“Faith and prayer are the vitamins of the soul;
people cannot live in health without them”
– Mahalia Jackson
Contemplative Family Therapy
What makes the PFG approach unique is that Dr. Debbie is a licensed family therapist and certified Spiritual Director. She attended Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Peacock Soul Care Institute for Spiritual Direction and Formation where she studied soul care and spiritual disciplines. On her journey she awakened to connecting faith and therapy and created Contemplative Family Therapy (CFT) in 2022. CFT is also known as Contemplative Systems Therapy or Contemplative Systemic Family Therapy.
Osteopathic medicine is a philosophy and practice of physician care in the United States, distinct in its whole-person approach and pioneering in its conceptualization of "wellness".
For Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine, or DOs, a whole-person approach includes partnering with patients, considering the connection of body, mind and spirit in delivering care, and recognizing the role of a physician’s hands to diagnose and treat illness or injury. Emphasis on prevention and wellness is central in a philosophy that promotes the body's natural tendency toward health and self-healing.
The four core beliefs, or tenets, that osteopathic doctors stand by provide the foundation for the whole-person approach they use toward medicine. The four tenets include:
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The human body is a unit made up of a mind, body and spirit.
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The human body is able to self-heal, self-regulate and maintain health.
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Function and structure are equally interrelated.
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Rational treatment is based upon a clear understanding of the basic principles stated above.
For Dr. Debbie, in her clinical training as a Doctor of Marriage and Family Therapy or DMFT, she incorporated the foundational osteopathic approach and tenets to working with families and individuals as a whole- including the body, mind, and spirit in therapy. Dr. Debbie's aim as a therapist is relational healthcare to help clients understand the intersection of systems and intergenerational trauma, develop coping skills, and determine protective behavioral lifestyles. Through processing trauma and preventing emotional reinjury, Dr. Debbie believes that clients have the ability to facilitate soul care attuning to addressing the mind, heart's core, and body's ability to recover from adverse mindsets and experiences.
CFT is a therapeutic model that incorporates contemplative and spiritual practices into the family systems context. It emphasizes the importance of mindfulness, self-awareness, and inner peace, integrating these elements with traditional systemic approaches to address individual and family dynamics. This therapy is grounded in the belief that spiritual practices can foster profound personal and relational transformations, enhancing the therapeutic process and promoting holistic well-being.