YOUR home
of HEALING
This is the point in your story where you crossover and reclaim your creative power. The place you remember who you really are, the moment your pain becomes a portal into the life you dream of.
HEAL, GROW, TRANSFORM
& FIND PEACE FROM PAST PAIN
Welcome to WHOLE SOUL healing STUDIO
Serving the Central IL area and virtually | No art skills neededA place for women to restore, revive, & renew
Where Creativity Changes Everything
Lasting change doesn’t come from more willpower or information, it comes through reclaiming your innate creative power. Creative power is how you transform every aspect of life. Physical, emotional, nutritional, environmental, and spiritual. Creativity maps the way forward, reveals new possibilities, and guides you toward the wholeness you were designed for.
Creativity is an ancient healing tool, woven into every culture and tradition as a way to restore body, soul, and spirit. Long before modern medicine, humans turned to story, song, movement, color, and expression to process pain, release emotion, and reconnect with the sacred. They also honored the earth’s bounty. Using meals as medicine and connection. Eating was about listening to the body, sharing abundance, and receiving life’s energy. The modern world has disconnected us from both our creative power and the wisdom of what nourishes us. This path is not new, it is a timeless path back to wholeness.
What People Are Saying
“Shelley has extraordinary gifts of wisdom, creative expression, and truthful compassion. She will guide you through your story in safety and help you find clarity. My time with her exceeded any expectations and the outcome is invaluable. I see my story clearly now and I am better equipped to move forward and make beauty from ashes. I am so grateful for her sharing her gifts with the world.”
— Ashton Greer
“Shelley‘s God given gift to help women walk out this journey is worth more than its weight in gold. The safe space, her methodology, her wisdom, and her guidance through the Holy Spirit is strong and evident in every lesson.”
— Michelle Maxwell
“My experience with Shelley as my Whole Soul coach has been extraordinary. The depth and sensitivity and knowledge that Shelley brings to the table is exactly what I needed. She helps me connect dots that needed to be connected. She made me feel accepted and normal and encouraged on my journey.”
— Kim LaPilusa
We believe the truest form of wealth is radiant health and soul-deep wholeness. Our retreats, classes, coaching, and healing pilgrimages are crafted to restore wholeness in
body, soul, and spirit.
THE STORY
From Founder, Shelley Henk
Welcome to my corner of the world. I am Shelley, founder of Whole Soul Studio. My own journey through trauma, chronic illness, and disconnection has become a lifelong mission of service and transformation, guiding women home to wholeness in body, soul, and spirit.
THE BIRTH OF
WHOLE SOUL STUDIO
Whole Soul Healing Studio is not just a space; it is the outpouring of my journey and calling to wholeness. Born from my many years as a nurse, my walk through trauma, complex grief, chronic illness, and my return to creativity as medicine, the studio carries both the weight of wounds and the promise of wholeness. A place where suffering breaks forth into beauty through color and texture. Every part of this sanctuary is designed to hold and transform the hidden fractures, untold stories, and quiet grief we all carry, so you can rise restored in body, soul, and spirit.
MY PILGRIMAGE THROUGH GREIF AND HEALING.
I carry the imprint of witnessing my father’s suicide at just 26 yrs old, a moment that fractured my world and left me with wounds too deep for words. Nearly a decade later, those hidden fractures surfaced as symptoms in my body, the breaking point that became my turning point. From that place of unraveling, I discovered the Spirit-led and creative path of restoration that is now the heart of Whole Soul Healing Studio.
EMBRACING THE CALL TO HEAL
Through my own healing journey, I have come to understand that when we heal, everything changes. Life realigns, we begin to see from a higher vantage point, and we step into the purpose God placed within us. In 2015, God called me to leave traditional health care as a Nurse and begin the work I am doing now, guiding people into wholeness through body, soul, and spirit restoration. Blending Whole Health practices with Creative Expression.
RN, BSN – Lakeview College of Nursing
Certified Whole Health Educator, Coach & Patient Advocate – National Institute for Whole Health
Certified Enneagram Relationship Coach – with Dr. Tom LaHue
Certified Therapeutic Art Practitioner – Scholistico
Trauma Thriver – lived experience integrated into professional practice
Coach & Educator – Guided over 1,000+ women through healing and wholeness
Shelley Henk Credentials & Experience
Expressive Abstract Artist & Photographer
Creator of Artful Storywork™ Method
Co-Author – Just Say No (bestseller)
Featured on PBS Documentary – Medical Stories: Under Control
Milan Art Mastery Program Student
Creator of Artful Storywork
Kingdom Minister – School of Kingdom Ministry (2025)
“I don’t see symptoms as the enemy. I see them as the body’s way of telling the truth your soul has not been able to speak.”
— Shelley Henk, Artist of the Soul
Artful Storywork™
My signature method designed to heal through art, story, and embodiment. Born in the throes of 2020, when the world was spinning into chaos, I rediscovered imagination as medicine, and from it, this work was born.
Three Simple Steps
Unearth what’s hidden
Cultivate what’s true
Create what’s new
It’s more than making art, it’s about creating change. Studies show that imagining your success makes you 42% more likely to achieve it. In a single session, imagination becomes medicine, shifting your story from suffering to beauty and opening the way to wholeness.
Artful Storywork™ Painting is not about making “Art,” it is about making space. The canvas becomes the mirror we can see our story clearly through.
“The tears could not Stop flowing as I was being ministered to and painting a picture. My heart was opened and I revisited moments in my life that I never thought I would ever talk about publicly, but it happened. I cannot explain or describe the feeling of restoration and healing that I feel ”
— KD Sanders
What People Are Saying
“For years I’ve searched for someone to help me understand & navigate my history while pushing me to LIVE forward. So many past experiences have walked me through the past, but left me stuck there. Shelley teaches methods to help deal with the triggers, yet keep moving forward so I can honor who I am at my core while acknowledging the feelings and emotions that come along with it. No more suppression. No more numbness."
— Emily Byrnes
“I love how Shelley weaves art, science & spirituality into our broken stories at the Finding Beautiful School of YOU. Helping us bring beauty forth. Shelley guides us past the healing stage, I felt stuck in. Her vision helped me awaken my God sized Dreams & this beautiful Artful StoryWork healed my broken stories. So grateful.”
— Lisa Spokis
“Shelley also helped break off me long held beliefs about God and myself that relegated me to believing I would always be last to receive. What a joy for that thinking to be gone! In just two short hours burdens, limiting beliefs, and some “stinking’ thinkin’ I didn’t even know I had was destroyed! Not only does Shelley know what she is doing she makes you feel that the most important thing she has to do at that moment is be in front of you. It was an amazing experience!”
— Dan Thomas
Studio Offerings
-
The Finding Beautiful School of YOU, a grace based Christ-centered holistic healing pilgrimage for women seeking healing, growth, and transformation.
-
Sacred spaces to step away, reset, and return renewed. Host your own at your location or come to one of ours
-
Personalized Whole Soul Coaching for deep, lasting transformation.
-
Re-story your life through embodied narrative coaching and somatic creative expression through shape, color, & texture
-
Intuitive artwork by Shelley, ready to display that reflects the essence of your story and spirit through abstract expressive Art
-
Keynotes, workshops, and gatherings where Shelley shares wisdom on trauma healing, wholeness, creativity, and Spirit-led restoration — inspiring women and communities to awaken to their true selves.
What People Are Saying
“For years I’ve searched for someone to help me understand & navigate my history while pushing me to LIVE forward. So many past experiences have walked me through the past, but left me stuck there. Shelley teaches methods to help deal with the triggers, yet keep moving forward so I can honor who I am at my core while acknowledging the feelings and emotions that come along with it. No more suppression. No more numbness."
— Emily Byrnes
“She’s not afraid to ask the tough questions that evoke deeper thoughts/emotions and she connects authenticity with others. Her wisdom is beyond her years and I value her guidance in the importance of connecting my body, mind and spirit to live my most abundant life."
— Kim Henry
“Working with Shelley, “Artist of the Soul” was such an incredible way to embrace the darks and the lights of my life and learn how they have complimented one another to create the woman that I am today. The “Artist of the Soul” session transformed my mess into meaning and left me feeling empowered and proud of who I am."
— Jessica Smith Dos Santos
THE FINDING BEAUTIFUL
SCHOOL OF YOU™
A Holy Spirit Led healing Pilgrimage for Women ready to
Heal, Grow, & Transform
Teaching a new way to Restore, Revive, & Renew the whole YOU
This is the point in your story where you crossover and reclaim your creative power. The place you remember who you really are, the moment your pain becomes a portal into the life you dream of.
At the Finding Beautiful School of YOU™, healing is not a quick fix but a healing pilgrimage through the Four Elements of Wholeness. Each Element unlocks something new on your holistic path to healing, growth, & self discovery.
The Four Elements of Wholeness, each represented by a sacred symbol of healing placed in your hands at the end of each season: The Vessel, The Vial, The Feather, and The Flame.
But this is more than a course. It is a story within a story. You will be given a map. You will walk the pilgrimage. You will follow the story of a woman searching for the Gate Called Beautiful , a quest that feels ancient and archetypal, yet is secretly Shelley’s story told in metaphor, and ultimately becomes your story too.
Together we will enter the Cavern of Emotion, cross the River of Restoration, ascend to the Summit of Dreams, and at last gather at the Circle of Fire, where we feast with friends, share our stories around the campfire, and unveil our creations in the Pilgrim Project Gallery.
This is not just learning. It is stepping into a living parable, a sacred quest where story becomes medicine, and where the woman you’ve always been is waiting on the other side, restored, revived, & renewed as the TRUE YOU.
What You will experience in The School of YOU™
Release what has been suppressed
Restore peace, energy, and balance to body & mind
Reconnect with your true identity and God’s presence
Awaken imagination and rediscover your dreams
Renew creative power and confidence
What’s Included in The School of YOU™
One Year Access to the School of YOU community - with weekly group coaching + Soul Studio Sessions
Four Elements of Wholeness teachings - a new element unlocked every eight weeks : FEEL · HEAL · DREAM · CREATE
Four 1:1 Coaching Calls with Shelley for personal guidance at the beginning of each Element
Four Element Books – digital download, one per element
Guided Practices – holistic tools for body, story, Spirit, and nutrition
Artful Storywork™ - creative painting sessions at the end of every Element
Pilgrimage Map to track your journey
Supportive Community walking the path with you
Invitation to submit your work into the Pilgrim Project Gallery and attend the yearly Beautiful Table Feast Celebration (ticket must be purchased)
The Four Elements of Wholeness
-
FEEL
Learn to reconnect with your emotions as sacred messengers. Release what you’ve been carrying, restore nervous system balance
-
HEAL
Grief, loss, and hidden wounds are met with compassion and Spirit-led care, bringing renewal to body, soul, and story.
-
DREAM
Awaken your imagination and remember what’s possible. Reconnect with the dreams God planted in you, discover your purpose, and begin to see your future with clarity, hope, and vision.
-
CREATE
Ignite your creative power and take bold steps into your God sized dreams. This is where your wholeness becomes visible. Through action, and the courage to embody your beautiful life.
Finding Beautiful
SCHOOL OF YOU™
Not a program, a pilgrimage of
Healing, Growth, & Self Discovery
Come home to the WHOLE YOU
What People Are Saying about the School of YOU
“The School of YOU is so worth it! Using art to draw my past, seeing what is in my head on canvas in front of me has put an entire new perspective on my life story. I have gone from guarded and defensive, to being at peace and feeling loved by God. I’m ready to create my new story! ”
— Jennifer Taylor
“The School of YOU has helped me understand that through that season God was with me, strengthening me, growing me, and leading me into my purpose. I learned how to heal that piece of me, to give myself, grace, love, and forgiveness. I also learned how to give that to others. Shelly‘s God given gift to help women walk out this journey is worth more than its weight in gold. The safe space, her methodology, her wisdom, and her guidance through the Holy Spirit is strong and evident in every lesson. I cannot thank her enough for being God‘s light and bringing me closer to him..”
— Michelle Maxwell
Why choose School of YOU?
-
We honor both biology and biography — tending to the body with nourishment and nervous system rhythms, while restoring the soul through storywork, creativity, and Spirit.
-
Shelley has walked through trauma, loss, and her own health breakdown. Her work blends biology and biography — the science of the body and the story of the soul — with creativity and Spirit.
-
This is not a quick fix or surface solution. It is a sacred, Spirit-led one year pilgrimage that honors your story and equips you to step into lasting wholeness and beauty.
-
Healing isn’t reduced to charts and checklists. Instead, it is embodied, expressive, and deeply human. Accessing the wisdom of someone with 20 years of experience as both a Nurse and an Artist is a rare combination — one that bridges science, story, and Spirit in a way few places can offer.
-
We believe healing happens in community. Whole Soul Healing Studio creates safe, Spirit-led spaces where women can be seen, heard, and supported on the path to wholeness.
-
We see people through a Christ-centered lens, while honoring that many carry wounds from religion and may be guarded. Our aim is to meet each person where they are at on their path.
-
Wounds are not seen as a diagnosis but as the very place where transformation begins. We believe your deepest fractures can become the doorway to healing, growth, and wholeness — revealing beauty, strength, and purpose you never imagined.
What People Are Saying
“Shelley helps you realize through her past experiences, that you too can bust through the barrier of pain and see suffering and see with beauty and purpose. She shares how looking backward to unearth your story allows you to let go and embrace forgiveness, love, and purpose."
— Katie Hurley
“Shelley Henk has helped me go from “hot mess” to finding my joy with purpose and passion! She has helped me rewrite my story learning to love who I once was and focus on who God created me to be. Helping me awaken to new possibilities, gain clarity on the future I want to create and empowering me take action to live an abundant and beautiful future!"
— Andrea Farrell
“Shelley brought powerful insights into our emotions and their importance in our healing journey. She encouraged us to tell our stories to gain freedom and healing from the past. We gained valuable understanding into trauma’s affects upon our neurobiology and how it effects the way we see and interact in our lives.”
—Michelle Harding, Sr. Leader Church of the King, Easton, MD
Contact Us
Interested in working together? Fill out some info and we will be in touch shortly. We can’t wait to hear from you!