Holistic healing/Functional medicine
Auto-immune issues and health issues in general have been a big focus for me since my first clients starting in1993. I'm very knowledgeable about the gut/brain connection, nervous system, Functional Medicine and such. There is plenty of research to validate the idea that the illnesses that modern medicine is least capable of addressing are the ones with a strong body-mind connection, typically the auto-immune disorders, ‘life-style’ illnesses, chronic pain, and illnesses associated with a history of trauma. We are also now in a situation where our systems are overwhelmed with toxins, so detox and dietary changes can play a big role in psychological health as well as physical health.
For many years, I have worked with people to help them form a healing relationship with their body and immune system, including recovery from surgery, HIV positive clients, and cancer patients.
I have been blessed with many amazing tools. One is the groundbreaking work by a Boulder neurologist, Robert Scaer. After running a pain clinic for thirty years, he wrote two amazing books on the body/mind connection. The books are “The Body Bares the Burden: Trauma, Dissociation and Disease” and “The Trauma Spectrum.” In these books, Dr. Scaer clearly explains the psychophysical foundation of autoimmune disorders and chronic pain. Another is Brainspotting, which allows us to work very directly with non-verbal memory and the auto-immune system, particularly the “freeze” response.
This ‘freeze’ response, is a natural survival mechanism, just as ‘fight or flight’ are also functions of the instinct for survival common to all mammals. Freeze is associated with helplessness, such as childhood trauma, car accidents, medical intrusions and work place, or military ongoing stress. Because of our complex brain and social norms, we typically have not understood the potency or the frequency of the freeze response, nor have we had access to the natural discharge processes that animals use. Freeze involves the reflex to protect oneself, with all of the nervous system activation that that implies, combined with a survival based sort of paralysis or dissociation. This is common for children growing up in volatile or abusive homes because they can’t escape the threat. The nervous system gets overloaded with intense activation, which does not get discharged. Even for people who have ‘dealt’ with their childhood in talk therapy, the nervous system can still hold a tremendous amount of survival oriented energy locked deep inside. Over time this can lead any one of a long list of medical conditions.
Brainspotting combined with somatic therapy and hypnotherapy allows access to the body/mind, unconscious and nervous system. What is so amazing about this technique is the depth of processing that naturally occurs through using eye focus and bilateral music. The natural healing mechanisms of breathing, emotional and physical release, and insight can then access and process long buried, or even forgotten trauma. We will also use eye positions that access the neuropathways for connection, support, grounding or other resources to create safety and healing. I’ve done powerful clearing work with issues such as birth, adoption and circumcision, which could never be processed through cognitive work. This can lead to really amazing and exciting symptom resolution. Clients sometimes experience shifts in symptoms they’ve lived with for half their lives after the first or second session. That doesn’t mean that this is a ‘quick fix’. It usually takes some time to access and fully process the material locked in the body. But the bottom line is that the body/mind/consciousness really can heal quite organically when we can connect our natural resources to our buried trauma!
Because I have been following this evolving field since the late 1980s, I have also learned alot about the physical and emotional realities of living with this sort of illness. I’ve learned a lot along the way about the gut/brain/nervous system connection and a wide range of healing options, particularly here in Boulder. I’ve worked with people who were also working with a variety of practioners using Functional Medicine, acupuncture and various other modalities. Through a combination of formal and informal education and experience I have a lot of understanding of Lyme disease, fibromyalgia, R/A, thyroid and adrenal disfunction, heavy metal toxicity and a number of other complex health issues. I have a deep understanding of the complexity of getting help and the ups and downs of the journey. I also have the great joy of seeing people recover and get their health back, so I can help hold faith during the low times.