Practitioners

Malvina Bartmanski

Integrative Clinical Psychologist

www.malvinapsychology.com

I am a holistic clinical psychologist passionate
about working with autoimmune conditions, chronic fatigue,
chronic viral infections, and other chronic conditions.

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Trauma-based Psychotherapy (MIND)

I work with the mind-body connection, as emotional and thought symptoms may manifest physically and vice versa. We may be manifesting physical symptoms to avoid overwhelming emotions. Processing negative emotions from our past can lead to much symptom relief. The origin of many symptoms in autoimmune conditions is trauma – whether shock or developmental trauma. We will look in depth at how you were raised and what happened along your life’s journey. The therapeutic focus is completing unfulfilled patterns from the past, and stopping their need to repeat in the present. We aim to restructure the neuropsychology of the brain and physicality of the body back to pre-trauma equilibriums, wholeness, homeostasis, and regulation. This regulation forms the platform on which the body can begin to heal and rejuvenate itself.

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Health Coaching (BODY)

I work alongside various other integrative practitioners to assist you to master your diet, herbs and supplements, detoxification, viral and parasite eradication, self-care, coping and stress management, exercise, and sleep. I assist in guiding you to the right adjunct healing modalities. We are a complete being and nothing is separate, everything is interconnected. We examine in detail what you eat, when you eat, how you sleep, how you rest, how you socialize, how much joy you have in your life and every other detail of your life set-up at present to see how we can better adjust it to be more in line with what you truly need as an individual.

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Psychotherapy Methods

My psychotherapy method is integrative in nature. It is dominantly both psychodynamic (history, patterns and insight) and somatic (body) -based. However, I have many methods in my toolbox that can be pulled on as required. We want to reconnect you to your lost parts so that you live more fully, authentically, vulnerably, and creatively.

Somatic Psychotherapy

Somatic psychotherapy is an umbrella term for holistic therapy processes that integrate cognitive, behavioural, emotional and bodily experiences. One’s body holds onto past traumas which are reflected in our body language, posture and expressions; and perhaps also manifesting as physical symptoms like pain, digestive issues, hormonal imbalances, sexual dysfunction and immune system dysfunction, medical issues, depression, anxiety and addiction. Somatic psychotherapy aims to return the body to harmonious balance through re-regulating the nervous system out of its state of arousal and back into homestasis. Sessions involve the introduction of small amounts of traumatic material and observations of a client’s physical response to that material. It is a practical form of psychotherapy that does not focus on pathology, but rather healing and growth.

Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy is used as a means of strengthening one’s ego function or will to action. It lifts the binding, blind responses of certain defenses or behaviours and gives them permission to stop. It involves the use of the power of suggestion to align you with your chosen path. A gentle form of suggestion is used in the form of metaphor and storytelling, as we believe in action through tender guidance at Xanadu.

Art Therapy

Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy involving the encouragement of free self-expression through various artistic methods. Art therapy is incorporated into various parts of psychotherapy practice at Xanadu to assist self-exploration and integration. Traumatic memories are often stored in a non-verbal format in the brain. Abstract and aesthetic experiences activate the right brain allowing the expression of trauma in the language of trauma. Elements of various kinds of art may be incorporated according to client’s needs: drama, drawing, singing, and dancing. Clients, according to their wishes and most importantly their level of comfort will be supported in expressing themselves artistically in the therapy space.

EMDR

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy treatment originally used to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories. EMDR therapy facilitates the accessing and processing of traumatic memories and other adverse life experience to bring these to an adaptive resolution. EMDR assists in resolving affective distress, reformulation of negative beliefs, and reduction of physiological arousal. During EMDR therapy, the client attends to emotionally disturbing material in brief, sequential doses while simultaneously focusing on an external stimulus. EMDR facilitates the access of traumatic memory networks and allows these to be restructured in a way that fosters resilience.

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Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE®)

Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE®) is a series of exercises that assist the body in releasing deep muscular patterns of stress, tension and trauma.

The exercises activate a natural reflex mechanism of shaking or vibrating that releases muscular tension, calming down the nervous system and returning the body to a state of balance. The muscle tremors evoked by the TRE exercise process are natural, internal, neuro-physiological responses of the body to reduce its own stress and restore a sense of well-being. TRE allows tensions and traumas to be discharged from the body, without ‘re-visiting the story.’ At Xanadu we teach TRE as a self-help tool that can be used after sessions to continue healing and be used as a preventative measure (trauma-proofing yourself).

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Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE®)

Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE®) is a series of exercises that assist the body in releasing deep muscular patterns of stress, tension and trauma.

The exercises activate a natural reflex mechanism of shaking or vibrating that releases muscular tension, calming down the nervous system and returning the body to a state of balance. The muscle tremors evoked by the TRE exercise process are natural, internal, neuro-physiological responses of the body to reduce its own stress and restore a sense of well-being. TRE allows tensions and traumas to be discharged from the body, without ‘re-visiting the story.’ At Xanadu we teach TRE as a self-help tool that can be used after sessions to continue healing and be used as a preventative measure (trauma-proofing yourself).

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Autoimmune Survival Guide

Please find chapter 2 of a book I have written to assist you on this journey.

To order this book please contact me directly – details below.

Chapter 2

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Contact Details

083 657 8074

Malvina.psychology@gmail.com

Sessions take place online.

You are welcome to contact me directly or please find the booking calendar below. If you cannot find an availability, please contact me directly and I will put you down for the next available time.

Book here now

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