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Holistic psychiatry: A new approach to mental health beyond diagnosis and medication
Holistic psychiatry is an evolving approach to mental health care that looks beyond sympto...
Professional statement
Dr Aleksandra Matakovic Manca is an integrative medical doctor, consultant psychiatrist and psychotherapist in Totnes who specialises in complex PTSD, paediatric psychiatry, personalised medicine and psychotherapy, alongside coaching (personal development). She practises privately offering both face-to-face sessions and e-Consultations with English and Italian speaking clients.
For over two decades she worked across different clinical settings, including the NHS, in Italy and England. She spent years learning, and then unlearning her way to something truer and more alive. That depth of clinical experience, alongside her own healing journey, became Inner Being Medicine — the mental health coaching and consultancy practice she works from today.
She has witnessed how often what keeps someone stuck is not on the level they have been working on. Most approaches meet only one level. She moves across levels — physical, emotional, mental, relational, energetic — and can recognise which level something is actually asking to be met on, and what will meet it there. That capacity comes from three decades of integrating medicine, psychiatry and psychotherapy with somatic, relational and earth-based approaches into one way of practising.
She works with:
- Individuals who have done the inner work — years of therapy, insight, self-reflection — and still feel stuck in the same place.
- Individuals living with complex, developmental, childhood, medical or relational trauma, particularly where talking alone hasn't shifted it.
- Individuals carrying a grief that hasn't resolved with time.
- Practitioners — therapists, doctors, health professionals — who work at depth with others and are looking to be met at that same depth themselves.
- Parents holding a child who doesn't fit neatly into a single diagnosis, or any diagnosis at all — or who want to support their child beyond labels.
She believes in a form of medicine that empowers people, honours their wisdom and shows them how to connect to the innate capacity to heal and regenerate present in every living being.
To learn more about her work, or to book a consultation, visit innerbeingmedicine.com.
Clinics
Inner Being Medicine
Lower Close, Dartington Lane, Dartington Hall, Totnes, TQ9 6EDMedical insurances accepted
Credentials
Professional experience
- 21 years of experience
- Consultant Child and family psychiatrist (2007- 2026)
Subspecialties
- Adjustment
- Additional needs
Professional memberships
- MRCPsych, Royal College of Psychiatrists
Education
- Specialist in Child & Adolescent Neuropsychiatry and Medical Psychotherapy, University of Milan, Italy (2006)
- Doctor in Medicine and Surgery (Equivalent of MBBS Medicine), Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan, Italy (2001)
Publications and conferences
- Organiser and presenter of the Conference "The Forgotten Narrative of Health" - The mind-body connection in the timeline of illness and health, Plymouth University (2018)
- Adverse childhood experiences and the mind-body connection in the timeline of a chronic illness, The 8th Croatian Congress of Endocrinology, Croatia (2017)
Prizes and awards
- Clinical Excellence Award – Devon Partnership NHS Trust (2019)
Languages spoken
- English
- Italian
Registration number: 6109702
Content
Health content
Other information
Reviews
All reviews are from real patients and have been verified by our Customer Service department to ensure they meet our guidelines. Rules of the service
- Would you recommend this doctor?
- Treatment of the doctor
- Treatment of the staff
- Waiting time
- Condition of facilities
- I am very grateful to have found Aleksandra. She is humble, down to earth, kind, caring and a very positive part of my life. Her approach empowers me, sees me, holds me and lifts me above and beyond what I thought was possible. She has a remarkable gift of deep presence, listening and playfulness allowing for the joy and reverence of deep connection to bring about the transformation I seek. I highly recommend working with her 🙏🏻
- I contacted Dr Matakovic Manca after years of accumulated stress, different kinds of anxiety, and inner discomfort I could no longer manage alone. She was extremely empathetic, caring, and always listened. She helped me look inside myself and find tools to get through this period. After each session, the “heavy burden” I carried became lighter. She also helped me handle unbearable work-related stress. She was fundamental in this phase,and I feel truly lucky to have been followed by a dr like her
- Aleksandra is a fantastic therapist. I appreciate her holistic approach, grounded support, clear listening and practical advice. For me her experience is essential. She is committed to her ongoing journey of growth and it is wonderful to feel that someone is alongside you. Sharing what they feel and has worked for them without judgement. I do highly recommend Aleksandra.
- A professional of rare sensitivity and dedication.She did accept my pain, listen to me without judging me.With great empathy she knew how to support me through a very difficult period. I will always be grateful to her for the extraordinary psychological and human help she gave me
- Alexandra has an incredibly holistic skillset. She heard me with deft emotional attunement and her recommendations supported profound healing. Thank you Alexandra, every hospital, every patient needs this holism that you provide!
- Professionista di rara sensibilità e dedizione. Ha saputo accogliere il mio dolore e ascoltarmi senza giudicarmi. Con grande empatia, ha saputo accompagnarmi in un periodo molto difficile. Le sarò sempre grata per il suo straordinario aiuto psicologico e umano che mi ha dato.
- Kind and sympathetic, very attentive to the medical records and deep listening to the issues presented. We feel supported and safe as Aleksandra demonstrates knowledge and professionalism in the advice she gives.
- Dr Aleks held the time I spent with her beautifully. I was a river breaching my banks. Guiding me back into the room to focus on myself. So valuable to be asked if I wanted to know what Dr Aleks thought. I did. Advice on what to do in real-time and aftercare, all unsurpassed.
- When I first met Alexandra I was reeling from previous negative experiences of psychiatry. Her friendly, warm, compassionately curious, deeply human approach, and delight in her work, has supported me in moving forward to embrace a richer and more meaningful life.