I Was A Mental Health Defector
About Me:
Thank you for visiting my Vagus-Brain-Care coaching website.
How did I end up here with an interest in brain care as the ideal way to address all areas of your life?
Before I became a mental health therapist, I was interested in teaching. I ended up getting a Bachelor of Science in elementary education with a minor in music.
Near the end of my senior year, I decided I was more interested in people's emotional health. I was losing interest in the teaching side when I realized people have great potential for teaching themselves if they have good emotional health and self motivation.
I decided to pursue my master's in clinical counseling. Not having any idea what niche move forward in, my first set of jobs was working with people who were dealing with chronic mental illness. People with long term challenges like this were typically on disability and also had multiple health problems. They may have had a dual diagnosis with a chemical addiction and or metabolic syndrome.
It dawned on me after a while that the psych drugs were not working. And there wasn't much individuality with the drugs. Each psychiatrist had his or her own favorite psych drug and prescribed the same protocol to nearly everyone. In fact, I memorize my clients had numerous body complaints. In fact, I learned their styles and could predict what the script would be and when a dose would be increased or decreased. I even made suggestions and some doctors would agree.
Another problem I noted was they had severe body pain. The psychiatrist would say go see your physician for pain. They would come back and say all their tests were negative and the physician sent them back to the psychiatrist. It was all in their heads, they were told. Is this really the best modern medicine can provide?
It's also worth pointing out that my clients were living in poverty. Most of them never did well in school nor did they have any significant employment. They were already behind in education and social skills. They were not expected to get better.
I ran a group for bipolar and it dawned on me they were addicted to cigarettes, caffeinated diet soft drinks, and packaged junk food. How can they feel good about themselves with such toxins? It was a catalyst to move me more in the realm of natural health.
I had one client who was suffering from chronic grief after ECT (electro-therapy) robbed her of the memories of her children's birth. I encouraged her to modify her diet, and to take time to mediate. I had no instructions on meditation, since I didn't meditate but instinctively I told her to just sit quietly.
When she came back to see me, she was a changed person. She was very excited to relay to me what she discovered about herself and felt more empowered. I thanked God for her relief. I had no explanation for it, but felt moved to pursue the mind/body connection.
I knew a lot about the mind, but needed to learn more about the body so I looked at other healing approaches. I considered psychiatry for a brief minute but came across Peter Breggin's book, Toxic Psychiatry, and decided it wasn't for me.
Around that time I had my own emotional challenge and personal stress. I was offered free samples from the office lock box. I had helped attain these free samples to supply to our patients who had financial difficulty. I was offered ativan or ambien. I said, "No thank you." I needed to learn from this, not drug it. That comment I kept to myself, but that was authentic feeling.
That was my answer. I was not going to go to medical school for psychiatry. Even an older and wiser psychiatrist said to me he didn't believe in medicine. I asked him, "Why do you prescribe this?" His answer was, "That's what people want."
Wow. I knew I had to commit to a natural approach that honored the mind and body connection. I investigated as much as I could reading health magazines, especially other people's healing experiences. I looked at college degrees in natural healing, acupuncture, homeopathy, etc., but didn't find anything that struck me as the right fit.
Then, the Friday of Labor Day Weekend 1995, I was driving home from work. I was thinking about the new direction I wanted to go in and a word popped into my head: chiropractic.
Huh. I knew nothing about chiropractic. I only heard a commercial about advertising an episode of 20/20 so I thought there must be something to it if it was on a news show. I rushed to my local library before it closed and checked out as many books as I could find about it.
One book was an autobiographical presentation of one man's experience in chiropractic college and how he wanted to pursue chiropractic as a way to assist the healing of people with AIDS. It was a very compelling story. And I was lucky to read this book first since it was not focused on back pain. It had a more in depth explanation of the healing process which to me is much more interesting.
I then called a chiropractic office that had Saturday hours so I could ask the about volunteering. I wanted to see this chiropractic in action and learn more on my own before I quit my state job to return to college at my nontraditional age.
So I met patients. I learned how to develop X rays. I attended their regularly scheduled health talk, and I became a patient.
I learned about D.D. Palmer's investigation of the spine and how he adjusted a deaf man who was able to hear again. I learned about the Winsor autopsies performed by a medical doctor who wanted to disprove chiropractic's efficacy. I had X rays taken of my own spine and was really surprised to see early signs of degeneration.
So, Dr. Henry Winsor's autopsy comparisons showed support for chiropractic rather than disprove it as he thought. He found the cause of death of humans, cats, and dog cadavers had correlations with the spinal nerves that connected the organs to certain spinal segments. You can read about Dr. Winsor's study published in the 1921 Medical Times here. (If this link is broken, please tell me so I can update it with a working link.)
His results were so amazing to me that I was disturbed that I never heard of him before. This sealed the deal. I was definitely going to chiropractic college.
The next thing I learned blew me away and gave me more excitement than I could imagine. My chiropractor friends who took me under their wing also told me about the chiropractic sanitariums that helped cure people from debilitating mental illnesses.
Here's an except from my office blog discussing the history of chiropractic sanitariums:
I gave a talk in the past on the depression trap. I spoke on chiropractic's early history of chiropractic mental hospitals. No drugs were used! Probably there was a lot of kindness, empathy and of course...adjustments! Plenty of adjustments!
This article, Chiropractic in Mental Ailments, published in 1957 used the word "cure" because it was highly successful. The statistics showed nearly a 99% rate of improvement. A judge who saw inpatients in his courtroom, tried to pass new laws to include chiropractic in all hospitals.
Because this article used the word "cure" I see nothing wrong with using the word today. We know the scary history of psychopathic drugs and Peter Breggin, M.D., spent his career speaking out on the brain damage caused by medicine's psychiatric treatments. Read his blog. I am always bewildered why folks submit to damaging their own brains.
In the 1957 article, a physicist states very clearly that people are in mental distress when their nerves are physically irritated. It is not in their mind. It is in their bodies! Why should people feel bad about themselves and feel as if they really have little control, especially when told to snap out of it!
The recent discovery that the limbic system extends into the spinal cord absolutely changes how we look at emotional health. It is more physiology than psychology. The spine actually fuels the brain like a windmill generating nerve energy. A lifetime of spinal restrictions is going to have a negative effect. Spinal care is critical for total health.
The group I was speaking to was completely astonished when I showed them old photos of chiropractic mental hospitals located all over the country. Look here for the photos.
They were also astonished when I said I never learned this in chiropractic college. I sought out this information on my own because of my own interest in promoting mental health in a way that is empowering.
Sadly, these hospitals are gone for numerous reasons. Drugs seemed to be the quick fix and chiropractors in the 1960's through today decided to put themselves in the limiting box of back care. To me this does a terrible disservice to those who are suffering with mental stress resorting to prescription pills that steal their freedom.
I also learned about chiropractic's role in addiction treatment while I was enrolled in chiropractic college. Jay M. Holder, DC, runs an inpatient addiction treatment center and published a study on the increased retention rate when chiropractic is added to a typical addiction treatment program. Publication Link Here.
This was mind-body information I was looking for. Chiropractic was the best melding of mind/body healing and it is intricately managed by the nervous system.
Chiropractic has always been the backbone/ baseline approach to brain healing. It is the most profound way to jump start the brain and calm down the damaging fight or flight response.
Once someone can feel he or she can begin to stabilize and relax, the additional supportive approaches to brain healing can be implemented. This is the BFA Protocol. Move, Feed, and Talk to Your Brain. This is how we honor the mind/body connection and empower you to reach your goals with energy and ambition.
Oh, hold on. I forgot to tell you about my very first chiropractic adjustment I received when I was volunteering at my chiropractor friends' office. It was very memorable because I had no health complaints, yet my first adjustment was so freeing, energizing, and my mood was considerably boosted. Remember, I didn't have any complaints, but it's remarkable how we tolerate certain symptoms over time. Check out my story on my office blog here. I am grateful for receiving this information early on so I could make the necessary life style changes to prevent any future chronic problems.
My only annoying problem is that I have so much excitement about the Vagus-Brain-Care approach that my hyperactive personality may be too much for some people. I sometime feel I wasted a lot of time in my life because I applied my most recent knowledge of neuroplasticity and brain healing in the last ten years and regret not doing it sooner. I don't want my clients to feel that way either. I want them to dive right in, but why should I expect them to listen to me when I didn't listen to myself for so long? This is the challenge of the brain.
When the brain is drained, and stress, people can't make good health decisions for themselves. On one hand, they may never have felt good their entire lives, so there is a nagging feeling of unbelief that they can feel better. On the other hand, someone may be so depleted of energy that they don't have the drive to try something new. Other social factors are in play especially when peer pressure can be distracting or family support is lacking.
But you are worth it!!
We need your full participation in the world and you can't do that with a burdened brain.
Please, make the call and ask me your questions about getting started.
You have the tools. I can help you learn to use them more proficiently.
Go back to the getting started page.
How did I end up here with an interest in brain care as the ideal way to address all areas of your life?
Before I became a mental health therapist, I was interested in teaching. I ended up getting a Bachelor of Science in elementary education with a minor in music.
Near the end of my senior year, I decided I was more interested in people's emotional health. I was losing interest in the teaching side when I realized people have great potential for teaching themselves if they have good emotional health and self motivation.
I decided to pursue my master's in clinical counseling. Not having any idea what niche move forward in, my first set of jobs was working with people who were dealing with chronic mental illness. People with long term challenges like this were typically on disability and also had multiple health problems. They may have had a dual diagnosis with a chemical addiction and or metabolic syndrome.
It dawned on me after a while that the psych drugs were not working. And there wasn't much individuality with the drugs. Each psychiatrist had his or her own favorite psych drug and prescribed the same protocol to nearly everyone. In fact, I memorize my clients had numerous body complaints. In fact, I learned their styles and could predict what the script would be and when a dose would be increased or decreased. I even made suggestions and some doctors would agree.
Another problem I noted was they had severe body pain. The psychiatrist would say go see your physician for pain. They would come back and say all their tests were negative and the physician sent them back to the psychiatrist. It was all in their heads, they were told. Is this really the best modern medicine can provide?
It's also worth pointing out that my clients were living in poverty. Most of them never did well in school nor did they have any significant employment. They were already behind in education and social skills. They were not expected to get better.
I ran a group for bipolar and it dawned on me they were addicted to cigarettes, caffeinated diet soft drinks, and packaged junk food. How can they feel good about themselves with such toxins? It was a catalyst to move me more in the realm of natural health.
I had one client who was suffering from chronic grief after ECT (electro-therapy) robbed her of the memories of her children's birth. I encouraged her to modify her diet, and to take time to mediate. I had no instructions on meditation, since I didn't meditate but instinctively I told her to just sit quietly.
When she came back to see me, she was a changed person. She was very excited to relay to me what she discovered about herself and felt more empowered. I thanked God for her relief. I had no explanation for it, but felt moved to pursue the mind/body connection.
I knew a lot about the mind, but needed to learn more about the body so I looked at other healing approaches. I considered psychiatry for a brief minute but came across Peter Breggin's book, Toxic Psychiatry, and decided it wasn't for me.
Around that time I had my own emotional challenge and personal stress. I was offered free samples from the office lock box. I had helped attain these free samples to supply to our patients who had financial difficulty. I was offered ativan or ambien. I said, "No thank you." I needed to learn from this, not drug it. That comment I kept to myself, but that was authentic feeling.
That was my answer. I was not going to go to medical school for psychiatry. Even an older and wiser psychiatrist said to me he didn't believe in medicine. I asked him, "Why do you prescribe this?" His answer was, "That's what people want."
Wow. I knew I had to commit to a natural approach that honored the mind and body connection. I investigated as much as I could reading health magazines, especially other people's healing experiences. I looked at college degrees in natural healing, acupuncture, homeopathy, etc., but didn't find anything that struck me as the right fit.
Then, the Friday of Labor Day Weekend 1995, I was driving home from work. I was thinking about the new direction I wanted to go in and a word popped into my head: chiropractic.
Huh. I knew nothing about chiropractic. I only heard a commercial about advertising an episode of 20/20 so I thought there must be something to it if it was on a news show. I rushed to my local library before it closed and checked out as many books as I could find about it.
One book was an autobiographical presentation of one man's experience in chiropractic college and how he wanted to pursue chiropractic as a way to assist the healing of people with AIDS. It was a very compelling story. And I was lucky to read this book first since it was not focused on back pain. It had a more in depth explanation of the healing process which to me is much more interesting.
I then called a chiropractic office that had Saturday hours so I could ask the about volunteering. I wanted to see this chiropractic in action and learn more on my own before I quit my state job to return to college at my nontraditional age.
So I met patients. I learned how to develop X rays. I attended their regularly scheduled health talk, and I became a patient.
I learned about D.D. Palmer's investigation of the spine and how he adjusted a deaf man who was able to hear again. I learned about the Winsor autopsies performed by a medical doctor who wanted to disprove chiropractic's efficacy. I had X rays taken of my own spine and was really surprised to see early signs of degeneration.
So, Dr. Henry Winsor's autopsy comparisons showed support for chiropractic rather than disprove it as he thought. He found the cause of death of humans, cats, and dog cadavers had correlations with the spinal nerves that connected the organs to certain spinal segments. You can read about Dr. Winsor's study published in the 1921 Medical Times here. (If this link is broken, please tell me so I can update it with a working link.)
His results were so amazing to me that I was disturbed that I never heard of him before. This sealed the deal. I was definitely going to chiropractic college.
The next thing I learned blew me away and gave me more excitement than I could imagine. My chiropractor friends who took me under their wing also told me about the chiropractic sanitariums that helped cure people from debilitating mental illnesses.
Here's an except from my office blog discussing the history of chiropractic sanitariums:
I gave a talk in the past on the depression trap. I spoke on chiropractic's early history of chiropractic mental hospitals. No drugs were used! Probably there was a lot of kindness, empathy and of course...adjustments! Plenty of adjustments!
This article, Chiropractic in Mental Ailments, published in 1957 used the word "cure" because it was highly successful. The statistics showed nearly a 99% rate of improvement. A judge who saw inpatients in his courtroom, tried to pass new laws to include chiropractic in all hospitals.
Because this article used the word "cure" I see nothing wrong with using the word today. We know the scary history of psychopathic drugs and Peter Breggin, M.D., spent his career speaking out on the brain damage caused by medicine's psychiatric treatments. Read his blog. I am always bewildered why folks submit to damaging their own brains.
In the 1957 article, a physicist states very clearly that people are in mental distress when their nerves are physically irritated. It is not in their mind. It is in their bodies! Why should people feel bad about themselves and feel as if they really have little control, especially when told to snap out of it!
The recent discovery that the limbic system extends into the spinal cord absolutely changes how we look at emotional health. It is more physiology than psychology. The spine actually fuels the brain like a windmill generating nerve energy. A lifetime of spinal restrictions is going to have a negative effect. Spinal care is critical for total health.
The group I was speaking to was completely astonished when I showed them old photos of chiropractic mental hospitals located all over the country. Look here for the photos.
They were also astonished when I said I never learned this in chiropractic college. I sought out this information on my own because of my own interest in promoting mental health in a way that is empowering.
Sadly, these hospitals are gone for numerous reasons. Drugs seemed to be the quick fix and chiropractors in the 1960's through today decided to put themselves in the limiting box of back care. To me this does a terrible disservice to those who are suffering with mental stress resorting to prescription pills that steal their freedom.
I also learned about chiropractic's role in addiction treatment while I was enrolled in chiropractic college. Jay M. Holder, DC, runs an inpatient addiction treatment center and published a study on the increased retention rate when chiropractic is added to a typical addiction treatment program. Publication Link Here.
This was mind-body information I was looking for. Chiropractic was the best melding of mind/body healing and it is intricately managed by the nervous system.
Chiropractic has always been the backbone/ baseline approach to brain healing. It is the most profound way to jump start the brain and calm down the damaging fight or flight response.
Once someone can feel he or she can begin to stabilize and relax, the additional supportive approaches to brain healing can be implemented. This is the BFA Protocol. Move, Feed, and Talk to Your Brain. This is how we honor the mind/body connection and empower you to reach your goals with energy and ambition.
Oh, hold on. I forgot to tell you about my very first chiropractic adjustment I received when I was volunteering at my chiropractor friends' office. It was very memorable because I had no health complaints, yet my first adjustment was so freeing, energizing, and my mood was considerably boosted. Remember, I didn't have any complaints, but it's remarkable how we tolerate certain symptoms over time. Check out my story on my office blog here. I am grateful for receiving this information early on so I could make the necessary life style changes to prevent any future chronic problems.
My only annoying problem is that I have so much excitement about the Vagus-Brain-Care approach that my hyperactive personality may be too much for some people. I sometime feel I wasted a lot of time in my life because I applied my most recent knowledge of neuroplasticity and brain healing in the last ten years and regret not doing it sooner. I don't want my clients to feel that way either. I want them to dive right in, but why should I expect them to listen to me when I didn't listen to myself for so long? This is the challenge of the brain.
When the brain is drained, and stress, people can't make good health decisions for themselves. On one hand, they may never have felt good their entire lives, so there is a nagging feeling of unbelief that they can feel better. On the other hand, someone may be so depleted of energy that they don't have the drive to try something new. Other social factors are in play especially when peer pressure can be distracting or family support is lacking.
But you are worth it!!
We need your full participation in the world and you can't do that with a burdened brain.
Please, make the call and ask me your questions about getting started.
You have the tools. I can help you learn to use them more proficiently.
Go back to the getting started page.
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