Build the Life You Want With Hypnotherapy

By: Mary M. Vallei, CCHt

If you had the power to bring lasting positive change into your life and build your life the way you want it to be, would you do so? If you answered yes, then you need to know that this power already lies within you and building the life you want is already within you. And hypnotherapy is a tool that may show you how.

Most of us experience crises and anxiety at sometime in our lives. Crises hijack your life. Anxiety interferes with your life. You can let these overwhelm your life or you can take control of them.

Hypnotherapy is a safe, easy, quick, and effective technique that helps you build a positive mind-body connection and gain the resources and strength to create a well, balanced, and happy life for yourself.

Hypnotherapy is an approved, widely recognized, complementary tool for both adults and children. It is approved by the International Medical and Dental Associations, the American Medical Association, and the American Psychiatric Association. The American and the British Medical Associations adopted hypnotherapy as a viable complementary therapeutic tool in 1958, and has been recommending it since that time.

Hypnosis is a natural state that we have all experienced in everyday life. Anytime we daydream, drive on autopilot, meditate or practice other relaxation techniques, we are in a hypnotic state. Hypnotherapy is different in that one makes a choice to enter into a deep state of relaxation in order to focus concentration and use suggestion to promote health, healing, achievement of goals, personal growth and fulfillment, discover and change negative thoughts and patterns, and more. Anytime a person is in a hypnotic state, that person is always in control. No one can make you do, or think, anything you do not want to do or think. The Hypnotherapist guides the process and teaches the techniques. You are the only person who can hypnotize yourself. So, in reality, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis.

Hypnotherapy creates a mind and body connection that makes change, growth, and healing possible. In a deep state of relaxation, the conscious and subconscious minds become free to connect and communicate.

The process is simple. The number of sessions required is not the same for all people, even those with similar problems. Some people achieve their desired goal in one session. Others take more time. This is really up to each individual to determine as the process unfolds.

The Hypnotherapist, works in concert with the client, asks questions to understand what you want to change or achieve, what you expect and believe, and your motivation. Next the Hypnotherapist works with you to frame a positive suggestion and develop a visualization to communicate what you want to achieve to your subconscious mind. Then the Hypnotherapist will use guided imagery, visualization, and other techniques to create and deliver positive suggestions and messages to the conscious and subconscious. By receiving the same message the conscious and subconscious minds connect. It is this special connection that can empower the client to successfully change and grow. The Hypnotherapist also teaches you how to practice self-hypnosis so you can continue the process anytime throughout your life.

Hypnotherapy is applied to numerous medical issues, including pain management, surgery preparation, autoimmune diseases, cancer, and childbirth to name a few. It is also used to help with emotional health issues; creativity and education; athletic motivation, performance; and even business focus.

When you choose a hypnotherapist there are a number of things to remember. There are many specialties for hypnotherapy. All hypnotherapists follow basically the same processes. However, most hypnotherapists specialize in particular areas. Some focus on health and wellness issues, others focus on spiritual healing. Still others provide emergency crisis relief, phobias, anxiety and stress relief, smoking cessation, or weight issues. Whatever your issue, ask the hypnotherapist if that is an area in which they can provide the help you need. Other things to know include:

• The hypnotherapist should have received training in this field. If the hypnotherapist has attended a school of hypnotherapy, make sure this school is accredited by the state in which the school operates.

• There are several professional organizations which test and credential hypnotherapists. Find out what group the hypnotherapist belongs to and what was needed in order to receive the credentials. Among the leading organizations are the International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Associations, the American Association of Hypnotist Examiners, the National Guild and the Society of Clinical Hypnotherapists.

• Decide for yourself if you feel a connection with the hypnotherapist. This is very important for the hypnotherapy to be effective. If you feel comfortable with your choice, your experience will be better.

• Be sure to understand the fees up front. Good hypnotherapists will provide you with a disclosure form explaining the fees, process, and your rights as a client. Be sure to ask for this form. If the hypnotherapist does not provide this, it is probably wiser to seek another hypnotherapist.

• Remember that the hypnotherapist is there to teach and guide you on how to connect with your mind-body healing power that you already possess. The hypnotherapist does not heal or fix you. Watch out if someone promises to do that.

Hypnotherapy is a safe, easy way to empower you to take charge of your life, reprogram old behavior patterns, and create more productive and successful living. You can learn to realize and sustain new visions for how you want to live. You can apply the skills of hypnotherapy to any situation you encounter throughout your life.

Mary M. Vallei is a graduate of the Colorado School of Counseling Hypnotherapy in Longmont, CO and the founder and prinicpal hypnotherapist of the Hypnotherapy Center for Positive Change, and active multi-state practice in Colorado, Michigan, New Mexico, and Seattle.  She is a member of the International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association, the American Society of Hypnotist Examiners, and the Colorado Association of Psychotherapists.  In Michigan, she conducts her practice at the Authentic Living Center in Troy, MI.

Acupuncture & Mainstream Medicine

With Beth Kohn, LAc

For thousands of years, the ancient practice of acupuncture has been a mainstay of traditional Chinese medicine. It is one of the oldest healing techniques in the world, and until recently has been niched for those practicing holistic medicine.

However, over the past several years, it has found its way into modern day medicine. Once taboo with many medical physicians, acupuncture is now being used as complementary treatment in areas such as cancer pain, infertility, dentistry and other areas.

The theory behind acupuncture is that the fields of energy within the body can be manipulated using solid, metallic needles, to stimulate healing within the body. This is based on the principle that the body has two opposing and inseparable forces, the yin and yang, that when appropriately balanced can lead to a healthy being. The needles used help connect the disrupted energies within the body and helps them reconnect along the meridians, which are lines between the points within the body.

Several large studies have been carried out over the past decade to understand the effects of acupuncture. The NIH (National Institute of Health) determined that many physicians were beginning to incorporate acupuncture as complementary treatment to certain conditions.

With the increased use of acupuncture, the FDA now regulates the production of acupuncture needles to certified, trained practitioners to ensure safety, sterility and quality of the needles.

“I find that most of my patients are looking for alternatives to pharmaceutical medicines,” says Beth Kohn, is a certified acupuncturist at the Henry Ford Center of Integrated Medicine, in Northville. “They want to find options with fewer side effects.”

The goal for both traditional western medicine and eastern medicine is the same; to help heal a patient’s ailment. Therefore, combining these two differing philosophies can see successful outcomes for many patients. By working in concert, the practitioners can provide quality outcomes for some of the most difficult of patient conditions.

“We try to figure out how we can use these therapies (acupuncture and herbal medicine) wen traditional western medicine and pharmaceuticals don’t work, or people can’t tolerate them,” says Kohn. “We have used traditional eastern medicine on people with neck pain, headaches, menopause and premenstrual syndromes. We work with the (physicians) to determine if it is okay to incorporate this into the patient’s treatment.”

Although there are still some skeptics to using acupuncture as complementary treatment, they are becoming fewer and fewer. In fact, many physicians are learning about these alternative therapies based on the demand from patients.

“Patients are more educated and do more research today. It used to be you would go to the doctor and ask what to do, and the doctor would take care of you. Today, people are doing research and coming to the doctor with alternatives and questions about herbs and other treatments,” says Kohn.

This patient-driven force is part of the reason that many hospitals within metro Detroit are now incorporating this integrative treatment plan in certain disease states.

One example of how the Center for Integrated Medicine worked with a physician involved a patient diagnosed with Hepatitis C, says Kohn. The patient had researched the disease and did not want to receive interferon treatment.

“I talked with the physician and found out where the patient was in the stage of his illness and discussed the patient’s desire to use alternative therapies. We made sure it wouldn’t be dangerous to the patient and the doctor said it was okay. Baseline blood work was done and we set up a three month treatment plan to see where the patient was after that time,” says Kohn. “We made it clear to the patient that if we didn’t see the results we wanted, then he was to move forward with the medical plan.”

Another large area of use of acupuncture and herbal medicine is in patients with cancer or those who have completed treatment, says Kohn. In particular, patients who survived breast cancer or ovarian cancer who can no longer receive estrogenic medications. “These patients want to try alternative therapies so we have the physicians review the herbs and move forward with the treatment,” says Kohn.

Although acupuncture is commonly thought to be used for those who are already sick, there are many people who receive treatments to stave off illness and keep healthy.

“Acupuncture is tapping into our natural ability to relax and heal,” says Kohn. “There is a natural release of endorphins and nerve stimulation. People who get acupuncture consistently report getting sick less and have immune systems that respond well to illness.”

Acupuncture is not covered by all insurances and it is important to consult with your insurance company to see what their policy is on treatment. You should also do your research to make sure that your therapist is certified by a nationally recognized organization before seeking treatment.

Although side effects are rare with acupuncture, there can still be serious consequences if you are not treated by someone who is well-trained.

Beth Kohn, Acupuncturist, L.Ac (CA), MTOM, Dipl. Ac., Dipl. CH is a Staff Acupuncturist at the Henry Ford Center for Integrative Medicine in Novi. She received her Masters Degree Oriental Medicine (MTOM)-Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, in San Diego, and her Bachelors of Science from the University of Maryland. She is California Board Certified in Licensed Acupuncturist & Chinese Herbalist and received her NCCAOM Certification in Acupuncture therapy (Dipl.Ac.), Certification in Chinese Herbal Medicine (Dipl.CH). She is a current member of the Michigan Association for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.

Natural Choices for Menopause

By Laura Kovalcik, D.O., The Downing Clinic

THE CHANGE

Women want solutions that are safe and that work. Often they suffer from hot flashes, mood changes, vaginal dryness, depression, bone loss, heavy and irregular periods, tender breasts, fluid retention, fatigue, thickening waistlines, poor sex drive, mental dullness, and just not feeling like themselves. They want vigor and youthful feelings again.

Starting around age 40, women may begin to have symptoms from hormone changes. During the 50’s, periods stop and hormone levels fall. Menopause begins when there is no period for a year. It is one of life’s great transitions, a marker for the end of fecundity. Some women breeze through it while others suffer emotional and physical upheaval.

TRADITIONAL HRT

For years, physicians obligingly prescribed strong prescription hormones to help reduce symptoms. Most often Premarin and Provera were prescribed. Premarin (made from pregnant horse urine) is many times stronger than human estrogens. Provera (synthetic progesterone substitute) does not protect the breast the way natural progesterone does. When The Women’s Health Initiative study in 2004 showed increased risks of breast cancer from these hormones, many women simply stopped taking them. Often they felt wretched, but neither they nor their physicians knew there were safer options. Bio-identical hormones have been safely used since the 1980’s, and herbal phytohormones have been around for generations.

BIO-IDENTICAL HRT

Three estrogens, and one progesterone, are made by the body. The estrogens are E1, estrone; E2, estradiol; and E3, estriol. When used for hormone replacement, Mexican wild yam or soy provide ring structures that are then completed in the lab to the same identical molecules the body produces. Hence, the term bio-identical hormones.

Estriol is a weak estrogen that competes for binding sites with the two stronger estrogens; estradiol and estrone. When estriol is on a receptor, it keeps the stronger two estrogens from stimulating that receptor. During reproductive years, estrogen is balanced by progesterone in a cyclic fashion. Whereas estrogen stimulates breast and uterine tissue to proliferate, progesterone opposes these effects.

Balanced human hormones speak to receptors in harmony with nature while artificial substitutes are unbalanced and send different and often harmful messages.

MOTHER NATURE DID IT RIGHT!

Jonathan Wright, M.D. first prescribed these same-as-the-body-makes hormones in the 1980’s for treatment of menopausal symptoms. Dr. Wright used estrogens in a balanced fashion mimicking Mother Nature. He always added progesterone to oppose and balance the estrogens. Dr. Wright used these bio-identical hormones for more than 20 years, treating thousands of women, and didn’t see an increase in breast cancer among his patients.

When a woman asks her physician for bio-identical hormones, she will receive a prescription for estrogen balanced with progesterone. Many different dosage forms exist, including capsules, creams, gels, troches. Often other hormones are used, including testosterone, DHEA, and pregnenolone. There is a wide variation in proper doses and needs for individual women, and risk factors need to be evaluated whenever hormones are used.

A key part to managing hormone therapy is routine hormone testing. This helps identify when one of the many hormones is out of balance – which will present symptoms.

HERBS

Women often seek herbal options such as black cohosh, damiana, false unicorn root, vitex agnes casti, dong quai, blue cohosh, red clover, licorice root, red raspberry leaf, motherwort, maca or sage to help with menopausal symptoms. Many of these herbs are active at the estrogen and progesterone receptors, but they are much weaker than the actual hormones. Some women combine herbs with bio-identical hormones, a good choice for women in their 60’s or 70’s. Other women rely upon established homeopathic formulas such as pulsatilla or sepia to help with symptoms. Today’s women have many good choices!

Looking and feeling great also depends upon a good diet along with physical exercise and time out for stress reduction and personal reflection. Women choosing fresh foods, lots of greens, colorful fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, olive oil, fish, poultry, lean meat, and whole grains, will fare the best. Especially helpful are flax seed, soy foods, leafy greens and the broccoli family.

Women today can truly live the poem written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be; the last of life for which the first was made.” The natural choices available today combined with a healthy lifestyle will reward you with a truly enjoyable time of life.

Dr. Laura Kovalcik is board-certified in internal medicine. Her work at the The Downing Clinic focuses on internal and integrative medicine and bio-identical hormones and natural menopause treatments. She graduated from Michigan State University School of Osteopathic Medicine and completed her internship and residency at Genesys Regional Medical Center.