We are working within the Personal Assessment part of the book where the reader is being helped to self-organize, both consciously & subconsciously. Addictions & disorderly eating issues tend to flourish in messy lives & in order to continually go towards health, a better level of Self-organization needs to be put in place.
Knowing where & how to begin is sometimes the most difficult & that is why there is so much procrastination, so let's get on the merry-go-round here. Most people come to lifestyle change issues with some arm-twisting from their doctor, perhaps some borderline blood work or obvious changes in health. Others come because their doctors can't find anything wrong with them & they are frightened because of how unhealthy they feel. There are still others who come to effect a lifestyle change because they want to lose weight for a special occasion. The first two scenarios will reap the best outcomes because the motivation is FEAR. The desire to "look good" tends to be a weak motivator & usually will not lead to a permanent lifestyle change. However, there are problems with utilizing fear as a primary motivator, because fear levels need to be kept elevated & you already know that negative mind states are not healthy mind states.
In the last chapter I invited you to truly commit to change, for without serious intent & commitment, there won't be change. OK, so now what? You are on the merry-go-round & this is a good moment for me to invite you into my office & observe as I work with a new client. We learn in different ways & here you will have the opportunity to learn by example. If you've been reading along, you already have sufficient tools & knowledge to understand the therapeutic concepts I'll be utilizing. In fact, by now you are already on your way to being a therapist to yourSelf.
NOTE TO NEW READERS:
This experiential blog/workshop is based on my new book, "How Many Cookies Will It Take to Make Me Happy?" If you are new to my writing, you might want to read the earlier mini-chapters. They are available on FaceBook, The PublishersMarketPlace & at the following link. Remember to scan down to find the earliest chapters & work your way up. http://beyonddisorderlyeating.blogspot.com/
A bit of background.... we are working with creative Interactive Self-Hypnosis imagery, planting suggestions directly into the creative subconscious mind as you read along. What appears like a story is a series of self-hypnotic sessions, designed to bring about desired lifestyle changes. The inner mind is creative & rather child-like, loving to play with images, especially when they are emotionalized. Just like the saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words", well-planted mind images, can be worth hours of therapy. We can actually change or motivate in 1/200th of a second. So come along & look forward to some lifestyle-changing events.
TOOL BOX REVIEW
Here are some of the tools & techniques you already have available. If you need a review, go ahead back & do so.
HIGHER POWER OR SELF * THERAPEUTIC SELF * COOPERATIVE UNBALANCED SELF * EMOTIONAL MANAGEMENT * MINDBODY HEALTH GARDEN * HEALTHY EATING TABLE * THEATER OF THE MIND * GOLDEN EGG * CIRCUS OF THE WORLD * THOUGHT MANAGEMENT* REGRESSION & FUTURE PACING * SCHOOL HOUSE LEARNINGS * WORKSHOP LEARNINGS
MEET CLAIRE
"I'm 38 years old & work in television production with a major network. I'm over-weight & completely stressed out. I'm a binge eater, rarely eating regular meals. I bite my nails & pull at my hair when I'm nervous. I've tried artificial nails, but pick those off as well & so I spend quite a bit of energy hiding my hands as they are a true embarrassment to me. Why can't I stop this? I know that I drink too much coffee & on weekends I find myself binge drinking. I've thought about this & think it is because I'm trying to fit in all of my fun & relaxation on the weekends. I do feel entitled to this because I don't have a minute to myself during the week. I'm married with two school-age children who are already over-extended in activities, making my life even worse because of time constraints, but what's a Mom to do?
Here's the frightening part. I truly don't feel well physically. I'm fatigued just about all the time & have frequent headaches. I truly do not remember the last time I felt well. I had a medical check-up & the doctor told me that I am fine. I am not fine & not even near to being fine. This frightens me even more than having a diagnosis of something. Is that strange or what? I went to counseling & found it useless because, despite everything, I'm a fairly happy & successful person. I have a good marriage & two great children. I'm just not well.
I don't know how to start o where to start. I'm like a "messy desk" that I don't seem to have time to straighten out because people, including myself, keep putting more things on it. I'm truly frightened that I will actually die from all of this stress, yet I can't seem to motivate myself out of this. My doctor offered me medications & I turned them down. I truly don't think they will solve any of this. I see this as something I must do myself. I think I understand what is past & what is not. I'm also quite clear about what I don't want. Why doesn't my subconscious mind respect this & help me to clean up my disorderly self?"
HELPING CLAIRE
What screams out to me, regarding Claire, is that she is very successful in her field, yet she hasn't carried over her observation & organizational abilities to her own life management. She even tells us that she is "like a messy desk." If we look closely inside ourselves, we will find that we do know how to observe & organize in many areas of our lives. This life experience is known as "resilience" & we all have it. What areas in your life do you manage well? Take a moment now, find yours & list these in your journal. And so, if you manage these, then you can manage others, including your eating issues or addictions.
Claire's life is chaotic & produces high level stress. She answers this by adding more fuel to the fire. There is no discipline to her eating, coffee consumption is up, she's bingeing & adding alcohol on the weekends. She tends to have compulsive tendencies, such as nail biting & hair pulling. If we could peak inside her body, we would be able to see the already present disease progression. This is what she is feeling & fortunately or unfortunately, her physician is not able to demonstrate this on laboratory tests. Claire is walking up the wrong path & change needs to be implemented before things get worse.
( continued in next blog/workshop)
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Copyright 2009 Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht
May not be copied or reproduced without permission of the author.
Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht is author of Sugar...the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It. She is also the writer/producer of over 350 mp3/CD programs in the areas of medicine, health, prevention, addictions, self-development & sports for adults & children.
http://www.hypnosis-audio.com
http://www.sugar-addiction.com
http://www.international-medical-health-writers.com
