The Centre for Healing Podcast

In this powerful and paradigm-shifting conversation, Melissa Hiemann sits down with Dr. Tina Vitolo—licensed clinical social worker, rebel educator, and founder of The Black Sheep Therapist—to explore how therapists can ethically integrate spiritual, somatic, and alternative healing modalities into clinical practice.

If you’ve ever felt like you don’t quite “fit” within traditional mental health systems… this episode will feel like a deep exhale.

Tina shares her journey of challenging outdated frameworks in the therapy world and reveals how practitioners can move beyond fear, confusion, and rigid rules—without losing their license or integrity.

Together, Melissa and Tina explore what it really means to be an embodied practitioner, how innovation happens in healing, and why the future of mental health lies in integration—not separation.

What We Cover in This Episode:

What it means to be a “Black Sheep Therapist” and why it’s a gift

The hidden limitations within traditional mental health systems

The truth about “evidence-based practice” (and what therapists often misunderstand)

Whether you can legally and ethically integrate modalities like:

Astrology

Somatic work

Energy healing

Breathwork

Why therapists fear losing their license—and what’s actually true

How to use informed consent, language, and transparency as protection

The difference between therapy vs. separate coaching/healing businesses

How to integrate alternative modalities within a clinical container

The importance of embodiment vs. just learning techniques

Why innovation in healing is essential for better client outcomes

You are licensed—not the modality you use

Ethical practice is about transparency, competency, and client choice

Evidence-based practice is broader than most therapists think

Integration (not separation) is the future of healing

Your lived experience and embodiment matter just as much as your training

Dr. Tina Vitolo is a licensed clinical social worker, rebel educator, and founder of The Black Sheep Therapist—a global community for clinicians who feel called to practice outside the traditional mold.

With nearly 20 years of experience in mental health, Tina helps therapists ethically integrate spiritual, somatic, and complementary practices into their work—without fear.

She is the creator of the Innovative Practitioner Accelerator (IPA) and author of The Black Sheep Therapist: Integrating Spiritual and Energy-Based Modalities into Clinical Practice.

Website: https://www.theblacksheepguide.com

Facebook Community: Black Sheep Therapists: Embracing Unconventional Practices in Mental Health https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1G4FWJ6oxo/

Instagram & TikTok: @theblacksheeptherapist

 Special Offer: Tina is offering a free ebook download of her book from April 13–15. https://theblacksheepguide.com/book-optin-page

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this solo episode, Melissa Hiemann — co-founder of The Centre for Healing and author of Root-Cause Therapy: A Method for True, Lasting Change — shares the story behind her new book, the methodology that took 12 years to develop, and why she believes true, lasting healing can only happen when we address the root, not the symptoms. From her own personal journey through narcissistic abuse, domestic violence, and substance use, to opening a clinic and training practitioners across the world, Melissa unpacks what makes Root-Cause Therapy different from conventional talk therapy and coaching — and why so many people stay stuck even after years of working on themselves. Whether you're on your own healing journey, already in practice, or curious about training in RCT, this episode is for you.

ABOUT MELISSA HIEMANN

Melissa Hiemann is a trauma-informed healer, certified practitioner trainer, and co-founder of The Centre for Healing — a globally recognised training organisation dedicated to bringing root-cause healing to practitioners and clients worldwide. Melissa is the creator of Root-Cause Therapy and the author of two books, including her latest, *Root-Cause Therapy: A Method for True, Lasting Change*. She is also the co-creator of the Trauma-Informed Manifestation Course and a Trauma-Aware Parenting Course. The Centre for Healing celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2026.

LINKS & RESOURCES 

📖 Get the book: thecentreforhealing.com/rctbook

🌐 Find an RCT Practitioner near you: thecentreforhealing.com/directory

🎓 Explore RCT Practitioner Training: thecentreforhealing.com/

🎙️ Leave a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

Guest: Stacey Webb

Author of Embodied Grace and creator of the Embodied Grace Card Deck

With a unique background as a former detective, Stacey Webb now guides individuals toward self-compassion, embodied presence, and intuitive trust. Her work supports people in expanding their sense of safety, releasing self-criticism, and stepping fully into themselves with grace.

Stacey is the author of three books, with her newest offering, Embodied Grace, inviting readers into a deeper relationship with themselves through softness, awareness, and inner support.

In this episode, we explore Stacey’s journey from detective work to the healing space, the realities of writing a book, and what it truly means to embody grace in everyday life.

✨ Key Takeaways

The reality of writing a book
Writing a book is a deeply transformative process that often requires more patience, resilience, and personal evolution than we initially expect.

What “embodied grace” really means
It’s about allowing yourself to be supported—by the divine, the universe, or your higher self—and expressing that through grounded presence, humility, and self-love.

Healing people-pleasing patterns
Moving beyond people-pleasing and weak boundaries often involves addressing deeper fears, such as abandonment and rejection.

The power of curiosity over judgment
Self-awareness rooted in curiosity (rather than criticism) creates space for real healing and lasting transformation.

Small acts of self-love matter
Gentle reminders, support systems, and daily acts of compassion toward yourself can significantly shift how you show up in your life.

📚 Resources Mentioned

Embodied Grace (book)

Embodied Grace Card Deck

🔗 Connect with Stacey

Website: https://www.staceywebb.com.au/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_staceywebb/ 

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode, Melissa sits down with Josie Cowley and Andrea Crabtree — holistic counsellor and social worker/therapist respectively — to explore why psychoeducation is one of the most powerful things a practitioner can offer their clients. The conversation digs into the real challenges therapists face when precious session time gets eaten up by foundational explanations, and how Josie and Andrea set out to solve that with their video series, Why Do I Feel This Way?

From nervous system regulation and subconscious patterns to generational trauma and the power of self-compassion, this episode is packed with insight — whether you're a practitioner wanting to deepen your work, or someone on their own healing journey trying to understand themselves better.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Psychoeducation changes everything in the therapy room. When clients arrive already understanding their nervous system and emotional patterns, practitioners can spend less time teaching and more time doing the actual healing work. Josie shared that when a recent client hadn't watched the videos beforehand, she felt the gap immediately — there simply wasn't enough time to cover the education and hold proper space for the work.

Co-regulation requires space and slowness. A rushed session affects more than just content — it affects the felt sense of safety in the room. When practitioners aren't scrambling to explain foundational concepts, they can slow down, attune, and offer the kind of regulated presence that is, in itself, deeply therapeutic.

You don't have to believe every thought you have. Andrea spoke beautifully about how many of us grew up in a culture that treats thoughts as facts. One of the most liberating shifts the course offers is helping people notice their thoughts with curiosity rather than being pulled into every spiral — not to stop the thoughts, but to build the capacity to sit with them compassionately.

Generational trauma explains so much. Josie spoke about how often clients carry pain that isn't even theirs — inherited stress, fear, and patterns passed down through family lines. Understanding this can bring enormous relief, shifting the narrative from "something is wrong with me" to "I'm carrying something that was never mine to carry."

Self-awareness reduces shame. A recurring theme throughout the episode was how understanding why we feel the way we do removes the shame around it. Our survival responses, emotional patterns, and nervous system reactions make sense in context — and once people understand that, healing becomes possible.

The course supports practitioners too. Whether you're newly qualified and building your language, or a seasoned practitioner looking for a fresh way to explain core concepts, the series offers a shared framework that works across modalities. It also now carries 10 CPD points with both the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) and the CPD Group.

It doesn't replace therapy — it amplifies it. As Andrea put it, this resource creates hope and reduces shame. It's a complement to the deeper work, not a substitute for it.

ABOUT JOSIE & ANDREA

Josie Cowley is a holistic counsellor with a Diploma of Counselling from AIPC, accredited with the Australian Counselling Association and certified in Crisis Support with Lifeline. She blends evidence-informed counselling with Root Cause Therapy, the Emotion Code, EFT, Reiki, and trauma-informed coaching. Before entering the counselling space, Josie spent 29 years as a hairdresser — an experience she credits as foundational, where the salon chair became a natural safe space for people to be heard. She lives in Ocean Grove with her husband, two sons, and five small horses.

Andrea Crabtree is a therapist, social worker, and former lawyer whose consistent thread across every career has been people. Certified in Embodied Processing, Trauma-Informed Manifestation, and Root Cause Therapy, and a Reiki Master with several years of experience in energy healing with animals. Andrea works primarily outdoors facilitating equine-assisted therapy, where her herd of five horses participate entirely at liberty. Having lived in both Honduras and Japan, she brings a rich cross-cultural perspective to her work.

Together, Josie and Andrea created Why Do I Feel This Way? — Exploring Your Inner World, a 16-video psychoeducation series available through The Centre for Healing.

LINKS & RESOURCES

Dr. Node Smith, ND is a Canadian naturopathic doctor, author of Witness & The Four Behaviors, and founder of TEAL Holistic. His work sits at the intersection of nervous system regulation, somatic awareness, and conscious development—where health, psychology, and spirituality meet the realities of everyday life.

Node primarily works with thoughtful, self-aware individuals who have already invested deeply in therapy, personal growth, mindfulness, or spiritual practice, yet still find themselves feeling anxious, overwhelmed, or dysregulated under stress. Rather than offering more techniques, productivity hacks, or mindset reframes, his work invites a deeper shift: moving away from fixing or managing symptoms toward developing real nervous system capacity through embodied presence.

Grounded in both clinical practice and lived experience, Node views kindness and honesty not as abstract ideals, but as practical biological forces for healing. His perspective reframes anxiety, burnout, and chronic stress—not as problems to eliminate—but as meaningful signals pointing toward deeper integration, emotional maturity, and a more authentic relationship with the body.

In conversation, Node offers a calm and nuanced approach to topics such as emotional intelligence, nervous system safety, spirituality and psychology, and what it truly takes for insight to translate into lasting change. His work is less about self-improvement and more about learning how to live skillfully—especially when life is uncertain, uncomfortable, or demanding.

Resources & Links

📖 Witness & The Four Behaviors
https://www.amazon.com/Witness-Four-Behaviors-Honest-Self-Healing/dp/B0CWMP1GBP/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1 

🎓 Witness 12-Week Course
https://www.tealholistic.com/witness-course 

🌐 Website
https://www.tealholistic.com 

📲 Instagram
@drnodesmith

Ava is the director of Functional Spirituality and the popular yoga and meditation centre Spanda School in Fremantle, W.A. She is a philosopher with a degree from the University of Sydney, retreat leader, business owner and somatic therapist. Her deepest passions are non-dual philosophy, community healing and looking at the impacts of spirituality. Her business has been offering meditation training and silent retreat to thousands of students over the past 10+ years.

Ava's path started with a fervor for awakening and non-duality. However over the years her path has matured with a more functional approach. Her work now considers the wide-spread complex trauma that lies at the heart of almost every obstacle to happy, healthy and connected living, and marries profound mystical approaches with nervous system regulation.
She has trained with Paul Muller-Ortega (Blue throat yoga), NARM (complex trauma), Cecily Milne (yoga detour), the Centre for Healing to name a few.

Ava is predominantly known for her thriving yoga studio, silent retreats in nature and the phenomenal teachers that emerge from her yoga and trauma-informed certifications. She lives in beautiful, rural Western Australia with her family and animals.

She has recently teamed up with The Centre for Healing to offer courses and an Instructor Training on Trauma-Informed Meditation.

TI Meditation Instructor Training:
https://www.thecentreforhealing.com/ti-meditation-instructor 

Meditation Instructor Training Webinar:
https://www.thecentreforhealing.com/mit-pre-training-registration 

Short Course - Foundations of TI Meditation:
https://www.thecentreforhealing.com/trauma-informed-meditation-foundations 

Free 7 Day Meditation Challenge:
https://www.thecentreforhealing.com/offers/92J8TtBk/checkout 

Nicole Merges is the founder of Brightsol Wellness and the creator of Roots to Rise: Release,

Reclaim, Rise, a 90-day transformational program designed to help purpose-driven women get

out of their own way to uncover the root cause of what’s keeping them stuck, release old

patterns, and rise into a life aligned with their deepest truth and power. As a Root Cause

Therapist, certified trauma-informed manifestation coach, minister, chaplain, plant-based

certified coach, and member of the Tarot Mysticism Academy, Nicole blends deep spiritual

wisdom, root cause therapy, energy healing, and practical manifestation tools to help her clients

break free from cycles that no longer serve them.

Download the FREE Harmonious Life Tracker below to follow along: 

https://mailchi.mp/75f19ff565ff/harmonious-life-tracker-download 

Book a FREE Clarity Call

https://brightsolwellness.practicebetter.io/#/68a143affb48893091c598b5/bookings?step=services 

Connect with Nicole via email:

[email protected] 

Connect With Nicole On:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicole.merges/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolemerges/  

Substack: https://substack.com/@nicolemerges 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NicoleMerges  

Facebook: https:/www.facebook.com/brightsolwellness

In this heartfelt and honest episode, Melissa Hiemann and Tara Russell — co-creators of the Trauma-Aware Parenting Course — open up about the real journey of parenting while healing your own inner child.

They share candid life updates and reflections on the messy, beautiful balance of raising kids while managing work, health, and personal growth. Tara speaks vulnerably about how becoming a parent led her to explore embodied processing and somatic awareness practices that completely changed the way she relates to her children.

Together, they explore how trauma shapes our parenting patterns, why nervous-system regulation is the foundation of connection, and how self-awareness helps us move from reactivity to presence. This conversation is both deeply personal and profoundly practical — a reminder that every step we take toward healing ourselves brings healing to our families, too.

If you’re ready to parent with more presence, compassion, and confidence, learn more about the Trauma-Aware Parenting Course here: https://www.thecentreforhealing.com/trauma-aware-parenting

Connect with Tara here - https://www.creatingmindfulminds.com/

Follow Tara on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/centred.in.connection/

In this episode of The Centre for Healing Podcast, Mel sits down with Valery Alignment—a multidisciplinary practitioner, mentor, and teacher—for a heartfelt, wide-ranging conversation that feels like two friends having coffee. Together, they explore what it really means to live and work as a trauma-informed practitioner, especially when your life is full (motherhood, business, healing work) and your nervous system is your most important tool.

Key topics & takeaways (bullet points)

Guest bio

Valery is a holistic teacher, guide, and founder of Valery Alignment. Her work sits at the intersection of applied psychology, spirituality, emotional development, and energetic mastery. She supports practitioners, self-healers, and leaders in understanding human patterns, dismantling internal blocks, and aligning their lives and work with truth, integrity, and purpose. Valery is the creator of The Holistic Human and PostureCraft™️, and teaches through systems she has lived, tested, and embodied—bringing depth, clarity, and structure to inner work beyond trends or surface-level healing.

Links:

Website:

https://www.valeryalignment.au/

VA IG: https://www.instagram.com/valery.alignment/

PC IG: https://www.instagram.com/posture_craft/

The Holistic Human, designed to support practitioners to deepen their skills and self-mastery through three pillars:
https://www.valeryalignment.au/the-holistic-human-2026

Trauma-Aware Parenting - https://www.thecentreforhealing.com/trauma-aware-parenting

Find out more about The Centre for Healing and explore our trainings here - https://www.thecentreforhealing.com/

Show Notes: Healing with Pets and Humans

Guest: Fabienne Wydler

In this heartfelt conversation, we explore the powerful and often overlooked relationship between humans and their animal companions—and how healing can unfold on both sides of the leash.

Key Takeaways:

Our pets often mirror unresolved emotions, unexpressed needs, and weakened boundaries in their human companions, gently holding space for what wants to be seen and healed.

Deepening your connection and attunement with your pet can offer profound insights into your own emotional world, supporting personal growth and transformation.

Animals provide a non-judgemental, emotionally safe presence—particularly supportive for neurodivergent children who may find it easier to express themselves with animals than with people.

Behavioural challenges in pets (such as anxiety, aggression, or destructiveness) often point to deeper emotional or relational dynamics within the human–animal bond. Healing the root cause can create lasting change for both.

Resources Mentioned:

Fabienne Wydler’s website: fabiennewydler.com

Free booklet on emotional mirroring: Available for download via Fabienne’s website

Connect with Fabienne:

Instagram: @healingwithfabienne

YouTube: Heal With Animals

Facebook Group: Heal With Animals