While in France recently I met with a Toulouse therapist and his wife who are both TAT professionals. In the course of our lunch together, they spoke of not wanting to raise their son, now 13 months old, in France because of the restrictive, rigid school system.
What do you think of this article from Psychology Today?
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/suffer-the-children/201203/why-french-kids-dont-have-adhd
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013
Drugging Our Kids
Several years ago, I met with a woman who had recently moved to this area. She and her husband had one son who was 7 at the time.
The woman was having a lot of anxiety, stemming in large part from having moved 11 times since the birth of her son. Her husband's career success was based in large part on their family moving frequently.
In the course of our initial intake, this woman mentioned that her son was going to be medicated for ADD/ADHD. Apparently, his private school teacher felt that the boy was a disruptive influence in her class because he had difficulty sitting still. This teacher had referred the boy to a physician who prescribed medication, without even doing a full evaluation. I got the feeling that the physician in question was the go-to resource for this school because of his liberal prescribing of medications to make behavior problems "go away."
I asked my client to reconsider the physician's recommendation, pointing out that if she was having a hard time coping with all the moves, her little boy may be experiencing similar stress that he had even fewer tools to cope with than she. She said she'd never thought of that.
At our second appointment, I asked about her son's situation. She said that she had spoken to his teacher about my concerns. The teacher's only response was to say that if the boy wasn't going to be medicated, he had no place at that school.
I was horrified and said so. I suggested that with such policies, perhaps this was not the right school for her son after all.
After that second session, I never saw that woman again.
I'm not qualified to assess whether a child needs to be medicated or not. But neither are many of the people making that determination. I urge parents to try every other avenue of help for a child struggling with emotional problems before turning to medication.
For those of you who are really interested in this subject, here is a stellar documentary on the subject. Thanks, as always, to Michael Ellner, for the link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26e5PqrCePk#at=115
The woman was having a lot of anxiety, stemming in large part from having moved 11 times since the birth of her son. Her husband's career success was based in large part on their family moving frequently.
In the course of our initial intake, this woman mentioned that her son was going to be medicated for ADD/ADHD. Apparently, his private school teacher felt that the boy was a disruptive influence in her class because he had difficulty sitting still. This teacher had referred the boy to a physician who prescribed medication, without even doing a full evaluation. I got the feeling that the physician in question was the go-to resource for this school because of his liberal prescribing of medications to make behavior problems "go away."
I asked my client to reconsider the physician's recommendation, pointing out that if she was having a hard time coping with all the moves, her little boy may be experiencing similar stress that he had even fewer tools to cope with than she. She said she'd never thought of that.
At our second appointment, I asked about her son's situation. She said that she had spoken to his teacher about my concerns. The teacher's only response was to say that if the boy wasn't going to be medicated, he had no place at that school.
I was horrified and said so. I suggested that with such policies, perhaps this was not the right school for her son after all.
After that second session, I never saw that woman again.
I'm not qualified to assess whether a child needs to be medicated or not. But neither are many of the people making that determination. I urge parents to try every other avenue of help for a child struggling with emotional problems before turning to medication.
For those of you who are really interested in this subject, here is a stellar documentary on the subject. Thanks, as always, to Michael Ellner, for the link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26e5PqrCePk#at=115
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Savvy Clients
Just finished speaking with a young professional musician. From one colleague she had heard that EFT is effective in relieving specific fears. From another colleague she had heard that hypnosis is helpful in improving confidence. I was so happy to be able to offer her both modalities.
More and more these days the people who call me do so with specific information about how the techniques I work with may help them. The good word is spreading fast and "mind-body healing" is practically a mainstream concept.
Having spent much of my early career reassuring people that hypnosis wouldn't make them quack and waddle like ducks (unless they specifically wanted to for some reason), this growing awareness and acceptance is very,very exciting.
I can hardly keep up with all the books and articles being written on this subject now. Check this one out:
More and more these days the people who call me do so with specific information about how the techniques I work with may help them. The good word is spreading fast and "mind-body healing" is practically a mainstream concept.
Having spent much of my early career reassuring people that hypnosis wouldn't make them quack and waddle like ducks (unless they specifically wanted to for some reason), this growing awareness and acceptance is very,very exciting.
I can hardly keep up with all the books and articles being written on this subject now. Check this one out:
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Back Just In Time
Having just returned from France through SFO, yesterday's plane crash really grabbed my attention. Just reading the related articles in this morning's paper got my empathic channels going.
When something like this happens, I relate to the people on the plane, the friends and relatives of those who died or were injured, the people who watched the crash from the ground, and the passengers whose unrelated travels were interrupted or cancelled. Why? Because flying phobias are often born or deepened in those very incidents and my client files are filled with these stories.
Years ago I worked with a woman who had just missed her flight out of the Denver airport. As she stood at the gate watching the plane she was supposed to be on take off, it crashed right in front of her. She had to be heavily medicated in order to board a flight home when flights were once again available and suffered for years from horrific flying phobias.
As with so many of my clients, she came to me as a last resort, without any real hope of getting relief from her crippling fears.
Her description of the crash was crystalized in memory and full of sensory details. Since the subconscious has no sense of time and since part of her had frozen as she watched the crash, this made perfect sense.
Using EFT (The Emotional Freedom Technique) we slowly, gently and methodically dissolved the hold the experience had on her, moment by moment, memory by memory until she could recount the entire experience from beginning to end without any negative emotion attached.
She thought it was a miracle. I knew it was just EFT doing its magic.
When something like this happens, I relate to the people on the plane, the friends and relatives of those who died or were injured, the people who watched the crash from the ground, and the passengers whose unrelated travels were interrupted or cancelled. Why? Because flying phobias are often born or deepened in those very incidents and my client files are filled with these stories.
Years ago I worked with a woman who had just missed her flight out of the Denver airport. As she stood at the gate watching the plane she was supposed to be on take off, it crashed right in front of her. She had to be heavily medicated in order to board a flight home when flights were once again available and suffered for years from horrific flying phobias.
As with so many of my clients, she came to me as a last resort, without any real hope of getting relief from her crippling fears.
Her description of the crash was crystalized in memory and full of sensory details. Since the subconscious has no sense of time and since part of her had frozen as she watched the crash, this made perfect sense.
Using EFT (The Emotional Freedom Technique) we slowly, gently and methodically dissolved the hold the experience had on her, moment by moment, memory by memory until she could recount the entire experience from beginning to end without any negative emotion attached.
She thought it was a miracle. I knew it was just EFT doing its magic.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Shift Happens!
Yesterday afternoon a client had a remarkable healing experience.
She is a woman of many talents and abilities and yet struggles with a very low sense of her own worth. She has fallen prey to bullies and users because of it.
Her House of Healing (accessed through deep hypnosis) was a crystal cave. As soon as she got there she encountered an old magician-like figure who told her that she "can do the magic."
When she walked a very long Hallway of Many Doors, the one she opened was to a room with a treatment table in the center and two angels. She was told that somewhere along the line she got "rewired, reprogrammed," and that they were there to fix that now. According to my client's account, they "pulled out a lot of garbage and stuff that shouldn't be there." When the angelic treatment was over, she felt so good that she didn't want to leave that room. But there was more for her to experience.
Next, the Magician guided her to another room in the Hallway where she underwent a cleanse. She described the cleanse as "light, energy and various colors" pouring through her various systems. She was told that "there is a weaving process" and that "you can be re-woven at any time." Then she was told that she could "play a different part in the play anytime."
Her journey into the Sacred Space of her House of Healing ended with the Magician assuring her, "You are the lead character. Be the star that you are."
When she came out of her deep hypnotic trance, her face was glowing and she immediately started making plans for a new wardrobe to replace the unflattering clothes she had been favoring.
I can't wait to see what more magic the next few weeks will bring to her life.
She is a woman of many talents and abilities and yet struggles with a very low sense of her own worth. She has fallen prey to bullies and users because of it.
Her House of Healing (accessed through deep hypnosis) was a crystal cave. As soon as she got there she encountered an old magician-like figure who told her that she "can do the magic."
When she walked a very long Hallway of Many Doors, the one she opened was to a room with a treatment table in the center and two angels. She was told that somewhere along the line she got "rewired, reprogrammed," and that they were there to fix that now. According to my client's account, they "pulled out a lot of garbage and stuff that shouldn't be there." When the angelic treatment was over, she felt so good that she didn't want to leave that room. But there was more for her to experience.
Next, the Magician guided her to another room in the Hallway where she underwent a cleanse. She described the cleanse as "light, energy and various colors" pouring through her various systems. She was told that "there is a weaving process" and that "you can be re-woven at any time." Then she was told that she could "play a different part in the play anytime."
Her journey into the Sacred Space of her House of Healing ended with the Magician assuring her, "You are the lead character. Be the star that you are."
When she came out of her deep hypnotic trance, her face was glowing and she immediately started making plans for a new wardrobe to replace the unflattering clothes she had been favoring.
I can't wait to see what more magic the next few weeks will bring to her life.
Friday, June 7, 2013
One of Those Weeks
My client calendar was completely full when I began the week but with one thing or another, I was left with lots and lots of empty spaces.
I still haven't heard from my Tuesday 10:30 am client who has been coming regularly and yet just didn't show up. No response to my email, calls or texts. I'm doing my best to stay in the mindset that he's just having as weird a week as I am and not in a ditch somewhere.
One new client who was supposed to have her first appointment with me yesterday at 3:45 forgot to tell me that she'd started with another practitioner the week before.
But as crazy as the whole week has been, today really stands out. When I left for yoga at 9 am this morning, I had three sessions scheduled this afternoon. By the time my class was over 90 minutes later, I had zero.
Mercury's not retrograde but I understand that solar flare activity was particularly dramatic. Do I have to start keeping track of that now too?
Okay, Lucy Grace, take a deep, deep breath, and just begin to relaxxxxx ....
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Kids &
Teens
Thank you, Lucy, so much for
meeting with us. [My daughter] really did get a lot out of her time with you.
She listens to your CD almost every night before bed. Her anxiety that started
at the beginning of school has basically disappeared - yay! - and she's smiling
and more playful again now (her old self).
EK
It’s been
hard enough for us adults to process the gauntlet of disasters dominating the
news over the past few months. What
about the young ones in our lives?
Their coping tools are even more limited than ours.
Especially
if your child has just completed a challenging school year, consider the
benefits of a few sessions of my work.
EFT and TAT are perfect avenues for bringing closure to difficult
relationships and lingering unhappy memories from the previous school year,
while custom hypnotherapy CDs help establish a solid new blueprint for success
in the forthcoming year.
If your
child has had difficulty with shifting friendships, I can help.
If your
child experienced text anxiety, I can help.
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