When people first see the name Reva Bloom Integrated Therapy, they sometimes ask me what I mean by integrated.
The simplest answer is this:
I don’t believe the body works in separate pieces, so I don’t treat it that way.
A painful shoulder may involve the shoulder joint itself—but it may also involve the fascia, nerves, organs, lymphatic system, old injuries, surgical scars, breathing patterns, or the way the nervous system has learned to protect the body.
And sometimes what the body is carrying isn’t purely physical.
That is where the integrated part of my work begins.
The Body Is a Whole
Over many years of studying and practicing manual therapy, I’ve trained in numerous approaches, including Visceral Manipulation, Neural Manipulation, arterial work, joint and orthopedic techniques, Craniosacral Therapy, brain-focused work, and lymphatic drainage.
I don’t think of these as separate treatments that live in different boxes.
They are different ways of listening to and working with the same human system.
The nervous system communicates with the organs. The organs have relationships with the musculoskeletal system. Blood flow and lymphatic flow influence tissue health. Fascia connects structures throughout the body. The brain and autonomic nervous system continuously respond to what is happening both inside and outside of us.
Everything is communicating with everything else.
So when someone comes into my office and says, “My hip hurts,” my attention isn’t limited to the hip.
I want to know: Why this hip? Why now? What else is influencing it?
Sometimes the answer is close to where the pain is.
Sometimes it isn’t.
And Then There Is the Nervous System
Over the years, my work has increasingly included another piece of the puzzle: understanding how our experiences shape our nervous system and, in turn, our bodies.
I’ve explored and trained in approaches influenced by the work of Dr. Gabor Maté, as well as breathwork, Internal Family Systems (IFS), nervous-system regulation, and other mind-body and spiritual practices.
This doesn’t mean every physical symptom is caused by an emotion or by trauma. Bodies are far more complicated than that, and physical symptoms deserve to be taken seriously.
But it does mean that our physical bodies don’t exist separately from the lives we’ve lived.
Stress changes breathing.
Fear changes muscle tone.
Grief can change how we hold ourselves.
A nervous system that has spent years protecting us may have difficulty recognizing when it is finally safe to soften.
And sometimes the body tells a story long before we have words for it.
There Is Also a Spiritual Component
For some people, healing has a spiritual dimension.
I don’t mean religion, and I don’t impose a particular belief system on anyone who comes through my door.
I mean the deeper questions that can arise when we begin paying attention to ourselves:
What do I need?
What have I been carrying?
What am I ready to put down?
What does it feel like to actually inhabit my own body?
For clients who want to explore that part of themselves, there is room for it in my work.
For clients who don’t, that is perfectly fine too.
So What Happens During a Session?
This is one of the reasons my sessions don’t necessarily look the same from one appointment to another.
I don’t begin with a predetermined technique.
I begin with the person in front of me.
One session may involve visceral or neural work. Another may involve craniosacral or lymphatic work. We may work with joints, fascia, scars, circulation, breathing, or the nervous system.
Sometimes the most important thing I can do is help a structure move differently.
Sometimes it is helping the nervous system feel safe enough to stop guarding that structure.
And sometimes it is simply listening—to what the tissues are telling me and to what the person on my table is telling me.
Usually, it is some combination of all of these things.
That Is What “Integrated” Means to Me
Integrated therapy isn’t about collecting as many techniques as possible.
It’s about recognizing that you are one interconnected human being.
Your muscles aren’t separate from your nerves.
Your nerves aren’t separate from your organs.
Your organs aren’t separate from your circulation.
Your breathing isn’t separate from your nervous system.
And your body isn’t separate from your history, your emotions, your environment, or the way you experience your life.
My job isn’t to force all of those pieces into a particular theory.
My job is to stay curious enough to ask how they might be communicating with one another—and to meet you where your body is today.
Because ultimately, there isn’t a physical you, an emotional you, a nervous-system you, and a spiritual you.
There is just you.
And that is the heart of Reva Bloom Integrated Therapy.