The Integrative Counselor 🌿Shannon Myers, MS, CRC, CIMHP

Dearly Beloved, I’m dedicated to teaching evidence-ways to actually heal, deal, and feel your way through this thing called Life.

Somatic Trauma-Informed Integrative Mental Health & Nervous system retraining are some of my coaching specialties.

Unresolved Trauma causes your nervous system to unconsciously respond with incomplete self-protection responses (Trauma responses).

Trauma responses are your mind-body’s way of keeping you alive. They are based on past experiences–showing up again & again in the present (in the attempt to resolve the original threat.)

Trauma causes different parts of yourself to show up to manage present-day situations–based on past Traumatic events.

Unresolved Trauma, therefore, causes a part(s) of you to unconsciously respond & react–suppressing your biological wellbeing & expressing as physical + mental health symptoms.

When Trauma is not metabolized, protector parts show up with their best attempts, coping skills, & behaviors to manage your nervous system here & now.

If you listen really closely to your body, you can feel the somatic imprints of the past playing in the present.

Example: Being terrified as adult screams at you at 5 years old & having your stomach in knots—causes your 5-year-old part to show up at work when your boss yells at you & now you have IBS.

Your Trauma responses are housed within different parts of your nervous system–with different protector parts attempting to cope with stressful situations.

Your Fight or Flight Fix Protectors: attempt to cope by: controlling, quitting, rebelling, rushing, lying, perfectionism, bracing, criticizing, self-harm, OCD, impulsiveness, & activity addictions. They seek safety by taking ACTION (which P.S is exhausting.) These parts get diagnosed with a lot of health conditions.

Your Freeze Exile Protectors: come online when you get overwhelmed. Overwhelm leads to fragmentation in your system. They hold unprocessed terror, grief, rage, shame, & despair. And they get reactivated by any similar event. They want to be heard–& attempt to do so by showing up as physical diseases.

Your Collapse Protectors: are those who have chronic fatigue, dissociate, have depression, people please, withdraw, zone-out, & have numbing addictions. They seek safety by DISCONNECTING.

This is why I teach how to heal Trauma through your body + Vagus Nerve, naturally with a combination of Somatic Trauma Therapies and Integrative holistic solutions.

Healing is for real,

Shannon “The Integrative Counselor”

Our nervous system state and Trauma responses create the story we have about ourselves, others, and the world around us.

State creates story.

The Reboot, my signature 6-week online group coaching program was created as a way to make healing more accessible and is a blend of all the root-cause healing modalities that I practice. It is the EXACT class I wish I had on my own healing journey.

There isn’t another class out there like it.

Folks who have been in therapy for a decade benefited more in this short class than they have after a decade of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and medication.

People have healed long COVID, their sleep, gut function, and improved their mental health and chronic illnesses from taking this class.

Colleagues who take it say to me “I never learned any of this information in Graduate school or any of my professional trainings!”

Students learn how to come more into play and stillness, connect to themselves and others, access intimacy, practice body-based somatics, apply boundaries, know how their fragmented parts hold them back from Life, retrain their nervous systems, and all other aspects that are needed for Whole Self Healing.

You will map every single Trauma response out and gather resource upon healing resource to apply to your triggers.

Each class is part education part experiential embodied somatic practice.

Ultimately, students of The Reboot become more Alive and their True Self after taking The Reboot.

The Reboot + all of my services are Trauma-Informed, Healing Centered, Disability Inclusive, Culturally Competent, Somatic/Body-Based, LGBTQIA2+ affirming, Kink and Poly Friendly, operated from a Harm Reduction Model, and evidence-based.

-The Integrative Counselor

Modern western psychology dismisses indigenous wisdom and has largely misunderstood trauma, dissociation, and the soul–until very recently.

And only if you really have been a mental health trauma practitioner for a while AND have gone through your own Self-Actualization process do YOU even start to remember.

At age 5, I remembered. And because what I knew wasn’t safe to know or validated–I creatively developed OCD to keep mySelf safe.

Knowing, I would retrieve what was lost–later.

And I did.

Several years ago, I conducted my own soul fragment retrieval. Using natural elements, the strength of my own inner knowing, a full surrender, and coded with a shamanic unique phrase to call back that five-year-old soul fragment that was lost due to trauma to re-integrate.

It was at that point in my Modern Medicine Woman initiation that I knew what I was here to do.

So, I got weird-er. But not really. It just felt more authentic to fully step into work that has been an ongoing study–over multiple lifetimes and within cultural lineages of origin

And knowing that within me exists the colonizer AND colonized–more deep work. Because if you stop at doing your own work and do not do not finish the work of your ancestors–you fall short.

We often get it twisted. Trying to make the external world better–without going within.

This process was more than just a lot of schooling and training on root-cause modalities. It was also a lot of unraveling of internalized shadows. Racism and every other -ism that exists within the collective consciousness.

So I went inside while also training externally. “As above, so below, as within, so without, as the universe, so the soul…” -Hermes Trismegistus.

Each new modality that I took on was just a remembering.

Integrative Medicine reminded me that yes, we can treat every health condition with nature.

Psychedelic Healing showed me various bardos, past lives, and parts of myself fragmented off–that I was to fully accept to retrieve. And then using IFS with mySelf–develop cross-communication channels between the parts of mySelf that hold Self back.

Somatic Trauma Modalities have reminded me how the soul/life force dissociates when traumatized. And with skilled work (and co-regulation from another skilled practitioner)–RE-associates. This work is primal. Natural. And also how we heal trauma.

Reiki Master Energy work guides me back to the past (and to the future) to rebalance my energetic body to remake myself in the here and now as Whole. It shows me where the imbalance started and where to travel to retrieve anything lost along the way.

Shamanic Journeys allow me to step into multidimensional realms to confirm the next steps in this plane of existence for my highest healing.

And it is through my own work (and decades of evidence-based training) that I guide my clients into stepping into being their own Self-Shamans.

Like most skilled integrative mental health trauma practitioners–my work has taken on a whole different level since the pandemic began.

When clients are ready–I do facilitate soul and soul fragment retrievals through somatic trauma work, energy work, and guided shamanic journeys. (This is all-natural and within their/our higher level of consciousness and bodies.)

There are no words to describe what I have witnessed as far as healing.

All of my modalities are not *mine*. They belong to all healed ancestors and living evidence-based root-cause master teachers embodied in form.

It is a deep value of mine that I teach everything I am doing to my clients–so there are no barriers to healing. Each modality I use with them is taught to them to use on themselves.

My clients walk away knowing how to heal themselves with their Inner Healer, Somatic Self, and Self Energy guiding their next steps on the healing path.

Wholeness is for real. Sometimes we do have to journey far and wide to retrieve soul fragments of ourselves lost due to trauma–and I am here to tell you that the trip is so worth it.

There is nothing more urgent than to heal. If everyone stepped into their own healing–peace on Earth naturally would happen.

Eventually, you do heal. And I don’t mean being “perfect” when I say “heal.” I mean, eventually, you step into Wholeness that already exists.

Doing trauma work and soul retrievals just have the side effect of less suffering, being able to stay embodied through anything, and fully living in the present moment. AKA the feeling of Full ALIVENESS.

You have choices. And healing is one of them.

I love walking folks Home and teaching them to be their own Self-Shamans.

-Shannon, “The Integrative Counselor”

You are invited to schedule your local or virtual session here: https://calendly.com/theintegrativecounselor

Before you lose your ego, you have to have an ego.

Folks who come to spiritual practices, the healing arts, and psychedelics generally come from a place of profound suffering.

And I get it. I have been there. I too am a complex trauma thriver.

The fact is that our egos keep us tethered to space and time. It is how you know the difference between your Self and say, a table.

And with Trauma, our ego is fragmented into many parts that are hidden from our conscious awareness.

Spiritual practices and psychedelics (if done intentionally and with the right elements in place)–begin to make the unconscious…conscious.

The protective parts that are hidden start to come to the surface for healing. And their main roles are to keep you in patterns of protection (vs. connection/healing.) Even long after they are useful.

Integration can be extremely difficult for those without a balanced ego or a solid sense of Self (and no support.) Because the ego has no solid Self to land within—causing the ego to double down on no-longer-useful patterns of protection (trauma responses), fear, and separation.

The ego then has to be rebuilt. This is actually a gift–IF you have support. You get to build a solid sense of Self and balance your ego.

And it may be the hardest work you have ever done. Especially if you are unaware of the deep process that integration entails. Most folks come to plant medicines thinking it’s a quick fix.

Oh no–this will be the hardest you have ever worked.

No wisdom comes without work. There are no soul shortcuts, Boo.

Some of the best evidence-based Trauma-Informed ego work practices to use after egolessness to integrate the unspeakable and transcendental nature of everything and nothing are:

• Somatics/Somatic Experiencing

• Internal Family Systems (IFS)

• Core Work (yes, pilates–because: embodiment)

• Art and Music Therapy

• Dance Therapy

• Integrative Medicine

Preferably, you would prepare for spiritual practices and psychedelics BEFORE utilizing them with the modalities above. But that’s not what I am seeing.

We must develop a solid sense of Self & ego–to transcend the Self & ego.

The point is to be more rooted in being, love, and Life.

“Before Enlightenment chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment chop wood, carry water.”

Zen Saying

In Healing,

Shannon- “The Integrative Counselor”

Trauma-Informed Workplace Stress Education

Workplace trauma is a real thing. It can be very covert and passive or be more blatant and become a legal issue. As trauma is an individual experience that is not immediately processed- workplace trauma can and does exist within any kind of workplace. I have served hundreds of employers and have seen it within every sector of business.

As all traumas are systems traumas- part of the work that I do is Systems Change Work. I’m not only a person with a disability and a criminal background- I also am a former Fellow at The Harkin Institute (former Senator Harkin was the co-sponsor of the ADA), Professor at Drake University in the Counseling Program teaching medical systems + systems of society + disability/chronic illness, and a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) who specializes in dual-sided relationships (employers/systems and individuals/families), as well as a Trauma-Informed Certified Mental Health Integrative Medicine Provider- I always work to BOTH pull folks out of the river AND swim upstream to repair systems that harm.

From my own experiences and serving both individuals with chronic physical/mental illness and disabilities, and working with systems- I have seen firsthand how pervasive trauma is within our workplace culture. Workplace trauma is a disease and the remedy is awareness, education, and a massive cultural shift.

As the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) had its 31st anniversary- I am sharing the ADA’s definition of “disability/” To be protected by the ADA, one must have a disability, which is defined by the ADA as a” physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.” The ADA does not specifically name all of the impairments that are covered.

90%+ of employees are set to leave their employers this next year- we have to really lean into repairing our workplaces from the top-down, at a cultural level. By doing so, this not only makes workplaces more healing (I believe that work can be therapeutic) but also boosts your bottom-line. Less FMLA and short/long-term disability claims. Increase in employee satisfaction & reduce turnover. And increases your customer’s loyalty as they see you treating marginalized folks with humanity and dignity.

The sad irony of the pandemic and work from home is that many folks with disabilities have been asking to work from home as part of an ADA reasonable accommodation and have been largely left out of the conversation. As leaders were collectively traumatized, our world finally leaned into work from home (for some). Yet so many have had to leave the workforce already because of lack of accommodations in the workforce due to disability, to balance work-life, or for childcare responsibilities. Many who have left because of these traumas, may never return.

Finally, I am an advocate of the social model of disability. Most of our workplace & healthcare systems work from the medical model of disability: meaning that the problem is the person. The social model of disability shows us that it is the environment that creates barriers for the person (the environment is disabling.) Hence we also need to implement Universal Design within all of our systems in order to reduce traumatization. When systems are designed with those most marginalized in mind- everyone wins.

Resources :

Disability Defined under the ADA: https://www.ada.gov/ada_intro.htm#:~:text=To%20be%20protected%20by%20the,as%20having%20such%20an%20impairment.

Job Accommodation Network https://askjan.org/

A to Z Search of Accommodations https://askjan.org/soar.cfm

Find a Vocational Rehabilitation office https://askearn.org/state-vocational-rehabilitation-agencies/

Find a Career One Stop https://www.careeronestop.org/

If your organization would like to be more Trauma-Informed, I am creating a Trauma-Informed, Disability-Inclusive, & Universal Design Training to start my local & virtual roadshow this fall to help repair our workplaces.

Rooting for Workplaces to Heal,

-The Integrative Counselor, Shannon Myers, MS, CRC, CMHIMP

🏋️‍♀️Weight lifting can be so helpful for individuals experiencing dissociation as part of their mental health condition. Dissociation has many forms. Overall, it is that spacey, out of it, not feeling connected to self/others/environment. It can also show up in other ways. The fact is that for many mental health conditions & trauma…dissociation happens. It’s a survival response that kind of goes haywire with trauma and then may end up being someone’s typical state. Oh, and it’s okay to be dissociated. Because: survival. Hello, you are still alive!

🌿My trauma modalities are neuroscience-based and can be validated through Heart Rate Variability, as well as, through decades of evidence-based research. The movement as medicine approach that comes up a lot for dissociation is weight lifting.

🌿Now getting a hold of some weights during a pandemic is super hard. And it may not be financially accessible, I get it. Below are some ways to make weight lifting more accessible during a pandemic, if you experience dissociation. Also, please discuss this with your licensed mental health practitioner. Mental health is very nuanced and I don’t want to try and simplify the complexity of your lived experience down to a basic educational blog post.

➡️No weights? Grab a bag of rice, cans of food, or a jug of water.
➡️You can also load up a backpack with books or whatever is heavy you have laying around.
➡️Have a cool cat, small dog, or a child that likes to have fun? Hold them and squat.
➡️Bodyweight movements also work. I have used the app @sworkit for years and love it. They have over 30 million folx that use their app.

In Health,

The Integrative Counselor

Shannon R. Myers, MS CRC CMHIMP