Category: Blog Posts

Laugh to Heal

Posted on by Jill

What is FREE, FUN and HEALING…LAUGHTER!

We have a wonderful, natural tonic inside of us that promotes a sense of well-being, physical healing and joy. It is called LAUGHTER. It is there to help you lighten your mood, feel good and enjoy yourself.

Think back and ask yourself:

When is the last time that you let go and really laughed out loud? So much laughter your eyes started watering and you had to take an extra breath? Or put on some music for no special reason and just danced around?

Have you ever sung your favourite song out loud and really let go? Or just played like you were a carefree happy child for no reason other than the playing itself?

Laughter is health-promoting medicine and it is free!

When we laugh we actually experience useful positive changes in our brain. The act of laughing releases positive endorphins that feel good. Even better than that research has shown laughing has physical health promoting benefits like enhancing the immune system and reducing our blood pressure.

Dr Lee Berk a researcher at Loma Linda University in California has spent decades researching the positive effects of laughter. His studies have discovered that even the anticipation of laughter itself results in positive physiological and emotional changes in our mind and body.

In his book Mind,Body,Spirit:Exploring the Mind,Body,Spirit Connection Through Research on Mirthful Laughter. and Spirituality, Health and Wholeness, An Introductory Guide for Health Care Professions: Haworth Press 2004, he reviews the amazing findings over 3 decades of research into the benefit of laughter.

Findings suggest that a good belly laugh is a workout for your core and is aerobic! It can bring your immune system back into a systematic balance and it can relieve negative emotional pressure.

Laughing is a win win

So explore what tickles your silly button, whether a joke, video, good friends and move forward into better health.

Panic Attacks

Posted on by Jill

Are Panic Attacks Making Life Difficult?

Approximately 1in 23 people or 4.23% of our population lives with excessive anxiety. Even more people today suffer from panic attacks.

A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense anxiety. This may feel like a rapid heart rate, an inability to breathe, feelings of intense nausea, an out of body experience or the feeling that everything is closing in on you. Many people experiencing a panic attack for the first time believe that they are having a heart attack and often go to the emergency room. This is usually where they first hear the words panic attack.

After the first attack subsides you may find yourself worrying that it will happen again. You may begin to avoid certain situations “in case” it happens again. Initially you may avoid the situation in which it happened. Later on you may notice the things you avoid are more general.

Common situations in which people first experience panic attacks are driving, in elevators, going over bridges, flying and sometimes at home.

Adults my distract themselves from these uncomfortable feelings with alcohol, drugs, food, work and exercise in order to avoid the familiar uncomfortable feelings of anxiety and panic.

As uncomfortable as these feelings are, anxiety and panic are generally very treatable!

When excessive anxiety or panic has developed, the root cause is often found in an event or events that were intense enough to leave a lasting impression. The treatment through a combination of methods is designed to eliminate the strong emotion connected to the event(s).

Through this process the power of these emotions is nullified. Often excessive anxiety and panic can be resolved in 4-6 sessions.

Pet Loss

Posted on by Jill

Pets are a huge part of many people’s lives. More than “an animal” a pet is your companion, confidant, friend and often protector. Your pet is there to cheer you up, listen to you, make you laugh and give you love. More than anything, your pet gives you this love unconditionally. No matter what kind of day you are having your pet is happy to see you, even if you have only been gone for a few moments. Many of us love our pet so much that we attribute human characteristics to them. Pets seem endlessly patient, eager to spend time with you creating a strong connection.

For seniors and singles a pet (especially a dog) creates a connection to the outside world. Urging you out of your house for walks, where you often meet, connect and socialize with other dogs and dog owners.

The healing aspects of pets have been well documented. Dogs and cats are used for therapeutic purposes in long-term care and hospital settings. Patients calm down and relax while stroking a pet. What they give you is immeasurable and when you lose them it is often an agonizing experience.

The grief experience is often palpable and unavoidable. Your routine is now upset- no more feedings, walks or cuddling. Coming home to a house empty of pets can be a physically and emotionally painful experience. This process has no timeline and although it is experienced uniquely by everyone there are some commonalities.

Initially you may feel overwhelmed by your pet’s death and have a hard time processing and accepting it. This is often followed by intense feelings of unfairness towards the situation. These feelings of unfairness can linger for a very long time and may come and go in waves.

Eventually you may find yourself falling into a depression as you realize the gravity of the situation, you will never see your pet again. The emptiness of the house and the change of your routine highlight the pain.

Although the length and intensity of this process is unique for everyone there are ways to help you work through it.

First and foremost is to acknowledge the importance this special pet had in your life. Allow yourself to feel, experience and express whatever emotions come up. You are mourning a family member, allow that process to happen, accept and embrace it. Others around you may not understand your deep connection to your special friend and your consequent sadness. During this time take good care to spend time with those who understand and appreciate your loss.

You may choose to honour your pet’s memory with a symbol. Veterinary clinics may offer your pet’s ashes, a ceramic foot print or another memento. Choose to hold onto whatever you feel is important.

Pet memorial services are a nice way to allow others who loved your pet to say goodbye to him/her and comfort you.

When, how and if you add another pet to your family is up to you. Adding another pet does not mean replacing the memory of the pet that you have lost, but it can help you to move along when you are ready. Do it when you believe that you are able to emotionally focus on the pet you are adding as a new and distinct member of your family. This new pet, especially if adopted from a shelter, will love and comfort you as you continue your journey of healing.

If intense feelings of grief persist for an extended period of time seek out help from a therapist who can help you relieve this emotional pressure and get things back on track.

Stop Smoking

Posted on by Jill

Use hypnosis to stop smoking without gaining weight!You can stop smoking for good! Thousands and thousands of people across the country have quit smoking using hypnosis. I am experienced with this important and life-changing issue. I am successful if my clients become non-smokers. I know smoking cessation and the importance of physical, mental and emotional health.

Here is how it works. You will come in and meet with me. I will learn about your smoking habit and discuss how you want to quit. You can stop all at once or taper off.

I require that you make a minimum of two appointments, three to seven days apart. Most people will either stop smoking or cut back to only one or two cigarettes a day after the first session. The next session will usually be ten times more powerful and effective than the first session.

There are small percentage, about 10-20 percent, that will require more sessions to quit smoking. For that small percentage that need more help, I am there for them, too.

You don’t have to gain weight because you quit smoking! Follow my plan and you may even lose weight. My educative component helps you to replace the smoking habit with good positive behaviours. These good behaviours help you to take advantage of the time you used to spend smoking. If you now smoke 30 cigarettes a day and spend about 5 minutes on each cigarette that equals about 150 minutes, or 2 1/2 hours a day smoking. You need to plan for that time. If you don’t, you will tend to gain weight.

I can tell you much more about my program. Call me for more details. I am happy to answer your questions by phone or email.

Are you living with Chronic Stress

Posted on by Jill

In today’s hectic world many people are living with chronic stress. If you answer yes to two or more of these questions you might be living a chronically stressful lifestyle.

Do you:

  • Eat emotionally
  • Feel overwhelmed
  • Drink too much or take drugs
  • Feel anxious, jumpy or panicky
  • Seem more forgetful than usual
  • Lose your temper more frequently
  • Have a hard time falling/staying asleep
  • Have difficulty concentrating
  • Cry often
  • Find relationships challenging?

Your mind is amazing with the best of intentions. It scans each event that happens to keep you safe. If your mind interprets an event as positive you move forward with positive energy. If it is viewed as negative, instantly your body responds physically with the fight, flight or freeze response. This response is hardwired from our primitive days but in the modern world we cannot always use the fight, flight or freeze responses.

Each stress response you experience releases hormones into your body to help you achieve fight, flight, or freeze. These stress hormones have been linked to illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure and diabetes. They have also been linked to negative emotional symptoms like anxiety and panic.

Chronic stress is emotionally and physically exhausting!

How can you reduce this chronic stress?

The first step is to examine the balance in your life. What is your level of commitment to family, friends, work, school, spirituality, self care? Which area feels overloaded? Which area feels ignored?

We feel stressed when we are taking on too much to do it well so look to “give away” the areas that feel overloaded. Brainstorm how you can “plump up” the areas that feel ignored. Creating that balance like leveling out a teeter totter helps to keep you stable and even.

Lean to say no if you cannot or do not want to take on another responsibility. Delete emotionally draining people or situations from your life when possible. Nurture your body (the only one you will ever have) by moving it, feeding it well and giving it the sleep that it needs. Focus on the humour in situations. Remember, it is your mind’s interpretation of an event that decides whether it is positive or negative. Create the most positive experience for yourself that you can.

Find help when you need it. Deep relaxation, therapy and hypnotherapy can help you release negative emotional pressure and restructure old patterns and habits that are holding you back.

“Create your new tomorrow”!

Adlerian Psychology

Posted on by Jill

I am trained in Adlerian psychology. A hallmark of Adlerian Psychology is the promotion family-member equality, parent education, balance in life style, and holism in individuals.

This Therapeutic model originated in the early 1900s from the work of Alfred Adler. Adler was a contemporary of Freud and Jung, yet he had a different take on people and how we work.

Adler saw individuals as creative, goal-directed selves that need a sense of belonging, connectedness to others, desire to contribute to the greater good of the community. He was optimistic about people and encouraging to his patients. Alfred Adler was focussed on developing a model of therapy that was useful in helping all people including children, parents and couples create and achieve harmonious relationships, while being responsible for their behaviour.

Adler believed that people have choices about how they behave rather than being “pushed into behaviour” as was a popular belief with other Psychiatrists at the time.

Adler’s goal for individual or family counselling was for each member of a family or couple to spend time with their therapist/ counsellor. As this one-to-one relationship develops Adler believed the therapist/counsellor can then provide critical encouragement, foster insight, and promote change in each family member’s style of life. Family members “lay down their weapons? to discover new, positive aspects of each other.

Adler had placed a lot of emphasis on how important an early child’s training in life developed and how those early learnings were compiled into their little rulebook for living. This guide book he believed became their “private logic” for living their life. This Private Logic Adler believed was an individual’s guide book directing them throughout their life. The challenge then becomes the understanding that what a child viewed as appropriate, with our adult learning and knowledge might not be a suitable way to move through life.

Therapy assits with understanding the “mistaken beliefs” of the child and remodelling those beliefs into an appropriate system for us as adults.

Adler also was a strong proponent of parenting that fostered a child to become a responsible contributing member of their family which he felt would translate later to a good contributing member of the community. He was friends with Maria Montessori and their shared similar passions for positive encouragement, requiring responsibility and the importance of good parenting.

In my University training at the Adler School I was required to teach a 6 week Parenting Course following the Adlerian philosophy.

In later sessions, the family or couple is unified as a cooperative, caring whole with a more generous view of everyone’s welfare.

During sessions, clients set paths toward long-term goals, develop maps and plans for dealing with life situations, and harness the power in knowing that we can make choices and thus make changes if we choose. Everything can be different tomorrow than it is today.

5-PATH Hypnotherapy

Posted on by Jill

5-PATH Hypnotherapy ® Equals Rapid Therapeutic Change and can Help You;

REMOVE Fears, phobias, anxiety, anger, negative habits.

IMPROVE Relationships, confidence, sports performance, sleep, mood, weight management, public speaking.

INCREASE Confidence, motivation, self-esteem.

OVERCOME Shyness, procrastination, test anxiety, stress, trauma, depression, grief, loss, smoking.

Q – Why Should I Try Hypnosis?
A – Hypnosis can help you succeed when nothing else has worked. I work with people everyday who are frustrated because nothing else has helped them reach their goals-but this does!

Q – What is Hypnosis?
A – Hypnosis is a naturally occurring state of focused attention allowing you to receive and act on powerful hypnotic suggestions which help you to take back control of your life and achieve your goals quickly and pleasantly.

Q – What does hypnosis feel like?
A – If you have been caught up in a daydream you have experienced hypnosis. If you have been so engrossed in a book that you did not hear someone talking to you, you have experienced hypnosis. If you have been driving somewhere and reached your destination but didn’t remember the entire drive, you have experienced hypnosis. It is pleasant, like relaxation yet an incredibly effective tool for change. Hypnosis is not like sleep, you may feel like you are in bed with the lights out at night but you are not asleep. You are aware, can hear, can think, can talk and can move at will. Some clients feel their arms and legs are heavy, others feel they are light and still others feel pleasantly tingly.

Q – Will I reveal secrets I don’t want to?
A – Clients working in hypnosis will never reveal anything they do not choose to, you are completely in control at all times and can emerge yourself at any point. Your subconscious mind will never allow you to go to a place that you are not ready to go.

Q – How long will it take?
A – Most issues can be resolved within 4-6 sessions. Sessions vary between 1-1/2 hours in length.

Q – Who Can Be Hypnotized?
A – Any one of at least normal intelligence who can follow simple instructions can be hypnotized if they choose to do so.

Q – Are there any side effects?
A – Hypnosis is completely safe and has been sanctioned and used by the medical and dental professions since the late 1950’s. The only side effect might be a feeling of deep relaxation.