What Is Integrative Psychotherapy?
How Whole-Person Healing Transforms Mind, Body, and Life
By Dr. Matt McKeithan, PsyD | Your Kind of Happy LLC |
Introduction
At Your Kind of Happy LLC, we specialize in helping people heal not just their minds, but their whole lives. As someone who has personally walked the path of trauma recovery and chronic inflammation, I believe deeply in the power of integrative psychotherapy—a model that blends modern psychology with functional health, somatic therapy, and lifestyle medicine.
If you’re looking for trauma therapy or holistic mental health support in Greenville, SC, San Francisco, or the greater Bay Area, integrative psychotherapy offers a clear, sustainable path forward.
What Is Integrative Psychotherapy?
Integrative psychotherapy is a flexible, multi-disciplinary approach that draws from evidence-based psychological therapies (like CBT, EMDR, mindfulness-based therapy) and combines them with interventions from functional medicine, somatic psychology, and lifestyle coaching.
This model acknowledges that mental, emotional, and physical health are inseparably linked—and that healing must be approached from all angles.
Unlike traditional therapy, which often focuses only on thoughts or behavior, integrative psychotherapy works through:
Emotional healing and trauma processing
Nutritional and inflammatory factors
Sleep, movement, and nervous system regulation
Body-based awareness and somatic release
Lifestyle redesign for long-term balance and vitality
Why Integrative Care Matters
Conventional approaches to therapy often stop short at symptom management. However, growing research in psychoneuroimmunology, epigenetics, and trauma recovery shows that the body, immune system, and brain are deeply intertwined (Slavich & Irwin, 2014; Van der Kolk, 2014).
For many people, unresolved trauma and chronic stress manifest not just as anxiety or depression—but also as:
Chronic pain
Fatigue
Autoimmune disease
Gastrointestinal distress
Sleep disruption
Inflammation-related mood swings
Integrative psychotherapy identifies these connections and addresses them holistically.
Personal Story: From Surviving to Healing
Before I became a licensed clinical psychologist and founder of Your Kind of Happy LLC, I was a 100% service-connected disabled veteran recovering from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) sustained in service. I spent six years receiving neurotherapy and counseling through the VA. These were crucial steps—but something was still missing.
The real breakthrough came when I began taking an integrative approach to healing:
I switched to a Mediterranean diet, focused on whole anti-inflammatory foods.
I discovered my food sensitivities and eliminated what my body couldn’t tolerate.
I committed to exercising 3–5 times a week.
I began a daily practice of mindfulness and meditation.
I used tools to retrain my nervous system, shifting out of chronic fight-or-flight.
These changes helped lower systemic inflammation and rewired my nervous system in ways traditional therapy alone could not. When I saw how my brain, body, and lifestyle were interconnected, I understood the true power of integrative mental health care.
That transformation is what I now offer to my clients.
How Trauma and Stress Live in the Body
Trauma isn’t just remembered—it’s stored. When the nervous system becomes overwhelmed and dysregulated, trauma can manifest physically and neurologically.
Common body-based symptoms of unresolved trauma include:
Muscle tension
Headaches or digestive issues
Hypervigilance
Emotional numbness
Immune dysregulation
Somatic therapy, EMDR, photobiomodulation, and vagus nerve stimulation—tools we offer at Your Kind of Happy—help clients discharge trauma that talk therapy alone can’t fully resolve (Levine, 2010; van der Kolk, 2014).
What to Expect in Our Integrative Program
At Your Kind of Happy LLC, we offer a structured but flexible healing experience that may include:
Full Diagnostic and Psychological Interview
Cognitive Assessments (attention, memory, executive function)
Trauma-informed therapy (CBT, EMDR, mindfulness-based approaches)
Lifestyle mapping and personalized support
Nutritional and supplement recommendations
Photobiomodulation (Vielight Neuro)
Vagus nerve stimulation
Food sensitivity or genetic testing (optional)
Resources and reading recommendations for home practice
Our process is tailored, collaborative, and rooted in science—designed to restore mental clarity, emotional resilience, physical energy, and a renewed sense of self.
Why Choose Integrative Psychotherapy?
If you’ve tried conventional therapy or medications and still feel like something’s missing, integrative psychotherapy may offer the deeper solution. We look beyond diagnosis and ask:
What is your body trying to communicate?
Where are you stuck in a fight-or-flight loop?
How do food, inflammation, and environment shape your mood?
What narratives and patterns are still driving your life?
Whether you’re dealing with trauma, burnout, brain fog, chronic illness, or identity loss, this approach helps uncover the root causes and offers a path back to balance.
Service Areas
We currently offer therapy and trauma recovery services in:
Greenville, SC
San Francisco, CA
The Bay Area (including Oakland, Berkeley, Marin, and surrounding regions)
Telehealth options are available for California and South Carolina residents.
Contact Us
If you’re ready to explore a more connected and complete form of healing, contact Dr. Matt McKeithan, PsyD at Your Kind of Happy LLC to schedule your first session or consultation. This may be the most important investment you ever make—in your nervous system, your clarity, and your freedom.
References
Levine, P. A. (2010). In an unspoken voice: How the body releases trauma and restores goodness. North Atlantic Books.
Maté, G. (2011). When the body says no: Exploring the stress-disease connection. Wiley.
Norcross, J. C., & Goldfried, M. R. (2005). Handbook of psychotherapy integration (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Slavich, G. M., & Irwin, M. R. (2014). From stress to inflammation and major depressive disorder: A social signal transduction theory of depression. Psychological Bulletin, 140(3), 774–815. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035302
Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Viking.
