Dr. Danielle Daniel

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United States
San Diego, CA
Dr. Danielle Daniel

👩🏻‍🎓PsyD | LCSW
🧠🔬Researcher |📖 Author |
🌎Leading field of Mental Health & Aromatherapy🌿 Learn exactly how plant compounds benefit the brain.

Natural medicinal plants have been used for thousands of years and now with the advancements in research, we get to understand their interactive benefits. Plant based solutions offer simple, safe and natural benefits for the brain and emotional health. Essentials oils are one of the most concentrated forms of delivery and can provide powerful effects. The Problem
Traditional mental health treatmen

t ignores the power of plants, the role of gut health, the heart and nutrition. Without nature, mood and emotions are difficult to balance, behaviors become impossible to manage, stress maladaptively cycles, and brain health begins deteriorating. The good news is it doesn't have to ...

The Solution
There is hope! As mental health providers, we desire to keep up to date with the latest science and treatment. Being that plants contain natural compounds similar to atoms in our own body they help regulate neuro-inflammation, influence neurotransmitters, restore emotions and balance mood. These lasting and impactful natural solutions are the answer to long term emotional wellness.

08/15/2025

Safety doesn’t have to disappear just because therapy is on a screen.

For many clients, the shift from in-person therapy to telehealth can feel jarring. The cozy office chair, the subtle scent in the room, the calm tone of your space… gone. But what if we could bring some of that felt sense of safety into their home?

Enter scent anchoring.

Scent anchors are consistent, intentional aromas used to help the brain associate a specific smell with emotional safety, grounding, or therapeutic connection. The olfactory system connects directly to the limbic brain, making aroma a powerful nonverbal cue for presence.

Why It Works:
+ Recreates familiar sensory experiences
+ Helps clients drop into their “therapy state” faster
+ Builds continuity and trust across settings
+ Supports nervous system regulation before, during, and after sessions

Therapist Tips:

🪴 Before Sessions:
Invite clients to select a grounding essential oil (like Lavender, Frankincense, or Bergamot) and inhale it at the start of each session. It will be just like walking into your office.

💬 During Sessions:
Use a shared scent to co-regulate. For example, “Let’s both take a breath with Lavender and settle into this moment.”

📝 Between Sessions:
Encourage clients to use the same oil when journaling, meditating, or reflecting to reinforce therapeutic gains.

This can help clients feel more anchored, more connected, and more emotionally prepared, no matter where they’re sitting.

08/13/2025

The Polyvagal Theory teaches us that nervous system regulation is relational, sensory, and state-dependent. In other words, how safe we feel determines how we think, connect, and respond.

But what if we could signal safety before words are spoken?

That’s the power of aromatherapy in a polyvagal-informed practice.

Essential oils interact with the olfactory system, which connects directly to the limbic brain — including the amygdala and hypothalamus — influencing heart rate, breath, and vagal tone in real time.

🌀 Inhaled aromas can:
Encourage a shift into the ventral vagal state (connected, calm, present)
Soothe sympathetic activation (fight/flight)
Gently awaken dorsal states (shutdown/freeze) with safe stimulation

Try These Oil + State Pairings:

Lavender or Bergamot → Co-regulate in anxiety or panic

Frankincense → Deepen presence and attunement in grief or trauma

Wild Orange → Invite energy and engagement in apathy or shutdown

🛋 Therapist Tip:
Begin a session with a grounding inhale. Ask, “Would a calming or uplifting aroma feel helpful as we begin today?”

The more we help clients recognize their states, the more empowered they are to regulate them. Aroma is a gentle, fast, and safe way to begin that process.

08/11/2025

There’s a reason Frankincense has been called the "king of oils."
But beyond ancient tradition, modern science is confirming what generations intuitively knew:
Frankincense has a powerful impact on the brain.

Frankincense contains compounds like α-pinene and incensole acetate, which have been shown in studies to:
- Support healthy cognitive function
- Cross the blood-brain barrier to influence mood and neurochemistry
- Promote cellular repair and reduce neuroinflammation
- Activate brain regions tied to memory, focus, and emotional processing

In Therapeutic Practice:
Frankincense is especially supportive when used in sessions focused on:
+ Grief & trauma processing – Promotes emotional grounding and spiritual connection
+ Mindfulness & body awareness – Enhances present-moment focus and breathwork
+ Neuroplasticity & integration – Aids in deepening new neural pathways through calm engagement

Try This with Clients:
Invite clients to breathe in Frankincense during a grounding exercise or body scan.
Watch as they soften into presence — it’s often described as “coming home to the body.”

This is more than scent.
It’s support for brain health, nervous system regulation, and therapeutic depth.

08/08/2025

Most of us didn’t become healthcare providers to manage illness.
We got into this work to promote healing, vitality, and health — to help people remember who they are underneath the pain.

But many medical settings are disconnected from what helps the brain truly heal:
☀️ Natural light
🌿 Connection to the senses
🍃 A sense of grounded presence

Nature is not a luxury. It’s neurobiologically regulating, and we can bring it into the room.

Here’s What Happens to the Brain When It Encounters Nature-Based Inputs:
💠Stress hormones drop
💠Cortisol regulation improves
💠The parasympathetic nervous system activates
💠Mood and resilience increase
💠Cognitive function sharpens

You don’t need a forest to make this shift — you just need intentional cues.

3 Nature-Based Aromas to Bring the Outside In:

1️⃣ Cypress – The Circulation Supporter
💠Opens breath and clears stagnation
💠Helps clients shift from stuck or overwhelmed to open and moving
💠Useful for sessions focused on processing or transition

2️⃣ Cedarwood – The Grounding Stabilizer
💠Anchors attention and calms emotional turbulence
💠Great for clients who dissociate or feel scattered
💠Evokes safety and structure

3️⃣ Siberian Fir – The Emotional Exhale
💠Gently supports emotional release and nervous system downshifting
💠Calms inner tension and encourages presence
💠Ideal for stress recovery or grief sessions

Practitioner Reflection:
What if your office felt more like a sanctuary than a box?

Nature changes the brain — and so can you.

08/06/2025

Therapeutic work doesn’t start when a client sits down, it starts in the moment they enter your space.

For many clients, especially those with trauma, anxiety, or sensory sensitivity, the waiting room experience can trigger nervous system activation: racing thoughts, shallow breathing, or hypervigilance.

But with intentional design, which can include gentle aromatic support, you can help clients begin to regulate before the session even begins.

Why Aroma in the Waiting Room?
- The olfactory system is the only sensory system directly wired to the limbic brain
- A calming scent sends a non-verbal signal of safety and familiarity
- This allows clients to enter the session more centered, open, and ready to engage

3 Single Oils That Gently Support Pre-Session Regulation:

1️⃣ Bergamot – The Mood Softener
+ Uplifting and calming
+ Known to lower cortisol and ease tension
+ Helpful for clients with anticipatory anxiety or depressive symptoms

Use: Diffuse at low intensity or place a few drops on a scent strip out of direct reach

2️⃣ Lavender – The Nervous System Soother
+ Supports parasympathetic activation
+ Relieves tension in both mind and body
+ Ideal for clients with general anxiety or those coming from stressful environments

Use: Pair with soft lighting or calming visuals to reinforce the sensory message of safety

3️⃣ Cedarwood – The Grounding Anchor
+ Promotes emotional stability and calm presence
+ Offers a subtle earthy tone that feels safe and supportive
+ Particularly helpful for clients with sensory processing needs or trauma backgrounds

Use: Use on a diffuser pad discreetly placed under a table or on a shelf for subtle scent delivery

Therapist Tip:
1. Always keep unscented areas or options available.
2. Offer clients the chance to opt out or choose an oil that supports them best.
3. Autonomy in scent = safety in practice.

Your waiting room isn’t just a holding space — it’s an opportunity for co-regulation and emotional priming.

08/04/2025

Memory isn’t stored in just one part of the brain — it’s distributed across emotional, sensory, and cognitive networks.
And when those networks are under stress, memory becomes foggy, fragmented, or hard to access.

For clients processing trauma, grief, aging, or brain fog, supporting memory is about more than cognitive work — it’s about engaging the whole system.

Aromatherapy offers a direct line to the hippocampus, the brain’s memory center, via the olfactory nerve. Smell can stimulate recall, spark clarity, or create new anchors for emotional safety.

Here Are 3 Single Oils to Support Memory + Mental Clarity:

1️⃣ Rosemary – The Clarity Activator

Known to stimulate alertness, memory, and concentration

Studied for supporting cognitive performance in students and aging adults alike

Helps “wake up” a sluggish or overwhelmed brain

Use: Diffuse in a session focused on memory work or invite clients to use it while journaling or reviewing past experiences

2️⃣ Peppermint – The Mental Refresher

Sharpens focus and improves oxygen flow to the brain

Useful when mental fatigue, grief, or trauma is affecting recall

Can help anchor moments of insight or energetic shifts

Use: Inhaled before or during high-focus moments or after intense emotional processing to regain clarity

3️⃣ Basil – The Thought Organizer

Calms nervous system overdrive while enhancing mental clarity

Especially helpful when stress, overwhelm, or sleep deprivation cloud the mind

Encourages a return to inner structure and coherence

Use: During integration sessions or when clients are reprocessing emotionally charged memories

Therapist Tip:

Memory doesn’t live in the mind alone — it’s sensory, relational, and context-based.
Using scent in a consistent, gentle way can help anchor therapeutic work and even become a bridge to recall between sessions.

08/01/2025

Floral essential oils are often underestimated — sometimes dismissed as “soft” or “feminine.”
But in neuroscience and aromatherapy, floral oils are some of the most powerful regulators of the nervous system.

These oils speak directly to the limbic brain — the part responsible for processing emotions, memory, and safety.

When used intentionally in therapeutic settings, floral oils help create a sense of safety, softness, and receptivity — ideal for trauma work, grief, and emotional overwhelm.

Here are 3 Floral Oils That Support Brain-Body Regulation:

1️⃣ Lavender – The Calmer
+ Reduces cortisol and quiets the stress response
+ Soothes the amygdala (the brain’s fear center)
+ Supports emotional regulation, especially in anxious or overstimulated clients
+ Enhances sleep quality and recovery after stress

Use during: grounding exercises, breathwork, or when clients feel overwhelmed by emotion

2️⃣ Geranium – The Balancer
+ Emotionally stabilizing — useful for mood swings, irritability, or feeling emotionally “off”
+ Gently uplifting without overstimulation
+ Encourages openness and expression, especially during emotionally stuck sessions

Use during: sessions focused on identity, grief, or emotional regulation

3️⃣ Roman Chamomile – The Soother
+ Activates the parasympathetic nervous system (rest + digest)
+ Supports vagus nerve tone — helpful for emotional release and body-based therapies
+ Calms spiraling thoughts and helps release emotional tension

Use during: trauma recovery, EMDR, or with clients prone to shutdown or freeze responses

How to Incorporate Floral Oils:
1. Diffuse during session prep to create a calm atmosphere
2. Offer the bottle for clients to inhale from
3. Pair with mindfulness, breathwork, or co-regulation strategies
4. Keep it client-centered — always honor preference and tolerance for scent

Floral oils don’t just smell nice — they retrain the brain to feel safe.
And safety is the foundation for any therapeutic breakthrough.

07/30/2025

Mood isn’t just about feelings.
It’s chemistry, environment, trauma history, nervous system tone, and energy patterns — often all happening at once.

When clients feel emotionally “stuck” — flat, withdrawn, tearful, or irritable — essential oils can offer a nonverbal pathway to shift the brain’s state, gently and naturally.

🌿 Aromas work through the limbic system, the emotional control center of the brain.
The right scent can signal safety, spark energy, or simply help someone feel again.

3 Single Essential Oils to Support Mood in Session or at Home:

1️⃣ Wild Orange – The Brightener

Uplifting and energizing

Stimulates dopamine and serotonin activity

Great for apathy, low motivation, or fatigue

Creates a cheerful and accessible scent for clients new to aromatherapy

Use: Inhale from a cotton round, or add 1–2 drops to a diffuser during check-ins or transitions

2️⃣ Ylang Ylang – The Emotional Harmonizer

Balancing for emotional extremes (anger, sadness, tension)

Gently regulates heart rate and supports parasympathetic tone

Useful when clients feel emotionally “too much” or “not enough”

Use: Sparingly (strong scent); one drop on a scent strip or placed near the body

3️⃣ Rose – The Heart Opener

Comforting and supportive during grief, loss, or vulnerability

Helps release emotional suppression and gently reconnect with the self

Encourages self-compassion and presence

Use: During trauma processing, inner child work, or grief-focused sessions

Therapist Tip:

When mood feels heavy or unreachable, scent can offer a bridge.
Invite, never impose. Always offer choice and pacing, especially with emotionally sensitive clients.

Let scent be the first signal:
“You are safe. It’s okay to feel something.”

Address

302 Washington Street
San Diego, CA
92103

Website

https://www.brainessentials.com/, https://www.theholisticbrain.com/app/

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