True Health: Mind - Body - Spirit
Bridging the Gap: The benefits of Clinical Nutrition and EFT
With the widespread availability of the internet and nutrition information being readily available to almost anyone who needs it, many people find this to be both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that you can search almost any topic and find a plethora of information. The curse is that it is difficult for the lay person to sort out what information or products arise from legitimate science versus those that are based on marketing and hope. Even more challenging is sifting through that information and attempting to construct some sort of "self-treatment" nutrition program. That being said, the objectivity and skill of a professional who is trained in individualized clinical nutrition applications can be most helpful.
Based on our clinical experience over the past 28 years, we recognize the inherent complexity of viewing ourselves from the body-mind perspective….. as an integrated "whole" being, not just as a "machine" that needs parts and periodic repair. The pre-occupation with making the symptom "go away" has been likened to placing a piece of black electrical tape over the "low oil" warning light on the dashboard and driving on. Yes, the warning symptom is gone, but the consequences are sure to appear "down the road".
People coming to our office generally tend to fall into 1 of 2 categories: those who need accurate individual assessment and information about what to do, and 2) those who have been to 2 or more clinicians, pretty much know what to do, but for one reason or another, still cannot seem to follow-through. The latter category includes those who are frustrated by emotional eating, cravings, food and substance addiction, aversion to exercise, patterns of self-sabotage, subconscious fears about getting well, and those who have merged their identity with the illness or disease label and have made IT their focus in life. These people feel usually feel "stuck" and "held back" by some intangible and difficult to describe aspect of themselves. Sometimes, they feel they are simply playing the same mental or emotional "tape" over and over, and feel helpless to "turn it off". For these people, more information does not always lead to positive changes in thinking or behavior. After all, it is the thinking which arises from underlying conscious and subconscious beliefs about ourselves and our experiences, and creates our patterns of behavior. Commonly, for these people, more information or "facts" are insufficient to alter these patterns and forces.
In cases such as depression or anxiety, clinical nutrition recognizes the value of supporting the neurotransmitters in both the brain and the gut. We can add methylation support and enhance neurotransmitter receptor sensitivity with optimized fatty acid therapies. Inositol can bind to the benzodiazepine receptors and botanicals such as passiflora and hops can help calm over-stimulated neural pathways and the HPA axis. However, if we never address and release the imprint of the initial trauma that continually energizes the fight or flight response, then we haven't really addressed matters at the most basic and causative level. It can be the difference between "turning down the volume" or "changing the channel". Deciding what is the ultimate level of causation can be both challenging and a matter of both philosophy and perspective.
Some of the newer self-healing techniques, loosely referred to as "energy therapies", such as Emotional Freedom Techniques, appear to offer a dimension of relief at a level the biochemical model cannot reach. That is not to say that one is good or bad, or better than the other, but merely that they interact within the human system at different levels. In that EFT works, in part, as an acupressure technique in stimulating traditional acupressure points, it might be expected to work in a similar manner as acupuncture but without the needles. As with acupuncture, the restoration of the "energy flow" through the channels we call meridians, offers "balance" at a different level than nutritional or botanical medicine. By way of metaphor, if we were to discuss moving electricity through a copper wire, we would speak of the integrity and sufficiency of the wire to carry the anticipated voltage and current. A thin, damaged wire with poor or no insulation at certain locations would likely lead to "energy losses" or short circuits in that system or circuit. Likewise, the proper potential is needed to move the electrons in the wire to manifest what we call electricity. Neither the electricity nor the wire is better or less than the other, but both need to be in good functional states to achieve the end result. As with the human system, we have a need for optimal mineralization, fatty acid balance, removal of toxins, and so forth. But the energy of life needs to be coherent, free of noise, and of sufficient strength to flow along the intact "wire" of our physiology. Where EFT, acupuncture, and other energy modalities differ from conventional thinking lies in the presumption that many if not most human ills have an underlying emotional component and that the "release" of that stored or repressed emotional allows for reduced impairment of self-healing. This premise is supported by clinical experience in patients / clients using EFT for relief in PTSD, phobias, fears, anxiety, cravings, grief, anger, and other non-physical thoughts and emotions.
Thus, the traumas, griefs, betrayals, losses, and other "negative experiences" of life that are frequently stored in the body as "body memory" and remembered in the subconscious mind, continue to influence our physiology, even many years later. If our conscious mind can process roughly 40 bits of information per second and our subconscious mind can process 40,000 bits of information per second, then who or what is running our lives? It is by far and away, the memories, tapes, programs, alarms, and behavioral patterns that reside and play in our subconscious minds. And to this dimension, techniques such as EFT can play such a helpful, if not dramatic role. Have you ever try to create a new habit? How about stopping an old one? Easy? Habits are repetitive behaviors encoded in our subconscious minds.
Our experience with EFT has opened new opportunities for our clients for enhanced healing and restoration of "balance" at a pace and on a level and depth that we would have not thought possible.
We invite you to explore this fascinating and powerful synergy for true body-mind healing.