In one case documented in an article, a female patient was asked to visualize her overeating during her third therapy session. A technique known as “empty chair,” a gestalt therapy technique, was used while the client wore a headset producing a bilateral beep-beep sound.

This sound is presumed to assist the brain in processing information. The basis for this alternative technique is that bilateral stimulation adds to the therapy’s effectiveness by evoking neurological and psychological changes to aid in the reprocessing of the traumatic memories.

The woman visualized the overeating as a smiling cupcake that wanted to make her happy and not let her feel anything hurtful by eating sweets. She was encouraged by the therapist to talk to the cupcake across from her.

According to an article on changingminds.org, “when the client expresses a conflict with another person, through this technique, the client is directed to talk to that another person who is imagined to be sitting in an empty chair beside or across the client. This helps the client to experience and understand the feeling more fully. Thus, it stimulates your thinking, highlighting your emotions and attitudes.”

By experiencing this, the female patient understood that the purpose of the cupcake was to be happy, to make her happy, to have no real feelings or no real emotions but to be numb with sugar. When she was encouraged to have a conversation with the smiling cupcake she told it that she was not happy, but numb with sugar and overeating. She did not want the cupcake to make her happy anymore. In fact, she told it that it was making her more unhappy because she was obese, did not like herself, and felt numb from daily pleasures.

She described the cupcakes’ response as sad and defeated. It turned and walked away. The female patient was surprised how the mind works. How could she have been unaware of that cupcake encouraging her to be happy with sweets?

After her therapy session, she developed new behaviors. She started taking a stand on this critical issue and made choices that resulted in getting what she wants. She went on a two week juicing diet, exercised, and felt much more energetic. Her feelings had been suppressed for many years, since her early years of abuse, but now she was free of them as a restraint to her making healthy choices about eating.

There was no longer resistance to her real happiness, so she was feeling emotions and her relationships improved. She laughed when thinking of how much control the “smiling cupcake” had on her life and how it was trying to protect her but was really making her more unhappy.

If you have a conflict with overeating, this method may work for you. Contact Innovative Counseling Services to learn more about our therapeutic support to your health.

Here’s where we need you. Our new directory has launched at http://hireaprofessionallifecoach.com. Are you a therapist or life coach with at least a masters degree in your area of expertise and /or coaching training who wants to be listed? Do you know a trained therapist or life coach who may want to broaden their client base?

Our new directory offers an opportunity for professional life coaches to appear alongside your colleagues and makes it easier for new clients to find your skill set. Plus the first six months are free!

Register today!

Dr. Pollack is pictured here at a Simply Stylist event in New York City.

Most cultures are appearance-based, but is there a strong link between how we feel about ourselves, how we live our lives, and our appearance?

In many ways, yes. How you perceive yourself comes from both an interior and exterior perception. The more you exercise, the better you feel. The healthier you eat, the more energy you have. The better you think you look, the more self-confidence you not only exude, but also inhabit. Think of the last time you were late to work and hurried through your morning routine. Did you feel both internally and externally frazzled? Or, the last time you were fully prepared for a meeting but still went to check your appearance one last time just for that extra boost of self-confidence. Not only did you feel assured, but you felt more put together emotionally and physically.

In fact, life coaching and psychology are known for being about the details of one’s mind, the interior, whereas appearance is a person’s outward reflection. How might working on both of these at once be of benefit to a healthier lifestyle?

Dr. Pollack’s concierge coaching is a way to answer your needs and have a “stylist” for your entire life. It offers:

• In-depth assessment and life-planning options
• A 60 minute in-person meeting weekly at Innovative Counseling Services offices or via video conference
• Priority access to Dr. Pollack
• Priority email, text, and telephone reply
• Extended hours and as needed support up to 4 hours per month

Dr. Jean Pollack is a life coach and psychologist with over 20 years of experience in private practice. Her current practice Innovative Counseling Services focuses on creative living from a mind-body and positive psychology approach. Sarah Pollack-Boyd, her daughter, has nine years of experience doing PR/Marketing in Los Angeles. Her Simply Stylist is a premiere event in Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and New York City, sponsored by I am that Girl.

Concierge coaching combines a holistic, in-depth approach to crafting your inner and outer life to be the one you envision and always wanted to have. Learn more about concierge coaching at Innovative Counseling Services.

While teaching Mind Body Psychology at Ryokan College two years ago, I became excited about new information on how much control we have over our gene expression which dictates agelessness, health, and creativity.

It is empowering to know that many of our daily activities of life such as waking, sleeping, dreaming, work, stress, play, and especially motherhood are all associated with patterns of gene expression. Interestingly, we can change gene expression by altering our daily experiences and routines.

As most of us know, our thoughts, emotions and behavior modulate gene expression in health and optimal performance as well as stress and illness. This is exciting research because it means we can control how:

• We age
• Stress affects us
• Immunity and growth occurs
• Happy we are

In what ways? One way is by following the natural rhythm that occurs in life instead of fighting it. This rhythm is referred to as ultradian rhythm.

Case Study

After traumatic occurrences in her life a 45-year-old married woman with two children gains over 50 pounds during the past year. She is so busy caring for her home, children, their needs, her husband, and meeting the media’s projections of how she is supposed to look and feel that she is numb and unhappy. Her doctor prescribed an antidepressant. She feels like she has lost herself.

She had success with the ultradian approach. This consisted of specific well-balanced six small meals of 200 to 300 calories spaced throughout the day, to coincide with a natural 90 to 120 minute ultradian hunger rhythm (Rossi&Nimmons, 1991). The natural ultradian healing response that accompanies the eating cycle can reduce psycho social stress by lowering stress-related hormone which regulates the appetite and weight control.

The ultradian rhythm suggests that there are optimal times for rest, sleep, productivity, creativity, socializing, and reflective time. When you live this rhythm:
• You Feel better
• Weight stabilizes
• Aging slows down
• Gain insight and healing of past trauma
• Increase in immunity and cell growth are enhanced
• New neural networks are created in your brain

This means new ways of thinking and approaching the world are within your control.

Major changes take time and commitment. I help people to recreate their lives using this ultradian rhythm model during life coaching sessions. I start by helping you to identify your needs and then develop a life-changing plan based on naturally occurring ultradian rhythm. You just have to bring your life into rhythm with it instead of resisting fighting it. It is all within your power.

Learn more at Innovative Counseling Services web site.

“Based on the shopping trends we’ve seen leading up to Valentine’s Day, we know it’s not just about romance anymore,” said Kevin H. Johnson, CEO of Performance Marketing Brands on businesswire.com. “This has become a day for all families and loved ones to enjoy. Certainly, significant others are still important to buy for, but finding the right Valentine’s day gift now applies to everyone—whether your parent, grandmother, child, or friend.”

Rather than let society tell you love comes only in the form of a partner, why not branch out and appreciate all the people who love you and vice versa? Celebrate the love you DO have in your life. Send your mother, sister, nephew and niece, or friend a card to celebrate your relationship and give gratitude for who IS in your life.

Why is this important? According to research on positive psychology, Gratitude increases overall well-being. Robert Edmonds, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Positive Psychology and professor psychology at UC Davis has spent a considerable number of years researching gratitude. From a scientific perspective his research indicates that living in gratitude of what we do have offers a higher level of wellness rather than focusing on what we do not yet have. So be grateful for what you love and who you love this Valentine’s Day.

Chocolates find their way to your waist. Flowers eventually die. But, love and gratitude can rewire your brain to be happier every day throughout the year. Read more about positive psychology.

Photo credit: Flickr