With one hand poised in the air, Dr. Mary Boardman dangles a piece of thread, weighted by a single wooden bead, over her open palm. She stands next to a long table with a variety of metal tuning forks, which she uses to identify how her client’s energies interact with their physical bodies.

Focusing on the pendulum, Boardman begins to ask hypothetical questions about foods that would best suit her body for the night. As she asks about steak, the pendulum begins to spin in a clockwise motion.

“I guess I should have steak for dinner,” she says with a knowing smile.

For many years, Boardman worked in a traditional medical setting. She used her experience in biology and chemistry to head the hematology departments at two major hospitals in western New York through the 1980s, but in the face of a personal medical crisis, Boardman realized she was bound for a different path.

“The question for me was, ‘If I’m dying, am I doing what I want to be doing?’ and the answer was ‘No,’” Boardman said.

Cashing in her retirement plan, Boardman returned to school in pursuit of a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy, followed by a doctorate in ministry. Using her knowledge in these three seemingly-unrelated fields, Boardman now practices as a transpersonal psychotherapist focused on marriage and family therapy, sound and energy medicine, and interfaith spiritual direction to provide holistic, nurturing care.

“I went from the body, to the mind, to the spirit, and now I integrate all three in my work and I bring that sense of wholeness to everybody, trying to get them to attain that,” Boardman said. “I do the psychotherapy and I also have interfaith spiritual direction work where I’m comfortable working with … whether it’s a Hindu or a Hebrew or a Christian … it doesn’t matter. My doctorate is in, what’s the common thread that binds us together, instead of what differences can pull us apart.”

Boardman practices out of Foundation for Light, an interfaith spirituality center in Ithaca. Using tools such as tuning forks, Tibetan bowls, pendulums and other sound therapy mechanisms, Boardman combines traditional talk therapy techniques with sound and energy therapy to provide a holistic approach to personal and spiritual development.

“What transpersonal psychotherapy does is it takes in everything. It uses people’s sense of faith or no faith as part of their wholeness,” Boardman said. “Lots of times I can tell by a person’s physical conditions what their mental and emotional issues are because … if you don’t do the work out in the spiritual, mental and emotional realms it will become physical. It’s almost like the issue says, ‘Now will you pay attention?’ and when we’re in physical pain, we pay attention.”

Boardman practices with individuals, families and groups of all sizes, as well as providing workshops and teach-ins. Boardman said many of her clients come to her with symptoms of anxiety or depression, which she said are often connected to greater emotional or spiritual difficulties.

Julie, who asked to be identified only by her first name, first came to Boardman seven or eight years ago with such symptoms. Julie now sees Boardman on an “as-needed basis,” and credits Boardman’s talk and sound therapies with her increased self confidence and more positive outlook on life.

“It’s helpful to have someone remind me about the way that I’m letting my mind drift,” Julie said. “I feel a lot better about myself. I feel more accepting of who I am. I still probably have some work to do in terms of feeling just wonderful about myself, but I’m more accepting of who I am.”

Another client of Boardman, Karen Veaner, found increased comfort in Boardman’s integrated therapy.

“It was life changing, and I have never experienced anything like it,” Veaner said. “Any type of relaxation, I’ve sampled it, but I’ve never felt relaxation so quickly.”

Boardman said the majority of her clients are referred by word of mouth or through interest in similar programs. While it takes some clients time to become receptive to her practices, Boardman said many find her interdisciplinary spiritual practice beneficial.

“Once they get it, boy do they soar,” Boardman said. “Once they see the connection, that we really are all one, that we’re one with the earth, they get it.”