Monthly Archives: November 2010

A few years a go I was deployed to Iraq with the Armed Forces.  During my deployment, I saw and was involved in many things that still haunt me.  With this Guided Imagery for PTSD, one on one and group counseling, I have been able to cope better with my trauma.

On the first occasion that I first heard Belleruth Naperstak's imagery to release grief and anger, I was awstruck on how deeply it touched me and fellow soliders.  Although, the real difference that captured my attention was that I was grouped in a group of all men, WWII, Korean and Vietnam era veterans.  These were tough minded, successful, men.  At the end of this guided imagery, they were all crying because this had struck them at the heart just as it did for me.  The relief on there faces, I imagine was just the same as mine.

Hello again.

For our service people over the holidays, we’re sure that one of the absolute best, most useful gifts you could possibly give is some good, old, stress-reducing, resilience-promoting, health-generating guided imagery…. CDs if you want something wrapped up and pretty that they can hold in their hands; or a download for their MP3’s if you’re worried about getting it to them on time (it takes about 2 weeks to get CDs to Iraq or Afghanistan) or breakage downrange.  If you want to really make it simple and easy with one stop listening, send a Playaway!

I mean, really, what could be better than some potent (yet drug-free) assistance for insomnia, anxiety, depression, panic attacks, anger outbursts and even posttraumatic stress? And if your son or sister or friend got a devastating “Dear John” letter while serving overseas, or if a relationship came to an end after an uneasy reunion back home – this happens, we all know – we’re very encouraged by the feedback we’ve been getting for our new Heartbreak, Abandonment & Betrayal imagery, for lending a lot of support with a terrible situation like this.

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore investigated the efficacy of adding qigong to a residential treatment program for substance abuse. 

Qigong, which blends relaxation, breathing, guided imagery, inward attention, and mindfulness to elicit a tranquil, healing state, was introduced into a short-term residential treatment program.  At first clients chose to participate in qigong meditation on a voluntary basis during their evening break.  Later they chose to participate in either meditation or Stress Management and Relaxation Training (SMART) twice a day as part of the scheduled treatment.

Weekly questionnaires were completed by 248 participants for up to 4 weeks, to assess changes in treatment outcomes.  Participants in the meditation group were also assessed for quality of meditation to evaluate the association between quality and treatment outcome.

A friend found this encouraging message about using guided imagery for help with chemical dependency posted at a website called How Cocaine Destroys Lives for people seeking recovery from cocaine use.  

It’s in the context of a review of our CD for Alcohol and Other Drugs, and it’s the kind of comment you love to hear, because it’s the best possible outcome - that the imagery is not just helping with the substance abuse (although that by itself is fine with us), but with more global issues and attitudes as well - kind of like the proverbial halo effect. 

So thanks, A. Baranowski, wherever you are, for your hopeful words and kind assessment!  I am glad you do not think I’m a silly person!! Same backatcha!! I wish you continued success and joy!!

Dear Belleruth,

I suffered two big traumatic experience at a very young age.  My father died when I was two, my mother when I was eight.  

My brother & I went to live with my mom's sister, my aunt & my uncle.  For the most part, it was a good experience, although she was young & having children of her own.  I quickly became the babysitter, maid, nanny, as she worked part time.  

Jealousy set in as I was in high school and was more involved in sports & school events and a boyfriend.   I married early and have a wonderful marriage and 3 great boys of my own now - the twins are seniors.

Hello, again!

If you have a minute, please check out our new holiday gift packs and baskets – Cindy and the staff are especially stoked over what they put together this year - and at big savings, too!  

For the squeezers, there’s the Kiddie Skill-Building Gift Pack - a super-fun pack that teaches self-mastery to preschool kids through grade school.  It combines two extraordinary resources that ingeniously use singing and rhyming to get their message across:  Deb Weiss-Gelmi’s Sing Song Yoga DVD is a totally engaging, easy-to-follow yoga video that channels kids’ random energy into strength, focus and flexibility; while Roxanne Daleo’s best-selling From a Grain of Sand CD uses song and story to teach stress management, self-acceptance and a positive approach to life’s challenges. Both use real kids to help get the message across, and there’s a yummy-soft, floppy stuffed animal* on hand for snuggling between growth spurts. Normally $48.85, this is holiday priced at $34.95 - a nifty $14 savings.

This 106-year-old Holocaust survivor is some kind of miracle - a combination of inborn sweetness of temperament, musical talent, and great genetic good luck. Somehow she was able to insulate herself from absorbing the horror around her in the concentration camp, through her love of playing music… check her out on this Youtube video.

Question:

Do you have any info on helping someone with posttraumatic stress disorder who is overmedicating himself with alcohol? My dearest husband, my best friend since high school, the sweetest man on Earth, came back from Afghanistan not himself at all.  He is angry. He spaces out.  He loses his temper over nothing.  He is plagued with nightmares. Sometimes he sobs and cries tears in his sleep.  He puts away more beer each night (afternoon) than I thought was humanly possible.  This is not the man I married. This is an empty shell.  Is the man I love in there somewhere?  I am so sad, because I feel I have lost him, even though his physical body came back to me.  I am grateful for any suggestions..

Vanessa

Researchers from St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, Australia, measured the efficacy of an internet-based, clinician-assisted, cognitive behavioral treatment program (The Panic Program) for panic disorder (with agoraphobia) as compared to waitlist controls…

Fifty-nine individuals suffering from panic disorder with agoraphobia were randomly assigned to a treatment group or to a waitlist control group. Treatment group participants completed the Panic program, comprising of six on-line lessons, weekly homework assignments, weekly email contact from a psychiatry registrar, and contributed to a moderated online discussion forum with other participants.

Hello again,

I can’t tell you how many times we’re asked by people who work with the military, “How come your stuff isn’t available through Military One Source??”.  

We get asked this by active troops and their families; by social workers and chaplains on bases; by docs at military hospitals; by mental health and health professionals who work with the various Transitioning Warrior and Wounded Warrior programs; and by staff at crisis call centers set up for returning warfighters.  

And the irony is that while some heavy hitter DoD people - at DICoE and NICoE, at Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Hospital - ask this question, too, it appears that the hold-up is somewhere in the bowels of the very same DoD that hosts these institutions - lost in some bureaucratic hell perhaps?  

It makes us crazy.

I have to say, we’ve been working hard to cut through the red tape. Every week our superstar guy out in the field, Jerry Miller, reaches out and gently, charmingly and persistently prods, goads, entices, reminds, gooses and pitches the various powers that be. They say they’re working on it.  Meantime, we know this stuff helps with the most wretched symptoms of PTSD - we know this from Jennifer Strauss’ randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials, and we know this from providers in every branch of the service.