Full Member of the Malaysia Psychological Association (PSIMA)

Hiro Koo is an ordinary/full member of the Malaysia Psychological Association (Persatuan Psikologi Malaysia).

Membership Certificate

Membership Certificate till 2023

Ahli Biasa / Ordinary Member / Full Member : Mempunyai latihan dan pengalaman dalam bidang psikologi atau siswazah universiti dalam bidang psikologi, psikologi perubatan, psikologi pendidikan atau lain-lain bidang yang sebahagian besar kursus –kursus psikologi dan telah bekerja sepenuh masa dalam bidang tersebut sepenuh masa selama 2 tahun ATAU seorang siswazah selain daripada bidang-bidang tersebut dan telah bekerja selama 4 tahun sepenuh masa dalam bidang psikologi; atau lainlain IPTA/IPTS dan telah bekerja dalam bidang psikologi selama 6 tahun.

南洋商报 Nanyang Siang Pau (27/11/2014) - 脑波反馈催眠疗法Neuro-Hypnotherapy专访

在此特别鸣谢南洋商报的专访，让更多人了解我所研发的脑波反馈催眠疗法Neuro-Hypnotherapy。希望可以以此让更多客户受惠。

有兴趣进行此疗法的你，可以email我询问更多详情：[email protected]

为什么乌鸦嘴特别灵验？

心念的力量

有些人喜欢骂人，或在背后说别人的坏话。殊不知，当口出恶言成为习惯后，这些语言就成了心田的种子，早晚会带来恶运。

人说话时会产生声波，当我们说一些不中听、不吉祥的话时，常会听到人们说：快闭上你的乌鸦嘴！因为当负能量的语言声波一出，就会吸引“同频率”的事件上门（周易讲究同气相求），这就是为什么乌鸦嘴会特别灵验。

尤其是忿怒和怨恨时所说的话，那些话都带有很强的能量，再透过负向的振波，结果往往让人意想不到。我们曾听说过，某些人因为一时气愤，说出了重话，后来真的发生严重的后果。

比方夫妻吵架，妻子对先生骂道：你去死！结果先生真的就死了；父亲对孩子叫骂：有本事你就永远不要回来！结果孩子因为一场意外就再也没有回去过。

也许会有人问：我只是说说而已，又不是真的，有什么关系？这就好比医生误诊一样，告诉一个人得了癌症，我们想想这个人会怎样？

生活中常听到这样的故事，一位老人因胸部不适、咳嗽，吃药无多大改变，就去医院检查，结果诊断出是一个快速发展的恶性肿瘤，医师说只能维持一两个月时间。

病人听后吓破了胆，身体便开始恶化，咳嗽不停，体重迅速下降。第二天，没想到医院说把检验报告弄混了，老人没得癌症！获知实情之后，老人立即离床，行动自如，没过几天就出院了。

 

说恶语为什么会伤到自己

美国思想家埃默森曾经说过：用刀解剖关键性的字，它会流血。足见语言是有生命的，它具备了创造和毁损的能力。尤其是一个人的口头禅，一天少说也要讲上百句，这些口头禅的能量会不知不觉地影响到自己的情绪、心态和命运。

所以，我们说任何话都要心存善意，在措词用字上面也不要太重。比方，如果有人触怒了对方，我们可以用“困扰”或“遗憾”的字眼来取代“气愤”或“忿怒”，想想看，当改用“遗憾”二字时，我们还会火冒三丈吗？

有道是：良言一句三冬暖，恶语一句九月霜。言语看似简单，但影响却相当深远。我们每个人都是魔法师，可以用言语对别人下咒，也可以用咒语帮助别人。

更重要的是，一个人所下的每个咒语最后都会回到自己的身上，因为这个人是发出咒语振波的中心，不是吗？

每个咒语就像一粒种籽，在种籽里面，我们无法看到大树，但只要播下种籽，并持续浇水灌溉，种籽自然会把自己所需的东西，吸引到身边来，而成长茁壮。

 

人为什么要常发善心？

世界上的万事万物都有磁场和能量的，不管是石头、木头、桌椅，你、我，包括我们的眼睛、耳朵、鼻子都是有磁场的。

而且现代物理学有一个最伟大的发现，那就是“物质就是能量”。这句话向我们揭示，物质只是能量的一种形式。

打个比方：人的身体看起来好像是由固体物质所构成，而这些固体物质可以分解成分子和原子，但根据量子物理学，每一个原子的内部有百分之99.9999是空的，以闪电般的速度穿梭在这些空间中的次原子，其实是一束束振动的能量。

这些能量并不是随便任意振动，振动其实就是携带讯息，整个讯息场会把讯息传送到宇宙量子场创造物质世界我们所看到的实相。

佛经上说：色即是空，空即是色。是说我们肉眼所见到的并非真实存在，肉眼看不到的才是真实的存在。

说得更明白一点，我们看到房屋、墙壁、身体都不是真实的，它们只是纯粹的能量，由于电子的移动速度非常快，以致我们的肉眼看不出来，因而认为它们是一个实体。

科学爱丁顿说过：我们总是认为物质是东西，但现在它不是东西了；现在，物质比起东西而言更像是念头。

念头，没错，物质是来自念头，是来自我们的思想。如果不是先有飞机的念头，科技是无法创造出飞机的；如果不是先有写这本书的念头，这本书也不会呈现在你的眼前。

如果剖析一张画，我们会发现它是由画布和一些颜料所组成，但一幅画之所以变成美丽的图画，并非来自画布和颜料等物质的总合，它是来自绘图者的念头。如果没有那个想法，也就不可能有那幅画。一切法从心想生！


摘自：http://cforum2.cari.com.my/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=3462889

MENTAL HEALTH FOR EVERYBODY

Just as we should follow a daily regimen that keeps our hearts, skin, and other organs flourishing, we should also be mindful of nourishing our brains, even if we don’t suffer from mental illness. The following tips are designed to keep the jewel in our crowns healthy, and — since everything is connected — may well clear up other problems below the neck.

Eat more healthy fats: Good sources of omega-3 fatty acids are salmon, herring, sardines, and anchovies, as well as pasture-raised meats and eggs, flaxseeds, walnuts, and omega-3 fish-oil supplements, especially those containing eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).

Get more protein: A healthy brain depends on the steady creation of neurotransmitters. The basic building blocks for these transmitters are amino acids that come from the protein in our diets. Experts suggest that 20 to 25 percent of our diets should come from high-quality protein like meat, eggs, dairy, beans, and legumes. And it’s a good idea to begin the day with a solid helping of protein. “I tell people to have dinner for breakfast,” says naturopath Ray Pataracchia. “You might get sick of eggs every day, so you have to change it up and be inventive.”

Avoid sugar highs: The brain has an enormous need for glucose, and our blood supplies this essential fuel as it circulates through the brain. This supply needs to be slow and steady, without the peaks and valleys caused by simple sugars found in junk food. Stick to the complex carbohydrates found in vegetables, whole grains, and many fruits.

Buffer stress with B and C vitamins: Stress bombards even the most ordinary lives, both from the outside — a hectic schedule, an angry coworker, commuting to work in heavy traffic — and from the inside, such as when our bodies battle infection and illness. A steady stream of cortisol and other stress hormones can weaken neurotransmitters. Protect them with vitamins C and B — especially niacin, or B3 — which together can regulate and protect these neurotransmitters. The official minimum daily-requirement numbers, says natural-health educator Andrew Saul, PhD, are laughably low: “For someone with a reasonably good diet, a couple hundred milligrams of supplemental B3 would be wise.”

Stay connected: Robert Hedaya, MD, at the National Center for Whole Psychiatry, compares human beings to neurons: The more connections one neuron has with other neurons, the more vibrant it is. When the connections are severed, a solitary neuron can shrivel and die. Similarly, humans need a connection with other humans and with nature to flourish.

Develop a spiritual practice: “Fear creates stress,” Hedaya says. “Whatever it is that you’re stressed about, your cognitive framework is going to treat things as more or less stressful. With a spiritual practice, you develop the perspective that there is meaning to life and that we’re not alone. I think the importance of this is highly underrated in the psychiatric field. If you feel as if everything in life is up to you, that’s a lot of pressure. When you add to that the way that so many people live in isolation, that’s a toxic recipe.”

All retrieved from https://experiencelife.com/article/whole-body-psychiatry-nutrition-for-mental-health/

虹膜學Iridology

最近中心的Naturopath自然疗法师为顾客进行虹膜學Iridology检测服务。
我对这个服务感到蛮新奇的。
目前我的中心提供免费的虹膜學Iridology检测服务，所以有一天我带了我部门的顾客去检查虹膜。

顾客检查后，她告诉我她主要的三个问题如疼痛等都准确的在虹膜里显示了出来。
同时，我在她的虹膜里也发现了一个小黑点，检测后发现那是盲肠的位置。
于是我问她盲肠有什么问题吗？
她即刻告诉我说她的盲肠已经割掉了！
她告诉我这虹膜学非常精准。


虹膜學的優點及可查出的事項
1、能判斷整體的身心健康、緊張疲勞情況
2、身體需要什麼營養
3、身體是否有急性炎症，及在那個部位
4、身體是否有藥物或毒素的累積，累積在那 個部位，及累積多寡
5、先天性某器官或腺體功能較弱
6、能預知潛在性心血管疾病、糖尿病或其他疾病的前兆－有防病作用
7、可查出症狀的根源及器官的關係
8、能辨認痊癒驟變和疾病驟變的區別
9、能詮釋赫爾因氏康復規律（Hering Law of cure）探討疾病的通道─虹膜
10、可自我檢查，隨時注意身體健康情況
11、診斷不談疾病名，只談器官健康情況
12、可查出問題皮膚的成因是內分泌異常、胃腸機能障礙、肝機能的降低、自律
神經失調、維他命、礦物質的缺乏或外在因素〈註十二〉

虹膜學不能查出的事項
虹膜診斷學到底並非萬能，其無法測知之事項，如：
1、不能察知血壓或血糖、尿酸……等的高低，或其他化驗的數據
2、單憑虹膜不知男女性別
3、不知是否懷孕、胎兒性別或胎位正常與否
4、不能確定是否有愛滋病或性病
5、不能測定患者過去服用過何種藥物，及做過何種手術〈註十三〉

参●結論
虹膜學這個資訊目前在世界上並不是發展完整，目前還是有許多地方仍待改進，
並無法有效的利用這個知識來發展科技，所以需要日後的研究和技術來克服目前
解決不了的問題。



资料来源：台湾明道中学 http://www.mingdao.edu.tw/mdhsp/biology/pdf/b_9611.pdf

Depression and mood disorders are devastating health problems today. When you go to your doctor, their answer is often a prescription for one of the various popular anti-depressant drugs. Many doctors do not investigate for metabolic or nutritional deficiencies that may be the ‘real problem’ for your depression. Patients have no idea why they feel so awful or where to start looking for the answer. They expect their doctor to give them real solutions. Instead they get drugs as the easy fix. Drugs are not an easy fix because of the serious side effects that come with taking them. Doctors prescribe these drugs from information they get from the drug sales rep which often is only part-truth. The side effects and dangers of these drugs are down-played or left out altogether. Prescription drugs should only be prescribed after other medical problems have been ruled out.

10 Nutritional Deficiencies That Cause Depression and Mood Disorders

Depression and mood disorders are devastating health problems today. When you go to your doctor, their answer is often a prescription for one of the various popular anti-depressant drugs. Many doctors do not investigate for metabolic or nutritional deficiencies that may be the ‘real problem’ for your depression. Patients have no idea why they feel so awful or where to start looking for the answer. They expect their doctor to give them real solutions. Instead they get drugs as the easy fix. Drugs are not an easy fix because of the serious side effects that come with taking them. Doctors prescribe these drugs from information they get from the drug sales rep which often is only part-truth. The side effects and dangers of these drugs are down-played or left out altogether. Prescription drugs should only be prescribed after other medical problems have been ruled out.

Learn About 10 Nutrient Deficiencies That Cause Depression and Mood Disorder Symptoms:

If you suffer from depression or mood disorders you may be deficient in one of the nutrients below. Researchers have found that many people who suffer from depression and mood disorders are deficient in not just one nutrient but several, all contributing to the symptoms.

#1: Healthy Food Deficiency? Junk Food Diet

Is your diet filled with sugar, junk foods, sodas, or processed foods? Do you often skip meals. If you suffer from depression or mood disorders, start a food diary of the foods you eat every day. You will find answers to your health problems while doing that. Your shopping cart and refrigerator tell the story of your health. My husband works as a cashier at Walmart. People shopping for their family fill their cart with junk sugar filled cereal, chips, candy, soda, , TV dinners, and over-processed food in general. Seven-Elevens thrive on selling candy, soda, and chips to the eat-on-the-run customers. There are very few fresh vegetables or fruit on the average American’s grocery list. This is why so many Americans are obese, depressed, and suffering from diabetes. If your life is not going well, eating junk food is not going to improve your outlook.

#2: Omega-3 Fatty Acids Deficiency:

These are found in foods such as fish and Flax Seed Oil. A deficiency of Omega-3 fatty acids or an imbalance between Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids may be one of the contributing factors to your depression. Omega 3 Fatty acids are important to brain function and your mental outlook on life. They also help people who suffer from inflammation and pain problems. Researchers have found that many patients with depression and mood disorders are deficient in Omega 3 Fatty Acids. It is important to buy fish oil that has been cold processed and tested for heavy metals and other contamination. It should state that on the label.

#3: Vitamin D Deficiency:

Important to immune function, bones, and brain health. Sunlight is the richest source for natural Vitamin D. The Journal Clinical Nutrition in Jan 21st, 2013 published the result of research that analyzed over 18000 British citizens for Vitamin D deficiencies and associated mental disorders links. They found that a deficiency of Vitamin D was present in patients with depression and panic disorders. The study results stated that people who are deficient in Vitamin D are at higher risk for developing depression later in life. Most seniors are deficient in Vitamin D. Often people working long hours in offices are deficient as well. Get out in the sun. Take a walk during your lunch break or walk your dog. Play a game with your kids outside away from computers and the television. Get out of the house and into the sunshine. Just don’t overdo it if you are sensitive to the sun. Overdoing it is not good either.

#4: B-Vitamins Deficiency:

There is much research in Neuropsychiatry that proves the link between B-Vitamin deficiencies and mood disorders including depression. Buy gel capsules instead of tablets with at least 25 mg for each of the different B- Vitamins included in the formulation.

#5: Zinc , Folate, Chromium, and Iron Deficiencies:

Patients with depression are often found deficient in many nutrients including these. Often today’s foods are sadly lacking in minerals and trace minerals.

#6: Iodine Deficiency:

Iodine is necessary for the thyroid to work properly. The thyroid, part of the endocrine system, is one of the most important glands in your body. The thyroid gland affects every function of the body including body temperature, immune function, and brain function. Iodine is found in foods such as potatoes, cranberries, Kelp, Arame, Hiziki, Kombu, and Wakame. This problem was once solved by using Iodine enriched salt. Today iodine deficiency is again becoming a problem with salt free diets. Salty chips, processed foods, and junk food do not contain iodized salt.

#7: Amino Acids Deficiency: There are 9 necessary amino acids that cannot be manufactured in your body. You must supply them to the body by eating quality food choices.

Amino acids are found in meat, eggs, fish, high quality beans, seeds and nuts. You need to eat a variety of different foods to furnish the body with all the amino acids needed to be healthy. Not all foods contain all nine amino acids. Vegetable food sources for amino acids include Moringa Oleifera leaves. Your brain uses the amino acids found in the food you eat to manufacture neurotransmitters needed for optimal brain function.

What are neurotransmitters and what do they have to do with depression?

Healthy brain function needs the proper balance of neurotransmitters. Some neurotransmitters calm the brain and others excite the brain. Their balance in the brain creates stability of emotions and thinking. Often depression and other mental disorders are caused by imbalances in neurotransmitters. Dopamine, noradrenaline, and GABA are three important neurotransmitters often deficient in depression. Orthomolecular physicians have found that treatment with amino acids including tryptophan, tyrosine, phenylalanine, and methionine can correct different mood disorders like depression. The Orthomolecular doctor first takes urine and blood samples to test your amino acid levels. Then if he finds imbalances, you will be given amino acid supplements in the optimal dosage to correct the problem. Orthomolecular doctors treat the base cause for the depression or mental symptoms. If it is a nutritional imbalance such as a Omega 3 deficiency, you will be prescribed that supplement. Instead of treating with drugs, they treat the deficiencies that cause the mental symptoms with vitamins, minerals, and amino acids.

There are tests that prove nutrient deficiencies. The problem is often your standard medicine doctor will not give clearance for the tests, nor will your insurance pay for them. Most doctors are not schooled in nutrition and diet. They have no time to go over your eating and lifestyle habits. Saying that, a few companies and health providers exist who do have preventive health programs. The reality is a majority of people do not get quality preventive healthcare, especially those on Medicaid or Medical.

A nutrient scan will assist in solving nutrient deficiency or toxicity problems. Contact me if you want to do a lab test to assess nutrient deficiencies and toxicities.

Source: http://www.healthy-holistic-living.com/10-nutritional-deficiences-that-cause-depression.html#

Menopause-related hot flashes treatment in Malaysia

Hypnosis is an effective treatment for menopause-related hot flashes and night sweats, new research finds.

The alternative therapy reduced hot flashes by as much as 74% in the study conducted by researchers at Baylor University’s Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory and funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Only hormone therapy, which many women can’t take or want to avoid, is more effective for treating the most common symptom of menopause, says researcher Gary R. Elkins, PhD.

“If you compare this treatment with off-label use of antidepressants or other non-hormonal therapies, it works as well or better,” he says.

Hot Flashes, Night Sweats

Hot flashes are a sudden rush of heat, followed by facial flushing and sweating, often followed by chills and clamminess. The progression is familiar to most women of a certain age.

Hot flashes and night sweats are the most common symptoms of menopause, affecting some 80% of women.

They are linked to declining estrogen levels, but it remains unclear just why the sudden lack of estrogen sends the body into thermal mayhem, and why some women are more affected than others.

Hormone therapy is a very effective treatment for menopause-related hot flashes, but concerns about risks have limited its use among women.

“There is certainly a need for non-pharmacologic treatments for hot flashes and night sweats,” says North American Menopause Society (NAMS) Executive Director Margery Gass, MD.

Hypnosis and Hot Flashes

In an earlier study, Elkins and his Baylor colleagues showed that hypnosis dramatically reduced hot flash and night sweat frequency in breast cancer patients with treatment-related symptoms.

In the newly published study, they set out to determine if the alternative treatment would do the same in women whose symptoms were related to menopause.

A total of 187 postmenopausal women who reported having at least seven hot flashes a day, or 50 a week, were recruited for the trial.

Half the women were given self-hypnosis training that consisted of five, 45-minute weekly sessions.

During the sessions they received suggestions for mental imagery designed to minimize the intensity of their hot flashes, such as images of a cool place. The women were also given a recording of the hypnotic induction, and they were asked to practice self-hypnosis at home daily.

The rest of the women had an equal number of sessions with a clinician, but hypnosis training was not given.

Instead, clinicians talked to the women about their symptoms and gave them encouragement about how to deal with them. These women were also asked to listen to a recording each day at home, but their recording simply had information about hot flashes.

The study participants kept "hot flash frequency" diaries, and they also wore small sensors on their bodies that recorded their hot flashes.

Hot Flashes Less Frequent and Intense

After 12 weeks:

• Women in the hypnosis group reported 74% fewer hot flashes on average, compared with 17% fewer among the other women.
• The skin sensors showed a 57% reduction in hot flashes among the hypnosis group, compared to a 10% reduction in the non-hypnosis group.
• The women treated with hypnosis were far less likely than the other women to report that their hot flashes interfered with their daily lives and sleep.

“Many women do not want to take hormone therapy or any drug for hot flashes,” Elkins says. “This study shows that an alternative, non-drug treatment can be highly effective.”

Elkins recommends that women who want to try the treatment seek out a qualified practitioner affiliated with either the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis or the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis.

Gass says she would like to see Elkins’ findings duplicated, but she adds that hypnosis could prove to be a badly needed new treatment for hot flashes.

“This will certainly appeal to women who want to avoid drugs and who want a treatment that has few, if any, side effects,” she says.

The study, which was published this week in the journal Menopause, was funded by the NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Source: http://www.webmd.com/menopause/news/20121025/hypnosis_halts_hot_flashes

Tinnitus Treatment Malaysia (Non Drug Approach)

It is important to keep in mind that tinnitus is a symptom, not a disease. As such, the optimal treatment strategy should be directed toward eliminating the disease, rather than simply alleviating the symptom. Also, because tinnitus may be symptomatic of a more serious disorder, it is important to try to find the medical cause before deciding on treatment.

Preventing and Minimizing Tinnitus

Here are a few things patients can do to help prevent and minimize tinnitus:

• Reduce exposure to extremely loud noise
• Avoid total silence
• Decrease salt intake
• Monitor one's blood pressure
• Avoid stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine
• Exercise
• Reduce fatigue
• Manage stress
• Educate yourself

While there is no known cure for most forms of tinnitus, there are many management options available and most tinnitus sufferers can find varying degrees of relief from one or a combination of the following.

Medications

There is no single medication that works on all tinnitus patients. 

Counseling or Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Regardless of the cause of tinnitus, if a person is not bothered by the tinnitus, it ceases to be a problem. Psychological intervention aimed at successfully reducing the stress, distress and distraction associated with the tinnitus can be very productive and often produces the most attainable goals.

Stress Management

The very high correlation between stress and tinnitus disturbance underscores the need to maintain one's composure and logic when trying to cope with tinnitus. Relaxation, guided imagery and self-hypnosis are examples of self-help methods used to help combat the stress, anxiety and sleep disturbances associated with tinnitus.

Other Treatment Options

Other options that may help patients with tinnitus include:

• Support Groups — Local peer support groups offer emotional support to patients and a place to discuss and share treatment techniques.
• Dental Treatment — Jaw joint disorders, called temporomandibular (TMD), may exacerbate tinnitus. Splints and exercises may relieve these problems.
• Nutritional Counseling — All tinnitus patients should maintain a balanced diet.
• Biofeedback Training— Biofeedback is a technique of making unconscious or involuntary bodily processes detectable by the senses in order to manipulate them by conscious mental control. Biofeedback with counseling can help relieve stress patterns that can worsen the perception of tinnitus.
• Alternate Approaches — Although there is no scientific data showing consistent benefit from approaches such as hypnosis, acupuncture, naturopathy, chiropractic care and many herbal preparations, some patients do perceive a benefit.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.

Research study: How EEG biofeedback training can help for Tinnitus
 
Biofeedback-based behavioral treatment for chronic tinnitus: 
results of a randomized controlled trial. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/19045972/

The effects of neurofeedback on oscillatory processes related to tinnitus. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/23700271
 
EEG biofeedback for subjective tinnitus patients. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21592701

EEG biofeedback for treating tinnitus. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/17956812/
 
Tuning the tinnitus percept by modification of synchronous brain activity. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/17943012/


Chronic tinnitus: which kind of patients benefit 
from an outpatient psychotherapy ? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/19623511/


Research study: How hypnotherapy can help for Tinnitus

Role of hypnotherapy in the treatment of debilitating tinnitus. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22533067

Effectiveness of Ericksonian hypnosis in tinnitus therapy: preliminary results. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22545384/

Effectiveness of combined counseling and low-level laser 
stimulation in the treatment of disturbing chronic tinnitus. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/19205171

Ericksonian hypnosis in tinnitus therapy. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/18225612
 
Effects of relaxation therapy as group and individual 
treatment of chronic tinnitus. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/8657857
 
Hypnosis for Tinnitus. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P...j00777-0039.pdf
 

10 Ways Hypnosis Can Help You Lose Weight—For Good

Close your eyes. Imagine your food cravings floating away. Imagine a day of eating only what's good for you. Imagine hypnosis actually helping you lose weight—because the news is: It does. Harvard Medical School psychotherapist Jean Fain gives you ten hypnotic suggestions to try right now.

By Jean Fain

When I tell people how I make much of my living—as a psychotherapist hypnotizing people slim—they inevitably ask: Does it work? My answer usually brightens their eyes with something between excitement and incredulity.

Most people, including my colleagues at Harvard Medical School, where I teach hypnosis, don't realize that adding trance to your weight loss efforts can help you lose more weight and keep it off longer.

Hypnosis predates carb and calorie counting by a few centuries, but this age-old attention-focusing technique has yet to be embraced wholeheartedly as an effective weight loss strategy.

Until recently, there has been scant scientific evidence to support the legitimate claims of respected hypnotherapists, and a glut of pie-in-the-sky promises from their problem cousins, stage hypnotists, hasn't helped.

Even after a persuasive mid-nineties reanalysis of 18 hypnotic studies showed that psychotherapy clients who learned self-hypnosis lost twice as much weight as those who didn't (and, in one study, kept it off two years after treatment ended), hypnotherapy has remained a well-kept weight loss secret.

Unless hypnosis has happily compelled you or someone you know to buy a new, smaller wardrobe, it may be hard to believe that this mind-over-body approach could help you get a handle on eating.

Seeing is definitely believing.

So see for yourself. You don't have to be entranced to learn some of the invaluable lessons that hypnosis has to teach about weight loss. The ten mini-concepts that follow contain some of the diet-altering suggestions my weight management clients receive in group and individual hypnotherapy.

1. The answer lies within. Hypnotherapists believe you have everything you need to succeed. You don't really need another crash diet or the latest appetite suppressant. Slimming is about trusting your innate abilities, as you do when you ride a bicycle. You may not remember how scary it was the first time you tried to bike, but you kept practicing until you could ride automatically, without thought or effort. Losing weight may seem similarly beyond you, but it's just a matter of finding your balance.

2. Believing is seeing. People tend to achieve what they think they can achieve. That even applies to hypnosis. Subjects tricked into believing they could be hypnotized (for example, as the hypnotist suggested they'd see red, he flipped the switch on a hidden red bulb) demonstrated increased hypnotic responsiveness. The expectation of being helped is essential. Let me suggest that you expect your weight loss plan to work.

3. Accentuate the positive. Negative, or aversive, suggestions, like "Doughnuts will sicken you," work for a while, but if you want lasting change, you'll want to think positive. The most popular positive hypnotic suggestion was devised by doctors Herbert Spiegel and David Spiegel, a father- son hypnotherapy team: "For my body, too much food is damaging. I need my body to live. I owe my body respect and protection." I encourage clients to write their own upbeat mantras. One 50-year-old mother who lost 50-plus pounds repeats daily: "Unnecessary food is a burden on my body. I'm going to shed what I don't need."

4. If you imagine it, it will come. Like athletes preparing for competition, visualizing victory readies you for a victorious reality. Imagining a day of healthy eating helps you envision the necessary steps to becoming that healthy eater. Too tough to picture? Find an old photograph of yourself at a comfortable weight and remember what you were doing differently then; imagine resurrecting those routines. Or visualize getting advice from a future older, wiser self after she's reached her desired weight.

5. Send food cravings flying. Hypnotherapists routinely harness the power of symbolic imagery, inviting subjects to put food cravings on fluffy white clouds or in hot air balloons and send them up, up, and away. If McDonald's golden arches have the power to steer you off your diet, hypnotists understand that a counter symbol can steer you back. Invite your mind to flip through its Rolodex of images until one emerges as a symbol for casting out cravings. Heave-ho.

6. Two strategies are better than one. When it comes to losing weight and keeping it off, a winning combination is hypnosis and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which helps revamp counterproductive thoughts and behaviors. Clients who learn both lose twice as much weight without falling into the dieter's lose-some, regain-more trap. You've already tried CBT if you've ever kept a food diary. Before my clients learn hypnosis, they keep track of everything that passes their lips for a week or two. Raising awareness, every good hypnotherapist knows, is a key baby step toward lasting change.

7. Modify, modify, modify. The late hypnosis innovator Milton Erickson, MD, emphasized the importance of using existing patterns. To alter one client's lose-regain, lose-regain pattern, Erickson suggested she first gain weight before losing it—a hard sell nowadays, unless you're Charlize Theron. Easier to swallow: Modify your highest- calorie craving. Instead of a pint of ice cream, how about a cup of frozen yogurt?

8. Like it or not, it's survival of the fattest. No suggestion is powerful enough to override the survival instinct. Much as we like to think it's survival of the fittest, we're still programmed, in case of famine, for survival of the fattest. Case in point: a personal trainer on a starvation diet who wanted me to suggest away her gummy bear addiction. I tried to explain that her body believed her life depended on the chewy candies and wouldn't give them up until she got enough calories from more nutritious foods. No, she insisted, a suggestion was all she needed. I wasn't surprised when she dropped out.

9. Practice makes perfect. One Pilates class does not produce washboard abs, and one hypnosis session cannot shape up your diet. But silently repeating a positive suggestion 15 to 20 minutes daily can transform your eating, especially when combined with slow, natural breaths, the cornerstone of any behavioral-change program.

10. Congrats—it's a relapse. When clients find themselves, against their healthiest intentions, overindulging, I congratulate them. Hypnosis views a relapse as an opportunity, not a travesty. If you can learn from a real or imagined relapse— why it happened, how to handle it differently—you'll be better prepared for life's inevitable temptations. 

Source: http://www.oprah.com/health/Hypnosis-for-Weight-Loss-Can-Hypnosis-Help-You-Lose-Weight

Your Gut Microbes Can Affect Your Health in Numerous Ways

Your Gut Microbes Can Affect Your Health in Numerous Ways

In recent years, it’s become increasingly clear that the microbes in your gut play a much more vital role in your health than previously thought possible. In fact, probiotics, along with a host of other gut microorganisms, are so crucial to your health that researchers have compared them to "a newly recognized organ." Besides research implicating gut bacteria in mental health and behavior, other research has shown that your microbiota also has an impact on:

1. Immune system function: Biologist Sarkis Mazmanian5 believes bacteria can train your immune system to distinguish between "foreign" microbes and those originating in your body. His work is laying the groundwork for new therapies using probiotics to treat a variety of diseases, particularly autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's.
Mazmanian and colleagues were recently awarded the MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" for identifying an organism that originates in the human body (opposed to a fermented food) that has demonstrable health benefits in both animal and human cells. The organism has been namedBacteroides fragillis, and is found in 15-20 percent of humans. His group hopes to one day be able to test this body-originated bacteria in human clinical trials.
2. Gene expression: Researchers have discovered that the absence or presence of gut microorganisms during infancy permanently alters gene expression. Through gene profiling, they were able to discern that absence of gut bacteria altered genes and signaling pathways involved in learning, memory, and motor control. This suggests that gut bacteria are closely tied to early brain development and subsequent behavior. These behavioral changes could be reversed as long as the mice were exposed to normal microorganisms early in life. But once the germ-free mice had reached adulthood, colonizing them with bacteria did not influence their behavior.
In a similar way, probiotics have also been found to influence the activity of hundreds of your genes, helping them to express in a positive, disease-fighting manner.
3. Diabetes: Bacterial populations in the gut of diabetics6 differ from non-diabetics, according to a study from Denmark. In particular, diabetics had fewer Firmicutes and more plentiful amounts of Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria, compared to non-diabetics. The study also found a positive correlation for the ratios of Bacteroidetes to Firmicutes and reduced glucose tolerance. The researchers concluded:

"The results of this study indicate that type 2 diabetes in humans is associated with compositional changes in intestinal microbiota."

4. Obesity: The make-up of gut bacteria tends to differ in lean vs. obese people. This is one of the strongest areas of probiotic research to date, and you can read about a handful of such studies here. The bottom line is that restoring your gut flora should be an important consideration if you're struggling to lose weight.
5. Autism: Establishment of normal gut flora in the first 20 days or so of life plays a crucial role in appropriate maturation of your baby's immune system. Hence, babies who develop abnormal gut flora are left with compromised immune systems and are particularly at risk for developing such disorders as ADHD, learning disabilities and autism, particularly if they are vaccinated before restoring balance to their gut flora.
To get a solid understanding of just how this connection works, I highly recommend reviewing the information shared by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride in this previous interview.

Source: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/06/20/gut-brain-connection.aspx