Counseling Therapy Updates for Common People

Hot Topics in Self-Help 2011

2011-01-24T06:32:00.009-05:00

Integral Psychology is one of the most prevalent areas of self-help as we begin 2011. This is not a movement which looks to one person or "guru" for guidance. The coming together of a number of different scientific advances over the past few years, and the emergence of a "global village" are creating a plethora of therapy opportunities for improvement in mind, body and spirit. Here are some of the areas of interest:

Hypnotherapy (including Alchemical Hypnosis promoted currently by David Quigley).
Behavioral Kinesiology
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Acupressure emotional clearing by tapping on key energy centers on the body ("Emotional Freedom Techniques"). You can learn more by looking up "energy psychology".
Mindfulness practices and psychoneuroimmunology to calm the "fight or flight" response and promote overall wellness in mind-body-spirit. (Meditation, Yoga and Massage Therapies). See the work of Dr. Daniel Siegel for psychoneuroimmunology.
The "Power of Intention" (see the book by Dr. Wayne Dyer)
"Synchrodestiny" to grow awareness of the power of the "Now" moment, observe "meaningful coincidences", and create a more richly meaningful life path. (See the books by Deepak Chopra).
Feng Shui to order one's physical environment in a way that fosters balance, flow, and beauty.
Nature therapy: Creating healthy green spaces, seeking out natural environments., deliberately "unplugging" from technology on a regular basis.
The Enneagram personality (temperaments) inventory to learn how we can get stuck in our own ruts and how to get out of them. The Enneagram has been around for years now, but never ceases to amaze me how accurate a system it is.

Most recently, I have posted to my website a downloadable 23-minute recorded intervention for people in immediate emotional crisis (anxiety or panic, grief, loss, insomnia, etc.) which integrates many of the above topics. Here is the direct page link:
www.annemilligan.com/regainingcontrolinacrisis.html

Your affirmation:
"Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better"

http://www.annemilligan.com/

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Emotional Freedom Techniques

2011-01-02T16:13:00.002-05:00

Over the past few years, I've been working with clients who are in crisis on a new set of treatment techniques called "Emotional Freedom Techniques" or EFT. Gary Craig developed these particular techniques in modern times, but they are not really new at all. The reasons why these techniques are so effective so quickly has to do with an understanding of the human mind-body that goes back thousands of years. Many therapists are now acquiring training in EFT from an area of psychology called "Energy Psychology." The principles of EFT and Energy Psychology are the same principles upon which acupuncture is based. I have watched clients bring their anxiety down dramatically in just a few sessions using these relatively simple techniques.
Please share this link with anyone who may need immediate help with anxiety or panic, and particularly those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
http://www.annemilligan.com/RegainingControlinaCrisis.html

www.annemilligan.com

Integrative Health Network in Louisville, Kentucky

2010-12-06T20:33:00.001-05:00

I have recently begun to create a Healing Arts Network online via LinkedIn.com, pulling together a widely ecclectic group of practitioners who go about doing good for others and for the earth, through their inspired talents and vision.

www.annemilligan.com

The "New Science" of Wellness Therapy

2010-11-25T10:05:00.032-05:00

In the past two or three years, I've found myself increasingly amazed with the intense and deep progress my clients are making through the use of some "new" (actually ancient and resurrected/refined) tools related to holistic healing and wellness therapy. Brain science research (neuroscience) has led to a remarkable amount of information about how the human brain works. Much of this information simply proves what the ancients seem to have known about wellness -body, mind and spirit operate as one. Every emotional reaction has a thought attached to it and there is an immediate bodily response as well. So many of our chronic emotional problems seem to revolve around an over-active "flight or fight" reaction to stressors. Learning to meditate on a regular basis can literally calm the alarm response in the body-mind, enabling our brains to learn new behavioral habits. These new habits cause us to be able to think more clearly in the face of stress, make more wise decisions about our lives, and bounce back more quickly when life's hurts come to meet us. Part of learning these new mental habits also allows us to not take things so personally, and to forgive more easily. Here are some of the techniques I use with my clients in holistic wellness therapy:

Meditation www.annemilligan.com/heal.html
(See the Amazon.com link at the bottom of this post to order my "Into the Light" CD)
Hypnotherapy www.annemilligan.com/hypnosistherapycenter.html
Energy Tapping to clear blocked energy in the body-mind,especially around issues of trauma anxiety.
http://www.annemilligan.com/RegainingControlinaCrisis.html

Wishing you wellness along your way!
Anne Milligan
November, 2010

www.annemilligan.com

Meditation and the New Science of Focused Intention

2010-07-19T08:15:00.006-04:00

What an exciting time to be alive! For the first time in known human history, we have scientific evidence of the nature of the universe (what makes up matter and perceived reality) which has the potential to transform our whole way of understanding how and why our lives turn out the way they do. In a nutshell, each of us can look around at our lives and realize that we ourselves have manifested our reality FROM THE INSIDE. What we believe and expect truly becomes our reality.

Of course, many of us operate out of beliefs we are only slightly aware of, if at all. For example, if your deepest belief about yourself is that you are not welcome here on the planet, you will most likely draw to yourself relationships that result in abandonment and lonliness over and over again. It makes perfect sense to approach any current situation in our lives with the question "What am I supposed to learn about my inner self from this situation?" This is far more powerful and effective than approaching the situation from the perspective of a victim. Learning the techniques of meditation and applying the "still inner state" to changing old negative thought patterns makes all the difference in the world in how things play out for you. One of the best places to find an accumulation of this work is in the arena of what is called Mindfulness Meditation and in reading Dr Wayne Dyer's book "The Power of Intention" and Deepak Chopra's book "Synchrodestiny". As a therapist, I have been observing my clients emerge victorious in a whole new way by utilizing my meditation CD entitled "Into the Light". It has astounded me how quickly they change and how their lives on the outside change too. As a result of some training and work I've been doing with Hypnotherapy, I am currently developing a "sequel" to the "Into the Light" CD which will include techniques of hypnosis to change old habits and integrate new ones. If you or someone you know is interested, you can read more information about the "Into the Light" CD at this address: www.annemilligan.com/Heal.html

www.annemilligan.com

"Spiritual But Not Religious"

2010-06-07T11:16:00.008-04:00

I, Anne Milligan, was a holistic-oriented therapist long before holistic was cool. I first learned of this way of looking at human behavior via my first college degree, which was as a Social Worker. The Clinical (Therapist) branch of Social Work emphasizes the "people in environment" perspective wherein any part of our experience plays out within the context of our inner world and outer world (environment). Over the past 20 years, human consciousness has branched out to a far more pervasive (and I have to admit, really cool) understanding of the connectedness of all things. Nothing you or I experience exists by itself. It is affected by, and affects, everything else in some kind of magnificent orchestration of energy which exists below the surface of our everyday knowledge. To take this a few steps further, a new awareness of the connectedness of all things is coming together in a form of personal and global spirituality that many describe as "spiritual but not religious". This means that a more modern and genuine form of spirituality would break out of (but not necessarily exclude) the confinement of church and move out into the "real world" of everyday existence. Here are a few areas of interest on this topic which you might explore. At the bottom of the page, please note that I am asking people if you are "spiritual but not religious" and, if so, to post any personal ideas you have about what that means to you. The following are some of my own ideas about the subject. Tell us yours:
1.
Inclusive, deep respect for diversity. (NO ONE gets left out based on age, sexual orientation, gender, race, country of origin, economic class, etc.)

2.
Environmental consciousness. An awareness of the effect of our carbon footprint on the choices we make every day.

3.
Non-extremist. (Fundamentalists won't like this one).

4.
Inner awareness. The willingness to approach our inner self via a "mindfulness" branch of psychology which forces us to "get real" with ourselves so as not to project our unconscious (unknown to ourselves) inner stuff onto others. The very best first step in this way is daily mindfulness meditation. Three years ago, I created a
mindfulness meditation CD for those wishing to enter this arena in a way which is guided and not confusing. The steps which you will be guided into with these two meditations come straight out of the latest knowledge from the psychoneurology arena of science - what REALLY works in terms of focusing the mind to influence the whole system toward healing. It also includes the imagery of healing light, love, and the release of heavy grievances. Here is the link for that CD:
http://www.annemilligan.com/Heal.html
5.
Body-Mind-Spirit.
Part of coming to know ourselves inwardly is to understand how our bodies hold emotions for us. The "alchemy of illness" opens our awareness to how physical healing of illnesses might include emotional healing of past hurts, unforgiveness, trauma, grief, etc. The spiritual aspect of personal Body-Mind-Spirit awareness can include opening ourselves to hypnosis-oriented inner work such as that taught by David Quigley at the Alchemy Institue of Hypnosis. In my own work in this arena, my clients and I have discovered the marvel of "synchronicity" which is a fancy word for a meaningful coincidence. It seems that when deep inner healing happens, the outer world changes to match that inner transformation, and it most often manifests in the form of synchronicity. I would definitely call that spiritual!
Peace,
Anne Milligan

www.annemilligan.com

"Every Day In Every Way, I'm Getting Better and Better"

2010-05-21T07:44:00.007-04:00

This phrase is one of those that you can carry around in your pocket. It's easy to roll off your lips and you can insert it wherever you need it. What a "positive affirmation" actually accomplishes is the following:
Constant repetition of a positive statement works on the universal laws of the mind that go like this: "Whatever you repeat becomes a habit" and "What you expect to happen usually does happen".
People whose lives are full of negative chaos have learned to repeat such negative beliefs for much of their lives. Happy people tend to do the exact opposite. Try this experiment for a month. Contract with yourself that everyday when you wake up in the morning, the first thing you say is this:
"Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better".
Do not wait for everyone else to make your life happy. Just keep repeating the phrase no matter what happens out there. See what happens. Send a message back to me here after a month to report what happened.
"Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better".
www.annemilligan.com

Change Your Brain, Change Your Life

2010-05-19T07:47:00.007-04:00

I've been following the work of Dr. Daniel Amen for a few years now. He wrote the book "Change Your Brain, Change Your Life" which is really revolutionary in terms of our understanding of the amazing human brain and how to protect it, right down to not allowing kids of head-butt in playing soccer! The only problem I have with it is that the kind of testing they do at their clinics (brain scans) are extraordinarily expensive and I haven't yet figured out why no one else seems to be utilizing this amazing technology to make it more accesible for ordinary working people.
www.amenclinics.com
www.annemilligan.com

Trust is the Most Important Thing

2010-05-19T06:57:00.001-04:00

More people are realizing how normal and high-functioning it is to seek outside help at various times in our lives. In the beginning, just having someone else who is not emotionally involved in the situation really helps a lot. The most important thing is to find someone you can trust, establish an ongoing relationship with that therapist, even if you just pop in there once a month. The trusting relationship a person develops with their therapist makes more of an impact on the therapeutic outcome than any other factor.