Monthly Archives: February 2012

I’ve been coming into my neighborhood cleaning store to drop off or pick up clothing for years.  I usually chat with the same attractive, caramel-colored, 40-something woman at the counter.  We talk about politics, children, movies, travel - you name it – for about 5 or 10 minutes, and then we both move on.  

From all these brief, casual, accumulated moments – moments that are the glue of any real neighborhood – I’ve come to like this no-baloney woman quite a lot.  

One thing I began to notice a few months ago, however, was that she was starting to look pretty haggard.  And her conversation was getting bleak. 

Question:

Belleruth, first, I have used your visualizations for 12 years and I got through major severe depression with you. Thank you!

I am Puerto Rican and my therapist then introduced me to your wonderful, blessed, special work. I want to be like you when I grow up!  Hahahaha!

I am a likable, sweet, social person, who is loved by her family and friends, but I seem to not be favored in the work environment.

As much as I wish to be a strong team worker, I struggle so much. And I honestly do my very best to be accepted and supported by coworkers, with not a lot of success. I really do not know what I am doing wrong.

I am a science teacher, love my students, love my work, but just never seem to click wherever I work. It is very frustrating.

What visualization would you recommend? Thank you!

Rosa

Researchers from IRCCS Eugenio Medea in Lecco, Italy, evaluated the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for children and adolescents with psychological impacts from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). In addition, they assessed the predictive value of certain clinical variables on treatment outcome.

Forty children, aged 4 to18, were included in the study. Twenty-eight patients received CBT at the Institute, while 12 patients did not receive any treatment at all and were counted as controls. Measuring instruments included the CBCL/4-18 and the VABS, and were administered to parents at the beginning of the study and after 12 months.

Thank you all so much for last week’s explosion of App Wisdom in response to our request to please lead us out of the digital wilderness. The outpouring of smarts that we got from you all was amazing and extremely helpful. We think we get it now. and we’re readjusting our approach accordingly. You’ll see more on these changes in the weeks to come.

So, flush with success from our last query, we’ve now got another one for you.  We’re looking for an experienced Rock Star Sales Consultant with a proven track record, who can bring guided imagery into corporate and institutional settings with assurance, integrity, know-how, creativity, strategy and, yes, even panache.  

Mind you, we aren’t looking to hire a good sales person.  We’re only going to hire a great one. 

Question:

Hi. This is a question for Belleruth. At the suggestion of a friend, I've been listening to the Immune System  guided imagery available to Kaiser Permanente members.  I love your voice and music, but I've been changing the imagery so that it's not warlike/violent.

For example, I imagine the fighter cells putting a golden light vortex around infected cells, bad bacteria, viruses, etc. and then sending the light into the earth.

I told my friend how I've changed the imagery and she wondered if that imagery would work since the immune system actually is warlike and violent.

What do you think?

Fran

Researchers from Medical Department Oslo University Hospital in Norway investigated the impact of self-administered relaxation, guided imagery and positive affirmations during the latter part of pregnancy on the experience of childbirth.  

Subjects with no prior training were given a CD and accompanying booklet and compared with treatment as usual in this randomized, controlled clinical trial.

Amount of pain and anxiety were measured during different stages of birth and after delivery. Post-delivery Wellbeing (Edmonton Scale), pain, anxiety, Apgar score, duration of birth, complications and degree of anesthesia/analgesic used were recorded. Those in the CD-intervention group also reported how many times they had practiced.

A friend just sent me this terrific video of a TED presentation by Kathryn Schutz on Being Wrong.  I hope you have time to watch it (it’s about 18 minutes), because it will open up your thinking and goose your creativity.  Really. 

Being Wrong by Kathryn Schulz

OK, good friends and fellow guided imagery aficionados, we’ve got a lively debate going over here amongst our staff and various consultants, and maybe you could help us settle this. I’m serious. Would those of you who are familiar with using and purchasing apps be our focus group for a second here?

I’ll start from the beginning.  Our very gung-ho and generous techie dude, Jon Lorenzo, (who has better things to do, because he runs this hardcore computer system solutions company called Incom) decided that we should have apps of our guided imagery.  

So he made one for us, on his own time, of our Sleep imagery, which he named Sleep Help.  Then he got it into the iTunes app store.  It’s basically the same thing as our Healthful Sleep imagery, only it also comes with tips on sleep hygiene and extra content along those lines. 

{mosimage}Hats off to Pat Alandydy, RN, O.R. nurse, Reiki Master, health educator and integrative care innovator, who first approached the administration of Portsmouth Regional Hospital in Portsmouth NH back in 1995, to establish integrative care services, starting with Reiki – part of her general mission to amp up the humanity, direct caring and high-touch healing for surgery patients, as counterweight to all the new high-tech machinery and methodology that was starting to define the hospital experience.

Some of the tools and techniques Pat introduced stuck and some came and went.  But changes gradually began seeping into the culture of the hospital and the staff. Then, Pat says, integrative care really popped with the arrival of Anne Jamieson, PRH’s dynamic, new CEO, who is also a nurse, attorney and gifted administrator.   

The resulting new Integrative Care Service at PRH now includes Reiki, acupuncture, massage, biofeedback, nutrition education, reflexology, relaxation classes, yoga, meditation and even a Relaxation Hotline for patients, families and staff – you call a number and get a few minutes of guided breath work or relaxing music when you need some quick, guided chilling.  (You can dial 603 433 5151 to check it out).

In addition, Pat is part of a hospital-wide committee to create a true healing environment that celebrates and supports the convergence of mind, body and spirit for  health care providers. The goal is to help them stay connected to the joy and sacredness of their healing work, while functioning in the task-driven environment of today’s hospital.  Yep, that’s the kind of nurse or doc we all want to have looking after us.  

Thanks to Pat (and the triple-threat CEO) for sticking with her mission and helping to get more holistic, compassionate, patient centered care at PRH – and for helping to look after the hardworking staff too. 

{mosimage}TriaDea Integrative Health Care is a new company that fertility pioneer, Alice Domar PhD, has put together with Tami Quinn and Beth Heller, co-owners of Pulling Down the Moon, to help make integrative care (including yoga, nutrition, acupuncture, meditation and guided imagery) easily adopted by medical practices.

What they do is offer services and products, both by way of a website that provides patients with info on the latest research and trends in integrative health, along with a chance to purchase vetted products such as vitamins, supplements, books, CDs and DVD’s relevant to their health issues and goals.; and in addition, they provide clinical training to those who want to add yoga, massage, nutrition, mind/body, and psychological counseling to their practice.
 
TriaDea means three divine gifts.  The name stands for the company’s mission: empathic patient care, cutting edge science, and good business practice, so that so that any practice can provide new integrative services to their patients, and in doing so, can help make integrative care the new standard of care.