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- For many, chronic pain is a very difficult thing to deal with.
Sometimes Western medical interventions alone do not result in
desired relief. Learn behavioral strategies for reducing the
impact of pain on your life. See Workshops/Seminars for description
of virtual chronic pain management workshop.
A significant percentage (around 20%) of the population will have
an episode of Major Depression at some point in their life.
Learn specific behavioral strategies (ex., increasing activity
level, exercise) that (with or without medication) can be helpful
in reducing/managing depressive symptoms and/or reducing the likelihood of
a depressive episode.
- Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an Anxiety Disorder which
can come about after exposure to traumatic event(s) (ex. war, rape,
natural disaster, violence). Symptoms include:
- Re-experiencing of the traumatic event (ex., distressing intrusive
memories; nightmares; and/or distress at things that remind you of
the trauma)
- Avoidance (ex., of things that remind you of the trauma, or
of people) and/or a Numbing of general responsiveness or emotional
experience
- Anxiety or Hyperarousal of the central nervous system (ex,
exaggerated startle response, hypervigilance, insomnia, and/or
irritability, etc.)
- Various treatment strategies, including cognitive-behavioral
therapy and exposure therapy, are often helpful in managing PTSD
symptoms, and in reducing the impact of the trauma one one's life
in the present and future.
- There IS a mind-body connection........... and we call that
the neck! Seriously, though, more and more research is showing
the connection between psychological factors/stress and physical
functioning. High levels of stress can put people at increased
risk for illness, both psychiatric and medical. However, research
is indicating that how one deals with stress is very important in
reducing it's negative impact.
- Learn stress management strategies for minimizing the negative
impact of stress on your body and soul, including:
- relaxation training, self hypnosis
- utilizing social support (an important factor in
reducing the impact of stress)
- problem-solving strategies
- thinking more positively (yes, this can be learned!);
**optimists tend to live longer and stay healthier than
pessimists
- Personal and professional coaching is a collaborative process of
identifying one's values and realistic, meaningful goals, and then
determining the steps for reaching those goals.
- In coaching the focus is on desired future outcomes, whereas psychotherapy
may focus on the past, and on psychopathology.
- Coaching is more directed in its scope, focusing specifically on
identifying what the individual wants, and going for those outcomes, whereas
psychotherapy focuses more on problems.
- Coaching does not require face to face contact, and works well over the
phone, sometimes with e-mail support as well.
In determining whether you might benefit from personal or professional
coaching, you may ask yourself whether your life is as satisfying as you would
like it to be. How would you like things to be different? What's
really important to you? Where do you want to be in five years? What
gifts do you have that are not being fully developed or
used? Even if you do not know the answers to these
questions, part of the coach's job is to help you clarify and identify your
values and goals. The coaching process may also include:
- identifying obstacles to reaching goals and removing them
- learning new ways of handling a previously problematic situation
- enhancing confidence and self-esteem
- learning to use visualization to make your dreams come true
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