I offer a supportive and safe environment for treatment of the following problems:
ADHD
Attention Deficit Disorders, including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, are disorders affecting the central nervous system. It is the fastest growing childhood disorder in the U.S., reportedly affecting 9-10 percent of all school-aged children. Many adults today live with ADD, and have never been diagnosed. People with this disorder often have low self esteem, are inpatient, and do not adapt well to change.
Factors that have been linked to the development of ADD/ADHD include heredity, anxiety, allergies, environmental stress or pollutants, artificial food additives, lead poisoning, and food allergies.
The good news is that with diagnosis and treatment, the symptoms of ADHD can be substantially decreased. Quality of life can be improved.
ADHD can flare up during periods of stress (such as school or work), during group settings and when tasks seem difficult or tedious. People with ADHD are often creative and highly energetic. However, ADHD can cause problems in relationships, and can diminish performance at work or in school.
I offer Cognitive Behavioral therapy techniques and ADHD coaching to help people develop strategies and achieve success. The treatment goals are to reduce symptoms of attentional problems, hyperactivity, distractibility, and impulsivity, and to emphasize the role of a healthy diet, devoid of preservatives, processed sugars, and dyes and salicylates in food. I help individuals and parents of ADHD kids to learn to identify "problem" foods and introduce new enjoyable foods and nutrients to decrease those symptoms.
Individual Cognitive Behavioral therapy and Coaching
After a comprehensive psychoeducational/neuropsychological evaluation has identified ADHD or LD, follow-up treatment with children involves consultation with parents around helping children thrive, vis-à-vis behavioral modification techniques, nutritionally based alternatives to medication, and recommendations for appropriate learning and test accommodations. Follow-up treatment with adults involves a 12-week coaching program that includes learning to live successfully with ADHD or LD vis-à-vis goal setting, time management techniques, organizational strategies, as well as recommendations for special learning and testing accommodations.
Consultation and Treatment involving Parental Effectiveness Training
Parents are trained and guided to use practical methods for handling common everyday behavior problems, as well as a number of behavioral modification techniques for controlling conduct disorders.
Depression
Depression affects an estimated 17 million Americans every year, making if one of the most common medical problems in this country. Depression is a whole body illness, one that affects the body, nervous system, moods, thoughts, and behavior. It affects the way you eat, lose/gain weight, sleep, feel about yourself, and react to people and events around you.
People with depression often withdraw and hide from society. They can lose interest in things around them and become incapable of experiencing pleasure. Symptoms of depression commonly include fatigue, insomnia, headaches, changes in weight, digestive disorders, restlessness, irritability, quickness to anger, loss of interest in once pleasurable things, and feelings of worthlessness and inadequacy.
The causes of depression are not fully understood, but vary. Depression may be hereditary, or it may be triggered by tension, stress, a traumatic life event, a loss of a loved one, chemical imbalances in the brain, thyroid disorders, nutritional deficiencies, poor diet, lack of exercise, or allergies.
Food greatly influences the brain's behavior. A poor diet, particularly one with lots of junk foods, processed food, and hydrogenated fats, is a common cause of depression. The levels of brain chemicals, called neurotransmitters, are controlled by what we eat and are closely linked to food.
What are some of the causes of Depression and Anxiety?
Depression and Anxiety can result from certain environmental stressors, such as stress or a break from an important emotional attachment. On a physical level, depression and anxiety can also be the result of deficiencies in neurotransmitters.
Research suggests that individuals suffering from depression anxiety or ADHD generally have a deficiency of one or more of the natural substances (neurotransmitters) that allow the brain cells to communicate with each other effectively.
There are four main neurotransmitters that create our moods.
- Dopamine/Norepinephrine (the natural energizer and mental focuser)
- GABA (our natural sedative)
- Endorphin (our natural pain killer)
- Serotonin (our natural mood stabilizer and sleep promoter)
What causes deficiencies in neurotransmitters?
Deficiencies can be inherited affecting biochemical pathways and can become pronounced during prolonged stress during which the body consumes the brain’s natural sedatives and stimulants. While the body has emergency stores of these brain chemicals, continual use of them in chronic stress can result in further depletion.
How do I help you bring neurotransmitters back into balance?
I work with you to identify and address the roots causes of the imbalance. The combined approach of nutrition and cognitive behavioral therapy is critical.
My approach is holistic. It involves looking at the factors that affect your mental health, including belief patterns, chronic stressors and diet. Where deficiencies in neurotransmitters are identified, I assist the body in returning to a state of balance through amino acid therapy.
Why is diet important?
You can help support a healthy mood by consuming foods that promote the production of essential neurotransmitters. My approach incorporates nutrition education along with rigorous and effective dietary practices.
In conjunction with Cognitive Behavioral therapy techniques, I teach people how to eat a healthy diet by incorporating more foods into their daily regiment without feeling deprived, which is paramount to a reduction in symptoms of depression. Additionally, the use of natural supplements can decrease depression and lift mood without the use of pharmacology.
How does cognitive behavioral therapy help?
Cognitive behavioral therapy is clinically proven to effectively treat depression and anxiety. It helps individuals take control of their lives and emotions.
I help individuals learn to identify dysfunctional beliefs that lead to negative consequences in mood and behavior and to stimulate emotional growth by replacing self-defeating thoughts, feelings, and actions with new and more effective ones. The result is a rewarding sense of responsibility for emotions, empowering people to change and overcome unhealthy behaviors that interfere with their ability to enjoy life.
Anxiety
Anxiety disorders are a far more common problem than was once thought. Acute anxiety disorder manifests itself in episodes commonly known as "panic attacks". A panic attack involves a "flight of fight" response, or a complex involuntary physiological response in which the body prepares itself to deal with an emergency situation.
Panic attacks are usually abrupt and intense. They can occur at any time of day or night, lasting from seconds up to a half an hour. They are often unpredictable and triggered by stress. Food allergies and hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, are common with people who experience anxiety.
In addition to Cognitive Behavioral therapy techniques, I teach individuals to identify foods that are stimulating and can trigger panic attacks. I teach people how to eat a healthy diet and how to use nutrients and supplements to treat the symptoms of anxiety.