The health care profession is gradually understanding that to get the best results for their patients they must treat the whole person. This reality applies in both the physical and mental health realm. What do I mean by the whole person? It isn’t just some of the professionals who deny the reality of the whole person; often individuals also deny it. If you are one of these deniers, I guarantee that at sometime in your life you will accept this truth. By the whole person I refer to the fact that every person has three parts that make them human. 

• First, we have a physical body. This is self-evident and shouldn’t be a problem for thinking people to accept. The body puts us in touch with this world and people through our senses. We can observe, communicate with and draw conclusions about the world we live in and the people we live with. 
• Second, we have a soul. The soul is composed of our mind, will and emotions. It is the true us; the inner person who lives in our body. Some believe or would like to believe the soul is eternal. While others say, no it dies and goes out of existence with the death of the body. Personally I find this a depression viewpoint and one that strips life of purpose and significance. But to each his own viewpoint. The soul is what puts us in touch with ourself, “I think therefore I am.” This is what makes us different from animals. We are able to think and make rational or irrational decisions rather than live by instinct. Psychology is the study of the human soul.
• Thirdly, we have a spirit. Every human has an innate desire to worship someone or something. We have an inner awareness that there is something greater than ourselves in the universe. We can choose to deny this reality but it doesn’t change the reality. We desire a higher purpose for our life. We desire significance; knowing my life has made a difference in this world. We also want immortality, a life after this life. No healthy person wants to die. It is through our spirit that we find and communicate with God or whatever we call this higher power. 

The Three Parts of the One Person Are Interconnected 

These three parts of ourselves are intimately connected and affect each other. We can’t separate the influences one has upon the health of the other. Holistic health treatment considers and is aware of how one part affects the health of the other. For example, a person has chest pain and all the classic symptoms of a heart attack. They go to the hospital and get checked out. After testing the doctor tells the patient, “Your heart is fine, you are having an anxiety or panic attack; I am referring you to a therapist. Here is some medication to help you relax for now.” 

A health care professional in any field needs to accept this reality of our parts and seek to treat the whole person. Rarely can one person address all the needs in each of our parts but they do need to be aware of how these parts can interact and affect each other. This helps the caregiver know when to refer to another member of the health team that specializes more in a particular area. Our primary doctor may refer us to a specialist when we have a certain physical illness. We each need to build out our health team of specialists; someone who can help us with our mental and spiritual health needs. 

How We Help

Here at Gateway Counseling we specialized in caring for the soul and spiritual health of our clients. We can touch on general principles of good physical health – nutrition, sleep and exercise. We are uniquely trained to help people become healthy in soul and spirit. This not only helps them feel better about themselves but also develop healthy relationships. As people get healthier we are able to coach them in finding their God-given design for their best life now. We can help them develop a life plan so they live out in an intentional way, this design. This results in a life well lived. A well lived life is not a life of comparison with or in competition to others. It is not defined by the culture. There is only one of you. You are unique and so is your life plan. Success is measured in two ways. One is did I maximize the potential God gave me and live out his purpose for me? The other is found in my relationships. Did I love my neighbor as myself? 

Success is not defined by money or possessions: power or position. These things are not wrong in themselves. They are just tools I can use in this life. But death is the great equalizer. We all come into this world with nothing and leave the same way. You may be fortunate and achieve some of the three P’s; but what did you do with them? 

The Most Neglected Health Area 

For the average person the most neglected part of their health is the spiritual part. Why is that? I’m not sure. I know as men we tend to neglect all the areas. One study showed that married men live longer than single men because their wives make them go to the doctor. From personal experience I can believe it. This is a shame because spiritual health is the foundation to both soul and physical health. Genesis tells us that God created Adam a physical body. But he didn’t become a living soul until God breathed into him the breath of life (Genesis 2.7). There was no physical, or soul life or health until God breathed his spirit into Adam. 

I asked earlier why spiritual health is so neglected along with the other areas of health. There are various reasons for this. But as I was thinking about this the realization hit me that a major reason, in my opinion, is the same for all the areas – our past. The past always affects our present. We are the sum total of our past. We need to remember that our past doesn’t need to define our present nor our future. It is not about blaming others or making myself a victim. It simply gives us knowledge as to the why. Why am I the way I am? Why do I have this problem? Why have I not been able to change? Why do certain things bother me? 

I want freedom from my past. I don’t want to repeat the mistakes of my past or the past of other family members. I want the control of charting a new and better future. I can’t travel into the past and change anything I have done or any decisions I have made. I can’t control or change another person or what they have done to me. But I can forgive. Forgiveness is what sets me free from my past. I can learn from my past. I can trust that God can bring something good out of bad things from my past. This kind of thinking will change my whole mindset. It will lead to healthy and positive thinking which will lead to health in all areas of my life. 

Nothing is inevitable, nothing is written in stone or unchangeable. With free will we can all determine our preferred future. It is true that most people will not change. It is equally true that anyone can change. Accept people for who they are and quit trying to change them, you are not God. Focus on yourself, you

have the power to change you. I didn”t say it would be easy. It will require work. My mom used to tell me, “John, anything that is worthwhile takes work.” 

Do I Really Have These Three Parts? 

• I know someone is wondering this. We all live in denial to some degree. In case you are asking this question; or in case you think the whole subject isn’t that important to you. Ask yourself these questions.
  • Do I know who I am or do I feel I have lost myself? 
  • Do I feel my life has significance? 
  • Do I like myself or am I troubled by guilt, shame or regret over past things I have done or decisions I have made? 
  • Do I feel stuck in my life or don’t know how to move my life forward? 
  • Do I feel I am running out of time? Do I feel I don’t know how to handle end of life issues?
  • How are my important life relationships going? 
  • Do I fear failure? 
  • Do I overthink everything and get paralyzed when it comes to making decisions that move me toward goals? 
  • Do I feel confused about my career path because there is nothing I have an interest in or a passion for? 
  • Do I constantly find myself depressed but I feel I have no reason to be? 
  • Am I angry at the world but I don’t know why? 
  • Do I have an inability to enjoy life because all I can see is the negative side of things and fear the worst? 

These are just some of the types of questions that plague people whose soul and spirit are unhealthy. 

At Gateway Counseling our goal is to help you get a healthy soul and spirit. As you attain that goal you may be surprised how that health may benefit your physical health. A common problem for many people is they feel they have done all they could to cure their “disease” in these areas. However, their problems still exist and now they are hopeless. They feel it is pointless to try again. Maybe so. But you need to ask yourself, “Is this how I want to spend the rest of my life?” I tell people there is always hope for those who dare to reach out. Maybe in the past you just didn’t work on the right part of you. 

We are always changing, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. We don’t stay the same. Why not take the new you and reach out again or for the first time.