Monthly Archives: December 2011
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Posted: December 29, 2011
Dear Cheryl,
Thanks for sending me the catalogs I requested for my Grief and Loss Workshop, conducted at my church. We had six women attend, all of whom are actively grieving because of serious losses of loved ones. These included deaths by accident, murder and due to Alzheimer ’s disease. None of these women were aware of guided imagery or your audios.
I played the Affirmations portion of my well-used Relieve Depression tape and they were so deeply touched. One widow commented specifically on the reference to “being held in the hands of God” and the group agreed that image is especially comforting. -
Posted: December 29, 2011
Question:
My startle reflex happens maybe 2-3 seconds AFTER someone walks into a room or opens a door unexpectedly. I see who it is, stare at them (usually a family member), and then I jump, scream or cover my face. It is so unsettling when this occurs. Is this a "normal" reaction to years of severe child abuse--that the startle would be so slow to start? Thank you in advance for your response.
Kind regards,Ellie
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Posted: December 29, 2011
Researchers from the Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust in Chorley, UK, investigated the efficacy of a CD-ROM offering Cognitive Behavioral self-help treatment to patients with binge eating disorder and/or bulimia nervosa, many of whom find it hard to access treatment otherwise. Rates of failure to enter treatment and to stay with treatment are extremely high for this population.
Patients referred to a catchment-based NHS outpatient eating disorders service who were assessed and had an eating disorder with a binge-eating component were offered CD-ROM based CBT (Overcoming Bulimia) whilst on the waiting list for individual CBT. -
Posted: December 27, 2011Categories: Inspiring Story
Here’s a moving rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah from an 8 year old Gospel singer with a big voice named Rhema.
Hearing Cohen’s tortured, powerful poetry… his grown-up wrestling with ageless, complicated themes, coming out of this cute little kid’s mouth, is a little weird but moving nonetheless. It’s as if her voice understands what her young brain couldn’t possibly know yet.
Plus, thanks to this video, we finally get to see the lyrics, which I never fully heard before. Yikes.
[Question: Did Cohen purposely conflate Bathsheba (roof-bathing) with Delilah (haircut)? Yeah, I think so. Seems to me the guy knew his Bible, so this has to be his way of speaking universally about temptation, the meeting ground of sexuality and spirituality, and our bent human proclivities toward violence and aggression…. which makes it all the more disorienting, being sung by a kid. But if you close your eyes and forget she’s eight, this is one song that will grab you and refuse to let go.] -
Posted: December 27, 2011
Researchers from the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston conducted an open trial of a group psychological treatment for Veterans with posttraumatic stress and chronic posttraumatic nightmares called "Imagery Rescripting and Exposure Therapy" (IRET).
IRET is a variant of a successful imagery rescripting treatment for civilian trauma-related nightmares that was modified to address the needs of the Veteran population [Ed. Note: This technique is sometimes referred to as Imagery Rehearsal Therapy and/or Nightmare Reprocessing]. -
Posted: December 27, 2011
Question:
Which of your CD's might be appropriate for my new massotherapy client? She is in her early 70’s, very intelligent and talented and is dealing with the anger, fear, and grief of being the caregiver to her historian husband of 45 years, who has brain damage from an accident he suffered 3 years ago.
He has worked to recover a good deal of function, but he can no longer communicate with her on his former level, which she finds so frustrating. She sorely misses her best friend. Some days are ok and others present her with shocking surprises such as finding him trying to read the ingredients of a can upside down. She has received little help from her family.
She is presenting now with gastrointestinal upset and some dermatological symptoms as well. She is responding to massage, acupuncture and biofeedback, but she needs to gently go deeper.
Thank you so much for your help.
Joan -
Posted: December 27, 2011Categories: Update from Health Journeys
Wishing you and yours the very best for 2012.
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Posted: December 17, 2011Categories: Ask Belleruth
A social worker writes, “I work in a fertility center. I am a big fan of guided imagery and I plan to apply for a grant to study the efficacy of guided imagery for helping couples attain their fertility goals.
“My question to you is if you would be willing to create a CD specifically for our clinic so we can have the copy right privileges in order to freely provide these to our patients. If so, would you be able to give me a ballpark idea on how much this would cost? I need to know some specifics for this grant and I have never done this before.”Thank you.
Lorene P. -
Posted: December 17, 2011
Researchers from the Pediatrics Department of Université Laval in Québec, Canada, reviewed the literature to assess the benefits of mind-body interventions during pregnancy for preventing or treating women's anxiety and in influencing perinatal outcomes.
They searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (30 November 2010), MEDLINE (1950 to 30 November 2010), EMBASE (1974 to 30 November 2010), the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) (1 December 2010), ClinicalTrials.gov (December 2010) and Current Controlled Trials (1 December 2010), along with reference lists of selected studies and contacting professionals and authors in the field. -
Posted: December 17, 2011Categories: Inspiring Story
A friend, Dr. George Patrin, recently retired from the Army, just sent me this link – it proved to be another great way to start the day. Click and enjoy!!