Marzanna Mother of Poland by Marek Hapon (2014)

Six key themes and subthemes emerged from this interview, which include:

1. The healing practices the women in Ewa’s family used.

2. How intuition or “Intuicja” was used by the women in Ewa’s family as a form of protection.

3. The pressure to “keep up appearances” and the influence of religion on Ewa’s up-bringing.

4. The importance of humility and reverence for “the beyond.”

5. Generational family wisdom, specifically passed down through the women of her family.

   and finally….

6. Ewa’s own experience of coming “home” to the dark feminine, which I have applied to my Yonic Model of the Self using my Yonic Theory™ approach.

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I cannot stress enough my gratitude to Ewa and the women of her family for sharing her wisdom with me and with all women, so that this form of feminine wisdom can be documented for future generations! Therefore, if you are so moved to, please consider making a donation or purchasing a copy of this article so that I can continue my research on the wisdom of the feminine and support other healers as well.

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Suggested Citation:

Robichaux, M. (2026). Intuicja and Polish healing traditions: An interview with Ewa Marcinkiewicz, LPC. The Yonic Journal, 2(3), 1-41.

In this article, I introduced my concept of the Yonic Principle™ and how this technique can be used by therapists and holistic/spiritual healers alike to assist their clients in connecting to the unconscious wisdom of the feminine.

Artwork by Alice Haibara

What is the Yonic Principal™?

The Yonic Principal™ is a healing technique in which the healer or therapist embodies the principle of the yoni (aka: the womb) to facilitate the integration of the client’s unconscious wisdom creating a metaphorical “rebirthing” experience.

This approach is inherently based off the wisdom of the feminine - meaning, that it was informed through my understanding of the Indigenous/folk healing practices of female healers throughout history and how their techniques are reflected in our modern therapeutic approaches through the use of “fem-identified” skills which I explored through my dissertation research (Robichaux, 2024).

Therefore this means that psychotherapists or non-institutionally based healers can it alike. Since it is not specific to one type of healing modality.

As a sneak peek, I’ve included the first few pages of my article for my subscribers to read for free. To purchase the full article or get access to the full The Yonic Journal™, click the link below: visit my journal’s website at www.yonictheory.org

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The Yonic Principle

This article provides readers with an overview of the concept within the author’s Yonic Theory™, which she has defined as the Yonic Principle™. While this language is specific to the author’s theory, and she has chosen to use the word yonic, to describe this concept, as it embodies principles of the feminine or yoni, which in Sanskrit refers to the womb and its many complex components (Judith, 2004, and Hazard, 2023), the author would like to clearly acknowledged that the womb itself, and therefore any principles that reflect its nature, cannot be owned or commodified. This concept did not originate with the author, as it reflects the process of birth and its cycles. A process that was intuitively used by female Indigenous and folk healers throughout history to provide healing and shamanic/spiritual experiences to their clients, who were part of their local communities or tribes, as the term “client” is a relatively new-age concept whose origins lie in the psychotherapy profession. Therefore, the author acknowledges that many healers may call this concept by different terms or describe it in more scientific or esoteric terms, depending on their background, education, and the period of history in which they lived. However, the author argues that this concept is not rooted in what can be defined as reflective of the masculine principle of Spirit/Eros in her theory, which is bounded by the realm of consciousness or Father Time/Chronos and thus constrained to liminal time-oriented ways of thinking. Therefore, the author’s term Yonic Principle itself is attempting to define that which is numinous, that which cannot be contained or quantified, and has and will endure long after this article is published and hopefully circulated throughout time. Therefore, the Yonic Principle and its wisdom reside in the realm of the feminine, the unconscious. The realm of Anima Mundi/Great Mother in the author’s Yonic Theory, which is not bound to time, space, or any of the limitations of the conscious realm of Father Time/Chronos.

Moreover, since these realms are reflected outside the individual and thus can be thought of as similar to Jung’s (1969 a/b) concept of the “collective consciousness” (i.e. Father Time/Chronos) and “collective unconscious” (Anima Mundi/Great Mother), these states can be respectively thought of as indicative of the concept of “God” and “Goddess” or perhaps said another way, the collective archetype of the Father and Mother, since we all derive from the combination of the principles of the masculine (Eros/Spirit) and feminine (Psyche/Soul) merging and forming together in the womb at the moment of conception. Thus, these concepts exist outside of us, and we therefore have conscious (i.e., light) and unconscious (i.e., dark) aspects of our inner masculine and feminine selves, which the author has used to define her four functions of the Self in her Yonic Theory (Robichaux, 2025). (See Appendix A for full outline and description of the author’s Yonic Model of the Self and its four functions.) Therefore, the role of the Yonic Principle is to serve as the womb or container for all four functions of the Self, to meld and merge, breaking down and transforming into the Self via the process of self-actualization, which the author defines specifically for women as Anamnesis.

This process, usually involved the help of a guide, a healer, or shaman throughout history, and in many ways, the role of the psychotherapist can mimic this role today, even if we do not choose to define it that way in accordance with our Western society. This is why the author has chosen to use the term “healer” throughout her article to describe an individual who engages in the process of evoking the Yonic Principle since she believes it does not belong to any one form or type of healing, since its very roots can be traced back to the wisdom of female healers in the Neolithic era (Achterberg, 1991; Stone, 1976; Qualls-Corbett, 1988; Walker, 1983). Therefore, this concept is meant to serve as a bridge not only between one’s masculine/feminine and unconscious/conscious aspects of the Self, but also within the greater collective, as the world is becoming more divided along East vs. West and gender ideology.

Therefore, the author of this article is explicit in her statement that anyone, no matter their gender expression or identity (cisgender, transgender, non-binary, male, or female) can use this approach. However, if they are going to use it, it is essential that the healer have confronted and integrated their own feminine aspects within themselves (i.e. the integration of their light feminine (Veil) and dark feminine (Aura) aspects) in order to properly embody the principles of the womb which is needed to facilitate this process through the use of light and dark fem-identified skills (Robichaux, 2024). Without that awareness, this practice runs the risk of being co-opted and polluted, as the author believes this is a sacred practice of the feminine principle of Soul/Psyche, which should be revered as such. Moreover, this practice is not to be used, exploited, or expected at the expense of unpaid or unrecognized feminine labor. For far too long, women in particular and people of Indigenous origins have been expected to cater and caretake for the majority culture in whichever form they present themselves. This is reflected within our modern society as legislation attempts to limit women’s right to ownership over their reproductive health with the overturn of the historical court case Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court (Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, 2022). Therefore, the womb, the yoni, and the author’s labeling of the Yonic Principle all deserve their justice, as do women and the feminine. The principle of the feminine, that of Soul/Psyche, deserves to be respected, as do the womb-possessing individuals’ rights to their healthcare and own self-determination and self-agency, which deserve to be protected and cared for (i.e. abortion access and reproductive health).

One cannot have true unity within the Self if the world is lacking this balance, regardless of one’s gender orientation. An excess of one’s masculine functions is just as off balance as an excess of one’s feminine functions. To find true harmony within and outside ourselves in our collective, balance must be restored so that a new life can be birthed for us all.

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Suggested Citation:

Robichaux, M. (2026). The yonic principle. The Yonic Journal, 2(2), 1-90.

Reference

Robichaux, M. (2024). Reclaiming the sacred feminine: A qualitative exploration of female counselors’ use of Reiki and Tarot (Doctoral dissertation, Sam Houston State University). Sam Houston State University.

As a sneak peek, I’ve included the first few pages of my article for my subscribers to read for free. To purchase the full article or get access to full The Yonic Journal™, click the link below: visit my journal’s website at www.yonictheory.org.

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From Priestess, to Witch, to Therapist: How the Profession of Psychotherapy was Founded on Stolen Feminine Wisdom

For many years, Psychology, Nursing, Counseling, Social Work, and many other “helping professionals” have sought to “legitimize” themselves to gain more “professional” capital. One example of this practice, specifically in the field of psychotherapy, is the Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP), which was established in 1981. Mascari and Webber (2013) argued that CACREP standards would allow counselors greater portability of licensure and increase counselor education program standards for evaluating counselors-in-training, thereby enhancing the profession by creating a more uniform curriculum. Therefore, perhaps the most considerable shift that occurred as a direct result of CACREP was the proposed 2016 standards, which required all counselor education master’s programs to increase their program hour requirements to 60 hours (roughly 3 years) and added the core competencies, which emphasized training new counselors to use more evidence-based forms of treatment (Merlin et. al, 2017). In addition to these changes, programs were required to standardize their evaluation of students and to monitor for potential signs of professional “impairment” that could reflect poorly on the profession and adversely affect clients. Therefore, one of CACREP’s main goals was to improve the counseling profession’s reputation and make it more “legitimate” in the eyes of the public. Additionally, this emphasis on “professionalism” hoped to provide another benefit for co-counselors in order to allow them to build and receive higher reimbursement rates from their clients’ insurance companies. Thus, with good intentions and the hope of advancing the profession, many counseling programs began adopting these standards in 2014 to meet compliance requirements by 2016.

To put this into perspective, this means that the counseling profession had roughly 10 years of these new “professional” standards in place before the passing of President Donald J. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act which has redefined “professional degrees,” and now effectively excludes many healthcare providers as “non-professional,” including the fields of Counseling and Psychology (Behavioral Health Business, 2025). Therefore, President Trump, with a single bill, has effectively erased more than 30 years of work by professional organizations such as CACREP and others to gain public recognition and respect for these fields. Which begs the question: was the effort that went into standardizing these healthcare fields truly “worth it” if, in less than a year of Trump’s second term in office, he has effectively disparaged the professional reputations these providers have worked so hard to achieve?

Moreover, what does it say about U.S. society as a whole and its government if they no longer consider these fields as “professional”? Or perhaps the passing of this new law, which is set to take effect on July 1^st, 2026, reveals a more profound misogynistic truth, which is that many individuals, especially government officials (primarily made up of men), have never considered these fields “professional” to begin with. Thus, it appears that “professional” has become the new term to suppress industries such as Psychology, Counseling, Nursing, and Education, which are primarily dominated by women (WHO, 2024), therefore effectively creating a new “Witch Craze” of sorts on healthcare workers.

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Suggested Citation:

Robichaux, M. (2026). From priestess, to witch, to therapist: How the profession of psychotherapy was founded on stolen feminine wisdom. The Yonic Journal, 2(1), 1-40.

If you listened to my podcast episode a week ago, you would know that I’ve been working on my outline of my Yonic Theory™ for many months now….

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Well, I am so excited to announce that I have just self-published my seminal article titled An Introduction to Yonic Theory and the Yonic Model of the Self via my own academic journal, which I have titled The Yonic Journal.

To purchase the full article and to get access to The Yonic Journal, click the link below:

The Yonic Journal

This article would not be possible without the support of my subscribers or my clients. As well as the many women in my life who have supported me. Thank you all for sharing your stories and wisdom with me.

As a special sneak peek, I’ve included the first few pages of my article for my subscribers to read for free. To purchase the full article, visit my journal’s website at www.yonictheory.org and stay tune for more articles to come!

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An Introduction to Yonic Theory and the Yonic Model of the Self

Since the very foundation of the field of psychotherapy, from which the disciplines of psychology, counseling, and social work derive, the models of the Self that have been presented and taught as theories have all originated from the male experience. Sigmund Freud (1923), Carl Jung (1969b), Carl Rogers (1961;1980), and even modern theorists like Richard Schwartz (2021) have all drawn on their inner landscape, along with their direct experience working with clients, to construct the foundations of their theories. Perhaps the most transparent theorist regarding his own process of self-actualization, or the progress by which an individual becomes their Self (with a capital S), is Carl Jung, whose Red Book (Shamdasani, 2009) offers a detailed insight into his own journey of individuation. Thus, many mental health professionals are told through their educational training that it was Jung’s decision to separate from his close colleague, Sigmund Freud, that inspired his construction of the Red Book and subsequent theory (Safran & Kriss, 2014).

However, it is interesting to note that, while most theories within the field of psychotherapy can be traced back to affluent men, thereby reflecting those individuals’ worldview and lived experiences, there is a significant gap in the literature when it comes to models of women’s self-actualization. Moreover, the models and methods of healing that center the feminine experience or acknowledge the importance of gender differences (i.e. the masculine and feminine) are often dismissed as ‘woo woo’ or non-scientific (Hamilton, 2021). Moreover, this is a finding I have noted in my own research regarding female counselors’ perceptions of the use of holistic and contemporary healing practices, such as Reiki and Tarot (Robichaux, 2024). My research findings revealed that a common theme among the female counselors I interviewed was that they felt the dismissal of practices within the Western psychological and subsequent medical communities reflected a masculine bias towards the notion of evidence-based theories (Robichaux, 2024).

Thus, this raises the question: what exactly is “evidence-based” and who gets to decide which theories are legitimate and which are considered unscientific? As a feminist scholar and researcher on feminine forms of healing, or modalities of healing that emphasize the importance of balancing both masculine and feminine forms of wisdom. I can directly speak to the numerous ways in which my research has been challenged, dismissed, or mocked by male authority figures within the fields of counseling and psychology. In complete transparency, I have applied for tenured faculty positions, research grants, and submitted dozens of journal articles, many of which have been rejected solely based on my research interests. Therefore, it has become increasingly more apparent to me, during the current political climate in which I write this article, that there is an attempt to directly silence the voices of women. To limit women’s autonomy and freedom, which feminist scholar Merlin Stone (1976) and others (Ehrenreich and English, 2010; Blackie, 2022; Hazard, 2023; Murdock, 2020) have noted, is rooted in a desire to control women, thereby maintaining the system of established male authority or the patriarchy.

Therefore, I posit that it is not by accident that within the field of counseling and psychology, there is no widely accepted model of women’s self-actualization, despite research indicating that women are more likely to seek out mental health services than men (Liddon & McLeod, 2018 and Alanazi et al., 2025). Yet, even among seasoned counseling professionals, it seems odd to me, as a researcher, that we do not pause to ask ourselves why we are not using models specifically designed for women to treat their unique experiences? Perhaps the only model that can come close to encapsulating women’s experiences is that of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, created by Marsha Linehan (1987). Moreover, it is crucial to note that Linehan (1987), who developed her model to treat her own diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder, a disorder that is still disproportionately over-diagnosed in women (Shaw et al., 2005), was transparent that her model which emphasizes mindfulness and balancing what she refers to as the “rational mind” with the “emotional mind,” was heavily inspired by her understanding of Eastern traditions like Buddhism.

Therefore, as a researcher, I must consider whether there is a correlation as opposed to caution here. Is Borderline Personality Disorder really that prevalent among women? Or like the diagnosis of Hysteria, which Sigmund Freud (Freud & Breuer, 1895; Safran & Kriss, 2014; Steer, 2015) used to construct his theory of the Self and the concept of the unconscious, could it be that these diagnoses are actually reflective of a lack of masculine understanding regarding women’s mental health or their lived experiences? Thus, it reveals the inherent bias towards the feminine and women within the field, which, oddly enough, owes a great deal to women from its very construction.

Without the case of Anna O. (whose real name was Bertha Pappenheim) Joseph Breuer’s patient and as Freud’s muse, Freud would not have been able to construct his Psychodynamic Theory (Freud & Breuer, 1895). Without Sabina Spielrein, Jung’s former client, turned student and romantic interest, Jung would not have encountered his anima projection, which led him on his own journey of individuation (i.e., the construction of his Red Book) shortly after the termination of their relationship (Lothane, 2015; 1999). In fact, it seems that the common denominator for many of these male theorists in their construction of their theories is that they are inspired, in part, by the female clients they work with, who act as muses for their own self-actualization process. Carl Rogers had Gloria (1965), and Richard (Dick) Schwartz’s former client, the famous Canadian singer Alanis Morissette, wrote the introduction to his theory book on Internal Family Systems (2021). Therefore, a common denominator among these men is that their own models of self-actualization appear to be heavily influenced by the women they work with, who revealed hidden or unknown information to them regarding the contents of their own Psyches. Thereby, it directly links the concept of the psyche to the feminine…

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Suggested Citation:

Robichaux, M. (2025). An introduction to yonic theory and the yonic model of the self. The Yonic Journal, 1(1), 1-87.