Welcome to The Xanti (Shawn-tee) Method! 

 

Working as a mental health therapist, I observed two major barriers to healing and improved functioning: Fast-acting self-regulation strategies and hesitancy to change. The Xanti method was born from the rapid and powerful transformative self-discovery I observed in clients uniting the most effective therapeutic techniques across eastern and western traditions including Bilateral Stimulation, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, Mindful Body Awareness, Gestalt Therapy, and The Socratic Method.

 

I first explored bilateral stimulation (BLS) using Eye-Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) and Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART). The limitations of EMDR were clear from clients’ feedback that mirrored my own. Many clients noted they felt good at the end of their session; however, after getting back to living life, they were triggered again. After training in and practicing ART, I found great success with lasting results, yet I quickly learned that not everyone is ready for ART, and I needed a way to connect clients’ desired future with the realities of their present experience and awareness. Life can be so difficult, and we aren’t all ready to change what we need to. Sometimes we are still hesitant to change due to trauma or self-preserving responses that keep us in a holding pattern, stuck.  

 

The need for practically useful and fast-acting self-regulation strategies was immediately clear to me as day-in and day-out clients expressed their struggle to manage their emotions between sessions. Of course skills from Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and other modalities come in handy, but these skills take time, repetition, and practice to be effective, especially when they are needed most. Given the success of combining BLS with other therapeutic modalities, I began exploring ways BLS could be used by anyone anytime to support the integration of naturally soothing mind and body systems. My clients and I found that leveraging the simplicity of BLS allowed them to find more ease and decrease the intensity of feelings in the body, organically activating and supporting higher level thinking that leads to changed thoughts, feelings, and behavior. In short, when using BLS with values informed mindfulness practices, our mind and body were in alignment.  

 

Bilateral Stimulation is a way to connect both hemispheres of the brain in order to improve mental clarity, decrease the vividness and emotional impact of Episodic Memories and increase feelings of peace within one's brain and body (Engelhard, I. M., van den Hout, M. A., Janssen, W. C., & van der Beek, J. (2010). When I use BLS, I notice that I can think more clearly and feel equilibrium between my emotional and logical selves. BLS assists with bringing our thoughts into a more balanced alignment, and I think we all could use that! 

 

Xanti means peace in the language Konkani. The Xanti Method is a way to extend the universal benefits of BLS to everyone, not just those in the mental health world. It’s for humans. It’s for you. Peace is waiting for you. I hope you find it exhilarating, beneficial, and that it brings Xanti into your life. 

 

Sending all my love,

Nisha Sathiyanathan, MSW/LCSW