Emotional Rescue
"Wired for Healing"
When I first started to write a column for the Kelowna Capital News in 2004, I never imagined how my life would change over the next 10 years. Nor could I...
Miracle of recovery
“Recovery is beyond anything that I could have imagined.” For five long and tortuous years, Paula had suffered from anxiety, depression and...
Can the brain really do that?
Did you know that it's possible to recover from chronic illness through rewiring the neural circuits in your brain? I know, it almost sounds too good to be...
Love conquers all
Here’s the story of a lovely lady with three children who met a man who was busy with three children of his own. Together they formed a family - but this...
Can your environment affect your brain?
Prior to my journey with a disabling illness, I was living life to the fullest. I had a successful counselling practice, a newspaper column and was also a...
Living life beyond your wildest dreams
Forest is planning a trip to Europe this fall! This may not seem like a big deal to most of you, but when you understand where she came from, you will realize...
Over-activated stress mechanism
When we are feeling threatened by someone or something, we will naturally fight or flee the situation to defend ourselves or to ensure our survival. This is a...
The miracle of the healing brain
Sometimes people aren’t willing to embrace a new approach until they see the results. Lauren is one of those people. Lauren’s journey with illness...
Is it real or is it the placebo effect?
In order to measure the effectiveness of a new drug, pharmaceutical companies are required to test the medication in a double blind placebo trial. This means...
Trauma can lead to chronic illness
There are many sources of stress or trauma that have a direct impact on brain function. Psychological, emotional, physical, viral, bacterial and chemical just...
Dream home morphs into nightmare
Susan was a 42-year-old woman who was perfectly healthy, had a wonderful career and a full and rewarding life. She developed a condition known as environmental...
The brain is vulnerable to trauma
Sadly, millions of people suffer from seemingly mysterious chronic conditions that doctors and scientists have not been able to completely explain or treat....
What happened to the old me?
It’s really easy to get stuck in negative thinking and feeling patterns. This is especially true if we have suffered from some kind of trauma that is...
Emotional transparency - a powerful gift
In the last week I heard some shocking news of a death. One of my favorite authors Debbie Ford passed away last week at the very young age of 58. Debbie had...
Train the brain to transform health
When you experience trauma to the limbic system - the part of the brain responsible for sensory perception, unconscious protective mechanisms and...
Finding the silver lining
When we are in the middle of a life crisis, it is difficult to see how the experience could be of any benefit at all. Often times we are so immersed in the pain...
Over-activated threat mechanism
When we are feeling threatened by someone or something, we will naturally defend ourselves to ensure our survival. This is a healthy and normal response. ...
What I have learned from my dog
My dog Bella is the cutest dog ever – she is a little Shih Tzu-Bichon cross. Part teddy bear, part Ewok. She is an adorable, furry, four-legged soul with...
Ease suffering on a global level
So much has happened in my life in the eight years that I have been writing this column. For those of you who are regular readers of my column, you have also...
Negative emotional addictions
Our emotional state creates specific chemical messengers called peptides that allow our cells to communicate with one another. Every different peptide fits into...