Hi Belleruth,

I would like to know if you had any training prior to creating your first meditation tape.  I am a LCSW and have a deep desire to create a relaxation/meditation tape for the physicians I serve. They are in recovery and I would like to learn how to create a CD. Any support would be greatly appreciated! Peace.

R.A.M.

Investigators from the Chronic Fatigue Center at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in The Netherlands tested the usefulness of a minimal, cognitive behavioral intervention consisting of guided self-instructions combined with email contact on 171 chronic fatigue patients in a randomized, controlled trial.

Eighty-five were randomized to the intervention condition, and 86 to a wait list control condition.  All subjects . met the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome.

We got a big kick out of this posting, which, as luck would have it, is from the one and only M.A. Bjarkman, one of the founding goddesses and leading lights of The ConferenceWorks!, the generous hosts of so many of my weekend trainings.  (They’re currently featuring the awesome likes of Greg Braden, Donna Eden and David Feinstein, Joseph Chilton Pearce and Geneen Roth. 

Hello again.

I was talking with some V.A. colleagues, and they were telling me how the new vets coming back from Iraq & Afghanistan are a very different breed from the Vietnam vets they saw decades ago.  

Of course, it’s a different situation in many ways.  With Vietnam, the country was totally divided and we took our anger out on each other, and on the vets, who came back.  The vets were very angry about being sent out to kill people and then getting castigated for it once they got home.  We traumatized them all over again.  

On the other hand, this new group of soldiers are appreciated by society at large, for putting themselves at risk – even by people who aren’t particularly happy about the wars. That’s one lesson we sure learned the hard way: not to take the politics of war out on the troops who fight them.

Of course, most of our Vietnam troops were draftees.  Nowadays we have an all-volunteer army. (But then again, a lot of the reservists and National Guardsmen thought they were signing up to get some extra money and help out in national emergencies.  Little did they know they’d be away from their families and careers, on their fourth rotation, fighting real people on foreign soil. So this is a complicated point and not as straightforward as it looks.)

I just finished reading your book on intuition and I feel like you were talking to me personally.  I relate to everything you describe.  I am a 42 year old empath who has been psychic all my life.  I am blessed that my gift guides me in everything I do.

My question has to do with a deep knowing that a man at work is meant for me. I knew from the first time I saw him that he was my true soul mate, but he is very shy.  He doesn’t respond to our connection.  I believe his shyness keeps him at a distance.

Researchers from the Oregon Center for Applied Science in Eugene, OR, evaluated the efficacy of a psycho-educational internet self-help tool to educate and support recently (1-6 months) bereaved individuals. The goal of the website was to help users normalize their grief to enhance their adaptive adjustment.

A randomized controlled trial evaluated the gains in social cognitive theory constructs and state anxiety. Compared to the control group (N = 34), treatment participants (N = 33) reported significant multivariate gains (eta-square = .191).

Hello, Health Journeys!

I had been dealing with infertility for almost four years. After the first dismal try (and “failure”, as they like to call it) with IVF, I realized I was going to need help, because the whole process was upsetting, and I wanted to be able to stick it out.  I was feeling discouraged, depressed and, in a way, disabled. I began searching the web for books, CDs and videos that could help me cope.
 
Before beginning the second round of IVF, I purchased your CD, Help for Fertility.  I listened to it every night before falling asleep.  It brought me a great sense of calmness and hope.  I know you could argue with me about this, but I think this relaxing, positive imagery helped me get pregnant.

Hello, everyone.

Last week, Beliefnet posted a terrific little piece on migraine triggers and how to avoid or mitigate them.  So for those who suffer from this heinous condition, check out the bulleted points, courtesy of Beliefnet, and if you want to see the fleshed out original, click here.

Anyone who’s ever worked in an office or served on a large, longstanding committee probably knows this scenario – when you find yourself getting overly aggravated, disrupted or distracted by an angry, dysfunctional fellow worker.  

Check out this excellent advice from psychotherapist Phillip Chard, who suggests guided imagery.  When having a reasonable conversation isn’t an option, going inward with guided imagery is the way to go: