Over the years, I have noticed that a number of my clients have been traumatized by either a serious illness or an invasive medical procedure. It was first apparent in anxious kids, including one who had been so traumatized that he had never spoken to a teacher and he was 9 years old. Others were just really “nervous” kids. Just a couple of weeks ago, I spoke at a support group for breast cancer survivors. They spoke about still being fearful, not sleeping at night and wondering if “it” will come back.

Can my work help? Yes. You do not have to live with stress. It’s pretty simple for me to do a couple of private sessions, or you can begin with a CD or download. Fear begins in the subconscious mind, where all emotions start and memories are stored. The subconscious is not under our conscious control. This is important. One man told me “My son is brilliant! Why can’t he just stop his panic attacks?” Because panic attacks are created by the 90% of our mind that is not under our conscious control. If I were to do age regression, I would simple say “Yes, that was a scary time for you. But, you are a survivor and you survived! Almost all the time, you are safe.”

Hypnotherapy and Guided Imagery target the subconscious and make changes at a very basic level. The process is simple, effective and very affordable.

My message is twofold. If you or someone you love is either ill or going through medical procedures, it can be very helpful to address emotions needs at that time. An article I recently read talks about keeping a diary and reviewing it with a counselor when your treatment is over. There are also many options for CD’s prepared by qualified therapists and hypnotherapists. If your treatment has ended and you are feeling anxious, please consider traditional counseling or counseling with a Certified Hypnotherapist or Guided Imagery Practitioner.  There is help for anxiety. That help could be in the form of meditation as opposed to medication.

Jenn, a 12 year old came for a visit because she had abdominal pain each morning that prevented her from going to school.

If you are a parent, you may have faced a similar situation. Your son or daughter seems fine until it’s time to go to school. Then, he or she complains about a stomach ache. Or, even more dramatic, vomits. What do you do?

1. Be aware and supportive. Is something going on at school that needs to be addressed? The belly is rich with nerve endings and can provide us valuable information about what is or isn’t working in our lives.

2. Is there a physical/organic issue? This of course needs to be ruled out.

3. Consider hypnotherapy to manage the underlying stress and allow the subconscious to send more subtle messages.

Psychosomatic illnesses do start in the mind, but, they are not under our conscious control. The subconscious is powerful and wise and has a reason for creating a situation that cannot be ignored. Anxiety expressed in a manner such as I’ve described is an excessive response to a situation and  responds very quickly to hypnotherapy.

Adam both and and the 12 year old girl were helped with just one private session. Adam’s panics went away and he goes to school each day now. Jenn, the 12 year old has made such comments as “It’s weird. I’m happy now!” She goes to school each day. Her family wrote to say that she looks as if the weight of the world has been lifted from her shoulders.

And, I am a happy woman to be able to enhance the lives of these two children!

I’d like to share some stories about children I’ve worked with.

A nine year old male with selective autism came to see me. He had never spoken to a teacher. As a tiny infant, he had endured an invasive medical procedure and was restrained but not sedated. His psychiatrist dismissed him after one year of visits saying nothing could be done.  He came to me for three short sessions and was then able to talk with his teachers. This was wonderful for him since it allowed him to attend classes without a paid assistant being with him during the whole school day.

A 6 year old girl who had been severely traumatized when she witnessed the result of a violent crime came to me with nightmares, bed wetting, separation anxiety and acting out. She came for 2 sessions and  was sleeping through the night, staying dry and stayed overnight with a relative without her Mom.

A bright young 12 year old girl was brought to me by her grandmother who was her guardian while the girl’s mother was in prison. The child had experienced all the stresses involved with living in a very dysfunctional family, so dysfunctional that her mother ended up in jail. She saw me for one session. A couple of weeks later, her grandmother went to a parent teacher conference and interrupted the teacher as the teacher was singing the praises of her granddaughter. “Wait. Are you talking about my granddaughter, Jodi?” “Yes. Something shifted recently and she is like a different child.”

How can changes like this happen? Having observed people who are especially anxious, it seems that the common link is that they have all experienced a trauma in their past and the anxiety they experience day to day is simply an exaggerated response to everyday stresses. By reframing the past, releasing fears, and asking the subconscious to communicate in a very gentle way, these changes happen. It’s a wonderful thing to resolve issues early in life from the standpoint of better parent/child relationships and a happier child.

Many of the suggestions I use are found in my recording called “I Am A Super Kid”. Or, if you are local to Greenland, NH, I can provide a private session for your child.

Atlantic Complementary Medical Solutions The recording is available on “Sound Mind Sound Body Corporate Wellness Plan”. You may check it out for free until February 18, 201. Log in as a member with user name of ACMSBlog  password guest.

Sound Mind is my product which allows anyone with access to the Internet access to my hypnotherapy and guided imagery recordings. Let me share just two stories that show the power of both stress and hypnotherapy.

A counselor at a very large and successful EAP is working with a woman who was held up at gunpoint. She had been doing well until recently when she saw a story about violence on the news. The counselor gave her an assignment to listen to “Peace of Mind” from the Sound Mind library. The woman replied with the following email: “You don’t know how much this link has helped me! I can actually sleep at night! Thank you SOOOOOOOOO!!!!! much”

A woman who is marketing the program with me called a couple of weeks ago asking about sharing access to Sound Mind with  a 35 year old man with Chronic Lyme Disease. “His muscles are in spasm 24/7 and because of that, he is in a wheelchair. He can’t walk. He has two toddlers and would love to be able to pick them up and play with them. Can’t we just ‘relax’ him?” Thinking that we had nothing to lose, I gave him access to the recordings. Within 2 weeks, I got a call saying that for the first time in one year, he was able to walk up the stairs with his wife’s assistance.

Most of us have lost sight of the fact that stress is more than just an uncomfortable feeling. It has many causes and many life changing effects. Most importantly, it can be managed. The most powerful antidote for stress is daily meditation. It is simple and requires only the investment of 20 or so minutes daily. If you are looking for an additional cost effective and convenient way to relax, take a look at “Sound Mind Sound Body Corporate Wellness Plan” for yourself or your company.  Enjoy this wonderful day.

Let me share some statistics:

The American Psychological Association published a study of 1,848 adults.
Their findings include the following:
• 77% experienced physical symptoms of stress during the last month
• 73% experienced psychological stress during the last month
• 74% find work a significant source of stress
• 48% of adults lay awake at night because of stress
• 43% overeat or eat unhealthy foods because of stress
• 55% reported varying degrees of lost productivity while at work during the past month
• Only 7% have sought professional support during the past year

These stats along with our current “health” care system have stimulated a lot of thinking about this.  I am presenting  a plan to help millions of people (employees and dependents) manage stress in order to stay healthy and heal faster if they become ill. My plan allows completely confidential access to help.

My new product is called “Sound Mind Sound Body Corporate Wellness Plan”.  It offers downloads of my Guided Imagery (hypnotherapy) CD’s for a variety of challenges.   Employers choose to either pay a nominal fee per employee per month for unlimited downloads, or pay per download.  Sound Mind is in the Beta Test stage and so far people love it. It will be available for purchase February 1, 2011.

My first prospect is a large, privately held EAP (Employee Assistance Program) whose goals and philosophy are very similar to mine.  We differ in that the owner, Chuck Nechtem, understood the importance of the mind body connection  27 years before I did. One of their in house counselors has started sharing the downloads with their clients and is convinced they should be offered to all 5 million of their covered employees.  I agree.

You may already know that in 1958, there was enough research and evidence using hypnotherapy for the American Medical association to approve it as a valuable healing modality to complement Western Medicine. It hasn’t yet been used to its fullest potential. I am doing my best change that.  It is powerful, simple, comfortable, without side effects and cost effective.

If you’d like to learn more, either check out the the Sound Mind Sound Body Information Packet or be in touch with me.  I look forward to helping you improve productivity, morale, and decrease presenteeism, sick days, and Workers Compensation Claims.

As you may know, I am an RN and certified hypnotherapist. Most of my private clients come to me to change a stubborn habit such as overeating, smoking , hair pulling, nail biting or biting their lip or the inside of their mouth. There is almost always a laundry list of changes they wish to make in addition to their  primary goal that includes exercising, sleeping at night, relaxing, feeling comfortable speaking with others.  And they always add “I know it’s a tall order.” To their great surprise, most of the requested changes are made after the first visit.

How can I do that?  It’s actually very simple.  Habits and behaviors are a response to an uncomfortable emotion.  We feel stressed and we…….. fill in the blank.  We overeat, drink alcohol, smoke, bite our fingernails.  We feel bored and we have a favorite activity to comfort us. During the first session, I simply ask the subconscious to communicate in a different way. I ask that when it needs attention, it be in touch with the conscious mind in a gentle way that can be understood and acted upon.  This works.  We then work on the underlying issues  (almost always stress) which are also usually resolved quickly and comfortably.

It’s my goal to help many thousands of people lead healthier, happier lives.  So I have a series of professionally recorded Guided Imagery CD’s.  You can make the same changes my private clients do by simply purchasing and listening to one of my CD’s.

Try “Peace of Mind” or  “Creating Optimal Health and Wellness” CD’s. A minimal investment of time and money can allow you to make big changes  in your life.

Happy Holidays.

Exciting things are going on here in Seacoast New Hampshire.  Chuck Nechtem is visiting this week and doing a presentation at the Sheraton Harborside, Portsmouth, NH.  If you are a business owner or someone who counsels businesses and have an interest in learning more about Chuck’s services and how they can benefit your company’s bottom line, please e-mail me.  sharon@acmswellness.com

Charles (Chuck) Nechtem, is the founder and president of Charles Nechtem Associates, Inc., one of the ten largest providers of Employee Assistance Programs in the country. Chuck and his staff constantly strive to improve services in innovative ways to fulfill clients’ needs in an ever evolving workplace, financial and regulatory environment. Currently, Charles Nechtem Associates serves over 1000 companies with over five million employees. His proven approach has resulted in significant cost savings for his clients

Chuck is also the author of a book, “Chuck It:  The Revolutionary Path to Success and Happiness,” in which he outlines the three core principles that have led to his business success:

(1)  Get to know the company you are working with.

(2)  Help their employees find personal satisfaction in their work and home lives.

(3)  Give companies not only the services they need, but also the quality they deserve.

The goal of Charles Nechtem Associates, Inc. is to exceed these three principles in every way. With this motivation and a greater vision, Chuck established himself as one of the pioneers of health and wellness in the workplace.

Chuck has much wisdom to share and is a gifted speaker and writer.

This past week, I saw first hand how many people are stressed. .  Every client who walked into my office was stressed. People came to me because of smoking, overeating, vomiting when it was time to head off to school.  With the exception of that young student, my clients didn’t even acknowledge that they were feeling stressed.  It was very apparent to me because of the way they spoke.  They just seem to take this for granted. I t’s pretty amazing, but not really surprising.

There are so many challenges in our culture right now.  We have people without jobs stressed about finances and finding another job. Then there are those with jobs who may be overworked and wondering how long their jobs will last.  Gallup-Healthways reports that only 47.7% of those polled feel good about their work.

Many have kids and parents to care for and place great demands on themselves and others. The Gallup-Healthways Study “Facets of Well-Being Across the Age Spectrum in the American Population” shows that people age 44 to 64 have an “intermediate” wellness score, lower than people both older and younger.

Why is too much stress harmful?  Because what we are talking about is the “Fight or Flight” response as a chronic state as opposed to the response to an “acute” situation.  It wasn’t meant to be used in that way.  Think of the effect of excess stress.  We don’t sleep at night; we overeat, may use alcohol or cigarettes to cope. We have more accidents, more illnesses, challenges in our relationships. This takes a huge toll from the standpoint of quality of life and financial resources.

The challenges are real.  The economy is the source of much worry.  What can we do?

In  my opinion, pay attention to the basics:

1.       Meditation.  Try practicing meditation twice daily. Before you dismiss this as being to “out there” for you, consider the fact that in addition to being embraced by people of many faiths and belief systems for thousands of years, the value has been quantified by Western Medicine and its advanced imaging equipment. We know that the mind has “neuroplasticity” and, just like a muscle, can be exercised into better shape. Meditation is simple, effective and requires no financial investment.  It takes only a few minutes twice daily.

2.       Focus on what is great about you and your life.  Have you ever noticed that 90% of your life can be wonderful and yet  where do your thoughts gravitate?  The 10% that is not.  Make lists of your accomplishments, positive skills and attributes, dreams and all that is good in your life.  Allow the challenges you face to take a back seat to the abundance you have.  It is not only possible but very helpful

3.       Feel as happy as possible.  You may have noticed that happy people are also successful. University of California researchers in a meta analysis of 275,000 participants found that hat people with “frequent positive affect” are more likely to be successful  in both their professional and personal lives. “It seems that happiness leads to success, not vice versa.”   Appreciate simple pleasures.  Do your best to continue to spend wisely on things that make you feel truly happy.

4.       Surround yourself with people who are upbeat and encouraging.  Words have power. Allow yourself to be inspired by the words of others.

5.       Read motivating books or encouraging books.

6.       You may want to consider one or two hypnotherapy sessions to release outdated and limiting beliefs that may be contributing to your stress.

7.       Sound Body:  Exercise, eat nutrition packed foods, get adequate rest. Make sure you get plenty of sunshine. We are just starting to document the benefits of Vitamin D, the Sunshine Vitamin. A sound body contributes to a sound mind and vice versa.

I’d like the take away message to be that you are in control.  Feelings change based on your perspective.  Looking for that  “silver lining” can be very empowering.

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Have a peaceful week.