Whether we know it or not, we all have perceptions and beliefs that we’ve picked up along life’s path that control our thoughts and emotions. Most of us don’t even know where, when, or how these thoughts were planted in our brains, but after years of growing in the fertile garden of the mind, they are extremely deep-rooted and very powerful. But there’s a new kind of therapy that helps us identify, challenge, and dispel these oftentimes unhealthy and harmful coping mechanisms that we don’t even realize we’re living with.
Monica Fowler was talked into IPT (Integrative Processing Technique) therapy by her sister who experienced its healing power. “After seeing how well IPT therapy worked on her son, my sister was really good friends with Pam Robinson, the woman who developed this technique,” Fowler said. “She suggested that my mom and I try it after my step-dad passed away.”
“After my very first session, I actually felt like some things had been resolved.” Fowler said. She explained that in traditional therapy you talk about things in the present, but there's never really a resolution so it's left open at the end of your session. But with IPT Therapy, you revisit the past to identify negative beliefs and clear emotional negativity and harmful coping mechanisms. This emotional education opens a space within to begin to forgive and heal.
After about a year of sessions with Robinson, Fowler was so impressed that she decided she wanted to become an IPT Facilitator. She took classes in 2020 and has been a full-time certified IPT Facilitator for the last year. Fowler says the basis of integrative processing is that, as humans, we experience emotions all the time. When we are children, we are taught by our parents how to handle emotions and many times those ways aren't very healthy.
Each IPT session is like a guided meditation. “Because the physical and emotional are connected, our body will tell us exactly what we need to heal it and how,” Fowler explained. “We use a technique called behavioral kinesiology (muscle testing). Through muscle testing, we arrive at an age of decision - the age when they most traumatically experienced an emotion. When people arrive at the age of decision, they immediately remember the emotions that they felt.”
Some typical emotional themes include questions like - Is there enough for me? Where is my place in the world? Do I still matter? If these themes are not addressed, those emotional patterns are carried throughout life. Patterns of seeking love and approval, a desperation for love and approval, and looking for it in unhealthy ways become themes that are repeated over and over again.
“Identifying and then unpacking those unhealthy emotions is very freeing,” Fowler says. “After a session, depending on what's worked on or what gets released, people can feel incredibly energized, peaceful and calm, or exhausted… or a combination of all three. It's kind of like getting a massage for your emotions.”
Fowler finds the work to be extremely rewarding. “To see people recognize and realize that some of the decisions, or the belief systems, or even the diagnoses that they've been given, mental healthwise, don't have to be a death sentence… that they can heal from it… it changes their lives,” she shared. “People tell me that they have had life-altering results after just one session. One client told me that traditional talk therapy is like the vanilla latte. What I do is the shot of espresso.”
One of the best things about IPT Therapy is that it’s good for everybody. Fowler works with men, women, children, adolescents, people from every social and religious background, and from all over the country. Because IPT Therapy can be done over the phone or through Zoom, Fowler has a client in Canada and even one in Ireland. It can be done on an individual, relationship, or family basis as well.
“It’s so rewarding to see people truly be in charge of their own path and of their own mental health,” Fowler said. “I love helping people release the ‘junk’ that is keeping them from enjoying life’s journey to the fullest.”
Life’s Healing Journey is located at 2930 SW Wanamaker Drive in Topeka. Visit them online at lifeshealingjourney.com.