Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Simmons, LCSW-C, LICSW.
Hi Christina , so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Before I became a social worker, I didn’t have a clear career path—but I did have a deep certainty that I was called to help others. I began my professional journey at a local Department of Social Services, where my early work exposed me different realities of trauma, survival, and systems of care. That time sparked profound questions for me: What does it truly mean to heal? And what does it mean to support another person’s healing?
Those questions quietly set me on a path—one I didn’t yet recognize as a quest—to expand my understanding of healing beyond theory and into lived experience. I saw a therapist who mainly used talk therapy. I began pursuing training in Advanced Trauma Treatment, which led to certifications in Mind-Body Medicine.
My training expanded into a doctoral program in mind-body medicine, along with certificates in clinical hypnosis, integrative and functional nutrition, somatics, and pranic healing. Mind-body medicine, Pranic Healing, and Somatics became my core path because I do not believe in the unnecessary compartmentalization of healing. In my view, the mind, body, nervous system, energy, and spirit are inseparable, and true healing happens when they are addressed together.Along the way, I deepened my relationship with spirit as an essential aspect of the healing process—not as something separate from clinical work, but as an integral dimension of human experience.
Through this journey, one truth became unmistakably clear: knowledge does not equal embodiment. It isn’t enough to understand healing intellectually. For those of us who hold space for others, it is imperative that we lead from embodiment—where intuition, presence, and alignment guide the work. I’ve learned that the body holds an innate capacity to heal itself, but it needs the right conditions to do so.
Today, my work focuses on supporting nervous systems and creating those conditions—helping people cultivate the internal and external environments their bodies need to heal.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road. The biggest opportunity during this journey has been accepting that many people will not understand your vision—and choosing to bring it to fruition anyway. Along this path, I have encountered a great deal of negativity and judgment from therapists and physicians alike, particularly from those practicing traditional Western medicine and conventional talk therapy.
Mind–body–spirit–focused, integrative mental health work challenges models that are built around long-term illness and symptom management. This path does not align with systems that profit from keeping people unwell, which often makes it uncomfortable or threatening. Still, I believe this work is not only necessary—it is a required intervention for a mental health system that needs to remember the importance of healing, not just managing symptoms.
Staying on this path has meant trusting my vision even when it is misunderstood and continuing forward despite resistance. That, in itself, has been one of the most transformative parts of the journey.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Revitalizing Inner Self Essence ?
My work is rooted in integrative, mind–body–spirit healing with a strong emphasis on the nervous system, embodiment, and the body’s innate capacity to heal. At its core, what I do is help create the internal and external conditions the body needs to heal itself. I specialize in supporting people who feel stuck despite having “done all the right things”—those who have tried traditional talk therapy, medication, or medical interventions and still sense that something deeper is asking to be addressed.
What sets my work apart is that I do not compartmentalize healing. The mind, body, nervous system, energy, and spirit are not separate, and I don’t treat them as such. My approach weaves together trauma-informed care, somatics, mind-body medicine, clinical hypnosis, functional nutrition, pranic healing, sound healing, and spiritual inquiry. Healing happens not just through insight, but through lived, embodied experience.
I am especially known for working offer whole system healing for trauma survivors using integrative mental health—helping people move out of survival states and into safety, regulation, and self-trust. This work lives in several containers. I offer a mind-body medicine group, called The Flourish, a space for integrative healing, and The Inner Essence Collective, which offers community, depth, and continued exploration of embodiment, energy, and spirit. I also provide integrative mental health supervision for clinicians who feel constrained by traditional models and are seeking more aligned, embodied ways of practicing.
In addition, I facilitate workshops, retreats, sound baths, and group experiences designed to support nervous system regulation, embodiment, and collective healing.
What I am most proud of, brand-wise, is the integrity of the work. I lead from embodiment, not just knowledge, and I practice what I offer. This is not a one-size-fits-all approach or a quick fix—it is deeply personalized, intuitive, and grounded in respect for the whole person.
What I want readers to know is that my offerings are for those who are ready to step out of fragmentation and into wholeness. This work is an invitation to remember that healing is possible when we support the whole system—mind, body, energy, and spirit—and when we create spaces where the nervous system can finally feel safe enough to heal.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I don’t experience risk as something dramatic or impulsive, but necessary, For me, risk has been the quiet, steady choice to trust what I know in my body, even when it goes against dominant systems or established norms. The biggest risks I’ve taken have been choosing to step outside of traditional models of mental health and medicine and committing to a mind–body–spirit approach that I knew was true for me, even when it wasn’t widely understood or accepted.
I also think about risk as a nervous system experience. When a choice is truly aligned, there is often fear present, but there is also a deeper sense of clarity and steadiness underneath it. I’ve learned to listen for that signal in my body. If something feels expansive, grounded, and honest—even if it’s uncomfortable—I’ve learned to follow it.
From that perspective, risk isn’t about recklessness; it’s about integrity. It’s the willingness to choose alignment over approval and healing over safety-as-familiar. Most of the meaningful growth in my life and work has come from taking risks that allowed me to stay in relationship with my own embodiment and truth.
Pricing:
- Group Sound Bath starting at $500/hr
- Pranic Healing starting at $175/hr
- Integrative Mental Health Sessions starting at $175/hr
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.risemdllc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/risemdllc?igsh=MWF2OWxpbzdtY2hiYQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
