Wellness Institute Blog

Are you constantly thinking about food or your next opportunity to eat?
Do you see yourself as thinner or heavier than others see you?
Have you tried several weight loss/food control methods?
Do you feel shame about your eating or not eating?
Are you juggling multiple roles in your life?

As you take in these statements, are there any that resonate with you?  Perhaps you are a mother coordinating the schedules of your children while managing the title of wife and business woman.  Maybe you are a businessman traveling and you miss your family, so you reach for another serving of cake, at least it allows you to feel some sweetness while you are on the road?  Or maybe you are so stressed out from trying to people please that all you can think about is devouring your next meal?  Maybe you’ve gotten to a point in your life where food is love.  Your food or drink of choice might represent a substitute for emotional satisfaction.  Perhaps it helps you to drown out the pain of loneliness, fear, guilt, or shame?  Maybe you are stressed out and can’t quite put your finger on the ‘why’ of it?

It was a beautiful summer day and we were enjoying a gorgeous walk in the park.  The clouds were stunning, the air was fresh, life was amazing.  Stacey and I had been chatting about her upcoming nuptials. Suddenly as I looked over at my friend, she was fidgeting with her shirt.  She had a look of panic on her face as I asked her what was wrong? 

“I can’t catch my breath.  I don’t know what’s wrong with me.  Look at my hand, it’s shaking.” 

I found a bench for us to move towards unsure of what was happening with her.  “Stacey let’s walk this way if you can?” 

“Make it stop.  I feel so uneasy.  What’s going on with me?  I don’t even feel like me.”  Stacey looked at me for reassurance. 

As I gazed at her I could see beads of sweat forming on her brow.  She appeared very uncomfortable in her own skin.  And then suddenly it dawned on me.  “Sweetie, I think you are having a panic attack.” 

“I think I might be having a heart attack, my heart is racing so fast.”  Stacey pleaded with me as we moved towards the bench. 

Children and teenagers love hypnosis. Why, you may ask. The reason is threefold:

We all have a stress switch in our nervous system and in our brain. Sometimes I think of it as the “trickster” within. The good news: hypnotherapy can help you treat stress. Let’s begin to find what activates this switch and what can turn it off.

We have all been taught to do relaxation exercises, mindfulness training, meditation and physical exercise to reduce stress. This does work at different times for different people and in varying situations. But what about those times when it doesn’t work?

Today, we're going to talk about treating trauma by breaking through dissociation that is so common with traumatic events. 

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by unbidden obsessive thoughts and/or compulsory physical activities that are experienced as dysfunctional. Some OCD conditions are clearly genetic; research has demonstrated the significant role played by heredity. Some OCD conditions can be explained by certain information-processing deficits and/or biases; neuroimaging studies have revealed neural pathway disturbances. But the majority of OCD conditions are attributable to emotional and developmental causes.

“We don't deal well with death and dying in this culture," says Roland Griffiths, PhD, a professor of behavioral biology and neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Being diagnosed with a potentially fatal disease often leads to a kind of chronic syndrome of anxiety, depression and emotional distress. 

What is chronic grief and how do I know if I am suffering with it?

Here are some of the symptoms: