Breaking Free - A Body, Mind, Spirit Approach to Mental Health · Sommer A. Seitz, MA, LMHC

Episode 51: A Season of Soul Work

·36 min·3 clips

Sarah shares how she had to let parts of herself die to survive six years of naturopathic school.

Dr. Sarah Campbell, a naturopathic doctor with expertise in nutrition, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and mind-body medicine, joins host Rachel to discuss personal and professional seasons of growth. The conversation explores the integration of somatic practices with mental health and the process of reclaiming one's authentic self after periods of conformity. Campbell recently completed over 500 credits across two graduate degrees, culminating in a doctorate and a master's finished in June 2023. Campbell describes her six years of graduate education as a period where she had to suppress her vitalist and mind-body medicine perspectives to fit a conventional medical model. She explains experiencing significant grief and anger after finishing her degrees, realizing it was for parts of herself she had to "let die" during school. The host, Rachel, shares her own experience in Campbell's 10-week "womb remembrance container," which involved deep work on women's cycles and indigenous practices like drumming with a practitioner named Adelina. Both emphasize that talk therapy alone is insufficient and that somatic movement is required to release trauma stored physically in tissues and the womb space. A key insight is that Campbell's intentional time off has become a "soul retrieval," allowing her to reintegrate lost parts, including her identity as a playful dreamer and artist from childhood. She identifies a core wound of being celebrated only for achievements, making this rest a form of reparenting to value herself for simply "being." The host highlights that one's essence is often found in what they loved at age seven, like Campbell's connection to nature and art. They agree that practices like dance, nature connection, and community play are critical for integrating mental work and moving energy through the body. The tone is conversational, intimate, and educational, blending personal storytelling with clinical perspectives on holistic health. The style is supportive and exploratory, with both women sharing vulnerably from their professional and life journeys. Listeners interested in mind-body integration, somatic trauma release, or navigating career burnout in healing professions would find this episode valuable. Those seeking strictly clinical, evidence-based mental health discussions without spiritual or indigenous medicine references might prefer to skip it.

As heard by us

A grounded conversation about healing that moves from access and restorying to practical compassion.

This episode keeps its footing when it stays close to lived experience. Dr. Sarah Campbell brings training in nutrition, traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and naturopathic medicine, and that range carries the conversation through mind-body medicine, women’s health,…

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You want a body-mind-spirit conversation about mental health and embodied healing.

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