. And my passion is helping ambitious, creative millennials achieve everything they want in life, career and relationships. I provide in-person therapy in Pasadena and online therapy throughout California. Click here to get started.