What’s Unique About Dialectical Behavioral Therapy?

June 11, 2021 by Liz Carter

What’s Unique About Dialectical Behavioral Therapy?

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is a type of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy to help people with mood disorders, traumatic brain injury, eating disorders, and substance abuse.

DBT was originally intended to treat borderline personality disorder (BPD), but it has been adapted to treat other mental health conditions. It can help people who have difficulty with emotional regulation or are exhibiting self-destructive behaviors (eating disorders and substance use disorders).

[Read more…]

The Effects of Nature and Our Environment on Brain Waves and Health

June 8, 2021 by Liz Carter

The Effects of Nature and Our Environment on Brain Waves and Health

Our brain waves are normally in beta which is between 14 to 40 hertz; however, when we are in a state of deep relaxation we can connect the brainwave frequency of the earth which is 7.83 hertz also known as the Schumann Resonance.

Not every client has access to open nature, but when possible, it is a best practice to spend time in nature so that we can slow down our brainwave frequency toward the theta state, which can have profound therapeutic implications on our health.

Taking in nature has a rejuvenating effect. It can literally help to relax us; the earth has much potential to teach us these lessons in such a simple, pure form. Intuitively, this is why we are often guided to be in nature as a way to relax the body.

[Read more…]

Hydration and its Impact on Brain Function

June 4, 2021 by Liz Carter

Hydration and its Impact on Brain Function

Humans can survive without food for several weeks but without water, life would end in three to five days. Our brain is comprised of approximately 75% water. That fact, alone, tells us how critical hydration is to the brain and body.

While we often think of food and nutrients as critical to life (they are), water is even more so. The average person can live only three to five days without water. Most can survive about three weeks without food.

Now that we’ve established water is important, let’s look at how it impacts you.

[Read more…]

What is the Relaxation Response?

June 2, 2021 by Liz Carter

What is the Relaxation Response?

The counterpart to the fight-or-flight response, the relaxation response, occurs when the body is no longer in perceived danger, and the autonomic nervous system functioning returns to normal. As a form of meditation, the relaxation response tends to be well received by those with busy minds.

Physician Herbert Benson was a pioneer in studying the physiological changes that occurred during meditation techniques. Benson can be largely credited for demystifying meditation and helping to bring it into the mainstream, by renaming meditation the “Relaxation Response.”

[Read more…]

Benefits of Diaphragmatic Breathing

May 27, 2021 by Liz Carter

What is Diaphragmatic Breathing?

The diaphragm is a large, dome-shaped muscle located at the base of the lungs. Diaphragmatic breathing is a form of breathwork that allows for the expansion of the lungs and greater oxygenation of the system. It is also referred to as lower body breathing, and is the natural form of breathing that we all did when we were children. Unfortunately, we often grow out of this natural state of breathing and create a habit of upper body breathing – or chest breathing – which keeps us in a state of hyper-vigilance or fight or flight.

[Read more…]

Strategies for Influencing and Negotiating

May 25, 2021 by Liz Carter

Negotiation – Levels of Influence

When elements of a system are in conflict, there is incongruence that needs to be addressed. If the system you’re working with is an individual, incongruence is referred to as an internal conflict. If an incongruence is within a system that involves more than one person, the incongruence might be labeled a dispute, an argument, a disagreement, or a fight. Whatever the system is, incongruence needs to be addressed in order to bring balance to the system.

The list that follows is an overview of useful skills depending on the circumstances leading to the need to negotiate. Take a moment to reflect on how you have used the skills from each category in the past. In this way, you can identify two important things: times in your life when using a different negotiation technique might have led to a better conclusion; and which skills you might want to practice.

[Read more…]

The Major Sensory Characteristics of the Representational Systems or “Modalities”

May 18, 2021 by Liz Carter

The Major Sensory Characteristics of the Representational Systems or “Modalities”

In Hemispheric Integration and Neuro-linguistic Programming we refer to each of the major sensory representational systems as a “modality.” For example: The eyes are the organs which receive light, convert the light to nerve impulses, which are then interpreted by the brain into what we call “pictures.” Your brain is what makes the pictures, not your eyes. We call this the “visual system or visual modality.”

[Read more…]

How to Achieve Your Goals and Get the Results You Want

May 13, 2021 by Liz Carter

How to Achieve Your Goals and Get the Results You Want

A goal is a personal objective. Something you want to achieve within a specific period of time. Successful people are goal-oriented. They know exactly what they want they are working toward the achievement of their goals every single day. They tend to accomplish far more than the average person in all aspects of life.

[Read more…]

The Milton-Model: The Language of Influence and Being Artfully Vague

May 12, 2021 by Liz Carter

The Milton-Model: The Language of Influence and Being Artfully Vague

Milton Erickson used language very systematically in his work, often in unusual ways. These patterns were first described by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in their book, Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton H. Erickson. M.D. Vol. I.

Understanding and using the Milton- Model with integrity is a prerequisite to effective communication and influence. The following examples and will help you to chunk this task down by practicing the distinct patterns to bring them into your unconscious competence.

Often the Milton-Model has been called the inverse of the Meta-Model Patterns. Think of a continuum moving from the language of specificity and information gathering, the Meta-Model, and moving to the opposite end of the continuum with the ability to influence and be artfully vague with the Milton-Model.

Being artfully vague allows a communicator to make statements that sound specific and yet are general enough to be an adequate pace for the listener’s experience. Using the Meta-Model recovers specific information that is deleted in any sentence; the Milton-Model provides ways of constructing sentences in which specific information is deleted. This requires the listener to fill in the deletions from their own unique internal experience.

[Read more…]

Understanding Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders

May 11, 2021 by Liz Carter

Understanding Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety is your body’s natural response to stress. It’s a feeling of fear or apprehension about what’s to come. The first day of school, going to a job interview, or giving a speech may cause most people to feel fearful and nervous. If your feelings of anxiety are extreme, last for longer than six months, and are interfering with your life, you may have an anxiety disorder.

[Read more…]

Student Login