Bridging the Gap Between Western Medicine and Alternative Methods of Healing
- Energy Medicine
Energy Medicine
Energy Medicine by definition is considered a branch of alternative medicine. Alternative classically means in place of; however, in Heather’s practice she uses the word to mean complimentary or in conjunction with other therapies (as needed) to provide relief. Energy Medicine includes definitions from the National Center for Complimentary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) as having verifiable results (Veritable Energy Medicine) or something that has been proven by various research models vs. Non-verifiable results (Putative Energy Medicine) that which has not been proven. They provide the following examples: Veritable = magnet therapy, colorpuncture, and light therapy; Putative = Therapeutic touch, Healing Touch, Esoteric Healing, Magnetic Therapy, Qigong, Reiki, Crystal Healing, etc. Energy medicine also consists of a wide variety of practices to include those mentioned as well as many others.
Heather found it interesting that veritable methods are constantly being updated and changed. Some examples from her own life include being in a serious auto accident at the age of 19 and being referred to Physical Therapy as one part of her treatment. Physical Therapy at that time was considered an afterthought and not very scientific, even though it had been around for some time. Nowadays, Physical Therapy is considered mainstream and very scientific. Another example of how things change, involves the treatment of depression. For years, practitioners recommended that patients go outside and be involved with nature to lessen their symptoms. Some even recommended gardening and specifically placing one’s hands in the dirt to help. One part made sense as there had been studies showing how sunshine effects moods; however, the placing hands in the dirt was hard to recommend. Fast forward to an article in the October 2015 issue of “The Atlantic” which discusses Natural Cures such as Ecotherapy (holding dirt) and mentions the prestigious Neuroscience Magazine citing of a studying showing that soil has a bacteria called Mycobacterium vaccae which penetrates the skin and increases Serotonin levels in mice in the same way the anti-depressant Prozac does. They now study this effect on humans with positive results.
In Heather’s practice, she uses various types of Energy Medicine to remove energy blockages (similar to moving Qi in Chinese Medicine) to help with physical and emotional conditions. A few examples, are using muscle testing, reflex points, soft tissue corrections, guided imagery, and hands-on and off energy movement techniques to help resolve blockages via the nervous system, which controls all of our bodily functions.
- Applied Kinesiology | Muscle Testing
Applied Kinesiology (Muscle Testing)
What is Kinesthetic Medicine? Kinesthetic Medicine is a modern synthesis between western and eastern healing philosophies, using ideas from chiropractic and acupuncture care to effect change in the body’s energy pathways.
What is Muscle Testing and how does it work? Muscle Testing is the chief diagnostic tool of Kinesiologic Medicine. Traditional Chinese Medicine has long believed that health is achieved with the free flow of energy or “Qi”. If something interrupts this free flow, then disease can result. Too much or too little energy in any body region can lead to discomfort and potential disease. Muscle Testing, which measures a perceptible change in a muscle’s strength, is one way to obtain neurological and bioenergetic information about physical and/or emotional energy blockages that need to be resolved.
Our Central Nervous System, including our brain, functions via electrical and chemical reactions. Electrical signals or impulses are sent via our nervous system as a result of internal stimulation such as thoughts or external stimulation such as being touched. These impulses allow communication between different sensory organs and receptors such as muscles, glands, organs, the brain, and the spinal cord. Thus, every thought, word, or action has a specific energy frequency. This is easy to understand when we think of an EKG measuring electrical activity of the heart through skin receptors on our chest.
Through different kinds of touch or pressure in different body locations, a muscle can be used to test for problems in energy flow. The treatment then helps to alter the energy flow to the problem area allowing it to heal.
- Total Body Modification
Total Body Modification
In Total Body Modification (TBM), it has been theorized that muscle testing can pick up a problem when the body is at a 1-2% dysfunction vs. a blood (or other western diagnostic) test which will not show until the body is at least 40% dysfunctional.
Heather was very skeptical of this statistic until she experienced situations in her life that proved it, as muscle testing picked up iron deficiency anemia 3-4 weeks before it showed on a blood test. If you think of how many times you have had blood work and been told it is all normal even when you are experiencing problems, you know how frustrating this can get. In Heather’s career as a Nurse Practitioner, she saw many women complaining of not feeling well with low energy and mood changes whose lab results were still normal.
Is It Allergies or Is It Something Else?
Allergies begin (or worsen) over time because of how the immune system functions. After being exposed to a substance over time, the body reaches a threshold of tolerance to the offending substance, which then causes a release of histamines. This release causes symptoms such as itchy/watery eyes, congestion, fatigue, coughing, and sneezing but can be as serious as an anaphylactic reaction. While this is the most serious reaction (that can cause respiratory failure and death) milder reactions that are almost imperceptible can easily be missed or never attributed to allergies such as getting sick more often or having other chronic conditions like Lyme Disease, arthritis, joint/muscular pain, diabetes, and colds/flu’s to name a few.
In TBM, allergies are treated by holding vials or substances to the body. If a muscle tests weak with exposure to the vial/substance (allergen), the energy blockage is corrected (relieved) by stimulating specific points to cause the body to produce a relaxation response vs. a histamine release. In essence, the treatment is not to remove offending substances from your life (or to live in a plastic bubble) but to get the body to stop seeing the substance as foreign and mounting the allergic response.
Victor Frank and Total Body Modification
How does one begin to describe the contributions of a man who created one of the most powerful methods of healing called Total Body Modification or TBM?As a Chiropractor and Naturopath, he found the Applied Kinesiology (AK) techniques developed by others in his field to be frustrating, tedious, and time consuming. With his extensive background in multiple healing modalities to include studying acupuncture in Singapore, body points discovered in AK, trigger points and his knowledge of the works of Dr. Robert Riddler, he developed TBM. He went on to teach TBM internationally.
Heather had the pleasure of being mentored by him during his seminars. It was not unusual to watch him work on people (who had flown in from all over the world) during the breaks at his seminars. To hear testimonials of Multiple Sclerosis patients who were wheelchair bound now without symptoms and walking was amazing. Heather personally experienced this as she started practicing TBM and had a patient’s MS lesions go into remission, something she did not think was possible. Heather also had the pleasure of being exposed to the works of his son (Dr. Randall Frank) called Natural Healing and that of one of Victor’s students who developed emotional reprogramming techniques. Heather uses these techniques in her practice as well.
Victor was truly an amazing person and Heather is deeply grateful to have known him, been inspired by him, and to practice TBM.
Click Here for Full Biography of His Studies, Awards, and Accomplishments
- Emotional Reprogramming-Healing
Emotional Reprogramming
What can AHA do for my anxieties or emotional struggles such as problems with weight loss, not getting the most from my life, or just feeling stuck in my work or personal life?Striving for change and ending up in the same place is very frustrating. It’s as if you are actually creating the dreaded results by trying to avoid them. A wise person once said that F.E.A.R. means False Evidence Appearing Real and what you fear the most, you tend to create. Even in Gavin DeBecker’s book “The Gift of Fear”, he mentions that if you fear everything (or are hyper-alert to everything), you will not be able to notice a true threat to you because your thinking and attention are so scattered.
Think about the physiology of what is happening. Every thought, word, and action is processed by your brain. In western medicine, we truly only understand about 10% of how the brain functions. We do know that the brain associates to create order and meaning. For example, if you’ve ever tensed up when someone you have never met before walks into the room but have had no idea why, your brain is likely associating that person with a previous experience: maybe they wear the same perfume or walk the same way as someone you don’t like. The negative response is unwarranted, but you can’t seem to prevent it and the more you think about it, the stronger it gets.
Heather uses Applied Kinesiology/Muscle Testing to access the nervous system and reprogram conditioning leftover from childhood or adult experiences. Think of it as detoxing your nervous system. It works by changing the body’s electrical and chemical response to a stimulus at specific physical and emotional points on the body. This allows the brain to associate (perceive) the situation differently. So, instead of feeling tense when that person enters the room, the experience triggers a relaxation response. Positive changes are possible and easier once the nervous system is detoxed or reprogrammed.
As Albert Einstein said, “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
- Hypnosis
Hypnosis
When one first hears the word Hypnosis, many images come to mind for most people up to and including images of an audience member in a stage show clucking like a chicken. This is in fact stage hypnosis and rest assured that the person doing the clucking is doing so of his or her own free will. Heather has always used guided imagery and some forms of hypnosis during Emotional Reprogramming Sessions; however, Heather became Certified in Clinical Hypnosis to add to the effectiveness of the other healing modalities she utilizes.
There are many misconceptions about hypnosis such as: I will be made to do something against my will, I will not remember what happened, I will tell you my deepest secrets or do something I am uncomfortable with, I have to be relaxed to be hypnotized, and I can not be hypnotized to name a few. Heather also had misconceptions prior to her training but came to realize that we are all being hypnotized on a daily basis. If you have ever had the experience of driving in your car and arriving at your destination without remembering parts of the journey, you have been hypnotized. In fact, if hypnosis (which is merely being open to the power of suggestion) weren’t so effective in our daily lives, we wouldn’t feel compelled to buy all the things and eat all of the bad foods advertisers sell us on the TV. Truly, Hypnosis is just a different level of consciousness and has been used for many years to help with fears, phobias, pain, and anxiety to name of few, not to mention that at the deepest level of consciousness it has actually been used on people undergoing surgery instead of using anesthesia.
Hypnosis engages the subconscious mind by helping the conscious mind (which makes decisions and is geared negatively) to step back and allow the subconscious mind (which has the ability to make results happen either positively or negatively) to solve problems. In Heather’s sessions, she will evaluate which technique works best for each person’s mind and proceed to work with the subconscious to bring about the change the person is seeking. Rest assured that a person would not do anything that is against their will or their nature.
- Metaphysical/Spiritual Support
Metaphysical/Spiritual Support
From a young age, Heather realized that she was aware of things that many others could not perceive. In her career as a Nurse/Nurse Practitioner, she never understood why she never performed a health history the same way twice and intuitively knew why the person came in for their visit. She feels that everyone has a “sixth sense” or “gut feeling” about things in their lives, but she chose to develop this sense. Having senses that others may or may not be able to observe is more understandable if we think of the example of dogs being able to hear at frequencies that humans cannot. Just because we cannot hear it, does not mean it does not exist. Coming from such a scientific background, Heather found it hard to accept gifts that she possessed that could not be observed by others. Heather feels so grateful to be put in the path of Dr. Judith Larkin-Reno who helped her understand and develop this sense for the health and well-being of her patients.Heather is often asked if these skills will interfere with someone’s specific spiritual/religious beliefs. As a Retired Nurse Practitioner trained in guided imagery and assisting patients through challenging moments in their lives, it has always been Heather’s belief that it is the role of a practitioner to help people get in touch with and utilize their own belief systems to help in their healing; therefore, all beliefs and religions are respected and honored in her practice. The goal is to help those in spiritual distress to enhance their own belief systems to enable the body to heal itself. In fact, Dr. Victor Frank (the founder of Total Body Modification-TBM) mentions in his beliefs that, “The Power That Made The Body, Can Heal The Body.”
- Benefit & Risk Analysis of Traditional and Alternative Healing Modalities
Benefit & Risk Analysis of Traditional and Alternative Healing Modalities | Patient Advocacy Services
With Heather’s extensive knowledge of multiple treatment modalities such as: Western Medicine, Physical Therapy, Chiropractic, Acupuncture, Naturopathy, she will review options, benefits, and risks of all therapies up to and including the alternative healing method of Total Body Modification (TBM).
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Complimentary New Patient Consultation
During this 15 minute – 1hour consultation, Heather will review your health history, evaluate your current treatments, and provide guidance on your current state of health. With Heather’s extensive knowledge of multiple treatment modalities such as: Western Medicine, Physical Therapy, Chiropractic, Acupuncture, Naturopathy, she will review options, benefits and risks of all therapies up to and including the alternative healing method of Total Body Modification (TBM). The consultation is complimentary with no obligation to continue with a healing session; however, Heather will leave enough time at the visit to begin a session on the same day if desired.
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