Integrating the Major Psychotherapy Trauma Approaches to Heal Mind, Body, and Spirit

In this episode, I speak with Karen Sprinkel Ancelet about her path to integrating trauma-informed, psychedelic-assisted therapy into her clinical practice. Karen shares how, early in her career, she worked with families whose loved ones had been murdered by a serial killer. She found that the models she had been trained in were not enough to address the profound spiritual trauma her clients experienced as they struggled to make sense of such horrific loss. This realization led Karen to begin practicing Buddhism and eventually to live in Asia, where she deepened her understanding of human suffering. While working with people from Thailand and Tibet who had endured trauma, she witnessed how cultural perspectives shape the ways we make meaning out of tragedy and resilience. She also facilitated group therapy for child sexual abuse survivors, where she discovered that while some approaches were effective for certain individuals, they were not universally helpful. From these experiences, Karen came to conceptualize trauma as impacting the mind, body, and spirit, all of which must be addressed in healing. She describes her initial skepticism toward psychedelic therapies, coming from a place of purism, but shares how her perspective shifted as she learned more about their effectiveness. Immersing herself in advanced training and certification, Karen began working with clients using psychedelics in therapeutic contexts. Karen also discusses the breadth of her training across multiple trauma-healing approaches. She highlights Somatic modalities such as Somatic Experiencing, Hakomi, and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy; Desensitization-based methods like Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Brainspotting; and Parts models including Internal Family Systems (IFS), Voice Dialogue, and Ego State Therapy. She explains how client factors often determine which approach is the best fit for a given individual. Throughout our conversation, Karen emphasizes her commitment to helping clients heal from PTSD as efficiently as possible. This integrative vision inspired her book, The Thriving Self: A New Paradigm for Healing the Mind, Body and Spirit and Moving Beyond It, which offers clients a framework to move toward healing without spending years in therapy. Karen Sprinkel Ancelet, LMFT is a licensed psychotherapist with more than 30 years of clinical experience, practicing in California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and Michigan. She specializes in trauma-informed care and integrates a broad range of evidence-based modalities, including EMDR, Brainspotting, Somatic Experiencing, Internal Family Systems (Level 3), and HeartMath. Karen is also a Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) provider with advanced psychedelic training through MAPS, Fluence, and Three Cups. She graduated with a Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research from CIIS. In addition to her clinical practice, she serves as a consultant, educator, Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, and Continuing Education provider. A pivotal chapter in Karen’s life was her time living in Asia, where she conducted her master’s research on trauma healing following violent crimes in Tibet, Southeast Asia, and the United States. Deeply impacted by these findings, she returned to Asia for several years to further her exploration. Today, Karen weaves together the ancient wisdom of meditation and mindfulness with contemporary approaches such as EMDR, Brainspotting, Flash, EFT, IFS, and Somatic Experiencing to guide and support her clients in their healing journey.