Monthly Archives: September 2013

Imagine for a moment, your ADHD child completely relaxed and calm, breathing deeply and extremely focused on an amazingly vivid image being described. Now, imagine that the imagery not only helped your child be more in control and feel better about himself, but also helped improve grades, focus and concentration and even helped homework get done without the fuss. Imagine a happier, calmer child. This is the same child - your child - after practicing regularly with guided imagery, specifically tailored to ADHD and very active children.
 
Guided imagery works with the power of your child’s subconscious mind.  It works to heal broken or lowered self-esteem, and teach your child positive solutions for everyday living. It can help your child understand the gifts that lie beneath the label of ADHD.  Using specific imagery created for ADHD kids, nightly listening will help your child increase self-esteem and learn to manage everyday challenges. Your child will actually get to mentally experience situations and results in a positive way – learning how to respond and react in healthy ways that reinforce the gifts while lessening some of more challenging characteristics of ADHD. Children get to feel more in control, while learning how to be in control of themselves. They learn about taking responsibility for actions, thinking things through before acting, managing bodily movements and how to stay focused and concentrated – all by using relaxing guided imagery before bed.

We just found this recent posting under a Hot Research study on imagery and pain. It’s about how guided imagery helped someone with a lot of pain. We thought it was worth a second posting.  Here goes:

BR,

Could you recommend one of your CD's that could help me with my lack of household organizational skills???

Thanks.
Janey

Answer:

You know, Janey, this may be one of the few instances when I think guided imagery wouldn’t be such a great help… or at least not the first place to turn to.

It seems to me that organizing yourself better around your household chores would require more left-brain skills, not a dreamy guided imagery or hypnosis approach. 

Researchers from Maastricht University, The Netherlands, compared the effects of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) with IPT (Interpersonal Psychotherapy – a form of therapy that focuses on relationships) for treating panic disorder with agoraphobia.

Ninety-one adult patients with a primary diagnosis of panic disorder with agoraphobia were randomized to either a CBT condition or IPT.  The primary outcome measured was panic attack frequency, along with a behavioral test.

Secondary outcomes were panic and agoraphobia severity, panic-related thoughts, interpersonal functioning and general psychopathology. Measures were taken at 0, 3 and 4 months (baseline, end of treatment and follow-up).

Hello everyone. 

Belleruth is traveling in Uzbekistan.  Since she has little or no internet access, I am filling in this week with the Health Journeys Update.

Fall has arrived in Northeast Ohio.  It’s no longer comfortable to sit outside on the deck and listen to nature while drinking the morning coffee and reviewing emails.  A good reminder to all of us here at Health Journeys that the holidays will be here before we know what happened, so we’ve been busy putting together our next catalog.  We expect to be mailing it around the end of October.

Because many of you feel that the choice of a guided imagery audio is a very personal one, best left to the recipient, we are often asked if gift cards are available.  We are very pleased to tell you, that at long last we have the programs in place to offer Health Journeys gift cards. Initially, we will offer gift cards in denominations of $15, $30, $50 and $100.  Since this is a new program for us, we will be using your feedback to tailor the program to meet your needs, so if you have comments or suggestions please let us know.

“Natural forces within us are the true healers,” Hippocrates

Even Hippocrates, the world’s first medical scientist, believed the human body could only be restored to optimum health, what he called homeostasis, through the natural healing forces inside the body. Before his time, physical ails were treated mostly by casting out demons and removing evil spells. Hippocrates related the workings of the human body to the ailments of the patient by placing his head on the patient’s chest to listen to the heartbeat and studying the bodily fluids, including bile, urine, blood and sputum, to prescribe corresponding herbal remedies. His innovative way of treating illness by taking the practice of medicine from the mystical to the physical earned him a title as the Father of Medicine, but even Hippocrates believed true healing is a result of the body’s natural healing forces.

For example, most antibiotics don’t actually kill harmful bacteria. They simply keep the pathogens from reproducing, allowing the immune system to provide fighter cells that surround and kill the invading forces. In Health Journeys’ Healthy Immune System Belleruth explains this process, as well as the body’s ability to prevent pathogens from setting up shop and eradicate unhealthy cells before they can cause trouble. The rich imagery helps listeners make the most of those healing forces. The Healthy Immune System program is a favorite of people who want to preserve their good health, others who are facing physical challenges and those who are recovering after illness or surgery.

Belleruth and HJ Staff,

Do you have any titles for burn victims beyond the general Relieve Pain title?  There is a 14 year old, significantly burned young man going through recovery experiencing excruciating pain, whom I would like to help.

James

Dear James,

There have been several studies showing that guided imagery, hypnosis and other mind-body methods can boost burn healing, accelerate joint motility and provide relief from the considerable pain and itching involved in recovery.  So I’m happy to make some suggestions for your teenager.

The first thing that comes to mind is Carol Ginandes' excellent Rapid Recovery from Injury - a 6 session hypnosis series that has some powerful images and suggestions around 'dialing down' pain, while addressing recovery and healing. It's very well done and highly effective for most people of all ages. 

This note was handed to BR by a participant at a workshop:

Eight years ago I lost my son, Brian, when he was 23 years old.  Some time afterwards, I found your Grief imagery.  I listened to it many times over, and it was a lifeline.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

My experience with the imagery not only helped me with my loss, but inspired me to change careers.  I am now a hypnotherapist. Thank you again!

I am also a hospice volunteer and a monitor on an online grief support group.  I recommend imagery to all.  

J. C.

Researchers from the Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, conducted a randomized, single-blind, controlled, clinical trial to see if the frequency of hot flashes (as well as night sweats and disrupted sleep) could be reduced by hypnosis.
 
Prescribing estrogen and progesterone has declined, due to concerns about possible health risks, and alternatives are being sought to help manage symptoms.
 
The study involved 187 postmenopausal women who reported a minimum of seven hot flashes per day or at least 50 hot flashes per week.

Eligible participants received five weekly sessions of either clinical hypnosis or structured-attention control.  Primary outcomes were hot flash frequency (subjectively and physiologically recorded) and hot flash score assessed by daily diaries on weeks 2 to 6 and week 12.

Well, hooray!  So, finally, after many false starts and unfortunate blips, most of them involving my windpipe, NE Ohio allergies and some wacko travel schedules, our new guided imagery recording for Concentration, Focus and Learning (Including ADD, ADHD & LD) is on its way to being finished - in the can, as our irreplaceable sound engineer, Bruce Gigax of Audio Recording Studios would say.
 
I just heard the narrative with the music in a nearly complete mix at the studio yesterday, and was delighted with how well it sounded.  And, as usual, the amazing Bruce worked wonders with my aging vocal chords.   He keeps acquiring more and more exotic software for smoothing and rounding out my voice, removing sibilance and scratchiness, and equalizing the volume.  I don’t know how he stands such dreary, boring, endless work – but, he does and wow, is he good!