Understanding Phobias So many of us find ourselves with phobias. Are you afraid of closed-in spaces, spiders, or flying in an airplane? For most people, a negative experience starts the phobia. Pandemic anyone? In countries that seem to have beaten COVID, researchers have found that a significant number of people have developed agoraphobia and are afraid to leave their houses, even though it is now safe for vaccinated people to go out. This is not too surprising. After all, the message that it was not safe to leave the house was pounded into our brains by the news, public service … Read more…

Understanding your body’s stress response  Did you know that a natural hormone produced by your body to keep you safe can actually end up being bad for your health?    It’s the stress hormone cortisol.  It’s part of your natural “flight or fight” response that has kept humans alive for thousands of years.  It is for emergencies only however, such as escaping an angry bull elephant or a hostile attacker. The body’s stress response was meant to be triggered by life or death situations.  In the modern world, it is often triggered by daily stressful social, economic, and work situations. … Read more…

Are you suddenly feeling overwhelmed, depressed, and worried when you had been responding to the “new pandemic normal” just fine?  Many people felt kind of energized and easily able to “keep calm and carry on” during the early months of this crisis, but recently, for quite a few people, this ability has waned.  Six months into these “unprecedented times”, there is a neurological reason for this burn-out and part of it has to do with the way your wonderful brain is always working to ensure your survival. Take the fight-or-flight response, for example. Your amygdala, the temporal lobe of your brain, is … Read more…

[fusion_builder_container type=”flex” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” overlay_color=”” video_preview_image=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” padding_right=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” center_content=”no” last=”true” min_height=”” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_sizes_top=”” border_sizes_bottom=”” border_sizes_left=”” border_sizes_right=”” first=”true”][fusion_text]A new client contacted me last week because he just had the first panic attack of his life. He did not have any previous history of anxiety or depression and didn’t know what was happening to him. … Read more…