Meet Lulu Liao | Holistic & Somatic Therapist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lulu Liao and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lulu, what principle do you value most?
There are so many values and principles that are important in my life but I will list a few here that stand out to me. 1) Love and Compassion, 2) Honesty & Integrity, 3) Respect for Self and Other, 4) Patience & Grace, 5) Gratitude. I think relationships are the most sacred thing in this lifetime – not just with others but with ourselves, with nature, with our higher power(s), with our body, and so forth. These values and principles apply to all of it.

Love and compassion is a foundation for fostering strong relationships. We are all in this human experience together and being kind & considerate of each other’s lived experiences can go along way to everyone feeling supported. Additionally, having love and compassion for ourselves is at the cornerstone of any healing journey. Honesty & Integrity means that I do my best to be authentic – I say what I mean and mean what I say. Respect, to me, is acknowledging that everyone has a right to whatever they want to believe or however they want to live their life. We can accept people who they are even when you don’t agree with them. Respect in relationships build feelings of trust, safety, and wellbeing. Patience and Grace are also such an important values to live by. We all have a tendency to be hard on ourselves and it doesn’t ever help. As Carl Rogers said, “when I accept myself, just as I am, then I can change”. Learn to accept what is and that is when things can flourish. Last but definitely not least, Gratitude is also a core principle that is important to me. We also have a tendency to forget all the good because our minds are wired to look for the danger. Cultivating a practice of gratitude goes a long way to optimizing health and well-being.

What should our readers know about your business?
I am so thrilled to be able to tell everyone about my work because I don’t think there are many of us therapists out there that are holistic and somatically based. In addition, I would say I specialize in “energy”. As Einstein said, “Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it”. Some people think of it as a “woo-woo” concept but there is actually science behind this – our emotions, thoughts, words, etc. is all energy! I am currently a PhD student in Mind-Body Medicine and am so excited to be a part of the research that provides empirical evidence for these concepts!

I am probably most proud of the fact that I try to make healing fun. It probably is what sets me apart from others too. We can get very serious in our healing journey – and it is serious business – but playfulness, humor, the ability to laugh at our human experience makes the journey so much more fun!

This road was definitely not an easy one, but it was all necessary. It is through my own healing journey where I gained the most insights on how to best serve others. At my worst I was an IV meth/heroin/cocaine user. Part of the journey also included suicide attempts, abuse, post-partum depression, cultural conflicts, parental estrangement, therapists violating ethical boundaries with me, and more.

Rumi has a beautiful quote: “The wound is the place where the Light enters you”. We need experiences to fully gain perspective. Our painful experiences teach us empathy and many times we wish for others not to feel the pain that we feel. How many people in this world have transformed their experience into something that is used to help others?

I want the world to know that the suffering IS the portal to our freedom and a life where we are truly living, thriving, and serving our gifts to the world. Can we choose to see the hidden mercy that exists in our experiences of suffering? It is two sides of the same coin. My goal is to help educate others about the nature of this human conundrum of suffering and walk with them through this portal of healing. Can you heal that part of you who was actually the victim at one point and transform the narrative to recognize there is another side to the coin?

One of the biggest lessons to learn is that not everyone chooses the path of healing and it has to be a choice. All behavior is purposeful and as much as it IS a miserable life to stay in victimhood, even victimhood has it’s benefits.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The DFW area is so big and there are so many cool places! If we are going to stay in the city, I’d say here are some of my favorites:

Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Gardens
White Rock Lake
Bishop Arts District
Dallas Farmer’s Market
Reunion Tower view
Klyde Warren Park area
Rainbow Vomit is a fun time!
Ft Worth Stockyards if you’re looking for that Texas BBQ Cowboy Longhorn experience 🙂

But what I would really recommend is to check out what events, festivals, and activities are available for the time frame that you are visiting. Fall is just around the corner and there are so many different fairs and events that are amazing!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many people that I want to send a huge shoutout and some gratitude to. Some of my story, which you will read below, is that I spent many years in addiction – 11 different treatment centers, 3 psych hospitals, and hundreds of process groups. I will never forgot those people (technicians, nurses, doctors, therapists, friends, etc) that kept the light shining for me when I couldn’t see my own worthiness. They loved me enough to set boundaries and taught me how to compassionately love someone. I was certainly not the easiest person to have in one’s life with the amount of self-destruction I was displaying.

I had the same opportunities in my sobriety to do the same for others who were in their addiction journey. Truly loving someone means to love them enough to see their strength and power, and set boundaries with compassion. Boundaries are an act of love – they say, I want to preserve the relationship and these are the things that I need to feel safe and do so. I will never forget those who stood by me through those years. Thank you from the bottom of my heart – you know who you are because I tell you all the time!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infinite.heart.healing

Other: https://www.grove-counseling.com/lulu-liao-ms-lpc-associate