Frequently Asked Questions

Holistic counselling is a form of therapy that addresses the person as a whole. Unlike traditional counselling that primarily focuses on the psychological aspects, holistic counselling takes into account the interplay between the mind, body, and spirit. This integrative approach treats the individual in their entirety, acknowledging that our physical health, spiritual beliefs, emotional state, and mental well-being are interconnected and impact each other.

In traditional counselling, techniques such as cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and psychoanalysis are commonly used. These modalities aim to change negative thought patterns or analyse past experiences to improve the client’s present mental health.

 Holistic counselling, however, encompasses parts of traditional psychiatric medicine and more. It may include additional supportive techniques and practices. It’s a fluid and open-ended approach that recognizes the individual’s unique needs and is flexible to adapt to those needs.

 The goal of traditional counselling is often symptom reduction and improved mental health. Clients learn to manage their symptoms, develop coping strategies, and gain insight into their mental health conditions. The goal of holistic counselling, however, is to empower the individual seeking treatment to discover their own inner wisdom and find a healing capacity within themselves. It supports significant personal growth, self-discovery, and a sense of well-being that extends beyond mental health to encompass physical and spiritual health as well.

In the comparison of “holistic counselling vs traditional counselling,” it’s clear that both approaches have their benefits, and cater to different needs and preferences. You might find one approach more resonant and beneficial than the other, or you might benefit from an integrative approach that incorporates both traditional and non-traditional techniques.

 At Sound Health By Design, a typical session will involve talking and exploration of your past and current experiences. However, it goes beyond traditional talk therapy by also incorporating supportive natural therapies to uncover and dismantle the root causes of your symptoms, enabling you to experience true and lasting change in your life.

We aim to provide a compassionate, integrative, and tailored approach that best supports your journey towards improved health & wellbeing and living life more fully.

It depends on your current needs, how long you have had the issue for and the degree to which you are willing to explore your inner self. The more willing you are to feel and process emotions, the easier your process of release and change will be.

In the early stages of therapy, it’s usually more effective to have sessions on a weekly or fortnightly basis. As time goes by these can become monthly or on an as needs basis. However, session schedules can be adjusted to meet the needs and circumstances of each client.

You will start to feel different from the first session, however, there are various factors that determine when change may be felt or healing fully experienced. Healing is a journey and takes time. Timeframes for healing will vary person to person and depend on the severity of the issue being addressed, how long it has been an issue and your willingness to engage in the change process.

Some issues take longer than others. Time and commitment will be needed to resolve complex issues. 

Sound Health By Design’s holistic focus and ability to deal with the root cause (emotions held in the body) means that when transformation occurs, it is lasting. Due to this profound shift, clients often require less support in the long term (compared with traditional counselling).

 Sessions are 1.5-2 hours in duration. This is to allow sufficient time for discussion and practical application of therapies.

Each organ and system in our body has its own resonant frequency which interacts with each other and as a whole. Stress, trauma, sickness & life experiences impact that frequency, and if left undealt with, can lead to varying health issues. Sound Healing uses specialist instruments played in therapeutic ways to trigger and support the body’s own healing processes. This support and healing can be physical, emotional, cognitive, spiritual and relational. Sound Healing is a gentle yet powerful way of bringing our unique vibrational blueprint into a state of vibrational clarity, balance and harmony, to support and restore health and wellbeing.

Sound healing is highly effective as a natural healing modality because of the multiple ways sound is carried and received throughout the body. Due to its efficient way of body integration, it is over 90% more effective in its delivery and effectiveness than chemical based treatments.

When sound waves reach our ears, they are converted into electrical signals that travel up the auditory nerve into the auditory cortex, the part of the brain that processes sound. Once sound waves reach our brains, they trigger responses in our bodies.

Our bodies are also composed of over 70% of water. Water acts as a fantastic conductor of the vibrations of sound waves. The therapeutic Instruments which are specifically chosen and played on or around they body, produce sound vibrations that are carried through the body’s water content to the organs and body systems.

Sound healing also works with the human Biofield, the field of energy that surrounds and extends from the body, helping to facilitate the releasing of vibrational dissonances and restoration of coherent vibration to the Biofield for optimal health and wellbeing.

The natural therapies we use are intentionally selected because of the way they interact with and support the body’s frequency.  All matter vibrates at specific rates called frequencies, this includes our body. Our frequency determines our wellbeing and can be altered through stress, limiting thought patterns and unresolved emotions. The loss of vibrational rate creates disorder in the physical body as well as the emotional and mental self, leading to loss of coherence in any or all of these levels. Over time, entropy and disorder leads to increase in tiredness, pain, illness and chronic disease.

Using the law of Vibration is key to identifying and correcting these imbalances in the mind, body and spirit for improved health and overall well-being

Frequency based modalities are an innovative intersection of quantum physics, eastern holistic practices, and western medical science that can restore balance and promote optimal health through non-invasive techniques.

At Sound Health By Design, the natural therapies and other supporting tools we utilize for client support are:

• Sound Healing
• Homeopathy: Bush Flower Essences, Bach Flower Essences
• Meridian Systems & Accupressure Therapy
• Somatic Therapy
• Biofield Clearing
• Aromatherapy
• Dream Therapy
• Breathwork
• Diet/Nutrition
• EFT Tapping (Emotional Freedom Technique)
• Reflexology
• Relaxation Techniques
• Gene Keys
• Human Design
• Accupresence
• Colour Therapy
• Grounding
  
• Holistic Counselling

Also underlying these natural therapies, is the understanding that the human body can heal itself when provided with the right supports and environment.

Because each person has their own unique vibrational pattern (frequency), personalized treatment plans are an essential part of client care. Tailored to individual profiles, this approach ensures each client receives support that is in alignment with their personal needs & goals, maximizing the effectiveness of the therapies impact.

Holistic health, sometimes called integrative medicine or whole person health, is an approach that focuses on treating and preventing disease by addressing many all aspects of a person’s life, including mental, physical, spiritual, and social health.

Conventional medicine often focuses primarily on the physical symptoms of disease. Holistic health also focuses on how other aspects of a person’s life, including how environment, spirituality, and culture, contribute to a persons health.

Features of holistic health include education, self-help, advocacy, as well as lifestyle and behavioural changes that promote better health, such as nutrition, movement, sleep and stress management, and relationship support.

Holistic health views the body as a whole system. It views all aspects of a person—including the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health—as contributing to overall health and well-being.

This health approach promotes the idea that healing requires balancing your life’s physical, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects. It focuses on disease prevention by addressing the whole person continuously rather than only when medical symptoms or conditions arise.

At Sound Healthy By Design, while our approach might be viewed as an alternative to conventional medicine and is sometimes grouped with natural medicine, we often partner with more traditional medicine providers to optimize client health outcomes.

Wear comfortable clothing. You will remain clothed during the session. If you are on the treatment table for part of the session, you will be asked to remove your shoes. 

With the hustle and bustle of life, sometimes we push past our body’s indicator signs of stress and overload. In the absence of regenerative and replenishing practices, our nervous system, endocrine system and other organs and body systems can move into overdrive or progressively shut down.

The natural therapies and techniques used in our sessions trigger deep relaxation and slows down the body & brain to a deeply restorative state, which activates the body’s system of self-healing.

Tiredness is the body’s way of indicating that it is in healing mode and is using energy to restore balance and vitality. If tiredness is something that you experience after a session, the best way to support this restorative time is to allow yourself the time and space to rest. This may mean having a nap or choosing restful, quiet or gentle activities. To optimize your healing time, you may want to consider restructuring your calendar to accommodate the necessary down time.

Allowing yourself the space for your body to utilize its energy to restore balance and heal will not only maximise the effects of the session but also support sustained healing longer term – especially when adopted with ongoing regenerative and replenishing practices.

The natural therapies and techniques used in our sessions penetrate deep to the cellular level.

While not experienced by everyone, some people do find that their urine changes colour. The colour can range from anywhere between a dark yellow through to mid brown, even black. The colour of the urine simply indicates the body’s healing process in detoxifying and eliminating toxins and waste from the cells and organs.

The best way to support the detoxification and healing process is to eat nutritious, wholesome foods and drink plenty of water.

This usually settles within a few days.

After a session, the natural therapies and sound frequencies are moving throughout and around the body healing and balancing energy to organs and body systems. As a result, digestion and elimination processes are triggered, removing waste products and toxins that have built up over time.

Some people may find they need to go to the toilet more frequently, feel constipated, or others may find their bowel movements change in colour or form. This is part of the body’s detoxification and healing process.

The best way to support the detoxification and healing process is to eat nutritious, wholesome foods and drink plenty of water.

This usually settles within a few days.

In the event of constipation not easing within a couple of days, the following may assist:

• Soaking in a bath with Epsom Salts (the magnesium helps relax the muscles)
• Getting someone to massage your lower back. Essential oils such as Marjoram, Lavender, Frankincense can be supportive. Blend 2 drops of each with 1 Tablespoon of Hexene Free Castor oil. (The castor oil helps draw the oils deep, increasing effectiveness). You can also massage your abdomen in a slow clockwise direction.
• Application of Magnesium Spray to the lower back.
• Drinking prune Juice or eating prunes
• Movement e.g. walking, cycling, Qi gong, swimming or stretches such as “The half spinal twist“, “Cobra Pose” and/or “Supine Spinal Twist“. Ensure you choose what is best for you according to age and ability – please consult your doctor. Cease any exercise/stretch is you feel any twinges or pain.

Sometimes emotions can feel big and overwhelming. Our mind and body will try to help us by going into fight, flight, fawn or freeze response.

However, we want to be able to respond rather that react or avoid. Otherwise, emotions can affect our vibrational frequency, creating issues for us physically, mentally, relationally, even financially.

The key to processing emotions is to bring ourselves into the present moment rather than erupt, avoid, ignore or numb it. One way to do this is by focussing on our breath. You might like to try this: 

1. Ensure you are in a safe space. Make yourself comfortable.
2. Focus on your breathing. Take slow deep breaths (breath from your lower abdomen).
3. Remind yourself that you are safe and that it is okay to feel this emotion.
4. Box-breathe: breathe in for 4, hold for 4, breathe out for 4, hold for 4…and repeat until you feel calmer (Stop if you feel lightheaded!)
5. Give yourself permission to feel the feeling. Sit with the feeling, tell yourself “Its okay to feel this”…don’t judge the feeling and dont justify it…just feel it. 
    Observe how it feels is your body…tightness, tension etc. Continue to breathe deeply while you are feeling it.
6. Within a short period (1-3 minutes), the emotion will pass, and you will feel a still sense of peace. Pause, smile, give thanks and go about your day.

If after 5 minutes the emotion hasn’t subsided, you may want to try other supportive measures such as going for a walk, getting out in nature, have a shower, do a workout at the gym, talk with a friend or write in a journal.

If your emotions are still heightened, you may want to call a crisis line (refer to the list of contact numbers at the top of the FAQs).
If you are able to calm yourself but feel things still need working through, you may want to call and book a session with Emily.

Billing and payments: You will be expected to pay for the first session IN FULL one week prior to your appointment (along with submitting your intake & assessment form).  We require this payment & Form up front because upon receiving them, your practitioner goes through your information in detail and starts working on preparing for your sessions. Follow-up sessions are to be paid for on arrival or prior to each session. The practitioner will provide you with banking details.

Payment Method: Sound Health by Design does not offer credit facilities. Payments can be made via bank transfer prior to the session. Alternatively, payment can be made in cash or via bank app transfer at the beginning of the session.

Cancellation, No Show and Late Arrival: All clients must provide the practitioner with a minimum of 24 hours’ notice in the event of a cancellation, which does not include a weekend. This means, if you have an appointment at 1pm on Monday, you will need to cancel it by 1pm on the Friday prior. This enables allocation of appointments to clients who may be on our waitlist. Clients will be charged in full for appointments that are not cancelled as least 24 hours in advance and for all no shows. Clients arriving late will not be provided an extension of time beyond what they are scheduled, so as to not disrupt other client appointments. There will be no reduction in fee from shortened sessions due to a client’s late arrival. Provided the 24 hours notice is given, appointments can be cancelled or rescheduled without incurring fees. Where a client incurs fees from a cancelled or missed appointment, those fees must be paid before another session booking can be made.

Refund of payment made:
Payments for first appointments will not be refunded. This is because, once the initial appointment fee is paid, the practitioner starts work on preparing for the client’s sessions. If the client is unable to make the initial appointment, provided the 24 hours’ notice is given, the appointment can be rescheduled. If the client cancels without rescheduling, the payment is retained to cover the preparation work already completed by the practitioner.

If a follow-up session has been paid for in advance, provided the 24 hours’ notice has been given, the session fee can be refunded or held for the next session. Where a client repeatedly reschedules their appointments (2 times in a row) and money is held by the practitioner, the practitioner reserves the right to refuse booking and retain the held funds. Appointments cancelled with less than 24 hours noticed will not be refunded.

Medicare Rebate: Not available. Services provided by non-medical professionals are not covered by Medicare

Private Health Insurance: As a unique therapeutic service, we are not covered by Private Health Insurance.