Cristen’s unquenchable thirst for knowledge reignited during a decade marked by profound grief and loss. It was during this period of personal turmoil that she embarked on a quest to unravel the intricate connection between emotions and physical health. Her studies led to a series of eye-opening revelations. She learned that unresolved or suppressed emotions could create energetic blockages, resulting in pain, suffering, and even physical illness. Bolstering her toolkit with healing modalities such as Reiki, Emotional Freedom Technique, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Hypnotherapy, Bach Flower Essence, Crystal Healing, and Art Therapy, Cristen began to witness astonishing breakthroughs, both in her personal life and in her professional work.
Cristen’s journey is far from over, and the most cherished chapter to date has been her spiritual awakening. This profound experience has reinforced her purpose to guide and empower others on their own paths to self-discovery and personal growth.
Throughout her life’s voyage, Cristen has come to understand that wellness begins and ends with self-love. Every day, she carries a deep sense of gratitude for the lessons life has imparted, lessons that have illuminated the profound yet simple truth: when one loves themselves unconditionally and recognizes their intrinsic worth, they can authentically live as their very best selves.
Learn more about this fascinating individual in the latest MysticMag interview.
Can you describe your background and training in Integrative Wellness, Reiki, Holistic EFT, and Bach Flower Therapy? What inspired you to pursue these modalities, and how have they influenced your approach to holistic healing?
I am a member of the Complementary Therapists Accredited Association and the International Association of Therapists as a Certified Integrative Wellness Professional.
My healing journey has served as the driving force to explore a variety of modalities; thus, my broad background includes a vast scope of work, education, and specialized training.
Undoubtedly, throughout my three decades dedicated to healthy living, education, and serving others, my greatest teacher has been LIFE. Personal struggles with my health were one of many contributing factors regarding my interest in wellness at a young age. I have studied extensively, as I love to learn. However, my career began many years ago in the world of fitness and nutrition and has evolved exponentially since. I quickly discovered that well-being is far beyond exercise and diet. As a young trainer, I immediately noticed that self-sabotage seemed to be the biggest obstacle for everyone. Back ин school, I went to study Psychology and Human Behavior, only to learn that mental health is only a tiny fraction of the puzzle.
The death of my beloved mother in 2010 was the catalyst of my next quest for knowledge. After struggling to navigate through intense grief and loss, I began to study the correlation between disease and emotions, and suddenly, it was one light bulb moment after another.
When I dove deep into the world of energy medicine and energy psychology, I stepped into the space of true healing. Unresolved or suppressed feelings create energetic blockages, resulting in pain, suffering, and illness. I was living proof that an impeccable ‘healthy lifestyle’ is indeed not a free ticket to optimal health. When I added healing modalities such as Reiki, Emotional Freedom Technique, and Bach Flower Therapy to my toolkit, I began to witness some amazing breakthroughs, both personally and professionally.
My philosophy is that holistically, genuine therapy involves assisting clients to access the truth that already resides within them. This is empowering, putting them in touch with their strengths, and allowing them to gently release the limitations that are preventing them from living life fully. My role is to serve as a guide and hold space for others to be seen and heard on their wellness journey, enhancing self-discovery and self-love, while cultivating inspiration, growth, and positive change.
In your practice, how do you combine the principles of Reiki, Holistic EFT, and Bach Flower Therapy to support your clients’ well-being? Can you provide an example of a client you’ve worked with and how you tailored your approach to their specific needs?
No two healing sessions are the same. I am unique, each client is unique, and each moment we come together is unique. That is the beauty of the experience. Simply stated, I ask clients to share where they are, and where they would like to be. Together, we explore possibilities and decide what path feels best. Generally, Bach Flower Therapy is a beautiful place to start to help restore emotional and mental balance, thus supporting both healing and behavior change.
Holistic EFT is a self-empowering tool that helps you access your body’s energy system and send signals to the part of the brain that controls your stress response. When new neuropathways are formed, positive changes are possible. This is also a wonderful self-regulating technique for children to learn that helps with managing their stress and anxiety.
My sessions are guided by intuition to create a safe space for deep healing, and I have found that the best approach is to enter each encounter with an open mind and an open heart. Through soulful discussion and releasing any expectations or ego-driven agendas, clients become very receptive and will always receive exactly what they need.
Afterward, I encourage clients to reflect on their session, perhaps journal about it, writing down messages, feelings, and thoughts, as well as their physical and spiritual state of being. Also, revisiting their entry at a later date can be very helpful, as things resonate more strongly over time with integration and new synchronicities.
However, most important is the ongoing open communication with my clients to ensure that they are feeling good about the decisions we are making together as we continue to progress.
Shamanic practices often involve connecting with the spiritual and energetic realms. How do you integrate shamanic techniques into your work as an Integrative Wellness practitioner, and how do these practices enhance the healing process for your clients?
My Shamanic practices focus on empowering the client to access the healer within themselves and are deeply rooted in the healing power of nature, including all the beautiful medicine it offers. There is a plethora of ways to tap into the energetic realms beyond what the small mind can comprehend and allow the body’s intelligence to repair, restore, and heal naturally. In my experience, years of talk therapy cannot heal old wounds the ego will not permit access to. This allows old thought patterns and limiting beliefs to stay on repeat. Ultimately the same dysfunctional circumstances and characters will show up no matter the number of attempts to change the scenery. This is because our external world is simply a reflection of our inner world. My healing sessions are dedicated to bypassing the ego and connecting to the superconscious. It is an enlightening conversation between my higher self and my client’s higher self so that we can access divine truth. Through Shamanic journeying, intuitive insights are received as I guide clients on a vision quest to the otherworlds, providing new perspectives and spark-inspired action. This experience is a true catalyst for change; a redirection that brings individuals back into alignment with their heart and soul.
Can you share a case in which you encountered a client with complex physical or emotional challenges, and how your combination of Reiki, Holistic EFT, Bach Flower Therapy, and shamanic techniques helped them achieve a positive outcome?
A client came to me seeking a Reiki healing session to help alleviate her chronic headaches. It was evident she was suffering beyond this physical pain.
Through a soulful discussion, I learned that she was experiencing intense grief, constant racing thoughts, and very low self-worth. I shared with her some of my ideas of how an integrative treatment could best serve her. I did not want to start with Reiki because if she holds a limiting belief of not being worthy of love and healing, she cannot be receptive, thus not maximizing all the benefits this modality has to offer. The body responds to the vibration of our thoughts. Deep in her subconscious, she believed she deserved to suffer.
We began with a personalized Bach Flower Remedy to help restore emotional and mental balance. This allowed us to continue down the path of least resistance, supporting well-being. The beautiful flowers naturally create positive shifts almost immediately, restoring hope and allowing behavior modifications to happen more easily.
Additionally, addressing the heavy emotions that were stuck in the body supported optimal health and healing. I love working with EFT to empower my clients to process and release stored emotions. This is a lifelong tool that they can use at any time because of its versatility, assisting with self-regulation, stress reduction, and behavior change. She was very receptive to this technique which allowed her to let go of years’ worth of sadness, guilt, shame, and regret. This breakthrough alleviated her headaches and drastically improved her quality of life.
She felt better and with significant improvements to her autonomic nervous system, we were ready to integrate a full Reiki session. Without the pain, mind chatter, anxiety, and debilitating limiting beliefs, we were able to ease into the parasympathetic state of rest and restoration, supporting the body’s natural ability to heal. She was open and receptive and allowed more grace, self-compassion, and forgiveness. Through guided visualizations, we began a strong practice of reprogramming her subconscious, releasing the old stories of the ego, and creating new neuro-pathways to establish healthy responses. Through Shamanic journeys she began fully stepping into her power, building a strong connection to her inner wisdom and her higher self her best self. In this stage of her healing journey, her spiritual practice had organically grown into something quite beautiful, which truly unlocked a space for deep healing, beyond her wildest imagination. Through the process, she moved from her head space into her heart space, which played a crucial role in experiencing joy again and returning to her authentic self.
Communication and trust are essential in any healing practitioner-client relationship. How do you ensure open and effective communication with your clients, and how do you build trust with them throughout the healing journey?
My utmost intention is for my client to feel safe and empowered with an active role in their commitment to their wellness journey.
My goal is to meet my clients exactly where they are, which is exactly where they need to be. With a whole-person approach, no matter the focus, total support of balancing the mind, body, and spirit is the lens through which solutions will be explored. Together, we will customize a multi-faceted practice to support their unique journey toward health, healing, and empowerment.
Open communication and transparency are consistent throughout our work together, and begins with offering a Free Clarity Call over Zoom to each potential client so they can ask any questions they may have, through this conversation, we can get a sense of whether we are a good match to work together.
Holistic health often emphasizes the importance of self-care and personal growth. How do you empower your clients to take an active role in their well-being and personal development? Do you provide any tools or guidance to support them outside of your sessions?
Well-being begins and ends with self-love. I am grateful that life has taught me both the simplicity and complexity of that statement.
I am not the healer. I simply hold space for others to step fully into their power and utilize their ability to heal themselves. My focus today is the same as it was thirty years ago as a Personal Trainer, which is to empower and inspire my clients to live the life they deserve. I am available as a resource and as a guide, but ultimate success is when I am no longer needed. They gain knowledge, tools, and confidence along the way, and the transformation is inevitable when clients become fully connected to their light, and access their wisdom within. This is only possible when an individual knows their worth and acts accordingly. The healing, behavior changes, and mindset shifts are a natural byproduct of self-care. The work will always continue outside of my sessions because they have both the techniques and the desire to love themselves unconditionally.
