Tag: mental health

Inviting curiosity and compassion as you explore your inner world

Trauma, depression, anxiety and life challenges can leave you feeling disconnected from yourself, overwhelmed, dysregulated, out of rhythm and without a sense of true meaning or purpose. Life events can imprint certain unhelpful ways of thinking upon you, which you may find difficult to escape, or even to identify. Your intuition may feel like a luxury you cannot afford, or access.

You may fear your feelings, believing they are too much for you to contain. You may feel that you are too much for others or too little. You may be in battle with your body, misunderstanding it’s language and unsure of how to re-connect with it. You may feel betrayed by yourself, by your body.

You may doubt yourself, doubt whether you are capable, doubt whether you can love and be loved. Your beliefs about yourself and the world may be unfounded, and unhelpful. You may wonder who you are, whether you can know yourself in any meaningful way. Your life, your decisions, your view of yourself, may be dominated by events, people, traumas of the past. You may feel stuck and unable to move past such things.

Your behaviours may be contrary to what you truly desire for yourself; you may feel you have no control over them. You may get stuck in a loop of damaging, unhelpful ways of acting in relationships. You may secretly long for more in life. You may desperately want to understand yourself. You may need to turn inward and accept the call to return home to your true self.

Therapy sessions are adapted to your needs. I work on a continuum from verbal therapy to body-based techniques. This holistic approach to therapy is suited to various mental health challenges, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar and personality challenges, as well as life transitions or spiritual searching. The work is trauma-informed and consciously focused on reducing power dynamics. I work out of a beautiful practice in Vredehoek, Cape Town, where we have the space to move between verbal and body-based work.

To enquire about therapy or book a session, contact Melissa: Whatsapp 0834129768 or email info@melissamcwalter.co.za

Make this the year you re-discover yourself

I’m not a big believer in many New Year’s resolutions, but a new year provides us the opportunity to honour ourselves by undertaking the adventure to which we are called.

Staying in the ordinary world – home, comfort, the Known – brings us no closer to coming Home to ourselves.

The journey is not without challenge, excitement, temptation, tolls, trials and love. Indeed, it is venturing into the Unknown, a place ripe for transformation.

This is not a journey that you take alone. A mentor is needed, although you are the traveler, responsible for your life and your choices.

The reward is awesome and the freedom, wisdom and power that you can attain is real.

If you feel a nudge, a sense of an urge to respond to a call that beckons you beyond your ordinary world, I encourage you to listen to it and follow where it takes you.

My personal call is to mentor people just like you, to come alongside you as you bravely venture into the Unknown. I provide direction, encouragement, understanding and wisdom through various different approaches that I have honed over the years.

There are many ways to follow your call. If you are in any way aware of this urge to dive deeper, you have only to contact me to set up an initial meeting, where we can see if my mentorship and your story can find a healing synergy.

Contact Melissa via email (info@melissamcwalter.co.za) or via WhatsApp (0834129768). This may be your first step towards following your call to the path you know you need to follow.

Busting trauma myths #1

Often we know these are false beliefs, but to feel the truth isn’t always so easy. It’s good to be reminded that trauma doesn’t have to be our only story, and we are bigger and more expansive than anything that has happened to us. Our central identity is not our trauma.

Busting trauma myths

9 Reasons Why People Seek Out Alternative Therapies

“I have been to so many different therapists, psychologists and helpers but I have not found what I need.”

“I haven’t found anyone that I can really connect with.”

“I need to connect with a real person, not a blank face.”

“I don’t feel like I can relate to my therapist.”

“I don’t want to blindly follow a conventional medicine model, but I also don’t want to ignore important medical advice.”

“Traditional therapy is just not working for me.”

“I am desperate for my mental health or my child’s mental health to improve, and nothing seems to be working.”

“I’ve tried everything.”

“Just simply talking isn’t helping me.”

These are some of the most common reasons my clients look for alternative therapies, and often why they come to me. I highly value the fields of psychology and psychiatry, which is why I work collaboratively with other professionals. However, traditional therapy approaches are not for everyone.

Sometimes, people need a different approach in order to feel seen and heard. The traditional therapy models tend to allow less transparency, real-ness and openness from the therapist, with the focus remaining exclusively on the client. This works really well for many people.

For others, the core element of safety in therapy can only be found in an imperfect, somewhat irreverent approach that allows relationship and connection to unfold between two real human beings. I bring a valuable expertise to the relationship pertaining to the areas of therapy and skills I offer; however, I am not an expert on life. This is a journey we undertake together. The relationship we form is the vehicle for growth and healing.

The integrative nature of this approach means that we may use talking, music, art, movement, trauma-informed yoga, breathwork, lifestyle modification, creative process, symbol work, nature, writing and/or mindfulness in a way that feels safe and appropriate for you.

I like to take 1 – 3 sessions to get to know you and to allow you to get to know me. From there, we can decide whether we would like to work together and if I could be helpful.

If you are interested in integrative therapy, an alternative approach, please contact Melissa by clicking here

Yoga classes: private and semi-private

yoga girl cape town

Having acquired my yoga teachers training more out of an interest in developing a deeper personal yoga practice, I find myself absolutely loving teaching small classes and private students. I am always amazed at how individuals with little to no yoga experience can develop strength and flexibility so quickly with regular practice.

One of my favourite parts of teaching is encouraging people to show themselves love and compassion, listening to their bodies and doing what feels right for them. This is all about embodied self-care and self-compassion, as well as learning to regulate or calm our systems through movement and intentionality.

Another favourite part of teaching, almost paradoxically, is encouraging others toward their ‘edge’, a place of discomfort that they are able to push through and past. In yoga we really strengthen the mind-body connection. In conjunction with integrative therapy, yoga creates a fuller, more holistic way of developing, emerging and being in the world.

Classes on offer currently are held in the Conservatory at Roodenburg House, 74 Campground Road, Rondebosch, Cape Town.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 7:30 – 9 am, yoga including meditation and optional cold water therapy. Tuesday and Thursday from 5-6pm, yoga.

Classes are small, so booking is essential. Class rate depends on how many yogis are in the class. Morning classes usually between R200-R300, afternoon classes are currently 1-3 persons, and cost is between R300-R350; enquire for individual/private class rate. Please contact me to book a mat.

Bipolar Lifestyle Support

“… despite how bipolar disorder may leave one feeling, there is realistic and attainable hope for balance, positivity, health and meaningful living.”

Have you or a loved one been diagnosed with bipolar disorder? Struggling with uncontrollable mood fluctuations, unpredictable energy levels and unpleasant medication side effects? Treatment options failing you?

Bipolar is a complex disorder. The medical model offers some assistance with various medications, but it often falls short of providing lasting relief. In order to survive and thrive in daily life, it is essential that a treatment is integrative and holistic, taking the entire person and their unique story, symptoms, strengths, needs and desires into account.

I help people establish and maintain healthy, positive lifestyles, manage symptoms and concerns as well as facilitate a deeper knowledge of the Self. ‘Lifestyle’ factors are far more important than they are often given credit for. Diet, exercise, sleep, mindset, daily structure and relationships are some examples of lifestyle factors that influence the progression of the disorder and maintenance of wellness.

Practical and experienced, empathic assistance is greatly beneficial for establishing and helping maintain positive lifestyle factors, managing symptoms and medical/non-medical treatment options, providing accountability, reality-checking and validation.

Along with receiving practical advice and lifestyle assistance (where necessary), my clients embark on a process of deeper engagement with the Self, wherein we utilise verbal dialogue and creative, symbolic work. It is a process of meaning-making. Together, we will trace your self-story (sometimes called a personal mythology), which is a meaningful, individualised life-narrative based on your particular experiences, beliefs, personal symbols and meaning-making process . We map this purposeful, unique and continuous self-story onto your current experiences and defining beliefs, as well as connecting the story with larger, archetypal (or universal) psychological and spiritual patterns. This provides us with a mythological or spiritual heritage, so to speak.

Essentially, this process elevates the struggle (depression, mania, psychosis, broken relationships, internal battles, self-harm, addiction, shame, intrusive thoughts etc.) and affirms the Self and it’s various, oft-unrecognised accomplishments.

You can discover meaning, transformation and different perspectives, behaviour change and a sense of your connectedness to a larger pattern or story. You can rediscover ownership of your experiences, your life narrative and the direction you choose to go. You can find hope and confidence for facing the future, or even the present.

Any teens or adults can engage in this process, no matter the current mood state.

Bipolar disorder is associated with a relatively high prevalence of suicide and should be taken very seriously. Besides the risk of suicide, the impact that various mood states can have on an individual’s relationships, commitments and self-worth may also be devastating. However, in spite of, or perhaps because of extreme mood states, individual’s have an unusually great opportunity for self-mastery, connection, creativity, awareness and self-knowledge, which in turn radiate outward in relationships and affect the world in positive ripples.

The message is this: despite how bipolar disorder may leave one feeling, there is realistic and attainable hope for balance, positivity, health and meaningful living. Accessing this knowledge is admittedly extremely difficult at times and experienced, empathic support can be invaluable to gaining greater traction on one’s life or maintaining wellness.

For more information on Bipolar Support, please click here.

~ Melissa McWalter Ellse, HPCSA registered arts therapist (AT 0001350)

Intention Setting for 2020

Now available: Creative INTENTION SETTING 2 hour session in preparation for and contemplation of 2020. Choose awareness and intention as you embrace your potential and invite prosperity. This is a tried and trusted process with the powerful effect of consciously and unconsciously guiding you toward your goals and desires. Mark the passage from one year to the next in order to step more fully into your potential.

Mixed creative media (pastels, collage etc.), intentional use of music-listening to stimulate the process and verbal reflection and contemplation. All materials provided. No ‘creative’ experience necessary.

Available for adults or teens. Individual or group bookings available in Cape Town.

To book, click here.