“You [Dr. Soto]
are a Unicorn in the field of Mental Health.”

I designed Focal Neurocognitive & Physio-emotional Integration Therapy as an orientation that acknowledges the whole of Mental Health. Through my studies in Naturopathic Medicine, Clinical Psychology and Neuroscience, one thing was made very clear and consistent--there is no mind-body separation. The brain is a very real, physical organ in your body which coordinates through a vast network of cells to produce the patterns that we call: the Mind. Yet, is very much affected by the same chemical make up as the rest of your body. Low nutrients in the blood leads to reduced cellular performance which can present as anything from "brain fog" to coma, even death. Every cell, including neurons, needs sustenance to breath, perform, survive. So what affects your stomach, heart, skin, eyes, blood, also affects your brain. Therefore your mind and vice versa. 

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Mental Health isn't just about what is in your head, it's also about your systems. The systems include relationships to yourself (habits, patterns, routines, beliefs), to others (social patterns, level of conflict/safety, attachment, upbringing, culture), with economics, to shared belief and value systems within your larger communities. If you are choosing to engage in systems that do not serve you well, your whole health falters. It only takes one differing choice to disrupt an entire unhealthy system and reengage in a healthier one, that you create. 

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Focal Neurocognitive & Physio-emotional Integration Therapy aims to cultivate and embolden your power of choice through focus points meant to keep momentum going towards health as an individual and the greater whole (whatever that maybe to you). Every disruption has it's source, and any difficult event can have a reverberating impact. There is no such thing as "bad" mental health that pops out of nowhere, nor not having "enough" trauma or dysregulation to "deserve" help or begin the better health journey. This therapy is much more interested in asking--what happened? What's the core? Rather than firmly plant a label that is carried for life. Trauma can be resolved, there is a different way to live your story without the weight of past fear or pain. 

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-Dr. Soto