Neural Retraining Q&A

Sensitive People and Chronic Illness: Understanding the Hidden Patterns Behind Nervous System Dysregulation

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 22:47:45 GMT

The sensitive person's guide to understanding and resolving nervous system dysregulation.

If you identify as a sensitive person—someone who feels deeply, notices subtleties others miss, and cares profoundly about others—you may have also noticed something else:

You may be more prone to chronic symptoms.

Things like fatigue, anxiety, pain, sensitivities, burnout, or nervous system dysregulation.

This is not a coincidence.

Over the last several episodes of the Retrain the Brain for Chronic Illness podcast, we’ve been exploring a pattern that shows up again and again: highly sensitive people are more vulnerable to chronic illness—but also uniquely positioned to heal.

In this article, we’ll bring those ideas together and explore why.

What Does It Mean to Be a Sensitive Person?

Sensitivity is not a weakness. It is a neurological trait.

Highly sensitive people (HSPs) tend to:

process information more deeply
notice emotional and environmental nuances
have strong empathy
respond more intensely to stress
require more recovery time after stimulation

This means their nervous systems are more responsive and more perceptive .

And while this can be a strength—supporting intuition, creativity, and emotional intelligence—it also means that sensitive individuals are more impacted by stress, trauma, and overwhelm.

The Nervous System of a Sensitive Person

At the center of this discussion is the nervous system .

Sensitive people tend to have nervous systems that are:

more reactive to stress
more attuned to threat
more likely to enter prolonged stress responses

This is particularly important because the nervous system plays a central role in regulating:

immune function
energy levels
digestion
hormones
pain perception

When the nervous system becomes dysregulated, these systems can begin to break down or behave unpredictably.

Why Sensitive People Are More Affected by Stress and Trauma

One of the key insights is this:

Sensitive people are not necessarily exposed to more trauma—but they are more impacted by it.

Events that may seem minor or manageable to others can feel overwhelming to a sensitive nervous system.

This includes:

conflict in the home
criticism or high expectations
emotional unpredictability
difficult personalities
feeling unseen or unsupported

In childhood, the nervous system is still developing.

Sensitive children, in particular, are trying to make sense of their environment and find ways to feel safe.

And this is where important patterns begin to form.

The Origins of Personality Patterns

To cope with stress or instability, sensitive children often develop strategies designed to create safety.

These strategies are intelligent and adaptive.

But over time, they can become ingrained patterns.

Common patterns include:

people pleasing (to avoid conflict)
perfectionism (to avoid criticism or failure)
overachievement (to gain approval or security)
emotional caretaking (to stabilize others)
over-responsibility (to maintain control)

These patterns often persist into adulthood.

And while they may appear positive on the surface, they can create constant internal pressure.

The Hidden Cost of Being “The Responsible One”

Many sensitive people become the ones others rely on.

They are:

dependable
conscientious
empathetic
capable

But underneath this competence is often a nervous system that is working overtime.

They may feel:

responsible for others’ emotions
unable to say no
compelled to fix problems
driven to meet expectations
uncomfortable with rest or stillness

Over time, this creates a pattern of chronic overextension.

When Love Becomes Over-Responsibility

A deeper belief often forms beneath these patterns:

“Love means taking care of others—even at my own expense.”

Sensitive individuals may equate love with:

self-sacrifice
emotional labor
carrying other people’s pain
maintaining harmony at all costs

While these tendencies come from a place of care, they often lead to:

draining relationships
suppressed needs
unprocessed emotions
chronic stress

The Brain Doesn’t Distinguish Emotional and Physical Stress

Here’s a critical piece of the puzzle:

The brain does not distinguish sharply between emotional stress and physical threat.

To your nervous system:

ongoing conflict
emotional pressure
unmet needs
internalized expectations

can all register as threat signals.

This activates the stress response:

increased cortisol
nervous system activation
muscle tension
inflammation and immune system changes

If this happens occasionally, the body recovers quickly.

But if it becomes chronic, the system can become dysregulated.

How This Leads to Chronic Illness

Over time, chronic stress patterns can contribute to a wide range of symptoms and conditions:

chronic fatigue and burnout
anxiety and panic
sleep issues
hormone imbalances
dysautonomia (POTS, dizziness, heart rate irregularities)
chronic pain
food, chemical, and environmental sensitivities
immune dysregulation and inflammation
autoimmune conditions

Often, people focus only on the physical symptoms.

But underneath, there is often a nervous system that has been overloaded for years.

The Limbic System and Sensitivity

Another key player is the limbic system —the brain’s threat detection center.

Its job is to scan for danger and keep you safe.

In sensitive individuals, especially those who have experienced chronic stress, the limbic system can become overprotective.

It may begin to interpret neutral stimuli as threats, leading to:

food sensitivities
chemical sensitivities
environmental reactions

Over time, these sensitivities can expand.

This is not because the body is “broken,” but because the brain is trying—overzealously—to protect you.

Why Avoidance Often Makes Sensitivities Worse

The natural response to sensitivities is avoidance.

And while this may help temporarily, it can reinforce the brain’s belief that something is dangerous.

The limbic system learns:

“We are avoiding this—so it must be a threat.”

This can lead to a growing list of triggers and increasing restriction.

How Neural Retraining Helps

Neural retraining works by addressing the problem at its source: the brain and nervous system.

Rather than focusing only on symptoms, it works with the subconscious mind to:

identify stored stress patterns
neutralize emotional charge from past experiences
update outdated threat responses
restore a sense of safety

This process is:

gentle
meditative
non-invasive

And it allows the nervous system to gradually shift out of survival mode.

What Changes with Neural Retraining

As the nervous system begins to regulate, people often notice:

increased energy
reduced anxiety
improved resilience
fewer sensitivities
decreased pain
greater emotional stability

Importantly, these changes often happen without forcing behavior change.

Instead, the underlying patterns driving those behaviors begin to dissolve.

Sensitivity as a Strength

One of the most meaningful shifts in this process is how sensitivity itself is experienced.

Instead of feeling overwhelmed, sensitive individuals often begin to feel:

grounded
calm
clear
resilient

Their sensitivity becomes an asset again—something that supports connection, intuition, and awareness.

A New Way Forward

If you are a sensitive person experiencing chronic symptoms, it’s important to understand:

There is nothing wrong with you.

Your nervous system has been doing exactly what it was designed to do— protect you.

But it may be operating based on patterns that are no longer necessary.

The good news is that these patterns can change.

When the brain begins to feel safe again, the body can begin to return to balance.

And for many people, that is where healing begins.

Neural retraining offers a practical way to work with it.

If you’d like to learn more about this work, visit TCNeuralRetraining.com .

Learn More

Read: How Do We Retrain the Brain for Multiple Sensitivities?
Read: Retrain the Brain for Food and Chemical Sensitivities
Listen to episodes 108-113 about Sensitive People and Chronic Illness
Listen to Kendall's Story - Retraining the Brain for Mold and Chemical Sensitivities
Check out our free courses about the method.

The Brain–Immune Connection: How Chronic Stress Shapes Immune Dysfunction

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 23:35:45 GMT

Have you ever wondered about the Brain–Immune Connection ? And how stress patterns impact immune function?

"Since we started working together I feel a greater sense of ease. I recover from emotional issues more easily-- they don’t take over my life the way they used to. Also, my MCAS symptoms are lighter and some seem to have gone into hibernation. My life no longer revolves around managing symptoms." - Dawn

It's true - the immune system does not operate independently of the brain.

For decades, medicine treated the immune system as a self-contained defense mechanism—separate from emotions, stress, and psychological experience. But modern research tells a different story.

The brain and immune system are in constant communication.

This field of research—called psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) —has fundamentally changed how we understand chronic illness, inflammation, autoimmunity, and immune resilience.

If you experience lingering infections, inflammatory flares, sensitivities, or immune dysregulation, understanding this connection may provide clarity—and direction.

What Does Immune Dysfunction Look Like?

Immune dysregulation doesn’t always mean “getting sick all the time.” It can show up in multiple ways:

Lingering or recurrent infections (e.g., Lyme, long COVID)
Viral reactivations (e.g., EBV, shingles, HSV)
Slow wound healing
Chronic inflammation
Food or environmental sensitivities
Mast cell activation patterns
Autoimmune conditions
Increased vulnerability during prolonged stress
Immune exhaustion after chronic overactivation

These conditions are biological and real. They require appropriate medical evaluation and care.

But biology is never operating in isolation from the nervous system.

What Is Psychoneuroimmunology?

Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) studies how psychological processes, the nervous system, and the immune system interact.

Research has demonstrated:

Stress alters immune cell function.
Cortisol and adrenaline influence inflammatory signaling.
Cytokines (immune messengers) affect mood, cognition, and fatigue.
Early life adversity correlates with long-term inflammatory changes.
Trauma can shift immune gene expression.

In other words:

The immune system listens to the nervous system and the brain.

And the brain listens to the environment—especially perceived threat.

The Stress Response and Immunity

When the brain perceives danger, it activates the stress response:

The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis engages.
Cortisol rises.
The sympathetic nervous system activates.

In the short term, this response is adaptive. It prepares the body to respond to acute challenges.

But when stress becomes chronic—whether due to trauma, over-responsibility, unresolved emotional patterns, or long-term pressure—the stress response no longer turns off efficiently.

And that’s where immune dysfunction can emerge.

Chronic Stress Can Lead To:

Immune suppression

Increased susceptibility to infection
Poor viral control
Slower healing

Immune overactivation

Chronic inflammation
Heightened sensitivities
Autoimmune activity

The system becomes dysregulated—not because it’s defective, but because it is continuously responding to perceived threat.

Subconscious Stress Patterns

One of the most important insights from PNI research is that stress does not have to be conscious to impact immunity.

You may not describe yourself as “stressed.”

Instead, you may notice:

Constant mental scanning
Hyper-responsibility
Difficulty relaxing
Perfectionism
Over-functioning
Emotional suppression
Feeling “on edge” even when nothing is wrong

These patterns often originate early in life. They become subconscious survival strategies—encoded in neural memory networks.

The nervous system learns:

“I must stay vigilant.”
“I must not make mistakes.”
“I must manage everything.”
“I must not burden others.”

Over time, these patterns keep the stress response subtly activated.

And the immune system adjusts accordingly.

Trauma, Memory Networks, and Inflammation

Memory is not just psychological—it is physiological.

When emotionally charged memories are activated, the nervous system reacts as if the original threat is present. This activation shifts hormone levels, autonomic tone, and inflammatory signaling.

You may notice:

Symptom flares after conflict
Infections during grief
Increased inflammation during overwhelm
Sensitivities worsening during life transitions

These are not coincidences.

They reflect the brain–immune feedback loop.

What About Autoimmunity?

Autoimmune conditions are complex and multifactorial. Genetics, infections, environmental triggers, and other biological factors play significant roles.

However, chronic stress has been shown to:

Increase inflammatory cytokines
Reduce regulatory immune balance
Exacerbate autoimmune flares

This does not mean stress causes autoimmune disease. It means that chronic nervous system activation can amplify inflammatory patterns once they are present.

Supporting nervous system regulation may therefore help reduce flare intensity and improve resilience—alongside medical treatment.

The Brain’s Role in Immune Regulation

The brain regulates immunity through multiple pathways:

The HPA axis
The vagus nerve
Neurotransmitter signaling
Hormonal rhythms
Direct neural–immune communication

When the nervous system shifts from chronic threat mode to regulation mode:

Cortisol rhythms stabilize
Sympathetic overdrive decreases
Vagal tone improves
Inflammatory signaling may normalize

The body reallocates resources toward repair instead of defense.

Where Neural Retraining Fits In

Neural retraining does not replace medical treatment. It does not substitute for oncology or immunology care.

I addresses the nervous system component of immune dysregulation.

Advanced neural retraining works by:

Activating a specific subconscious pattern (e.g., anxiety, over-responsibility, fear of illness).
Allowing the brain to observe and neutralize the emotional charge attached to associated memories.
Reducing the threat perception driving chronic stress activation.
Supporting nervous system regulation.

As threat signaling decreases, immune signaling may shift.

This is the practical application of psychoneuroimmunology at work.

What Clients Often Report

When chronic threat patterns soften, people may notice:

Fewer viral reactivations
Shorter infection duration
Reduced inflammatory symptoms
Improved tolerance to foods or environments
Better wound healing
More stable energy

Again, outcomes vary. Immune dysfunction is complex.

But addressing nervous system patterns often removes a significant amplifier of immune dysregulation.

A Word on Cancer and Serious Illness

Research suggests chronic stress can influence immune surveillance—the body’s ability to identify abnormal cells.

However:

Stress does not “cause” cancer.
No one is responsible for their diagnosis.
And neural retraining is not a treatment for cancer.

Supporting nervous system regulation during treatment may improve resilience, recovery capacity, and quality of life—but always alongside appropriate medical care.

Reframing Immune Dysfunction

If you are struggling with immune symptoms, it may feel like your body has turned against you.

But what if your immune system has been responding to a nervous system that hasn’t felt safe? What if the goal is not to fight your immune system—but to calm the signals it has been receiving?

Immune dysfunction is rarely purely psychological or purely biological.

It is neurobiological.

And when we address the brain–immune loop, we address one of the most powerful drivers of chronic dysregulation.

Taking the Next Step

If you have been working hard to support your immune health through diet, supplements, and medical treatment, that may still be important.

But it may also be worth asking:

What is my nervous system communicating to my immune system every day?

Psychoneuroimmunology shows us the connection.

Neural retraining offers a practical way to work with it.

If you’d like to learn more about this work, visit TCNeuralRetraining.com .

Learn More

Watch: How Do We Retrain the Brain for Chronic Pain?
Read: How Do We Retrain the Brain for Physical Symptoms?
Listen to our podcast episodes on chronic pain
Listen to client stories about the MAP Method on our podcast.
Check out our free courses on the MAP Method.

Retraining the Brain for Chronic Pain - the Mindbody Approach

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 21:24:00 GMT

Go beyond Dr. Sarno's foundational mind-body insights with an advanced neural retraining method designed to offer deeper, lasting healing by rewiring your nervous system and addressing the root causes of chronic pain.

“The pain in my lower back has definitely diminished. It’s not the sharp pain that it was before, now it is mainly weakness. I don’t have that pain in the morning which is wonderful." - Alicia

Chronic pain is one of the most misunderstood and frustrating health challenges of our time. Millions of people live with persistent pain—migraines, back pain, joint pain, fibromyalgia, pelvic pain, abdominal pain, nerve pain—despite normal imaging, “successful” surgeries, or years of diligent medical treatment. When pain does not respond to physical interventions alone, it can leave people feeling hopeless, broken, or resigned to a lifetime of suffering.

Yet for decades, there has been compelling evidence that chronic pain is not purely a structural or mechanical problem. It is a brain-based pattern—one that is deeply intertwined with emotional stress, nervous system dysregulation, and subconscious programming.

Dr. John Sarno and the Mind-Body Breakthrough

One of the earliest Western-trained physicians to articulate this was Dr. John Sarno, a rehabilitation specialist at NYU Medical Center. Dr. Sarno introduced the concept of Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS), proposing that chronic pain was often the result of unconscious emotional stress rather than physical injury.

According to Sarno, the brain creates pain as a protective mechanism—diverting attention away from emotions that feel threatening, unacceptable, or overwhelming.

He observed that pain frequently appeared during periods of emotional strain: caregiving, work pressure, relationship conflict, grief, or major life transitions.

Importantly, Sarno emphasized that the pain was real—caused by physiological changes initiated by the brain, not imagined or “all in your head.”

While Sarno’s work helped tens of thousands of people rethink pain, modern neural retraining methods have taken these ideas much further, offering practical ways to work directly with the subconscious mind where pain patterns are generated and maintained.

Pain Lives in the Brain—Not Just the Body

All pain, whether acute or chronic, is processed by the brain. Even when there is a physical injury, pain is an interpretation—not a direct readout of tissue damage. This is why two people with the same injury can experience vastly different levels of pain, and why pain can persist long after tissues have healed.

The brain regions that process physical pain overlap significantly with those that process emotional pain. In other words, emotional distress and physical pain are not separate systems. They are deeply connected. When emotional pain is suppressed, ignored, or deemed unacceptable, it doesn’t disappear—it often finds expression through the body.

This is especially relevant for chronic pain, which by definition has outlived its usefulness as a warning signal. Chronic pain is a learned neural pattern, reinforced over time by stress, fear, hyper-vigilance, and unresolved emotional experiences.

Gender, Roles, and Pain Patterns

Pain patterns often reflect the roles people are conditioned to play. Women, for example, frequently carry pain related to over-responsibility, perfectionism, caregiving burdens, and the pressure to meet everyone else’s needs while denying their own.

Many women act as the “shock absorbers” of families and workplaces, absorbing emotional stress while continuing to perform. Over time, this constant self-suppression can manifest as migraines, pelvic pain, autoimmune conditions, fatigue, or widespread pain syndromes.

Men, on the other hand, are often socialized to suppress vulnerability, grief, and fear. They receive conflicting messages: master your emotions, but be aggressive; be successful, but don’t appear weak; feel deeply, but don’t show it.

These internal conflicts frequently lead to buried anger, unexpressed grief, and emotional disconnection—states that place enormous strain on the nervous system. Chronic back pain, joint pain, abdominal pain, and foot or leg pain are common expressions of this internalized stress.

In both cases, pain becomes the body’s voice when emotions have been silenced.

Why Conscious Insight Isn’t Enough

Many people understand, at least intellectually, that stress affects their symptoms. Yet knowing this rarely leads to lasting relief. That’s because the patterns driving chronic pain are not held in the conscious mind.

The conscious mind accounts for roughly 10% of brain activity. The subconscious mind—where pain associations, emotional memories, and survival responses live—accounts for the remaining 90%. It is associative, emotional, and non-linear. Trying to reason your way out of chronic pain using logic or positive thinking is often futile.

This is where advanced neural retraining comes in.

Working Directly with the Subconscious

Modern neural retraining methods allow us to access the subconscious safely and systematically. Rather than diagnosing or treating symptoms, the process creates a receptive, meditative state in which the subconscious can reveal the emotional and mental patterns linked to pain.

Clients often experience insights they could not have arrived at consciously—connections between pain and childhood experiences, relationship dynamics, internalized beliefs, or long-standing emotional conflicts.

These insights are not forced or suggested; they emerge naturally when the subconscious is invited to participate.

As emotional charge is neutralized and stress patterns are resolved, the nervous system begins to recalibrate. Pain may lessen during a session, shift locations, or temporarily disappear. While a single session can be powerful, lasting change typically occurs over multiple sessions as layers of conditioning are addressed.

Pain as a Messenger, Not an Enemy

One of the most transformative shifts for people with chronic pain is reframing pain as information rather than pathology. Pain is not a punishment. It is not a personal failure. It is often the nervous system signaling that it has been operating under unsustainable conditions for too long.

By working at the subconscious level, we are not erasing memories or forcing positive emotions. We are helping the brain update outdated survival responses—responses that once made sense, but no longer serve the person’s health or life.

When emotional burdens are released, the brain no longer needs to produce pain as a distraction or defense. The body can return to regulation, and healing becomes possible.

A New Way Forward

Retraining the brain for chronic pain is not a miracle cure, but it is a profound shift in approach. It honors the intelligence of the body, the complexity of the nervous system, and the lived emotional experiences that shape our health.

If you have tried everything and still feel stuck, working with the subconscious may be the missing piece—not because your pain isn’t real, but because it is.

When we change the patterns in the brain, we open the door for the body to heal.

Learn More

Watch: How Do We Retrain the Brain for Chronic Pain?
Read: How Do We Retrain the Brain for Physical Symptoms?
Listen to our podcast episodes on chronic pain
Listen to client stories about the MAP Method on our podcast.
Check out our free courses on the MAP Method.

Brain Retraining for Chronic Fatigue and Hashimoto's

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 16:30:17 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 85 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Learn how subconscious brain retraining helped Janet overcome years of chronic fatigue, Hashimoto’s, and stress-related exhaustion without changing her meds or diet.
How getting to the roots of chronic stress can improve overall health, including chronic hypothyroidism.
Why Janet chose this method of subconscious brain retraining for its speed and efficiency.

Show Notes

Are you struggling with chronic fatigue, Hashimoto’s, anxiety, or unexplained exhaustion that no diet, supplement, or lifestyle change seems to fix?

In this inspiring episode, Madeleine Lowry, neural retraining specialist , shares Janet’s remarkable journey of overcoming debilitating fatigue through advanced brain retraining at the subconscious level.

Unlike traditional methods that rely on endless practice, affirmations, or repetition, this approach works directly with the subconscious mind to release the stress patterns and emotional imprints that fuel chronic symptoms.

Janet describes how, after years of “freight train fatigue days” that left her drained and hopeless, she experienced a profound transformation in just six sessions.

Without changing her thyroid medication or diet, she regained steady energy, emotional balance, and a renewed sense of joy and freedom. This powerful case study shows that rewiring the brain for healing is possible—even when medical solutions fall short.

If you’re ready to explore a new approach to chronic fatigue syndrome, autoimmune conditions, anxiety, and stress-related illness , tune in to discover how subconscious brain retraining can help you calm your nervous system , resolve hidden stress patterns, and reclaim lasting vitality.

Discover how advanced neural retraining can support your emotional, mental and physical health. Visit our website to schedule a free consultation or register for a group session for managing life stress: TCNeuralRetraining.com

Full Transcript

Note: generated by AI, accuracy not guaranteed.

(Intro Music)

[Madeleine Lowry] Are you navigating the exhausting reality of chronic fatigue, persistent in pain, anxiety, or sensitivities that seem to defy every solution you've tried. Many, like my guest Janet, find themselves perpetually drained and struggling to get through each day or facing debilitating fatigue that forces them to cancel plans and put life on hold. If you have been diagnosed with conditions like Hashimoto's and find that even with medication and lifestyle changes, you still don't have the energy and vitality that you need, you understand the deep frustration, the feeling of being stuck, and the yearning to simply get yourself back again that Janet was experiencing.

Janet's journey perfectly illustrates this common struggle. For years, she battled these overwhelming freight train fatigue days, sometimes several times a week, even after retiring from a stressful nursing career, which revealed her fatigue wasn't solely work-related. She, like many listeners, had tried everything she could possibly try. This often leaves people feeling Feeling like a failure and distressed by the time and resources invested without lasting relief. I know this feeling well. I'm Madeleine Lowry, a neural retraining specialist for chronic health issues and the founder of Twin Cities neural retraining.

In this podcast, we'll be talking about a new approach to chronic fatigue, an advanced neural retraining method. Unlike basic brain retraining methods that rely on conscious effort, daily homework, and repetitive exercises for months or years, years. Our approach works directly with your subconscious mind. It's a practitioner guided process where the rewiring and change happen gently and quickly during the session with no practice required.

This method understands that the stress patterns that lead to chronic symptoms like fatigue are often held in the 90% of your mind that operates below conscious awareness. And by addressing them directly, we can achieve faster, more fundamental shifts. Our work involves gently guiding your subconscious mind to find and neutralize deeply embedded patterns, memory structures, and associations that contribute to your chronic symptoms and stress responses.

Janet experienced this as magical, feeling like a big eraser was being used to clear the emotional charge from overwhelming feelings, even from unexpected past baggage that made complete sense to her as it emerged. This is not talk therapy. Instead, you quietly listen to verbal instructions while your subconscious mind does the work, revealing connections and allowing you to release what you've been holding on to, often for decades.

The results can be truly transformative. After just six sessions, Janet is no longer struggling with fatigue, and her life is more enjoyable. She now experiences a steady level of energy throughout the day, and any dips quickly resolve. A stark cont to her previous freight train fatigue days. What's remarkable is that this profound shift occurred without any changes to her thyroid medication, supplements, or diet. She feels happier, more reliable, more satisfied, and has truly gotten herself back again.

If you are struggling with chronic health issues, fatigue, anxiety, or sensitivities, and are ready for a new, more empowering approach to healing that goes beyond repeating scripts and affirmations, then Janet's story demonstrates the power of brain retraining at the level of the subconscious mind.

Listen until the end if you are seeking to calm your nervous system, resolve stress at its root, and unlock a lasting sense of well-being and vitality. Let's get started.

All right, so Janet, I'm so pleased to have you join me for this podcast episode. Um, and I'm so excited to have you share your story with working with me and the MAP Method and you know how it's helped you.

[Janet] Yes, thank you.

[Madeleine Lowry] Yeah, so let's start with you know how did you hear about this method? This is a very little known method. So how did you learn about it and what made you think yeah you know I'm willing to try that?

[Janet] Okay so my daughter has had um issues with health and she's tried several different um brain retraining methods that were not successful at all and then she found you and she had huge success. So I just went straight for you and um didn't try any other kind of brain retraining knowing that she had as much much success after she worked with you.

[Madeleine Lowry] Yeah. So you came to me after your daughter worked with me.

[Janet] Yes.

[Madeleine Lowry] Um but for for very different things.

[Janet] correct.

[Madeleine Lowry] So, what were you hoping to resolve with MAP sessions?

[Janet] So, with me, I really struggled with fatigue. Um, was diagnosed with Hashimoto's in 2016. Um, and struggled with fatigue and would just give into it. Would have I recorded it and I would have many days of just really having to work hard to get through the day. Um, and life wasn't as enjoyable knowing that I was always knowing that this fatigue was right around the corner. So, what my goal was in starting to work with you is to work with this issue of fatigue that I was dealing with for years.

[Madeleine Lowry] Okay. So, chronic fatigue was your main motivation.

[Janet] Yes.

[Madeleine Lowry] And so, what have you observed, you know, emotionally, mentally? physically. Um, after a set of sessions, I actually can't remember how many sessions we've done now. Maybe like between five and 10.

[Janet] Um, so six total.

[Madeleine Lowry] Okay. Six sessions. Okay.

[Janet] Yes

[Madeleine Lowry] Yeah. And not all of those sessions are were on the same topic, but

[Janet] Right. Right.

[Madeleine Lowry] I think we probably picked a different topic each time, but what have you noticed? What would you say the benefits have been for you?

[Janet] Um, huge with my um level of energy. I'm no not struggling with fatigue um and just life is more enjoyable because I don't have to shut down with my body and just give into not doing a darn thing because um I'm so tired that I can't um do what I'd like to do because I'm struggling with, you know, just trying to get through the day. For me, you know, it's been huge. as far as it's taken away my fatigue and it's given replaced by taking away the fatigue it's replaced in that place is more enjoyment out of life and and just feeling like I got I got myself back again.

[Janet] I got who I I'd like to be, not who I wanted to be. Um and I couldn't get there. So I feel like I I it helped me get um to a much better place.

[Madeleine Lowry] Yeah. So, when we first met, I think I remember you using the term freight train. Is that how you put it?

[Janet] Freight train fatigue days.

[Madeleine Lowry] Can you describe what you mean by that?

[Janet] Um, so it um I would just, you know, it would be like I would get hit by a freight train. It would just just knock me right over. It just I I just felt like I just got like flat Stanley just got crushed and that was it. And so I was like not um able to function um anywhere near to the percent of where I would like to function. It was just my battery was on such a low charge. I was just barely making it.

[Madeleine Lowry] And so these are days you basically had to cancel what you had planned.

[Janet] Yes. Right. And I would Yeah, I would just have to, you know, put everything on hold and and just put it off, you know, for another day. So, yeah.

[Madeleine Lowry] And how often do you think you were having those?

[Janet] I thought it was not as much, but once I started recording them, it was more. So, I would have sometimes it would be a couple times in one week. And now, so I worked full-time my whole career as a nurse and I retired um in two um two years ago in June in 2023. So I thought oh once I retired I would have because my job was stressful I wouldn't have these I still had them even when I was retired. So um that was a huge eye opener too. It wasn't just related to the stress of my work. It was not even associated with work, even with just having my own schedule because I no longer had to work. So, um, how long how many I'd have Oh, I would have it could be up to two in a week, which was, um, not good, debilitating.

[Madeleine Lowry] Yeah. Yes. And you said you had been dealing with this for a few years.

[Janet] Yeah. I was diagnosed with she us in 2016. So I I don't know um I don't know from 2016 moving forward to you know closer to now. Um if I can't remember specifically back then how it was but I know for sure within the last 5 years this has been something I've been struggling with for sure.

[Madeleine Lowry] Okay. So are you on thyroid medication for your Hashimoto's?

[Janet] Yes. Yeah.

[Madeleine Lowry] Okay. And so did anything change about your dose of the thyroid medication that made the change that would explain change?

[Janet] No, I my um that because I have my with my provider I she monitors those closely and my dose has stayed the chain has stayed the same. It hasn't had changes. I mean just a little bit of tweaks here and there but um no I've I've that's maintained the same. And as far as my overall health has been has been good.

[Madeleine Lowry] And so how do you explain you know well maybe you can describe what life is like for you now. So if that was the backdrop right these freight train fatigue days and these these were the worst of your fatigue days but you also tired even on the other days. Is that right?

[Janet] Right. Right. Right.

[Madeleine Lowry] Okay. So you've been dealing with that for several years. And how does it look to you? What is it like now being you?

[Janet] Um it just feels like um I got my life back again and it feels like I can be um like a more happier person. I can be more I I can be a more of a reliable person. I don't have to wonder is you know this going to happen and um I the unknowns are more not such a big what if in my life. So, I have um it's my life is much more manageable and happy and and content and um I I just feel more um satisfied.

[Madeleine Lowry] So, when you get up in the morning, you you have a more steady level of energy throughout the day?

[Janet] Exactly. Yeah. And and if I do have I mean, because everybody does. If I have a period of time I I can just have a little bit of a not doing a whole lot and and then I I get up and do something and I've got my energy right back where is in the past that would have ne that energy level would have never it would have been gone. It would have just just totally disappeared and that doesn't happen anymore.

[Madeleine Lowry] And when did you start noticing the shift? You said we've done six sessions. Typically we meet like every other week. So maybe we've been working together for like two months.

[Janet] Yeah. I I know. Um it just happened so gradual and I can't put my finger right on it, but I did the first three sessions with you.

[Madeleine Lowry] Yeah.

[Janet] And I was I know I was noticing improvement, but it wasn't like I thought I think we can get better yet. So then that's when I signed up for another three sessions with you.

[Janet] So I know by end of session five I you know I would say I was at um like I got myself back again.

[Madeleine Lowry] and that's amazing right because

[Janet] Oh yeah

[Madeleine Lowry] I think a lot of people out there with chronic fatigue who've been dealing with that for months and for years you know would be very glad to know that there was something they could do for themselves that would improve their situation right? We didn't change your meds we didn't change diet. We didn't do anything else. We just did

brain retraining sessions.

[Janet] Right. Right.

[Madeleine Lowry] Yeah. And I think it's probably it would probably be very surprising for people who are struggling with chronic fatigue and who have a diagnosis like Hashimoto's which would seem to explain right their chronic fatigue. Uh that that you can work with your mind and see improvement in that symptom even though we didn't we haven't done anything. about your Hashimoto's. Right?

[Janet] Right. Right.

[Madeleine Lowry] Yeah. I mean, I I do have clients I I'll just say this. I do have clients that work with me over a set of sessions much like you and then for other reasons, you know, they're getting labs done at the doctor and they will report back to me, oh my my thyroid labs are looking better. Um so, you know, I've se I've seen that happen, but as far as we know, that hasn't happened for you, but your chronic fatigue is better.

[Janet] Yeah. Right.

[Madeleine Lowry] So, yeah. So, that's that's kind of encouraging and maybe a little bit surprising, right?

[Janet] It's surprising! And and very encouraging. Yes.

[Madeleine Lowry] Yeah.

[Janet] Yes.

[Madeleine Lowry] And so, how would you describe what it is that we work on in sessions? You know, I'm just I'm just trying to think like from the point of view of someone who's listening to this and they're thinking, "Wait, I have chronic fatigue or I know somebody who has chronic fatigue, but what are they doing in these sessions? that's making the difference, right?

[Madeleine Lowry] Do you remember your first session?

[Janet] Oh, I do. I remember it as clear as day because I thought it was all about me and it was performance and I was huge doubting Thomas and I I'm all about, you know, um achievement and I'm was like, okay, I know I want to get my fatigue better and have it go go away and what can I do to make it better? And I came talking to you and I said, I don't know that this is going to work. I would felt very strong about that because it's like I've tried everything that I can possibly try and um I don't know how doing this is going to work because I've I've tried everything that I can do. So then when you gave me the um the information that you read before your first session and and you have and I'm a visual person.

So when I saw the the graph or the mountain and it and it shows um It's the 9010 and 90% of your um thoughts or sub is something that you have no control of. 10% is you do. And I thought, well, that makes perfect sense because if I could have controlled this, I definitely would have done ABC D and had this taken care of. No, no, I wasn't able to. So, that put it into perspective. And then sitting with you um and um It made me think of because how you talked about it, it explained it to me.

Um, I used to go to a chiropractor and he did muscle resistance testing and I know how that worked and he would test me on something and I had absolutely no um ability to resist him and you know push my arm against him. So I just did that analogy with you and you would say are you ready? And it's like okay and There was nothing I was doing. It was all my subconscious. And I just let my visual person, my visual part of myself think that what you were doing with our sessions was reaching that part of me that I couldn't reach. And I just let everything go and just did the sessions and listen to what you were saying. And and it's it's just kind of like magic is what I have to say.

[Madeleine Lowry] Yeah. Yeah. I remember that session. too. Um, so let me unpack this a little bit for people who are listening who are like, "What what is she talking about? What mountain?" There's there's a little video, right, that everyone watches before they come to their very first session. And this is a little 15-minute video. It's meant to be educational. It's meant to start to prepare your subconscious mind for the terms that we're going to be using in sessions. And the metaphor that we use there is an iceberg.

[Madeleine Lowry] So there it's like think of your mind as like an iceberg and you know, here's the waterline and just like a real iceberg, right? That the the part that you see above the waterline is just the tip like you said, the 10%, right? So, we're only uh of all brain activity, right? 10% is our conscious thought, the thoughts that we're aware of and 90% is under the waterline. It's like all the things that are happening in your mind that you aren't aware of.

And this is where all the patterns are held, right? The subconscious mind is a a pattern mind.

[Madeleine Lowry] Um And so when we have a pattern like chronic fatigue or like a symptom pattern or like a pain pattern or if we have a pattern that's like an emotional response pattern like um people who get anxious in response to a certain kind of trigger or situation. If we have a mental or behavioral pattern where um certain kinds of situations will send us into you know rumination patterns or negative inner critic pattern. patterns or worry loops, compulsions, perfectionism, things like that, right? Personality traits like perfectionism or people pleasing. Like these are behavioral patterns as well as mental patterns. And and so these are the kinds of patterns that we work with in map sessions because when we can work directly with the subconscious mind or at the level of the subconscious mind, which is what we are doing with this technique called map, then we can make changes faster, right? Because like you said, like the mind is only aware of this of so much. But

[Janet] right

[Madeleine Lowry] but the reasons that this experience keeps repeating for you over and over again is related to many things that you are not aware of. And so in these sessions we just basically work with the subconscious mind to we we harness the power of the subconscious mind to to find the reasons for the pattern and to to change it. Right? We have the opportunity to change it too. So yeah, that's that's basically what we were doing in our sessions. But I remember the first session you had a technical problem. Do you remember?

[Janet] Oh, I had it was awful. It was awful. And I felt like the biggest failure in the world. And I thought it was the end of the world. And it was I was just like I was just in tears. I was it was it was like the worst case scenario. Like the world had come to an end. Yes. It was Yes. 100%.

[Madeleine Lowry] I remember very clearly. Because you had been trying to get on the Zoom call. We had a 1-hour session.

[Janet] Yeah.

[Madeleine Lowry] And and and I think I was sitting there. I was waiting for you and I maybe you were emailing me saying like

[Janet] Yes, I did like probably 20 times.

[Madeleine Lowry] Yeah. Like, uh oh, she's she's trying to she's trying to get here. Um but somehow the technology wasn't working for you and you couldn't find someone to help you. And uh By the time you got on the call, maybe 25 minutes into the time frame, you were very shook up, right? Is that is that fair?

[Janet] to say? Yes.

[Madeleine Lowry] You were very shook up and I and I thought, okay, this is a perfect thing for us to work on, right? Because we could just say you were stressed.

[Janet] Yes.

[Madeleine Lowry] And and so what I want people to understand is like the the way, you know, so you were coming to work on chronic fatigue and I like let's work on how you're feeling right now, you know, um trying to get on the Zoom call, right? Feeling like a failure and like the world is ending and like, you know, so frustrated, right?

[Madeleine Lowry] Um and upset and and because because what I understand is that the way you are responding in this situation, um the stress here is just I can't make this work, right?

The way you respond in this situation, it has there are elements of this that are, you know, the way that you respond in any situ any stressful situation, right? So, there is um you know, stress patterns are um they're common, right, to different kinds of stress. So, I thought here she's very worked up. She's she like you were about to cry.

[Janet] Yes.

[Madeleine Lowry] And um and I thought, okay, like it's all here. All the patterns are right here. Why don't we just work on this. Right? And so, we kind of worked on harnessing the power of your subconscious mind to figure out what was behind this. Why did you feel this way? Why, you know, what was it that made you feel so helpless and so powerless and so upset and distressed and like the world was ending, right? This had a meaning for you beyond like, "Hey, I can't get the Zoom thing to work." Right.

[Janet] Right.

[Madeleine Lowry] It was like something about it was Yeah. It was very very dire for you.

And and you know what I've learned is like if this is how this feels for you right here, right now around this current source of stress. This is ringing a bell going back to other events, other experiences you've had in your life where you have felt the same way. So, let's, you know, while this is all right here, right now, let's just have your subconscious mind look through all of that, right?

[Madeleine Lowry] Find all the all the memory structures that make up this pattern. And basically what we're doing is having, you know, each round of instructions is about asking us conscious mind, you know, to find the the the memory structures that are involved and the associations and to neutralize them. You know, we keep we keep doing that. We keep doing that. We keep doing that. And I remember you saying to me, well, it's like I'd say, well, how does it feel now? And how does it feel now? And how does it feel now? Right? Because we keep having you rate your level of distress as you, you know, reflect on what just happened to you that 25 minutes when you couldn't get on the Zoom call and how how much distress is that causing you now? And so, you keep giving me numbers, right, from 0 to how that was feeling.

[Madeleine Lowry] I remember at one point you said it's like you've taken a big eraser, a big eraser to the memory and now it just feels like I don't know. How would you describe how it felt after we worked on that?

[Janet] Um it felt like, oh, I didn't know how to get on. It's okay. Um we just have to figure this out. And um you know, I I didn't feel like a failure. I didn't feel like I I should have known this. It was like that like I had a weight lifted off of me. Um I didn't know how to do it, but that was okay that I didn't know how to do it and I shouldn't um have, you know, I like I didn't have to have an burden added on to the fact that I I didn't know how to do it. So it felt just like, oh, I didn't know how to do it. That's okay. Whereas there was nothing okay about it. When I when I finally was able to get through to you, it was all, you know, a negative thing and and it wasn't that way at the end of our session.

[Madeleine Lowry] Yeah. Yeah. So, I think a lot of people can relate to that. You know, maybe not about trying to get on the Zoom call, but just things in our lives that we're trying to make happen and they're not happening for us. Even as simple as like I'm trying to resolve my fatigue and I have tried this and this and this and this and it's not happening for me. Right?

[Madeleine Lowry] Many people come to me like you, they've tried so many things and you know here I am it's like the 10th the 12th thing 12th thing that they're trying and they're you know in some way they're like you at the beginning of Zoom call right they're so frustrated and so distressed you know they feel like a failure and you know they really like they have regrets over I don't know the re the time the money the resources they've invested trying to get their health back, right? And they're in that really, I don't know, kind of a trapped or stuck place, right?

And they their mindset is like, I I can never get myself out of this hole, right? It's like,

I don't know. I've just been dropped in a hole and I I've been doing all the things to get out of this hole. I I have a perfect diet. I have a perfect sleep routine. I have a perfect, you know, this and that. I take all the supplements and all the medications, but it's just not happening for me,

right? And so that that can that alone can be your source of stress. So no matter what it is, you know, technology failure or your own health or something else, something work related, something relationship related, maybe you're a caregiver for someone, you know, that is a subject you can bring to a session and it it helps like it makes a difference.

So, do you want you want to say anything else about the experience and what maybe someone who's never experienced this before might want to know before they decide to sign up for a session?

[Janet] Um, well, I can say 100% you explained everything to me. So, I wasn't questioning anything because, you know, I'm a really detailed person and again visual. Well, you the video was a a huge help for me. Um, and you know, you know, and coming into the session being so stressed. I didn't come in thinking like I was um did something bad or something wrong. I didn't come I didn't feel like ashamed because you know I should have known how to do this technology and heaven forbid what's wrong with me. So I I didn't have any of that feeling of of wow what was the matter with you Janet? I didn't have any of that and and just the whole um working with you again because my conscious person thinks, well, like you said, I've done this. I've done my diet. I've done my exercises. I've done my sleep. I've done my supplements and medications. So, there is no way that this is going to work because I've done everything I can. But again, that's only 10%. So, 90% that's really big.

And sitting with you during sessions and I would have never thought about the stuff that was um came to mind when we had our sessions. Um things that I I would have never thought to even talk to you about, but when we were in our sessions, it it brought up stuff from the past that was baggage. And I would have never even thought to even consider talking about any of that baggage from you know, way back when I was, I don't know, 10 to 15 and I'm 67 now. You know what I mean? So, it brought back stuff that I would have never even thought that was even necessary to talk about, you know, and but going through all that and talking about that, it it just it just made complete sense. It just was like streamline. It went from I'm listening to you, we're talking, it brings back this memory We walked through it. We talked through it. And And yeah, I it just was it was I don't know how to say it other than it's hard to explain unless you've go through it. And I just have to say it's it was a it's an amazing change for a positive for me.

[Madeleine Lowry] Yeah.

[Janet] Yeah. Yeah.

[Madeleine Lowry] So I I want people to understand that um it's not talk therapy. Right.

You don't you don't have to talk about your stuff. I just need to know what it is you want to work on and how that makes you feel and rate your emotional intensity 0 to 10. Um, and there isn't a lot of talking going on during this session, but because we are working with the subconscious mind, sometimes when I'm instructing you, I'm offering instructions to your subconscious mind and you're sitting there with your eyes closed, breathing slowly, deep deeply and gently uh just like you're meditating, things sort of like pop into your mind, right?

[Madeleine Lowry] For some people it's uh a memory comes to mind or a person or a word or a thought. For other people it's like more like a sensation or like an emotion. So things are coming into your mind if you're quiet and you're paying attention much like you're meditating. You know, like when you meditate, you kind of close your eyes and you focus on your breath and you notice the thought coming through. your mind, you're supposed to like let it go, right? Go back to your breath. Well, it's similar. I would say it's similar when we're doing map sessions, but this is an opportunity when your mind is quiet and you're just hearing me talk to your subconscious mind. It's an opportunity for you to notice, right? For you to observe what is coming up for you. Because this is your subconscious mind and it's starting to show you the connections, starting to show you like why is it that this uh that this problem seems so dire for you. What is it that's happened to you that's made this experience sort of encoded that way?

[Madeleine Lowry] Some people don't have anything to report after each round of instructions and some people have a lot to report. Either way, you know, we as practitioners know how to work with that. But it can be a pretty fascinating process. You start to understand yourself better.

[Janet] Right. Right.

[Madeleine Lowry] Right. And you start to realize, oh, this didn't come from nowhere,

[Janet] right? Yes.

[Madeleine Lowry] Yeah. But but but also this is something I've been holding on to, right?

For like way too long, right?

[Madeleine Lowry] Yeah. Because the patterns the patterns are conserved in the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind doesn't see any reason to change them. It's not concerned about your happiness. It's concerned about your survival. The subconscious mind is like, "Well, but Janet survived. Look, she's 67 now. We're doing a good job, aren't we?"

[Janet] Yeah. Right.

[Madeleine Lowry] But so it it takes it takes doing this process of like you know picking a subject and working on it and noticing what comes up and being like oh yeah I think it has something to do with you know what happened when I was 12 or the way I in my family of origin that we we looked at things right kind of the mindset that I got from you know my family what I learned or my family dynamic or society culture my religion whatever you know whatever influences are. Oh, and so now now you have a choice. It's like, do I want to keep this or do I want to let it go, right?

[Madeleine Lowry] And so with the method, you know, we we can start to change all of that. Basically, we are rewiring your subconscious mind for a new pattern, a pattern that's more supportive, more empowering for you instead of the old pattern that was keeping you in a place of stuckness.

[Janet] Yes. Right.

[Madeleine Lowry] Yeah.

[Janet] Right.

[Madeleine Lowry] And have you noticed I mean aside from the fatigue, have you noticed any other benefits?

[Janet] Um I would say just that I'm happier. I mean a lot happier knowing that I I don't have to deal with this and like it's something that I've dealt with for so long that it's gone now. So just more happy I would say. more more fulfilled with you know just daily life. I I don't have to um think oh no you know I have to have a total day of shutdown. So yeah

[Madeleine Lowry] and is this something that you would recommend to others and for what purposes?

[Janet] I definitely would recommend it and I I like how for for me and thinking I didn't know if it was going to work because I thought it was about my achievement and how I was going to make it work. Uh-uh. It's not that. It's it's like you say, it's it isn't a lot of talking. It's me listening and um like you say, it's the meditation and the whole breathing and just whatever happens in the subconscious. I can hear you talking and it's my subconscious that's doing the work. So, I would yes recommend it. And I would just have to say if I was going to tell somebody, you just have to um you have to trust the system and it Yeah, I would highly recommend it.

[Madeleine Lowry] Thank you. Yeah.

[Janet] Um when we were in session, I remember dealing with a lot of different emotions. Yeah.

[Janet] And just that things that you know, again, I wouldn't have thought that we were going to have discussed, but they came up in the session and I was listening and just having eyes closed and meditating and Yeah. Yeah. My subconscious was doing the work for me.

[Madeleine Lowry] Yeah. And that's that's a really nice thing about it. I think that most people are pretty pleased about how easy and simple it is to to participate in a session. You know, there's not a lot you have to do. You have to know what you want to work on. You have to report on the emotional intensity or like the changes and then you have to just give me a little feedback in between rounds of instruction. Um, and even if you say, "I didn't notice anything." That's okay. Like, I can still carry on, right? I have other other resources to fall back on like my own intuition. So, it's it I mean, would you agree that it's pretty pretty simple, pretty easy to be in a session to be a participant?

[Janet] 100%. And again, cuz I know my daughter did two of them and both of them required like a lot of homework for her. to do and that was like stressing her out even more and and we're a lot alike and

[Madeleine Lowry] Um Yeah. So, I'm glad you mentioned that the other brain retraining methods that your daughter tried because um I would say that those sound like they are basic methods of neural retraining. So, there are basic methods and they're advanced methods and I would put MAP MAP is an advanced method. neural retraining, right? We're working directly with your subconscious mind. These are practitioner guided sessions and the rewiring happens in the session, right? So, you can feel the difference from the beginning to the end, you know, um whatever subject that you that you chose to work on.

Other basic methods of brain retraining which more people are familiar with require lots of practice, right? There's like practicing scripts and affirmations and exercises and visualizations for maybe an hour every day and and this is quite timeconuming and the reason I call them basic is because they are designed about around using the conscious mind to try to make a change in the subconscious mind.

[Madeleine Lowry] That is a long road, right? You could be doing those exercises for months and years. But when we work directly with the subconscious mind, things happen faster, right? No practicing needed. We didn't didn't give you homework. There is no homework, right?

You just you just show up for your sessions.

[Madeleine Lowry] Yeah. All right. Well, thank you so much, Janet, for sharing with me today. [Janet] Absolutely.

[Madeleine Lowry] Really lovely to talk to you. Yeah.

[Janet] Yes.

[Madeleine Lowry] If you like what you're hearing, please listen again. And remember to follow us and leave a review on iTunes or your favorite podcast app. Check out our free courses about retraining the brain for chronic illness at mapforhealth.us or schedule a free consultation or an introductory session at TCNeuralRetraining.com.

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

Beyond the Sarno Method: Mindbody Healing with Advanced Neural Retraining

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 17:38:27 GMT

Go beyond Dr. Sarno's foundational mind-body insights with an advanced method designed to offer deeper, lasting healing by rewiring your nervous system and addressing the root causes of chronic symptoms. Discover how MAP expands on Sarno's work, by working with the subconscious for comprehensive well-being.

“Overall I have noticed a serious decrease in pain and such empowerment in being able to go out of my house and participate in life in new ways that I’ve avoided in the past because it was so challenging for my body.” -Amy

If you've grappled with chronic symptoms – relentless pain, inexplicable fatigue, or sudden sensitivities – you've likely navigated countless paths in search of answers, diagnostics, and treatments. In the vast landscape of mind-body healing, one name stands out prominently: Dr. John Sarno. His foundational premise – that much chronic physical suffering is not structural but rather emotional, rooted in the mind-body connection – has been a game-changer for tens of thousands.

But what about when the Sarno method is not enough?

To build on Sarno's revolutionary work, we will explore how advanced neural retraining offers a sophisticated, deeper pathway to lasting healing, especially for those who grasp Sarno's ideas but feel there's still a missing piece.

Dr. John Sarno: The Pioneer of Mind-Body Medicine

Dr. Sarno was a true pioneer, dedicating 50 years to NYU's Rusk Institute, where he profoundly shifted the conversation around chronic pain, particularly back pain. His journey began conventionally, embracing Western medicine with standard physical therapy, medications, and even surgery for the first eight to ten years of his practice. However, dissatisfaction with the results led him to a pivotal insight, drawing on his medical training from the 1950s, when psychosomatic roots of illness were still part of the curriculum.

Sarno's "Aha!" Moment : He observed a striking pattern: patients would present with scans with spinal abnormalities, yet many others walked around with identical scan results and zero pain. This crucial disconnect sparked his theory that these "abnormalities" were often just normal variations, not the true cause of pain.

Repressed Emotions and TMS : Sarno concluded that the culprit was often repressed emotions – feelings too painful, inconvenient, or difficult to acknowledge consciously. He theorized that these buried emotions could directly impact our physical state, creating very real pain. It's crucial to understand that Sarno was adamant the pain was 100% real and physically manifesting, caused by mild oxygen deprivation to muscles, nerves, and tendons.

Pain as a Defense Mechanism : He proposed that the brain triggers this pain as a defense mechanism , a distraction. When we suppress powerful, painful emotions like anger, rage, anxiety, or deep sadness, pressure builds. To prevent us from confronting these difficult feelings, the brain creates a physical symptom. This "diversion tactic" was first termed Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS), later broadened to Tension Myoneural Syndrome, and finally simply Mind Body Syndrome , as its applicability extended far beyond back pain.

The TMS Personality : Sarno identified particular personality types prone to TMS:

• High achievers

• Perfectionists

• People pleasers

These "Goodists" were individuals with a deep-seated need to be perceived as good, responsible, and helpful, often leading them to be overly responsible.

He explained that constantly striving for perfection, prioritizing others, or maintaining a "good" image inevitably leads to suppressing one's own frustrations, anger, resentment, and needs. This creates a hidden reservoir of negative feelings, which the brain then distracts from with physical symptoms.

The Symptom Imperative : A key Sarno observation was the "symptom imperative". If one symptom was successfully treated (e.g., back pain improved), the brain might simply create a new symptom elsewhere – a "whack-a-mole" phenomenon where shoulder pain, headaches, or IBS might flare up. This occurs because the underlying emotional pressure cooker remains unaddressed, so the brain simply shifts its distraction tactic.

Sarno's Treatment Approach : His primary treatment was education and information , helping patients understand the mind-body mechanism. He encouraged lectures, videos, and reading his books. Crucially, he recommended journaling :

• Patients made three lists: childhood experiences/trauma, current life stressors, and personality traits (perfectionism, people-pleasing).

• The goal was to daily choose a topic and write freely, digging beneath surface politeness to uncover deeper emotions, particularly anger and rage.

For many, this understanding and journaling brought significant relief, sometimes just from reading his books alone.

Beyond Sarno: Advanced Neural Retraining (MAP)

While Sarno's contribution is immense and foundational, for some, his methods weren't the final solution. The recognition that 25-30% of people remained stuck despite understanding the concepts and doing the work suggests that deeper work is needed. MAP is a powerful technique for emotional release and trauma healing that works directly with the subconscious mind, often proving more efficient and deeper across a wide range of chronic issues, including pain, fatigue, sensitivities, and anxiety.

With MAP we can take Sarno's method to a new level . Sarno primarily focused on educating the conscious mind about pain as a distraction, whereas MAP is a direct intervention with the subconscious to heal trauma and release emotions.

Shared Foundations: Sarno and MAP

The fundamental agreement between Sarno's work and my work with MAP is important. We both fully embrace the idea that psychological factors, repressed emotions, inner conflicts, and the impact of stress are very often the root causes of chronic conditions. This is Sarno's enduring legacy, and it is congruent with the principles behind MAP.

How MAP Advances Sarno's Insights

While sharing core principles, MAP offers a new approach with and quicker, deeper results.

• Pain as a Signal, Not Just a Distraction : Sarno viewed pain primarily as a distraction. In my work with MAP I see pain less as the brain trying to trick you, and more as a signal from your mindbody system saying, "Hey, pay attention. There's something unresolved here that needs healing". It's a call for help.

• Wider Emotional Scope and Personality Types : Sarno emphasized anger and rage as the root causes for pain symptoms. With MAP we recognizes that any chronically suppressed negative emotion can drive symptoms, including sadness, fear, shame, grief, and pervasive worry or anxiety. My work as a MAP practitioner also expands on Sarno's "goodist" and "perfectionist" personality types to include roles like the caretaker, fixer, savior, nurturer, chameleon and more – all roles that necessitate suppressing one's authentic self, needs, and feelings.

• The Importance of Trauma Healing : Sarno did not particularly focus on trauma. In MAP, trauma healing is absolutely central, especially for early life adverse experiences. These experiences profoundly shape the nervous system's stress response, laying down the blueprint for how one reacts to stress. With a set of MAP sessions we can heal past traumatic events, identify stressors triggering symptom onset, and addresses current life stressors to resolve the stress that is contributing your symptoms.

• Efficiency and Practitioner Guidance : Sarno's approach relied heavily on individual insight and self-directed emotional excavation through journaling. While powerful when successful, not everyone has the time, emotional capacity, or self-awareness for this. MAP sessions are practitioner-guided , and are often described as a smoother, gentler, and almost painless process. It's a meditative method where clients relax with closed eyes, and the practitioner uses specific verbal instructions to work directly with the subconscious mind. The beauty is that clients don't have to consciously know or relive every detail; their subconscious knows where the roots are and rewires itself quickly and easily-- no practicing or journaling needed.

• No Belief Required : Sarno stressed the need to believe that pain had emotional root causes for his method to work. With MAP prior belief is not required ; skepticism is expected. The belief develops naturally as clients experience shifts, first emotional, then mental, behavioral and finally physical.

• Rewiring Core Programming : Sarno identified what the pattern of mind-body symptoms was. MAP targets the why and the how – why the system responds this way, and how to rewire neural pathways for lasting change. The goal is to recode subconscious programming, shifting the entire response to stress, making one less likely to generate new symptoms, and changing the habit of repression itself.

• Parts Integration : MAP integrates concepts similar to Internal Family Systems (IFS), recognizing that we all have different aspects of our personality that can have opposing needs (e.g., a part needing rest vs. a part compelled to achieve). MAP helps identify and integrate conflicting parts with the main personality, reducing inner conflict and stress.

• Transforming Personality Traits : Traits like perfectionism or people-pleasing aren't fixed. They are often deeply ingrained subconscious strategies developed in response to past experiences or traumas. MAP sessions can target the underlying subconscious programming so the traits themselves can soften and transform , allowing individuals to become more balanced and prioritize their own needs without guilt or shame.

• Neutralizing Stress Triggers : MAP can specifically target and neutralize reactions to known stress triggers – situations, people, or thoughts that reliably induce anxiety or worry. This is key to stopping the symptom imperative cycle, as diminishing the activation of known stress patterns reduces the likelihood of new symptoms.

• Recognizing Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) A significant number of people with chronic conditions identify as Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) , empaths, intuitives, or creative types. For HSPs, painful events, even what others might consider "small-t" traumas, can have a much larger impact on their nervous system. They often feel things more deeply, are more attuned to their environment, and might take on others' emotional burdens more easily, leading to a greater propensity to suppress their own needs and feelings. This creates a "perfect storm" for building up the reservoir of unprocessed emotion and stress Sarno talked about.

The MAP Process and Its Outcomes

The improvements seen with a series of MAP sessions typically unfolds in stages:

• Emotional Shifts : Clients often first feel calmer, less reactive, less anxious, or less triggered day-to-day.

• Mental and Behavioral Changes : Clients often notice a quieting of the mind: fewer obsessive thoughts, worry loops, or inner criticism, and a reduction in compulsive or perfectionistic tendencies.

• Physical Symptoms : Symptom improvement takes longer, with changes in frequency, duration, or intensity sometimes fading gradually, sometimes quickly, as the nervous system shifts out of constant alert.

The ultimate goal is more emotional stability, a quieter mind, less time stuck in fight-flight-freeze, and more time in the parasympathetic "rest, digest, and heal" state – which is crucial for physical recovery. The practitioner acts as a guide, providing verbal instructions, while the client's own subconscious does the processing and rewiring, often instantly. These sessions are done over Zoom making the method accessible to everyone regardless of where you live. MAP is very effective for most, though about 3-5% of the population does not respond to the method and this is often uncovered in the first session.

A New Chapter in MindBody Healing

From Dr. Sarno's paradigm-shifting work, which truly opened our eyes to the power of the mind-body link in chronic pain, we can take the next step to advanced neural retraining methods like MAP. The MAP Method makes it possible to take Sarno's insights to the next level by working directly with the subconscious mind, where all stress patterns live.

I see it everyday in the work I do with clients -- the profound connection between the mind, past experiences, emotions, personality traits, coping mechanisms, and the resulting physical symptoms. For anyone who resonates with Sarno's ideas but wants to go deeper, or wants the guidance of a practitioner, MAP offers a structured, efficient, and deeply personalized way to identify and tackle root causes.

Imagine a life where your emotional resilience is genuinely strengthened, where your body's entire reaction to stress transforms, making you far less vulnerable to the symptom imperative. What could that unlock for your health, your energy, and your overall well-being?

Give MAP a try! It might just change your life.

Learn More

Watch: How Do We Retrain the Brain for Chronic Pain?
Read: How Do We Retrain the Brain for Physical Symptoms?
Watch: How Does Retraining the Brain Resolve Sensitivities?
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos about the MAP Method.
Listen to client stories about the MAP Method on our podcast.
Check out our free courses on the MAP Method.

Mindbody Healing 2.0: Beyond the Sarno Method with Advanced Neural Retraining for Chronic Pain and Symptoms

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 18:10:16 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 82 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Learn about Dr. Sarno's contribution to mindbody medicine and how his method helped thousands of people with chronic pain.
Why the Sarno Method is not enough for some people and how to go deeper and get results faster by working with the subconscious mind.
How personality traits, painful emotional experiences and high emotional sensitivity can contribute to chronic pain and symptoms, and what to do about it.

Show Notes

In this episode of Flourish with Neural Retraining , host Madeleine Lowry explores how we can go beyond the pioneering work of Dr. John Sarno —renowned for his groundbreaking TMS (Tension Myoneural Syndrome) mindbody approach—to achieve lasting relief from chronic pain, chronic symptoms, and unresolved emotional stress .

While Sarno’s method revolutionized how we understand the connection between repressed emotions and physical illness, Madeleine shares how the MAP Method of advanced neural retraining builds on his insights to reach deeper layers of healing.

You’ll learn:

The foundations of Dr. Sarno’s TMS theory and why it helped so many people.
The personality traits (perfectionism, people-pleasing, goodism) often linked to chronic pain.
Why unresolved trauma and suppressed emotions create chronic symptoms.
How MAP neural retraining works with the subconscious mind to resolve emotional stress patterns.
Key differences between Sarno’s education-based approach and the MAP method’s direct subconscious reprogramming.

If you’ve tried Sarno’s work but still struggle with symptoms—or if you’re curious about rewiring your subconscious for emotional and physical healing —this episode will give you a fresh perspective and a clear path forward.

�� Learn more at TCNeuralRetraining.com
�� Subsc r ibe and leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform.

Full Transcript

Note: generated by AI, accuracy not guaranteed.

(Intro Music)

Welcome to the Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast. I'm your host, Madeleine Lowry, a neural retraining specialist. And today we are going to talk about going beyond the Sarno method to address chronic pain, chronic symptoms and conditions with an advanced neural retraining method known as MAP for lasting healing. My goal here is to share insights that I have gathered through my own experience and years in practice, helping you to understand not just what might be causing your chronic issues, but how you can find a path forward.

We begin by acknowledging the profound contributions of Dr. John Sarno, a pioneer who spent 50 years at NYU's Rusk Institute for Rehabilitative Medicine, laying critical groundwork for understanding the mindbody connection in chronic illness. He specialized in chronic back pain and over his long career, he authored four influential books. While his work was groundbreaking, many of us, including myself, have found the need to go even further for lasting resolution. I will share how my practice utilizing the advanced neural retraining method known as MAP builds upon Sarno's critical insights to provide a more efficient and comprehensive path to healing.

When Dr. Sarno first started his practice, he was trained in conventional western medicine. And for the first 8 to 10 years, he utilized the standard tools of the time, physical therapy, medications, and surgery to treat chronic back pain. However, he found himself increasingly dissatisfied with the results he was seeing. This dissatisfaction led him to reflect on something he had been taught in medical school which he attended sometime around the 1950s. At that time, medical school curricula still included teachings about the psychosomatic root causes or contributors to illness. He observed that this particular aspect of medical education later faded out largely due to the growing influence of the pharmaceutical industry and its focus on chemical solutions. Dr. Sarno therefore caught the tail end of an era where the profound connection between our emotions, our thoughts, and our physical health was still a standard part of medical training. Armed with this understanding, he began to introduce these ideas to his patients.

Fundamentally changing his approach to treatment. What he discovered was remarkable. This new approach yielded much greater success than the strictly medical methods he had previously employed. So, how did Dr. Sarno implement this? When patients would come to him with their scans and test results, he would sit with them and patiently explain what he termed normal abnormalities. This was a crucial point. He observed that many people with chronic back pain had certain abnormalities on their scans, but an equal number of people with those very same abnormalities experienced no pain at all. This led him to theorize that the pain his chronic sufferers were experiencing couldn't necessarily be attributed to those structural abnormalities, thus opening the door to a completely different way of understanding and approaching the problem.

Beyond individual consultations, he gave lectures where he educated them on how their thoughts, emotions, and in particular their repressed emotions, the emotions they weren't consciously aware of, could directly impact their physical experience and create pain. Dr. Sarno's work began with back pain, but he gradually broadened his scope after his first book on back pain. He started writing about pain syndromes in general and then expanded further to include all kinds of chronic conditions.

He began to generalize his theory under the umbrella term TMS which initially stood for tension myositis syndrome. Over time he renamed it to tension myoneural syndrome and by his last book he simply called it the mindbody syndrome. This evolution terminology itself reflects his deepening understanding of the broad scope of this phenomenon. At its core, Sarno's theory posited that various forms of chronic pain, including back pain, neck pain, fibromyalgia, and other pain syndromes, were not always caused by structural abnormalities, or unhealed physical injuries. Instead, he theorized that TMS pain originated from emotional and psychological factors, in particular, repressed emotions, inner conflicts, and stress. He believed there was a strong and direct link between our emotions and our physical health. His central idea was this.

When we repress a significant amount of painful emotions, we can manage to keep them buried for a while, perhaps for years or even decades, but eventually this buildup reaches a point where it starts to overflow. We simply can't stuff it down anymore. And at this critical juncture, the brain, in an effort to distract us from the truths we are unwilling to face, creates pain. According to Dr. Sarno's TMS theory, this is the origin of the pain. He firmly believed the pain was real. It was not all in your head in the dismissive sense. He explained that this very real physical pain was caused by mild oxygen deprivation in the muscles, which is why he initially named it tension myositis syndrome. This tension held in the muscles, nerves, and tendons generated genuine physical discomfort, but it was the result of repressed emotions rather than something inherently physically wrong with the body in a structural sense.

Interestingly, Dr. Sarno observed that TMS was not seen in the general population. He identified a common pattern amongst his patients, a specific personality type that seemed prone to developing TMS. He felt that individuals who tended to develop TMS often shared certain traits. They were high achieving. These were people driven to excel in school, their careers, relationships or other areas of life. They were perfectionists. These were individuals who strived for a flawless image or flawless results. These were people pleasers, people who prioritize making other people happy, often at their own expense. They also might have a strong sense of responsibility or what I like to call over responsibility and they may have a deep need for others to perceive them as good. A trait that he termed goodists. Now, it isn't necessary to have all of these traits. One or more of these traits is usually seen in people that tend to develop TMS.

So, why do these traits link to TMS? Dr. Sarno theorized that people who are driven to be high achieving, Perfectionistic or goodists often have to suppress their own frustrations, their own needs, and their own feelings in order to maintain this outward front or image to the world. If you think about it, I mean, who wants to be a perfectionist or a goodist all of the time? It's simply not fun. That inner desire for instant gratification and playfulness often gets repressed or denied as we toil away at tasks that may not yield immediate results. And this constant suppression creates a reservoir of negative emotions.

Another fundamental concept of TMS is the symptom imperative. Dr. Sarno saw this as the brain's ongoing need to create symptom after symptom to maintain its distraction strategy from the emotions we are unwilling to recognize or feel. For example, if someone had shoulder pain, if this was their initial PMS symptom and it was resolved through surgery, physical therapy or maybe a cortisone shot, the underlying emotional reservoir which hadn't been addressed would still be there and the brain would simply create another symptom to continue with its strategy of distraction. This could manifest as pain in another joint, a neuropathy or another type of chronic condition. Dr. Sarno's point was that symptoms could shift and move around, constantly keeping us distracted from the crucial emotions we need to face.

Dr. Sarno's treatment was primarily about information and education. Whether patients attended his lectures, watched his videos, or read his books, the core of the therapy was this transfer of knowledge about the mindbody connection. He empowered individuals with the understanding that their pain was real but rooted in emotional rather than purely structural issues.

His approach included a journaling method. He recommended that patients make three lists and engage in a daily journaling practice. List one was about childhood experiences and past traumas. List two was about current life stress and list three was about personality traits, particularly those traits like perfectionism or people pleasing that Dr. Sarno believed predisposed individuals to TMS. His instructions were simple. Each day, pick one topic from one of these lists and start writing about it. The key was to write down how you really felt with an eye towards uncovering deeper levels of emotion. He particularly felt that anger and rage were often the real driving forces behind pain syndromes, especially for those perfectionists and goodists who had to suppress immense frustration and irritation.

Dr. Sarno's influence was profound. He helped tens of thousands of people and his ideas made a significant impact in the world. Many individuals benefited greatly simply by reading his books, even if they never saw him in person.

So, let's talk about moving beyond Sarno. While Dr. Sarno laid critical groundwork, I've had the privilege of seeing how we can expand upon his foundational insights. In my practice, where I utilize an advanced method of neural retraining called MAP, we build on this mindbody understanding, taking it to a new level of efficiency and depth.

I want to be clear that comparing Dr. Sarno's method to the MAP method is not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison. Dr. Sarno developed his methods specifically for chronic pain and chronic pain syndromes and then chronic conditions. The MAP method on the other hand is a technique for advanced neural retraining that works directly with the subconscious mind. It was not developed specifically as a method for pain or chronic condition resolution. Rather, it is a powerful emotional release technique and a trauma healing technique that helps us get to the roots of many patterns held in the subconscious mind allowing us to either neutralize or change them.

However, if you understood Dr. Sarno's insights about the true roots of pain syndromes and chronic conditions and how they are deeply connected to our thoughts, our emotions, our personality, and our habitual responses to stress, then you can see how an advanced neural retraining method that addresses the emotional, mental, and behavioral levels could have a profound impact on physical health and this is where my work comes in.

While not all MAP practitioners specialize in chronic pain, some of us like myself have honed our expertise in this area. My own professional background led me to this path. I began as a nutritional therapy practitioner where I use diet, supplements, and lifestyle changes to assist people with chronic health issues. My practice also involved testing for various sensitivities to foods, to chemicals and other things. And what I consistently heard from my clients was a desire to eliminate these sensitivities rather than just avoid these substances or change their diets.

They wanted freedom and this led me to explore sensitivity elimination techniques. I learned several and the most promising one involved retraining the brain. It was a basic neural retraining method that required significant repetition of scripts, visualizations, and affirmations for an hour a day for many months and even years. While it did work for many, it didn't work for everyone, leaving about 25 to 30% of the people still struggling. This drove me to seek out something more effective.

And that is when I discovered this advanced method of neural retraining, the MAP method. I quickly realized that this advanced method, which works directly with the subconscious mind, could help people get unstuck from a much wider array of chronic health issues and symptoms, not just sensitivities. It is a meditative method requiring clients to be relaxed with their eyes closed, breathing slowly, deeply, and gently during sessions.

My practice has evolved with my primary focus now on individuals grappling with chronic health issues, chronic symptoms, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, and sensitivities as well as anxiety. Anxiety is a crucial component as it often accompanies other chronic conditions. I work with clients around the globe offering sessions over Zoom. These can be one-on-one sessions, group sessions led by a practitioner, or self-directed sessions using recorded programs. And often these different methods are used in combination. For example, some of my clients engage in one-on-one sessions with me every few weeks while also utilizing a pre-recorded program at home.

So, let me describe a little bit about my perspective on these issues versus Sarno's theories. I think we agree on several major points. I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Sarno that psychological factors underlie all chronic conditions. Repressed emotions, inner conflicts, and stress are, in my experience, frequently the root causes and the perpetuating factors of pain, symptoms, or conditions. Dr. Sarno's regard for pain as a distraction is a little different from my perception. This is where my direct work with clients in one-on-one sessions has given me a slightly different perspective.

Having had the privilege of working with individuals one-on-one, observing sensations like tingling, tightness, or pain arise and then diminish or resolve in a session. It leads me to a different conclusion. I don't see the pain so much as a distractor. I see it more as a signal. This is your mind body bringing something important to your attention and letting you know that there's an unresolved issue that needs to be addressed.

Regardless of whether you see it as a distraction or a signal, as I do, the ultimate solution remains the same. It's about recognizing those repressed emotions, healing past trauma, and changing your response to stress. Dr. Sarno felt that anger and rage were often at the root of pain. And while they certainly can be, my experience shows that any negative emotion can play a role, not just anger and rage.

Dr. Sarno believed that certain personality traits make a person more prone to suppressing emotions, and I agree with that. He highlighted the goodist and the perfectionist, but I have found that this extends to many more types, such as the people pleaser, the caretaker, the fixer, the savior, the chameleon, and many more. All of these commonly recognized personality traits require us to deny or suppress our own emotions, our own needs and wants in service of others. And these habitual behaviors and responses create the perfect conditions for developing chronic symptoms and conditions.

Now, one aspect where my work goes beyond Dr. Sarnos is in the area of trauma, the crucial role of trauma. Dr. Sarno didn't extensively discuss this, but in my practice using the MAP method, trauma healing is a central feature. We can see this very directly in sessions, how trauma plays a role, especially early life trauma, though painful emotional experiences are not limited to childhood. Early life trauma though is particularly impactful because our nervous system is still developing during those formative years. And these experiences can profoundly change how our mind, brain, and limbic system respond to stress for the rest of our lives, unless an intervention like the MAP method is used.

I work with individuals to identify stressful events from early life that shaped them, stressful things that have happened in the months or years leading up to the onset of symptoms, and even current life stressors, including the chronic condition itself that contributes to an ongoing stress response and a feeling of stuckness.

While Dr. Sarno's mindbody approach is undeniably important and a fantastic way to address the roots of chronic symptoms, I have found it doesn't always go far enough for everyone. As I mentioned, his method primarily relied on education and do-it-yourself emotional exploration. I recognize that not everyone is capable, willing, or has the time or self-awareness to effectively excavate their emotional roots on their own. And this is where working with a practitioner as a facilitator and a guide becomes invaluable. With advanced neural retraining, we can make the process much more efficient, much smoother, and almost painless.

Let's dive into some key ways my work with the MAP method goes beyond Sarno's approach. Unlike a daily self-directed journaling exercise that can feel like a constant emotional motivation. The MAP method is effortless by working directly with a practitioner in sessions. We focus on one layer of emotional stress at a time. This could be your chronic condition, relationships, current life stress, painful past experiences, or even childhood conditions and family dynamics.

The excavation happens one layer at a time, and the truly effortless part is that you don't have to consciously know every single thing going on in your subconscious mind to achieve results. We harness the power of your subconscious mind to identify and process these painful emotional subjects in the background so they don't have to rise to your conscious awareness for you to benefit. This means you can fully process and resolve past traumas and painful emotional events that have weighed on you or that you have been carefully avoiding thinking about.

One of Dr. Sarno's requirements was that the person needed to believe in the emotional origins of their pain and symptoms. And with the MAP method, this is not a prerequisite. Many of my clients are quite skeptical. They try the method because another practitioner or trusted friend recommended it. They come for the results, not necessarily because they're convinced that their symptoms are caused by emotional and mental factors. It is through the process of doing sessions that they begin to understand this for themselves. They start to gain self-awareness, build self-acceptance and compassion for themselves, solidifying their belief as the underlying emotions, thoughts, beliefs, and inner conflicts and self-judgments are unpacked and released. The process itself can make you a believer, but this is not a requirement upfront.

Another important point is the MAP method doesn't demand a high degree of self-awareness or conscious knowledge of what the issues or traumas are. I work with many people who score zero on the adverse childhood experiences survey and yet still benefit immensely from map sessions. Your subconscious mind holds all the patterns and all of the memories even if you don't consciously recall many details from your childhood or your past. A wonderful side benefit that my clients often remark on is that they become more self-aware as we work together.

Dr. Sarno's method being mostly self-directed and not working directly with the subconscious didn't always get to the core programming of why you respond to stress by repressing your emotions. With MAP sessions, we can uncover and address this deeper programming. People who benefit from Sarno's method are told they might still experience good and bad days because life is full of stress. And if the fundamental programming for how your nervous system responds to stress has not changed, symptoms may continue to arise. My aim is to get at those deep roots and change the neural patterns so that your response to stress changes thereby making it less likely that you will develop new symptoms.

Another way in which we go beyond the Sarno method is that with MAP we work with the concept of parts similar to what you might encounter in internal family systems or other therapies that discuss aspects of the personality. The goal with MAP is to reintegrate these parts into the main personality which reduces overall internal conflict and this is quite unique to the MAP method.

Yet another way we go beyond the Sarno method is that with MAP we can actually transform personality traits. While Dr. Sarno identified certain personality traits that predispose people to chronic symptoms, I want you to understand that these are not set in stone. They are based on subconscious programming, often arising from or reinforced by painful emotional experiences or trauma. In MAP sessions, we can work to change these personality traits, resolving the underlying traumas that created them.

We can also neutralize your response to stress triggers if certain things make you feel anxious or trigger worry loops or lead to rumination. We can rewire those patterns so they don't run in response to those triggers. This ability to change our fundamental response to stress is key to ending the symptom imperative. This doesn't mean that you'll never feel a symptom again, but without the added impact of your habitual response to stress, it is easier to recover from these normal life events.

Another important aspect of my work which Dr. Sarno did not discuss much is the role of sensitivity. I work with many highly sensitive people including empaths, intuitives and creatives. These individuals are often more profoundly impacted by painful emotional events. For a sensitive person, even what might be considered small "t" traumas can have the same impact as large "T" trauma would for someone who isn't highly sensitive.

Many of my clients are both highly sensitive and have a significant history of trauma. Highly sensitive people are more sensitive to emotional attention in their environment, more burdened by other people's expectations, and more likely to suppress their own emotions and needs to focus on or satisfy others. All of these factors perfectly fit within the Sarno paradigm, creating a perfect storm for developing chronic pain syndromes or chronic symptoms and conditions.

Sensitives are also more prone to picking up emotional burdens from others, like a sensitive child taking on their mother's pain. And these burdens contribute to that emotional reservoir that we work to resolve layer by layer with MAP sessions.

So, let me talk a little bit more about the MAP process and what to expect. When I begin working with someone interested in improving their physical health, I explain that shifts in physical health are the result of multiple sessions. Typically, my clients notice improvements in stages. First, at the emotional level, feeling less anxious, less triggered, and then at the mental or behavioral level with fewer worry loops, less rumination, a quieting of your inner critic. And they may notice changes in patterns like compulsions, fixations, perfectionism, or procrastination if these are topics that we choose to work on.

And then we get to the physical level. This is where you start to notice changes in the frequency, duration, and intensity of your symptoms. These physical shifts are the culmination of all the work that we've done to change your response to stress. You will feel more stable emotionally. Your mental space will be quieter, and you will experience more relaxation and calm. These are all indications that you're spending significantly less time in that fight, flight, and freeze response, which is crucial because it allows all the restorative functions of your body, including healing, to come back online and be optimized. Anyone who is interested in healing needs to spend most of each day in the rest, digest, and heal mode of their autonomic nervous system.

A crucial aspect of our work together is that as the practitioner, I serve as a guide in your sessions. Please understand, I'm not rewiring your subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind is doing that on its own in response to the verbal instructions I provide. This may sound a bit unusual, but until you've experienced a MAP session, it is difficult to fully grasp this phenomenon. However, having done thousands of sessions, I can tell you unequivocally that it works.

My role as your guide involves helping you select the priority for the topic of the session from the ideas that you bring. I help you to recognize your patterns, offer specific instructions to your subconscious mind, and identify where you might be getting stuck or if additional instructions are needed. I'm also here to help you pinpoint contributing factors or events that need attention.

Most of the rewiring is virtually instantaneous, happening right there in the session. Sometimes, if many memories are involved, you may have additional rewiring activity happening when you're asleep. And you will notice this because you may feel even more neutral about a subject in the days following a session.

While the MAP method is highly effective, there is a small percentage of the population, about 3 to 5%, that doesn't seem to respond. And this is usually easy to determine within the first one to two sessions.

I hope this discussion has been helpful. Shedding light on the roots of chronic symptoms and offering a path that builds upon the incredible insights of Dr. Sarno. If you understand Dr. Sarno's writings and the principles behind his method, and if you've been working with his approach, but feel ready to go further, I suggest that you explore the MAP method of advanced neural retraining.

I hope that you've gained a deeper understanding of the profound connection between your mind and your body and how unresolved emotional patterns can manifest as physical symptoms. If you are inspired to try a different approach to your chronic health issues, if you are looking for a way to address these root causes more efficiently and effectively, or if you simply want to learn more about MAP and how it can work for you, I invite you to take the next step.

You are welcome to join one of our free group introductory sessions on Eventbrite. This is a fantastic way to experience the method yourself and see how it works in a supportive environment. You could also join one of our group sessions for self-healing or other topics.

If you have specific questions about whether this approach is right for you, then I encourage you to sign up for a free consultation with me. We can discuss your needs and determine if one-on-one sessions are the right next step for you. Thank you for listening and I look forward to seeing you in a session soon.

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

Beyond DNRS: Brain Retraining for Mold and Chemical Sensitivities - Kendall's Story

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 17:42:14 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 81 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Hear Kendall's powerful story of overcoming debilitating mold and chemical sensitivities , after trying numerous other methods like DNRS, EMDR, neurofeedback, and hypnosis without lasting success
Discover how advanced neural retraining with MAP provided a breakthrough, working directly with the subconscious mind to address deep-seated patterns.
Learn about Kendall's remarkable shifts , including regaining the ability to sleep in her own bedroom, reintroduce new items with ease, and quicker adaptation to new environments when traveling

Show Notes

Welcome! In this powerful episode, host Madeleine Lowry, a neural retraining specialist, is joined by her client, Kendall, to describe her journey with mindbody healing for chemical sensitivities. Kendall shares her profound story of overcoming debilitating mold and chemical sensitivities that had limited her life for about 9 years.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• Kendall's Experience with Sensitivities: Discover how Kendall's sensitivities evolved to the point where she felt trapped and highly limited in her life. She experienced debilitating symptoms including brain fog, dizziness, dissociation, disequilibrium, insomnia, fear, and hypervigilance, and couldn't even sleep in her own bedroom. Her sensitivities made her react to new items, fabrics, and carpet, shrinking her world.

• The Struggle with Other Modalities: Kendall had tried numerous other brain retraining methods and healing modalities without lasting success, including EMDR, neurofeedback, allergy shots, mold specialists, detoxification protocols, hypnosis, and other brain retraining programs like DNRS . She intellectually understood her sensitivities were a nervous system association, but felt deeply stuck because subconscious patterns remained unshifted.

• The MAP Method: A Turning Point: Finding an advanced neural retraining approach called MAP marked a significant turning point for Kendall. MAP offered a different approach that goes many layers deeper by working directly with the subconscious mind .

• How MAP Differs: Unlike repetitive scripts or affirmations found in some other methods, MAP is a process of allowing and holding space for what comes up from the subconscious. Sessions are guided by the practitioner, tapping into the wisdom of the body and mind without needing conscious clarity on specific traumas. It's not an effortful process, and the subconscious mind sets the pace, addressing patterns layer by layer.

• Kendall's Remarkable Shifts: After approximately 12 sessions over six months, Kendall experienced significant positive changes :

◦ A shift from hopelessness to stronger resolve and deeper understanding that sensitivities are a body-created association.

◦ Physical improvements including a surprising shift in skin sensitivities and resolution of chronic neck and back tension.

◦ Breakthroughs in reintroducing items : She can now sleep in her own room and bed, bring new items into her home, wear many more clothes, and is much less sensitive to synthetic fabrics and furniture.

◦ Faster adaptation to new environments when traveling.

◦ The speed at which her body reintroduces items skyrocketed , from months to as little as two days.

• A Beacon of Hope: Kendall's story is a powerful testament that subconscious programming is just programming and it can be changed . Her experience offers profound hope for anyone with multiple sensitivities, chronic symptoms, or those feeling stuck after trying other methods.

If you are feeling stuck in your healing journey, please listen to this conversation and be inspired. Learn more at TCNeuralRetraining.com

Full Transcript

Note: generated by AI, accuracy not guaranteed.

(Intro Music)

Welcome to the Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast. I'm your host, Madeleine Lowry, a neural retraining specialist who works with anxiety, sensitivities, and chronic symptoms and conditions.

In this episode, Kendall joins me to talk about mindbody healing for chemical sensitivities. Kendall came to see me after suffering with mold and chemical sensitivities for about 9 years. Her sensitivities had evolved to the point where she felt trapped and highly limited in her life. She couldn't buy new items for her home, reacted to fabrics and carpet, and eventually couldn't even sleep in her own bedroom. Kendall experienced debilitating symptoms including brain fog, dizziness, dissociation, disequilibrium, insomnia, fear, and hypervigilance.

What makes Kendall's story particularly powerful is that she had tried numerous other brain retraining methods and modalities without lasting success. These included EMDR, neuro feedback, allergy shots, a mold specialist, detoxification protocols, hypnosis and other brain retraining programs like DNRS. She knew intellectually that her sensitivities were a nervous system association, but the underlying issue was a subconscious pattern that other methods had not been able to shift, leaving her feeling deeply stuck and hopeless.

In this episode, Kendall will share how finding this advanced neural retraining approach called MAP marked a turning point. We explore how MAP offered a different approach that goes many layers deeper by working directly with the subconscious mind. If you are someone who has multiple sensitivities, or if you are a highly sensitive person with chronic symptoms or conditions and you've tried other brain retraining methods and failed, or are feeling stuck, hopeless, or trapped, please listen. Kendall's experience offers a profound beacon of hope. Her story is a testament that subconscious programming is just programming and it can be changed. Let's dive in.

All right. So, welcome, welcome, Kendall. I'm so happy to have you join me for this conversation. You know, it is so I I'm always so grateful when people accept my invitation to come on to be a guest on my podcast. For every eight or 10 people that I ask to come and speak about their uh you know, what what gains they have realized through this map process, only one person says yes. So, it is I know it is rather rare for people to be willing to talk about their experience and so of course I am so so grateful that you are willing to take the time to have this conversation with me today.

So Kendall you came you found me because you were you were suffering with mold and chemical sensitivities for a long time about 9 years you had tried a number of other things including EMDR neuro feedback allergy shots and other brain retraining methods And then you found me in a Google search. Can you tell me what you know what life was like for you at that point, how your life had been impacted and also you know what you were looking to change by engaging in yet another method for retraining your brain.

Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And it's really powerful for me to be able to share all of this on a podcast because I've listened to so many podcast episodes of people sharing sharing success stories with different retraining programs or things that they've done. And I've always hoped and hoped and hoped one day that'll be me getting to share that something finally worked for me. So, it's really I think that's part of what makes me want to come on here and share is just to continue to be that beacon of hope for people.

But yeah, over the last 9 years, um I have dealt with um mold and chemical and kind of environmental sensitivities that seemed to kind of build and evolve over the years. And yeah, I so it's interesting that I found you through a Google search. Many of the things that I tried to, you know, heal, I remember exactly how I found them and where I was. But what's so funny is looking back on this, I don't exactly know Google, even what search terms I had put into Google. Um, I had I tried to look back in my search history to find it because I was like, how did I get here? It kind of feels like it was a bit serendipitous, which is really u powerful, too. But um, yeah, I found you through a Google search with just the right terms.

And I think what stuck out to me from your page is that it was it had all the right information I needed. You were someone who who worked specifically with sensitivities and allergies. It was through that kind of neural retraining, you know, mindset um or approach, but it was working with you directly in sessions. And I felt like I really needed someone to guide me through this process because I had tried so many different things. So, having someone to be supporting me um through it felt really powerful.

But to give you a sense maybe of where I was healthwise um and in my life at the time that I found you, I had kind of learned to live with these sensitivities. I felt lucky that they hadn't got to a point that I know some people get to where they feel like they have to move out of their homes and, you know, live in the desert and um some of these stories that you hear, but I did feel very limited.

I was at the point where I felt like I couldn't buy I was my sensitivities had gotten so kind of spiraled out that I couldn't buy certain new items for my house and furniture. Um you know, I was sensitive to certain chemicals and fabrics, so like I bought some new bed sheets and I couldn't use those and I was sensitive to carpet and carpet adhesive and it got to the point where I wasn't even able to sleep in my own bedroom at my house because I was reacting to that and so I after dealing with this for 9 years I had learned to kind of live with this but I I couldn't you know like can't live my life like this. Um so I had some hope still But I was definitely feeling pretty hopeless um after moving through all the many things I had tried and I can share what those are. But so anyway, it all kind of came together right when I needed it.

Yes. And so how would you describe what you were seeking to change? You know, um what was your life like that you knew you couldn't live this way anymore? and it became imperative that you try something else.

Yeah. Yeah. So, some of the symptoms that I would get would be like brain fog and kind of this like dizziness and dissociation and really just feeling um like disequilibrium and on edge and insomnia. And of course, it creates a lot of fear and hyper vigilance which adds to the cycle. Um you know I had done a lot of brain retraining work before this and so I had done my best to work on the conscious part of not rein reinforcing the fear around these items or around having sensitivities but there was still a subconscious association in my nervous system. And I knew this because things that I would think are non-toxic and healthy and organic that I felt like I could have in my environment would still affect me or things that I didn't even know were in my environment that I couldn't consciously know. I could feel my symptoms arise. And so it was this sense of, you know, I don't feel good physically. I don't want to feel this way. I don't want to feel so uneasy. I don't want to live a life where I'm so limited. I don't want to not be able, you know, be unable to sleep in my bedroom. It's becoming too widespread. I just um I'm going to make it my life's mission to heal this. I don't feel satisfied with li living this way. But yeah, I would say like the the brain fog was one of the physical symptoms that I just um it made it kind of unbearable to live this way.

I also have noted uh in working with a lot of people with multiple sensitivities that for the person who develops multiple sensitivities there seems to be almost an acceleration and a compounding as we get older. The sensitivity reaction seems to gen normalize to more and more things and so life gets smaller and smaller. Um I mean I was this person myself and I can remember the the fear and the panic of realizing that every few months I was reacting to something new. You know the silicone earplugs I was using to swim. You know my ears would be like weeping and and you know uh scabbing over from that silicone exposure or I you know with the fall winter we eat a lot of butternut squash and I can remember peeling butternut squash and my hands were just breaking out in welts and you know just a terrible allergic reaction and I and it was like, What now? This too? You know and it was it was just each decade of as each decade of my life went by I was starting to recognize you know, this is starting to happen faster and faster and where is the end, you know?

Yeah.

What will I what will I be left able to eat or to do, right?

And that's this really scary feeling that obviously motivates a person to think I have to figure out the I have to get to the roots of this, you know?

Yes.

Before it completely controls my life.

Yes. Yes.

Yeah. That was my experience, too. I think the word I kept using when we first started working together was trapped. I just felt so trapped because similar to you, it felt like it started to be things that were so silly. Like I bought a new set of mixing bowls and I was like, if I can't have mixing bowls, a new set of mixing bowls in my kitchen, how is this going to work? You know, I want to move into different stages of my life. I want to have kids. I want Right. And I can't, you know, find a way to coexist with certain things, this just won't work. And so that of course brings up a sense of panic. Even when I know this is just a nervous system association, if I don't feel like I have a grasp of how to shift it in a timely and effective manner, there's only so much hope that can come.

Yes. And I remember when we started working together. It's about 6 months ago. I remember you saying like, do you think this can change? You know, do you do you think this is going to work? And I I mean, we had the free consultation and I heard your story and I was like, well, yes, this sounds like so many people that I've worked with. I believe that brain retraining, this type of advanced neural retraining where we work with the subconscious mind directly, definitely has the potential to work. Now, How fast it happens, you know, is is very hard for anyone to say, right? Because some these things can be quite complex or they can be simple. You know, some people are seeing shifts after just a handful of sessions, two, three sessions. Some people they need more like six or more sessions. And it's it's, you know, until we start working together, we we don't really know what the pace is going to be or how or when the breakthrough is going to come, which is why I've created a sensitivities program so that people can do more sessions on their own at a lower price point, right? So that they can leverage what we're doing in live sessions. But I wanted to have you talk a little bit about how this method of brain retraining because you had tried other methods, right, felt different or was different or maybe had a different approach. How would you how would you describe for people who or like, well, I've tried brain retraining before, you know, I've tried these programs before. I've tried EMDR before. How would you compare or, you know, what would you say is different about what we've done together?

Yeah. Yeah. So, and I'll share for a moment what I have tried and then I'll speak to what this looked like for me. But yeah, I tried everything from, you know, when when I first had these symptoms, which you know, seemed to be set off around the time of a mold exposure in 2016. But I tried everything from like allergy shots, um, and, you know, western medicine allergist to like a a mold specialist and a detox protocol and hypnosis and neuro feedback and DNRs and another brain retraining program and EMDR. And, you know, all of those things I think can be really helpful for for people. I don't want to discredit or take away from any of those healing modalities and I feel like for me those would have taken so you know potentially so much time and so many layers to get where I have gotten um with map. So what felt different about our work together is that you know I know I know on our first phone call in our consultation I said if I don't know exactly you know specific acute traumas or adverse childhood experiences that I have does can this still work for me because I was you know worried that you know if I don't know exactly what my perfect storm was and why exactly my nervous system had become so reactive. Can we still do this method? And you said yes, as long as you can connect to the emotions that you experience around all of this, we can start right there. And I think what what really worked about map for me is that since we're asking the superconscious or the subconscious to really do this work, I don't always need to have perfect cl clarity on what are the like emotional burdens or experiences that have impacted me. It's helpful to have a sense of them and to feel them, but the the mind and and the subconscious are helping you and I know where to go and what to work on and what my body has held on to over the years. So, it it feels like it goes so many layers deeper than any of those things I had tried in the past. Um, and it seems like we're able to use like the the wisdom of the body and the mind and the nervous system to guide us so that we cuz I think I needed I needed help with that because I I wasn't able to fully grasp why exactly my my body might have held on to certain experiences and things to kind of create this state in my body.

Yeah. Yes. So that's helpful, right? That through this process and so in a just to explain, right, for people who have never experienced this before in a MAP session, we pick we we select a topic that we are going to be working with. Typically these sessions are 90 minutes long. We do them over Zoom. Uh And we are tapping into it's a it's a method for tapping into the subconscious mind for really harnessing the power of the subconscious mind which knows all of the patterns and you know sensitivities are patterns right it's a reaction pattern you know this apple used to be able to eat it no problem and now you take a bite out of the apple and your lips start to itch right just like that's a kind of a typical sensitivity reaction people might experience and be able to relate to. So that is a pattern, right? A pattern that has changed. You didn't want it to change, but it did change. Suddenly apples now make you your mouth itch and you don't know why. You don't know why this started. You don't know why it changed. But there are there is some some experiences, some associations, some memory structures uh in in the subconscious mind and the mind knows its own patterns. And so we can we can utilize the power of the subconscious mind to find and neutralize or break down right the pattern itself so that you can either you can be free of the pattern or you can establish a different pattern. So in each session we are endeavoring to resolve another layer because often you know if we've had these ities for a long time or we have many sensitivities. There can be many reasons why it was created and many reinforcements over time and so it's like strata you know I kind of think it is like strata like layers and layers and layers and we just have to start going one layer at a time and so that's why I'm saying that for some people three sessions and they're noticing a change other people six sessions other people more right because we don't know how many strata there are and we don't know um what kind of resistance there might be to letting them letting letting that go right letting that pattern go this is something I very often see with for example chronic chronic illness or chronic conditions uh we identify so much with something that that itself can be a source of resistance so even you know even people who say well I've tried hypnosis right that's supposed to work with the sub conscious mind. And yet that didn't it didn't flip the switch for me. Is this going to be any different? You know, I'm not a hypnotherapist. I can't speak to that modality, but I but I do know that uh having had clients who are hypnotherapists that they see this work as being quite different because we are uncovering and also changing, fixing, I guess you could say. It's this process of like things coming up to the surface that e either we can recognize and release or we can make changes to. It's an iterative approach and it it does seem to get to levels that maybe are not as easily done um with some of the other methods, you know, that people have tried before. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And um of course coming into this you know, I was like, "Okay, well, if this can be cleared in three sessions, that would be amazing." And I was so eager and um I I didn't you never set that expectation up, but just knowing that it can work so quickly for people. I have, who wouldn't want that? But I it took more sessions than that for me to start feeling the shifts that I had been longing to feel. But you were really helpful and help helping me understand that it really needs to come layer by layer by layer at the body's own pace. Um, and so and I think that helped. It was validating and it makes sense now for me to see that, you know, it it did take me several sessions to start feeling the momentum. But that makes sense. Get, you know, why some of these other modalities are really didn't move the needle cuz I think for my body and for my nervous system. It it was buried pretty pretty deeply. Like there was there's been many layers we'd have we've had to peel back in order to um see the patterns start to break up. Um so I remember you'd say brick by brick and I that really helped me. I was like yes, it's just brick by brick. Um and it that truly is how the process has worked for me.

You mentioned DNRS which is um it is a method uh that many of my clients have tried before they come and find me. Um it is a method that that I learned that I used in myself that I taught in workshops simplified version of it and it informs a lot of what I understand about you know the lyic system and how it works and you know the whole or brain science I guess you could say behind the pattern this kind of self-reinforcing pattern that is a sensitivity cycle a lot of people try DNRS they do it for months they do it for years and maybe they see maybe they have some wins right at the beginning but then they kind of plateau or maybe they have some gains and then they kind of lose them and I I tell people You know, because there are a lot of there's a lot that is said about, you know, you just have to stick with it. You have to keep doing it. You have to keep repeating repeating repeating the scripts and the visualizations and the affirmations and for an it's an hour a day, every day for months and years, uh, to make the, you know, to break down the pattern, to make the sensitivity reaction go away. And I I tell people, you know, I wouldn't I wouldn't I wouldn't stick with it that long, right? I I would say If you aren't seeing shifts in 4 to 6 weeks, then you need something more, right? That is a clear sign that you need something more because you know when I taught this method and I would teach a group of people about 70% 70 to 75% would do well just with that what I call what I now understand to be a basic method of neural retraining. Right? It's it's almost like we are hammering in our intention, right? to to be done with with these sensitivities, with these reactions, with these symptoms. You know, we're telling our mind over and over again, don't send the signal anymore. You know, visualizing what life would be like if you know, we were free of all the sensitivities. But it's very very repetitive and very very I don't know. It it doesn't get at the root causes. For some people, it is enough to get them back on track, you know, to But for other people, 25 to 30% of the population, I would say in my estimation, and this tends to be the more the people that have the more significant history of trauma, it just isn't enough. You know, there are too many humps and bumps in the road to just lay down a new road on top and be like, "Yeah, we're done with this, right? Just stop. Just put it away. Just, you know, end it. We don't want this anymore." It it's it's almost badgering. you know, the the nervous system and the subconscious. And for some people, that's they don't respond well to that.

And so for them, you know, it's necessary to start to excavate layer by layer like we were saying before to allow, you know, whatever whatever that is that needs to come up, that needs to be acknowledged, that needs to be seen or that needs to be

neutralized to do so.

And yeah, and and it is a process. Right. So this is not about repeating scripts and affirmations. It's not about practicing practicing practicing. You know there there isn't it is not I would say it's not an effortful process.

Yeah.

Um you know except that you're doing reintroductions on your own between sessions. It is more of a process of allowing holding kind of respecting

you know what whatever comes up. You know both the clients and and the practitioner I often tell clients during a session, this is not a time for you to figure it out. You've been trying to do that for so long and if you could do that, you would have done it already,

right?

This this when we talk about the subconscious mind, it's not a logical mind. It is an associative mind, you know, and it associates things that you would never think were related to each other.

And you just have to let things bubble up and just observe. You're your only job is to sit there with your eyes closed, breathing slowly, deeply, and gently hearing what I'm saying, and just observe what's coming up. Just like in a meditation, you know, where you're watching that thought come in, and you're like, "Oh, there's this thought. Oh, yes. Okay, and I can let it go." Just like a cloud in the sky, but it's I I see it. You know, it's like that. You're just allowing things to come up. And for some people, a lot of things come up. For some people, not so many things come up. For some people, it's about memories and thoughts and words and people for other people it's more a feeling in their body but whatever that is it's important not to push it down and be like no I don't want to think about that no I don't want to go there no I don't want to recognize I don't want to feel that if we are doing that in a map session then you're defeating the purpose right this is a time for your subconscious mind to start revealing itself and we just need to hold space for that and respect it and and like oh okay I didn't I had no idea idea that was there, but here it is,

you know, now let's deal with it.

Yeah.

So, maybe you can talk a little bit about what that process was like for you.

I was so relieved that this took a different format than the typical brain retraining. Not that I don't think there's a time and place for the scripts and the, you know, I've gained certain things from that method, but um I was so relieved that get to sit back and be and allow. Um, and the way that like you said, it seems that everyone experiences MAP differently. And the way that I found I experienced MAP was um, as we would ask my body and brain and my superconscious to come up with things, I'd really feel things in my body. So, I'd get a lot of somatic or kinetic sensations. So, like um, you know, a tension in my neck or a feeling of something weighing on my stomach or my chest or a even, you know, that that gripping in my arm that we worked on for so long. And these aren't always symptoms that are my number one things I'm experiencing around my sensitivities, but almost felt like they are my body's way of letting me know what was they were like our entry points into the into my emotional world and I think some other people experience more like visualizations and memories with map. Um so you know that's what I was expecting at first and I was like why aren't I getting these memories? But I started to realize yeah I just got to go with whatever is coming up and as we'd follow it we would really unlock some huge shifts and What I started, I think, realizing through this work is that um and and I've known that I'm a pretty sensitive person, you know, like I identify as a, you know, HSP or highly sensitive person. And I think because of that, my body and brain have just held on to a lot of different experiences and emotions. And it has just seemed like I've needed to have something like this to allow me to let go of things that I don't always know why. why or how I've held on to them. But in a map session for me, as we are working on a a theme, um as we're working on a sensation, as we're working on a on a memory, I can sometimes feel this. Um I feel like I'm in a very deep meditative state. And I know that because my eyes will be closed for so long and I'm never bored. It's like I go I go somewhere very it's like I think I've called a tunnel with you. Just feels like a little bit of a a this kind of relaxed, deep zone where I'm still very attuned to everything going on, but I'm content to just sit there peacefully. And um I can feel shifts and sensations move throughout my body as we ask the superconscious to work through different steps. And I'll I'll never forget one of our sessions. We were working on a memory where I had gotten injured as a kid. And I it was like an injury that affected my um tailbone and and my like back and neck a bit that had kind of randomly come to my mind during one of our sessions. And that's something that you know MAP will do, right? It'll kind of bring up an association. And as we worked on that, asking my body to kind of release and work through that memory, it I it almost felt like yeah, I could feel in my body. It's so hard to describe it. But I could feel my body like just this sensation of a shift. It felt like a wheel moving inside of me. And that's when I really started to sense, oh wow, this is um this is really powerful. Um so hopefully that's not a too long-winded of a way to describe what my experience of MAP is.

Yeah. No, that's perfect. Perfect. Thank you. Yes, because I do think people do experience sessions differently and that's perfectly okay, right? We're each very unique individuals um with a unique set of experiences and a unique way of processing things too, right? But seasoned practitioners know, learn how to work with whatever is coming up for you, you know? So whatever that feedback is from you and even if there's no feedback, we we we learn how to to continue with the session because we're also using our intuition really to help guide the session as well. So even if you aren't able to report anything and I do have you know a few clients like that they just nothing to report we can figure out where to go next. The practitioner is is reading you in a way

that I think is also different from

these other modalities um because you're getting a little more help

from the practitioner. in terms of helping you figure out what is what is this about where do we need to go next?

Yeah.

What thread do we need to be following in this session?

Yeah.

And even what topic what topic do we work on today?

Yeah.

And I really needed that. Yeah. I really needed that. And I think that's why EMDR you I think it's one of the reasons EMDR wasn't working for me around this issue is because I didn't always know exactly how to describe what it is that I needed to be working on. So, being able to work with the sensations in my body and being able to have you help guide me, you know, collaboratively and using kind of both our intuition felt like it really made this possible.

Yeah. And so, And we aren't done, right? Um, we've been working together about six months. You've done about 12 sessions. You also did uh you did the sensitivities program for maybe a month. And you can talk about the difference between our live sessions and and that, but you found that you weren't really a program person, which is perfectly okay. I mean, I I create the programs for people who would like that opportunity to work with things more on their own, but not everyone's a program person. Some people just need that one the one- on-one attention, deal with all the specific and unique aspects of you and just, you know, uh, delve deeper, deeper, deeper. So, that's fine. But, yeah, we've done about 12 sessions. And so, what would you say are the positive changes you have observed from this?

Yeah. Yeah. Um, and I'm excited because since we last talked, there's been even more things that I've been able to integrate into my life. So, I have a whole list that I've been eager to update you on. So around the the you know I had I felt you know some light emotional and mental shifts early on. Number one I think just working on on that hopelessness feeling in the beginning was really important for me. Um and um just an overall kind of lightness that I'd start to feel emotionally some an important shift in the beginning to mentally was feeling just stronger resolve and like this deeper understanding that this is truly an association that my body has created, which is something that I've known for years. I've known ever since I found DNRS way back in the day, kind of like 2 years into this journey, I guess. But it's almost like I needed to under I needed to know that on a deeper level. So that was something that was helpful in the beginning. Around the third session, it kind of I had a surprising physical shift where I've always had really sensitive skin, especially to ear piercings and different um you know, metals. And that randomly shifted and I was like, well, it could be coincidental, but you know, something feels different very quickly about that. And then I I think as we were peeling back the layers, I want to say maybe it was around like session 7, 8, 9 where I really started to feel a shift in, you know, th those like the ability to have some of the items I had been sensitive to in my environment. I think around session six or seven, we had actually worked on this tension that I get in my back and my neck and that really shifted and has gone away ever since. sense and it was kind of related to maybe some emotions around hypervigilance. But around session 8 is when I had a breakthrough with being able to have certain objects or spaces in my environment and introduce them with ease. I had been working on trying to reintroduce items for such a long time and I felt like well clearly there's something I'm doing wrong in these other brain retraining programs or otherwise where I just I could sometimes get myself to reintroduce to something, but it would take so long and so much work or certain things and not other things. But around session eight, I would I finally felt, oh, this is what it's supposed to feel like when you reintroduce something where you can sense, oh, just after a few times of being willing to have that item in my environment, I'm okay. And so, I can sleep in my own room now, in my own bed now. Now I'm sleeping a lot better. I've been able to bring a bunch of, you know, new items into my home, those mixing bowls that I mentioned, and much less sensitive to synthetic fabrics and and I can wear a lot more clothing, you know, and then items of furniture that would bug me. And um if I travel, I adjust to those environments a bit. faster um than it used to take me. And I feel like between sessions 10, 11, and now 12, the speed at which my body will reintroduce items has just skyrocketed.

Okay. So, are we talking about days, hours?

Yeah. Right now it feels like two days. And they're not, you know, they're not awful days. I can, you know, I just kind of persist through maybe an initial symptom and and then I'm okay. And that's a huge change. Whereas like in the past, I could maybe try to reintroduce like a a sweater that was causing a reaction for me, but it would take like maybe a month. It's just like and I could only do it with certain things and not other things and so this is it's real attraction for me.

Yeah. And that's lovely because as you said, you know, you can see a different future for yourself, right?

Yes.

Yeah.

Yes. So I remember when we first started working together, you were like, but really can we change these, you know, can we change this? Will will this be effective for the for these sensitivity reactions? And I thought, well, yes, these are just patterns in your brain. Like I I believe this because of you know what I seen in the work that I do. But I understand for the person who's living under that that I don't know just feeling controlled, right?

Um by these these reactions and almost like these rigid rules that our brain has for us about like what's safe and what's not safe, right? It can feel like, well, this is just me now, you know, especially when it's gone on for a long time, right? This has been happening for nine years. This is just me now and I I've been living this like so long. I don't actually I I'm really questioning whether this could ever change, right?

Kind of where you were when we started working together. And you know, thank you for being able to kind of start to trust in the process. And I I do remember that at some point you kind of you were coming to sessions and you were like, I I think I I believe now. I believe now that this can change.

It wasn't like you'd gotten all the way to your goal. yet. You're still not quite there yet, but something had changed in you and you knew on some level

that this is programming and this programming can change.

Yeah.

And if I'm willing to just stick with the process, we will get there. You know, it took longer than maybe you would have liked it to take, right?

You know, me too, right? I I'm always happy to see, you know, when people are starting to feel shifts early on but you know we have to honor your system and the pace that it is setting for us. So you know I always like to explain to people your subconscious mind is in control every session your subconscious mind sets the pace. I the practitioner is not doing something to you. The practitioner cannot force a change that your mind body is not willing to accept yet. And it's it's just telling us it's necessary for me to take, you know, I can't let go of this yet because of this and this and this and this, right?

This is basically what dictates the the the flow of our session. This,

it's almost like we're asking the question again and again.

Yeah.

Do you feel safe now around these items? You know, and your body is your body mind is like it's it's still grappling with this, right? It's a pattern that's been there for so long. And it's it just it needs to be visited a few times, several times for it to start to recognize that you are safe in the presence of whatever.

And that um you don't need to have those reactions. And one of the reactions was that you couldn't sleep, right?

Yeah. So when you said you're able to sleep in your in your own room, which is of course a positive, since you were reacting to things in your room, but also that you're able to sleep better

despite introductions of new things like that. That's so important also.

Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. It really was layer by layer and honoring that, you know, I I think we had even kind of worked on things that I might have taken on that weren't even mine, emotions, experiences, um And so it felt like we had to go at the pace that my body would would allow.

Yes. I think you know you mentioned before that you you see yourself as a sensitive person that you feel that you fit the definition of a highly sensitive person and 95% of my clients are in that. You know they're sensitive, they're empathic, they're intuitive, they're highly sensitive, whatever. And I do feel like sensitive people are just more more prone to take on things that aren't their own. You know, we take on other people's feelings or we take on patterns and responses that we see or we just take on things that aren't ours. And that is a factor that I often that I often see. And again, like I feel like that's a like it's just one like little maybe not little but one thing that can come up in a map session that I think is just one of many things that we've explored in our sessions that aren't really touched upon by some of these other methods that you've described trying before.

I do feel like with MAP sessions, there's a lot of ground that we cover, a lot of factors that we explore or or that come up in sessions, I should say, that reveal themselves. And again, it's all part of untangling, right? This like very complex and deep deeply knotted underpinning of the the whole sensitivity reaction process which we could put under the the label of you know fear feeling you know safe safety and lack of safety right could be the general theme here but but whatever that is that contributes to that you know it's like unpeeling it one layer one strand at a time until we get to a place where we can respond differently. So is is this a process that you would recommend to other people. For what reasons and and why?

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I definitely would recommend it to to people. You know, I it seems like it can be helpful for so many things. You know, I personally would recommend it to anyone who has allergies and sensitivities that don't seem to be responding to other things. But, you know, even for traumatic memories for emotional issues for for highly sensitive people or empaths that feel like they've stored a lot and but of course yeah I think about the people in this world with chronic health issues that don't seem to resolve and I think that this method is so powerful you know I think you have to have an open mind coming into this and have to be at the point where you're able to understand and or maybe not understand but just be open to the fact that um our nervous systems and our immune systems and all the other systems in our physical body are impacted by our nervous system and our emotional body. And so coming in with some openness to that I think can be helpful. But sometimes the process itself helps open I'm sure people's minds to that. But I think it could be so beneficial for so many people. And so anyone who's feeling stuck in their healing journey, it's something to try. It's something to see if it can get you somewhere. I feel like I I I believed so deeply that that this could be something that could help me. But after having so many experiences where a brain retraining program didn't get me to where I needed to go, it started to just feel like this discrepancy between like I I so deeply see the nervous system role in this but I can't get my nervous system to move and I think that's why I felt so stuck and so what even before I started to feel the results just doing MAP helped me start to feel like oh I know my nervous system can shift because I feel us doing it in the sessions.

I think it really help that discrepancy start to shift. So yes, I would recommend it to anyone.

Yes. And and I think you know hearing you say this again, right? I think often where we start with map sessions is working exactly on that like that resistance, right? That feeling of helplessness or hopelessness, that feeling that nothing and no one can help me. I'm my body is betraying me or I'm running out of time, right? These these very common thoughts that people with chronic conditions have, chronic symptoms, sensitivities, whatever, have um that keeps them in a in a stuck place, a place of not even they're not even willing to hope anymore because they've their hopes have been crushed too many times.

And I completely understand that. But even just working on that, right,

in set you free in a way so that you can move forward. Right? Because

when you're in that trapped trapped, stuck, hopeless, powerless uh place, it's like you're sitting in the bottom of a hole or the bottom of a well and you cannot

figure out how to get out.

Yeah.

And even though people may be offering you like, oh, have you thought of this? Have you tried this? Have you heard about this? Have you tried listened to this podcast? This book this practitioner whatever it just feels overwhelming like I cannot try one more thing right?

yeah

I hear this so often you know I even in the free consultations that I do you know so many people are in that place because they have hoped and you know not had their hopes be rewarded and they've gone through the cycle so many times and they've invested their resources and their time And it's almost like being paralyzed, you know? I can't even imagine trying something else. And yeah. So, so that alone, right, will keep you stuck right there because if we aren't willing to try something new, we aren't willing to try again, right?

Yeah.

I think the saying is "Try try again."

When we aren't even willing to try again, we just feel too lost and too hopeless.

Even just working on that mindset Yes.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah. I'm so grateful to myself that I tried again because of course I felt that way. Yeah. On that initial phone call with you where I was like, am I really going to put myself out there to get the rug pulled out from underneath me again? And I don't know what higher power helped me just push through, but yeah, I'm just I'm so glad I did. even if it's just to work on that mindset, you know, even if that's all even if that's the only thing I gained, it would have felt worth it. So, I'm just Yeah, I'm so grateful for MAP. Yeah, it's changed my life really. And I'm like, I can't wait to use it on all the other things I'll ever need I'll ever need it for as well. And yes, yes, still layers to go for me around the sensitivities, but yeah. It's just it's really changed everything for me.

That's fantastic. Thank you so much, Kendall. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with me today and share your story and all of your insights. And this has just been a wonderful conversation. I think a lot of people will benefit a lot from hearing your story.

Thank you so much, Madeleine. I so appreciate you and I'm so excited to get to share. So

lovely. Thank you.

Thanks for joining us for the Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast. Please listen again and remember to follow us and leave a review on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, or Pandora. Check out our free courses about the MAP method and all of our MAP programs, including the thyroid healing program at map forhealth. us or schedule your introductory MAP session at tc neural retraining.com. Until the next time, be well and flourish. Content of this podcast copyright 2025 by Twin Cities Neural Retraining. Music by Barbara Benn.

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Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
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Mindbody Healing for Hypothyroidism Eriko's Story

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Tue, 06 May 2025 17:31:37 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 80 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Eriko speaks about her experience of mindbody healing for hypothyroidism using a 12-week advanced neural retraining program.
How getting to the roots of chronic stress can improve overall health, including chronic hypothyroidism and A1C levels .
Why Eriko feels that the stress-reduction program would be helpful for anyone with chronic health issues who's stuck in a stress response.

Show Notes

Explore a different path to natural healing for hypothyroidism and chronic stress in Episode 80 of Flourish with Neural Retraining. Host Madeleine Lowry speaks with client, Eriko, about her journey using a 12-week thyroid healing program based on neural retraining . Eriko had managed hypothyroidism with medication for 20 years but still suffered from symptoms like anxiety and insomnia. Conventional treatments often fall short for individuals with hypothyroidism or Hashimoto's.

This episode highlights a mindbody approach utilizing neural retraining and stress reduction to achieve symptom improvement by working with the mind. The structured, self-paced program guides users through modules addressing emotional memories, complex patterns like fear, control, and stress-related behaviors, and core beliefs.

Eriko achieved significant results, reducing her thyroid medication dose by a third. Even on the lower dose, she reported a 30 to 50% improvement in core thyroid symptoms including fatigue, brain fog, and anxiety. A welcome side benefit was her A1C improving from pre-diabetic to normal range.

Beyond physical symptoms, she experienced profound reduction in anxiety, improved sleep and digestion , felt more comfortable in her own skin, and fundamentally changed her response to stress.

Stress underlies many chronic conditions. By clearing subconscious and accumulated stress, the program optimizes the body's natural healing capacities . Eriko found it beneficial for other chronic conditions and recommends it for anyone struggling with chronic stress or any chronic condition, offering an easier, gentler way to achieve lasting change.

Listen now to learn how the mind can support healing the body—naturally. Learn more at TCNeuralRetraining.com

Full Transcript

Note: generated by AI, accuracy not guaranteed.

(Intro Music)

Host: Welcome to the Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast. I'm your host, Madeleine Lowry, founder of Twin Cities Neural Retraining and a certified MAP method practitioner specializing in anxiety sensitivities and chronic symptoms and conditions.

Join me for episode 80 where we will hear from my client Eriko who describes her experience with the 12 week thyroid healing program. Eriko had been my client for a while before she decided to focus on her thyroid health. She'd been hypothyroid for 20 years and was on thyroid hormone replacement. After 12 weeks of neural retraining following the program, she was able to reduce her thyroid meds and even on the lower dose saw a 30 to 50% improvement in most of her thyroid symptoms.

In our conversation, we discuss how the program has potential benefits for all chronic health conditions, not just hypothyroidism or Hashimoto's. Eriko wondered if her A1C levels would improve as a result as well. And after we recorded this session, She had some blood work done and reported to me that her A1C test results, which had been in the pre-diabetic range, had improved and were now in the normal range. Another nice side benefit of the neural retraining process.

As always, we must disclaim that the information we share in the podcast is for educational purposes only. As MAP method practitioners, we do not diagnose or treat disease. Instead, we work with the mind to optimize health. Now, let's hear from Eriko.

Host: Yes. So, welcome, Eriko. This is so nice to have you join me on my podcast to speak about your experience with the thyroid healing program.

Eriko: Thank you very much. Yes. I'm really excited to be doing this. It's I uh this is actually my podcast debut. So, let's see how it goes.

Host: Yeah. Well, it was wonderful to be able to have this conversation with you. You know, when I put this program together, I I really thought it would address a need for people who had, you know, long-standing thyroid issues for whom the usual ways of going about addressing the issue just weren't really hitting the mark. There are a lot of people out there that are frustrated with their body's response to thyroid medications. Some people aren't offered thyroid medication because they don't have lab levels that would indicate a diagnosis, but still they have the symptoms and others have these diagnoses like hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's but the usual treatments aren't working for them and sometimes even increased levels of thyroid hormone can cause hyperthyroid symptoms as well as hypothyroid symptoms at the same time and that can be frustrating as well. So I was really thinking you know wouldn't this be great to explore how we can work with the mind to achieve symptom improvement, you know, without having to do all the other things that are often suggested or doing that in concert with the other things that are often suggested by other kinds of practitioners like functional medicine practitioners. Maybe this is um just a a little a few opening thoughts from me and maybe you can just talk about where you were at with your thyroid health and what you were hoping to address by using a program like this which is a mindbody approach, right?

Eriko: So in my case, the thyroid medication um that I was on was actually working and so I I was diagnosed with hypothyroid um about 20 years ago and ever since then I have always stuck with um um porcelain derived uh thyroid medications. So you know armor thyroid, naturid and now currently MP thyroid and Even though they were working in the last couple of years, I was beginning to feel that if I could get a handle on in my case, anxiety and insomnia were the the two biggest symptoms that really plagued me. And I felt like um if I could just get handle on those two, I could probably get off of the medication. The other reason I really wanted to get off of the medication was the cost of the medication just kept going up year after year. Those, you know, that they were the the reasons I I was really interested in trying to get off of medication. And at at the same time, um even though the medications were working, I really was still struggling with, you know, some symptoms like like I said, anxiety, insomnia, I I still had those. And it, you know, thyroid medication um It's something you really don't want to overdose because it can really tax your heart and you can you know you can have heart condition on top of thyroid issues. So um a lot of doctors u endocrinologists are really you know they they want to titrate very very slowly and and that's understandable but for patients what it means is months and months and months of waiting for symptom improvement. It is just incredibly frustrating. So, so I thought that um if there was another way for me to just resolve my um thyroid issues altogether so that I wouldn't be dependent on medication that really would be the you know the best thing um for me.

Host: Yeah. You know and over the years you know I've worked with many clients that have hypothyroidism or the symptoms of hypothyroidism even if they don't have the diagnosis you know adrenal fatigue chronic fatigue and you know I've seen many clients do really well with a mindbody technique like this which is essentially a stress reduction process. Right? So they they would come and do sessions with me but it would be at least six sessions and often many more than that you know to kind of get to the point where they felt like they had significant symptom improvement and or able to reduce their thyroid meds. And some even got to the point where their labs were no longer consistent with their diagnosis. Anyway, I was heartened, you know, by those results. You know, I I work with people with all kinds of chronic health issues. So, these were just people who were referred to me over time from functional medicine practitioners and other people that knew my work. And I also had... Oh, I had my work written up in a book, which I think is how you found out about me. Is that right?

Eriko: Actually, no. I was already your patient previous to that. I think the book came out after I started working with you. Certainly, the book was how I found out um how MAP can be used effectively for thyroid conditions. And initially when I came to you, um I I I didn't come to you specifically for thyroid issues. I have um couple of other um chronic conditions. and I I was more interested in working with them. Um but but you know the the book was really helpful in that it gave me um an insight that I didn't I don't think I really had before that all the other chronic conditions that I had which I always thought were just independent of my thyroid conditions were in fact related to thyroid conditions. So you know when you came up with this program I thought oh perfect effect. You know, this is um this is this is exactly what I need because like every other chronic condition patients, I've tried a lot of things and you know, a lot of them have fallen short and uh and because I already worked with you and I knew how MAP worked, I feel really comfortable with this program.

Host: So, I should probably just back up and say the book we were talking about is called The Thyroid Debacle and it was written during the pandemic by Dr. Eric Balcavage and Dr. Kelly Halderman.

Eriko: Mhm.

Host: So, it's co-authored by both. Dr. Kelly Halderman was a client of mine and during the time that she was writing her chapters. So, she decided to include the MAP method in her uh chapter on emotional fitness because she found that it was that working with the subconscious mind through this neural retraining method was highly beneficial for her. Um and for the people that she referred to me. So, uh, so that was probably the first book that the MAP method was included in. Um, and it happened to be a book about hypothyroidism. So, you know, that was another I I I think just like another point at which I thought, yeah, maybe I should invest some time in creating a program um that would address the needs of someone with low thyroid function. Yeah. So at this point you have completed the 12week program or 12 modules.

Eriko: Yes.

Host: Maybe you can talk a little bit about your experience with that and the benefits that you have seen from going through a process like this, right? Because it's different than doing live sessions. So we had done some live sessions prior to you embarking on this program and I do think that the pro a structured program like this is quite different than just coming to do one- on-one sessions.

Eriko: Yes. And and in fact um when I signed on uh with the program that that really was one of the um unknowns to me, you know, how a program like this uh that I could work on um by myself without a live session with you would work out. Um but once I got started, I really felt very comfortable. Um and I actually I felt that in a way it was It gave me um a lot of freedom because because of the way that it's structured, I actually had um the ability to go back again and again on the same topic and and even within the same module if I wanted to. So, so I I thought that once I got started, I felt really comfortable with with the module. One of the things that I did struggle with, yeah, I think there were maybe two struggles um that that I had and one was you know, just making sure that I could carve out the time every single week to work on on the modules. Um, and in my case, um, what I did was to made a commitment that I would start a new module every Sunday. So, you know, this being a 12-week program with an extra four weeks at the end, um, I knew I had some extra time, but I was afraid that, um, you know, if I decide to spend an extra week on a on on this module and then actually work on another module. You know, at the end I may just run out of time and never never get to module 12. So I made a decision very early on that I was going to just um start a new module every Sunday. And so that meant to at least for me um that I would carve out a two hours every Sunday to make sure that I would have enough time to uh listen to the the lesson, do the journaling and then you know based on um my journaling um pick a topic and do my first session for the module on that Sunday. and and I it worked out for me because by committing to the schedule, you know, I would have at least one session out of the way that made it easier for me to carve out um maybe um uh an hour here and there uh two more days over that week. I just felt that um you know, just sticking to that one module per week and starting on every Sunday was was a commitment that I needed to stick to. And uh and and I'm I'm glad that I did because it got me to module 12, by week 12. And at the end of it, um I had time to look over um my journaling. And um the other thing that I did um for each session was to Right. I I took I wrote down a lot of notes for after every session because in a lot of the sessions I I I gained some sort of insight insight or understanding um oral resolution that I just really was not expecting at all. I thought I I think I should write this down because um I had I had a feeling that it would help me to just know read over them. So the the probably not the time was the first difficulty the the or the one not a difficulty but a struggle. The second one was that um a lot of the modules um work with memories with emotional intensity but because I have worked with you previously in live sessions I was finding that um I was actually running out of memories with a lot of emotional intensities. So that was that was a struggle. So I started working with memory ies um with uh you know lower emotional intensity where I have previously worked with emotional uh you know memories with emotional intensity of eight or nine or even 10 you know now I was working with uh emotional intensity of you know four five and at first I was I was thinking oh gosh I'm not sure how this is going to work you know I'm not sure how um meaningful this session is going to be because uh the the memory that I'm working with has uh you know such um lower emotional intensity um than I had worked with previously but I I was really pleasantly surprised that in in a lot of cases I did get a lot out of it. You know I had a really like great sessions um and I came away with some insights some resolutions that um that really surprised me. and and that really helped me. Yeah. So, those were the um the main the two main struggles that I felt.

Host: Mhm. So, again, I should probably just back up and explain that the structure of the program is uh 12 modules over 12 weeks. That's the the pace. And um if you do the program at pace, you're doing three brain retraining sessions each week. These are recorded sessions. There's one for each module. So, each module introduces a new topic. IC uh you listen to a lesson on the topic. You have a journal prompt so that uh you apply apply what you learn to you know you kind of look at your own life and make some notes about your own experience and these the product of the journal exercise is basically a list of possible topics for the session for that week. So again when we talk about a structured program modules are designed so that we move from simpler topics in the beginning more about u single emotional memories to more complex topics like patterns. As you're moving through the program, you're tackling more complex, more involved, more entrenched uh patterns and behaviors as opposed to just memories. So each each module is an opportunity to explore and a different part I guess you could say of your experience. So we have modules on things like uh fear and a need for control. You know a very common pattern that we see um as you as you talked about one of the later modules is about blocks to self-acceptance and self-love. One of the advantages of working through a structured program like this is that when we work one-on-one in live sessions, you come to the session and you have to have some ideas about what you might want to work on. So you're using your own your own awareness, your own usually earned experience to try to identify, you know, what would be useful for for us to work on today. When you're put through a program like this, it forces you to examine some things that you might not have brought up on your own. And you know, you and I had done a number of sessions prior to you entering the program, but some some of the people in the program are much more experienced uh with MAP and some are even MAP practitioners themselves. So, with unlimited access to MAP. This program, you know, because of my experience in working with people with all kinds of chronic conditions and seeing where the stress lies, I came up with this sequence of topics to explore that I think takes people who are willing to engage with it through a much more thorough exploration of their personal experience, of their personality, of how they relate to the world and In doing so, I I think it's a it's a much more thorough process for reducing stress. It's a stress reduction program at its heart. It can be used for thyroid health, of course, but I believe it has benefits for whole body health because stress has effects on the whole body, not just um not just this condition or that condition.

Eriko: Yes. In fact, in some of the modules um I used to I I work on um conditions other than thyroid, you know, I have um a lot of um joint issues. So, I use the modules to for that. You know, there were just situations where the memories with most the the highest um emotional intensity was associated with like my joint issues rather than with my thyroid issues. And I thought, well, why not? So, and and uh you know, I I had really good result. results from that. So even though um I enrolled in this program to specifically work on my thyroid um it's it really you know just almost from the beginning it really proved to be very useful for other chronic conditions as well. And because stress is at the bottom of so many chronic conditions anyway I I really feel like there's just really no need to um limit yourself to just thyroid issues when you're working on this program.

Host: Yes. Yes. Well said. Yeah. Stress is definitely at the root of so many chronic conditions. So, at what point you said almost from the beginning, but you know, at what point did you recognize that, you know, you were seeing benefits from from the program?

Eriko: Oh, I I I think I I had a really um intense first session, you know, the the very first session in in the the first module. I I had a physical reaction. Um This was kind of weird, but um I think that the the the experience of the session was so intense that I came down with a eye infection, which was Yeah. Which was really weird. Um but it cleared up in couple more sessions. So yeah, I really feel like my body was kind of releasing toxins and it just came out in in the form of discharges from my eyes. That's that's what it felt like. And and uh after a couple more sessions they they just kind of resolved by themselves. But I remember that um in module five, I had a really good session where I was able I I I've had a a very long-standing um resentment towards my sisters over some family issues. And so and I that was a topic that I had chosen for one of the sessions under module 5. And I had this great insight and uh it was it was it was amazing. So I once I came to that insight I just I just got over that resentment and it was so freeing. It's you know feelings like resentment, anger, fear. It's you know all these negative emotions they just take up so much energy to to maintain. You know when you harbor negative emotions like that for years and years and years, they take up so much energy. And I think that this is a great program to just kind of liberate yourself, make things just lighter for yourself. So, so and and I felt that um in that particular uh session under module five that's that's exactly what I was able to do. Yeah. So, module five is about current life stress the middle of the program and uh yeah gives you an opportunity to kind of think about your life and you know what what is causing you stress this point in time. So

Host: yeah.

Eriko: Yeah. And and then and physically I had I I can't exactly remember when um but I think it was around module 9 or 10 that um I was able to reduce my thyroid medication by a third. So I was taking 45 milligrams but I was able to reduce it to 30 30 milligrams. So that was you know that was a pretty significant um improvement. So yeah and that and as you were saying um earlier the the later modules are really are more more intense and I I think it was around module 8 when I started to think oh boy this is going this is going to be painful and you know as and then when I moved on to module 9 I thought wow okay this this is going to this is going to hurt but it's I I felt that when I got to those um modules and when I started uh journaling I really felt that it was important to be just know just brutally honest with myself and be because It's in a way you know when you have when you're living with stress in a way uh you are deceiving yourself you know you are telling yourself it's okay things are bad but it's okay you can manage you know you're kind of coming up with excuses to tell yourself that things aren't really that bad or not you can manage this but your body is much more honest and it's you know you start having some really serious health issues. And so when I got to I think it really was module 9 when I really felt like, okay, I have to stop all that selfdeception and just be, you know, just take a really good look at myself on the inside and and journal based on that, not based on what I tell myself to get through the day. So So I thought that that part was um yeah, that part Yeah, I guess that that really should be considered as as one of the struggles that I encountered. But I I felt that if um that really was a crucial step because you know it's what's the point of doing these map sessions if you're going to if your starting point is a is a memory or you know a thought based on selfdeception. It's you're you're not you're not going to get very far. So you know even though that it was hard um I felt like it paid off in the end.

Host: Wow. Yeah. So, let me just thank you for sharing that. So, I think that's a really important point what you said to be brutally honest with yourself. And that's why, you know, that's another great thing about working with a program, right? You don't have to fess up to a practitioner. You don't have to share with anyone. You know, you do your journal exercise yourself. You decide what's important, what the what the priorities are for you, and you take that into the sessions for the week. You can certainly decide, you know, to skip over something you don't want to deal with right now. But of course, the more that you are ready to deal with um the more benefit you can get. And you talked about module 8, which is stress related to fear and control. You talked about module 9, stressful behavior patterns. That's like personality traits like the fixer and the nurturer, the caretaker, the peacemaker, you know, people. pleasing and things like that. You know, these are topics that are very commonly see in my clients and that we work with. But, you know, these are also topics that often require more than one visit to resolve because they are so pervasive. You know, we're not talking about one or 10 or 20 memories here now. We're talking about, you know, years worth of memories here. Reinforcing these patterns over time to the point where they we think that's just our personality and it can't be changed. And you know what I've seen as a practitioner working with many many people is that these are patterns but that doesn't mean that they can't be changed. Even very entrenched patterns can be changed. And this is the wonderful thing about working with the subconscious mind. Right? So this whole program is predicated on how much can you accomplish by working with the power of your subconscious mind. This is an opportunity to work in a different way by harnessing the power of the subconscious mind to really change your mental landscape on an emotional and a mental level and then see the benefits of that. You know, as we resolve layer upon layer of stress, including the subconscious stress that you may not you don't consciously register but is there. And so as we as we remove or we clear these strata of stress that have accumulated over your lifetime that lightning that you talked about, right? Feeling lighter, feeling like, you know, you can shed a burden, feeling like you can let go of something that like has been occupying mental space for a long time. These are all things that benefit you on a physical level in your physical health, not right away, right? It's the cumulative effect of multiple sessions. And in this program, you know, you get 20 plus sessions, you know, if you do three sessions for each module, it's like 27 sessions. So, So it's an opportunity, right, to do that deep work and kind of excavate, right?. All these these roots, all these stress roots that you've built up over, you know, over your life. We all have. We all have and that are weighing on you and that are making it harder than it needs to be for you to heal. You know, your body's natural healing capabilities are not optimized. You know, when you're under the effects of stress and so what do you you know now that you have been through this whole process you've invested your time right you you're very disciplined about it by the end what would you say you feel you've accomplished by you know going through this this process?

Eriko: um the number one thing is that I got to know myself much better than than I did before because it you know a lot of this really every module really has for me to look at past trauma really, right? um and and from from different angles. I mean often I worked on the same topic but in different modules and and each time I thought well this but it's the same topic but this this particular module asks the question you know in a different way and even though it's the same topic I do have different thoughts about that you know based on the way that the the module asked that question. So you know I I think there was maybe like um couple of topics that I that I worked on in maybe like three different sessions and every single time and and they were incidentally both topics that I had worked with you in in live sessions previously and every single time I was really surprised and it gave me um a deeper understanding. I allowed me to interpret that past experience uh in a way that I had never been able to before and I came way feeling that I had gained you know better understanding not of my the situation but of myself because you know these experiences are what forms me as I am today. So I I felt like every session was um an excavation into into who I am. So I I felt like I got to know myself better. And then when I came to the um module 11 which is about self- love and self acceptance. When I saw the title I thought oh yes that makes total sense because no I've done all this hard work in all these modules asking myself to you know look into past experiences um and you know being like I said before being brutally honest about who I am or who I think I am my perception of who I am and uh and at the end of it Um as I came to gain a greater understanding of who I am, of course the last step is for me to accept who I am as I am and also love myself as I am. So in module 11 to me it felt like I stepped to feel more comfortable in my own skin and you know which is just another way to say self-acceptance and self- love. The the whole structure of this program made a lot of sense to me. I thought it was it was really logical but you know um it allowed me to um delve deeper into who I am in tiny steps so that I mean you know I couldn't possibly have jumped from like know module one to module 11 right away that that wouldn't have worked but the program is set up so that I I could take incremental steps to build up to self acceptance of self- love. Module 11 was a great way to end the program, too.

Host: Yeah. So, yeah, thank you for that description. So, benefits. So, you talked about knowing yourself better and feeling more comfortable in your own skin. Um, you've talked about being able to reduce your thyroid meds, which is great. Can we talk about symptom reduction as well?

Eriko: Yes. So, yeah, I I did actually have some um my my digestion really improved. So I had I had some constipation before but yeah that's I feel like that's just completely resolved. Insomnia I was actually I did see an improvement um over the last couple of weeks. So I had I have a sit a situation going on that's been a little bit more stressful. So I've been struggling a little bit more with sleep. But I think the um number one symptom reduction that I've seen is um anxiety, you know, whereas uh previously I would have well so so um I in late February I injured myself to a point where I just had to just kind of um step away from work and and and not work um for probably for a couple more months, perhaps more. And you know that is a that has a lot of ramifications um not just physically but financially. and you know emotionally. Um but when that happened I was really surprised with myself to realize that I did not feel anxious. I I knew exactly um what the consequences could be and what the ramifications could be. But I thought yeah that's it's okay. So it could be tough for a while but that's okay you know that's um that's what I have emergency funds for. before I I I didn't have this you know anxious reaction whereas before I would have been yeah I would have been very anxious I would have been just um you know asking myself completely useless questions like what am I going to do asking myself what am I going to do repeatedly on loop you know um every single day every single hour and without coming up with uh with any useful answers and this time I just sat back and that okay well I just have to take it easy because pushing myself at this point uh is just going to make the injury worse which is going to prolong the recovery time which is going to have even greater financial consequences. So the best thing to do is just sit back and do what I can to uh speed up the recovery. And I I was really amazed with myself you know that I've I've never had that reaction in a in a in a similar situation before.

Host: Yeah so coming into the program I think you said earlier anxiety was one of the main symptoms that you wanted to to improve to work on. Yes. and so certainly working through a program like this doesn't mean that you'll never feel anxious again right but I think one of the one of the main emotional goals of the program is to help to kind of settle that mind so that the worry loops aren't running so easily anymore. Things are going to happen in your life that that of course are concerning like this injury and you know your inability to work and the lack of income that that you know that means for you and you know the impact on your career and so forth. But when we have a more settled, quieter, calmer mind, we can handle life better. The ups and the downs of life, we can handle it better. So that this upset which you you can't change, right?. Doesn't have to drain you like all all the angst or all the anxiety that you would have had previously doesn't have to drain you of all your you know resources and pull down your your physical health as well. I mean in aside from the injury I hope this is making sense to people because we do use up a lot of mental and emotional energy when repetitive negative thoughts and rumin and worry loops. All these patterns right are running. And so by working through a program like this and and settling all of that, helping us to be more centered, more grounded, more present, able to deal with what is happening in the moment without all of those as you as you describe them, right? These useless questions, right? These projections into the future, a future we don't want or an outcome we don't want, a situation we don't want to be dealing with, right? Can really really take us down, including the rest of our physical health. But working through the a program like this is protective of that. I like to say that working through a process like this that the benefits continue to acrue even after you finish the program because now as you said, you know, I feel more comfortable in my own body. I feel like I know myself better. I feel more settled in myself. Unpredictable things that happen. Don't throw me off as much. That that is all positive means that your response to stress has been changed on a fundamental level. And this is really what we want we want to accomplish because we know that people who have had traumas in their past, we all have, but especially early life trauma, those painful emotional events change the way that we respond to stress. And it changes the way that we respond to stress for the rest of our lives unless we do something about it, right? We make a concerted effort to change that. And that is what I think this 12week program endeavors to do. It helps us to reset all of that so that we can respond differently to stress. And that means that we have more of our inner resources available to us for health and for healing.

Eriko: No. Yeah. I I that's exactly what I felt because um through a lot of the sessions um I I I kept coming back to my childhood and and I felt and I really felt like, you know, just because of the way that um I was raised in my early childhood. I was conditioned um to to react to stress in in the way that I currently do, even though it was so obviously detrimental to my health. you know but but that's how was how I was conditioned and even though I knew that I didn't know how to break that that cycle know how to break through that conditioning on my own and so once I started to you know work with you um previously with in live sessions and then through this program I felt like I was finally you know making this breakthrough just getting myself out of that that really um harmful conditioning and learning to react in a much more productive way, you know, uh in a way that wasn't harming me, that was actually, you know, constructively addressing whatever issue that I was that I was faced with rather than overreacting, which was my, you know, previous standard uh way to deal with uh bad situation. So, yeah. So, I I think you're right.

Host: So, I you know, we talked about symptom reduction. I just want to um go over some of the data that you provided during the course of the program. Is it okay with you if I talk a little bit about how you rated your symptoms at the beginning and at the end because as part of this program uh we have each participant rate their symptoms in week one. Um so symptom severity on a range of symptoms typical for you know hypothyroidism and then we have them rate it again in the middle and then at the end so after they complete the the entire program. And so I just want to point out, you know, I when I compare your initial ratings of symptom severity and the ratings that I don't know if you've even looked at this, right, at by the end of the program, you know, symptoms like uh fatigue and brain fog, bloat, hair loss, anxiety, feeling cold, aches and pains, dry skin, heart palpitations. This is not the entire list. These are the symptoms symptoms that you rated as being improved significantly improved. So for you know fatigue you went from a 7 out of 10 to a three brain fog 6 out of 10 to a three and similar for all these other symptoms they were 30 to 50% better than the original ratings. So similar you know six to a four 6 to a three 7 to a three. You know it was kind of the same level of improvement for many of these symptoms. that are very typical for people with hypothyroidism. So I see that as a positive as well. Yeah, even the heart palpitations, you know, six to a three by the end. So it's not gone, right? Not it didn't disappear. But I think that, you know, especially especially considering that you were able to cut your thyroid meds by a third and still by the end of the program, you had symptoms some improvement on that lower dose, right? That's um I think that's a very positive result.

Eriko: Yeah, I I really was, you know, when I uh um cut cut down my um dose by one/third, I I was initially a little skeptical um if I would be able to maintain the the new level, but it's been I I think it's been over a month now and and I'm still at 30. So, it looks Yeah, it's I'm seem to be I seem to be doing fine at this uh lower mid uh dose.

Host: and stressful things have been happening to you.

Eriko: Yes. Yes. And yes, and then uh briefly I thought about um increasing the dose, but I I think I'm fine. I I I think I'll be able to deal with this.

Host: And so, you know, what are your thoughts about, you know, whether you would recommend the program to others and for whom and for what kinds of situations or issues.

Eriko: Yeah, I I actually would recommend this um program to pretty much anyone really because you know even though this is uh I mean thy the word thyroid does appear in the title of the program it's you know that it really I think has a much wider applicability. So any anyone who is struggling with chronic stress um um and and probably anyone someone who's um dealing with chronic conditions of any kind. Uh you know, like I said before, I I'm struggling with um chronic conditions um related to my joints and I've had that for like 40 years. So that's been really help uh the program has been really helpful uh for that as well as I know thyroid. I know um what chronic condition is it's it is it you know people with chronic condition s we just go through we try so many different things and we are continually disappointed with different things that we try and every time you know we come away feeling okay yeah that was another bus you know that was another I don't know you know $500 another $1,000 that was wasted and after a while we get really jaded um but it's uh this this program has really paid off for me. I think um other people with chronic condition would be helped as well. Um but I was also thinking you know there um a lot of people with chronic stress because of work or family you know maybe they're they're caretaker for a family or whatever um it's if anyone with chronic stress situation I think will be will be um helped but you know this goes back to um being brutally honest with yourself. It's it it is really important to be brutally honest with yourself that number one you are in a chronically stressful situation and you know you've probably tried a lot of different things and if it hasn't worked it's time to move on to something different because it's not helping you and you're not going to get out of it on your own. It's you know it's just gotten to that point. I think people just a lot of people just try to tough it out you know they think that that's you know this is something I can handle. It's just I just need a little more time. And you probably been saying that for two years, 3 years, 10 years. Then yeah, it's time to try something. It's time to get some help.

Host: Yeah, I really don't see any need to limit this program to people with thyroid condition at all.

Eriko: I agree with you. It is a stress reduction program.

Host: As you said, you know, anyone who recognizes that they are stuck in a fightlight freeze or a sympathetic dominant state. People who recognize that they are living under significant amount of chronic stress that that's the thing about working with the subconscious mind that people don't really understand because they think well but you're not going to change my situation at work or the caregiving situation I you know I'm in or my relationship stress right you're not going to change any of these very real issues in my life. So, how is this going to help? You know, and I it can be hard to understand. I mean, it was easier for you to understand because you'd already worked with me in live sessions and you could see how working with the subconscious mind can really change your perspective even on yes, you know, definitely those are those are stressful situations, but this amount of stress that we feel is related to more than just the situation you are facing. right now, right? Because every stressful situation is ringing a bell going back to other stressful situations that have made you feel the same way throughout your entire life, right? Because your to your subconscious mind there is no sense of time. Everything is now. And so by by working with the subconscious mind and finding all those associated events and neutralizing them, so you still have the memory, it's not like we're erasing memories, but we are neutralizing the emotional intensity around this group of memories then the situation that you are facing today can feel more manageable. It's not spiking right the anxiety at an 8 9 10 the way it uh would have if you hadn't done that work and that's what you're finding right now with this injury that's put you out of work for several months that's a stressful situation for anyone but because you've invested the time you've done this work you've kind of reset your mind to a different response pattern or you know response level you can now look at this same situation which would have but you had a very high level of stress before and be much more accepting of it.

Eriko: Yes.

Host: yeah. yeah.

Eriko: that's that's true and you know earlier when you were saying about how um doing map or this program wouldn't necessarily change this the spiritual situation that people are in that's that's true but I think What it does do is to give you it's like you know giving you um more room in your mind to be able to look at your situation in from a much calmer perspective and maybe you can see a way out or you know maybe you can see a way to manage the situation that you weren't able to before because you were in probably in a panic mindset.

Host: Yeah.

Eriko: So I I I think that's that's one of the uh benefit, you know, even if you can't change a situation right away, maybe you can strategize. A lot of people just don't know how to ask for help. They for whatever reason, they just don't know how to ask for help. But there's nothing wrong with it. And I think that that uh working with MAP and you know, getting over whatever hump that you have that makes you think that you shouldn't ask for help. Um you know, maybe you can get over it. Realize that it's okay to ask for help from friends. friends and family, it's okay. You know, they love you. They want you to be happy. They're willing to help. I I'm sure there are situation when when it's there just really is almost impossible to change. But I think that gaining a new perspective could go a long way to possibly um changing the the situation that you're in.

Host: Yes. And I feel like we're talking about module 10, stressful core beliefs and identities, right? People can't ask for help, right? It's like you know, what is it that you believe about yourself, about others, about what it means to ask people for help? That that is something that we definitely work with in the program. Well, thank you so much for joining me today. It's been really lovely to have this conversation with you and just hear more about your experience with the program and how it's helped you. And I'm just so thankful, Ro, that you came to speak with me today.

Eriko: Thank you. I I had a really good time working on this program. And uh I hope that other people can benefit from this as well.

Host: Yes, thank you. Yes, it's a commitment for sure.

Eriko: Absolutely. Totally worth it.

Host: Thanks for joining us for the Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast. Please listen again and remember to follow us and leave a review on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, or Pandora.

Check out our free courses about the MAP method and all of our MAP programs, including the Thyroid Healing Program at mapforhealth.us or schedule your introductory MAP session at TCNeuralRetraining.com . Until the next time, be well and flourish.

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for Optimal Health and Fertility - Kristin's Story

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 03:16:13 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 35 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

How MAP sessions improved his blood pressure, food sensitivities, hayfever, and pain.
How the subconscious mind affects our emotional, mental and physical patterns.
How MAP compares with hypnotherapy, and why it is a good alternative for those that are not easily hypnotized.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 44 where we talk with my client, Derrick Johnson, about MAP sessions for recurring fears, stomach pain, food sensitivities, and high blood pressure. Hear about his experience with the advanced neural retraining method, called the MAP Method, and how it compares to hypnotherapy. Learn about the emotional, mental and physical improvements he noted after 6 sessions and how early life trauma can set the stage for a compounding belief structure that leads to chronic illness.

In this episode we discuss:

Derrick’s interest in hypnotherapy and how he found the MAP Method.
How he learned about my work and decided to try a set of sessions for his chronic health issues.
The positive results from a set of sessions for anxiety, high blood pressure, and career issues.
Derrick’s impressions of his first MAP session via Zoom videoconference.
How the subconscious mind influences every aspect of our lives, including physical patterns (symptoms).
The changes he noticed in his food sensitivities and hayfever.
How the impact of sessions unfolded over days--including shifts in perception and empowerment.
Why Derrick recommends the MAP Method to others and why it’s quicker than talk therapy.
How working with the mind affects the autonomic nervous system and the immune system and how that affects chronic health conditions.

Don’t miss episode 40 where we talk with my client, Helen, about her experience with MAP sessions for chronic pain. For more information on my approach and services, please visit MindReMAPforHealth.com to sign up for your introductory session or a free consultation by phone.

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

Stress Relief with MAP on the Go Advanced

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 18:12:38 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 79 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

About the new MAP Wellbeing Facilitator Program from the MAP Coaching Institute.
Why the MAP on the Go Advanced technique is the perfect tool for practitioners, coaches, doctors, and therapists to add a little MAP magic to their practice.
Full demo of a MAP on the Go Advanced session, and an invitation to learn more with our short course.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 79 where I will describe, demonstrate and teach a simple MAP tool for stress relief. It’s called MAP on the Go advanced. If you are a current client of mine, you are familiar with MAP on the Go which is a simple instruction you can give yourself after your first MAP session to manage your emotions and more. MAP on the Go Advanced has a few more steps to it and goes a little bit deeper. It is a wonderful tool for managing stress and anxiety, even if you have never had a MAP session before, because everything you need to get started is in this episode.

In this episode I discuss:

My experience with the MAP Wellbeing Facilitator Program.
Who the MAP Wellbeing Facilitator is appropriate for.
How therapists, practitioners and coaches can add it to an existing practice.
The 4 steps of MAP of MAP on the Go Advanced.
Types of subjects this protocol is most useful for.
The role of a MAP Wellbeing Facilitator and when a certified MAP Practitioner is a better choice.
The preparatory steps for your first MAP on the Go Advanced (MOG-A) session.
Full demonstration of a MOG-A session.
How you can learn more.

If you would like to watch the 5-minute preparatory video, please visit YouTube: https://youtu.be/V1r-57VUWf0?si=d-tkTXr3lbCkdjSV .

If you would like to access our MAP on the Go Advanced course which includes the preparatory video, simple session script, and instructions, please visit MAPforHealth.us . For information about the MAP Wellness Facilitator certification course, visit MAPCoachingInstitute.com

To learn more about the MAP Method, please visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses and all of our MAP Programs. To schedule appointments online, please visit: TCNeuralRetraining.com .

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

Retrain Your Brain for Abundance

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 23:47:32 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 78 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Why it's vital to be aware of our subconscious blueprints about money or health.
How you can change your experience of life by changing your blueprint.
Colette Streicher's five easy steps to changing your blueprint and resolving limiting beliefs.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 78 where I will talk about how and why we can retrain the brain to experience more abundance in all areas of life, including financial abundance, loving relationships, and physical, mental and emotional health. I will discuss points from Colette Streicher’s book, Abundance on Demand , which explains how we use an advanced method of neural retraining to accomplish this with minimal effort. I will also describe some techniques and exercises from her book and how you can use these on your own to prepare for and enhance your experience with MAP sessions.

In this episode I discuss:

How to discover your subconscious blueprint regarding money or health.
Why your blueprint may be holding you back.
How to define your goal in any area of life.
Colette’s five easy steps to change your subconscious programming to be aligned with what you desire.
How to identify your beliefs about money or health.
How to identify your core beliefs about yourself.
Why it’s important to identify traumatic events related to money or health.
Explore the symbolic relationship you have with wealth or health.
Identify the emotions you have around money or health.
How to clear negative programming and reinforce positive programs.
How to accelerate change through daily habits.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy hearing Episode 29: The MAP Method Origins, Research, and Applications with Colette Streicher, LMSW, founder of the MAP Method.

To learn more about the MAP Method, please visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses and all of our MAP Programs. To schedule appointments online, please visit: TCNeuralRetraining.com .

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

Mindbody Healing for Chronic Pain with Elynn Light

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Tue, 21 May 2024 23:32:12 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 77 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Meet MAP Practitioner and medical intuitive, Elynn Light, and hear about how she works with the mind to resolve chronic pain patterns .
How resolving mental and emotional patterns can change the brain's perception of pain.
Why Elynn calls her certification in the MAP Method "the best investment" she's ever made.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 77 where we hear from MAP Practitioner, Elynn Light,, about how she uses the MAP Method of neural retraining for chronic pain patterns and trauma healing. Hear how she learned about the method after training in many other techniques, including hypnosis, and why she calls it the “best investment she ever made” – the most fun to use and with the best results.

In this episode we discuss:

Elynn’s background in nursing and the many alternative modalities that she has trained in to resolve her own pain from a car accident.
Her observations of the impact of working with the subconscious mind with a hybrid hypnosis method.
Her assessment of hypnosis vs. the MAP Method.
Why she decided to train in the MAP Method and why it is her primary modality still.
Her focus: helping people release pain naturally and how she uses her intuitive skills in MAP sessions.
How physical symptoms, including “real pain” can be resolved by working with the mind and our thoughts and emotions.
The connections between trauma and chronic health issues.
How sensitive clients are more strongly impacted by even small painful emotional events.
A client with thyroid issues who improved after a session on a painful emotional memory.
A client with leg pain that resolved subconsciously-held negative emotions.
The same part of the brain that processes emotional pain also processes physical pain.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy hearing my discussion in episode 74 about MAP for Chronic Pain . Check out our MAP for Chronic Pain program at https://www.mapforhealth.us

To learn more about the MAP Method, please visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses and all of our MAP Programs. To schedule appointments online, please visit: TCNeuralRetraining.com .

Full Transcript

Note: generated by AI, accuracy not guaranteed.

[Music]

Welcome to The Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast.

I'm your host, Madeleine Lowry, founder of Twin Cities Neural Retraining and a certified

MAP Method practitioner, specializing in anxiety, sensitivities, and chronic symptoms and conditions.

Join me for episode 77 where we hear from MAP practitioner, Elynn Light, about how she uses

the MAP Method of neural retraining for chronic pain patterns and trauma healing. Hear how she learned about the method after training in many other techniques, including hypnosis, and why she calls it "the best investment she ever made", the most fun to use and with the best results.

As always, we must disclaim that the information we share in the podcast is for educational

purposes only. As MAP method practitioners, we do not diagnose or treat disease.

Instead, we work with the mind to optimize health.

Now let's talk with Elynn.

Thank you so much Elynn. I'm really, really happy to have you on my show today and I'm really excited to talk to you about your work with the MAP method, a method that I know and love.

Yes.

And hear all about how you found this method and how you use it and your successes with

it. So welcome Elynn.

Madeleine, thank you so much for having me.

It's a pleasure to be with you today as always.

So Elynn, let us know a little bit about your background and how you came to this work

because this is a very little known method and I'm always curious to hear how different

people have come to it.

Yes. You know, I'll give you the brief brief of my background. I was in nursing and then I went

to alternative medicine and then I started studying all these different alternative modalities

and perhaps the motivator for me was my own body pain.

I was in a car accident at age 19 and so that put me on a journey for what else can I do

to get out of pain, which is natural, a natural method I didn't want drugs or surgery and

certainly today I wouldn't want opioids.

So I went on this journey for all these alternative modalities. I would say possibly 30 years of them and so you just keep collecting methods, modalities and closer to, so that's way back and then zooming in closer the five years around coming to MAP.

I got certified in rapid transformational therapy which was a hybrid hypnosis. And I was delighted to see how speaking to the subconscious mind could change somebody's life.

I actually had a client that was a school teacher and she had like Crohn's so that whole

diarrhea, food situation so that she was unable to eat because of having to go to the bathroom

at school. And then of course if you're teaching all day for eight hours and not eating, your

blood sugar is crashing. And in one hypnosis session that woman was 90% better.

You know when I and being a nurse I was surprised and I was like wow telling the subconscious mind is so potent, so powerful to see that this woman has struggled with this in like one session.

Now she's taking a vacation, on a plane, you know able to eat.

So I already knew that talking to the subconscious mind was powerful but that was jarringly like

what would you say pointed, you know a very pointed situation like whoa so I found that

with that not everybody was looking for hypnosis and the sessions were you know like three

hours and I don't love making the recordings and they're important.

So you know I just would feel like the sessions were long and expensive and you know so of course then I was like open to other things. Fast forward to the pandemic I moved out of California state to Washington state and everybody was then you know housebound and gaining weight. And everyone talked about the "COVID 20" and I thought oh my gosh I love EFT emotional freedom tapping. I'm going to get certified in this Brittany Watkins tapping for emotional eating.

I just thought, who wouldn't want this? And what a way to help a lot of people and have you

know make money. It is my profession you know, have a lot of clients, have fun, and help everybody lose weight. Won't this be fun?

Well I took the certification and I will say certain companies, certain teachers have better

structures in place to teach and to certify and to make tools easier to utilize.

I found that it was none of those things. Many of us were you know talking about what

should we do about all this money we just spent being unhappy candidates you know. And so

I will say there were some powerful takeaways. I mean anytime you're going to be spending

thousands of dollars and months and months training and practicing you are going to learn

something so I won't say it's wasted because there's those powerful takeaways.

A friend of mine was already in MAP and she kept saying you will love MAP you need MAP. And she knows that I'm very interested in trauma and have worked a lot on the emotional side so even

though I was a nurse, I was a psych nurse, addiction medicine, you know really working with the

psyche and the mind and the subconscious mind really has been my journey for I would say

40 years so this friend kept insisting that MAP was the end all be all. And I just thought well

do I want to invest in yet another certification and do all those practice pre sessions and studying

and learning... and I will say that it's the best investment I've made in my career.

It's the most fun, the best results. People at the end of a session will say,"Oh my God this worked so well for this issue, can we look at another issue? I mean it's a self propelling method because of the quick results clients are getting.

So that's my long story of how did you come to MAP a friend just

kept saying you've got to have MAP and I was like yeah I don't know so I am very glad that I finally

well I didn't not finally I didn't wait forever you know on but I listened I was glad that I jumped in.

Wow, what a story. So well you know people often ask me they say well this MAP is this like hypnosis and then they wonder could MAP which really only requires that we be in that meditative state, could it be as good as hypnosis or is hypnosis really better because we kind of like bypass in some way the conscious mind I don't know what is your thought about that since you have used both.

Do you know that such a great question. I remember receiving a hypnosis session.

I was assigned to do a half to do trade. I'm giving a long answer but I had to do this trade I did this

hypnosis session with a person I didn't didn't like or trust and I was the client right. And so I was

like oh my god I'm just I'm not gonna let myself sink I'm not gonna let myself go I don't want to be

vulnerable but I'll just you know have a session the session still worked even though I didn't really

let myself go as deep as you would in a hypnosis session.

And so this points to me that the subconscious mind is listening even if we aren't clocked out in some deep deep deep state and we see that over and over again I almost want to say the subconscious mind is listening we don't have to be in that deep state.

And some people really worry like when we're in a hypnosis state of mind most people say what

don't feel any different. I don't think I'm hypnotized. And then we get into that whole conversation about am I deep enough? or am I hypnotizable? And oh, and so this reminds me of MAP in a particular session that I received with one of the MAP practitioners comes to mind on this. I was doing a session for pain in my hip and when that practitioner went to the anatomy commands and he's going through all the systems and he says urinary and I said yes please I mean he did this just cursory of adding the urinary system in with the commands and my bladder symptoms changed a minimum of 50 percent on frequency and urgency. With a slight, he only mentioned you know we're going through of course I'm working on a hip so I'm thinking muscle system skeletal system maybe the nervous system he just throws in urinary and boom I'm like oh my gosh and as a woman it's really nice to not be having that aggravation of having to run to the potty or have to worry about pantyliners. I'll be forever grateful to Ed.

Yes, doctor Ed?

Yes so I don't think we need to be that deep.

Yeah possibly for for some types of things maybe buried memories, I don't know. I never

do it anymore. I just go straight to MAP.

I mean it's an interesting question because I have seen in you know in the chats of MAP practitioners several people who were trained in hypnosis, who had

a lot of training hypnosis and have come to MAP and have said I don't do hypnosis anymore.

I just don't do it. It's not necessary and MAP is just easier. Like MAP just seems to work

for most people. Yes right from the first try, so we don't yeah it that's unnecessary.

Yes yes there's that whole you know going down the ten stairs and where they deep enough and checking and you know with MAP I'm like it was very surprising to me that the subconscious mind is this responsive you know?

And we know that our subconscious is going to protect us and and we see that in MAP if there are any parts that really have an agenda to protect us they will they will be in there. It's a really nice

difference. it's just MAP is quicker or more fun you know there's less investment often per session

depending on which practitioner you're seeing you really get more bang for your buck with with

MAP better results.

Yeah well thank you for sharing that. So you've learned all these things over all

these years and then you learn the MAP method and so now is is that the foundation of your practice or you do use a lot of different tools at the same time?

You know that's a great question. Another reason why I love MAP is because we can incorporate any other tools and so I start with MAP and then as you know Madeleine we we work with a chart to have the super conscious say where to go first and follow just because my mind might say oh they have a pain in their hip let's go to anatomy and command those muscles to release and let go but I follow the chart like we're trained.

I follow my clients unconscious mind and very often it will take me to energy and so in MAP we can go to anything that's blocked in chakras or in meridians but when when I first

started my pendulum was taking me to energy energy energy. But it wasn't chakras or meridians.

And so that's where it tells me use your intuition or use something else.

So of course it's really fun to just have this structure like oh it's anatomy tell a muscle you know come into the muscle system and give our commands that we know by heart and just boom boom boom but when it goes to energy I've like oh no I'm on my own again with my intuition.

But I'm just you know developing trust in faith more and just saying okay am I meant to use this system that system this system or am I meant to just close my eyes and see what I see? And so the beauty of MAP is that we can bring in all of our other skills and talents and one of my strengths is my is my intuitive gift for healing.

I don't know when anyone's going to win the lottery or get married or what color car to buy

but when it has to do with the body and the health I'm telling you the information I get is...

You know as an intuitive I had an example this week, at the beginning of the session I get energy.

I'm like okay here we go I'm going to close my eyes and let's see what I see

and so I saw this dark energy in somebody's center and almost like a big knife coming into their

heart and so I use something called active scalar waves and it's basically just energy to move

eject release remove.

It's like there's it's just like taking your trash out if there's energy

there we don't want the body we just command and whatever way you use scalar waves

commanding that energy out. And you know it's sometimes the sessions are are pretty like

whoa wild you know? I'm like releasing this energy and then I see this like mummy body coming out of this person and it's like you know I I would never make that up you know it's this it's almost like you know them what's that phrase they say? Anyway yes exactly I'm like yeah I never made that up so.

And then you know day or two later just something more normal like close my eyes

he was going on in a leg and then it looks like a tight band squeezing the leg but bringing that

intuitive visual in gives you know gives me useful information and then clearing that out then we

come back and see what's remaining and then come back to the MAP commands to say is there anything else in MAP that would be useful in treating this symptom for the person? So I I love that MAP is that fluid.

What words would you say Madeleine? It's just it's very friendly.

Yes I think of it as a Swiss army knife kind of.

Yes, ooh I like that can I borrow that?

Sure yeah.

It's like well the knife not really the tool we need, let's pull that corkscrew out. Yes you know a lot of times people come to me that have been everywhere and they'll say you're my last stop or I'm desperate or I've tried everything and you know people come with things that probably aren't going to be simple easy fixes. So we want to bring in all this wonderful information to be able to help them.

Yeah so tell me more how you use this in your practice are you can you tell us a little bit about what kinds of issues you focus on in your practice?

Yes well my website says release pain naturally. And so because of my journey has been with body pain you know I've got a lot of experience physically emotionally and energetically about what those journeys are like and so when somebody comes in and they do say when

you're picking a niche as a coach: What has been your journey? Well my journey has been about pain and health and how do I get better, and that includes the emotions that go along with.

You know when you've had struggles you could feel powerless or depressed or frustrated from just dealing with something, spending so much money not in not being where you want to be with your health so my website says release pain naturally but because my practitioner listing also includes trauma and success, I really do see the gamut of people.

Right now I'm doing working with people with some health issues

They're like I had this incident and I've been dizzy ever since and they've been to doctors

and the doctors are saying there's nothing wrong you know there's nothing we can do for you

and so it's really exciting to just get these unusual physical symptoms where somebody is

struggling and it's impacting their life.

So I mean I'm actually working with somebody right now that's around 50 and in a transgender journey and all you can imagine that there are emotions that come up with that and and I think we learn as practitioners. You know because my first my first thought was well can't... so if you're born a male but you're a sensitive kind whatever male can't you just stay in your male body and express your feminine your beautiful heart and your beautiful spiritual nature without changing the body? You know we just kind of start there like is all this really necessary? You know all this gender changing? Can't we just express or masculine as a feminine or and so you know we get to learn too, because we have to drop... I've had to you know just drop judgment and be present.

Be present to what's going on for that person and see are they needing to release those

emotions and traumas from their childhood and I don't think it's just a gender journey. It's like

in childhood if we weren't supported and loved for every aspect of ourselves, which most of us

weren't, you know supported and encouraged, we're going to have those disempowering emotions. We're going to have those belief imprints and some of this is going to be expressing through physical medical issues. You know like whatever I'm now allergic to life and everything in it right because my childhood does not feel good to me. And so I think that is is a gift to just be able to listen and be present. And we're always still learning and growing as practitioners.

Mm-hmm yeah I think what we learn as mad practitioners is really how to be be there for the client who whoever is there for you know seeking our help. We are really, we really have to be completely neutral, right, open to whatever it is that they're bringing completely compassionate and understanding and loving. I mean I think that is the secret sauce-- we have to love that person

that is in front of us that we are trying to help, because that is the energy that we need to transmit

in way.

And you're absolutely right. That is the energy we need to transmit! I have received

craniosacral therapy over the years and my practitioner locally is one of the teachers and he says

I tell my students that being present is the most important thing that I do.

And you know that just sticks like okay get in your heart get present and I love that you're actually

using the word love because when we're in that loving space we're creating a safe space and then

whatever needs to come forth can come forth. Yeah so it's it's a sacred you know this kind of moves me to tears really because we're providing a sacred healing space and we're providing love

and in that space of love we get to see miracles happening. Miracle healing things that have

really plagued and hurt our clients for sometimes many decades and so it's it's really an honor to be in this healing journey and to meet other practitioners like yourself who are doing the same

and similar things you know it's it's um I think it's um sacred work.

Yeah as you said it's an honor it's a privilege and I think one of the things people don't

understand is that when they are you know choosing a MAP practitioner it's not just that we're

schooled in this modality, right? It is who the person is as a person that is what we are bringing

to the work, you know, it is what we know about MAP, what we know about everything else that you've learned, your life experiences, and who we are as a person.

Because as we go through that MAP certification program we're doing a lot of self work. There's a lot of self healing happening right? We are going ,to many many many MAP sessions ourselves to clear things clear things, clear things, clear things, so that we can be that that clear channel

for the person that comes to us for for help or for healing.

Yeah absolutely Madeleine you've said that very beautifully and you're very really gifted not only with your use of words but with your skill with MAP. I really loved receiving the session from you last month and look forward to continuing to experience your work again sometime.

Thank you. So tell us more about how you use the MAP method to deal with chronic pain because I would say this is a really big hurdle that people have to get over is their understanding of like how is it that we can work with the mind which is emotions and thoughts belief systems that kind of thing to change something that they perceive to be physical.

Yeah and the first the first thing is it's like: yes you have a physical symptom and so we take a pause. And what do people do that have a physical symptom they go to a doctor a chiropractor a massage therapist if not a surgeon a neurosurgeon. They're like cut this off me! Take this away! Right? And so I even noticed myself when I have pain I'll be like oh what supplement can I take for this and it does even I mean as much as I am ingrained that the first thing you do what you have pain is look for the emotion, look for the belief, look for the energy, even me I'll be like oh let's have some more anti-inflammatories! Let's take some more vitamins!

I think somehow we're hardwired because it's physical we think we should do something physical and so I have to affirm my clients: yes it's physical, and no you're not crazy, you know that's step number two. Like no you're not crazy you do have a physical pain this--you're not making it up. You're not crazy but if you've had pain and suffering long enough then you start to get willing well I've exhausted every physical avenue there is for this pain maybe I should look somewhere else.

Yeah on my journey I had all of the deep tissue physical things from chiropractic to Rolfing to you know let's just try to urr you know man handle that body to let that thing go! And then I found cranio-sacral work which is when we're trained they say use a nickel's worth of pressure on the body. And my brain was in such resistance I'm like oh my god this can't possibly do anything because they're putting a fulcrum in the body of a nickel's pressure.

Like what would the weight of your fingers that it takes to hold up a nickel that's what they train

us for. It's light pressure and it is so powerful. And now this was the you know many years ago I don't know how many if I had to guess I'd say 20. I had to switch from all this deep heavy stuff to go oh something that's more subtle and lie there and try to be patient because me, I'm a like: Let's wrap it up! let's get it done! Let's get it moving! And so then to have to be in that space of I'm trusting my body knows what to do here.

We are so... it's a mindset change to go from I need a darn baseball bat or a surgical

scalpel or something I need this pain is big, I need something big in the physical realm! It is so

normal to go there. I still I do I just have to like discipline myself and say let's look first

to the energetic, emotional, and the belief. What's going on?

So that's so when I'm working with clients I use a pendulum and charts and I'll say: What is the primary cause? What percentage of this is physical? And so for me because I I'm now inclined to go what are the emotions being carried in there and held in those muscles? What emotions are being held on in those muscles? So I'll just say what percentage of this is... Well, actually the first question we should ask is is this even yours? Are you carrying it? Is this just energy you're carrying that's somebody else's and it needs just an energy release?

So when I'm working with a client I'm going to check: is it yours? How much of it is

emotional? How much of is energetic and how much of is physical? Because maybe they need a

psoas release. I don't want to spend three sessions releasing emotions on them with they need a

psoas muscular release to get their hip to let go.

So I think that's another beauty of MAP is we're not just coming in with one thing. Oh if I'm a physical therapist and thinking of a hip pain then I want to do psoas and cupping and dry knee the like. No I'm asking: What's needed here? Because I don't know.

And if I show up like that like you were talking about being present and being an open channel if I

come to pain as an open channel then we can move through it more quickly.

Do you have any more questions about how I would work with pain? You know it's kind of the water I swim in so I can't tell if I really answered that question.

Well yeah. I think you know I work with chronic pain also. As I said it's one of the hardest things for people to understand how working with the mind could affect something they feel is real pain.

"Real pain."

Real pain, right, and I mean I even did a session yesterday and this was for someone I had done a lot of sessions for, and she said to me: "Like this is real pain, you know."

And you know I just did the session anyway and her "real pain" came down through this from

a 10 to a 3 during a 90-minute session. Right so even quote real pain has exacerbating factors that are in the mind. And that's what people don't understand right when you're talking about... uh I'm not talking about acute pain here right? If you broke your leg, you like there's going to be pain yes. If you burn your finger there's going to be pain right? But when when you're talking about chronic pain patterns, yes there is something going on in the mind that is contributing to that.

As you said it we're not going to say it's 100% but there is something going on in the mind that may be intensifying the perception of pain because pain is all about perception. I like to explain to people that there is no pain until that nerve impulse is interpreted by the brain. And i,f the brain is in a fear state it is going to over interpret a pain signal right.

Yes.

The brain can even it can create pain where there is no signal.

Yes.

It is that powerful.

It is that powerful! I'm glad we were digging in to this...

Yes and they call that this well one of the schools of thought calls it central nervous

system pain because as you, Madeleine, you are brilliant and so you probably already know this but we're on the topic so central nervous system pain. It's where then we've got to get the brain

in the nervous system calm down because it's overreacting with all that fear and likely some you know there's usually a reason how that brain got that way.

And how things are going when I was in college I remember thinking oh I'm a hypocondriac I am going to ignore all of my body symptoms I don't care what they are I'm just not going to listen today and at the end of the day I had an actual pin in my clothing it was poking me poking me but I chose to ignore it and I'm like oh there was some cause there! But it's really a good skill to learn to command that brain to calm down.

Yes and I know some people that are only now working with central nervous system pain and no matter what they're experiencing they're telling the brain: I'm safe it's okay shut up! I think that's an extreme also.

So anyway I think it's good to understand all the ways that the body can create pain and all

you know the different ways that we can address it. But if a person's not addressing and using

that subconscious mind they're really working with a hand tied behind their back aren't they?

Well it's just something that I think is often productive to explore you know.

I agree.

Yeah and we have grown up in a culture that sees physical issues, symptoms, you know as

having a physical cause and need to be addressed on a physical level. And in many cases we you know we've kind of beaten that horse past death, you know. I mean right? And you as someone who's gone through this journey you you felt that in your own life like there must be something more that could be helpful because I've tried all these things and they're just not helpful enough.

Yes!

I mean I'm not saying you should stop doing any of the things that you find helpful but if you

haven't also added in some way of working with the mind the subconscious mind you know I think maybe you're missing an opportunity

I agree more than 100%. And because of the the amount of money and the number of years and the amount of suffering that I was in, I like to help shortcut that for people. It's like, I'm like don't spend 10, 20, 30 years pounding out all of these... I love that you said "beat the horse beyond death." It's like okay well I'm going to find the next doctor, the next doctor, the next doctor, and God forbid they're on a million drugs because that really can be so harmful to the body's capacity to heal.

You know so yes I love that you're really accentuating the point the point because it's so hardwired in us: if I have physical pain, there's got to be a physical reason. And then the next step is usually what doctor do I need to see right?

Yeah and when you step onto that path then you're stepping onto the path of drugs

and surgery which is what doctors are trained to give us. And once we start cutting the body up

it's harder to heal when you, because you've interrupted those energy systems, and some of those natural healing pathways. I'm not saying that surgery is never necessary, I'm just saying don't jump to that as a first conclusion you know.

Right yes because surgery is hard to recover from even if it's successful you know it's recuperation time is is significant so yeah yes and it's worth looking at your options.

Yes so tell us more about you know what kinds of issues you work with and what kind of results you've seen. Maybe you can tell us about a couple of your clients and how working with the minds yeah emotions working with the thoughts the belief systems and you talked about trauma... Trauma you know can you talk a little bit about how trauma and things like chronic health issues like pain are related.

Yes actually one client comes to mind and I haven't seen her in a while so I'm trying I'm wracking my brain for what else was in her history. Okay but you know many of us have had a sexual boundary crossed either in a touch, I mean the extreme would be well, the extreme extreme would be violent rape, but sometimes a person has had something like an unwanted touching and it could be brief .

So I have a client I mean and this is another time where we have where I have to drop judgment be neutral and come in love because when you hear that somebody had a two-minute incident and it wasn't rape and it's having this extreme impact on their life. It's like you know in our culture we say put your big girl panties on get over it, move on!

Or we assume that it couldn't be the problem right we just assume there's maybe something

else.

That's a good point too. There must be something else. But with this case I just knew okay it's this incident. So this gal was on I don't know her she had her thyroid taken out because her thyroid the blood test numbers everything was just so off the charts. And so when you have the hyperthyroid you know it's a burns too much and you can't sleep and you probably

already know this but for listeners anybody who wants to know so when these numbers are so high with the thyroid-- that's in your endocrine system -- so it's affecting everything it's throwing you off and likely you're gonna be you know in that fight or flight whoa whoa whoa everything is kind of too excitable.

But the point is with this client she'd you know done all the medical stuff including having her take thyroid taken out there's the surgery she had taken different medications she's on

this monitoring she had one MAP session with me where we went back to that childhood incident.

But she you know she just really carried this sexual boundary crossing. By the way of a woman to

woman-- it's not always a man. So we also have to let go of that you know and she's like every time I drive by their their house and this was I'm guessing more than 20 years ago so all those triggers that are still like I drive by her house. I'm living in the house where it happened whatever those triggers are.

So we did one MAP session she had the blood test her numbers came into a very normal range. I

you know what I actually oh my gosh I have it right in front of me! Thyroid blood levels she says are now right down the middle the numbers were up to 30 and 50 then it went to 11 and the one I spoke with her last she said they're now 1.3. And this was doing the emotional release and letting that little girl you know release the trauma of that event. Very often when we don't speak up and we're holding all that it affects the thyroid and the throat as you likely know, Madeleine, and so sometimes the body part is really related the body part that's affected is really related to what didn't happen or what did happen right.

So in this case I mean that was so much I mean fun for me to go oh there's a blood test that says this worked! We went from 30 to 1.3 so that's that's an example of thyroid and a big change. And so that was clearly that was clearly an emotional situation that had that very strongly physical impact on this woman's life you know trying to work when your systems are that out of balance is you're really fighting against a lot of energy. There's such a big energy drain when when people are in pain or have like a thyroid that's out of control.

Yeah yeah yeah.

I mean it's a great story. It also illustrates that you know it is not just what happens to you but

is what your mind does with it right? For sensitive people even a small incident can have an

outsized effect.

Yes yes that's right so because I'm a sensitive person I never question when somebody

brings a sensitive issue to me you know we take them seriously and with compassion and just show up to work with what's there. Yeah this work is so rewarding when we see these kinds of results

That might be a good enough example unless you want others.

Yeah I mean maybe you could talk about a chronic pain client and what you observe of the mental and emotional roots you know that contributed to their pain.

Well yes I had a client this week who has you know he's a vet so he can go to the VA and see as many doctors for getting some more physical answers for that physical pain and take some drugs for it. So I close my eyes and I said what I'm seeing is a tight band around your leg and as I feel into it, it just like intuitively goes: Oh that's anger!

It's like a you know a tightness. Yeah and so it's great if the if the answer comes to the client but

if it comes to us, we could say: Do you fill that tightness? Yeah. So do you fill that tightness

and then my question would be: Is it holding anything in? or is it holding something out? To really help that client drop in energetically and emotionally.

So this guy just gone through a divorce. Well it's no fun to have to give over half of your money I don't care what gender you are right. If you're having to give up half of everything you've worked for your whole life for it would certainly be normal to have some some anger and that was locked in the leg, you know.

And and so oh here's the other thing that people do: It's in the past. I've made peace with it.

Do you get that Madeleine?

Yeah.

Yeah it's in the past .I've made peace with it. I'm like well maybe you did, but your body hasn't right! And so you know... and a lot of us are not what you would call like I don't go around like an angry person. I'm not angry. I don't express anger but like this divorce case would be certainly a really poignant case to say, yes but was there any part of you that felt like you don't deserve it. I don't want to give you half.

You know like that part that might want to say: Hell no! You know like I'm not giving this to you.

And then the adult self shows up in the mediation and is very kind and agreeable and and settles.

And in MAP we talk about parts having reactions and that we have different parts so there's

that one part that says: I'm gonna be adult, I'm gonna be kind. I'm gonna settle. And then there's

the other part that is possibly in rage or anger. Or you know, who knows, defeat sadness like in divorce. I'm sure there's a lot of things like it didn't work out I'm a failure I'm sad I'm blah blah blah blah blah blah.

And so it would certainly make sense that the body could be carrying some of this. You know so

anyway he dropped from a six to a two when we released that anger. I just said you can do it

inside your head or you can speak up. And I know with MAP we say we can just give a command to release it, but my style is if there's something that wants to be expressed or said I'll make space you know.

Like what would that part... if you wouldn't be in trouble or carted off to jail, what would that part

like to say or do? And I always say I'm not saying we're gonna leave this session and go do it.

The whole point is to release the energy out of the body. Yeah yeah because you know we want to keep that smiling, I'm a good person, good face onto the world. But what about all the anger that we've swallowed and the frustration and the irritation and that's just one of the emotions that that can be carried in the body, right, because you know there's more there's more emotions than anger.

But this particular case this guy had seen so many doctors and you know it's gone on for years and he's a super young 68 year old, you know, we we would still call him an athlete but he'd cut into his athletic prowess. You know to the point where he's like what's happening to me in my life? And all you know all of that and so it's really fun to give people back their vitality and their capacity to engage and enjoy life.

Absolutely. Thank you for you know just giving us that example, right, because it is...

I like to remind people that it's the same part of the brain that processes or

interprets those pain signals that is also processing emotional pain.

Yes right.

The same part of the brain. And some part of the brain or some of us we take our painful emotions and we don't feel them but we transmute them to physical pain. Now not everyone does this. I'm sure you and I'm sure you're aware with working with the clientele that you do often what we see is that this is a pattern that is laid down when we are young. In childhood these are patterns that are created when we are young because of course that's when the nervous system is developing. That's when all of the sort of default behaviors are being created.

All those conditioned behaviors so many people who have these chronic pain syndromes you know there was something in their childhood that prevented them from maybe dealing with their emotions appropriately right. They had to bury them they had to hide them.

Their negative emotions weren't okay.

They weren't allowed or maybe there was stuff going on at home that was chaotic, or it was abusive, or it's for whatever reason like they had to suppress or repress how they felt or what their needs are because there was a greater good right. They had to perform in some way keep themselves or their siblings safe. Or take on maybe more of a parentified role than should be normal for a child. So there maybe these are just a few examples, right, but there are reasons why.

This is what I see in my practice, right. There are often reasons why we see people with chronic pain symptoms and there are kind of the...it's almost like a two-step process right. There are patterns laid down a childhood and then often there is some kind of stressor, or life change. Something that preceded the development of the pain symptom. I mean of course it could be a car accident, right, but but for other people it is the divorce, or it is that time at work where your your idea was taken by someone else and something unjust happened to you.

Yeah.

I mean it could be anything but if you think back to when that pain symptom arose often there was something going on in the month to year or years prior. Feelings burdened by something that is kind of the step two of the process right that creates and perpetuates that pain symptom. Often that's helpful for people to think through when they think about: Could my pain symptom be something that could be improved by working with the mind?

Is there a contribution of the mind in what I am going through? And it might it be worth it you

know to to try a few sessions with with Elynn.

I mean how many sessions do you suggest for someone who comes to you and says you know I have this chronic pain symptom it's been going on for some time? What do you suggest for like an initial trial.

I always tell people I'm very open to a one session wonder, but why don't we think about three sessions and then assess where we are at that time?

Yeah because sometimes it is a one session wonder. Yeah yeah people go... oh my gosh one time I had somebody refer someone to me and I you know they give you I give people the option of giving me a history you know and I got this like book. And I'm like whoa we're talking you know years worth!

She had one session I never heard back from her and I assumed she didn't like it. The person who

referred her said, "No she's touting your work, she's very happy, she's feeling great. sShe didn't feel the need to come back." You know sometimes it's someone just follows through fall through the track on the follow up and you don't get to hear that. And it was like really one session wonder got rid of like that whole book of everything that was going on. So we can hope for one, but realistically I know for myself I still have layers that I'm wanting to peel off because it just allows me to be happier healthier, just have more natural vitality.

So the short answer would be three sessions.

Yeah I agree with you. I agree with you while one session wonders can happen they are in my experience rare and three sessions for anything like a physical symptom. I feel like three sessions is you know you're just starting to get the flow of a session you know starting to understand how this all works. And I think three sessions is a good trial, but then often for people who like the process they continue on right because three sessions in my work, it's usually not enough to get to the physical level. I feel like three sessions, we're still working at the mental and emotional level and the trickle-down effect often requires three more.

You know like at least three more sessions so yes so but three's good for to try the process to see how it works maybe you're feeling emotionally or mentally better after three sessions and you're thinking yeah you know this seems this really seems to work for me let's keep going.

Yes or they get excited want to take on another area of their life. Don't you hear that often? Like wow I'm just thinking of what other areas of my life I could use this for.

Yes. Madeleine, you have such a gift with words and I'm more of an intuitive so it's

harder for me to interpret like sensation and feelings but you are so blessed with being able to

use the words to really name what goes on, so I always enjoy a conversation with you because you spell it out in a way the mind really can get it. So I appreciate your contribution to this conversation.

Thank you, and I appreciate you taking the time to come and talk with me today because I

think there is a lot that we've discussed in this conversation that might help people to think about

what they are suffering with in a in a new way. To consider a new approach working with the mind and even consider working with a different modality, which would be the MAP method.

So yeah. And you are an amazing MAP practitioner and so I love that you're providing this service for people who are looking for answers and can choose to meet you and hear your expertise, meet me and hear some of my ways of being, and take those next steps on their healing journeys.

Thank you for taking the time to produce these podcasts because you we know it's time and effort to show up. We're here because we want to help people.

Yeah definitely. So Elynn if people want to learn more about your work and want to contact you what is the best way for them to do that?

My website is called releasepainnaturally.com, all lowercase. I welcome email phone calls and that should all be listed.

Perfect! Thank you so much, Elynn. I really appreciate you taking the time and sharing so much

of your experience and your knowledge.

It's been an absolute pleasure.

Thanks. for joining us for the Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast. Please listen again and remember to follow us and leave a review on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, or Pandora.

Check out our free courses about the MAP Method and all of our MAP programs including the MAP for Chronic Pain Program at MAPforhealth.us. Or schedule your introductory MAP session at tcneuralretraining.com.

Until the next time, be well and flourish.

Music by Barbara Benn.

[Music]

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

Overcoming Anxiety, Fight/Flight and Autoimmune Thyroid - Nicki's Story

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 01:10:26 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 76 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Hear from my client, Nicki, about her experience with mind-body healing with the advanced neural retraining method known as the MAP Method.
How resolving mental and emotional stress can improve overall health, including autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.
Why Nicki feels MAP is simple and easy and would be helpful for many things from trauma healing, negative thought patterns, anxiety, and sleep issues to nail biting.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 76 where we hear from my client, Nicki, about her experiences with the MAP Method over a couple of months, and how MAP has helped her to overcome her anxiety, patterns of overthinking and worry, and the racing thoughts that kept her up at night. Hear how she was referred by her functional medicine practitioner, Dr. Eric Balcavage, and how MAP sessions compare to talk therapy, EMDR, and other neural retraining and vagal toning programs she has tried.

In this episode we discuss:

How working with functional medicine protocols helped her symptoms, but took a toll on her mentally.
How her health fell apart after getting COVID in 2020 and she felt stuck in fight or flight.
What she was hoping to address in MAP sessions: anxiety, fight/flight, sleep, and an autoimmune thyroid condition.
The benefits she has noticed since the first session: reduction in negative thought loops and anxiety, no more anxiety “burst” feeling in her chest, more mental space, improved sleep.
How MAP has helped her health anxiety and her anxiety around her son and his health.
How MAP can help to resolve the effects of childhood trauma, even if you’ve done a lot of therapy already.
How the MAP Method helped Nicki to achieve clarity around important decisions and feel more at peace with our options.
How long-standing behavior patterns, like nail biting, can change with MAP sessions.
Why MAP is easier and gentler than EMDR or talk therapy, and why she felt that the effects were “almost immediate” and a lot less draining.
When your body is stuck in fight or flight doing detoxes and taking supplements is not as effective as it could be.
How negative emotions can arise after a session, and the self-care tools that are provided.
How chronic illness can make your life feel smaller and more complicated, and how neural retraining can start to turn that around.
How current life stressors that would have caused a flare of symptoms have not since she started MAP.
How working at the mental and emotional level leads to improvements in physical health.
How many functional medicine practitioners are focused on testing for viruses, mold and other physical causes, when mind-body healing may be what is needed.
How she now sees the timeline of stressors had a lot to do with the cascade of symptoms she experienced.
How we work with the subconscious mind to resolve food sensitivities.
How anyone can benefit from MAP sessions and why she calls it “an easier, softer way of getting to where you want to be.”

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy hearing Dr. Kelly Halderman’s experiences with the MAP Method in episode 36, or my conversation with Dr. Eric Balcavage about MAP for thyroid function in episode 88 of the Thyroid Answers podcast .

To learn more about the MAP Method, please visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses and our MAP Programs. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at TCNeuralRetraining.com.

Full Transcript

Note: generated by AI, accuracy not guaranteed.

[music]

Welcome to The Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast.

I'm your host, Madeleine Lowry, founder of Twin Cities Neural Retraining

in a certified MAP method practitioner specializing in anxiety,

sensitivities, and chronic symptoms and conditions.

Join me for episode 76, where we will hear from my client, Nicki,

about her experiences with the MAP method over a couple of months,

and how MAP has helped her to overcome her anxiety, patterns of overthinking and worry and

the racing thoughts that kept her up at night.

Here how she was referred by her functional medicine practitioner,

Dr. Eric Balkavage, and how MAP sessions compare to talk therapy,

EMDR, and other Neural Retraining and Vagal toning programs she has tried.

As always, we must disclaim that the information we share in the podcast

is for educational purposes only.

As MAP method practitioners, we do not diagnose or treat disease.

Instead, we work with the mind to optimize health.

Now, let's hear from Nikki.

Well, Nikki, I would like to welcome you to my program.

Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of The Flourish

with Neural Retraining Podcast.

I'm very excited to have you describe some of your experiences,

you know, with the MAP method sessions.

So welcome, Nikki.

Thank you. I'm so happy to be here.

Thanks for having me.

You have helped me so much in just a short period of time.

So I felt like I should join you and talk about it.

So other people can hear how helpful this really is.

So yeah, I'm happy to be here.

Yeah, thank you.

Yeah.

So take me back to the beginning because I want to remember,

you know, exactly how you came to this work.

You know, most people have never heard of this method

called the MAP method of advanced neural retraining.

Who pointed you in this direction or how did you find it?

So I work with a doctor named Dr. Eric Balcavage.

I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

So I've been working with him for about a year now

to try to minimize my thyroid symptoms.

I am determined to no longer have autoimmune antibodies.

So it's been quite a journey.

And I've done a lot of different things with him,

with other functional medicine doctors, different protocols

and stuff like that.

And I am so close.

I wish I would have gotten my blood work done actually prior to talking

to you because I haven't had it checked since I started with you.

But I just felt like there was one piece that I was missing.

And I mentioned to him, I feel like I have some anxiety,

some stress that I've been kind of stuck in.

And he recommended you and the woman, I think Dr. Kelly,

he co-wrote a book with and she was a patient of yours.

I believe in his spoken about you.

And he said, look, it's worth a shot.

Give her a try.

She really helped Dr. Kelly.

And I really trust Dr. Eric.

He's been super, super helpful to me.

So whenever he suggested it, I thought, with the hack,

I'll give it a try.

I feel like whenever you lose your health,

you're almost willing to try anything.

And I had never even heard of MAP before.

I have done neural retraining.

I did a neural retraining program before,

but it was kind of a self-paced thing and it did help me.

But it didn't get there all the way.

So whenever he said it was kind of a neural retraining program,

but you work with a practitioner, I thought, OK,

let's give it a try.

And here we are. I'm so glad that I took the leap because this has been

honestly, I mean, I've been doing this now for, oh gosh,

maybe three or four years, really since COVID started,

I've been working with doctors trying to heal.

And everything that I've done has kind of chipped away,

but this has been the fastest.

It's an immediate result for me.

So I'm so grateful, you know, that he recommended it.

I'm so grateful to you because this has been so helpful to me.

Yeah, well, thank you for recapping that.

So you have been working with Dr. Eric Balcavage

on your thyroid health when he suggested coming to see me.

What were you hoping to resolve through doing MAP sessions?

So through working with Dr. Eric and other functional medicine

practitioners, I was able to lower my symptoms of my thyroid.

I used to be cold and have dry skin and all these other issues.

That has gone away, but I feel like doing all of these detoxes

and protocols and stuff really took a toll on me mentally.

And it kind of left me with like a baseline of anxiety

because I was constantly so focused and worried about my health

and my symptoms.

And is it time do I have to take my supplements and how much money

I'm spending on all of my supplements?

So I ended up with a lot of anxiety surrounding my health.

Almost like I had a little bit of PTSD just from...

I really had like a sudden onset of symptoms.

I had COVID back in 2020 and my health kind of fell apart right after that

and it was super traumatic.

So I was really like I said I was left with like this base level of anxiety.

I feel like I was just stuck in fight or flight and I could not get out of it.

I also had a lot of anxiety around my son.

I have, he just turned eight.

I have an eight year old son and ever since he was born I had anxiety

worrying about his health, just worry in general.

So I was really hoping to resolve that as well.

My sleep in the last few years has not been great.

Over time I had realized that I was waking up in the middle of the night

and then my brain would start going thinking about things.

So I was hoping that by working on my health anxiety, my anxiety around my son

I would be able to alleviate this and saw the other that I had been dealing with.

And I have, I sleep great, it's been great.

But yeah, I just, I think overall I just really felt like my life has been put on hold

since getting sick because my main focus has been trying to get back out of it.

I really watched my health fall apart.

I know a lot of doctors will say, you know, this is just, it is what it is.

You're going to have Hashimoto's for the rest of your life.

There's not really a cure for it.

But I watched step by step these different situations

that took my health away from me and I was really determined to get it back.

And I knew that there was a way.

So yeah, I just, I wanted my life to stop feeling like it was on pause.

So coming to you, it's crazy to me how little those things bother me anymore.

So yeah, I'm super, super grateful.

Yeah, thank you.

Yeah, so you talked about your thyroid function.

So you were hoping to resolve.

You said the symptoms were already better, but you wanted to resolve some of the anxiety

that you felt around it, this feeling of being stuck in fight or flight or sleep.

You know, we've only done five sessions.

I would say that we've mostly worked on things like anxiety.

I mean, things at a more emotional level, really.

You also mentioned, you know, having COVID in 2020 and how you saw your health decline

after that, right?

You really felt that that was a pivotal event.

And I think that was one of our first sessions because I've often found that

for someone with the story like yours,

there is a moment, there is a, you know, there may have been some ups and downs

with their health, let's say, but there is a point.

There is an event that is kind of the tipping point.

And after that, there is a significant decline in health.

And so to me, that is a sign, you know, I'm not, you know,

I'm not a functional medicine practitioner, right?

I just work with the mind, the subconscious mind, really.

So our emotions and our thoughts primarily.

And so I always look to that event, right?

That's kind of an important marker for me because it tells me that in some way

the subconscious mind is stuck and something around that event might be stuck

in a place of fear or worry, panic, terror, it could be guilt, it could be grief,

you know, it could be any number of things.

But there's a, there's something there that needs to be resolved.

Because as you said, that you described it very well.

You said, there's this kind of this big thing that happened.

You got sick with COVID, but then afterwards has been like a step by step

to go in and a feeling that you've been stuck in a fight or flight, which we know will hamper

all the healing functions of the body.

Knowing that you're sympathetic dominant, knowing that you're stuck in a place of fight or flight

or that you have very low tolerance to stress is definitely a sign, right?

That there is something going on in a subconscious mind, I like to call it subconscious sources of stress, that is impeding, you know, your body's natural ability to recover its health, right, to heal itself.

Because that's how we're designed, you know, our body is supposed to be able to heal itself.

So when it's not, you know, it's like, well, what are the blocks?

What are the barriers in the mind?

That's how I think the functional medicine practitioners that you've worked with

and that referred to me, they're working more on the physical level, you know, your diet,

your lifestyle, supplements, other kinds of protocols, you know, detoxing and things like that.

But I come out from just a different direction.

So I don't know, sometimes if it hasn't been explored, that can be like the missing piece, right?

Yeah.

So what benefits have you observed over the five sessions we've done since the beginning of the year?

It's so crazy because the last session we had was what just a couple of days ago.

Yeah.

And I was laughing because I came to you with all of these like big, heavy things that have been weighing on me for so long.

And this time I was like, I bite my nails.

Like, could you help me with that?

Because that's how much, like you've alleviated all these other things in my life.

So my one of my biggest symptoms of my anxiety was this weird burst feeling in my chest.

I would get this feeling.

It was almost just like a rush, a quick like two or three second burst.

That's the best way I can describe it in my chest.

And over time, I started to realize that it was anxiety.

And like I said, I feel like I was just had this base level of feeling like that.

Anytime my mind would go off in a different direction from what I was doing if I'm washing the dishes or driving or whatever.

I would always kind of drift off to think there's something wrong with me.

I need to fix it.

There's something wrong with my son. I need to fix him. There's this. There's that.

And then I would get this burst of anxiety in my chest.

And the first appointment that we had, we talked about my health anxiety surrounded my own health.

And I mean, I can remember sitting there.

I have to say I did not research MAP at all prior to doing this.

I listened to a podcast episode.

That was pretty much it.

I did not want to know. I went in with no expectations really because I feel like I've tried so many things that have not really moved the needle for me.

So I didn't want to get let down, right?

So I go into it.

And we start and you have me, you know, I sit in my comfy chair and you have me take some deep breaths.

And then I'm supposed to start thinking about this.

And I start thinking about my health and this, this loop that I've just been stuck in worrying about my symptoms.

And is it going to come back? That was a big thing for me because I had kind of gotten out of the symptoms for the most part.

But I had this anxiety that it was going to come back.

And I can remember in my mind with my eyes closed visualizing all of this.

And then as you are talking by the end of it, it was almost like I was watching myself on a TV screen.

Like it just became distant.

And I can remember in the beginning, you're like, you know, on a scale of one to ten, you always ask where you at.

And then by the end of it, I was like, I don't really feel anxiety about this.

And once the session was over, I thought, you know, okay, maybe this will last for a little bit.

And then it will come back. And it didn't come back.

So that has been amazing for me to not have to worry about that.

That first anxiety feeling I have not experienced since maybe since the second session,

because we did work on anxiety surrounding my son's health.

I've had that for eight years, pretty much since he was born.

I probably had postpartum anxiety after I had him that I never got help for.

I didn't even realize that I had it at the time and looking back.

I was not okay.

So that has been really amazing for me too.

I worry about him, of course, as his mom, but I don't have this constant stress, constant worry that something is wrong.

If he gets sick, I would always be really, really, really anxious, be very like on edge and alert.

And he got sick and I was fine.

And I didn't, you know, experience this cycle of almost insanity, truly of worrying.

So that's, it's been amazing, truly, it's been amazing.

Yeah.

So I think we started on February 1st, I think that was our first session.

So now it's April.

Hasn't been that long.

Not long at all.

It's been about three months.

So, yeah.

So you feel like the relief that you felt around the anxiety, kind of thought patterns and emotional patterns has held at least till now.

Yeah, it's been amazing.

And I, I was stuck in it for so long.

I can remember.

I think it was after our second session, whenever we worked on my son, hanging up with you from the Zoom call and sitting in the chair, just laughing because I was like, this is insane.

This is insane.

And because I would, I'm a cryer, as you know, whenever we would start our sessions, I would usually start explaining to you what I wanted to work on.

I would start crying.

And by the end of the session, I just felt so much peace.

And I had not felt that at all with my son, especially ever since he was born. I always felt like I think I told you that they always felt like there was something wrong.

And I could never figure it out.

And last summer, we found out that he had a heart condition that had never been diagnosed.

And he ended up having to have a heart procedure done, which was obviously very difficult to go through.

And, you know, we worked on that.

We worked on my anxiety surrounding that. And even that, I just feel at peace with.

It's really crazy. And I don't know, I don't, I understand what you're doing, but I don't entirely understand it.

And it's like, I don't even need to try to figure out what you're doing.

Yeah, it's crazy.

So I'm... relief that I feel truly as crazy. And I have also, we worked a little bit on sleep because my sleep had gotten better, but I was waking up in the middle of the night, having anxiety about not sleeping.

And then we worked on that a little bit and I sleep great now. And that was honestly one of my biggest remaining symptoms that I had whenever I came to you was my sleep was a disaster.

Really, I would be awake in the middle of the night for hours at a time.

And that's gone. I sleep through the night.

I wake up and I feel good.

Yeah, it's amazing. Truly, it's amazing.

So what I hear you saying is that, you know, on the emotional level, there's less anxiety in your life, just kind of baseline background level of anxiety that you might always like went to in the past.

Those thoughts or those concerns that kind of mental chatter and the anxiety that went with it is now very low or not present is that fair?

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And I can remember, I don't remember. It was very early on.

We started our session. You always say, you know, what have you noticed since our last session? And I feel like I just have so much more mental space.

I have been able to do silly things like clean my house in a way where I walk downstairs and I look at it and I feel like accomplished and I feel like my house looks nice and tidy.

And before I literally didn't even have the mental space to be able to do that.

And I don't work. My husband is super supportive of me and he said, you know, just take the last couple years and focus on trying to get better.

And some days I would get so frustrated with myself because I would be like, what did you do all day? You know, and now I feel like I just have my mind is not weighed down.

I think you described in one of our sessions like it was like I was standing in a room with all of these different doors and all the doors were closed and now I have this space where I can open some of these doors to let more into my life because before I just I couldn't handle it.

I remember a couple years ago, I was so wrapped in this loop of anxiety and fight or flight that even if my husband had a TV on too loud, it would give me this buzzing feeling in my body.

I was just so uncomfortable in my skin just because the TV was on too loud.

So yeah, it's it's crazy in such a short period of time because I've tried a lot of different things over the years and nothing has gotten this deep.

I feel like I have a sense of resolve like things are, you know, the things that we work on, I don't, it's not like you're removing the memory.

I still remember everything that I went through with my health. I still remember finding out about my son's heart and the day that he had his heart procedure but the negative side of it is not there anymore.

I feel so good to not have to feel that way anymore, you know, I'm so curious to see what my, my blood work looks like because I, I went through a lot of different things and like I said before I did do a little bit of neural retraining.

It was a lot of, it was like vagal toning and somatic movement and stuff like that that I did in this course and even just from that it moved the needle significantly on my blood work.

So I really feel like it's a lot in your mind, you know, and had you told me this two years ago, I would have been like it's not, you know, it's all these other things.

I really think there should be more of a focus on your mental health and you know, the things that have happened to you, even in the past we worked on a lot of stuff that has happened to me when I was a kid.

And I feel like that has, I just feel lighter, you know, it's really amazing.

Yeah, so yeah, so you've been kind of been describing some of the mental benefits that you've noticed as well, like this feeling of having more space, being able to appreciate the good things more, right.

Being able to entertain the idea of maybe doing some new things or taking you know, making some life decisions, right, that maybe we're on hold because you're kind of overwhelmed with just what was going on for you.

And it just wasn't possible, didn't feel possible.

Yeah, more of a feeling that you could take on more in life and enjoy your life more.

Yeah, it's like whenever you get sick, it feels like your life just gets smaller and smaller.

Yeah.

And you know, you're so focused on your symptoms and you know, you limit yourself with sleep like I go to I still go to bed early, but it's just because I love sleep.

But before it was like, I have to go to bed early, I have to do this.

I can't eat this. I can't do that. It's too much.

I think your life just gets so small and I don't feel that way anymore.

You know, there were other things that we worked on too.

Like I have always wondered whether or not I wanted to have another baby.

And this has been a big source of stress and anxiety for me.

And you helped me with that, you know, and I've realized through doing MAP that I don't want to have another child.

I had a really hard time after my son was born and I don't want to go through that again.

And I feel prior to doing MAP on it, it would make me really emotional even to think about all of that.

It was just so heavy.

And now I feel at peace with it. You know, I felt a little bit like almost like if I didn't have another child, it would be a failure for me because all of my friends have multiple children.

You just always seemed like that was the right thing to do.

That's what you were supposed to do.

And through doing MAP, I really have just found peace and the fact that I'm so happy and content with my son and the life that I have.

And I'm just, I'm ready to start living my life rather than letting all these different things hold me back.

Yeah, that's, that's lovely, right?

Because that, I guess what you're describing, and you know, you're describing a decision in your personal life, but for, you know, for anyone who's listening, I mean, it could be any, any decision, right?

It could be a relationship decision. It could be a career decision, a financial decision, a health decision, right?

Should I have this procedure or should I do something else?

Sometimes these decisions loom so large in our mind, you know, that they kind of keep us stuck, especially when there's kind of this inner conflict or this kind of inner struggle that is going on.

And so with MAP sessions, we can help work through that in your subconscious mind and smooth out the frictions, maybe.

So that you can be more at peace and have more clarity and know just more clearly what it is you honestly want to do.

Yeah, almost like there's a jumble of different thoughts and opinions or whatever going on that keep you kind of locked into this place of indecision, and then when we can clear that, then suddenly the path forward is clearer.

Yeah, it's been, it's been a relief, you know, to be able to come to this decision. There's been a lot of, of what, what is, are we going to have another baby?

Do we need to buy a bigger house? Do we need to do this? You know, there's so much that goes along with adding a member to your family.

And it's always just been kind of like this. Is it going to happen? Is it not? It, it just feels, it feels like that was definitely one of the big pieces in my life that was kind of holding me back and making me feel stuck and not being able to just take the step to move on really and forward.

So yeah.

Maybe you can just talk a little bit about, you know, how the MAP method compares to other things that you've tried. I know that you've tried EMDR in the past.

And I think that that is a much more well known process. Most people don't realize that the MAP method is the next generation of those psychology techniques from the 1980s, including EMDR, which is I movement desensitization and reprogramming.

How would you, how would you compare it to some of the things you've tried in the past?

So the things that I've tried in the past, I've done talk therapy, I've done EDMR. I did the neural retraining, somatic, vagel toning course thing. And then I've done a bunch of detoxing and all of these other things have taken a very long time to work. I guess you could say they were draining even I mean, with talk therapy, it's beyond draining. If you're trying to work on something that is difficult.

I mean, I can just remember coming home and being completely exhausted, feeling like crap, truly. And even with EDMR, it was just a lot.

It was a lot mentally and I had to do multiple sessions of EDMR. And I feel like it definitely did help. I don't want to discredit any of these other things that I've done because they have helped, but not as deeply and as much as MAP helps.

And MAP is almost immediate. I feel like whenever I came to my second session and you were like, how's everything going? How you been feeling? And I'm like, well, I'm having anxiety about not having anxiety.

And you were like, just enjoy it, you know, because I kept feeling like this is obviously it's going to come back.

But, you know, all these other things that I've done this EDMR, I would have to go like weekly and do these EDMR sessions on the same topic over and over again trying to get to the core of it.

And like I said, I feel like it helped, but it just kind of like skimmed the surface. And MAP is so much easier, you know, rather than finishing a MAP session and feeling drained and exhausted and emotional.

And I feel like I'm drained when I was doing EDMR. I feel great. I feel so light. I feel like I just woke up from a nap and I feel, I mean, the anxiety and stress that I had surrounding the topic that we worked on has gone.

It's so fast. It's, it's crazy. I wish that I would have known about MAP a long time ago, you know, I feel like I've spent a lot of time and money doing other things and all these different protocols and stuff. And I also, I feel like whenever your body is stuck in fight or flight.

If you're trying to do these detoxes, heavy metals and parasites and all these things, if your body is stuck in this stress state, you can take $500 worth of supplements.

I don't think you're going to get anywhere. With MAP it's just been so easy and smooth and I mean, it's just, it's so nice, you know, to be able to come and talk to you for an hour and a half and do the session.

And then I walk away from it, feeling so at peace.

So MAP is so unique. There are so many different things out there. I don't think anything compares to MAP. I don't think that there's anything really. I guess EDMR or maybe...

But I've done it and it's still it doesn't feel the same. It really doesn't. I think MAP is is very special truly.

And I think anybody could benefit from it. I mean, we've worked on a lot of different things. We've worked on trauma from my past, my childhood. I lost my dad to suicide whenever I was a kid and I did a lot of talk therapy about that as a child.

And I really, I do feel like it works and I was kind of at peace with it, but we even did that. You know, you said to me, you know, it would might be worth it just to spend a little bit of time on it.

Even there, I feel like lighter. It really, I feel like can resolve any truly any issue that you have.

Because we've done so many things like my nail biting has gotten better.

It really has.

Yeah, I've had it for a long time. So yeah, yes, I can't I mean, I've always done that. I don't know if it's a nervous habit. If it's what I don't know, it's just always been this.

This habit that I've had.

And I thought like she's helped me so much with all of these other big, heavy things. Maybe she can help me with this. And we worked on it, not even for a whole session.

And yeah, I mean, I literally I haven't, I haven't done it since.

It's crazy. I'm sure a lot of different things work for a lot of different people, but for me, I really feel like MAP was this missing piece to the puzzle.

And I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that feel stock and feel like they are treading in water, like they have done so many things and spent so much money and done all of the things.

And they still are not where they want to be. And I really feel like, you know, it's worth a shot to try MAP.

Because even after one session, I was convinced, convinced that this was what I was missing. I felt so much different after, after one time with you.

So, yeah, it really, I don't know that you can even compare MAP to anything. Truly, it's amazing.

Yeah, I hear that over and over again. You know, I'm not, I'm not trained in psychotherapy. You know, I'm not, I'm not trained in psychology.

I'm trained in the MAP method, which was developed by psychotherapists and experimental psychologists.

And so a lot of the terminology that we use is related, you know, to that we talk about parts, which is kind of a metaphor for aspects of your personality.

But really, I think what we are trying to do in every session is just really harness the power of your subconscious mind to effect the healing that is needed.

While things like EFT or tapping, you know, require that we tap on certain acupressure points or like, and you are requires this kind of bilateral stimulation while we recall the painful memory or whatever.

That's why I say this is like the next generation, right? We have learned that the subconscious mind can do all of this itself and much, much gentler, much deeper, much faster.

The subconscious mind, of course, is aware of all of the connections.

You know, so you may be focusing on a memory of something that causes you anxiety today, but it's finding connections.

Things you've experienced in your life.

And you don't have to consciously know what those are.

Yeah, yeah.

I did one session where you were doing, I think, muscle testing and you were like, did so I keep getting age seven did something happen to you when you were seven and I was like, I have no idea.

And you still were able to use MAP on that, you know, and I don't even know what it could have been and it was still you were still able to work with that.

So it's amazing, truly.

And I have like what I'm in a session with you and I'm thinking about this, whatever we're working on.

Initially, especially for those big heavy things that we worked on, I was usually crying, you know, with my eyes closed, thinking about it and my whole body is tense.

As you're talking and speaking to my subconscious, I literally can feel my muscles relaxing and I can feel myself feeling more at ease.

It's crazy, you know, and that is not anything that happens during EDMR or talk therapy.

I feel like, you know, when you're in the session, you may feel better because you're with therapist and they're guiding you and helping you, but then you leave and I feel like it was always, you know, right back staring at you in the face.

It takes so much time, you know.

But yeah, I feel like MAP just works.

It goes deep way deeper than anything else for sure.

Yeah, and I mean, most people feel like it's pretty easy, you know, it's pretty easy to engage with it.

All you really need to be able to do is identify an issue you want to work on.

Close your eyes, breathe slowly, deeply and gently and just just listen.

I mean, you don't have to focus on what I'm saying.

I'm talking to your subconscious mind, right? You know, you don't have to worry yourself about what I'm saying, but it's just like being open to whatever instructions I am providing for your subconscious mind and, you know, I do think people experience this work differently. For another person it might have taken twice as many sessions to achieve what you've achieved in five, but I think that's really about each person's subconscious mind and what what pace, you know, it feels is safe and comfortable for you.

As I tell people, your subconscious mind is in control in every session.

I'm here to guide. I'm here to offer some suggestions and your subconscious mind is going to run with that to the extent that it feels is appropriate for you.

So, you know, people do experience MAP sessions differently and I'm going to remind you that after the first session, you, I think you told me that you felt kind of agitated for about an and a half afterwards.

Can you talk a little bit about that?

Yeah, I just remember feeling, yeah, agitated, I think is the best way to describe it.

And you gave me MAP instructions that I could do on myself.

And I was still skeptical, you know, and I'm like, OK, so I'm, I'm going to do this to myself now and it's enough to work.

I'll see, you know, so I did it and I read the instructions and I sat there and then afterwards it was gone and I felt better and I was like, this is so wild.

It is so wild. And that was I experienced that just in the first session after every other session, I felt fine.

I do, you also give the audio files and I do listen to those from time to time, but yeah, that self, what, what do you call that?

MAP on the Go.

Yeah, that was crazy because I was still so skeptical, you know, I'm like, OK, what is this going to work and it did.

And I felt better after doing it. Yeah, it was crazy.

So I mean, I do want people to know that it is possible. I mean, this happens rarely, probably in less than 5% of sessions, but it's possible that, you know, something might still be unresolved post session, but you are being given tools, you know, from the very first session.

I'm providing you with tools so that you have a way to support yourself, you know, until we can see each other again.

We've probably had sessions maybe like every other week, right? Once every other week. So, yeah, I mean, so there's a bit of time there and I don't want people to be uncomfortable or experience something that, you know, that they, you know, that they don't want to.

So MAP on the Go is just a simple, like basically one sentence instruction that you can give yourself once you've had the introductory session.

Once you've been initiated to the MAP method and then the MAP audio files are a little short audio files that I've made for my clients so that they have something that they can use if they are feeling pain or they're trouble sleeping or there's an emotion that's come up for them that feels uncomfortable.

It's just a little bit of help that you can use in between sessions.

Yeah, they work too, you know, those audio files they work also, you know, I've been, I felt anxious about.

I don't even know what, you know, and I would throw that on with headphones and by the end of it, I would feel super calm.

And I can remember, I forget which session it was or what, but I said, you know, I'm worried about it coming back. I'm worried.

I've always hated feeling out of control and with my health and everything and my son with his heart, all these things were just I felt out of control.

And, you know, I was worried that my issues were going to come back and you just reminded me, you know, that that's okay.

I just do another MAP session and work on it because you know that it works, you know, that it alleviates this whatever the issue is that you have, we can just do another MAP session on it.

And I thought, huh, so simple, but you're right, you know, I think, I think a lot of people that have chronic illness that wants to fix it or trying to fix it, maybe don't know how.

And you just get so you, we complicate things in our minds because it just feels complicated, you know, and MAP just seems to simplify it without without me even having to figure out how to simplify.

I really, I don't know how to describe it to someone truly unless they've done it and experienced a session, but yeah, I mean, if you ask my husband, like I am an overthinker, I will spiral, that's what he tells me you're spiraling.

And yeah, without me even having to try to figure it out, it is accomplished for me through a MAP session. And that's been amazing because for years I've spent researching and reading and googling and going on these Facebook pages and these support groups and trying to figure out what all these symptoms mean and what all this is.

And then I come here and I talk to you and it's just, it's so simple, you know, I don't know how else to describe it.

And has your husband noticed the difference?

He has, yep, he says it all the time I can tell a difference and you know, actually, I think I've convinced him to do a couple of MAP sessions with you as well.

He's like insanely busy with his work schedule, but he wants to try to figure out where he can squeeze in a couple sessions because I said to him, this is, it's so, it's amazing.

And he has done EDMR, he's done traumatic things happen to him in the past. He has PTSD.

And I really feel like it would benefit him a lot too. And I think, initially, he was like, what is this? What are you doing?

You know, but he supports me always through any of these wacky things that I have tried in the past. So, you know, I said it's a therapy, you know, it's like EDMR.

And he was like, you know, go for it. And now he's seen how much less stressed I am. He even commented because we got a puppy recently, which was one of those things that I said, you know, my son and my husband have always wanted a puppy.

And for me, it was always way too overwhelming to even entertain the idea of, of having a dog.

And now we have one. And he has even said to me, you know, this would have thrown you for a loop.

Potty training a dog. I live in Pittsburgh and it has literally rained every day almost since we got this dog.

So potty training, a dog that does not want to go outside in the rain is stressful and frustrating.

And he was like, this would have thrown you for an absolute loop. You would have had some sort of flare, you know, of your symptoms in the past. And I haven't.

So, yeah, he's on board for sure. He's noticed.

And so, you know, would you recommend MAP? I guess you just answered this question.

Would you recommend the MAP method to others? And for what reasons? You know, I mean, you came to see me because of physical issues, right?

Chronic health issues. But we haven't really been working with that. We've been working with more of the emotional, the mental level, right?

Because what I have found is that for chronic health issues, by working on an emotional and mental level, we can have an effect eventually, right?

It does seem to take the cumulative effect of a number of sessions, but we can have an effect on the physical level.

Because in some way, the emotional and mental patterns, right, are kind of keeping you in this holding pattern of not healing.

So when we can start to resolve those, then suddenly, healing becomes much more possible. We optimize your body's healing capabilities.

So you don't have your thyroid numbers back yet. You don't know what's happened there, but I'll be very curious to hear.

I know. I know. I'm excited to get that done.

Yeah. So would you recommend this method and, you know, for whom or for what reason?

I would recommend it to anybody truly. I mean, like I said before, I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that were in the same spot that I was in, haven't tried so many other things.

You know, and feeling like there's just this missing piece that I can't figure out in a lot of functional medicine doctors will say, let's do more testing.

You must have some kind of virus or bacteria or maybe you have mold in your house or maybe it's this or maybe it's that, you know, and then you go again on like this spiral.

So if there's someone out there that feels like, you know, they've been working on those kind of things for such a long time and, and they're still having symptoms or they're still not totally better, I would recommend MAP.

I mean, I would recommend for anybody, not even someone that has a chronic illness, you know, or an autoimmune issue like me, just someone that has went through something and it doesn't have to be something super traumatic.

You know, I mean, we worked on my dad's suicide all the way to me, biting my nails. You know, it doesn't have to be some kind of big, crazy traumatic life event.

And also I wish that I would have known about this earlier on because like I said in the beginning, I watched my health fall apart and I watched all of these symptoms kind of tumble down on top of each other.

Right before I got COVID, I went through something super, super, super stressful with family and it definitely took a toll on me mentally and then I got COVID and then on top of COVID and this massive stress or that I had just went through, then I was stressed about COVID.

What's going to happen? Are we going to be locked inside forever? Are we going to be affected financially for how long are we going to be affected financially? All of these different things.

And I wish that I would have known about MAP earlier on because if I would have looked at the whole picture, I would have been able to see that stress and anxiety and these mental weights had a lot to do with this cascade of things that had happened to me.

But yeah, I mean, I would recommend MAP to anybody truly because it can help with anything. For me, it has helped me with any issue, bigger, small that I have had.

And I'm excited to work with you on dairy sensitivity. Hopefully we can do that in our next session. I find that is amazing and crazy that you can help people with that too. So I'm looking forward to doing that as well.

Yeah, yeah, that's where I started.

You know, neural retraining for allergies and sensitivities, so I was a nutritional therapy practitioner. That was the kind of sensitivity is was the kind of thing I was seeing a lot of and my client tell.

And they weren't really that interested in taking all these foods out of their diet. They were like, how do I get rid of this? I was like, I don't know.

You see how I, if I can figure this out, I learned a basic method of neural retraining. It was helpful, but not in all situations. I thought I need something more than that and I found this.

And you know, I think to just to simply answer your question, I mean, sensitivity is really it's a pattern in the subconscious mind, right? At one time you could eat these things and you're fine.

And then something happened and your danger sensing part of your brain started to regard this food group or whatever as a threat.

So now it is calling for a response from your immune system.

And saying, whoa, dairy, not okay, nope, won't have it, right? It has inappropriately identified a food substance, something that should be benign, as something that is a threat, right?

And the brain, of course, runs the immune system.

The brain is the boss of the immune system. And so when the brain says we have a threat, then the immune system goes into action, cause our symptoms.

So when we can deprogram the subconscious mind around that and then this can take more than one session, right?

This is usually multiple session thing, but when we can deprogram that, then we can gradually reintroduce the food substance and just continuing to consciously tell ourselves, this is, this is food.

All foods are nourishing and healthy for me, right? Like reinforcing the positive outlook we want to have on this thing that we want to build tolerance for, right?

Because in a way, when you have a sensitivity or sensitivity reaction, it's like some part of your subconscious mind has lost its tolerance for this.

It's like, no.

And you have, we have to gradually reintroduce the, you know, deprogram and then start reintroducing the food item or whatever it is.

It may be dust, you know, for a different person or pollen or pet dander, it might be fragrances or some chemicals, maybe something else.

For some people, it's, you know, heat, it's sunlight, it's sounds. I mean, people can become sensitive to anything.

But it's all about what is going on the subconscious mind. So that is what brought me to this, to this, yeah.

Then I realized I had a tool that could be applied much more generally, right?

It can address things on the emotional level, mental level and the physical level, but that is kind of the order, I think, of the improvements, right?

First we start to see things improve on an emotional level, then we start to see the mental patterns, start to shift change.

And then we start to see improvements on a physical level.

Yeah, I'm excited to try to try the sensitivity part of it because I've done a AIP, you know, the autoimmune protocol (diet), and that's not fun.

So if there's like an easier softer way, which I feel like truly that's what MAP is for almost everything, is just an easier softer way of getting to where you want to be.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to it for sure. I feel like with AIP, whenever I was doing AIP, I was in such a heightened state of symptoms that it was for sure helpful with AIP, if someone is not familiar with it, you cut out a lot of, a lot of foods.

You're pretty limited with what you can eat and I almost feel like it just gets you to this baseline removes a lot of inflammation so that you can heal in different aspects if you're doing, you know, a protocol of supplements or something like that.

I think it frees up more of your body space to be able to do that.

I don't necessarily know if for me it got rid of sensitivities, but it did. I mean, I felt better while I was doing it, but it's not fun.

So, yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Yeah, I don't see why it why MAP wouldn't help me without if it's helped me with all of these other gigantic things that have been weighing on me.

I don't see why it wouldn't work without to so yeah, I'm excited.

Well, thank you so much, Nikki. It's been a real pleasure to have this conversation with you and I really appreciate you taking your time to talk with us today.

Or yeah, thank you so much for having my appreciate it.

Thanks for joining us for the flourish with Neural Retraining podcast. Please listen again and remember to follow us and leave a review on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, or Pandora.

Check out our free courses about the MAP method and all of our MAP programs at MAPforhealth.us.

Or schedule your introductory MAP session at tcneuralretraining.com. Until the next time, be well and flourish.

[Music]

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for Emotional and Physical Weight with Jelena Katić Ujević

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 15:11:52 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 75 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

How advanced neural retraining can resolve emotional weight.
Why emotional weight often leads to self-defeating behaviors and physical weight gain.
How the Neuro ReShape Program can help you to make healthier choices naturally.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 75 where we hear from Jelena Katić Ujević, MAP Coach and Trainer for the MAP Coaching Institute, about her new program for emotional and physical weight. Hear about the insights she gained by working with clients to achieve weight loss by processing unresolved painful emotions. Learn more about the role of the stress response in weight gain and loss, and why loving yourself may be the necessary precursor to making healthier choices.

In this episode we discuss:

Why eating right and exercising doesn’t always lead to weight loss.
Why releasing emotional weight is an important first step.
The significance of emotional stress on health and weight.
How early life trauma changes our default response to stress.
Why we may not have learned how to cope with emotional stress and how that contributes to emotional weight.
How the subconscious mind remembers abuses associated with being attractive, and how those can become blocks to weight loss.
How advanced neural retraining with MAP sessions can release unresolved pain and allow for changes in behaviors and habits.
The research behind the program and the results for the early participants.
The format of the program for the Basic and Premium options.
Why subliminal audio files are Jelena’s preferred format.

Learn more about Jelena’s Neuro ReShape program and register for a free 7-day trial.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may be interested in a previous episode: How to Use Your Mind to Heal Your Body , or my interview with Colette Streicher, LMSW , the founder of the MAP Method in episode 30.

To learn more about the MAP Method, please visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses. To schedule MAP sessions please book online at TCNeuralRetraining.com .

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP Method FAQs with Amy Soule

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 17:43:21 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 31 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

How MAP sessions improved Amy's autoimmune condition.
Why the MAP Method is gentle, fast and safe.
How MAP is used for trauma healing and the benefits for physical, mental and emotional health

Show Notes

Join me for episode 31 where we will talk with Amy Soule, a counselor and MAP Method™ practitioner from Texas. We discuss Frequently Asked Questions about the advanced neural retraining technique known as the MAP Method. Hear how she resolved severe brain fog, allergies/sensitivities and autoimmune symptoms with MAP sessions. Learn how it works, why it is safe, and applications for emotional, mental and physical health. Listen until the end to learn how you can contact Amy for more information.

In this episode we discuss:

How Amy discovered the MAP Method™.
How MAP sessions resolved her joint pain, brain fog, and allergies/sensitivities.
How she uses the MAP Method with her clients.
How the method works and why it is gentle, fast and safe.
Brent Baum’s work with trauma resolution and how it impacts addictions, physical and mental health, much like the MAP Method.
Results we have seen with clients from MAP sessions.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t miss episode 30 for a more in depth discussion on how trauma impacts health.

Learn more about MAP for allergies and sensitivities at TCNeuralRetraining. com.

For more information about Amy Soule or to schedule a consultation with her, please visit: www.amysoule.com

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for Cancer - Kathy's Story

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 17:26:10 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 42 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

How Kathy worked with 3 Radical Remission factors in MAP sessions.
Her experience of her first MAP session and what was memorable about it.
Why releasing stuck emotions optimizes our healing capacity.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 42 where we talk with my client, Kathy, about her experience with the advanced neural retraining technique, known as the MAP Method, for stage 4 breast cancer. We discuss the book Radical Remission by Kelly A. Turner, PhD and the three radical remission factors that we worked on using the MAP Method. Hear Kathy talk about the connection between stuck emotions and cancer and why releasing them was a key to her recovery.

In this episode we discuss:

Kathy’s training in massage therapy, Reiki, EFT, cranio-sacral, Matrix Energetics, Healing Touch and more, all of which have an emotional release component.
How she experienced her first MAP session and the feeling of calm that followed.
How MAP sessions have helped her be more mindful of her thoughts and reactions.
Her insights about the negative emotions that were “eating her” to the presence of cancer that was “eating her” on a physiological level.
The benefits she gained from MAP sessions, including stronger reasons for living, improved sleep, deepened spiritual connections, and feelings of peace and joy.
Comparison of the effectiveness of the MAP Method with therapy or body work for resolving stuck emotions.
We discuss the benefits of releasing stuck emotions as a prevention strategy.
How patterns of anxiety and other negative emotions can amplify current experiences of anxiety.
How MAP sessions can help shift a sympathetic-dominant person to a parasympathetic state to enable optimization of other treatments and therapies.
Benefits of MAP sessions as an adjunct to conventional treatments.

Don’t miss episode 29 where the founder of the MAP Method™ of advanced neural retraining talks about the origins of the method, the research behind it and the applications .

For more information about MAP for chronic health issues, please join our Facebook group TCNeuralRetraining or visit MindReMAPforHealth.com to sign up for your introductory MAP package, or a free 15-minute consultation by phone.

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for Emotional Trauma - Aaron's Story

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 17:18:16 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 41 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

How MAP sessions can heal the painful emotions from past events.
How we can harness the power of the subconscious mind to neutralize clusters of memories with the same emotional tone at the same time.
Why makes MAP sessions so easy to engage with.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 41 where we talk with my client Aaron about his experience with MAP sessions, a method of advanced neural retraining, for emotional trauma from childhood experiences. The MAP Method can address memories of all kinds including the emotional and the physical, for example trauma from injuries or surgeries, and this includes unconsciously held memories. Hear about what it is like to be in a MAP session, the emotional, mental and physical benefits he experienced after 3 sessions and why he would recommend the method to others.

In this episode we discuss:

How Aaron learned about the MAP Method and why he decided to try it.
Aaron’s experience with talk therapy and how it compares with MAP.
How working with a childhood trauma memory in a MAP session changed his relationship to it and unburdened him in more ways than he expected.
The framework we use in MAP sessions and how clients are initiated to the method.
Why we choose an emotional topic for the introductory 60-minute session.
What we mean when we talk about “neutralizing” memories.
How MAP allows us to harness the power of the subconscious to neutralize painful emotions around a traumatic memory and all the associations to it.
How working with trauma memories, disempowering beliefs or unwanted emotional responses can change mental, behavioral and physical patterns.
The emotional, mental and physical shifts Aaron noticed after three sessions.
The science that underlies the MAP Method and recommended resources for learning more.
How your subconscious rewires itself during a session and the safeguards that make the method easy and safe.
How you can use the MAP Method on yourself after the first session.

Don’t miss episode 40 where we hear Helen’s story about using the MAP Method to resolve chronic pain from an autoimmune condition and food sensitivities.

For more information about MAP sessions, please visit MindReMAPforHealth.com to sign up for your introductory MAP package, or a free 15-minute consultation by phone.

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for Chronic Pain - Helen's Story

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 17:08:53 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 40 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Why Helen describes MAP sessions as "simple yet profound."
How other neural retraining methods she tried compare to the MAP Method.
The mind-body connection and how working with the mind can resolved chronic pain patterns.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 40 where we talk with my client, Helen Scharber, about her experience with MAP sessions, a method of advanced neural retraining, for her chronic pain from an autoimmune condition known as Ankylosing Spondylitis and food sensitivities. Hear about what it is like to be in a MAP session, the benefits she received from a set of 6 sessions and why she would recommend the method to others.

In this episode we discuss:

Helen’s health journey, which has included 20 years of chronic pain from an autoimmune rheumatic condition known as Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS).
How her food sensitivities made her AS symptoms worse and methods she had tried to resolve them.
Why she decided to try working with her subconscious mind to resolve food sensitivities.
Other basic neural retraining methods (EMDR, tapping) and how they compare to MAP.
How she found the MAP Method, and why she decided to work with me.
Description of the MAP Method and the role of the practitioner.
How your subconscious mind reveals its programming through MAP sessions.
Why Helen describes MAP sessions as “easy and relaxing” and also “simple yet profound.”
How, after a few months, Helen’s chronic pain subsided and most of her food sensitivities have resolved.
The waxing and waning of physical symptoms through the MAP process and why she found it “comforting.”
We discuss Dr. John Sarno’s work and the mind-body connection.
Her informal ROI calculation of costs vs. benefits of MAP sessions.

Don’t miss episode 33 where we discuss the MAP Method for complex chronic conditions with Functional Medicine specialist, Cathy Moore.

To learn more about the MAP Method please visit MindReMAPforHealth.com to sign up for your introductory MAP package, or a free 15-minute consultation by phone.

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for High Blood Pressure - Derrick's Story

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 23:30:49 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 44 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

How MAP sessions improved his blood pressure, food sensitivities, hayfever, and pain.
How the subconscious mind affects our emotional, mental and physical patterns.
How MAP compares with hypnotherapy, and why it is a good alternative for those that are not easily hypnotized.

Show Notes

In this episode we discuss:

Derrick’s interest in hypnotherapy and how he found the MAP Method.
How he learned about my work and decided to try a set of sessions for his chronic health issues.
The positive results from a set of sessions for anxiety, high blood pressure, and career issues.
Derrick’s impressions of his first MAP session via Zoom videoconference.
How the subconscious mind influences every aspect of our lives, including physical patterns (symptoms).
The changes he noticed in his food sensitivities and hayfever.
How the impact of sessions unfolded over days--including shifts in perception and empowerment.
Why Derrick recommends the MAP Method to others and why it’s quicker than talk therapy.
How working with the mind affects the autonomic nervous system and the immune system and how that affects chronic health conditions.

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for COVID Long - Rachael's Story

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 23:22:31 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 45 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

How recorded MAP sessions improved her Long COVID symptoms, including distortions in taste and smell.
How working with emotional and mental patterns in the mind can resolve physical symptoms.
Comparison of the MAP Method to other methods she'd tried including specialists, supplements, acupuncture and Reiki.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 45 where we talk with my client, Rachael from Leicester, England, about her experience with the online, self-paced MAP for COVID program and the improvements she saw in her symptoms and her emotional and mental outlook after 4 weeks. The MAP Method, for those of you who are not familiar, is an advanced method of neural retraining.

A note about this program: I developed it for COVID long-haulers because I had seen research about how anti-anxiety medications were being used to lessen the severity and duration of COVID-19 symptoms. I immediately realized that if anxiety was related to symptom severity, that we could use neural retraining to accomplish the same effect. Listen until the end to hear why she feels it is a better approach than the others she had tried.

In this episode we discuss:

How Rachael learned about the MAP Method.
How Rachael had used MAP sessions in the past to resolve anxiety and fears.
Her long-standing COVID symptoms, including fatigue, headache, dizziness, irritable bowel and distorted/diminished sense of smell and taste.
All the methods she tried to resolve her COVID symptoms: specialists, supplements, reflexology, acupuncture, Reiki and more.
The changes she noticed as she moved through each week of the program.
Why she calls the program a “turning point” in her recovery from COVID.
The “big improvement” she experienced with her senses of taste and smell after 4 weeks of doing the program.
The pros and cons of live MAP sessions vs. the recorded sessions in the program.
The benefits of neural retraining over taking medications and why she recommends the program to others.

Don’t miss episode 29 where the founder of the MAP Method™ of advanced neural retraining talks about the origins of the method, the research behind it and the applications. For more information about the MAP For COVID program visit MAPforHealth.us . To learn more about the method or other health applications, or to schedule a free consultation by phone visit MindReMAPforHealth.com

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for Immune Dysfunction - Dawn's Story

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 23:08:56 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 47 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

How advanced neural retraining resolved her chronic symptoms, including MCAS, pain, and sensitivities.
Why the mind-body approach can optimize healing, alongside other therapies.
How MAP sessions compare with EMDR and talk therapy.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 47 where we talk with my client, Dawn, who was interested in the MAP Method to address Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), histamine sensitivities, neck and shoulder pain, skin issues, fatigue, mild asthma, and tinnitus. Hear about the benefits she experienced from a set of 6 sessions including the significant reduction of her physical symptoms.

In this episode we discuss:

The mind-body approach and how it compares to the medical approach.
The ACEs study conclusions about the impact of early trauma on lifelong risk of addictions, chronic health issues, early death, and risk of autoimmune conditions.
The benefits she received from talk therapy and EMDR and why she describes MAP sessions as much easier and gentler.
The powerful insights she received during MAP sessions.
How she felt after sessions: more relaxed and mentally focused.
The initiation process to the MAP Method: easy and quick.
The improvements in emotional stability and reduction in symptoms she noticed after several MAP sessions.
Why she describes the changes as durable.
Demystifying the MAP process--not about reprogramming the mind in terms of the personality.
The premise behind mind-body healing: Physical symptoms can be alleviated by working with the psychodynamic factors that underlie them.
Using MAP audio recordings to resolve symptoms between sessions.

Don’t miss episode 33 where functional medicine specialist, Cathy Moore, talks about the MAP Method for complex chronic conditions . For more information about the MAP Method, how it is used for health issues, or to schedule a free consultation by phone please visit MindReMAPforHealth.com

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for Limbic Dysregulation - Tena's Story

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 22:58:31 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 48 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

The connection between trauma and limbic and immune dysfunction.
How working with the stressors that preceded a decline in health can be helpful.
How MAP sessions helped her chronic EBV symptoms, and sensitivities.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 48 where we talk with my client, Tena, who was interested in the MAP Method to address immune and limbic system dysregulation as well as chronic Epstein Barr Virus (EBV), and sensitivities to mold and foods. Hear about the benefits she experienced from four sessions including mental/emotional shifts and improvement of her physical symptoms.

In this episode we discuss:

How Tena made the connection between a dysregulated limbic system, immune dysfunction and her chronic health issues.
How stressful events exacerbated her symptoms and how that has improved with MAP Method sessions.
How traumatic experiences can alter the function of the limbic system and cause the immune system to overreact to relatively harmless stimuli (foods, airborne irritants) and underreact to true threats (bacteria, virus, fungus).
The stressors that precipitated the decline in her health.
Tena’s interest in resolving the root cause to improve the function of her immune system, and alleviate the symptoms.
Her perception of her brain activity in response to MAP instructions and how that differs from most people.
How the emotional intensity of memories is neutralized during a session and how this changes mental, emotional and physical patterns.
Why she is “sold on” the MAP Method and the benefits it provides.
The benefits she observed after MAP sessions, including feeling less compulsive about needing to maintain communications with others.
The gradual breaking down of emotional, behavioral or physical patterns over the course of a set of MAP sessions.
The improvements in her chronic symptoms after each session, including chronic EBV and sensitivities.

Don’t miss episode 45 where we hear from my client Rachael about the benefits of the MAP Method for COVID long-haulers . For more information about the MAP Method, applications for chronic health issues, or to schedule a free consultation by phone, please visit MindReMAPforHealth.com

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for Thyroid Health - Melissa's Story

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 22:45:43 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 49 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

The impact of traumas throughout life on chronic health issues.
Why working with the mind can be the missing puzzle piece in your healing journey.
How neural retraining can resolve the cell danger response.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 49 where we talk with my client and fellow Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP), Melissa Manning, who was interested in the MAP Method to address hypothyroidism, back pain, digestive function, and sleep issues. Hear about the benefits she experienced from 7 sessions including mental, emotional and physical shifts, and the improvement of her thyroid function.

In this episode we discuss:

How Melissa had tried “all the things” for her thyroid health (Hashimoto’s thyroiditis) including diet changes and a functional medicine approach.
How subconscious stressors can impact our health.
Although she didn’t have significant adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), lifetime traumas can have an impact.
The emotional shifts during a session vs. the shifts that unfold in the weeks afterward.
How our work in sessions reduced negative emotional responses and behaviors.
The physical benefits she noted: reduction in lower back pain, improved sleep and digestion, less hair shedding, improved thyroid numbers.
Dr. Balcavage’s work with cellular hypothyroidism and the impact of the cell danger response.
The emotional benefits--handling relationships and stress better.
The behavioral shifts--ease in self-expression and openness.
Why there can be a delay between sessions and improvements in physical symptoms.
Why she describes the MAP Method as not hard, not painful, but passive and soothing.
Why she believes anyone could benefit from MAP sessions and why she has referred others.

To learn more about the work of Dr. Eric Balcavage in cellular hypothyroidism and the Cell Danger Response you can listen to our conversation about MAP for Emotional Fitness in episode 88 of the Thyroid Answers podcast.

For more information about the MAP Method, applications for chronic health issues, to schedule an introductory session (60 min), or a free consultation by phone please visit MindReMAPforHealth.com

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for Relationship Stress - Client Stories

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 22:32:55 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 51 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

How we can resolve emotional patterns of response to relationship issues.
Why unconscious sources of stress, including relationship issues, negatively impact our emotional and physical health.
How previous relationship issues amplify current relationship issues.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 51 where I will talk about using the MAP Method of advanced neural retraining to resolve relationship issues. We’ll hear about Scott who had a complex relationship issue with his sister-in-law, Shelly who struggled with poor treatment from her mother-in-law, Hallie who had friction with her administrator at work, and Kate who was caring for an elderly parent who was verbally abusive.

In this episode we discuss:

How Kristen and I spent a session working on her relationship with her brother and the amazing results she reported in episode 35.
The theme of interpersonal relationships and how they contribute to symptoms and chronic health conditions as evidenced by Helen’s story (episode 40), Kathy’s story (episode 42), Derrick’s story (episode 44) and Tena’s story (episode 48).
Why stress from unresolved relationship conflict impacts our health.
How we use advanced neural retraining techniques to work with relationship issues.
How tangential issues can complicate relationship issues, as they did for Scott.
How previous experiences exacerbate current relationship issues, as they did for Shelly.
How fears and environmental triggers amplified the negative feelings in Hallie’s case.
How even long-term seemingly intractable issues can be resolved as was the case with Kate.

Don’t miss episode 35 where my client Kristen Cornett originally described her experiences with the MAP Method for relationship stress around her brother. For more information about the MAP Method, applications for chronic health issues, or to schedule a your 60-minute Introductory session please visit MindReMAPforHealth.com

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for Painful Memories - Client Stories

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 17:11:26 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 52 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

How we can neutralize painful emotions associated with trauma.
Why unconscious sources of stress, including unprocessed trauma, negatively impact our emotional and physical health.
How painful childhood memories impact the personality, and what you can do about it.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 52 where I will talk about using the MAP Method of advanced neural retraining to resolve painful emotional memories. We’ll hear about Nathan who was teased and humiliated for years at school, Patricia who was threatened at gunpoint, Ava who had experienced verbal and emotional abuse through childhood, and Mindy who felt rejected by her father and step-father.

In this episode we discuss:

How unprocessed trauma is a significant, but unrecognized, source of stress.
How painful memories, especially from childhood, shape the personality.
How acute and ongoing traumas can be neutralized and greatly improve our ability to cope with a difficult situation.
How emotional abuse in childhood can create negative self-talk patterns.
How clearing painful memories around rejection can alleviate social anxiety.
Why unresolved trauma memories continue to affect us subconsciously and impact our ability to heal.
How treating intense emotional memories reduces the stress load, changes our response to stress and resolves the state of sympathetic dominance to accelerate healing.

Don’t miss episode 41, MAP for Emotional Trauma where my client Aaron describes his experiences around clearing painful emotional memories. For more information about the MAP Method, applications for chronic health issues, or to schedule a your 60-minute Introductory session please visit MindReMAPforHealth.com

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for Hypothyroidism and Food Sensitivities - Frances' Story

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 17:01:03 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 53 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

How we address low thyroid function with MAP sessions.
Why Frances now believes that the mind is involved in all chronic health conditions.
How releasing unresolved emotions can have positive emotional, mental and physical effects.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 53 where we will talk to Frances Carney, my client from Australia. Hear how she learned about the MAP Method from her doctor, and why she decided to try it for low thyroid function, brain fog, muscle tension, and food sensitivities. Listen as she describes the emotional, mental and physical improvements she experienced even after the first session, and why she says: “Nothing else has given me similar results.”

In this episode we discuss:

Why Dr. Balcavage, an expert in cellular hypothyroidism, suggested the MAP Method to her and the “dramatic” results she has noticed.
The very remarkable results from her first session and how they lasted for a few weeks.
How she’s been able to reduce her thyroid meds and feels more energetic than before after 8 sessions spread out over 6+ months.
How all her thyroid symptoms have improved by 50-80% as a result of our sessions.
The positive emotional and mental benefits from sessions: Feeling calmer and more relaxed and less reactive to negative situations, feeling more clear-headed after sessions, less brain fog.
How the MAP for Sensitivities online self-paced program worked to address her food sensitivities and how she’s been able to reintroduce 70% of the foods she’d previously avoided.
Despite the fact that she had not had any significant traumas, how working with painful memories helped. And how she now understands that unresolved emotions were a factor in her chronic symptoms.
How she had tried everything–diet, meds, stress reduction, meditation, yoga, supplements, other modalities–for a year and a half with a thyroid specialist and finally decided to address emotional issues.
How MAP is easier and quicker than talk therapy.
Why Frances now believes that the mind is a factor in all chronic conditions and recommends the MAP Method for emotional and physical issues.
Applications for MAP including anxiety, depression, trauma healing, unwanted behaviors, personality traits, attitudes, career or financial blocks and more.

Check out the Thyroid Answers Podcast, episode 88 to hear Dr. Balcavage, Dr. Halderman and I discuss the MAP Method for cellular hypothyroidism. For more information about the MAP Method, applications for chronic health issues, or to schedule a your 60-minute Introductory MAP session please visit MindReMAPforHealth.com

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for Obsessive Thoughts and Anxiety - Lea's Story

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 01:06:59 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 54 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Meet my client, Lea, and hear about her experience with MAP sessions.
How MAP sessions have helped her emotionally, mentally and physically.
How the subconscious mind neutralizes traumas to facilitate behavior changes.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 54 where we will talk to my client, Lea, about her experience with MAP sessions. Hear how she learned about the MAP Method from her functional medicine practitioner, and why she decided to try it for relationship OCD, and anxiety. Listen to her comparison of the MAP Method to EMDR, tapping and talk therapy and why she recommends MAP for “anyone experiencing anything.”

In this episode we discuss:

Why Dr. Balcavage, a functional medicine expert in thyroid conditions, recommended MAP for her emotional stress.
How Lea compares her experience with MAP sessions vs. EMDR, tapping and talk therapy.
Why she describes MAP sessions as gentle and not overwhelming.
How MAP sessions leave her feeling calm and less stressed.
The after effects of a MAP session and how these may be more pronounced after sleep.
How MAP sessions get to root causes in the subconscious mind.
How different types of people experience MAP sessions.
How the work she has done with Dr. Balcavage and MAP sessions has improved her hormonal balance.
How the subconscious mind finds and neutralizes the small “t” and big “T” traumas related to the topic of the session.
Why watching the 15-minute preparatory video before your first session is essential.
Her advice to anyone who is curious to try the MAP Method.

Check out episode 36 with Dr. Kelly Halderman to hear more about the MAP Method for emotional stress . For more information about the MAP Method, applications for chronic health issues, or to schedule your 60-minute Introductory MAP session please visit MindReMAPforHealth.com

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma .
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for Anxiety - Client Stories

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 00:52:19 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 55 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

How we work with anxiety patterns in MAP sessions.
Why emotional patterns may resolve for a while and then be re-triggered.
How releasing subconsciously-held fear memories can resolve anxiety.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 55 where I will discuss how we use the MAP Method of advanced neural retraining to resolve long-standing patterns of anxiety. Hear about Alex and how generalized anxiety can be associated with gut issues. Listen to Carter’s experience of acute anxiety and how early life trauma can predispose us to panic attacks. We’ll also talk about Andy and how complex factors can promote anxiety including perfectionism, empath tendencies, and anxiety about anxiety.

In this episode we discuss:

How emotional issues, like anxiety, can be linked to physical issues and even impact sleep.
How anxiety patterns are tied to unconsciously-held fears.
How frozen or repressed emotional memories exacerbate stressful situations in our current life.
How early life trauma can predispose us to a “freeze” response to stressors.
How the subconscious mind starts to reveal the associations during a session, including “big T” and “little t” traumas.
Why emotional patterns may improve for a while and then come back, indicating that there are more roots to the pattern.
Negative thoughts and beliefs reinforce emotions like anxiety and depression.
Inner conflicts and personality traits, like perfectionism are other contributing factors.
Trauma experiences can create behaviors: racing mind, hypervigilance, negative self-talk, etc. MAP sessions have impact at all levels: emotional, mental/behavioral and physical.
Sometimes working with a painful memory in a MAP session will produce a shift in perspective that changes our relationship to the memory and our emotional response to similar situations.

Don’t miss episode 54 where my client, Lea, described her experiences with the MAP Method for anxiety and obsessive thoughts . To learn more about the MAP Method and how it works, visit mapforhealth.us, where you’ll also find our MAP Program offerings. Or, if you’d like to schedule a 60-minute Introductory MAP session please visit MindReMAPforHealth.com .

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

Understanding MAP Part II with Dr. Alia Paquette

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 18:16:12 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 70 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

We demystify the MAP Method with insightful questions from Dr. Alia Paquette.
Learn how MAP Practitioners work and what happens in a MAP session.
Learn how the subconscious mind heals itself in sessions.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 70 where my client, Dr. Alia Paquette, joins me again to ask even more questions about the MAP Method and how it works. Having had 20 or more MAP sessions herself over the last 2 years, she is well acquainted with the Method. To hear her story about how MAP Method sessions have helped her through traumatic times, including a bout of pancreatic cancer, please listen to my conversation with her in episode 67.

In this episode we discuss:

How Practitioners use muscle checking to guide a MAP session.
How the Practitioner monitors multiple streams of information during a session.
How MAP Practitioners protect themselves from taking on the trauma of their clients.
The value of working with a MAP Practitioner includes having cleared enough of our own stuff to be a clear channel for others, and being able to identify patterns in others.
Why MAP sessions are gentle, easy and private. Unlike talk therapy you don’t have to share too much about the painful memory you want to work with.
In the MAP Method your subconscious mind is healing itself.
How we work with children in MAP Method sessions.
How my work with the MAP Method has influenced my relationship with Western medicine.
How emotional balance sets us up for optimal health.
How engaging in the MAP process enhances other treatment methods.
The resources that I provide as part of my practice for those that are interested in learning more.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t miss part I of this conversation in Episode 68: Understanding MAP with Dr. Alia Paquette, where we discuss her first set of questions about the MAP Method and how it works.

To learn more about the MAP Method, please visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at MindReMAPforHealth.com .

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
Read about the MAP Method and how it compares to EFT and EMDR.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method--How Does it Work?

MAP for Chronic Pain - Client Stories

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 18:04:11 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 74 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

How the brain is involved in pain perception.
Why the mind becomes hyper-responsive to pain signals.
How releasing subconscious stress can help.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 74 where I will talk about how and why we can retrain the brain for chronic pain symptoms. This includes back pain, joint pain, muscle aches, headaches, migraines, scar pain or pain from old injuries, and pain from conditions like arthritis and fibromyalgia. I will describe some examples of this with my clients, and my own stories of pain relief as well. I will talk a little bit about the MAP Program for Chronic Pain, and how it can be used alongside live sessions with a practitioner.

In this episode I discuss:

The role of the subconscious mind in pain perception.
How the brain can become hyper-responsive to pain impulses.
The phenomenon of phantom pain, and shock.
Sarno principles: pain and repressed emotions, the plight of the “perfect” and the “good.”
How we use the MAP Method to work with the subconscious mind to find root causes of pain patterns.
How ten minutes of toxic thoughts can lead to 10 hours of pain.
How unrecognized emotional stress can be expressed as back pain.
Client stories illustrating how subconscious emotional stress, triggers, beliefs, behaviors and resistance can amplify and prolong pain.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy hearing Helen’s story in episode 40: MAP for Chronic Pain where she talks about her autoimmune condition, ankylosing spondylitis, and the pain relief she experienced after a set of MAP sessions. To learn more about the molecules of emotion and their effect on health, listen to episode 60: MAP for Emotional Causes of Illness.

To learn more about the MAP Method, please visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses and our MAP Programs, including the MAP Introduction Program. To schedule a MAP session please book online at TCNeuralRetraining.com.

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

How to Use Your Mind to Heal Your Body

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 00:14:28 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 71 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

How use your mind to optimize healing.
7 ways you may be using your mind to prolong chronic health issues.
Daily practices to promote wellness.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 71 where I will talk about how to use your mind to optimize the healing capacity of your body. These are practices that you can pursue on your own, outside of MAP sessions, that are complementary to MAP or any other form of neural retraining.

While MAP is a fast and gentle method of releasing emotions, changing patterns of negative thoughts, quieting the inner critic, changing beliefs and perspectives, and even changing patterns of behavior like people-pleasing -- there is more that you can do with your conscious mind.

In this episode I discuss:

The role of stress and how it affects your healing capabilities.
How stress blocks all restorative functions of the body
7 ways you could be using your mind to prolong chronic illness
Conscious versus subconscious sources of stress.
How MAP sessions can help with subconscious sources of stress and negative mental patterns.
How the predisposition to chronic illness is often established in the subconscious mind by traumatic events in childhood.
10 ways to manage your conscious mind to promote healing
Helpful practices you can incorporate into your day to optimize wellness.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may be interested in the related episodes that were mentioned: Episode 30: The Impact of Trauma on Chronic Health Issues , Episode 52: MAP for Painful Memories and Episode 60: MAP for the Emotional Causes of Illness .

To learn more about the MAP Method, please visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at TCNeuralRetraining.com .

Transcript

*Please note: Transcript generated by AI, accuracy not guaranteed.*

[music]

Welcome to the Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast. I'm your host, Madeleine Lowry, founder of Twin Cities Neural Retraining, and a certified MAP Method practitioner specializing in anxiety,

sensitivities, and chronic symptoms and conditions.

Join me for episode 71, where I will talk about how to use your mind to optimize the healing capacity of your body. These are practices that you can pursue outside of map sessions that are complementary to MAP or any other form of neural retraining. While MAP is a fast and gentle method of releasing emotions, changing patterns of negative thoughts, quieting the inner critic, changing beliefs and perspectives, and even changing patterns of behavior, like people pleasing, there is more that you can do with your conscious mind.

Believe me, I didn't know this at the beginning of my journey as a MAP practitioner, but after working with hundreds of clients in almost 2,000 MAP sessions, and observing how the mind works, I know that it is not all about the subconscious mind. Your conscious mind matters as well.

By the end of this podcast, I want you to appreciate that thoughts and emotions are things, and though they may seem small and ephemeral, they are powerful and set the stage for health or illness. So no matter what treatments or modalities you are currently using, knowing how to use your mind is essential to recovery, and for many it is the missing puzzle piece.

As always, we must disclaim that the information we share in the podcast is for educational purposes only. As MAP Method practitioners, we do not diagnose or treat disease. Instead, we work with the mind to optimize health.

Are you ready to learn more? Good. Let's get started.

Now, if you are listening to this podcast, you likely have a chronic symptom or illness, or have a loved one who does. And you also have a life, and you have thoughts and emotional reactions to what happens in your life, and to your own state of health.

The basic concept for optimizing our mind body for health is simple to understand. It is a state of no stress. It is a state of relaxation.

Why? Because stress activates the fight, flight, or freeze response. And in that state, all healing functions of the body are sacrificed to gear up for an emergency. This includes essential functions like digestion, elimination, detoxification, hormone balance, fluid balance, nutrient uptake, wound healing, and even immune regulation.

The way to maintain a state of stress and block all restorative functions of the body is to keep your mind focused on a threat. That threat could be an unpaid bill, a deadline at work, the upcoming visit by your mother-in-law, your illness, or all of the above.

To make the point clear, let's describe how you can use your mind to intensify and prolong chronic illness.

Number one, you resist your illness. You fight with it. Flee from it, or numb yourself out.

You have thoughts like, "Why is this happening to me? This is so unfair. My body is betraying me. How can I make this go away? How can I fix this? Nothing ever works for me. No one can help me. I'm running out of time." And these thoughts produce negative emotions like sadness, frustration, despair, and hopelessness.

Number two, your mind is stuck in the past, second-guessing some decision that you've made,

or the future, and the fears of an unwanted future.

Number three, you focus, overly focus on your current condition, the state of your body, your physical health, and your mind is caught in an endless loop of scanning the body for symptoms.

Number four, you research your condition, your prognosis, and all possible treatments,

and effects and side effects.

Number five, you worry and catastrophize incessantly--every decision that you make from diet to supplements to activities, exposures, decisions about treatment options, practitioners, and on and on.

Number six, you join groups on social media, or in real life that are focused around your illness,

and you participate in many discussions about your illness.

Number seven, you identify with your illness, you let it define you, and you talk, and you think about it all of the time.

Now the mental and emotional patterns I've just described create a perfect storm for chronic illness. I want you to recognize any of these in yourself, or in your loved one. These repetitive, negative thoughts and emotions are self-reinforcing, creating a vicious cycle that makes us feel trapped.

I want you to remember what I said before. The ideal condition for healing is a

state of no stress. That is a state of inner peace.

I know that is paradoxical. A state of inner peace evokes the rest, digest, and heal response, which is the mode of the autonomic nervous system where all healing occurs.

Let me say that another way: When we are stuck in a state of stress, no healing can happen.

Mental and emotional stress exists on two levels, the conscious and the unconscious. What I've just described is stress created in the conscious mind. This is stress that you can alleviate once you understand how to manage your mind.

The stress is in your subconscious mind, such as unresolved trauma, habitual negative responses to everyday events, and some of the personality traits, such as people pleasing, conflict-avoiding,

being the fixer, the chameleon, and so forth, are best resolved through MAP sessions.

I want to briefly mention that a predisposition to chronic illness is often established in the subconscious mind when we are very young by traumatic events and childhood, and then reinforced by stressors that lead up to the development of symptoms.

Relieving these sources of subconscious stress through MAP sessions can be a game-changer. If you are interested in learning more about how that works, please listen to episode 30 about the impact of trauma and chronic illness, and episode 52 about MAP for painful memories.

So, how do we manage our conscious mind to promote healing? Let's review a few strategies.

1. Be present. Focus on your current reality, and catch yourself when your mind is jumping to fears from the past or the future.

2. Peaceful acceptance of what is, including your state of health.

3. Trust that things will be okay.

4. Focus on what is good. Make happiness your priority.

5. Change the preoccupation with body scanning. Instead of searching for what is ailing you, search for parts of your body that feel good, that feel okay.

6. Incorporate activities that you love into each day.

7. Maintain a positive outlook and mood, or at least a neutral one.

8. Only think about or research actionable issues.

Make your decision, and then let it go.

9. Minimize time on social media, or information about your condition. And

10. Focus on your motivations for getting better, and what you hope to do in the future.

Now I know that this is easier said than done, but once you understand the broad outlines,

you can take it one step at a time. If any of this feels particularly daunting, MAP sessions may be helpful for releasing the negative emotions, changing the mental patterns like worrying and catastrophizing, as well as relieving the subconscious mind from unresolved trauma.

If you have a history of obsessive thinking patterns, if you have a history of an eating disorder, or

traits such as perfectionism, managing your conscious mind may be more challenging,

and MAP sessions may be helpful.

If you would like to learn more about psychoneuroimmunology, or the science of how our thoughts and emotions affect our nervous system and our immune system, listen to episode 60 where I talk about Dr. Candice Perth's work in this area.

As Dr. Neil Nathan has said, "Unresolved negative emotions related to past trauma are a drain on the body's energy." And when those emotions are fully processed through practices like EMDR or MAP sessions, that energy becomes available for healing. This is another important principle to understand.

So let me talk briefly about a few helpful practices you may want to incorporate into your daily life.

Mindfulness meditation is an important practice for anyone with chronic illness. The goal of mindfulness meditation is to increase your awareness of what is happening, what is going through your mind. When you are more aware of the thoughts that are occupying your mind,

then you will have more success in being able to manage them. So step one is really becoming more aware.

There are many mindfulness practices out there, but a very simple beginner exercise would be

to sit in a comfortable position, and focus on the breath for five to ten minutes. Every time your mind wanders, notice where it goes and label it, such as worrying or planning, trying to fix something in the past. Once you have labeled it, bring your mind back to your breath.

Every time you bring your focus back to your breath, you are strengthening your powers of awareness. This will enable you to start to feel a bit of separation between who you are and your thoughts and emotions. And as a result, you will be less likely to be overwhelmed by negative thoughts and emotions.

The second practice I would like to recommend is gratitude. You can do this by keeping a gratitude journal and writing about all the things that you are grateful for each day, or you can try this gratitude exercise in the moment. Anytime you are having negative emotions or negative thoughts, look around you and pick something to be grateful for. It could be a light bulb, a person, a cloud, or a tree. Think of five sincere reasons why you are grateful for this object. Take five to six slow, deep, relaxing breaths and connect deeply to the feeling of gratitude.

The third practice I would like to recommend is laughter and laughter yoga. Search the videos on YouTube about Dr. Medan Kataria's work and the laughter yoga clubs that he has created around the world and also online. I also suggest reading about Norman Cousins personal story of using laughter to overcome a very painful autoimmune condition in his book Anatomy of an Illness .

Now as I said in the introduction by the end of this podcast, I hope that you are able to appreciate that your thoughts and emotions are powerful and they have a powerful effect on your state of health. Knowing how to use your mind is essential to recovery.

And I hope that this discussion has been helpful and has given you some ideas about things that you can do gradually, over time, to change the landscape of your mind for optimal health.

Thanks for listening.

Thanks for joining us for the Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast. Please listen again and remember to follow us and leave a review on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Play or Stitcher.

Check out our free courses about the MAP Method, how it works, and how we use it for mind body healing at mapforhealth.us or schedule your introductory session at

mindremapforhealth.com.

Until the next time, be well and flourish.

[music]

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for Self-Healing - Tess's Story

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 17:54:50 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 73 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Meet my client, Tess, and hear about her experience with MAP sessions.
MAP for sensitivities, IBS, headaches, dizziness.
The MAP for Self-Healing Program.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 73 where we hear from my client, Tess, about her experiences with the MAP Method over 4 months, and how MAP has helped her to overcome her sensitivities to smells, chronic headaches, IBS, repetitive negative thoughts and improved her bloodwork. Hear how she came to MAP already understanding the connection between trauma and chronic illness, and how MAP sessions proved more effective than other modalities she had tried including DNRS, EMDR, Safe and Sound, Somatics, and more.

In this episode we discuss:

How she found the MAP method with a very focused Google search.
Her experience with DNRS and how it helped, but wasn’t enough.
What she was hoping to address in MAP sessions: multiple allergies and sensitivities (hearing, smell, touch, foods, environmental), IBS, chronic pain (headaches, neck, back, body aches), hypothyroid, mold, Lyme and coinfections.
How she used the MAP for Self Healing to address negative thought loops, neck tension, and headaches.
How she used the MAP for Sensitivities to resolve smell sensitivities.
The improvements in her bloodwork: B12 levels, homocysteine, and white blood cell and red blood cell counts.
The increased freedom she has in her life as a result of MAP: to travel, socialize, be outside, cook, see the dentist, wear a necklace, and drive alone.
The emotional level changes she has noted: more relaxed, able to enjoy the moment, less fixated on having to “do the right thing all the time.”
How she understands trauma to be “something that happened that your brain has not processed properly.”
How she deals with symptoms that come up – let it come and let it go–and how nothing hurts as much or as long as it used to.
When you’ve been sick your whole thought process changes, and to make the leap back, it requires neural retraining.
Why symptom patterns sometimes show up strongly right before they break down for good.
Her experience of neutralizing a trauma memory during a MAP session and how the memory and her perspective changed.
How anyone of any faith or religious background can feel comfortable working with MAP.
How MAP programs offer a convenient and affordable way to have MAP sessions on your own.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy hearing Susan’s story in episode 69: MAP for Chronic Illness or a functional medicine practitioner’s discussion of MAP for Complex Chronic Conditions.

To learn more about the MAP Method, please visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses and our MAP Programs. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at TCNeuralRetraining.com .

Transcript

*Please note: Transcript generated by AI, accuracy not guaranteed.*

[Music]

Welcome to the Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast. I'm your host, Madeleine Lowry, founder of Twin Cities Neural Retraining, and a certified MAP Method practitioner, specializing in anxiety, sensitivities, and chronic symptoms and conditions.

Join me for episode 73, where we hear from my client, Tess, about her experiences with the MAP Method over four months and how it helped her to overcome her sensitivities to smells, chronic headaches, IBS, repetitive negative thoughts, and improved her blood work.

Hear how she came to already understanding the connection between trauma and chronic illness, and how sessions proved more effective than other modalities she had tried, including DNRS, EMDR, Safe and Sound, Somatics, and others.

Now let's hear from Tess.

Tess I am so excited to have you join me today on my podcast to share some of your experiences with the MAP Method. I'm just so pleased that you're willing to come and talk about how you benefited from a set of sessions. So welcome, Tess.

Thank you. I'm thrilled to be here because everybody needs to know about this. So I am just tickled, thrilled to be here.

Thank you. Thank you. So, gosh, maybe you can remind me, you know, let's go back to the beginning because I actually can't remember how you heard about the method and how you found me.

I had done DNRS, right? I had done DNRS, and I tried some other modalities as well. I can talk about those later, but I realized I had some trauma in my life. And I was like, "Hey, okay, so how do I deal with that? How do I bring it all together?" So I did a Google search. I did a Google search, and I said, "Okay, I want to do brain retraining around sensitivities with trauma." And the MAP Method popped up.

So it was a very detailed Google search, but until I went to the MAP Coaching Institute, and then I started looking through all the different practitioners, and yours was specifically for sensitivities.

So food sensitivities, and everything. So I clicked on you and went to your TCNeuralRetraining, and I listened to a couple of your YouTube videos, and one of them was about, "If DNRS hadn't brought you the whole way, it could be because you had trauma."

So I was like, "I'm all-in," and that's when I just booked an appointment with you the first 15 minutes, so I could see if you could help me, because I had actually met with other people who are brain retrainers also who honestly told me they couldn't help.

So I was like, okay, well, you know, so when you said you could, deal with the trauma as well. That was the key for me.

Wow, okay, yeah, so thank you for recapping that. So, huh, yeah, that is interesting. It's interesting that detailed search took you to the MAP Coaching Institute, because I think I am the only MAP practitioner that specializes in sensitivities. So that's interesting.

You know, I always find it so inspiring when people come and they kind of started to put it together, right? You know, they've had an experience maybe with another kind of neural retraining or brain retraining method. And they get the feeling like, "Yes, this is the right direction for me, but maybe I need something more."

You know, maybe this doesn't, whatever it was that they started with doesn't take me all the way, and I think I need something more or different. And then they find, you know, the MAP method and maybe they find me. I think there isn't enough awareness of this, but I think it's starting to bubble up, right? Because of, because of programs like DNRS.

So I should just clarify for everyone that stands for Dynamic Neural Retraining System that is a system created by Annie Hopper in Canada, which I regard as a basic neural retraining method.

Basic in the sense that it's kind of the same, the same method, the same technique for everyone.

And it doesn't address underlying traumas. So while it is beneficial for many people, I do find that for people who have a more significant history of early life trauma or just really trauma, trauma standing for painful emotional experiences in their life, that they need something more advanced.

As someone who used to use DNRS and then taught people a simplified version of that in workshops and saw how it worked for some people, but not others, you know, and then I figured out that the people who are kind of failing the DNRS technique were people who had, you know, the more significant trauma histories.

And that is what sent me on the path that I am on today because I noticed that it didn't work for everyone. There's always this chunk, you know, 25 or 30% of the people that I taught couldn't do it with DNRS alone.

I thought we needed something more. I didn't know what that was, but I wished that I could help people retrain their brain in a session with me or a set of sessions instead of sending them home with these scripts and these instructions to practice for an hour a day, for a month, after month, after month, only to find after six months, 12 months, 18 months, right, that it's, it's not enough. They need something more, you know, that's a big investment of time and energy.

And I wanted to be able to help people recover faster. So that's what sent me looking for something. I didn't even know what I was looking for. And it turned out to be the MAP Method.

Thank you. Yeah, I did DNR S for two years, thankfully for two years. And I did have some success. I mean, I love it. I mean, I really want to shout out because I did have some success, especially with my nervous system, my equilibrium, you know, it didn't come fully online, but it helped me tremendously.

I started DNRS being so dizzy that I had to wake up every morning before my husband left home, to make sure I wasn't dizzy because if I was dizzy, he would stay home from work. I went from that to now I'll wake up and I don't even think about being dizzy. DNRS brought me to a certain point.

I could even furthered my recovery because I could drive again after after doing DNRS, but I couldn't drive alone.

Now I drive alone when I go places. It's like it's just given me this confidence that I didn't have from DNRS or that I didn't have from all the time that I had gotten dizzy while driving, you know.

Yeah, the MAP Method just pushed just really pushed me over that as wonderfully, just wonderful.

Yeah, so you mentioned that you did DNRS for two years and we've done eight sessions, right? Since August, so it's September, October November, December. So now it's January, so that's six months eight sessions over six months. Is that right?

No, no, no, no, no.

Not even four, right? The first time we talked on the phone was August, but we didn't start until September. Right. Yes. Okay. So just over four months. All right. Yes. Thank you. So, yeah.

I think that it's helpful for people to understand what kind of time spans we are talking about.

Yeah. So when you found me and you decided to try this thing called the MAP Method, which, you know, you'd never heard of before. What were you hoping to address?

So I've had sensitivities my whole life, right? I'm had them so long. I'm not going to bore you with it. I had a food supplements, med, sensitivities, hearing sensitivities, mold sensitivities, environmental sensitivities, like just, I mean, I still don't go outside for long periods of time, but I found that I can go outside for a period of time and not be hurting when I come inside. I used to couldn't even be outside for five minutes.

So I had hit, you know, allergies, just all my sensitivities, just narrowed my life so much. I was on 10 foods. And I'm still not introduced those yet because I hadn't done my work around that sensitivity yet, but that's what I'm hoping to resolve. My food issues, my, my smell issues are so much better. I did, you know, I did some MAP sessions around it through through your online sessions and just, I mean, that was what my husband was saying today is that, "You cooked for Christmas," like things that I hadn't cooked in years, like his sweets with brown sugar. I haven't even been able to be around brown sugar in probably seven or eight years.

I was cooking with it and just doing, I just couldn't even believe how my smell, how there's so much less reactive. I'm so much less reactive to them now. The smell since doing, you know, since doing it. And my head, I did the Self, the Self Healing Program. And since then, girl, I mean, I've had months where I've gone 30 days without a headache. I've not gotten rid of all my headaches, but I maybe have one a week. And then that's just if that. And it's incredible. It's ah, it's life changing truly life changing.

So you did a month. If I remember correctly, you signed up for the Sensitivities Program, which is... So I created these MAP online programs for certain topics, just so that people can do more of the work on their own and it's more affordable and more convenient.

And so you signed up for I think a month of a Sensitivities program and a month of the Self Healing program at different times during the same four month period, right? So I think what you're describing is that you were able to use the Sensitivities program to help you with the smell aversions and the smell sensitivities, but you haven't yet applied it to other categories of sensitivities, which you would like to do in the future.

And you found that the Self Healing program was helpful for your headaches.

Yeah, my headaches and other just like trauma thoughts are like, you know, your loops, your trauma loops that you you're in a lot of times, you know, your brain will just go back to these trauma loops.

I love what Joe Dispenza says about that. He says, you know, your body is just telling your mind what to do and your mind just races through all these things every day. It's the same thoughts, same thoughts, same habits.

I don't have those anymore. I'm not having those same thoughts anymore. And I believe that was from the Self Healing and the MAP sessions with you. I mean, there's nothing like the sessions with you, but these the other ones really have helped me with those thoughts just running and running and running and I really run those thoughts and more.

And I also been diagnosed with Lyme and Bartonella, which is a co-infection of Lyme and mold and this was after I had already started the DNRS. This was like a year into the DNRS. And I was diagnosed with that and that also was looking to through the session, maybe not have to address those molds in Bartonella now, you know, because I was having such a hard time trying to introduce everything that they wanted me to do with those.

The sensitivities that I was having with all the supplements they wanted me to take was off the charts. So I'm hoping to really just kind of address those as well and blood work, my blood work is so much better. I mean, there's just so much.

Yeah, so tell us some of the things you noticed around your blood work because I think that's, you know, some of the clearest indications that something is happening for my clients is when they come and they tell me my thyroid levels are changing, like I've cut my meds in half. You know, my fertility numbers are getting better, my different markers, I don't know, in their blood work show that there's less inflammation in the body. You know, they people are getting tested for different kinds of things and I don't know all these tests, but they come and they tell me, you know, this is what I'm noticing this is what I'm noticing and my white blood counts changing or my iron level going up.

That's when they really, you know, they feel like they're better, but then when their practitioner shows them a test black and white, you know, that's when they really know. Oh my gosh, you know, something has changed here and I have been waiting for this to happen for a long time.

My, my, so my doctor's when COVID hit my doctor's like, don't go anywhere, just don't go anywhere. So I stayed home until April of this year my husband and I quarantined. So that was last year, I guess, we're in 2024 now, we were a good three years, just stuck at home, he and I together. So during that time, my blood work did not get better. It just, I mean, there were some things we tried made it worse, made it better.

Then we started on the B12. I was able to start taking just this, I mean, it is such a tiny dose of B12.

It's two 100th of a CC and it's of not the normal kind is it, but anyway, so my B12 was coming starting to come up before I started with, with MAP. But now it's in the normal range.

My white blood cell count, which has not been in a normal range since I can remember ever is normal. The last blood test and I had just been doing MAP for two months when I had this blood with them. And my red count was almost in range and it's normally not in range either.

I'm usually in the making everything and in my homocysteine levels, which have been off the charts, which means inflammation, right that your body has inflammation in it. It was only like 0.5 high, whereas it's been double what it's supposed to be.

So I just have to believe that is my body just deciding, oh, we can just be calm now. We can just be, you know, be calm now. So, yeah, I mean, I'm just, I told my doctor, and that has let me be able to go see my family again. I went home from my mother-in-law's party, you know, her birthday party and we went for Christmas. And I wouldn't have been able to do those things because the doctors wanted my blood to be in certain places before I could do that. And so my blood was back in two months, so I was very excited.

Yeah. That is exciting. Yeah, it's wonderful to see your life get bigger instead of, you know, what happened happening getting smaller.

So you're describing benefits at different levels, right? You were talking about the mental level of like that, the ruminating thoughts that have slowed or have dissipated. And then what you've noticed physically as a result of doing sessions, have you noticed emotional shifts as well?

Okay, yes. I'm much more relaxed than I've ever been in my life. I've finally realized how tense my body has been my entire life. And it's all about just letting myself relax and not think about all the things that I need to be doing or all the things that I have to get done are all those, you know,

those Enneagram type one thoughts, but if you don't know that Enneagram, you don't understand. But it's like I've got to be doing the right thing all the time, you know, I've got to be doing the right thing all the time.

And I've just told my husband, you say, I think I'm just, this morning, I think it was, he said, I think I'm going to get lazy because I don't feel, you know, I'm just letting myself relax for the first time in my life. And that is huge. And I think that's so important to my recovery, just realizing it if nothing else. And also, I can just turn the thoughts down and enjoy the moment I've never done that in my life.

Truly, honestly, deeply, it was always, what was I working toward or what needed to happen afterward so I can really shut that down. That's awesome. Even when I do go to fight or flight, I come out of it really fast. I don't stay there any more, you know, my thought is, oh, it's fine.

Just the other day I was driving, you know, I'm just now driving by myself again and I was going to go into another lane in this car just came whizzing by me real fast. And I was like, oh, you know, you almost hit me. And so that normally would have freaked me out, right? I would have froze and I didn't. I just thought, "Well, well, that was not very nice."

And then I just went along my way. It's kind of what I do when I get dizzy now. I got real dizzy the other day in the store. And I was like, "Well, there you are again." Hello, you know, and just you just let it come and you let it go.

I've learned because when it comes and you try and fight it, it's kind of that's when it really takes hold in those old trauma waves. You get back stuck in them. That's been just a beautiful thing.

Also, I've been able to go to the dentist for the first time in years, in years and years. So I'm very excited about that. I get a lot of teeth work done. Nothing hurts as much or as long as it used to. I'll still get body aches, especially from sitting at my desk. If I said, I don't mind, that's a lot. I get body aches from that, but they're not as long and they're not as bad. And sometimes I don't have the body aches at all.

It's really incredible. It's really incredible. I didn't mention the IBS earlier, but I have IBS. And since the first time we work on a session around that, it's been different. It's been much better and much easier, much it's kind of just calm a bit down, which is tremendous because I've had it in a whole lot had it one way or another, my whole life.

So that [program] online has really, really helped me tremendously.

Wow, that's that's a lot. I really like what you said about the emotional shifts that you've noticed in yourself too, because I do think that that is really instrumental to your healing.

You know, I was trained as Nutritional Therapy Practitioner first, before the MAP Method, and in that modality, the philosophy behind that is that, you know, your body is designed to heal itself.

And so in that modality, you're using nutrition and supplements and lifestyle changes to help a person get to a place where there are functions of the body, the restorative functions of the body can come back online. And the person can gain some traction in their recovery where they've been kind of stuck or kind of circling before.

And I guess I bring that same sensibility to the work I do with MAP , you know, I believe that every person has the ability to heal that their body is designed to do this. When they are not, you know, when they are stuck in some kind of chronic health condition or symptom, that is a sign that there are blocks and barriers.

And as you were describing before, habits of thoughts or conditioning that in some ways working against us for most of us that can feel like I'm stuck in a fighter flight response too much of the time. And we know that when you're in fighter flight, the sympathetic mode of the autonomic nervous system, you cannot also be in the rest digest and heal mode or the parasympathetic mode of the autonomic nervous system.

And that is where we need to be most of the day for your body to not just maintain, but get ahead, right? Because recovery is about doing more than just maintaining. And so when when the racing thoughts start to come, you know, when we have more emotional resilience like you were describing. That's a sign that we are we are able to be in that relaxed state, the parasympathetic state, we're all healing functions of the body are active, you know, can can take place.

Many people wonder is this method going to work for me? And they do they try a few sessions and they're all only feeling emotional level improvements. Don't give up, right, because that's the foundation those emotional level shifts are the foundation. That is the beginning of your, you know, allowing your body to achieve what it what it can achieve, which is your recovery from chronic health issues.

You know, it can take a little patience for us to move from the emotional to the mental to the physical.

It does and I would say the emotional comes first even even just the other day I told you about the time when I was over head right now was to me and I couldn't move my neck right. So the other day I sneezed and I felt my neck want to lock up and I thought, you know what? It's not it's that's not going to happen now. And now I don't even think about it when I sneeze like if I sneeze and you know I want to feel it or something.

No, that's that's not going to happen now, is just like I calm. I can calm everything so much easier in my body besides. I mean because let's be honest about it when you're sick when I was in my worst days in the bed three days a week so dizzy I couldn't get up and nauseated and everything. When you're that sick you're life narrows so much that you'll do anything to get out of that where you are you'll do just about anything to get out of where you are right.

So your whole thought process is trying to get out of that place. Your thought process is only about surviving that day, that moment, that minute, that hour, that's all. That's all your focus is.

And when you stay there so long and you're stuck in that so long when you finally find a light away out of it. It is so life changing. I mean it's just kind of like so life changing even from you know my doctor with the very early early early days.

You know it was it was a med that he gave me, like an antiviral, and it got me out of bed every day. My modalities have changed so much over the years, you know, I didn't even know about functional medicine right then. I didn't hear about functional medicine for four or five years ago at all. Being able to do something to help yourself without up in a pill or anything like that is not that you don't need to pop a pill sometimes but you know just being able to look at it a different way.

You know your dizziness, my dizziness, you know being able to look at it a different way instead of ... just so hard against it and just saying I guess we're going to be there today. That's a that's a long way for you thought process to have to go. It's just a giant way for your thought process. And I don't know how people get there unless they do some sort of neural retraining. I don't think I'd ever gotten there ever.

Yeah so, yeah so, thank you for reminding me about that. So I think you know this is this is a piece of the Self Healing program that you worked with where we talk about resistance, right. And we talk about how resisting what is, you know, your symptom or how you're feeling that day is part of the problem because as you said, when a person has been sick for so long and the world has gotten so so restricted and limited there is that constant fight against not wanting to to be there to get worse or to have these symptoms.

But of course the more that we resist the symptom the more fear we have about it and the more desperation to like get rid of it, push it away, you know, make it bad or wrong. You know, why is this happening to me? You know those kind of thoughts. You know, what did I do to deserve this? You know, I'm running out of time, don't help...

Catastrophysing thoughts that are very common for someone who's been through that experience and very understandable, but they are working against you, right. So part of, you know, the work that we've done, part of what you've learned through this neural retraining adventure, I guess is like learning how to recognize of those thoughts are not helping.

And it almost sounds like you are able to change your default response to noticing, Oh I have a headache today, or, Oh here comes that feeling again-- the dizziness or the tightness in the neck, that you of course don't like, right? Who likes that right? But it sounds like there's less of an internal struggle around the appearance of these symptoms and a little more acceptance, maybe even surrender to them. And just trusting that it doesn't have to be this way.

Right right my very first experience of that was right after we started. Now my husband and I were out shopping and it was by a real busy street and there's a car going by with a real heavy bass in their in their music. The music was real loud with a real heavy bass. Normally I would have run from that because that would just set my equilibrium off. It used to be it would set it off within when I heard it and I would be nauseated and sick and dizzy. Well I heard it and my first initial reaction was to run, and then I said, "No I was just going to be here with it." You know it's going to pass it's going to be fine.

And it was. And that was really my defining moment. That I'm like okay. I'd already been doing the, Hey dizzyness, you know. Hello, you know, you might be with me today, a little while I'd already done that.

But I would like to share when I was going through the dizzy... and this was towards right before I started with you. There were a few that there was one day I'll sit in my desk and the dizzyness hit me like really bad. And I was like, Oh wow this isn't good you know. I haven't and it kept hitting me every minute I sat here for 30 minutes just completely dizzy thinking I needed to call my husband.

Thinking, Oh I don't want to take these steps back right. Why am I dizzy? But I just held on. I was like Okay, I'm just going to sit here for a minute and see.

And then I got up and I went in the kitchen. I started cooking and I only say that because a lot of times people think your progress is incremental. And it's not at all. Since that day I've never had that happen again and they'll say like right before your trauma changes its path, you'll have this complete resistance to whatever you're doing, you know, or whatever is going on, right? And that I do believe that I'm going to be in the way I'm going to do it.

I do believe that was my complete resistance to it. You know I was just sat here just: What do I do? You know I didn't want to go back and have to call my husband to go get my meds and get you to bed. Because we had do that when I would get dizzy. It'd be like, "Baby you got it, you got to come help me to bed. You got to get my meds and I got to go to sleep for the rest of the day."

And so being able not to do that and knowing after that, I think it was the next day, I thought they kept telling me that you're going to you might have all this resistance to it, you know. And so I just want to encourage people that if you do have that resistance, that doesn't mean you're going backwards it might mean you're going forward, and you just got to get through it.

Yes, yes, yes. That so that's a very good point because this happens also with MAP sessions, right?Just like any other modality, any modality can, you know, engender a healing crisis. This kind of setback that you're describing I would call like an "extinction burst." You know so you've been working on breaking down a pattern mentally but at some point before your brain allows a pattern to break down for good, it says, Hey are you sure you don't want this anymore? You know and it can, and suddenly this thing you thought you had under control, can come back very strongly. It really challenges you. And you know you have to have that equanimity that you're describing, right?

Like you have to sort of be okay with the fact that it's here and it's feeling really strong to you and not let it kind of overwhelm you, and put you back to where you you know where you started from. And when you can do that, you know, when you can be with it with a feeling of acceptance, then often that pattern will break down all together.

In the Self Healing program when you talk about it a lot, that's really helped me. In the Self Healing program, because you talk about all that in that particular program. Yeah I just found that program to be extremely helpful.

It was the first one I had done without you, right. And every video just made sense to me. The whole thing where it's body mind and spirit-- I think I told you this. You know it's like I always knew it was body and mind. I never knew how much the body talks to the mind before, right? I learned that before, but when you said it's the spirit, it's the spirit within you. It's whatever spirit that you have...

That video to me just kind of changed my whole thinking of my process. I was like I have to bring that into my healing. My spirit. And I was already doing meditation at this time I've been doing meditation for a year, two years, since before since right around when I started the .... I've been doing that so it was like what am I what am I missing, you know, what what is missing from my and it was that spirit, just knowing that you need it.

You need that to also help you heal. You need to embrace that and and love that part of you, and give it what it's due. Honestly give that part of yourself what it's good. It's important to your mind and your body, you just don't think about it, you know.

Yes, I feel like a lot of what we are doing in sessions is that we are trying to unify mind, body, and spirit again. Or spirit, soul, whatever it is, you know, however you want to think about that part of yourself that is more than your body and your mind.

Because I want to feel right, that quantum field.

Yes, yes your connection to that quantum field. Because I think that, you know, particularly for people who have a history of traumatic experiences but also for people who have a history of chronic health issues. Because those are traumatic experiences. You know, procedures, results from lab tests, conversations with practitioners, setbacks, you know, the people who believe you, don't believe you, you know. Whatever the situation is that you find yourself in at work, or you know what you are doing when you are at work, with friends, or family. I mean all of these things, it's like a series of small, medium, and large traumas.

And so my my perception of the impact on mind, body, and spirit is that going through these painful emotional experiences causes a kind of rift, or a splitting of mind and body and spirit. And each of these experiences further divides mind from body to the point where you've been in this situation for many years, we frequently find people have like an internal very critical voice, or a fearful voice, that's directed against their body and what they are experiencing physically. And that's kind of what I mean. It's like there's a there's a conflict within you.

So it is not just that you are a person undergoing chronic health issues, but it has led to a kind of internal war between mind and body and spirit, right. So that sense of unity, of wholeness, right, has been lost in some way. And I feel like the process of recovery requires a reconnection. A bringing together of these parts of yourself: mind, body, spirit. In a way that feels whole and healthy and harmonious.

Yeah and even like you said just now and before when you said, you know, what have I done wrong? I think that's a common thing for me when I'm coming into my MAP sessions every time we talked about a trauma or something from my past, it's like: What did I do wrong? You know it's so self critical.

And as a type one Enneagram, you know, you're more critical of yourself than you are other people. You judge yourself constantly. I do believe that's part of what's kept me in this fight or flight as long as it did. You know just thinking those thoughts and again thinking you know I gotta do everything right. I gotta do everything now. I gotta you know make sure everything's perfect. You know that's there's a lot behind that.

Yeah I'm glad we're talking about this because I think often people wonder... I think most people wonder how is it possible that you could work with someone's mind. And the MAP Method is really focused on working with subconscious mind, but as a practitioner I work at both levels, you know, I work with the conscious mind and subconscious mind because I find that it's more effective. But how, you know, how is it possible you can work with someone's mind and have someone's physical symptoms start to resolve, right?

That for many people that is just something they, a concept that they cannot grasp. And I think that just comes out of our Western culture and our evidence-based medicine which though it is wonderful for many things, it is often not that effective for people with chronic health issues. But we are taught, right, we are trained to think, like, if there's a physical symptom we must address this in a physical way.

Yeah it is often hard for people to understand how the mind is involved but in my work I mean I feel the mind is very involved. It is the basis of our experience of life. The subconscious mind runs all the systems of the body and always has, so if we aren't looking at the subconscious mind we are missing, you know, a big opportunity to make some really impactful changes at a very foundational level.

Completely agree! I mean I had... I'll share this. I had an experience in therapy where she was asking me a bunch of questions and I had this memory. I'll just I call it a memory explosion. I had this memory explosion and I don't know if it was from what I had heard what happened to me as a child or if it was an actual memory that I remembered, but it it really scared me. Because then when I tried to EMDR with her I would get this other experience that I had never known about.

And when I came over to MAP, you and I worked on that memory and that memory doesn't tear for me, I don't even think about it anymore. It's like and I came to you pretty scared of that memory. I mean we didn't do it the first few times, because I was like, I know I got to do it, but we just waited a little while.

And I finally did it. And now you just talking at the first when it happened sure you know it was you know just thinking of the memory right. It's so strange how MAP works with your subconscious because you think you're in this memory, because you say: Think of the memory, the worst time of the memory that you can remember.

And then all of a sudden you're talking to my mind, and my visualizations, my everything is just getting better and better and better as you speak. It gets a different perspective on what's happening. It gets a different perspective on maybe what was happening to someone else at that time. It's not all about me, is the point.

And I think you know when you're chronically ill, it's all about you. You know, you're just trying to get well. It's never been all about me, so that's a that's a great thing about you talking to the subconscious. And I'm not even really listening to you right when you're doing this. I'm not listening to what you're telling the subconscious. I'm in my memory and the memory's changing as you're going.

Not that I don't remember what actually happened, because I do remember what actually the memory was I know that I had, but now I have a whole different spin and a whole different perspective on it. Whatever that is, you know, that happened at that time that this memory explosion came. It was just so simple to do. You're just sitting here just in the memory. it's just changing as you're sitting. It's tremendous, because I can't I can't explain it. I mean it's just tremendous

And it happens in just a few minutes, right? We don't spend 90 minutes on one memory like that. No, we maybe spent I think we had to go into that memory twice, and by the second time I was like I'm done. I'm through it. I'm good you know. The memory changed for me, you know. Every time I think about it, sure I know what was but then, I'm like Nope this is the spin on putting on it. This is the spin I'm putting. Which I think is probably the key to a lot of stuff and I didn't know that before I started meditating, but your perspective on life can really change, and like you say I think that's what drives us to getting better.

Yeah definitely definitely. So you mentioned EMDR and how you use EMDR. Can you compare and contrast for us a little bit? I've never had an EMDR session but I know that that is a much much more popular modality than MAP. Like no one has heard of MAP but plenty of people have heard of EMDR. Can you kind of help us to understand you know how that's similar or different to what we do in MAP sessions?

So it's it's very similar. I would say you know they want you to meditate and you know go into a little meditative state but they also want you to tap or to use the lights with it and I could never do the lights with my equilibrium issues so I would tap. Like I would tap my arms while she did it I would tap on my arms while she would bring me through what I had told her that I remembered of the happening.

Now the difference is she would want the whole thing: Okay what exactly happened? You know, what do you remember about this memory? And she would say it to me the whole time I was in the memory. When I was tapping and kind of meditating and she would you know bring me through the memory. With MAP you just say, you don't even, you're just like: Well what do you want to work on? And I'm like, Well this or that. And you're like, Okay well just think of the worst little spot in that.

You're not asking me everything that happened. You don't need to play out what is going on about it all. And that for me, and I think I tell you just about everything that happened, you know, I try to give you a good a good sense of it, but I don't feel like I have to go back there. For some reason with EMDR I've got to do it.

And I had a really good experience with the EMDR. I did one on one of my memories about an anaphylactic shock and I had a, you know, really good outcome through it. But when I tried it again and she brought me through the memory that I was doing, I had this other memory come out of the blue that I never even thought of before.

And that kind of terrified me again, right. It was different from the other memory. And I'm like Oh how many of these boxes do I have to open? It was like I'm okay with things that I know, but these thoughts that I'm having that I don't know if they happened to me or somebody else. If I saw if I just heard of them you know the mind the subconscious remembers everything so what is you know what was it trying to pull out of me?

MAP doesn't do that at all. All they do, all you do is address me while I'm thinking of little piece of what happened. And then I just keep going back to the very beginning of it whenever I like okay it's getting better and then I'll go back to the first of the memory again with you when you doing that.

Oh it always gets better the feelings that I have, the tightness in my chest, that happiness that I feel around that memory it just eases the whole time we're in that. It just eases it, and it's not like it's a gradual thing it's very gentle.

I found EMDR a bit more hard hitting, I would say. It wasn't as a gentle. MAP is just so gentle which I love about it.

Yeah so thank you for that. I do think, you know, well the MAP Method for people who don't know the MAP Method is a pretty new method and it is the next generation on those energy psychology methods like EMDR and tapping or EFT from the 1980s. So these are methods that have been around for 40 years but it took quite a while for them to become well accepted.

I think that's a good thing to say about EMDR and I wasn't trying to say anything bad about it for sure because I know it's helped a lot a lot a lot a lot a lot a lot of people. I just found these random memories that come up kind of traumatized me a little bit because I didn't know where they were coming from or why.

So I think I had a you know just a different experience than than most people that have just had success success success with the EMDR. I didn't find that. I found myself dreading going to therapy, going to the EMDR and that's really another reason that I looked, that's one of the big reasons I looked for another method.

Now you also once told me that you had tried some other programs or techniques to address your chronic health issues and maybe like the limbic dysregulation. Can you talk a little bit about what you tried and how you see it fitting in with the MAP Method?

Sure sure for the pandemic I would say it was mostly just my neurosurgeon and anything he is tremendous he's he's always on the cutting edge of meds and supplements. He doesn't even like meds so much, it's supplements.

Then the chelation for toxic metals before and that kind of made me sicker. I did the DNRS of course and had so much success with it, but just couldn't still couldn't add foods, except apples. That was the only food I could add. Any other ones that I tried out always had a reaction to.

The therapy and the EMDR. I'm really glad I went to therapy because I never realized I had trauma. If I hadn't have gone to therapy I would never would have known I had trauma at all. I never would have found you because I would never thought that trauma was involved.

I also was a patient of Dr. Neil Nathan, a mold specialist, which that led me on some other paths.

The only problem I had was all the supplements they want to me to take. My body wouldn't accept them and it sent me into more chronic problems.

I've also tried with them a bit of Safe and Sound protocol. It's just like listening to music and it's supposed to help but it caused this jiggling in my neck, which MAP has now gotten rid of. I did not experience that jiggle in the neck since we were done which is tremendous!

I also went to an osteopath on Dr. Neil Nathan's suggestion and the osteopath really you know I had a vagal nerve problem obviously and I've never felt that pain that I had before that again. So the osteopath I still see her maybe once every two three months right now.

So in the end I also tried Somatics and I'm going to give shout out to Sarah Jackson. She's great. I'm a lot of the... I did her program for a few months. I just I never found that ...some of the Somatics made my body hurt worse and found the same thing with Dr. Rosenberg, the one who wrote Assessing the Healing of the Power of the Vagal Nerve. He... vagus nerve he you know tried his modalities and it put my body into more crisis than I was before.

I tried meditation I tried the meditation with Dr. Dispensa. I've also tried the ones from doctor a man...he's got a podcast I have to hear Jim Sheddy talk about how he healed themselves from meditation from acne when he was a boy and it was just an incredible story. And so then I started sending to some of his others and Dispensa you know Dr. Amen you really got into that whole your brain is really important. We're really along with the analysis really starting meditate that I think that helps me.

So those yeah I can't really think. I've also done a little bit of Miguel he does like I want to say Miguel is more for people with chronic fatigue syndrome and I don't really have chronic fatigue syndrome. But some of his like... breathing techniques and just let the pain come you know and then really you know so I did a few I did that as well.

And of course I always go back to my prayer. I you know I always keep my prayer and I think that's a modality ...definitely a big part of my life. I've tried quite a bit besides all the meds I tried for all the different things that I have.

What about Primal Trust? You mentioned that program once.

I did I'm listening to the girl of primal trust and I did. I did a couple of her meditations and I found that some of the words you use she uses also during the meditation and I thought oh this is way connected right because hers is all brain retraining as well. But I didn't find them as helpful as I do MAP.

So, Tess, you mentioned that prayer is part of your practice. Have you... You know this is this is a thing that comes up sometimes when people are in 15 minute consult free consultation with me on the phone. They have a strong faith background they want to know if is going to interfere or be in conflict with that and can you have anything that you want to say about that?

Sure. For me it aligns with my faith. You don't say anything that is one way or another. Like you're not preaching at all. It's that's not it at all you. You're just opening the like you opened me to be able to invite that into my deal right? I think that's ... what I was telling you about before you know the host, the soul, the spirit, whatever.

I never invited that in but you say in that in that video it was like I can invite this part into my healing. And I mean you should do it with my visualizations with DNRS, don't get me wrong I did in my visualizations there as well. But now I can just I can feel it more. It's a beautiful, I mean yeah, you don't push either way. Because I know some people aren't going to want that as well right? Some people are not religious and that's fine.

That's great. This is your way, the MAP way and I don't know if your way is the MAP way because you have your own way. Just wonderful. But your way is is so open for that. It's like it just opens that world it's like it's not, there's nothing from the method that you use whatever modalities or whatever things that help you is what you have to pull into it. I may have learned that before I got to you because there's so much that I tried that you know because there is one thing on your thing if you think this isn't going to work you know.

Everybody's a little skeptical of everything. I think I know I I am. You know because you've tried so many things it's like, Is this going to work? This certainly has worked for me so far and I just can't wait to see how much more it does for me. You know I mean I've only been doing this a short while.

Thank you for that perspective because it is one of the things that's a big concern for people: Is this going to be something that is going to push up against my my belief system or my faith? And you know though we do talk about beliefs in the MAP method it's not those kinds of beliefs.

Yeah, you know beliefs about not feeling good enough, or beliefs like it has to be perfect, or you know it's those kinds of beliefs that we-- limiting beliefs-- that we that we work with in sessions. I do feel like it is pretty open and you bring whatever it is: your background, your your history, your experience, and yeah we work with each person where they are. And if your faith is really important to you and you want to frame your intentions in some way or you know around God or Jesus or you know whatever you believe in is being the force that brings you healing that's perfectly fine.

The MAP method is very accepting of whatever you bring to the session as your background. You're not required to believe in anything.

Right. Yeah you don't have to believe in anything so the method is very open in that way also.

I guess my last question for you today, Tess, is you know would you recommend the MAP method to others and why? What do you think is good for?

Well, honestly saying everybody's got trauma. I mean my definition of trauma is just something that's happened where your brain can't process it properly.

No matter what it was right. Because it could be something you saw on TV. I'm certain one of my traumas is something I saw on TV. I'm in just certain of it, you know. But I was a little girl and I didn't know how to process it. You know and I know that's one of my traumas, you know. So, I do I believe we all have trauma whether we remember it or not. The MAP method, you don't have to remember it, because the ones that you do, once that you do work through, are going to clear the others. You don't have to go back and remember what all these terrible things are.

They might not have even been terrible things. Just things you couldn't process. I don't think there's a person on the earth that hasn't had that happen whether they know it or not. So I do believe that it is a process that everyone could benefit from especially people who tried like me, so many modalities, just tried so many ways to get well. So many you know wonderful ways.

I would have loved it if Safe and Sound would have worked for me. It just didn't work for me. i'm so glad it works for other people. That's a beautiful wonderful thing... You're you're hearing all these success stories and you're going again you've to go on with that question: What's wrong with me? Why isn't doing this for me? Have I not done it long enough?

With MAP it's like it cuts all that time down and it's like it cuts all of your, I want to say resources. That's the wrong word but it does. I mean you're spending money, you're spending time, those are your resources. I mean your energy, right, your energy, as well. So where if you can put that into something that is going to help you.

I mean I just I think everyone can benefit from it even just from the smallest phobia. Just you know having a phobia of birds or something I think one of the videos that has is a woman who's afraid of flying right that's the big video. Right yeah so they ask her, What you know where is your rating of anxiety? You know at the very beginning where she's like, "I'm at a hundred!" It's awful you know it's a hundred and she says about ten it's at the end of the first... and you know all of us are going we go from one to 10. But from one hundred and down to ten, you know you got to say she's doing great! So I do believe that everybody can benefit and I don't have to experience it like she did to know that. I can experience it in my own way.

Man it's those critical thoughts right? It's those critical.. Why is this happening? What have I done for this to happen? And I realize and it's one of my little things that you gave me one of my intentions. I didn't do anything to to get this. It's not my fault. So many people want to make it their fault. What do I need to do differently? I'm doing something wrong? If I could just do something different, I would be better.

It's not how it is not how it is.

So I think what you're saying is that you do recommend it for others, and that it's very helpful for healing trauma experiences, and you know of course by healing certain trauma experiences it can engender other kinds of healing at the emotional, mental, and physical level. Which is really the reason that we do MAP sessions-- those are the wonderful side benefits, I guess.

You could say that working through a set of sessions... each time I do a session for someone and you know we watch those numbers come down usually from a seven eight nine 10, to a two three maybe even you know one or zero. I mean every time I see that I wonder what else they will observe as a result of the session? I never know.

But that is what you are telling me at the beginning of your next session. When I ask: What shifts have you noticed as a result of our last session? And some people say, Well I noticed this or that but I only noticed it for a few hours or a few days. Well that's still that's still evidence that we're getting somewhere. It may mean that there's still more roots to this pattern. That's okay. That's why we need to do more than one session on a given topic or issue. It is you know it's evidence of something changing.

for sure for sure I will say that the sessions with you are a little more impactful, but the other ones on the on the recorded are no less. How would I put that? They're very impactful as well. Like Icame to a lot of decisions through those.

And that came to me while I was doing the Self Healing, and while I was doing the Sensitivities programs. Especially the Sensitivities right. Every time I would smell something I just want to escape --got to get out of here, got to get out of here. And so just being able to go: I don't really have to get out of here. To just realize it's your thoughts. Your whole thought process just starts to change and get less reactive, less like you say catastrophe. Everything's just so much more calm.

Well thank you so much Tess for taking the time to talk with me today.

I loved it. I love to just shout it from the rooftops! So we can do another one after I've tried the foods, girl. Hoping that it will bring me all the way.

Yeah yes definitely. So we'll have a follow up with Tess and so in a few months when you've had a chance to to do more with the programs. And I appreciate what you had to say about the programs. I do think you know I've designed those to be impactful of course, but they can never be as impactful as a live one on one session, right. Because we are all very individual and what comes up for us, our individual feedback and having the opportunity to have a session customized for you of course-- it's the gold standard.

But to make things more efficient and more affordable it is also beneficial to work with programs when they exist around the specific topic that you want to work on, because you can be doing a lot of the ground work on your own.

And another great thing with that I didn't even mention this to you but I haven't worn a necklace in 20 years. Probably from my first anaphylactic shock, and I can wear a necklace now. And that's after doing the Self Healing and working with you of course. And I did that one during the Self Healing. I was because you know symptoms right well I'm telling my throat my throat is fine. So let me try the necklace and I did it or it I just couldn't believe it. So little things also you know tell you about the big things but there's little things in there as well. I'm just tickled.

Thank you Tess and again I appreciate everything you shared with us today and spending the time.

Appreciate it.

Thanks for joining us for the Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast. Please listen again and remember to follow us and leave a review on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music or Pandora.

Check out our free courses about the methods and all of our programs at MAPforhealth.us Or schedule your introductory session at tcneuralretraining.com.

Until the next time be well and flourish.

[Music]

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for Emotional Fitness with Dr. Kelly Halderman

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 00:34:58 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 36 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Mind-body healing with the MAP Method of advanced neural retraining.
Dr. Kelly Halderman talks about how MAP sessions address chronic fatigue.
Why Dr. Kelly believes that MAP sessions turn off the cell danger response and the implications for treating chronic illness.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 36 where we talk with Dr. Kelly Halderman, who holds two medical degrees in Family Practice and Naturopathic Medicine. She is co-author of The Thyroid Debacle with Dr. Eric Balcavage, a manuscript she was working on when we met and where she includes her thoughts on the benefits of the MAP Method for chronic conditions.

In this episode we discuss Dr. Kelly’s personal experiences with MAP sessions for chronic fatigue, deeper sleep and skin issues. Listen until the end to hear about how it feels to be in a MAP session and how long it takes to experience significant shifts.

In this episode we discuss:

Dr. Kelly’s journey from practicing physician to a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, chronic Lyme, chronic mold and chronic fatigue (CFS) which motivated her to retrain in naturopathic medicine and nutrition.
The Cell Danger Response research by Dr. Robert Naviaux and how emotional trauma triggers fatigue at the cellular level.
How Dr. Kelly heard of the MAP Method and why she decided to try it.
How several MAP sessions helped Kelly overcome chronic fatigue, skin issues and improved her sleep and heart rate variability (HRV).
How the MAP Method compares to other mind-body approaches, such as EMDR, EFT (tapping) or DNRS.
Why Dr. Kelly refers patients to the MAP Method and how MAP resolved her chronic fatigue and acne.
How we work with the subconscious mind during sessions and how the client experiences a session. Comparison to DNRS and neurofeedback.
The origins of the MAP Method and why we call it a quantum leap over EMDR, tapping or talk therapy.
Dr. Kelly describes her experience of MAP sessions.
The 10 fitness factors described in her new book, The Thyroid Debacle and how these apply to managing complex chronic illness.

Don’t miss episode 29 where we interview Colette Streicher, licensed psychotherapist and founder of the MAP Method™, about the origins, applications and research behind the method.

To order Dr. Kelly Halderman’s new book, The Thyroid Debacle , visit Amazon.com or your favorite book seller. To learn more, please follow Dr. Kelly Halderman and Dr. Eric Balcavage on Instagram.

Transcript

**Please note: Transcript generated by AI, accuracy not guaranteed.**

[music]

Welcome to the Flourish with Functional Nutrition podcast.

I'm your host, Madeleine Lowry, founder of Twin Cities Nutritional Therapy and a MAP Method Practitioner, specializing in allergies and sensitivities, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, sleep issues, and infertility.

Join me for episode 36 where we talk with Dr. Kelly Halderman, who holds two medical degrees in family practice and naturopathic medicine. She is co-author of The Thyroid Debacle with Dr. Eric Balcavage, a manuscript she was working on when we met, and where she includes her thoughts on the benefits of the MAP Method for chronic conditions.

In this episode, we discuss Dr. Kelly's personal experiences with MAP sessions for chronic fatigue,

deeper sleep, and skin issues. Listen until the end to hear about how it feels to be in a MAP session, and how long it takes to experience significant shifts.

As always, we must disclaim that the information we share in the podcast is for educational purposes only. As MAP Method practitioners, we do not diagnose or treat disease, and we recommend working with a qualified practitioner.

Now, let's talk with Dr. Kelly!

Alright, so Kelly, welcome to the show. I'm really excited to have you here.

Thanks so much, Madeleine, and I am so excited to be here with you.

Yeah, and Kelly, I would love it if you could just start out by giving us a little bit about your background, because you have such a unique background and perspective. You have a journey that includes two medical degrees. Can you talk a little bit about how that all came about?

Absolutely. I graduated from medical school in 2007, which seems like a lifetime ago, but I worked in family practice, and was a medical doctor, and was loving my job. I scored in the 99% percentile for the US. I was just in the zone, and it was just matching symptoms with pills, and just doing a fantastic job.

And every once in a while, get this feeling, I'd lay in bed at night thinking, "You know, am I really helping people?" Because the same people who had just treated and released, you know, they'd stay in the hospital, and we'd get them back on their feet, with chronic disease, they'd come back, they'd just come right back in.

And then, you know, you're in this club, right? You're in medicine, and everybody's patting you on the back, we're doing a really good job for a scribe.

And then one day, I started to have very serious neurological symptoms myself. I started to have...migraines. I was delivering a baby on call, and I got such a giant scotoma from this migraine. I never had migraines in my life. I couldn't even see to deliver this baby, and I had to step back and go, "Oh, I'm fine, and at the time, you know, I was in the medical world. I had access to the best neurologist in the world." And I was like, "Okay, we're going to get this figured out.

I'm going to get back to health, and you know, call it a day."

Well, I didn't get back to health. I was diagnosed with MS. I was in my 20s. I had two young children, and I was basically told to go home and be with them. And it equated to a death sentence. And this was not okay for me.

I literally, you know, up into this point, medicine was everything to me. You know, my husband's a medical doctor as well. You know, everything that I'd work for in patients...the letters behind my name were worthless for me. And so I had to go back, and I got a naturopathic medical degree.

And I still use those principles to this day, because there's a reason why I'm alive. And what I feel here is because I didn't choose the road where the endpoint, we had no answers, you know, in medicine, diagnosis is like MS or idiopathic. And you know, that's Greek for, you know, we have no idea.

But, you know, we don't know why your brain's eating and attacking itself. But, you know, here's some steroids. Well, I just didn't resonate with me. And so, naturopathic medicine helped me use nutrition and detoxification, and really get back up on my feet.

And I will say that we're going to get into more, a little bit more of my story. But I had some residual symptoms. I actually was diagnosed with Lyme and Mold and a lot of nutritional deficiencies and things. And so, you know, I stepped from medicine to naturopathic medicine to try and, you know, really help my foundational health.

But there were some things that were still hanging out. I still had a quite a bit of fatigue.

A lot of emotional issues that I think, first of all, in medicine, I was never taught that emotional fitness mattered. I was really never taught that my body connection was strong enough to really keep someone from their ultimate health.

Well, so life is an evolution. Life is like we're here to learn, right? So, it was step by step.

And so, I was using the naturopathic principles, getting better. But there was just something that was holding me back. And I will say this is that I had tried everything.

I was completely open to EMDR, to brain tap, to just regular EFT tapping, EMDR, and then DNRS. You know, I literally leveled up and I wasn't afraid to look in Pandora's box and find out, you know,

where some of my emotional things that had happened or generational things that have, with that causing my fatigue.

But I really just hit a plateau where I still was living with chronic fatigue. I think one of the doctors, brilliant doctors, who helped me doctor Karen Verkota, she said to me, she's like, "Kelly, you have forgotten what it's like to live without fatigue. You've forgotten what it feels like to be in a body without fatigue."

So I think up until I met you in June, I was just living in this state that I thought was okay.

But, you know, after we started working together things dramatically changed. So that's kind of my story in a nutshell.

Yeah, wow. Thank you for sharing all of that. I haven't even heard of that. We've been working together for a few months. So I mean, it's nice to take this time and just really hear the whole story because people's stories are just so beautiful.

In some ways, I feel like, you know, there's a reason, right? There's a reason for all of these things. There's a reason you went through what you did. It took you on an evolution. You were in love with medicine. You learned everything that Western medicine had to offer you. And when it wasn't enough for you, you went on and you found more. And, you know, there are all these horizons that kind of have opened up to you and have led you, you know, on this wonderful journey. And you've recovered your health along the way.

So, you know, it's just a wonderful example of how, you know, doctor heal yourself can also help you to be that person to who can heal others with additional skills and insight than you had when you graduated and had that degree in your hand, right?

And I do say that in the book that we have coming out The Thyroid Debacle. I use the word emotional fitness because in this book, it's not just about thyroid. It's about recovering from chronic illness and how our fitness factors, emotional fitness is one, gut health, you know, habitual health, brain health, environmental health, they're all fitness factors that we just optimize, right? We just optimize because there was no one magic pill that really helped me. There was no one magical treatment.

You know, people asked me like, how did you go from bedridden Kelly to literally 110% better? And I, you know, I do credit this last, this last huge jump that I've had. And that is all MAP therapy is all and I'm so excited and I, you know, I really like to share that in this podcast, but it was really just putting, putting all these fitness factors and making sure you're taking care of them because if you're, if you're taking care of your gut and you're taking all your right supplements and you're really up your diets, but if you're emotional health is a disaster then you're not seeing good results, right? And me either.

In the practice that I have, I see people who have, who have seen everyone and, and they just think, you know, just this last week. This woman had seen, I mean, 20 practitioners and she's on a suitcase of supplements and she just couldn't understand why, you know, what, what it was going on and what I explained to her and I explained, you know, in this podcast is this concept called the cell danger response by Robert Naviaux, a paper written, I believe it was in 2014. Just groundbreaking in this paper, he talks about the cell danger response and what that is is that the mitochondria, so our little powerhouses of our cells. They can sense a decrease in electron flow.

So the decrease in electron flow can come from one disease infection. It can come from heavy metals. It can come from mold or it can come from an emotional trauma. Emotional trauma can be, it's subjective, right? It's completely subjective. One thing that would be a very emotional trauma on someone might not faze another person. But what happens is that the cell danger response is set off in the body.

And this response is a primordial mechanism to help protect the host. It is completely normal. So if I am shopping at Target and I get a little virus, I know from the cart, well, actually maybe they're so sterile now. So maybe a different place I'm picking up a virus. My body will actually, it'll trigger a cell danger response, meaning red flag, red flag, we are under siege. We have to change metabolism.

We have to slow down thyroid hormone production. We have to slow down brain function. We have to get this person this host to get in bad so that they recover. Completely normal, completely normal. And then what happens is that when the virus is over and when immune system is taking care of it, we come out of the cell danger response. And we feel better and we're back and we're feeling that, but what happens in chronic disease and my hypothesis is that this emotional health that no one is addressing or trying to address the board.

We're doing the best we can is that we're stuck in the cell danger response. Our body still thinks we are under siege. Our body and our brain, the whole, you know, everything that we have, spiritual emotional bodily health is stuck in this response. And so what's difficult is that as practitioners, we see this every day, we see people who are stuck in the cell danger response, but it's difficult to get the body to think that it's okay to come out when you've been in it so long for things like chronic Lymee, chronic mold, chronic Epstein Barr, you know, these are the things where the body still thinks it needs to have all these resources downplayed.

So people have brain fog, their thyroid doesn't work, their gut health, you know, I brought up the article, I brought up, sorry, it says when this, when the CDR, cell danger response persists abnormally whole body metabolism and the gut microbiome are disturbed, the collective performance of the multiple organ system is impaired behaviors impaired in chronic disease results.

So, I'm lifting the cell danger response again. It's like once you, I've countless people who come from my health and they're like, I don't have Lyme disease anymore, you know, I don't have the spirochetes running through my blood, but I feel terrible, I feel terrible.

And I have a hypothesis and we're going to do some research on this now on that MAP therapy, I believe pulled me out of the cell danger response. So my body went, we're back just like I had had the flu and then the cell danger response turns off and you feel better. So I subjectively felt so much better even I dare I say even after the first session and I'm not trying to tell people it's going to work after the first session, but something completely rewired in my brain and I immediately felt that shift.

Yeah, wow, yeah, so okay, you took us a lot of places there. So, cell danger response again, very, very interesting research, done at Stanford, for the most part. And so this is you know, this is talking about the mitochondria, the powerhouse of our cells, the powerhouses of our cells and they what he discovered is that they have two modes, right? They're either doing what they're supposed to be doing, which is providing the fuel for the cell ATP production, blah, blah, blah, or in the face of a threat, they stop.

They kind of they put that fuel production on hold and they start signaling to the cells around them were under threat were under threat, you know, and they start they communicate so he called it like M1 and M2 is like two modes of, you know, of function and I mean, you know, I have a degree in biology and I went to a science high school, the Bronx High School of Science. Back when when I studied these things, no one ever talked about mitochondria having any other function.

You know, it was simple right it was just like, oh yeah, powerhouse of the cell so he was he first person here, at least that I know of that really discovered that there's these two functions, there's this dichotomy, there's this moving back and forth from producing producing energy and then also signaling and in that signaling function, you know. It's something that you know, we have to get the cells to come back to making energy again so I mean that's a really important insight now.

I think you've talked about lab tests that can be done around cell danger response, I know you also talked about your HRV and you know how that was affected, but maybe we should just take a little step back here. Talk about, you know, how, how you found the MAP Method because this is something that most people have never heard of and I mean kudos to you to for, you know, hearing something about it and then actually going and finding out more and trying.

Well, one of your previous clients, Cathy Moore, is my near and dear friend and I would pretty much, you know, do anything for Cathy right so Cathy and I are talking one day and probably May 2020 and you know talking to her about, I'm stuck Cathy. You know she's one of the most brilliant practitioners on the planet. Cathy and I have done everything. I have 10 letters after my name and I can't fix myself, you know, like what is going on? And so I'm listening and in my mind because I think I know everything I'm thinking, Cathy I've done all that. I've even done DNRS and for listeners, you know, Dynamic Neural Retraining System is very tedious. Like it's a lot of time and it's, it just takes a lot of time right so I'm like oh no one more of these but I'm very open I'm very open to the fact that yes something emotional something limbic could can be could be keeping me from not being 100% and so I'm listening and so really I'm probably just doing honest I call it you and I reached out for Cathy because I couldn't even think of another therapy.

Really so this is not placebo effect I would tell people that I'm like not having a whole lot of expectation, it wasn't that I was against it wasn't it's just that you know when you get in this position I mean guys I am medical doctor and naturopathic doctor, a clinical nutrition doctorate but I live in this disease body and I understand how you feel I understand that when people say, oh have you tried this it's almost just like, oh you just kind of want to give up.

But I did the first session with you, and right it's really hard to go from you know with EMDR you know you can feel the vibration something so it was like we're sitting on a Zoom call and you're talking to my super conscious and all these kind of new words for me but really my only

job was to just be present just be present and you don't have to think anything but I could see I could physically feel almost like crackling in in my brain.

I can't even it's like little popcorn and I was like wow you know I this is doing something this is definitely doing something and I think I have this big emotional release and it's great because you're so wonderful and just feel comforting in that I didn't know you from Adam but I just felt like this is happening for my edification this is happening for my benefit and you know got off of our call and I remember walking over in my husband and he's like you look like a different person your your face you you just you look so different and I really I really didn't ask him too much but I can feel it I could just absolutely feel like a like some you know spark plug lit or you know the railhead come off physically felt better.

I track everything I have an Oura ring, I use all kinds of devices, but I noticed my Heart Rate Variability went up and so that's objective data for me. Where it wasn't, "Oh I feel better," subjectively, it was I can prove that something happened neurologically. I started to get more deeper sort of sleep, you know, I just started to be able to handle stress better. I'm in process of doing another Dutch test, the dried urine assessment, for my cortisol to see more of these objective measures.

There there's a test called the Genie test where you can you could, it's a really high level test, and it's expensive and I really don't use it and I don't really encourage anybody to go out and get it because basically you're going to be able to tell if you're in the cell danger response or not because are you stuck in chronic fatigue are you stuck in this chronic disease. But that is something to where we might explore using that... as someone's in it someone does the Genie test to see if someone does MAP therapy they subjectively feel better and then we can have the objective objective measures in it.

So Kelly you've talked about doing a study on chronic fatigue and the MAP Method based on your experience with it which I think would be so interesting and I think you were also talking about the what is the test for the metabolites for the cell danger response?

The Genie test.

Does the Genie test, so I mean for people who may have a baseline you know, that we may be able to do some MAP Method sessions for them and then check to see if there's a change. But like you said you know that you'll subjectively feel it. You don't need to wait for the lab test, but it's a nice confirmation validation.

People like us want data. People who who you know like are in the high level they want to say well you know where's your case study, right? And so I could I could care less that you know personally I just feel better and that's worth everything to have your health, and everything that be sleeping well, feeling well and be emotionally intact. But that's why you know we have two sides that we play with so we have to really quench the data lovers and I know we're going to get there.

So yeah so you know you talked a little bit about the other things that you tried, the other therapies and you know in particular you have tried therapies that were around the mind body connection, you know. Can you talk a little bit about that? Things that you tried and how this compares you know like for people who have maybe tried those as well? Like just some idea of where this fits into that space would be helpful.

Right I think the first time that we we talked on the phone I was doing consultation with you and I had said you know I've done EFT I've done EMDR I firmly believe in the mind body connection you know. I've gotten some benefit from some of the things that I've done you know meditation

and I like a device called the brain tap. I love heart rate variability training you know all of this you make gains right but the gains weren't enough for me to to continue and they weren't you know because I'm busy I have three kids you know practicing all of these things. So I really wanted to kind of compare to the things that I've done, Well where do you see MAP? And you said MAP is like it's on steroids it works so much faster and quicker than some of the other training that I had that I had done and I'm like well that's great you know, that it really does.

And then I had listened to the Colette Streicher interview that you did that was just a great foundation of kind of like where we're going with it so that was for me one of the the best things is that you don't have to buy more equipment, you know, buy more supplements. You don't, I

mean because we talked about this right before we started recording about how there's some sort of an addiction by people want a substance and they... And so like last week you know talking about the client I have with the suitcase of supplements and I said you know all how do you feel it and she's like I feel terrible. And I'm like well then obviously and I mean do you logically think, I very respectfully ask, do you logically think one more thing, one more dietary supplement, one more is going to really turn everything around for you?

But if there's something still or with people where we talk about quantum fields and working on you know that it's sort of block for something, you know, something in our our human this that really would rather cling to like a new potion or lotion or you know something, rather than digging into the quantum field and maybe it's just fear of the unknown and at the point I was at it was I had put fear to the back seat because it was desperately it was you know I know there's something I have to explore. I have to be brave I have to make, you know, it was, it's uncomfortable. It's uncomfortable to think that I don't have control over, you know, my body, you know, with supplements and things it was you know the physiological aspect.

I like I say to people I refer to Madeleine all the time because I say, you know, I can get your blood... status back on I can you know I can fix your B vitamins and I know and help fill in ... foundation. I can help you optimize your gut, but what I just said about the cell danger response is that I have people who've been working on their gut quote unquote for 10 years and they're still trapped with this bad gut. Well what a cell danger response says if the danger response is turned on, your gut's never going to get better. It's just, you're just spinning your wheels. So when I did the MAP therapy again, it was something was so foundationally different after even the first session and I have worked so...chronic fatigue was my issue and I was completely convinced that it was still something I was missing physically.

Logically was I not getting ....Iwas I not getting you know B12 you know something in I mean I would have probably if I wouldn't have met you I'd probably still be down this rabbit hole trying to chase things that weren't the foundation issue so after I had this appointment I felt this release in the chronic fatigue. I stopped taking a lot of the supplementation I was taking. I got to stop

doing all these extremely ... things and it was like just this weight that lifted off of me so that's where I talk about what I'm referring people to you and I'm continuing to work on all kinds of things with you, not just chronic fatigue, is that we're, you know, we're getting at the root cause the core.

And it's not emotional health in everyone. I do not say your problem is emotional. I do not do that I know there's some well-meaning practitioners where it's like everybody have one, everybody has xyz. I'm not saying your problem is emotional fitness however I think that we're living in such a stressful time that it is worth a shot.

So for me too I also started with with acne. I mean I'm old I don't need to have you know wrinkled

and replenished for that's the same time and I thought after I got such good results with chronic fatigue I thought you know what I tried everything for my skin. I have literally tried everything inside outside. This so like mental let's just let's just try you know skin and acne and we went through some, I mean the connections you make Madeleine, and it's unbelievable! It's still unbelievable but I have not, you know probably five six months now, my skin is perfect and I would have never in a million years thought that there was something emotionally driving that but it's at this point it must have been because it's gone. It's completely gone. But would I have ever thought that? No. And some other issues that I've had, it's like now I really am very open to exploring because of the the quickness of MAP and how it really helps rewire.

And just to get into a little side track is that Madeleine gives a commands a MAP on the goal so when I'm starting to feel a little bit like of a pinch of the teeth or or something that's bothering me I will use the MAP on the goal and I subjectively fill out her and things other things will subjectively get better and so that those have been very helpful too for me.

Yeah so let's just talk a little bit about like what a MAP session is like because, you know, so we

were talking about kind of like the results but maybe I can just give a little bit of a preface for this and then you can talk about what it feels like as a client because I think that that is the missing piece. Like people cannot grasp what this would feel like, what it would be like to be in a session.

So this is um so the MAP Method is a method that was developed by psychotherapists and experimental psychologists. It is not psychotherapy though, right. It is not psychotherapy, it is I would call it an advanced method of neural retraining. So we have the basic methods like DNRS, Dynamic Neural Retraining System, there's something called Gupta method which is another basic method and then you know there are many techniques, you know, like using intention or affirmations that are also kind of along the same lines, visualization and so forth. And the difference between those basic methods which are basically a set of mental exercises that you practice on yourself, right, and this is well well this is practitioner-directed. So there is a practitioner that is facilitating the session and helping you get the most out of your session. But what I what I want people to understand is that the practitioner is not doing something to you, right.

So I mean very different from people think of bio like neurofeedback kinds of systems or sessions and that's you know you seeing in front of a computer you've got electrodes on your brain and they're trying to train you to you know to get into that alpha state or whatever to have certain brain waves, this is not that. This is very different from that it is very actually freeing, you know. You have your practitioner is on a Zoom video conference with you. You're not hooked up to any equipment. There is no equipment except you know accessibility to a video conference platform and you come to the session with your idea for what you want to work on.

So you know for example, Kelly, you would come to a session maybe you'd have a couple of ideas like I maybe you want to work on this or this or this, you know, which one do you think would be good? and I would kind of muscle check myself and be like oh it's you know this topic feels like it would be a good one today. And so we would get going. The the topic that you choose organizes the session and during the session, once you've been initiated to the MAP Method which simply consists of watching a 15 minute video, and coming to your first session, the introductory session, we complete the initiation. Like the first 10 or 15 minutes, which is me talking to your subconscious mind. We do some preparatory steps, I kind of explain some things, and then we go into your subject and we start working with it.

The practitioner is there to offer instructions to your subconscious mind so the method is very much around interfacing with the subconscious mind. So like my subconscious mind is connecting to your subconscious mind and and I'm verbally offering instructions to your subconscious mind for the purpose of achieving your goal for the session. Your subconscious mind, however, is the one doing the rewiring, so the practitioner is not doing anything to the client.

The practitioner is there to recognize the patterns offer instructions, appropriate instructions,

and then your brain does what your brain is going to do with those instructions, right. In some cases your brain is going to sit there like 'No, no not doing that today' you know. That's either it's

doesn't serve your highest good or it's just not the order that your super conscious wants things to be solved in. When we say super conscious that's just our word for the subconscious mind is just a semantic thing. So throughout the session it's just a kind of, it's an iterative process where the practitioner gets some input from you about, well you know okay you have this issue what does it feel like when you have the issue, right? How intense is that feeling for you and then based on the emotional signature of the issue we start to give instructions to the subconscious mind for neutralizing memories.

And that's basically what we're doing. The method is about neutralizing the emotional pain around certain trauma memories from the past and when we do that it's almost like we are changing the operating system of the mind, right. So I like to compare them the subconscious mind to like a super computer, right? Every super computer has an operating system. Where does the operating system of a human being come from? It is downloaded in those first five to seven years of life. For the first five to seven years we're walking around in like delta, or theta brain waves. It's like a state of hypnosis. Everything that's going on around us everything that said everything we taste, feel, touch, experience, witness, it is all getting downloaded. This becomes the operating system of your mind and so there can be bugs in the operating system of your mind that later in life come back to haunt you and they aren't serving you anymore.

With this method we can have the subconscious mind go back and find those memories and neutralize the emotional pain so that... It's the emotional intensity that prioritizes that memory in your operating system, right. It makes it, like puts it in the forefront, you know, it's prioritized to the top. And when we can neutralize that then it gets de-prioritized and it has...you still have the memory it may be an unconsciously held memory but the memory is still there it's just not so painful anymore. And that takes it, de-prioritizes it, and that means that you don't have to live out of it all the time. You didn't know maybe that you were living out of it but when we de-prioritize the memory or the set of memories, because with the MAP Method we work in clusters of memory, then you your subconscious mind is operating differently.

And since your subconscious mind runs the body, yeah your subconscious mind runs the body, that's right. Logically I mean people don't grasp this, right, the subconscious mind is something that we kind of put to the side. We prize this conscious mind that thinks and is linear and you know it goes to school and it gets you your medical degree and all of this stuff, right, helps you do the crossword puzzle and helps you drive right?

But it's the subconscious mind that is 90 to 95% of all our brain activity and before you got sick, you know, and you didn't have to think about your health that was thanks to your subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind is running all the physiological processes of the body so when your immune system is not working we should be saying, Now what's going on the subconscious mind that it's like that? It's not like helping me out here. Like subconscious mind you know how to do this, come on you know how to do this, you've been doing it all my life. Where are you today, you know? Where are you now, where have you been, what are you what are you what's going on in there, you know. We never think detox is not working. Why are these heavy metals building up in my system? The human animal has an amazing capacity for detoxification, would you not agree?

I would agree yeah.

And so when it's not happening, it's like okay subconscious mind what's going on? Why are you hanging on to this stuff? Why aren't we clearing it? What are you busy with, right? So we we don't think that way right and I think, you know, you talked about the fascination with physiological therapies or treatments and I think it's very much our culture, you know, our culture because Western medicine is so prized in this country. And even alternative medicine is much, it kind of follows the same line of thinking, that there's you know they aren't using the same prescription drugs they're using supplements but the idea is if there's something physiologically wrong with you we have to get it through physical means. We have to get at it through physiological approaches. So, this is very counter to that.

It's like no well if you try the physiological approaches and then there was no like fix for you then

you know we really should be thinking about what's going on in the subconscious mind right? And so that's where the MAP Method comes in. It is I feel like it you know you talked about our first

conversation the free consultation where we talked for 15 minutes and and I said to you well if you tried EFT if you've tried tapping if you've tried EMDR, you know this method the MAP Method grew out of those methods. Those were methods that were developed in the 1980s. They're not new. This method is about six years old and grew out of all of those findings from the 80s but it is so different now it is it almost cannot be compared to them anymore.

I think I told you I think I described it as to you as it's a quantum leap over EMDR and EFT and tapping. And I can't say that I know that myself because I'm not a psychotherapist, right, but like I said the Method was developed by psychotherapists with their insights and their, you know, training their expertise. And so it is their assessment that this is quantum leap over EMDR or EFT. I believe it because people who have come to me have said I've tried those things and it helped but it never really took care of the issue entirely. The MAP Method because we're working directly with the subconscious mind and the subconscious mind knows all of the connections I feel like we can get to the root causes of emotional issues a lot better, a lot more cleanly, a lot more completely with the MAP Method than is possible perhaps with some of those other methods, talk therapy included.

So now I've just gone on a complete rant and I forgot where we were going, Kelly.

Generally relevant important so many things you said I was like, Absolutely! I mean you know what really resonates for me is that the subconscious drives our health but yet for some reason we have a hard time accepting that. So when I was physically sitting during my session I really didn't hold that belief to be true, but what I did know is that I was going to be open and receptive to whatever was happening, right, what was going on. So for the listeners: it's important that you realize that you don't have to think with your prefrontal cortex thinking brain. You don't have to think through these things, because that's a different part of the neurology of what is happening so really when you know she talks about like the complex things in the inner interfacing, you really don't have to do anything you don't have to think of certain patterns.

I love this because we were talking to begin with you said you don't have to go back to memories that really hurt we don't have to go digging in like with you know cognitive talk therapy we don't have to go digging. You're superconscious will go find those those strings you know. Like I feel like it's almost like the superconscious is just waiting to be instructed to grab that piece of yarn and then once it grabs it knows exactly how to follow it, where to go, how to rewire it, and it does it without me consciously, Kelly, with my you know with my brain. I don't I didn't have to do anything and it's amazing it's very freeing.

It's very you know it really reminds me is that you know our bodies 24/7 are are fighting and crying to help us have perfect health. We sometimes get in the way of that or we have beliefs that we need to find a practitioner to do this, to find you know some sort of like medication or supplement or something. Where it's like all I did during my session is I just let it happen and I didn't have to physically you know think. Things would come up and we would talk about it but I didn't have to go into all these details. It's just that it took the suggestions it from the practitioner and it just ran with them and I completely could feel like rewiring and I could feel the difference in physiological health.

Yeah so maybe that's where we're going: What does it feel like from the client's perspective? What does the session feel like? So you would come with your idea about what you wanted to work on. I would ask you how does it make you feel or what are the emotions around that and and that that's really all we needed to get started right? And so the instructions that are provided by the practitioner, you know, the client is sitting there with their eyes closed. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Like what how relaxed or how does that feel when we begin the session? We take some deep breaths and we center ourselves and just get into more you know primal parasympathetic state, where we're just trying to relax. And really kind of just making sure that you know that you're just comfortable sitting and close my eyes and I just listen to what you're saying. We have a topic that we're going to work on. I would just say this is that sometimes when I'm going to do a session I'm not quite sure what topic but then we'll you know muscle test for a topic. And then that'll work and it'll lead us down a path where the superconscious wants us to go. And so things that I didn't even think were relevant, that's so amazing because you just don't have to work so hard. Your brain, your super conscious is ready and it just wants those instructions to really just get on that train.

So I just sit comfortably and you ask for my permission to communicate with my super conscious. Again it's just a really nice time to kind of let go and then sometimes when I'm closing my eyes I'll be quietly processing and I'll just be seeing lots of different colors and things are moving. And I'm almost like probably in more of a dazed state and it's just like a meditative state. And you know really I could just feel reorganization and it's again I'm not trying to do anything. I'm not

trying. I'm just sitting back and I'm letting the system that really knows what it it needs to do

and how to do it with the MAP commands and things I'm letting it just do it.

Yeah and so some people experience it as ...some people really don't have a visual any any kind of visual they're sitting there quietly, their eyes are closed they're relaxing they're listening to me talk to their subconscious mind, but it's just going over their head. It's not something you need to take on with your conscious mind and and do something. No you're just maybe holding on to a memory that you know uh we talked about or that came up for you and um focusing on that and your subconscious mind is showing you things. I mean it may show you things. It may be that a memory pops up for you or you may have an image, a word, a thought.

Some people may have...I had a lot of neck pain. I mean you were talking like the first time it was like all of a sudden it was like this excruciating, I mean it wasn't excruciating it was tolerable, but I was like whoa oh my gosh my and then so you honed in on that and started to talk me through some things and then I was just like it was like released. It was just like you know it was gone and I do have that where I get like my solar plexus gets really tight. We talk about that and then you um you know, we talk about what comes up for memories or feelings or things and then I can just feel the release.

Yeah. And so that's the iterative process, right, so during a period where your subconscious

mind is processing an instruction things may be happening, right. So you may feel physiological

things--a tightness, a congestion, a pain, something--or a memory pops up for you or whatever. Your subconscious mind is showing you some of the things that are connected and then at the end of the processing; so I can tell when you're processing, I can tell when you're done, I can tell

if you're stuck and you need some help. Then when you're done with those instructions I ask you: So did anything come up for you? Did you have a thought, did you have a memory, did you

have a body sensation, did you have a word come to mind, or an image?

And people are different in how they experience and what they report. some people are like you know I was just uh just really relaxed and that's all. That's okay. I will just follow my own intuition about what needs to happen next. But where there is feedback that kind of helps us figure out where what the next step is, right? So, the session kind of unfolds like that. It's just you know a series of these iterations until we get to the point that we feel like the session is complete right?

Yeah.

And I mean do you feel like you you know what the results of the session are at the end of the session or is it something that unfolds for you?

Both um usually I can feel it subjectively um something usually feels better. You know I've talked to people who've done sessions and they say oh I really didn't get the result until um you know 24 hours after so I think it really varies. I think it's like what topic came up and um you know how how really your body is going to take that information and and do with it what it wants to do. I literally always have a lot of trust in that my body and my super consciousness know

what is good for me and so I try to like hang my hat that's why when I come into a session

very open.

I'm like this is what I think we're gonna start with but like I'm gonna be completely open to anything and everything that that pops up because I know that it's for a purpose.

Yeah yeah no that's great yeah and I also want to make sure that we say here that you know there

may not be a recognizable shift for every session. Sometimes we're, I mean something is happening at every session, you know, that is definitely true however sometimes we're doing fundamental work and you know multiple sessions will be needed. So maybe when we're doing foundational work you're not really noticing a significant shift.

Early shifts tend to be emotional, then mental, and then the physical ones kind of lag, right. They just... that's kind of the order in which they were created too so you know first it's the emotional then it's like the mental habit and then it's like the physical manifestation in the body. and so going backwards it kind of unwinds in the same order. I know I have many people that they need three four five sessions before they really notice start noticing some significant shifts and that's you know that's all fine. I mean every session that we do as I like to say is resolving subconscious stressors.

So yeah all right the disclaimer is that you know we can't resolve a heart attack. There are definitely, you know, this doesn't replace your medical doctors all that and you've never it that's not even the same plan so there's a big role for allopathic medicine...we never want to say like oh I'm having you know a stroke I need to do to MAP. Go to your doctor.

Yes right of course! But what I will say is that if you have had a stroke or you have had a heart attack and there are you know those are traumatic things and so if there is a feeling that this traumatic memory still haunts you, it's keeping you from sleeping, or you just feel you've just been feeling like you're in that stress response afterwards and you want to try the MAP Method to see if you can resolve some of the aftermath of the big surgery. You know the big health trauma um the MAP Method can be a very nice adjunct therapy for those purposes.

Yeah so okay I would love to have you talk about your book. You mentioned the title at the beginning can you just say what it is again and and just let us know when we can expect it, and what it's about, who is it for?

The title is The Thyroid Debacle. I wrote it um I'm actually a co-author with doctor

Eric Balcavage. He is the world's foremost expert on everything on thyroid health. I mean

there are a lot of people that struggle, I struggle myself with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and

really what the book is about, it's about how there's an epidemic of thyroid disease and that

allopathic medicine ...is really just covering it up with drugs. The real ticket to health is again optimizing fitness factors and it doesn't replace you know medical advice and things like that but people are frustrated when you go into the doctor and your thyroid's off and then they just give you Synthroid, you know, synthetic T4 and it's like but why, right?

But now you know that I've met you and I've been doing the MAP therapy, that's a part of the book now. In the emotional fitness it's that super conscious is driving your health right so you know you can do everything's and thousands of dollars on gut health and all these thyroid supplements and that and you're not going to get anywhere sometimes. It's where we need to really work on um that fitness factor more so this book isn't just for people with thyroid issues. It could be you know you're just struggling with just chronic fatigue too you know. In the book part three is a manual to optimize the the 10 fitness factors.

So we're excited it got a little bit delayed because of COVID, but you can follow myself or doctor

Eric on Instagram: just Doctor Kelly Halderman and Doctor Eric Balcavage. And the book should be able to be ordered probably mid-February on Amazon or where ever books are sold.

Wow fabulous yeah. So it sounds like it would be a really great resource for anyone with complex chronic conditions.

Yeah yeah because often it's like ball of wax and it you know it includes the thyroid

and other hormonal imbalances but they're in chronic fatigue but there's you know it can be

different features to it.

Yeah fantastic. Yeah so um Kelly, it's been wonderful having you on the show. I really appreciate the time that you took to come and chat with me today.

Oh, I'm so over the moon excited about how MAP has completely changed my life. I mean of all the therapies, all the money I've ever spent on anything that has had the most significant

impact on my life. I'm just happy to have met you and happy to share my story and just

hope that people, as esoteric as MAP sounds, that people would give it a chance because it's amazing!

Yeah, thanks Kelly.

Thank you for joining us for the Flourish with Functional Nutrition podcast. Please listen again

and remember to follow us and leave a review on iTunes, Spotify, Google play, or Stitcher.

To order Dr. Kelly Halderman's new book, The Thyroid Debacle, please visit amazon.com or your favorite bookseller. To learn more about the MAP Method, visit MindReMAPforHealth.com.

Until the next time be well and flourish.

[music]

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

Understanding MAP with Dr. Alia Paquette

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 17:12:33 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 68 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Hear how my client, Dr. Alia Paquette, experiences MAP Method sessions and her questions about how the process works.
Learn how we set up a MAP session and what happens in the Introductory MAP session.
Learn about how the process works between practitioner and client and why MAP is considered a quantum modality.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 68 where my client, Dr. Alia Paquette asks her pressing questions about the MAP Method and how it works. Having had 20 MAP sessions herself over the last 2 years, she is well acquainted with the method. To hear her story about how MAP Method sessions have helped her through tough times, including a battle with pancreatic cancer, please listen to my conversation with her in the previous episode.

In this episode we discuss:

How we set up each MAP session and what happens in the introductory session.
The experience of the practitioner during a MAP session.
How the MAP Practitioner uses muscle-checking to guide the session.
The science behind the MAP Method and resources for learning more.
How did you know that MAP was something you wanted to learn? What was your personal experience with MAP?
How has working with the MAP Method impacted your spiritual beliefs?
The principle of oneness and how it represents a coming together of science, spirituality and religion.

If you enjoy this episode, don’t miss Episode 67: MAP for Serious Illness to hear Alia’s story about MAP for multiple traumas including cancer, and how she incorporates MAP sessions into her self-care routine. And tune into Episode 70 to hear the continuation of our conversation in Understanding the MAP Method, Part II.

To learn more about the MAP Method, please visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at MindReMAPforHealth.com

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
Read about the MAP Method and how it compares to EFT and EMDR.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method--How Does it Work?

Getting Ready for Your First MAP Session

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 17:02:22 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 72 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

What to expect from your first experience with MAP.
How to prepare for your Introductory MAP session.
How you can tell if MAP is working for you within 3 sessions.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 72 where I will talk about how to prepare yourself for your first MAP session. I will go over the most important step, which is to watch the 15-minute preparatory video, and the flow of the first session as well as some common concerns about the MAP process.

If you are not familiar with the MAP Method, let me just say this: The MAP Method is a “beautifully simple” way to resolve or release trauma emotions. If you are familiar with energy psychology methods like EMDR or tapping, MAP is the next generation - gentler and goes deeper. If you are familiar with energy work like Reiki, you might think of MAP as Reiki for the mind. If you are familiar with acupuncture, this is similar, only we use the mind to diagnose blocks, and optimize energy flow. If you have tried neural retraining methods like DNRS, MAP sessions achieve the same ends with less time and effort.

In this episode, I discuss:

How to schedule your Introductory MAP session.
Why it is important to watch the 15-minute preparatory video.
How to access the Zoom and set up your video.
How to choose a subject for your first session.
Why we take a baseline of your topic before we get started.
The purpose of the first MAP session, a 60-minute session.
Why we take a few minutes to complete the initiation to MAP at the beginning of your first session.
The flow of the Introductory session - what to expect.
The purpose of syncing up our subconscious minds prior to working on your subject.
The two streams of information a practitioner is following in a MAP session.
How a MAP Practitioner is able to guide the session through muscle-checking.
Why we say that MAP is not hypnosis, but rather a meditative process.
What to expect as we begin to work on your subject.
How to observe the clues that your subconscious mind is giving you during a session.
How each MAP session is an iterative process.
What you will notice by the end of the session that will be an indication that the method is working for you.
The value of neutralizing memories and its effect on subconscious programming, patterns of behavior, conditioned responses, symptoms, etc.
Factors that will improve your receptivity to MAP.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may be interested in the previous episode: How to Use Your Mind to Heal Your Body , or my interview with Colette Streicher, LMSW , the founder of the MAP Method in episode 30.

To learn more about the MAP Method, please visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at TCNeuralRetraining.com.

Transcript

*Please note: Transcript generated by AI, accuracy not guaranteed.*

[music]

Welcome to the Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast. I'm your host, Madeline Lowry, founder of Twin Cities Neural Retraining, and a certified MAP method practitioner specializing in anxiety,

sensitivities, and chronic symptoms and conditions.

Join me for episode 72, where I will talk about how to prepare yourself for your first MAP session.

I will go over the most important step, which is to watch the 15-minute preparatory video,

and the flow of the first session, as well as some common concerns about the MAP process.

If you are not familiar with the MAP method, let me just say this: The MAP method is a beautifully simple way to resolve or release trauma emotions.

If you are familiar with energy psychology methods like EMDR or tapping, MAP is the next generation of these methods, and I believe it is gentler and goes deeper. If you are familiar with energy work like Reiki, you might think of MAP as Reiki for the mind. If you are familiar with acupuncture, this is similar only we use the mind to diagnose blocks and optimize energy flow.

If you have tried neural retraining methods like DNRS, you will find that MAP sessions achieve the same ends with less time and effort.

For many of my clients working with the mind is the missing puzzle piece in their healing journey.

That is because the subconscious mind is very powerful. It is responsible for 90 to 95% of all brain activity, and it runs all the systems of the body.

MAP sessions are complementary to any other modality or treatment method that you are using, and that is because you can achieve more when you are working with your mind than when you are working against it.

As always, we must explain that the information we share in the podcast is for educational purposes only. As MAP method practitioners, we do not diagnose or treat disease. Instead, we work with the mind to optimize health.

Are you ready to find out how to get the most out of your first experience with MAP? Let's get to it.

So you've decided to try this new thing called the MAP method. Maybe you've tried conventional talk therapy or tapping or EMDR. Maybe you've tried a basic neural retraining method like DNRS or the Gupta method, and you want to take things to the next level.

Well, I think MAP could be for you. So to get ready for your first experience with the MAP method, of course, first you will have to schedule your introductory MAP session.

So every client has to be initiated to the MAP method. It's a simple two-step process, the first part of which is watching a 15-minute preparatory video. This is an educational video about memory structures and how they form the personality. And the second step is the first 10 or 15 minutes of what we will do at your first session.

To schedule an appointment, you can go ahead and schedule online. All appointments, all scheduling for my practice is done online. You can find a Book an Appointment button at the top of the page or in the menu bar at my website, TC, that stands for Twin Cities, TCNeuralRetraining.com.

And once you have scheduled your introductory MAP session, you will receive a confirmation email. It will contain the Zoom link for our session. And it will also contain a video link and a password to access the preparatory video. Please be sure to watch the video prior to our session. You only need to see it once and you can see it at any point leading up to your session.

You will receive a second email, 24 hours before your appointment. That's the reminder email.

And that email will include the Zoom link again.

So to get to the appointment, all you need to do is click on that Zoom link, follow the directions, to get to the meeting. You can be put into a waiting room and I will let you in at the appointed time.

All right. So you want to be in a quiet place where you will not be disturbed for at least an hour.

You know, sometimes sessions go over by a few minutes. It's pretty hard, you know, to end right on time perfectly when we are talking about working with the mind.

You should be in a comfortable seated position or you can also lay down as long as you adjust your device so that I can see what's going on with you. I want to be able to read, you know, what's going on, facial expressions, some of the body language so if you can point your device towards your head, that's great. And you might want to have some water with you and maybe a tissue because tears can happen during a MAP session.

Okay. So let's talk about what happens in the introductory MAP session.

You'll join the Zoom conference. We will meet online. I will ask you, have you watched that 15 minute video? Some people forget. Some people have trouble accessing the video, all of which is okay. If you haven't seen the video yet, we will be watching the video first. And that is because that is an important first step. So we will watch the video together if you haven't already.

And then we will get into the session. The first thing I like to do is select the subject for the session.

The first MAP session is shorter than the follow-on sessions. Follow-up sessions are generally 90 minutes.

In the first session where we only have 60 minutes and we also have to initiate to the MAP method, you know, we have less time to work, something like 40 to 45 minutes. Less if you haven't seen the video yet. And so I like to work with an emotional topic.

So for someone that has, you know, chronic health issues or symptoms as their primary interest in engaging with the MAP method, this may be a memory of when you received your diagnosis.

Or maybe you had a procedure or a lab test and received those results. The results you didn't want. Maybe it's a memory of when your symptoms were the worst or the first time you can remember having that reaction or symptom. Maybe it's the most recent time.

So you'll want to pick a memory like that. For other people who are interested in resolving trauma experiences from the past, these may include memories of traumas from early in life. They may include a memory from something that's happened more recently or anything in between.

You just want to pick a memory that you that has some emotional intensity for you and that you can feel into, that you are willing to feel into. And I will have you rate the emotions that you feel as you tune into this memory from a zero to a 10. You know, how much anger, how much sadness, how much guilt, how much shame, whatever that emotion is for you, I'll have you rate it from a zero to a 10. So this is our baseline.

So the purpose of the first MAP session is to initiate your subconscious mind to the method so that your brain becomes receptive to the instructions that we use in a session. This only has to be done once and then it's done. And like I said, it only takes a few minutes.

The second purpose of the introductory MAP session is to observe the diminishment of the emotional intensity around a specific memory or trauma. And this allows you and me to see that the method is working for you. Once we've selected a subject, then we will start the session.

Every session begins the same way. I'll ask you to settle into your seat or get into your position, lying down position or whatever position, reclining position you want to be in, and just close your eyes and relax.

So the MAP method is not hypnosis. It is more like a meditation. As a client, you need to be able to close your eyes and just relax. So of course it's good to do this in a setting that feels comfortable for you. As you are sitting there with your eyes relaxed, with your eyes closed and feeling relaxed, I will start to review some of the concepts that you learned from the video. I will do a brief review or run through those concepts.

So again, if you saw the video and you thought, "Okay, some of that just went over my head." Don't worry about it. Right? The purpose of watching the video is really to prime the subconscious mind. And that has been accomplished if you watched the video through once.

Then we review the important concepts at the beginning of your introductory session. Now, once we review the concepts, I will continue by giving your subconscious mind some instructions that are like housekeeping steps. So that your subconscious mind and my subconscious mind have to be able to work well together for us to be successful in MAP sessions.

And so you will hear me asking your subconscious mind, "Okay, please do what is necessary so that I can communicate with you clearly." And there are some other steps as well. But essentially, these are plain English instructions. We are basically syncing up my subconscious mind and your subconscious mind are making a connection. This allows me as the practitioner to muscle check myself during the session in order to guide the session.

Now, you may be familiar with muscle testing or energy kinesiology, which are two terms for the same thing. If you've ever worked with an integrative practitioner or a functional medicine practitioner that uses muscle testing to test you against different remedies or different substances to see what you might be sensitive to, it's along the same lines.

We call it muscle checking because I am not actually pressing on you. You know, I don't need to be in the same place as you. I don't need to push on your arm. I am using my intuitive connection to your subconscious mind to test myself as a proxy for you. So I am getting simple yes and no answers to the questions that I ask and that allows me to guide the session.

So really, there are two forms of information that I am following in a MAP session. One is what you are telling me. You know, what you consciously know and are telling me about the issue, the problem and the feedback that you give to me after each round of instructions. And we'll get into that in a little bit.

The other thread that I am following is my own, as I said, my own intuitive connection to your subconscious mind. Right? So the hidden things, the things you are not aware of but are affecting you. I will be guided to them through a muscle checking process that I am doing myself.

Okay, so we've picked the subject. You've rated your emotions. We've gone through some housekeeping steps. I start to muscle check myself to sync up with you. And then we start to work with your subject.

So at this point, I will prompt you to bring that memory to mind. Whatever memory you chose at the beginning of the session, I'll have you bring it to mind gently and just replay the memory in your mind as I start to give your subconscious mind some instructions.

Now as I am talking to your subconscious mind and you are focusing on your memory,

you may notice that things start to pop up in your mind aside from the memory that you're focusing on. Right? Different memories, different emotions, thoughts or words, body sensations, or other things may start to pop up and that is your subconscious mind starting to show you the connections.

Your only job here, with your eyes closed, breathing slowly and deeply, is to observe. I am giving instructions. It's not important that you focus on what I am saying because my words are for your subconscious mind. The important part for you is to stay passive, stay open and just observe what's coming up in your mind.

Do you find your mind going to a certain person, a certain other event? Do you feel something, tightening somewhere or tingling somewhere? Just observe what is happening. That is the feedback I am looking for after each round of instructions.

I may give a few minutes of instructions and then I will take a break and I will ask you for some feedback. What did you notice? And then you can tell me for some people they have one thing to report. For other people they have a lot to report. Either way is fine because as I said I am following two streams, at least two streams of information. One is what you are telling me and the other one is when I am picking up from your subconscious mind.

Each MAP session is an iterative process where we focus on a memory, an event, an experience, several different times during the session. At times a different memory will pop up for you that appears to be connected and I will get the impression that we need to move to that memory instead. And so we will do that. So sometimes we will shift our focus. But essentially each MAP session is a set of these little meditations where you are focusing on something, I am giving some instructions to your subconscious mind verbally, and you are noticing what is coming up in your mind.

Your subconscious mind is starting to reveal certain things to you. Pay attention. And let me know what you noticed when I ask you for some feedback.

And so we may get through two or three rounds of these instructions. And by the end of the session, what we want to observe is that the emotion or emotions around that original memory, where we took a baseline before we began, has now diminished. It may not be gone. It may not be zero, but it has diminished.

It may have gone from an eight to a two, for example. This would be a good indication that the MAP method is working for you. In addition to those emotions being neutralized, often people report that their perspective on the situation has changed. They feel differently about it. And their mindset or their attitude about it has changed.

And so that is another important part. You know, it is not just about making some painful event from the past feel less painful. It is also about a kind of enlightenment, a different perspective, higher perspective on what happened and what actually was involved.

Yeah, a different perspective on what happened. So what I want you to understand is that when we neutralize the one memory that you were focusing on, we are actually neutralizing or having your subconscious mind neutralize a batch of memories.

Please remember your subconscious mind is in control of the session and your subconscious mind will do as much or as little as is safe for you at that time. So your subconscious mind controls the pace. But when we are focusing on a memory, it is a target memory. It is an example of a memory that caused you pain.

And we are asking your subconscious mind to look for the related memories, the associated memories. We are having your subconscious mind neutralized not just one memory, but a memory structure, a set of associated memories. And this is why I believe that the MAP method is both gentler and yet more powerful than some of the other methods you may have tried like tapping or EMDR. Because we are neutralizing batches of memories at the same time.

And it is helpful when we are working with patterns of behavior. When we are talking about long term patterns of behavior or personality traits or coping mechanisms that you have developed, you may find that the MAP method is more effective at helping you overcome patterns like that because we are working in batches instead of one at a time. And usually with those kinds of patterns, there are many memories over many years that have formed that conditioned response or behavior.

So at the end of the session, I will be asking you, "Okay, now I want you to tune into that original memory, the memory we started with, and I want you to rate the emotions again." And as I said, if you are able to feel a significant difference in how that memory feels to you, most often people will say it feels lighter.

Even if they can't come up with a number, they can tell that it feels lighter. There is less heaviness or darkness around it. And they may also notice that if there was some kind of physiological reaction to bringing the memory to mind, like their throat felt tight or their heart started to be a little faster or something else was gripping when they first brought the memory to mind, they may find that that is resolved as well.

So these are all good signs that the MAP method is working for you. Sometimes we find that it is necessary to work with a memory again in another session. You know, so when there are more roots or more resistance to releasing those emotions, we will work with it again at your next session.

But I will say this, you know, at the end of a session, your 8, for example, may have come down to a 2. But what I often tell people is check on that memory again in 24 hours, in 48 hours.

You may find that the memory is even more neutral in a day or two than it is now. And that is because we've given your subconscious mind these instructions.

And in the case where there are a lot of associated memories, more than can be processed in the time limits of our session, your subconscious mind will continue to work on that when you are in those deep brainwave states again, which is usually when you are asleep. So after a night or two of sleep, you may find that too is now one or it's a zero. And those changes are durable.

You know, this is not to say that if we work on one memory of anxiety, that you will not feel anxious about anything anymore. Right? That is not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that in the introductory session, we can work on a memory that causes you some intense emotional response and we can reduce that response so that you can think about that memory, that situation again, and it feels more neutral. You have a different perspective on it. And it's easier to let it go.

Now, why is this important? Well, of course, it's important if there are traumas that you that you need to resolve for yourself. You know, that still haunt you many years after the event. And it is also important because what tends to happen in those traumatic events is that the high level of emotional intensity heightens the importance or the significance of any programming that goes along with that trauma.

So if a trauma has become a reinforcing factor in some negative pattern of behavior that you have, for example, obsessive thoughts or a need to control and need for perfectionism or something like that, we find that if we can reduce enough, the intensity of enough of the trauma memories behind that pattern that we can de-prioritize those programs in the subconscious mind and it becomes possible to change, you know, to change those condition behaviors so that we can more easily dismiss, let's say, a rumination or a worry when it starts and it doesn't kind of take over our brain, our mental activity.

Okay, so let's talk about a couple of questions that I get about people who are interested in the MAP method.

First question is, will it work for me? You know, and this is hard to say, if I am doing a free consultation, for example, I've just met you, I don't know. But, you know, in the first session, we start to see if this is going to work for you. So I will say that there is no method that works for everyone. But within three sessions, most of my clients know they are feeling shifts on an emotional level that are encouraging for them. Often that begins with the very first session as they observe, you know, their emotional intensity drop.

Sometimes it takes longer than one session to figure it out. Sometimes it takes two sessions because for some people who are slow processors, more of that effect is noticed in 24 to 48 hours.

And that's okay. But usually within three sessions, right, you are able to make a decision on whether this is a modality that you would like to continue with, or if you would like to try something else.

Now the other thing I will say is that for people who are interested in resolving chronic health issues or chronic symptoms, the benefits that we see from MAP sessions are at the emotional level first. You know, the first three sessions, approximately, we are working at an emotional level.

And then the next two or three sessions may be more a mental level. So things like the incessant worry or the obsessive thought patterns that we described.

Two or three sessions later, we are starting to see shifts starting to see shifts at a physical level. That doesn't mean that you're done in six sessions or eight sessions, but it does seem to take that long for, you know, the cumulative effect of several sessions to reach the physical level. Because once something has become physical, it is the outcome of months and more likely years or even decades of certain mental and emotional patterns. So just be aware of that.

And of course this I'm trying to give you a typical case, but you know, depending on the severity of your trauma history, you know, depending on other factors, like your receptivity to the method level of resistance, other things, this could take longer.

So when people ask me the question, will it work for me? Well, yes, we can figure this out in the first one to two, certainly by three sessions. People know, yes, this is something I like. I actually enjoy this method. I think it has benefits for me.

And I continue other people, not so much, but I will say that 95 to 97% of people that I work with in their first session are able to neutralize that painful emotional memory that they bring to the session. So it does at least at an emotional level does seem to work for most people.

And the fact is, in how well it works for you is, you know, how well can you relax, close your eyes and drop into basically an alpha brainwave state for people who have a strong meditation practice for people who pray regularly. These are practices that bring you to that alpha brainwave state and I find that they do very well in MAP sessions.

Another part of that is, you know, can you can you observe, can you share what came up in your mind during each of these little meditations that we do? You know, how open are you to being honest about what came up for you? Because it is that feedback that you provide to me after each round that is a significant set of clues about where we need to go next. There also has to be willingness to go back to painful memories from the past, including childhood traumas.

Now, each of these rounds of meditation in the last maybe five or seven minutes, it's not like we're asking you to spend a long time focusing on the memory. And it is also not necessary for you to see every aspect of it vividly, but we do seem to need to get your mind to that place and time.

So any part of the memory that you are willing to focus on is very helpful for that. For people who are not interested in going back and reviewing those memories from the past, that can be a limiting factor. That can be a non-starter.

The last thing I want to say about MAP sessions is that it is definitely not about creating dependencies between the client and the practitioner. The MAP method is about empowerment.

And your practitioner will give you tools to use on your own in between MAP sessions.

In my practice, every client gets a tool that they can use on themselves after the very first session and after the second session, they receive even more tools. These are supports for you in between sessions.

And they allow you to manage things on your own, if you feel anxious, if you're feeling sad or some other negative emotion, you know, there are, is possible to give yourself a MAP instruction.

That's the first tool, or it is possible to listen to these little short audio files that I provide people and where there are MAP instructions to help you to neutralize those, the negative effects of those emotions.

And so these are ways in which you are able to use MAP on your own in between sessions.

That can be very helpful.

I hope that this whole discussion has been helpful and that you feel like you are understanding more about what happens in an introductory MAP session and how to prepare yourself for your first experience with MAP.

Thanks for listening.

Thanks for joining us for the Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast. Please listen again and remember to follow us and leave a review on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Play or Stitcher.

Check out our free courses about the MAP method, how it works, and how we use it for mind body healing at MAPforhealth.us.

Or schedule your introductory session at MindReMAPforHealth.com. Until the next time, be well and flourish.

[music]

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for Chronic Illness - Susan's Story

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 15:15:33 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 69 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Hear how my client, Susan, credits MAP sessions with helping her overcome 10 years of chronic health issues including brain fog, fatigue, and sensitivities.
Hear how she describes the MAP Method as a 'beautifully simple' way to heal trauma.
Learn about the connection between trauma and chronic illness.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 69 where we talk with my client, Susan, about her experiences with the MAP Method and how MAP helped her to overcome 10+ years of chronic illness. Hear how she came to understand that there was a trauma connection, and how MAP Method sessions proved more effective than other modalities she tried including somatic work, counseling, EMDR or tapping.

In this episode we discuss:

The connection between trauma and chronic illness and how she learned from her chronic illness specialist that 80-90% of patients have a significant trauma history.
The experience of a MAP session and how Susan knew that MAP was changing something at a fundamental level in her mind.
How she came to MAP with a desire to release the trauma her body was holding, and to resolve her chronic fight-flight-freeze response.
How sessions have helped her to know herself better and realize that she was living her life in a small way.
The benefits she noted after 4 sessions, and after 6 sessions as her confidence increased and her brain fog resolved.
Her observation that things that used to be triggering aren’t anymore which frees up a lot of energy for living and healing.
How we work with the subconscious mind during sessions and uncover important associations.
Why Susan describes MAP as “beautifully simple” and “way more effective than I even hoped.”

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t miss Episode 60: MAP for Emotional Causes of Illness where I describe the research of Candace Pert, PhD on the biochemistry of mind body medicine and the benefit of working with the emotions to promote healing.

To learn more about the MAP Method, please visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at MindReMAPforHealth.com

Moments

[7:00] During that first session, I felt something in my mind's eye totally switch. I physically felt lighter in the days afterward. It was like I was carrying around a 20 lb backpack and suddenly it was gone. Even that night, after the first session, I was happier, I laughed easier. It was amazing!

[13:20] After my first few sessions I was getting to know myself better. I realized that I was living my life in a small way. After 4 sessions, I really woke up and I didn't have those mental constraints. I have so much confidence now. I thought I did before, but now I truly feel confident and I've been exploring things for the next phase of my life.

[14:00] I'd had brain fog for 10 years. I used to be a big reader, but I couldn't even read out loud to my kids because I couldn't remember what I'd just read. After our 6th session it totally went away and we did not work on that specifically!

[25:20] MAP is described as a quantum leap over anything else out there, and I 100% believe that's true. It's unlike anything, and I've tried almost everything out there.

[33:00] MAP is way more effective than I even hoped–this is actually a real healing modality!

[38:00] I just can’t stop talking about MAP. In my mind this is the only effective way to heal, and you don’t have a significant trauma history.

[44:00] The reason I can become a MAP Practitioner is because of MAP. It really saved me in a lot of respects from the trajectory that I was on. I just feel like a whole new door has been opened. It’s incredible.

[54:00] I am a much more mellow driver now. I didn't realize that until right now, and we never worked on that, but it seems that the cumulative effect of multiple sessions is that things are being taken care of.

[58:30] The way I understand [the relationship between trauma and chronic illness] is that part of your subconscious is still living in the traumas of the past and using up all this energy. When we can dissolve the trauma parts it frees up energy to use for healing instead of having it be locked up in those jails.

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

What is the Superconscious?

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Sun, 01 Oct 2023 18:15:00 GMT

A MAP Practitioner's view of the Superconscious level of mind.

"We believe, and we have seen, that the brain can actually heal itself on instruction."

- Collette Streicher, Founder of the MAP Method

As a MAP Practitioner I spend a lot of time talking to the Superconscious during client sessions. Why? Because it is your Superconscious that is doing the healing, not the practitioner. The practitioner serves as a guide, a coach or facilitator.

My clients sometimes have questions about who or what I am talking to during our sessions. It's a fair question.

In MAP training I was taught to think of the Superconscious as another name for the subconscious mind. But, having read more widely and after doing more than 1,800 MAP sessions as a practitioner, I have a better felt sense of it.

I see the subconscious level of mind as being connected to a higher level of mind, which you could call spirit, higher self, or the Superconscious. And that is connected to a universal consciousness, a level of intelligence that connects all things.

That is to say, your subconscious mind does not exist independently of mine, or of any living thing, because we are all one. That may sound mystical, but it is really simple physics--quantum physics, not Newtonian physics. It's where physics meets the spiritual realm.

Consider the ecosystem that connects the internet to our devices. Your phone or computer is a discrete entity, but it connects to a network in your home, and also to a wider network which we call the worldwide web, or the internet, from which it draws information. Similarly, humans and all living things are connected and share information, though not in a way we that can be easily seen.

This is the principle of Oneness, which has been described in every religion and every ancient culture. It is precisely this phenomenon that allows a MAP Practitioner to tune into the subconscious mind of a client thousands of miles away over Zoom videoconference.

If you are interested in learning more, please listen to my conversation with Dr. Alia Paquette in episode 68 of the Flourish Podcast: Understanding the MAP Method where she asks questions about the practitioner's experience in a MAP session, and what I understand about how MAP works.

I mention a few resources for further study in the course of our discussion. Here is that list, plus one more book that I read recently and recommend:

The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe , by Lynn McTaggart
Living the New Science Podcast with Lynn McTaggart
The Divine Matrix: Bridging Time, Space, Miracles, and Belief , by Gregg Braden
Extraordinary Knowing: Science, Skepticism and the Inexplicable Powers of the Human Mind , by Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer.

Now, please understand that you do not have to understand what the Superconscious is, or the science behind it. You do not have to believe in anything to benefit from MAP Method sessions. I have plenty of clients that have not done any research or had any questions about this and it has not limited their capacity to achieve positive results with sessions.

With the MAP Method, it is perfectly fine to be skeptical, as long as you are open to the process. It's a beautifully simple way to address any kind of behavior pattern, emotional pattern or physical pattern (including symptoms or sensitivities) that is no longer serving you.

Learn More

Read the article: How Can You Relieve Anxiety by Retraining Your Brain?
Watch: How Do We Retrain the Brain for Chronic Pain?
Read: How Do We Retrain the Brain for Physical Symptoms?
Watch: How Does Retraining the Brain Resolve Sensitivities?
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos about the MAP Method.
Listen to client stories about the MAP Method on our podcast.
Check out our free courses on the MAP Method.

How Does Retraining the Brain Resolve Sensitivities?

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 21:42:18 GMT

Learn how advanced neural retraining can resolve sensitivities to foods, chemicals, and environmental irritants.

Video transcript

Hi, Madeleine Lowry, certified MAP Method practitioner. I wanted to talk about how neural retraining or an advanced method of neural retraining, like the MAP Method, can address sensitivities. The first concept that I want to introduce is that your sensitivity response is a conditioned brain response.

Remember that the subconscious mind is 90 to 95% of all brain activity, runs all the systems of the body, and always has. The subconscious mind can create pain, it can create any symptom, because it runs all the systems of the body!

You may have observed that at one time you could be exposed to this very same stimulus, whether it's a food, a chemical, or something in the environment like pollen, like dust, like pet dander, or mold, and not have a response. It was not an issue for you, but then at some point in time that changed.

The subconscious mind is a pattern mind, it's a habit mind. It recognizes and reacts to patterns and it can learn a new response to an old stimulus we didn't want it to, but it just did.

And so that creates the sensitivity. But, whatever can be learned can be unlearned, right? And so that is where neural retraining comes in.

I want you to recognize that the immune system, as one of the functions of the body, is also directed by the brain. And when we have a brain that is locked into a hyper-active or hyper-reactive state, a brain that is identifying a lot of things that are relatively benign as being threats, and is directing the immune system to attack, over and over again, things that are in our environment or in our life on a daily basis, this can and does cause collateral damage. Damage to the intestine lining or other things, but it also results in a dysregulated immune system. So, often we see that people who have multiple sensitivities and allergies also have chronic infections, whether they are viral bacterial, fungal, or otherwise.

The immune system is being is is being trotted out, it's being sent to battle daily, hourly maybe, against threats that are not true threats, and so it's using up all its resources and it just doesn't have the resources to mount a proper attack on the things that truly need to be dealt with. And so, what I want you to understand is that as this process goes on for years, and decades, this can lead to more severe manifestations of a dysregulated immune system like autoimmune disease.

Now, who are the people that are predisposed, shall we say, to this kind of hyper reactivity? This kind of predisposition to developing multiple sensitivities? It's the people who have significant lifetime trauma histories. Trauma here just meaning painful emotional experiences.

And for the sensitive person those traumas don't even have to be that that's significant, really, because it's all about what the brain does with the experiences of your life. It's not necessarily how those those events would rate on some objective rating of trauma, you know, on a trauma scale.

So, the brain, through experiences, especially when we're young, can become convinced or can become programmed into a very high state of alert. Those early experiences, or really trauma throughout life, but it is especially the early experiences, can change the way your nervous system works, it can change the way your brain works, and it can put that danger-sensing part of the brain into high alert.

Right now your brain is scanning everything and it's responding to seemingly benign things, which it has now recognized as a threat incorrectly, and so by working with these root causes-- the original trauma memories-- with neural retraining we can start to unwind the whole sensitivity cycle, the whole sensitivity response.

I hope this explanation has been helpful and that you give it a try.

Learn More

See the related post: How Does MAP Compare with DNRS or the Sarno Method?
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos about MAP.
Listen to a client story about the MAP Method for Senstivities on our podcast.
Learn more with our free courses on the MAP Method.
Check out the online, self-paced MAP for Sensitivities Program .

MAP for Serious Illness - Alia's Story

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 21:30:00 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 67 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Meet Dr. Alia Paquette and hear about how she uses MAP sessions for self-care.
Hear how MAP supported her through 2 years of traumas including cancer.
Learn why she regards the brain as the foundation of health.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 67 where we talk with my client, Dr. Alia Paquette, about her experiences with the MAP Method and how MAP supported her through a harrowing 1 ½ year journey with pancreatic cancer, from diagnosis to surgery, ensuing complications, and painful recovery. Hear how she incorporates MAP sessions as a part of her self-care routine, along with acupuncture, and why she calls it “EMDR on steroids.”

In this episode we discuss:

Dr. Paquette’s interest, as a primary care physician, and in helping her patients find the resources that will work for them.
How Western medicine’s mental health support options, which include antidepressants, talk therapy, and EMDR, are often not enough.
How she heard about the MAP Method and immediately signed up her partner for sessions, based on his significant trauma history.
The impact of his first session and why she decided to try MAP herself., even though she did not have a trauma history.
The sequence of traumas that befell her in the next 2-3 years, including the pandemic, wildfires, house fire, loss of pets, and a serious and prolonged health crisis, and how MAP has helped her cope.
How she regards MAP sessions as ongoing self-care, similar to acupuncture or physical therapy.
Why we have as a culture separated mind from body and why that has to change.
Why she understands the brain to be “the foundation of health.”
How painful emotional experiences of any kind, even if they seem minor, can register in the brain as trauma.
How she utilized MAP sessions to cope with every step of her pancreatic cancer journey, from the traumatic experiences around diagnosis, pre and post surgery, hospital experiences, life-threatening complications, extreme weight loss, additional procedures, and chronic gut and pain symptoms.
Why she uses MAP sessions instead of talk therapy due to its efficiency and why she says MAP is so dramatically effective, so quickly.
How loving yourself and prioritizing yourself is the way that you support your body and your health.

If you enjoy this episode, don’t miss Episode 35: MAP for Optimal Health and Fertility to hear Kristen’s story about MAP for hormonal imbalances, relationship stress, and sensitivities and her understanding of how MAP works.

To learn more about the MAP Method, please visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at MindReMAPforHealth.com

Moments

[42:30] The sessions we did that focused on the pain symptoms also helped. Even just doing a session on the symptoms, like a switch would turn them off, and when they turned on again, they were never as bad. By supporting where my brain was with all of this, I was able to calm the symptoms down and some cases eliminate them.

[43:45] We did a session on chronic pain that came on at 10 o’clock at night that would keep me awake until 2 or 3 in the morning. We explored where that could be coming from and it wrapped around to the trauma of the surgical experience when I’d woken up trapped in a room where the medical staff were ignoring me. When we cleared that trauma, the pain symptoms stopped. That doesn’t happen anymore.

[45:00] The amazing part of all of this is that whether it’s a new mental health symptom or a physical symptom, I am no longer afraid. I utilize the MAP resources that I have at my disposal until I can have a session again.

[51:45] MAP gives such dramatic insight into self, and past experiences, and how they affect you currently. It’s so immediate and different [from talk therapy] even in one session–it’s EMDR on steroids. It’s so dramatically effective, so quickly.

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for Mindbody Health - Josie's Story

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Fri, 25 Aug 2023 19:45:00 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 66 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Meet my client Josie and hear how she's used MAP over the past two years to improve her emotional, mental and physical health.
Hear how she used the MAP for Sensitivities program to retrain her brain for food and mold sensitivities.
Learn why she believes you can achieve the same results as years of talk therapy in a few MAP sessions.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 66 where we talk with my client, Josie, about her experience with the MAP Method and what she has learned about how working with the mind impacts emotional, mental, and physical health. Hear how the benefits she experienced have even extended to her relationships, and her role as a parent, and how she used the MAP for Sensitivities Program for food and mold sensitivities.

In this episode we discuss:

How MAP compares to talk therapy and the benefits of working directly with the subconscious mind.
Why her “mind was blown” by her first MAP session and what it felt like to have a traumatic memory neutralized.
What it’s like to clear a traumatic memory in a MAP session and why it’s so freeing.
How working with the subconscious mind can reveal sticking points, such as the hidden significance of the memory.
The immediate effects of a MAP session: more clarity, lightness, empowerment. Longer term effects include feeling more peaceful and like you’ve reorganized things in your brain.
MAP for big T and little t traumas and how we can change the meaning of those events in a MAP session.
How MAP sessions have improved her relationships and helped her be more intentional in parenting.
Physical effects she has noted: resolution of stomach symptoms, elimination of food and mold sensitivities, less severe skin issues and improved sleep.
The benefits of continuity with MAP Programs, and how engaging with the learning modules, activities, and recorded sessions reinforces gains.
How the Sensitivities program works with fears and the shift from a fear-based mindset to a more secure empowered mindset.
The benefits of two years of MAP sessions in uncovering her authentic self, changing her personality in positive ways, and contributing to physical health.
Other resources she utilized, including the Mindbody Rewire program that is based on German New Medicine principles.
Changing her relationship to her symptoms has taken the pressure off resolving them; now she trusts her body to heal itself in its own time.

If you enjoy this episode, don’t miss episode 62: MAP for Changing Your Relationship to Illness for more on how your attitude towards your symptoms and conditions could be the first thing, and the most important thing to change.

To learn more about the MAP Method and how it works, visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at MindReMAPforHealth.com

Moments

[3:20] I had tried everything, I’d been doing acupuncture, chinese herbs, massage and really just anything on the natural and functional health side and I was struggling. I was listening to a podcast on fertility and you were the guest. I just remember being instantly intrigued. It was my first introduction to the idea that maybe I shouldn’t be looking outside for the answer, to herbs or pills or some sort of physical modality, maybe I needed to be looking inside for those solutions.

[12:00] This [traumatic memory] was something I’d addressed in counseling, and it was helpful, but with MAP you can do 5 years of counseling in a few sessions. I had done a fair share of counseling, but basically in counseling you’re trying to let it out to the point where it doesn’t hurt anymore so you can move on with your life. What’s different about MAP is that even in that first session you quiet your mind so that your subconscious bubbles up. And then you realize, oh, this in particular is why this is so painful for me: it makes me feel like a failure, or I’m unimportant. That’s where MAP is really powerful.

[23:45] Physical effects I have noticed: I had an uneasy feeling in my gut often before we started, not as severe as IBS, I don’t have that anymore. I don’t have stomach issues at all anymore. I had more food sensitivities, and I eat whatever I want now. My skin issues have improved and my sleep has improved.

[30:00] So much of the Sensitivities Program is about fear. We are just programmed to fear certain things, depending on your childhood. Doing that daily work on staying out of the fear-based mindset and empowering myself was monumental for me. When I was done with the program I was no longer sensitive to mold. I did all the steps to re-expose myself and I did not react.

[39:40] [Working with your mind] is absolutely foundational to physical health. I believe that you cannot address your physical symptoms without addressing your mind. Of course, medications can help, but they don’t get to the root cause. Your mind is leading the charge and your body will follow and that goes for positive and negative things.

[1:00:50] It all makes sense how I got here, it’s not that my body is out to get me. It’s that my body is trying to tell me something and I don’t know what it is. Between MAP and GNM it’s been translated down to a language I can read.

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Check out our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

How Can You Relieve Anxiety by Retraining Your Brain?

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 21:05:17 GMT

Learn how you can retrain your brain to resolve long-standing patterns of anxiety easily and quickly, including social anxiety, performance anxiety, phobias, panic attacks, health anxiety, and generalized anxiety.

“I went through 4 sessions focused on my anxiety and I'm so glad I did. I’m no longer having physical issues, I’m a lot happier and calmer throughout the day. My wife constantly comments on how happy I am and how little stress she sees in my face and hears in my voice.” - Alex

In episode 55 of the Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast, MAP for Anxiety , you'll hear stories from my clients, their struggles with anxiety and how they resolved these patterns with advanced neural retraining sessions.

Hear about Alex and how generalized anxiety can be associated with gut issues. Listen to Carter’s experience of acute anxiety and how early life trauma can predispose us to panic attacks. We also talk about Andy and how complex factors can promote anxiety including perfectionism, empath tendencies, and anxiety about anxiety.

Let's review 3 key insights about retraining the brain for anxiety:

Insight #1: Anxiety patterns are a conditioned response learned by the subconscious mind, and anything that has been learned subconsciously can be unlearned.

Why are you anxious in certain situations? Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever wondered why certain things make you anxious, and not others? And how different people can have different triggers for anxiety? Have you assumed that it’s ‘normal’ to be anxious in certain situations like interviews, public speaking, being in the dark, or taking tests?

The truth is that we are born with only two fears: the fear of heights and the fear of loud noises. All other fears are learned.

Now, fear is a feeling that you have about present circumstances, while anxiety is an anticipatory fear-- fear of the future. So, when we talk about anxiety, we are talking about a fear response to something that hasn’t happened yet, except in our mind.

Anxiety is a learned response. Where is it learned? In your subconscious mind. You didn’t mean to learn it, didn’t want to learn it, but you have. And now that response is automatic.

What if you could change what your subconscious mind has learned? What if you could replace it with something else, a different response? What if this learned anxiety response is like a bug in the operating system of your mind and you could do a ‘bug fix’?

Well, that is exactly what we can do with advanced neural retraining. What is wonderful about this method, the MAP Method(TM), is that you can work with the subconscious level of mind simply and easily with the guidance of a practitioner.

As the client, all you have to do is be able to close your eyes, relax and focus on a memory of a situation where you felt anxious. The practitioner instructs your mind in how to rewire itself and your learned response starts to change.

How long does it take? Well, simple phobias are often resolved in one session. From there the more complex the pattern, the more generalized the anxiety, or the more anxiety triggers there are, the more sessions it could take. But, most people see significant results within 3 sessions.

Learn more:

Watch the video: How the MAP Method works
Watch brain wave studies taken during a MAP session
Hear clients talk about their experiences with the MAP Method and the results they've seen in resolving anxiety patterns on our podcast.

Insight #2 - Your brain is a self-healing system. The MAP Method taps into this self-healing process to make the changes you desire.

Your brain has an innate ability to heal itself. This includes unlearning conditioned behaviors that we no longer want or need, resolving anxiety, depression or anger patterns, or neutralizing painful emotional memories (often called traumas.) You can also change mental and behavioral patterns like obsessions, compulsions, catastrophizing, procrastination, perfectionism, people-pleasing and more.

Does this surprise you? Have you assumed that these kinds of changes would be impossible or at least very difficult to make, requiring months or years of hard work?

Many neural retraining methods do require a lot of work--hours and hours of repetition of scripts, affirmations, visualizations and other exercises. Those kinds of methods are slow and repetitive because they are working with the conscious mind to try to change something in the subconscious. And that is a long hard road.

The MAP Method is an advanced method. It’s designed to work directly with the subconscious. Unlike hypnosis, you are not in a trance state. You are in a relaxed meditative state during a session, hearing and responding to the practitioner. Your subconscious mind is in control of the session. You and your practitioner select the topic for the session, and you set your goal or intention to guide the session. Your brain rewires itself during the session based on the instructions offered by the practitioner, no practice needed.

You may be wondering how this could possibly work. This may not sound like anything you’ve heard of before. It’s true, most people have never heard of the MAP Method before, and that is because it is the latest energy-psychology method. It’s less than 10 years old and there are fewer than 200 practitioners in the world.

You’ve probably heard of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), or Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), also sometimes called tapping. These are the energy-psychology techniques from the 1980s that were precursors to the MAP Method. It took decades for them to be well accepted, to be known by practitioners, and covered by insurance. Why are they referred to as energy methods? These techniques use bilateral stimulation (EMDR) or tapping on acupressure points (EFT) to release or break down an emotional or mental response encoded as an energy pattern.

MAP is the next generation. It is gentler and more powerful than EMDR, and goes deeper than tapping. No equipment is required other than what you need to join a Zoom meeting—your laptop, phone or device. With MAP bilateral stimulation or tapping is not needed. Your brain rewires itself quickly and efficiently.

MAP stands for Make Anything Possible, and you could say it is a very effective way of reprogramming the subconscious mind.

Learn more:

Read the article: What is the MAP Method?
Check out our blog post: Why Haven't I Heard of the MAP Method?
Read: How does the MAP Method Compare to EMDR or EFT.
Learn more about the difference between basic and advanced neural retraining methods

Insight #3 - Working with your emotional health has benefits for your physical health.

Do you know what my clients like even more than resolving their anxiety? They love resolving their chronic physical symptoms like irritable bowel, neck and shoulder tension, headaches, brain fog, fatigue, shortness of breath, frequent urination, sensitivities, skin issues and many others.

How can that work? Because as we resolve emotional issues, like anxiety, we take a burden off of the body that keeps us in the stress response. Then, by continuing to work with the MAP Method, we see improvements in mental and behavioral patterns that also put a stress on the body. And as each layer of subconscious stress is resolved, the body has more resources to heal itself.

You can learn more about this by reading our blog post: How does emotional health affect physical health?

The body is a self-healing system, just like your brain. It just needs a little help, the kind of help we can offer in a set of MAP sessions.

As you have heard, stress is bad for physical health. And that is because every stressful thought or emotion promotes the stress response, also known as fight, flight or freeze. When we are in the stress response our body shuts down all healing functions. This is based on the ancient hardwiring of our nervous system—the autonomic nervous system (ANS) that runs all the functions of the body.

In our lives as cavemen, this made a lot of sense. When a tiger shows up, it's not time for digestion, nutrient uptake, detoxification, reproduction, wound healing, or any other nice-to-have restorative functions. The body halts all of that until the danger is over—until we escape the tiger. And that worked very well because back then threats were infrequent and fleeting.

In our modern lives, threats look like the deadline at work, the traffic that is going to make you late, the bill you have to pay, or that conversation you’re avoiding. It looks like every worry thought, and negative emotion you have each day, every day. In our modern lives, threats are all too common and occupy our minds far too long. And, they inhibit our ability to maintain or recover our health.

Over time, by working with your automatic negative emotions, thoughts and responses, you'll spend less time in the stress response, which then allows all healing functions of the body to come back online. First you'll feel emotionally more stable, more peaceful, then you notice mental changes like fewer negative thoughts, or the silencing of the inner critic. Certain behaviors may change — the way you are in relationships, or less procrastination or perfectionism. And then, and this is usually the last stage, you notice that chronic health issues or symptoms are starting to resolve. That’s your body healing itself.

How long does this take? Well, in truth it varies. I usually say at least 6 sessions, but this is very individual. Why? Because every person is unique. Your experiences and your health issues are unique, and your goals are unique as well.

For some of us it takes longer to untangle all the complex patterns. This is especially true of people with more significant trauma histories, multiple symptoms and conditions, or complicating factors like OCD which make the patterns more entrenched.

For many of my clients, working with the mind is the missing puzzle piece to accelerating their healing. And I should mention that MAP sessions are complementary to any other modalities or treatments you are pursuing. Why? Because the mind is powerful, and you can accomplish more, and more quickly, by working with the mind instead of against it.

Try MAP for yourself:

Try a MAP session with the Introduction to MAP Program .
Learn more about MAP with one of our free courses .
Try a free preview of the MAP for Anxiety & Depression Program .
Find a MAP Practitioner through the MAP Coaching Institute .

Conclusion: The MAP Method of advanced neural retraining can help you to resolve anxiety patterns, heal trauma, and improve your emotional, mental and physical health. Make anything possible with this powerful, gentle and easy method.

Meet Sofie Hon - MAP Instructor and Practitioner

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Fri, 26 May 2023 22:34:47 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 65 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Meet Sofie Hon, MAP Method instructor for the MAP Coaching Institute.
Hear about her work and how she "helps others to help others."
Learn more about the typical blocks that can be identified and released in MAP sessions.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 65 where we talk with Sofie Hon, a top MAP Method™ coach in Singapore, and an instructor for the MAP Coaching Institute. Hear about her work with the MAP Method and how she aspires to create a ripple effect by training leaders who then improve the lives of those around them, and how her work as a MAP trainer supports students who seek to certify in the MAP Method.

In this episode we discuss:

How Sofie first discovered the MAP Method in a Mastermind group.
Her first experience of MAP and why she decided to train in it.
Her specialty: helping leaders succeed in business, in coaching, and in parenting.
Examples of clients she has helped.
Her role as instructor at the MAP Coaching Institute.

If you enjoyed this episode, tune into my conversation with Colette Streicher, founder of the MAP Method in episode 29: The MAP Method Origins, Research, and Applications. You can also visit the MAP Coaching Institute’s website for more information about training as a MAP Coach.

To learn more about the MAP Method and how it could work for you, try one of our free courses at mapforhealth.us. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at TCNeuralRetraining .com.

Moments

[5:00] I actually didn’t know what I was getting into (when I signed up for the training) –it was a whole coaching program! What I experienced was just 10%, but as I went through the whole program, it was so transformational.

[7:30] I see parents as leaders as well. They are the most important coaches for their own children. If parents can learn the skill to coach their kids, the kids will be happier, better people, and will become our future leaders to make the world a better place.

[14:50] The opportunity to help certification students is something I’m passionate about. They are important stakeholders in that ripple effect I want to create. So, in terms of certification I serve in different roles as a trainer, supervise practice sessions, support sessions for students and by teaching the MAP Business Program.

[20:30] I get a lot of positive feedback from my clients and I think that really nourishes and energizes me. It makes me very excited that there is hope for people who want to make a change in their lives.

[26:30] We cannot change our situation, but we can change the way we choose to respond to it. That may take a lot of inner work, and that is what MAP offers– to help them look within themselves and work through all those blocks to bring out their true potential.

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos.
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Enroll in our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

Retraining the Brain for Anxiety and Depression

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Wed, 17 May 2023 14:53:34 GMT

Learn how advanced neural retraining can resolve anxiety or depression patterns for good.

Video transcript

Hi, Madeleine Lowry, certified MAP Method practitioner. I wanted to talk about how we use neural retraining, or an advanced method of neural retraining, like the MAP Method for anxiety, depression, and other intense negative mood states

So, what I want you to understand is that emotions are created in the brain in response to certain situations or activities, and these emotions are created as a kind of communication system with the rest of the body.

The brain, remember, is responsible for coordinating the response of 50 trillion different cells in our body, so the emotion is accompanied by a neurotransmitter production that then kind of washes through our circulation system and every single cell in your body has receptors for these neurotransmitters.

Every cell is informed of what the emotional state is, and this is necessary because if there's extreme fear the body needs to operate differently, for example, so every emotion has a physiological effect as well.

Also understand that each emotional communication is meant to arise and dissipate in a short period of time, in as little as 90 seconds. So when these emotional states are being sustained over a long period of time that is a sign that there is a brain circuit that's being fired over and over again.

The way the MAP Method works is: it works directly with the subconscious mind and working directly with the subconscious mind in the session, with a practitioner over Zoom video conference, we are able to have the subconscious mind focus on a particular instance where you felt this emotion intensely and then have it identify related memories and then start to neutralize the intense emotions around the whole group, the whole cluster of memories.

And each time we do this in a session it's like we're de-intensifying that emotional circuit. We're weakening it --you could think of it that way.

The purpose of the Program is to provide you with some core sessions that allow you different angles on doing this. We work with each aspect of the circuit, so there there's the emotion--often once the emotion fires there's a thought that goes along with it or maybe a set of thoughts. The thoughts kind of reinforce the emotion, the emotion reinforces the thoughts, and then we have like this negative spiral.

We can work with the thoughts. We can work with the emotions around the events, and we can work with the triggers that either initiate the whole thing or sustain it.

And so in this way we are de-intensifying this brain circuit. Then we can also work with the MAP Method to reinforce a better brain circuit: How is it that you want to feel and act and be in response to these situations in the future?

The MAP Method is useful for both of these and in the program there's also a session on intentions that helps you to reinforce the new neural circuit, the one that you want to have fire, instead of the old one that we have downgraded or de-prioritized in the operating system of your subconscious mind.

I hope this explanation makes sense to you and I do hope you give it a try.

Learn More

See the related post: How Does MAP Compare with EMDR or EFT?
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos about MAP.
Listen to client stories about the MAP Method for Anxiety on our podcast.
Learn more with our free courses on the MAP Method.
Check out the online, self-paced MAP for Anxiety & Depression Program

The Neurobiology of Trauma and the MAP Method

Thu, 11 May 2023 14:57:08 GMT

Learn how the brain is affected by trauma, ten therapeutic objectives for trauma therapy, and how the MAP Method heals trauma quickly and gently.

These excerpts are from a white paper published by Colette Streicher, licensed psychotherapist and founder of MAP, and the MAP Coaching Institute . To read the original paper and see the citations, please download the pdf file above.

Effects of Trauma on the Brain

What is a traumatic event? Traumatic events, according to the Center for Disease Control, are marked by a sense of horror, helplessness, serious injury, or the threat of serious injury or death.

It has been proven that the long-term impact of the trauma is worse when the person is trapped during the experience, and unable to move, escape or react in any way. In other words, when the person is feeling totally helpless, the brain has to adjust to help survive the event.

Brain imaging research has shown the effects of early trauma on certain areas of the brain as described by Dr. Bessel Van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score :

The right brain which includes the limbic, emotional brain , such as the right amygdala
is turned on and can get stuck on firing emotions of shame, guilt, fear, and terror. The right hemisphere also holds the unconscious part of the brain. It is the seat of creativity and imagination, which can be used both positively or negatively, and produces various responses, such as catastrophic thinking.
The left brain shuts down during trauma. This is where the language area of the brain
is located (Broca). It is also the seat of conscious memories. The hippocampus which records and manages autobiographical memories is often off line during trauma. This is due to either an excessive level of cortisol, which affects data processing in this area of the brain, or the area is not yet developed in the child’s brain.
Trauma causes the back of the brain to become hyperactive, as it goes into survival mode. This includes the brainstem that regulates the fight, flight, and freeze response. During trauma the sympathetic nervous system that directs the body’s rapid involuntary response to dangerous or stressful situations is turned on and then tends to stay on.
The front part of the brain, the frontal cortex , (thinking, planning, problem solving, decision making, insight, understanding) becomes inactive during trauma. This leads to difficulty in planning, creates a tendency toward overgeneralization, and extreme anxiety later on in life.
The brain then loses integration as a result, and this means that the interconnections between the parts of the brain can be impaired. For example, the right and left brain ( corpus callosum ) connection can be limited, as well as the frontal cortex and the back of the brain may lose connection. People lose their sense of coherence and self when the areas of the brain do not communicate well between one another. The lack of integration may also explain what is happening when the main personality of the traumatized person splits and segments into small parts. These trauma parts create different identities disconnected and sometimes even amnesic from the main personality.
In addition to the general areas of the brain being affected by trauma, Dr. Van der Kolk explained that there are 4 specific areas in the cortex (top of the brain) that are actually changed by trauma. The first one is the ventral prefrontal cortex . Studies show that the ventral prefrontal cortex is connected to our ability to be flexible in our social behaviors, which enables healthy relationships in life. This area is affected by trauma, but research has also found more importantly, that it is the quality of the relationship with the caregiver(s) that affects this area most. Research has shown that the care giver’s way of relating to the child as young as 12-18 months, creates attachment preferences which have a huge impact on the child’s brain development. This area of the brain’s development will be affected by the repetitively painful experiences of not being seen, heard, mirrored, appreciated, and loved. The messages the child receives is “I am not heard, seen, I don’t matter, my needs are not being met, I am not safe”, and therefore, the child doesn’t know how to react to get their needs met. This will affect the child’s future relationships at school, with family, friends, and partners.
The second cortex area affected by trauma is the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex . It is the time-awareness part of the brain that shuts down during trauma. This creates the impression for the traumatized person that the experience is going to last forever. This makes the experience overwhelming and unbearable. The person loses awareness that this is a past memory, that it is over, and reacts and feels exactly as if the event was still occurring in real time and will never end. Later on in life these memories can pop back up as flashbacks.
The third cortex area turned down by trauma is the anterior cingulate . This part of the brain is all about determining what is relevant and important, both in our internal (mind and body) and external worlds. In the middle of trauma, the person is overwhelmed by all the dangerous threatening sensory data and information coming at them, and they don’t know what to focus on– it becomes impossible to discern what is relevant or not. The person is in a continuously alert state, not knowing when it’s safe to relax and trust. They are unable to distinguish between what is a true sign of danger or not. They become either hyperactive or hypoactive, influencing their future interactions and intimate relationships in life.
The fourth and last cortex area affected by trauma is the medial parietal cortex right precuneus . This is the area of self-identity, self-consciousness, such as the ability to reflect and be self-aware. It is also connected to our ability to judge whether to act out of empathy and forgiveness.

Ten Therapeutic Objectives for Trauma Healing

Here are the therapeutic objectives deduced from these neuro-imaging studies.

Engage the areas of the brain that were firing during trauma:

Focus on the right side of the brain as it is the side activated during trauma: the goal is to reduce the right amygdala’s activity that activates the fight, flight response This also engages the imagination and the creativity of the right brain to connect with the unconscious memories.
The therapy used should not depend on the left brain activation such as the Broca area of the brain (speech), or on conscious memories within the hippocampus, logic, and linear thinking.
Focus on the emotional brain (limbic) is core to healing trauma. The goal is to help the client learn to regulate their emotional responses, to tolerate feeling their emotions and not repress, numb, or express them inadequately
Address unconscious memories recorded in the body that are inaccessible to the conscious mind

Reconnect parts of the disconnected brain:

As the right and left brain may not be communicating as needed, activate the corpus callosum which connects the right and left brain..
The top brain cortex is associated with higher level processes such as consciousness, thought, emotional control (to verify) , reasoning, language, and memory. To function normally, it needs to integrate vertically with the midbrain (limbic/emotional brain) and connect with the bottom brain (the brainstem), which sends signals from the brain to the rest of the body. The clusters of neurons in the brainstem put trauma victims in survival mode because they move the body into a constant state of fight, flight, or freeze.

Activate and integrate the 4 cortex areas that are shut down by trauma:

Ventral prefrontal cortex - social behavior
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex - time awareness
Anterior cingulate - relevance
Medial parietal cortex right precuneus - self-awareness

What is the MAP Method?

MAP was developed in cooperation with the late Dr. Garry Flint, who was a psychologist working with patients with deep trauma, such as torture survivors, people suffering from schizophrenia, mind control, and many other extreme states. This experience is documented in his book, A Theory and Treatment of Your Personality , in which he outlines his discovery via his clinical observations. He discovered that there seems to be an “ally” in his client’s subconscious mind which was willing to help and guide the therapy process.

When Colette discovered his work, Dr. Flint was happy to mentor her and her son Valentin, in the method he developed called “Process Healing”, a novel and powerful use of Eriksonian metaphorical language and mindfulness. Colette was guided to expand this to address many other types of subconscious memories such as somatic memories (organs, endocrines, muscles, and cellular) as well as generational and cultural traumas, and more.

Dr. Flint enthusiastically supported the expansion of his original work and helped review and supervise the new additions. After 3 years of research and development we systemized the method, and designed and tested new instructions and protocols in order to make them most effective in treatment sessions.

Using the MAP Method, we communicate with the part of our mind that is beyond the conscious, and the subconscious/unconscious mind. It is often called the Authentic Self, which is the observer and has never been injured or conditioned. It is whole, complete, unconditional, and present– it is our innate intelligence. The MAP method calls this the “Superconscious”, and we discovered that this part of consciousness is actually willing and able to help in the healing process.

As with Internal Family System (IFS), MAP requires therapists to trust that the capacity and wisdom for self healing lies within each client. MAP is similarly founded on the recognition that we have an ever present “Untarnished Self” as Dr Schwartz, the founder of IFS explained.

Review of the Ten Therapeutic Objectives and MAP's Effectiveness

Based on the above neuroscience and imaging research, we have defined 10 therapeutic objectives which would be necessary to achieve successful trauma therapy outcomes. How might MAP address these objectives which are highlighted by Dr. Van der Kolk’s research? Let’s first explore the general areas of the brain activated during trauma:

Objective 1 - Right Brain Engagement

As described above, leveraging the abilities of the right brain is central to the healing process. One of the strengths of the right brain is its role in creativity and imagination.

MAP is in some ways similar to hypnosis by allowing the imagination to be accessed however, contrary to the classic approach of hypnosis, it has a few significant differences and advantages. As many clients resist being hypnotized, it is important to notice that with MAP there is no need for the client to be in a trance and the instructions are process-oriented.

Right brain engagement also comes into play here, as at the end of a session, the therapist may ask the client to use their imagination to create the missing support and resources they needed to fulfill their core needs at the time of the traumatic event.

They are invited to imagine the completion of the protective actions they were unable to take, thus creating an opportunity for the brain to change its relationship to the trauma event. This transforms the person’s memory of the event, which creates a new empowering option for the mind/brain. This is possible because the client is engaging their right brain, their creative brain to imagine a different outcome and is one key part of the healing process used in MAP.

Objective 2 - Minimal involvement of the left brain

With MAP, talking is not necessary. The client doesn’t have to share anything about the event or the subject addressed in the session for the treatment to be effective.

This makes it easier for traumatized clients who are often ashamed or feel guilty about what happened to them. Having this privacy allows the patient to experience the freedom and empowerment to choose how much information they feel ready to disclose. This also prevents re-traumatization as they don’t have to repeat the details of their trauma experience over and over again. Not only is this a key advantage for adults, but this aspect of MAP also allows us to work with small children who are often unable or unwilling to talk about their trauma experiences

Objective 3 - Quickly neutralize painful emotions in the limbic brain without flooding

This objective may be best demonstrated by an example from Annie Schaeffer, a French
MAP therapist, who did a MAP session for a Ukrainian refugee and her son. The two had just escaped the Afghanistan war, only to find themselves caught up in another war in Ukraine, and in the area most devastated by the attacks. The mother was asked to assess her level of stress thinking about a specific event she had witnessed. Even though it was the intro session where we usually take a lighter subject so we can train the client’s brain, she couldn’t find anything else except the one event that had been occupying all her attention for weeks.

When asked where she would place this intensity of this experience, she said the level of stress was a hundred million out of ten! At the end of the session the number she assessed was down to a 10/10! and she was smiling.

This is an example of how the emotional brain and the nervous system is calmed by a MAP session. Even though the level of intensity was extreme, the mother was able to tolerate the emotions she experienced as they didn’t last long and she didn’t have to focus on the details for the brain to rewire and process the memory. Most of the processing was done in the subconscious.

Objective 4 - Address unconscious memories recorded in the body

With MAP, we access the memories at the depth of the subconscious, including preverbal and prenatal memories, cellular memories, organs, endocrines, body parts, brain areas, generational history, etc. We tap into the wisdom of the body/mind to heal itself by inviting the Superconscious to search, find and heal memories that were disconnected from the whole. Through the association process, it locates all similar and connected unconscious events including the original event of the entire pattern to be treated as a package at the same time.

Objective 5 - Horizontal brain integration

There is an opportunity during MAP sessions to have the client share (left brain/ language area) insights and new perspectives. That is, to express what they have observed changing in their body, mind, breathing, posture etc. It is up to the therapist to then engage in a dialogue to further integrate the new material, memories, realizations and insights that have emerged in the client’s consciousness during processing.

Objective 6 - Integrate the brain from the top to the bottom

Here we are talking about vertical brain integration which means from the top of the brain - (cortex) to the emotional (center) to the brain stem/nervous system/body memories (bottom).

In a MAP session, after the processing and healing of a memory, the client often reports clarity and insights. The client’s ability to have a new perspective, as well as a better understanding of their experience, demonstrates the integration of the frontal lobe with the emotional brain.

In addition, because the client is in a state of mindfulness during a MAP session, as previously explained, the brain learns to integrate areas of the cortex with all other areas of the brain or nervous system.

During the processing time, a client often observes many types of body sensations, and changes in their posture, or may experience body pain that comes to the surface and then disappears once it has been processed.

Another way to integrate the brain vertically and horizontally is when the client gains insights, and is ready to share. This is helping integrate the brain from the cortex (sharing observation, thinking) to the emotional brain, and down the nervous system, brainstem and body.

The last four objectives focus on reactivating the CORTEX AREAS that are shut down by trauma.

Objective 7 - Bring the ventral prefrontal cortex online (emotional control)

The prefrontal cortex is related to social interactions, specifically the ability to control certain emotions in social situations, which also includes attention, focus and the ability to show empathy for others. Here trauma is only one aspect which influences this area of the brain. Research has actually proven that the early style of attachment with the primary caregiver is critical to the development of this area of the brain, and may be even more impactful than traumatic events.

Needs that have not been met in early childhood create and dictate character traits, these are also called predispositions. In MAP we address predispositions with specific instructions so we can address these types of early childhood memories created during the first 4 years of life.

Attachment issues such as not feeling heard, understood, protected, etc., are core needs which left unmet can become the theme of MAP sessions. When enough traumas have been cleared, we use another process using imagination to help clients rewrite their history.

Objective 8 - Activate the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (time awareness)

During trauma this area of the brain is turned off, as a result, the person loses awareness of time and the understanding that things will change as time passes. For the integration of this area of the brain, the type of mindfulness we use in MAP has the client focus on an old memory but at the same time, on the changes happening in the present moment in their body/mind. According to Dr. Van der Kolk, the way we use dual consciousness stimulates dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and therefore is very helpful in recovering from the trauma event.

An additional advantage of MAP is that it directs the client to focus on the changes happening in the body and the mind. This mindful focus on the positive changes happening to them progressively moves them from a state of helplessness, to a state of hope, which in turn enhances their desire to continue benefiting from the therapy.

Objective 9 - Activate the anterior cingulate (relevance)

This area concerns our ability to know what to focus on, and what information is relevant in a given situation (association process).

This can be a difficult area for therapists to access. However we also discovered that we can ask the mind to heal the association and dissociation processes because we can address deep unconscious memories. This is achieved through the MAP method by directing the Superconscious to focus on finding and treating the memories which have affected the right precuneus. In other words, by treating the association process in the brain, it is able to then filter relevant information more accurately.

Objective 10 - Bring the medial parietal cortex online (self-awareness)

The last objective is to bring the medial parietal cortex online, or more specifically, to reactivate the right precuneus. This is related to self-identity. As with many therapies, once the client has healed many of their traumas, they naturally develop a new sense of self and agency.

To conclude: The purpose of the MAP Method is to empower individuals to quickly dissolve unconscious blocks, gently heal unresolved trauma, and easily overcome emotional stress.

Learn More

Learn more about the MAP Method of advanced neural retraining.
See the brain wave activity that happens in a MAP session.
Try a free course about MAP, or see all the MAP Program s.
Listen to our podcast: Flourish with Neural Retraining
Get started with MAP by scheduling an Introductory MAP Session.

How Do We Retrain the Brain for Chronic Pain?

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Fri, 05 May 2023 14:25:56 GMT

Learn how working with the subconscious mind can alleviate chronic pain patterns.

Meetup Event - April 2023

Do you have chronic back pain, joint pain, shoulder/neck pain, or migraines? Do you have persistent tension, pressure, tingling or neuropathies? Have you had more than one chronic pain symptom over the years? Do you find that most therapies offer limited relief? Have you considered the role that your mind plays in reinforcing and prolonging pain?

Learn how the mind--our thoughts, emotions and memories--plays a role in amplifying and sustaining chronic pain. Learn about the characteristics of neuroplastic pain, the Sarno principles behind chronic pain symptoms and the role of the "symptom imperative."

We will discuss how advanced neural retraining can be helpful in resolving chronic pain symptoms and how it is complementary to any other therapies you are using.

Join us for a short presentation (20 min) with time for Q&A afterwards (20 min). This session will be recorded over Zoom and the link will be shared with those who register for the event.

Madeleine Lowry is a certified MAP Method practitioner specializing in chronic health conditions. She is the host of the Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast.

Learn More

Listen to the related podcast episode: Episode 40: MAP for Chronic Pain
Could "hidden" stressors in your subconscious be a factor in your health issues? Find out by taking the quiz!
Join our Meetup Group for notices of future events: Neural Retraining for Chronic Health Conditions
Watch Frequently Asked Questions about the MAP Method.
Get started with the MAP Method by scheduling your Introductory Session online.
Check out our free courses on the MAP Method.

MAP for Finding Your Authentic Self

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Tue, 02 May 2023 17:24:14 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 64 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Why authenticity is a hallmark of health, and part of your journey to recovery.
Why highly sensitive people (HSPs) and empaths are vulnerable to self-denial.
The four technologies of magic described by Martha Beck in her book, Finding Your Way in a Wild New World , and how we utilize them in the MAP Method.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 64, where I talk about the relationship between finding your true nature and why it is often part of the work of recovering from chronic illness. I will discuss how we use the MAP Method to address blocks and barriers you may have developed to your authentic self.

I will talk about my own insights from working with clients, as well as the those of Martha Beck as summarized in her book, Finding Your Way in a Wild New World , including her description of the type of person most often affected by chronic illness, and the four essential technologies that she advocates for learning to turn things around, which are also utilized by my own work with the MAP Method.

In this episode I’ll discuss:

Why burying our true nature makes us vulnerable to chronic illness.
How finding and reclaiming your authenticity is often part and parcel of recovering your health.
Martha Beck’s description of her tribe of 'wayfinders' or 'menders': the highly sensitive, intuitive, mission-driven person and how it relates to the type of person I see in my practice.
The 4 technologies of magic, as described by Martha Beck: Wordlessness, Oneness, Imagination and Forming.
How I utilize these four technologies in MAP Method sessions.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t miss episode 61: MAP for Personality Traits that Predispose to Chronic Illness for additional background on how repressive emotional coping styles increase lifetime risk of chronic health issues.

To learn more about the MAP Method and how it works, visit mapforhealth.us for our free courses. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at MindReMAPforHealth.com

Moments

[2:50] What I have seen over and over again in my clients is that the ways in which we have buried our true nature make us vulnerable to chronic illness.

[6:00] According to Martha Beck, "tribe members" have chronic illnesses. It’s very common for them to have chronic pain and chronic conditions of all kinds. She talks about how in all ancient societies these were exactly the kinds of people who were recognized as having gifts. These were the people who were selected to be trained as shamans, medicine women and healers. She describes how accepting and following their path led to remissions in their health conditions.

[9:00] The kinds of things that prevent us from hearing our true call, the kinds of things that keep us in patterns like people-pleasing, perfectionism, conflict-avoiding, caretaking–those kinds of things are blocks and barriers not only to living our true life but also to our access to the innate healing power of the body.

[12:00] Your sensitivities, your intuition, your empathic nature… these are gifts. Sometimes what is meant to be a gift can feel like a curse if you don’t understand how to use the gift. You may be feeling burdened by these gifts, but the solution is not to deny the gift, which is a part of yourself, but to learn how to use them in a way that serves you.

[15:00] In a MAP session you're being assisted by the practitioner, much like the way a novice hang glider or parasailor is tethered to an instructor to enable them to have an experience that they wouldn’t be able to have on their own.

[19:00] So, I see the MAP Method as an enhanced technique that incorporates all 4 technologies that Martha Beck describes. Its power and efficacy come from the connection to a practitioner who is skilled in connecting to your subconscious mind and raising your vibration to a higher level of oneness.

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn about How Personality Traits Lead to Chronic Illness.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Enroll in our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

MAP for Chronic Symptoms - Wendi's Story

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 20:00:01 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 63 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

The role of the subconscious mind in chronic symptoms and conditions.
Why highly sensitive people (HSPs) and empaths are more prone.
How advanced neural retraining can change behavioral patterns and relieve subconscious sources of stress to promote healing.

Show Notes

In episode 63 we'll hear from my client, Wendi, about her experience with MAP Method sessions for chronic gut and immune issues, and severe headaches. Hear about her experience and how her physical symptoms improved along with other positive benefits including more mental clarity and focus, personal insights and a feeling of empowerment.

In this episode we discuss:

How Wendi came to the conclusion that there was something subconscious that was causing her symptoms.
How she had tried talk therapy, nutrition, and functional medicine to address her symptoms: gut, immune and bladder function, headaches, restricted diet.
Why being a highly sensitive person (HSPs) can predispose us to chronic health issues and how MAP can help..
Why she describes the results of MAP sessions as “dramatic” and how the emotional charge around a trauma can dissipate even in one session.
How the MAP Method helps to get to the roots of behavioral patterns and relieves subconscious sources of stress you don’t even realize you are carrying.
How she describes the process of MAP sessions as mental house cleaning and how it has helped her grow into a better version of herself.
How she uses the MAP audio files and finds them helpful between sessions.
Why MAP is an important key that can help you unravel layers of subconscious stress quickly, easily and peacefully.
The variety of topics we can work with in a MAP session: painful memories, conditioned behaviors, compulsions, triggers for symptoms, negative repetitive thoughts, etc.
How lifelong patterns of behavior can be changed by working directly with the subconscious in sessions.
Why Wendi feels that MAP sessions would be beneficial for most everyone, especially sensitive, empathic people.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t miss episode 61: MAP for Personality Traits that Predispose to Chronic Illness: how repressive emotional coping styles increase lifetime risk of chronic health issues.

To learn more about the MAP Method and how it works, visit mapforhealth.us for our free courses. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at MindReMAPforHealth.com

Moments

[9:00] As far as the emotional part, it’s unbelievable how quickly we are getting to the roots of the behavioral patterns I established as a young child and continued to live with without realizing how they are causing me stress. When doctors say it’s stress-related, and I don’t feel the stress because I’ve lived with it my whole life, and I can’t consciously address it or change it. So being able to be able to work with the MAP Method in this way, it feels like the key to lifelong challenges across the emotional, mental and physical realm.

[12:00] Overall, what the experience has felt like is like mental house cleaning that I cou;dn’t otherwise figure out how to do. Over the course of time since we began my attention and focus has improved, some of the clutter in my brain has cleared and I feel clearer. I have a more firm sense across the realm, in work, in my personal life, in my relationship with myself, all of it feels much clearer and I feel more powerful in being myself. I feel like a better version of myself.

[24:00] After years of trying other things, in 3 or 4 MAP sessions it’s been a dramatic difference emotionally, mentally and physically.

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn about How Personality Traits Lead to Chronic Illness.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Enroll in our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

How Emotional Repression Promotes Chronic Illness and What You Can Do About It

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Mon, 10 Apr 2023 17:49:23 GMT

Learn why repressive personality traits and self-denial patterns predispose us to chronic health conditions.

Meetup Event - March 2023

Do you have repressive emotional tendencies? Do you recognize repressive personality traits in yourself, such as the people-pleaser, the conflict-avoider, the caretaker, the over-achiever, or the perfectionist? Do you find yourself unable to say no?

Learn why repressive personality traits and self-denial patterns predispose us to chronic health conditions. Learn about the Type C personality and how it impacts the likelihood, risk, and prognosis of developing serious illness. Learn about the influences of trauma and how you can turn these patterns around.

We will discuss applications of advanced neural retraining for changing emotional, behavioral and mental patterns and how working with the mind can accelerate healing from chronic health conditions.

Join us for a short presentation (20 min) on the topic and time for Q&A afterwards (20 min). This session will be recorded over Zoom and the link will be shared with those who register for the event.

Madeleine Lowry is a certified MAP Method practitioner specializing in chronic health conditions. She is the host of the Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast.

Learn More

Could "hidden" stressors in your subconscious, such as repressive personality traits, be a factor in your health issues? Find out by taking the quiz!
Join our Meetup Group for notices of future events: Neural Retraining for Chronic Health Conditions
Listen to the related podcast episode: MAP for Personality Traits that Predispose to Chronic Illness
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos about the MAP Method.
Get started with the MAP Method by scheduling your Introductory Session online.
Check out our free courses on the MAP Method.

MAP for Changing Your Relationship to Illness

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 15:15:04 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 62 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

How your attitude toward illness can help or hinder your recovery.
How the stress response is triggered by our thoughts and emotions.
Why fear and resistance are not the only possible responses to illness.
How advanced neural retraining can change your habitual emotional, mental and behavioral responses to adversity and create a space for healing.

Show Notes

In episode 62, I’m going to talk about why your relationship with illness can actually be hindering your recovery. This is a concept that is part of my new program, MAP for Self-Healing. I call it Changing Your Relationship to Illness, and although the stress of chronic symptoms and health issues will be the subject of this podcast episode, the same principle applies to any difficulty you face.

In this episode I will talk about my insights from working with clients as well as the work of others, including Byron Katie and Anita Moorjani. We’ll discuss how your stance toward illness –either fighting it, fleeing in fear, or withdrawing and freezing– may be triggering the stress response and how advanced neural retraining may be helpful.

In this episode I’ll discuss:

The stress response (fight/flight/freeze) and how negative thoughts prevent recovery by inhibiting the restorative functions of the body.
Why the person with chronic illness can have hundreds of stress responses each day.
Most people’s response to adversity and illness is fear and resistance.
Why fearful and fighting thoughts lead to desperation, frustration, helplessness and powerlessness.
A few guiding lights: Anita Moorjani, Gerald Jampolsky, MD.
Frank Bruni’s book, The Beauty of Dusk and what it has to teach us about the power of a positive mindset.
The work of Byron Katie and her exercises for turning thoughts around.
How MAP sessions can be a powerful way to change patterns of emotional, mental and behavioral responses.
Why working with the mind is complementary to traditional medicine and alternative approaches.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t miss episode 60: MAP for Emotional Causes of Illness where I discuss the biochemistry behind mind body medicine and the benefit of working with emotions to promote healing.

To learn more about the MAP Method and how it works, visit mapforhealth.us for our free courses. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at MindReMAPforHealth.com

Moments

[5:00] ...in the stress response every system of the body is gearing up to run away from an emergency. This is an old hardwired system that we've had for millenia, for a lifestyle we haven't had since we lived in caves. Nowadays, with our highly developed frontal cortexes, emergencies can be conjured in the mind through the simple act of thinking. Every worry thought that we have can incite the stress response.

[9:26] Your subconscious mind may be reviewing and reviewing some turning point, whatever it is that we may blame for bringing on the chronic illness or for the symptoms getting worse. Maybe it was a stress brought on by trying to do too much. We may think: "Why did I stay in the marriage so long?" or "Why did I stick it out in that job?" There's an element of self-blame to these thoughts.

[10:40] For some it is the fear that they won't find the help that they need, trying and trying so many things. and never really finding the relief they are looking for. And the longer this goes on and the more things that they try and that fail, the desperation, the frustration, the helplessness, the powerlessness that goes along with that feeds the stress response even more.

[28:30] We are led to believe fear and resistance to illness is normal. But perhaps you have heard of people who regard their cancer, their illness, their loss, their accident was the best thing that ever happened to them. It didn't feel that way when they were going through it, but in hindsight they can see the gift in the challenge.

[32:30] Many of my clients find that MAP sessions are a powerful way to change their relationship to whatever they are experiencing. Through a set of sessions we can reduce the emotional intensity of past experience, we can replace negative repetitive thoughts with more supportive ones, we can change habitual responses and conditioned behaviors. Why? Because the subconscious mind is capable of making these changes.

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn about How Personality Traits Lead to Chronic Illness.
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.
Enroll in our free course on the MAP Method and how it is used for mind-body healing

Why Sensitive People Develop Chronic Illness and What You Can Do About It

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 16:47:33 GMT

Learn why highly sensitive people are predisposed to chronic conditions and how advanced neural retraining can help.

Meetup Event - February 2023

Are you a highly sensitive person (HSP) or an empath? Do you know one? Or, do you suspect that you are, but aren't sure? Learn why sensitive people are more prone to anxiety and chronic health conditions.

Take a self-assessment to see if you have the characteristics of a highly sensitive person or an empath. Learn about the influences of early life trauma, and resources for self-care.

We will discuss applications of advanced neural retraining for changing emotional, behavioral and mental patterns and how working with the mind can accelerate healing from chronic health conditions.

Madeleine Lowry is a certified MAP Method practitioner specializing in chronic health conditions. She is the host of the Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast.

Learn More

Could "hidden" stressors in your subconscious be a factor in your health issues? Find out by taking the quiz!
Join our Meetup Group for notices of future events: Neural Retraining for Chronic Health Conditions
See the related video: Why Do Sensitive People Develop Chronic Illness
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos about the MAP Method.
Listen to client stories about the MAP Method on our podcast .
Check out our free courses on the MAP Method.

Why Self-Love is Essential for Healing

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 18:45:00 GMT

Learn why self-love is the secret sauce to healing from chronic illness, and how advanced neural retraining can help.

Video transcript

Hi, Madeleine Lowry, certified MAP Method practitioner. I wanted to talk about why self-love is an essential component of healing.

Now, let's do a little test: I want you to bring these phrases into your mind: "I love and appreciate myself. I love and cherish myself." And, I want you to give yourself a rating on how true that feels for you from zero (I don't feel it at all) to ten (absolutely true, 100 percent true). I want you to rate yourself on how you feel about those statements.

This is essential to your ability to recover from chronic illness, that you identify with those statements at a pretty high level: eight, nine or ten. That's where I want my clients to be. Why? Because healing, all healing, is love.

That may be a surprising statement, but in a previous video you heard me talk about how in order for us to heal we have to be connected to this universal source of life force energy.

We often talk about the body having an innate ability to heal itself but it doesn't come from within us. It comes from a source of information that is beyond us, that we have access to if we are open to it. How do we become open to it? By being open to love, because love is that energy field.

Love is the secret sauce of healing.

Now, I've heard the sentiment expressed four or five different ways by different practitioners and thought leaders and every time I heard it I thought: What?

It was always so surprising for me. It just seemed so unscientific, but now I'm starting to get it.

Bill Bengston said this. Dr. William Bengston who wrote The Energy Cure . I read his book, took his workshop, read many of his articles, but then I read Jill Blakeway's book on Energy Medicine and the very end of the book she's talking to Bill Bengston, she's having a conversation with him, and she says: Dr. Bengston you spent 30 or 40 years studying energy medicine and energy modalities as healing methods in the laboratory. What would you say is the essence of healing?

And he says: Healing is love. Period. That was the last thing I expected to hear from him.

And then I was listening to this interesting podcast where Ben Greenfield interviews a faith healer named Dr. Nemeh in Cleveland, and Dr. Nemeh says something very similar.

Ben Greenfield says: Well, Dr. Nemeh do you think that faith is what you invoke in doing these amazing healings? And Dr. Nemeh says: "No, no, it's not about faith," he says, "You need a much more practical expression of faith."

And Ben Greenfield says: Oh what is that? And he says: "It's love."

Marianne Williamson, if you read her book, A Return to Love , she's talking about this.

Anita Moorgani, read her books, watch her TED talk. She talks about the importance of self-love.

This is an essential point that people need to grasp. That only when we can let love in, only when we can feel love for ourselves are we open to that...you can call it the zero point field, you can call it a universal consciousness, you can call it life force energy, chi, prana, whatever.

Only then are we open to this information field that informs the body on how to heal -- that innate intelligence that's the source of healing.

Now, understand that what we withhold from ourselves we also withhold from others, right? And so this ties in another important point: When we harbor ill thoughts against others it inhibits our ability to heal which is why forgiveness is so important.

So , I mean these are concepts that I see and that I work with every day in my practice. And what I see are the blocks and the barriers to forgiveness, to love, to healing and these look like repetitive negative thoughts, perfectionist tendencies, feelings of abandonment, rejection, separation, feeling very self-critical, or very self-dismissive types of attitudes and feelings towards our own body. "My body is doing this," "My body is creating that sensation or this symptom," "My body's betraying me."

All of this amounts to a kind of self-abuse that prevents us from being truly open to self-love. And it impedes healing.

So, think about that. If you'd like to learn more about how we use advanced neural retraining techniques like the MAP Method for healing, please visit my website Mind ReMAP for Health dot com, and watch the videos, listen to the podcast episodes, and if you have further questions please reach out schedule a free consultation, or send me an email.

Thank you.

Learn More

See the related video: W hy What We Resist, Persists.
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos about MAP.
Listen to client stories about the MAP Method on our podcast .
Check out our free courses on the MAP Method.
Scroll down for related posts.

Why What We Resist, Persists

Sat, 04 Feb 2023 18:45:00 GMT

Learn why what we resist tends to persist, including physical symptoms, and how advanced neural retraining can help.

Video transcript

Hi, Madeleine Lowry, certified MAP Method practitioner. I'm here to talk about the saying: "What we resist, persists," and how this applies to chronic illness.

I see this a lot in the work that I do with advanced neural retraining techniques, specifically the MAP Method, in working with people with all kinds of chronic conditions.

What I understand through working with so many people in so many different situations is that healing starts with acceptance of who we are, and where we are: the state that we are in right now.

And the reason this is, is that with chronic illness there's this tendency to exacerbate a kind of split between mind, body, and spirit.

So, we are all mind, body, and spirit. This method of advanced neural retraining is a mind-body practice. And when we have a split between mind, body, and spirit we are degrading our innate ability to heal.

Now, how can that be, right? In functional medicine and in my training original training as a nutritional therapy practitioner (NTP) we talk about an innate intelligence inherent to the body that allows the body to heal itself.

So, what we are doing as nutritional therapy practitioners, and other functional medicine practitioners would probably say the same, what we are doing is we are trying to remove the stressors, the blocks, the barriers that are preventing the body from coming back into a state of health.

But, what I understand further, now having worked with subconscious minds extensively is that the innate intelligence is not something that is just integral to us. And it's not a static thing. It's based on a connection that we have to a kind of universal consciousness, you might think of it as life force energy.

This is sometimes called chi, or prana, or in other religious traditions, you know, there are different names for it like holy spirit. But, we need to be connected to a kind of universal field of information. In physics it's called the zero point field. I think we're all talking about the same thing.

When we are connected to this field of information, when it flows through us, that provides the innate intelligence for the body to begin to heal.

But, when we are split, when we have a consciousness that is split-- mind, body, and spirit not working together--then our access to this natural healing power is diminished.

If you want to read more about this, the book Quantum Healing by Deepak Chopra is helpful or The Healing Self by the same author. These are good books to start with, but if you're thinking: "Well, what causes the split and what can I do about it?" In my work what I see is the split is caused by negative thoughts, negative emotions, fears, trauma experiences, and the resulting limiting beliefs that are formed around those.

These are the kinds of barriers and blocks that form that need to be released through a process of neural retraining or some other method of working with the mind body

And when we can do that successfully, then we are in the place where healing can start.

So, if you would like to learn more about this I would suggest listening to episodes of my podcast, Flourish with Neural Retraining . There are interviews that I've done with various clients with different kinds of chronic health conditions where they talk about the benefits that they have seen from a set of sessions around a given condition.

Hearing the stories, I think, is very helpful for understanding how this process unfolds, how it is that we can work with painful emotional memories or triggers for painful emotions and neutralize the underlying trauma experiences behind those responses thereby releasing unconscious sources of stress that are keeping us split-- that are keeping us from accessing healing and and improving our health.

You can also visit the website Mind ReMAP for Health and learn more about this particular modality, if working with the mind is something that you are interested in.

Thank you for listening.

Learn More

See the related video: Why Worry Perpetuates Chronic Illness
Learn more about basic versus advanced methods of neural retraining.
Learn more about the MAP Method.
Listen to client stories about the MAP Method on our podcast .
Check out our free courses on the MAP Method.
Scroll down for related posts.

MAP for Personality Traits that Predispose to Chronic Illness

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 17:34:12 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 61 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

How personality traits influence the risk of chronic health conditions.
How personality traits are formed and how they can be changed.
Why repressive personality traits, like the Type C personality, lead to chronic health issues.
How advanced neural retraining can change habitual emotional, mental and behavioral responses.

Show Notes

In episode 61, I’m going to describe the personality traits that predispose to chronic illness. These include being a people-pleaser, caretaker, over-achiever, conflict-avoider, perfectionist, overly responsible, and other self-sacrificing and emotionally-repressive tendencies.

I will talk about my own understanding of how habitual emotional, mental and behavioral responses, which is essentially what personality traits are, as well as the work of others who have published on this topic, including Dr. Gabor Maté, Lydia Temoshok, PhD, Lawrence LeShan, Dr. John Sarno, and Garry Flint, PhD.

In this episode I’ll discuss:

The connections between early life trauma, the formation of the personality, and the impact on lifetime risk of chronic illness.
The characteristics of the Type C personality and how it predisposes to chronic illness, including cancer, autoimmune diseases and ALS.
How personality traits are formed, and the relationship between memory structures and habitual emotional coping styles.
Why people learn to be compulsively self-sacrificing.
The two primary human needs.
The stress response (fight/flight/freeze) and how repressive emotional styles degrade our health by promoting the sympathetic dominant state.
How emotional repression makes us more vulnerable to chronic infections, injuries and emotional stressors.
How MAP can be helpful in changing patterns of emotional, mental and behavioral responses.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t miss episode 52: MAP for Painful Memories which explains how resolving trauma memories lays the foundation for healing.

To learn more about the MAP Method and how it works, visit mapforhealth.us for our free courses. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at MindReMAPforHealth.com

Moments

[6:30] ...the Type C personality: the person who is passive, self sacrificing appeasing unassertive, compliant, patient to a fault, the person that doesn't express negative emotions, and in some cases don't even register them...

[12:00] Similarly, repressive coping styles are conditioned emotional, mental and behavioral patterns. Why would a person learn to repress their emotions and needs? Why would a person learn to be compulsively self sacrificing when it is clearly not in their best interests? And the answer to that is in trauma...

[20:00] The average person may have 50-100 stress responses a day, but for the person with repressive coping styles that may be several hundred stress responses a day. Every time you go into that stress response you put the brakes on the functions that are needed to maintain health.

[27:30] With the MAP Method we can uncover the early memories that led to these coping styles. You don't have to know what the memory was because your subconscious has access to all memories.

[32:30] We can work with the memories of the stressors that were present around the time that the symptoms intensified or that the diagnosis was made. We can work with the memories or the beliefs that you had...in sessions and by doing so we start to change. First the emotional responses, then the mental and behavioral patterns, and finally changes on a physiological level.

Learn more

Listen to more Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes.
Learn about How Personality Traits Lead to Chronic Illness.
Watch the video explanation: Why Do Sensitive People Develop Chronic Illness?
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.

Neural Retraining for Chronic Conditions: How Does it Work?

mlowry.ntp@gmail.com (Madeleine Lowry) — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 18:04:07 GMT

How working with the mind, our thoughts and emotions, can have positive effects on healing from chronic health conditions.

Meetup Event Information - January 2023

Join us for a discussion about mindbody therapies and how working with the mind, our thoughts and emotions, can have positive effects on healing from chronic health conditions.

We'll review some well-known mindbody techniques (Sarno, Dispenza, DNRS, EMDR, EFT) and how they work. We'll talk about the latest energy psychology method--the MAP Method--and what makes it particularly well suited for rewiring emotional, mental and behavioral patterns.

I'll describe applications of the MAP Method for different chronic conditions, including Sensitivities (food, chemicals, environmental irritants), chronic infections (i.e., Long COVID), and low thyroid function, to name a few.

Learn how working with the mind can be the perfect complement to traditional or alternative therapies. This will be a brief introduction to the topic, and resources will be provided if you want to learn more. (In the meantime you can check out our free courses at MAPforHealth.us) There will be time for Q&A at the end of the session.

Madeleine Lowry is a certified MAP Method practitioner specializing in chronic health conditions. She is the host of the Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast.

Learn More

Join our Meetup Group for notices of future events: Neural Retraining for Chronic Health Conditions
See the related video: Why Do Sensitive People Develop Chronic Illness
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos about MAP.
Listen to client stories about the MAP Method on our podcast .
Check out our free courses on the MAP Method.

Why Mindfulness is Essential for Optimal Health

Thu, 12 Jan 2023 19:26:36 GMT

How you can promote healing by strengthening mental awareness.

Video transcript

Hi, Madeleine Lowry, certified MAP Method practitioner. I wanted to talk about why mindfulness is essential for optimal health.

So, let's just talk a little bit about mindfulness and what it is. Mindfulness, as I see it, is the cultivation of awareness of mental focus.

Some people cultivate mindfulness through meditation practices, that's probably the most common that we hear about. But there can be other activities that also help us to cultivate that kind of mental focus.

When we engage in mindfulness activities or practices what we are trying to do, our goal, is to strengthen that muscle, if you can think of it that way, the brain muscle of awareness.

We're trying to increase the strength of our focus and concentration, so that in daily life we are more aware of what our mind is up to, and we are more able to recognize patterns that are sub-optimal, and stop them more quickly.

We're able to nip them in the bud so that, thoughts that come up in the mind during the day won't run away with us. We will be be able to observe them arising and catch them more quickly so that we can turn our mind over to things that are more productive, more supportive.

In my last video you heard me talk about why worrying perpetuates chronic illness, so these two videos go together. In this video I'm trying to explain why mindfulness practices are key.

If you are that person that has a very unsettled mind that quickly goes to catastrophizing or worrying or ruminating, over things like social interactions that have happened that now you're playing and replaying in your mind, those kinds of activities undermine our health and so limiting those kinds of mental activities is an important part of healing.

So, try this if you want a very simple mindfulness practice: for five to ten minutes at a time, maybe once or twice a day. Just get into a comfortable position. Close your eyes. For some people closing their eyes is really good, it helps them settle, helps them focus. For other people maybe that doesn't work for you. In that case I would say light a candle and watch the flame.

Either way, focus on the breath. If that's not good for you, focus on sound: you know ambient sound--whatever you can hear. And just relax. I like focusing on the breath because it's simple, it's always there, and there's a regular rhythm to it.

As you focus on the breath, I want you to focus on making the breaths slow and deep and gentle and then just be open to what is coming up in your mind. Just be observant.

That's all there is to this practice, really. Noticing what comes into the mind, like thoughts that show up. I want you to observe them like they're clouds passing by in the sky, and as they pass by just notice what your mind is doing.

Oh, I'm reviewing yesterday. I'm trying to fix something about some interaction that didn't go the way I wanted it to. Or I'm worrying about the future. Or I'm planning or I'm imagining.

Notice what the mind is doing and just label it silently in your mind, so that you develop that practice of seeing, recognizing what is going on in your mind. And then pull your attention back to your breath or whatever it is you were focusing on.

That is the entire practice. And by working on this just a few minutes at a time, a couple times a day, you will start to observe that in your daily life you are able to use these skills.

Oh, there my mind goes. Oh, I'm worrying again. Oh, I'm trying to prove something to someone again. Or, I'm planning for something that I have already planned for. And I don't need to do that. I don't need to repeat that mental activity.

Then you will be able to more easily refocus your mind to something much more productive which may be just not thinking about that anymore. Or it may be distracting it, or it may be focusing on something like gratitude .

As a mental practice, that's much more supportive of optimal health. So, try that and observe what you notice in terms of your ability to cultivate a more settled, more peaceful mental state in your daily life.

The benefits are really worth it, so I hope you give it a try.

Thanks for listening.

Learn More

See the related video: Why Worry Perpetuates Chronic Illness
Learn more about basic versus advanced methods of neural retraining.
Learn more about the MAP Method.
Listen to client stories about the MAP Method on our podcast .
Check out our free courses on the MAP Method.

How does Psychological Stress Affect Susceptibility to Illness?

Fri, 06 Jan 2023 19:13:46 GMT

Learn the science behind mind body medicine: how the molecules of emotions inform the function of every cell of the body.

What are the "molecules of emotion"?

In 1973, as part of the research for her PhD at Johns Hopkins, neuropharmacologist Candace Pert discovered the opiate receptor in the brain. Receptors for opiates were speculated to exist, as the known effect of the drug morphine depended on these specialized receptors in the pain centers of the brain.

The discovery of the opiate receptors begged a new question: why do we have receptors for an exogenous (not made in the body) chemical like morphine? The hypothesis was that there must be a similar substance that the body makes naturally. Once the opiate receptor was identified, the hunt was on for an enodgenous form of morphine - what came to be called "endorphin".

Endorphin was the first of many neuropeptides discovered over the next few years. These were described as "molecules of emotion". Further research found that the receptors for these molecules were all over the body, down to the cellular level.

Candace Pert spent the rest of her career studying and mapping the two-way communication enabled by these molecules of emotion between the brain, nervous system, immune system, and endocrine system, leading to the founding of the field of Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology (PNIE). This new scientific field relates the function of these four major systems of the body, once believed to operate independently.

In her book, The Molecules of Emotion , Pert describes how thoughts and emotions create our state of health: "The mind is the flow of information as it moves among the cells, organs and systems of the body...coordinating the major systems and their organs and cells in an intelligently orchestrated symphony of life. Thus we might refer to the whole system as a psychosomatic information network, linking psyche...to soma."

How do emotions mediate physical health or illness?

If you think about it, you already know from your own experience that emotions affect the function of your body. Does your face flush when you're embarrassed? Does your heart beat faster when you're anxious or nervous? Do goosebumps appear when you're scared?

The gut is one place where this effect is most clearly seen. We feel our emotions in our gut and this can create a variety of physical symptoms: knots, stomachache, butterflies, queasiness, rumblings. We talk about "gut feelings" and sometimes when we cannot feel our feelings, our gut shows us exactly how we feel. Ongoing emotional patterns can contribute to poor digestion, lack of motility, excess motility, nausea, and if the pattern goes on longer, can lead to chronic conditions like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Let's look at the example of plaque formation in the blood vessels, a key contributor to heart disease and heart attacks. Immune cells release peptides that increase the buildup of plaque, and other peptides that decrease the buildup in the arteries and vessels. So, what determines what type of peptide the immune cells secrete? Emotions. We know for example that stressful and emotionally intense events often precede heart attacks, and that is why there are more heart attacks on the first day of the workweek, and after high holidays with stressful family interactions.

What about something like infection? Why is it that when a group of people is exposed to a virus, there can be some individuals that don't get sick, and others that have a more prolonged illness? Candace Pert explains it this way: "Viruses use the same receptors as neuropeptides to enter a cell and depending on how much of the natural peptide is around and available to bind, the virus will have a harder or easier time getting into the cell [and infecting it.]" Therefore the state of our emotions affects how susceptible we are to viral infection and the promptness of our recovery.

Think of the implications: During the early months of COVID it was found that anti-anxiety medications could curtail long COVID symptoms. Candace Pert's work explains the biochemistry behind that mechanism. This is one of the principles behind the MAP for Long COVID Program . Would the same apply for chronic EBV? other viruses? or even bacterial infections, like Lyme?

Can emotions affect disease incidence and progression?

There is a lot of evidence that emotions are linked to cancer, for example, including susceptibility, progression and probability of remission. Kelly Turner, PhD outlined several emotional factors in her book Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds , including the boldfaced items:

Changing your diet
Taking control of your health
Following your intuition
Using herbs and supplements
Releasing suppressed emotions
Increasing positive emotions
Embracing social support
Deepening your spiritual connection
Having strong reasons for living
Exercise (this was added after her book was published)

Emotional repression and self-denial, in particular, are associated with higher rates of cancer, slower recovery rates, and higher incidence of cancer death. You can read the related article, How Do Personality Traits Lead to Chronic Illness for more on this topic.

How does emotional release impact recovery?

At Stanford, David Spiegel has shown that being able to express emotions, like anger and grief, improves cancer survival rates. How does this work on a biochemical level?

Remember that emotions create a specific flow of neuropeptides and that these information molecules drive physiological function. It follows that chronic suppression of an emotion creates an imbalance or a block in the delicate communication system between mind and body. With cancer the suppression of natural killer cells, which seek out and destroy precancerous cells and cancerous growths, would allow tumors to flourish.

When we can uncover and release the repressed emotions, like anger or grief, we turn on the flow of peptides that enable the immune system to do its job effectively. "Sometimes the biggest impetus to healing can come from jump-starting the immune system with a burst of long-suppressed anger...The key is to express it and let it go so that it doesn't fester," says Candace Pert.

Note that this does not condone acting out in anger or rage. It's more about connecting with the emotion and releasing it without giving it power. But here's the tricky part, since we don't feel repressed emotions, how do we know that they are there?

How do we identify and release repressed emotions?

There are many methods that can be helpful for releasing repressed emotions: Dr. Joe Dispenza advocates meditation, Dr. John Sarno recommended journaling, and other options are talk therapy, EMDR, tapping or even breathing exercises.

Neural retraining techniques, particularly the advanced techniques that work directly with the subconscious mind, are very well suited to identifying and releasing repressed emotions. The MAP Method is an very effective way to neutralize painful emotions around trauma experiences, including hidden emotions. Often, in a session as we work with an emotionally charged memory and clear one emotion, another will arise. For example, guilt and shame can cover up deeper emotions like anger, sadness or loss.

How does the MAP Method work?

MAP sessions are done at a distance, usually over Zoom videoconference. MAP is the latest energy psychology technique that builds on modalities from the 1980s and 90s such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).

As the next generation of these methods, it is gentler, faster and doesn't require bilateral stimulation or tapping on acupressure points. The brain takes care of all of that itself, quickly and efficiently. With the MAP Method we utilize the brain's natural ability to heal itself by harnessing the power of the subconscious mind.

Each MAP session is organized around a specific topic. The client is prompted to focus on a specific memory or sensation while in a relaxed meditative state. After a few minutes, the client describes what came up in their mind, and another round of instructions is given based on that feedback. This continues until the emotional intensity of the memory is greatly reduced or neutralized. The process is gentle and very easy, yet the results are often quite powerful.

Progress is very individual, but it generally takes about 4-6 sessions to begin to see improvements on a physical level, though emotional and mental shifts are usually noted within the first 3 sessions. This can take longer for individuals with a significant trauma history.

Learn More

Learn more about the MAP Method of advanced neural retraining.
Could repressed emotions be taking a toll on your health? Take the Quiz
Try a free course about MAP or see all the MAP Program s.
Listen to our podcast, Flourish with Neural Retraining: MAP for Immune Dysfunction
Scroll down or visit our Neural Retraining Q&A for all related articles.

Why Worrying Perpetuates Chronic Illness

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 16:38:54 GMT

Why incessant worry degrades your health and what you can do about it.

Video transcript

Hi, Madeleine Lowry, Certified MAP Method practitioner. I wanted to talk about why worrying perpetuates chronic illness.

For those of you who have heard my other videos, you may have heard me talk about the stress response, so I'm going to review that again here. But, the main point I want you to get out of this video is that worrying, the act of worrying, degrades your health and it interferes with all the functions of the body that you need to heal.

If you've heard about the autonomic nervous system, the autonomic nervous system is instrumental in running all systems of your body. We rely on it. It's automatic. It's running in the background. It is being run by your subconscious mind which is why advanced neural retraining, which works directly with the subconscious mind, can be helpful for people who find that they are incessant warriors.

The autonomic nervous system has two modes. It is either in the sympathetic mode or the parasympathetic mode. In the sympathetic mode we are gearing up to run away from something dangerous. It's also called the fight, fight or freeze mode.

You may be familiar with this already. You may even have been told by your functional medicine practitioner, naturopath, or other practitioner that you show signs of being in a sympathetic dominant state. That is what they're talking about--that your brain or your nervous system is too easily going into that fight, flight or freeze state and it's getting stuck there for far too long.

When you're in the parasympathetic mode of the autonomic nervous system, as we should be for the majority of each day, your body is able to perform all restorative functions. We call this mode the rest, digest, and heal mode because when we are in the parasympathetic mode you're feeling good, the body feels that we're safe, and we're able to digest our food well, thoroughly, we're able to take up nutrients, we are able to produce neurotransmitters, we are able to maintain hormonal balance, we are able to maintain fluid balance. This is also the optimal state for reproduction and healing, wound healing or healing of any kind.

When we are in the parasympathetic mode of the autonomic nervous system that is putting us in the optimal situation for resolving any health conditions or symptoms. The problem is that we were designed for a very different lifestyle than the one we are living.

We were designed, and we're basically the same model as Paleo man, and at that time threats were like running away from the tiger in the bushes. In our life now that's not what threat looks like. Threat looks like getting to work on time, or getting everyone their lunches and out of the house to school at on time. Threats look like the bill that has to be paid, or the deadline at work, or the pressure at school.

It looks like anything that we worry about because every time we worry we are bringing a thought into the mind that there is something threatening us here, there is something unsafe. There is a feeling of something we need to escape, a threat, and so every time we do this our primitive limbic brain, the danger sensing part of the brain which is an older structure in the brain, it does what it's meant to do, which is halt all the restorative functions of the body and prepare the body to run away from that threat.

It's acting as it was meant to except that in our lives now we have so many of these thoughts that pass through our heads-- every time we're stuck in traffic, every time we're frustrated with something, we have a technical problem, we have, you know, whatever just daily things that are happening are provoking these kinds of thoughts and they're putting us into that sympathetic response over and over and over again.

And some of us are not very good at calming down, you know, the sympathetic response is supposed to turn on, we escape the threat, or the danger is over, and then it's supposed to reset again. But many of us are just not able to do that. We have a very sensitive nervous system that once it goes into that threat mode it kind of stays there for too long, and so we're not spending the time that we need to spend in the parasympathetic mode.

So, what I want you to understand is that your health will improve when the worrying ends or is minimized. Why? Because worry is like a low level flavor of fear and fear, of course, informs the brain that we're in trouble, you know, that there's a threat. Staying in worry mode creates biochemical changes in the body down to the cellular level.

And when maintained for too long, we can go into the cell danger response. If you've heard of CDR, the cell danger response, you may recognize it as a response that the cells go into when they've been subject to fear for too long. It's almost like a hibernation kind of shutdown mode. So, you can imagine that if the cells in your body are going into that mode that this certainly can contribute to a poor state of health.

So, why do we do this? Why is it that some of us are just so prone to worry incessantly?

What I see in my practice, what I see in my clients, is that very often this is related to trauma events, trauma experiences from either early in life or really at any point in life, though the biggest impact would be those early experiences. Childhood experiences that cause us to feel helpless, hopeless, defenseless, powerless, or insignificant somehow.

These kinds of experiences get stored in the subconscious mind and they make us hyper-responsive or hyper-reactive to any evidence of threat in the future. This can encourage this kind of worrying activity.

So, how do I fix this, right? Well for many people meditation is a very good practice. I will talk about that in another video. Cultivating trust, right, trust in a higher source, trust in yourself, but really trying to nip the worries in the bud. Reassure yourself, you know: "We'll get through this." "Everything will be fine," and then trying to refocus your attention on something else, either distracting yourself or focusing on something that you're grateful for.

These are all good techniques for nipping the worry in the bud. If, though, you find it very difficult to keep your mind from going there, then I do recommend a few MAP method sessions.

With this advanced neural retraining method in a few sessions, maybe one, two or three sessions, we can have your subconscious mind identify the causes for this continued behavior and neutralize that conditioned pattern so that you can live your life with less worry and more optimal health.

Thanks for listening.

Learn More

See the related video: Why Mindfulness is Essential for Optimal Health
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos about MAP.
Listen to client stories about the MAP Method on our podcast .
Check out our free courses on the MAP Method.

MAP for Emotional Causes of Illness

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 21:48:19 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 60 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

How the molecules of emotion drive physiologic function.
Why free-flowing molecules of emotion are essential for healing and why releasing repressed emotions can jump start recovery.
How viral infection rate and duration are affected by the presence of absence of key molecules of emotion.

Show Notes

In episode 60, I’m going to describe the science, the biochemistry, behind mindbody medicine, and how working with the emotions has an impact on chronic illness. This is based on the groundbreaking work of Candace Pert, PhD as explained in her book, Molecules of Emotion .

By the end of this episode, I’d like for you to have a better understanding about: the molecules of emotion and their function, what happens when they are blocked, how that impact disease states and the value of emotion-releasing modalities, like MAP, in restoring the healthful flow of these important molecules.

In this episode I’ll discuss:

Who Dr. Candace Pert was and why her work is important for understanding mindbody interactions.
The role of receptors and molecules of emotion in the two-way flow of the psychosomatic network.
The way cellular function is driven by the molecules of emotion, including all organs, endocrines, body parts and systems including the immune system and the nervous system.
How Dr. Pert’s work led to the field of Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology.
How this system of communication has been evolutionarily conserved from primitive life forms to the most complex.
Definition of mind as the flow of information between brain and body.
Definition of health as the maintenance of homeostasis by the free flow of molecules of emotion.
How emotions are epigenetic factors.
The role of trauma in blocking the free flow of molecules of emotion.
How you’ve experienced the impact of emotions on physiological function.
The significance of personality types in predisposing us to certain diseases.
How viruses use the same receptors as molecules of emotion, and why your emotional state affects the likelihood of getting sick, and the severity and duration of illness.
Implications of Dr. Pert’s work on the AIDS virus for COVID long-haulers.
How emotion-releasing modalities, like the MAP Method, work with the subconscious mind to release repressed emotions.
The significance of early-life trauma in promoting a freeze response and how this results in a pattern of emotional repression.
How MAP can be helpful in changing patterns of emotional response.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t miss episode 56, MAP and Energy Medicine , with my client Cilla Whatcott, PhD, a classical homeopath, where we discuss her experience of the impact of MAP sessions on trauma, and the role of trauma in health.

To learn more about the MAP Method and how it works, visit mapforhealth.us for our free courses. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at MindReMAPforHealth.com

Moments from our conversation

[8:40] The cell is the basic unit of function. Every organ, tissue, and body part is just a specialized collection of cells. If you take your garden variety cell, what Dr. Pert's work showed was that these cell membranes are studded with receptors--hundreds of thousands, millions of receptors. There are at least 70 receptor types on the average cell. And there can be 50-100 thousand copies of a single type of receptor spread out all over the cell. The average nerve cell also has millions of receptors.

[10:30] Dr. Pert described this in a metaphor: Imagine that the cell is like the engine of physiological function and the receptors are like the buttons on the on the control panel. Then the molecules of emotion are the fingers on the buttons that direct cellular function.

[11:15] This led to a new definition of mind: the flow of information between brain and body.

And this suggests a new definition of health: the maintenance of homeostasis by the free flow of molecules of emotion.

[15:30] Another scientific field, Epigenetics, studies the factors that influence genetic expression. This psychosomatic network also describes the mechanism by which our thoughts and emotions are epigenetic factors.

[18:00] Why would we have unprocessed emotions? The answer for this is a natural trauma mechanism. When we are in an situation that is overwhelming that we don't have the resources or experience to cope with, there is a protective mechanism whereby the subconscious mind can freeze and hold that memory and the emotions that are attached to it and store it somewhere in the body.

[22:00] We know that certain emotional patterns, we call them personality traits, influence the kind of disease we are susceptible to. Personality traits are a kind of code for the habitual ways that we emotionally respond to circumstances in our lives and which molecules of emotion are being created and secreted. We know that the type A personality is more prone to heart disease and the type C personality is correlated to other kinds of health issues, among them cancer.

[24:00] Why is it that when a group of people are exposed to a virus, or bacteria, there are some individuals that don't get sick and others that have a more prolonged illness? It's important to understand that the simple introduction of a virus into the body -- virus, bacteria, fungus, whatever-- is not enough to make you sick. It’s more complicated than that. Your state of health affects how susceptible you are to getting sick, the severity of disease, and the duration.

[25:00] Candace Pert explains it this way: "Viruses use the same receptors as neuropeptides to enter a cell and depending on how much of the natural peptide is around and available to bind, the virus will have a harder or easier time getting into the cell [and infecting it.]" Therefore our emotional state affects how susceptible we are to viral infection and the promptness of our recovery.

[35:55] When I created my MAP for COVID Long program it was after reading how anti-anxiety drugs were being used to reduce the severity and duration of COVID long infections. The program is built on an understanding of emotions, how reducing negative emotions promotes self healing for chronic long-term infections like COVID, Epstein Barr or anything else.

[37:00 ] The MAP Method is a very effective method for working with the emotions. With the MAP Method, in each session we are looking for subconscious sources of stress including subconscious or repressed emotions. One of the ways it's helpful is by using the power of the subconscious mind to identify stores of trapped emotion from past traumas.

[43:00] "Sometimes the biggest impetus to healing can come from jump-starting the immune system with a burst of long-suppressed anger."

Learn more

Read about How Emotional Health Impacts Physical Health.
Learn about How Personality Traits Lead to Chronic Illness.
Watch the video explanation: Why Do Sensitive People Develop Chronic Illness?
Learn more about the MAP Method and How it Works
How the MAP Method effectively heals trauma.

Can the Mind Heal the Body?

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 15:11:37 GMT

How mindbody methods, including the MAP Method of neural retraining, can create the conditions to promote healing.

Video transcript

Hi, Madeleine Lowry, MAP method practitioner, I'm here to answer the question: Can the mind heal the body?

An interesting book that I've been reading that talks about this question in great depth is, Mind Over Medicine by Lissa Rankin, MD.

It's a really interesting book that really validates everything that I understand to be true about how mind and body work together and why a mind-body therapy like the MAP Method can be help people regain their health physical health by working with the mind.

In this book--I'll just hit some of the highlights--Lissa Rankin talks about how the mind heals the body and how this has been shown over and over again for 50 years.

In western medicine we call it the placebo effect. Joe Dispenza wrote a whole book about this: You Are The Placebo .

The placebo effect, as I'm sure you've heard, is the effect by which, in a clinical trial when they're trying a particular therapy, whether it's a pharmaceutical, surgery, another kind of therapy, radiation, whatever, where there's a control group and an experimental group and only one of those groups, the experimental group, actually receives the real therapy.

The control group doesn't they get the therapy. They get the sugar pill. They get the sham surgery: we make the incision but we don't actually take anything out of your knee and we sew you up. And over and over again-- this is part of every clinical trial-- we see that in the control group where nothing has been offered therapeutically, except the idea that they might be getting something therapeutic.

Because it's blinded, these studies are blinded, and you don't know which group you're in when you volunteer for it. And 18% to 80% of the control group gets better too--just as "better" as the experimental group. The improvements can be the same!

And this has always been regarded as a problem. It's a problem because darn it's hard to have a new drug approved because it's hard to show that its effectiveness is higher than the placebo!

Now this should not be regarded as a problem. Dr. Bernie Siegel talks about this in his books. This is evidence that the mind can create healing on its own. Just the idea that you might be given something that can cure your [name your diagnosis] is enough to produce a healing effect in the body that can be objectively measured.

In these clinical trials they are measuring, they're taking all the baseline information, and then they're checking people again after the study period is over and so these effects are definitely seen in the control group every time.

What is causing the healing? It's the mind. It is, you could say, the belief that we are being taken care of, that we are being offered a solution, that we will be healthy again.

So, in order to invoke your own placebo effect, what practices could you take on? I would like to suggest that MAP Method sessions are one of those possible modalities that you could use.

In a MAP method session we are working with the mind. We are working with beliefs. We are replacing beliefs that are no longer serving you like: "This chronic illness is going to kill me," "I'm going to be at this poor level of health forever," "I'm never going to get better," "Nothing is going to be able to help me."

If you have any of these negative beliefs active in your mind then the MAP method is just a perfect way for retraining the brain to have positive beliefs instead, and these can start to put you on a path towards health.

Lissa Rankin also talks about factors for supporting health. She talks about how physical health is built on a foundation that includes many things including emotional health, mental health, relationship health. How good are your relationships? How stressful are they? How about work? How stressful or not stressful? Finances? Your sense of your purpose in life? All of these things and more add up to a state of physical health in the body.

By working on these various topics and changing your perspective on them, you're not always able to change all of these things in your life, but you can change your emotional response to them.

So, again by working with the mind we see that we can change the level of physical health that's available to us because changing the mind, the mindsets, the beliefs, the habitual negative thoughts, the emotional responses that put us in the stress response--all of this is keeping our health in this degraded situation.

When we can change all of that then we open up a space for optimal health. We can be in that healing mode, the parasympathetic mode of the autonomic nervous system, more often and this allows all the healing faculties of the body to come back online and create a state of health.

If you haven't before, I would recommend giving the MAP Method a try. I think it is a wonderful way--a pleasant way even-- of working with the mind and retraining it for optimal health.

How long does it take? It takes about three sessions to start seeing changes on an emotional and behavioral level. It takes four to six sessions to start to see changes on a physical level. Physical symptoms start to abate, not that you're done in six sessions, but somewhere in that four to six session place, typically, my clients are starting to see that symptoms are improving.

It's very encouraging for them. They start to believe: Okay I may not be done yet, but this is definitely working for me. This is moving me in the right direction, so this is what I need to continue to engage with until I feel like I've achieved my goal.

I encourage you to give it a try--neural retraining--any method of neural retaining is a very positive complementary approach to anything else that you are trying including traditional western medicine.

Thanks for listening.

Learn More

See the videos about the science behind the Method , QEEG brain studies , and a demonstration MAP session .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos about MAP.
Learn more about basic versus advanced methods of neural retraining.
Listen to client stories about the MAP Method on our podcast .

How does Emotional Health Affect Physical Health?

Mon, 05 Dec 2022 18:28:55 GMT

Learn the science behind mind body medicine: how the molecules of emotions inform the function of every cell of the body.

What are the "molecules of emotion"?

In 1973, as the research for her PhD at Johns Hopkins, neuropharmacologist Candace Pert discovered the opiate receptor in the brain. Receptors for opiates were speculated to exist, as the known effect of the drug morphine depended on these specialized receptors in the pain centers of the brain.

How do emotions mediate physical health or illness?

What about something like infection? Why is it that when a group of people is exposed to a virus, there can be some individuals that don't get sick, and others that have a more severe or

prolonged illness? Candace Pert explains it this way: "Viruses use the same receptors as neuropeptides to enter a cell and depending on how much of the natural peptide is around and available to bind, the virus will have a harder or easier time getting into the cell [and infecting it.]" Therefore the state of our emotions affects how susceptible we are to viral infection and the promptness of our recovery.

Can emotions affect disease incidence and progression?

Changing your diet
Taking control of your health
Following your intuition
Using herbs and supplements
Releasing suppressed emotions
Increasing positive emotions
Embracing social support
Deepening your spiritual connection
Having strong reasons for living
Exercise (this was added after her book was published)

How does emotional release impact recovery?

At Stanford, David Spiegel has shown that being able to express emotions, like anger and grief, improves cancer survival rates. How does this work on a biochemical level?

How do we identify and release repressed emotions?

Neural retraining techniques, particularly the advanced techniques that work directly with the subconscious mind, are very well suited to identifying and releasing repressed emotions. The MAP Method is an very effective way to neutralize painful emotions around trauma experiences, including hidden emotions. Often, in a session as we work with an emotionally charged memory and clear one set of emotions, another set will arise. For example, guilt and shame can cover up deeper emotions like anger, sadness or loss.

How does the MAP Method work?

Learn More

Learn more about the MAP Method of advanced neural retraining.
Could repressed emotions be taking a toll on your health? Take the Quiz
Try a free course about MAP or see all the MAP Program s.
Listen to our podcast, Flourish with Neural Retraining: MAP for Immune Dysfunction
Scroll down or visit our Neural Retraining Q&A for all related articles.

How Do Personality Traits Lead to Chronic Illness?

Sun, 04 Dec 2022 20:26:51 GMT

Learn how repressive personality traits play a role in engendering chronic illness, and what you can do about it.

Could Personality Influence Disease?

Let's take one of the most challenging diagnoses with indisputable physiological changes: cancer. Could something as black and white as cancer be associated with a certain type of personality?

In his book, When the Body Says No , Gabor Maté, MD describes a 10-year study done in the former Yugoslavia exploring psychological risk factors for mortality involving 1,000 residents of a town chosen for its high mortality rate and stable population. Over the 10 years, 600 of the study participants died. Of those that died of cancer, the single personality trait correlated was repression of anger as measured by scores on an 11 question assessment. In fact, cancer incidence was 40 times higher in those that scored highest (10 or 11). Interestingly, they also found that smokers had no incidence of lung cancer unless they also had high scores for anger repression.

Could there be a cancer personality type? It's well accepted that Type-A personalities are more susceptible to heart disease. What kind of personality is more susceptible to cancer?

Clinical psychologist, Lydia Temoshok, has found in her work that 75% of cancer patients have certain traits which she describes in her book, The Type-C Connection : they are self-sacrificing, not given to anger, unassertive, and have excessive people-pleasing tendencies.

In Getting Well Again , Carl Simonton, MD describes the principles based on his work with hundreds of cancer patients in his Cancer Counseling Clinic: "It is our central premise that an illness is not purely a physical problem but rather a problem of the whole person, that it includes not only body, but mind and emotions. We believe that emotional and mental states play a significant role both in susceptibility to disease, including cancer, and in recovery from all disease."

Why would personality traits predispose illness?

Let's think about this another way. What is personality? Is it not the emotional, mental and behavioral patterns of response to certain situations? And would this not include stressful situations? So, is it sensible to think that our habits of response to stress, based on our personality traits, have an influence on our state of physical health?

Does this suggest that it is not stress itself, but our ability to cope with stress that predisposes us to illness? And for those with less adaptive ways of coping, including repressive personality traits, can stress more easily lead to disease?

In their paper, Life Change and Illness Susceptibility, researchers Holmes and Masuda state: "...the activity of coping can lower resistance to disease, particularly when one's coping techniques are faulty. This approach to illness is a lesson in human finitude...we have only so much energy, no more. When life is too [stressful] and when coping mechanisms fail, illness is the unhappy result."

We know that chronic stress suppresses immune function and leads to hormonal imbalances, poor detoxification, poor nutrient uptake, poor wound healing, imbalances in the microbiome and more. Is this not a setup for illness?

Put simply, when you are in a stress response, you are not healing. You are not even maintaining. In the normal course of life we are all subject to infections, toxins, injuries, the formation of pre-cancerous cells, etc. Could high levels of stress combined with poor coping mechanisms for diffusing stress lead to weaknesses in our healing systems, especially immune function, that allow chronic health conditions, like cancer to become established?

What is the role of trauma?

Early life experiences shape the personality, and our habitual responses to stress. Traumatic events, or painful emotional experiences, have the most impact.

What kinds of trauma? This varies, and it's important to remember that for sensitive people lesser traumas can still be significant. It is instructive to look at the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) survey developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Kaiser Permanente. This study of over 17,000 people showed that those with a score of 4 or more had a high correlation to mental health problems, chronic illness, addictions, and early death.

Here is an abbreviated version of their assessment--though you can take the official survey here . You receive one point for every "yes" response:

Had you experienced any of the following before the age of 18?

A parent or adult that verbally abused you or made you feel physically threatened?
A parent or adult in the household that pushed, grabbed, slapped or hit you in a way that left physical marks?
Someone older touched you in a sexual way or tried to have intercourse with you?
Felt that no one at home loved you or supported you emotionally?
You didn't have enough to eat, wear, or felt unprotected or uncared for?
Separated from a parent because of divorce, abandonment or another reason?
Witnessed your mother or stepmother subjected to physical abuse or violence?
Anyone in the home that was alcoholic, or addicted?
Any member of the household mentally ill or attempted suicide?
Did someone in your household go to prison?

This is certainly not an exhaustive list, nor does it distinguish between people who endured one bad episode versus a repeated or prolonged experience. But as an indication of early life trauma, it's a good first step.

Early life traumas change your response to stress; they change how your nervous system works. The normal stress response is "Fight or Flight" but when we cannot fight or flee, as in childhood, we go to a "Freeze" state. In the freeze state, we may dissociate and, in effect, the normal adaptive stress response is replaced with a kind of learned helplessness.

Early life traumas lead to emotional repression because what we learn at that tender age is that to stay safe we have to suppress our own emotions and needs in the service of others. We learn to take care of other people's needs as a coping mechanism in order to keep the peace, and minimize the chaos that leads to abuse, violence, terror, or stress. This leads to people-pleasing, care-taking, peace-making, perfectionism, compulsions, and other inherently stressful personality traits.

How can Mindbody healing methods help?

Mindbody healing through an advanced method of neural retraining, like the MAP Method, can change the thinking and behavioral patterns associated with trauma. These patterns are like programs that run in the subconscious mind. By neutralizing the emotional intensity of the trauma memories that led to these patterns, we can de-prioritize the programming associated with our old coping mechanisms, and promote more productive responses to stress.

The MAP Method is an advanced method of neural retraining that can be done at a distance, usually over Zoom videoconference. It is the latest energy psychology technique that builds on modalities from the 1980s and 90s such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).

Each MAP session is organized around a specific topic. The client is prompted to focus on a specific memory or sensation while in a relaxed meditative state. As the practitioner begins to offer verbal instructions to the client's subconscious, the mind begins to reveal its programming through images, feelings, words, memories, and sensations.

After a few minutes, the client describes what came up in their mind, and another round of instructions is given based on that feedback. This continues until the emotional intensity of the memory is greatly reduced or neutralized. The process is gentle and very easy, yet the results are often quite powerful.

It's important to note that the client's subconscious mind is in control of the session, and sets a safe pace. The rewiring happens in the session, therefore there's no need to practice scripts or affirmations. Progress is very individual, but it generally takes about 4-6 sessions to begin to see improvements on a physical level, though emotional and mental shifts are usually noted within the first 3 sessions. Individuals with a significant trauma history or who are very sensitive can expect the process to take somewhat longer.

Learn More

Learn more about the MAP Method of advanced neural retraining.
Take the Quiz to understand the link between your traumas, personality traits and physical health issues.
Try a free course about MAP or see all the MAP Program s.
Hear our Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episode: MAP for Cancer - Kathy's story.

Why Do Sensitive People Develop Chronic Illness?

Fri, 02 Dec 2022 17:44:01 GMT

Understanding the connection between personality and chronic health issues.

Video transcript

Hi. Today I want to answer the question: Why is it that sensitive people so often end up with chronic illnesses? This is a question this that is beautifully answered in this new book by Anita Moorgani, Sensitive Is The New Strong .

Anita Moorgani is an author who previously wrote the book Dying To Be Me which is she's quite well known for. In it she tells the story of how she developed cancer and how it progressed to stage four, was about to die, went into a coma, and had a near-death experience. She became enlightened, you could say, through that experience and came back to life to spread her message.

Spreading the message of what she learned through that near-death experience; about how we are meant to live our lives. So, in this new book she talks about sensitive people and how they're very sensitive to all stimuli but especially other people's feelings, their thoughts, their opinions of us, or judgments.

She talks about how sensitive people easily fall into the trap of wanting to avoid criticism and conflict because they're just so highly sensitive to how other people feel and think about them. In order to avoid this they become people-pleasers. With people-pleasers, essentially what you are doing when you're the people-pleaser, is you are meeting the other person's needs so that they can be happy, and so you can alleviate the feeling of stress, pressure, conflict, judgment, or criticism that you would otherwise get if you didn't take care of this need.

In doing so, we are repeatedly denying our own needs, we are repeatedly denying our own limits, we are giving of ourselves beyond what we are capable of. This can become a very entrenched pattern that leads to a kind of victim mentality.

This is definitely something that I see in my practice and even more so I see how childhood trauma or trauma early in our life can lead to these patterns, because what I have observed is that if you were born with any tendencies towards being sensitive, early childhood trauma will just crack you wide open, so to speak.

When we go through those traumas very early in life, when we are truly powerless, one thing that we can learn in terms of a way of protecting ourselves and anticipating danger, we learn that how we feel is not important and that in order to stay safe we need to monitor the external situation.

We need to monitor the feelings and the goings on of everyone around us--that's how we stay safe. That's how we take care of people that we love, and this leads to even more heightened sensitivity to other people's feelings over our own needs, our own feelings.

Sometimes we can't even feel our feelings, like we don't know how we feel until sometime later.

The problem with this pattern is that it results in chronic illness very often. Why? Because it's like the path just reinforces all the wrong patterns of behavior. This constant denial of our self and our needs, our emotions, everything about ourselves, our authenticity, leads to chronic illness because it puts you in a constant state of stress.

Every time you deny yourself, every time you do something to appease the other and deny yourself, you are creating a stress response in your body.

But, the other thing about this is that victimhood has benefits. There are secondary benefits. We don't recognize them as such, but when you have a diagnosis of a chronic illness then finally you are forced to prioritize self-care and you are more able to say, "No" to things that others would have required of you otherwise. And so this is the pattern, whereby sensitive people develop chronic illnesses. I see it all the time in my clients.

With the MAP Method, with this method of advanced neural retraining, we can turn this pattern around because that tendency towards people-pleasing is a kind of compulsion. And with the MAP Method we're able to change behavioral patterns. It's a learned behavior, it's a coping mechanism that you learned, but it does not need to be invoked at the level that it is, and it also can be changed to a different behavioral pattern.

You can start to disengage from the feelings of others. You can recognize them but you can learn to establish healthy boundaries to recognize what belongs to them versus what belongs to you and therefore not be compelled to rush out and protect and save everyone or solve everyone's problems.

This creates a space for there to be more you. For you to be able to connect to your own needs, your own desires. And when we are more authentic, when we are more able to be ourselves in the world, then the secondary benefit is no longer needed.

The body can start to heal itself. It comes back online and these chronic conditions start to resolve because now we are taking care of ourselves in a better more empowered way. We are showing up in the world in a more empowered way. At its most basic level that is what MAP Method sessions are meant to do: They are meant to help the disempowered become empowered.

That is the ultimate goal of MAP sessions. That is the objective of each and every session-- to change some repeated pattern in your life so that you feel more empowered.

So, I hope that this is helpful and if you see yourself in this pattern then I invite you to give the MAP Method a go. You know, people are often seeing positive results emotionally and mentally or behaviorally in three sessions, four sessions. And people are starting to see physical changes in their health after four, five, or six sessions, so it is a fairly fast way of dealing with these kinds of patterns, these patterns that result in chronic illness or can exacerbate chronic illness.

So, I invite you to give it a try. Thank you for listening.

Learn More

See the videos about the science behind the Method , QEEG brain studies , and a demonstration MAP session .
Watch the Frequently Asked Questions videos about MAP.
Learn more about basic versus advanced methods of neural retraining.
Listen to client stories on our podcast .

MAP Method for Autoimmunity and CFS - Joe's Story

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 21:43:02 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 59 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

How MAP Method sessions can be effective for severe brain fog, fatigue, anxiety, panic, depression, trauma healing, negative thoughts and self-sabotage behaviors.
How the MAP Method compares to talk therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and EMDR.
How to handle setbacks constructively and capitalize on them as an opportunity to rewire the brain.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 59 where we talk with my client, Joseph Ng, about his experience with the MAP Method for symptoms of autoimmunity and CFS. Hear about his experience with many other methods including: DNRS, EMDR, CFS coaching, talk therapy, EFT/tapping, as well as naturopathic and conventional medicine approaches.

Joe describes himself as a high sensitive person (HSP) with a significant trauma history and some OCD tendencies. Before he started to work with me, he had experience with the MAP Method through the MAP Coaching Institute’s programs, group sessions and individual sessions. He was even enrolled in the certification program to become a MAP Practitioner himself, but had to take a break to work on his own recovery, as you’ll hear him describe.

In this episode we discuss:

His experience with the MAP Method and how he believed enough in the method to want to train as a MAP Practitioner.
How he hit a rough patch over the summer and spent a couple of months in bed with severe symptoms.
How he felt emotionally and physically before we started our sessions together: highly emotional and over reactive, fatigued, foggy, anxious/panicky, depressed, not believing in himself, with self-sabotage behaviors.
Comparison of MAP to EMDR
Attitude shifts he experienced as a result of MAP sessions for negative thought patterns, attitudes, addictions, and social anxiety.
His understanding that recovery is not linear, and why setbacks are to be appreciated.
What he’s learned from CFS coaching that helps him handle setbacks more calmly.
The benefits he’s seen from MAP Method sessions and why he recommends MAP to others for stress, mental health, trauma healing, and understanding your own identity.
All the things he has tried: psychotherapy, medications, meditation retreats, ayahuasca, acupuncture, acupressure, and more.
His understanding of the mind-body, which comprises the nervous system, emotions and physical body.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t miss episode 47, MAP for Immune Dysfunction , with my client Dawn, who discusses the benefits from MAP sessions for MCAS, histamine sensitivity, tinnitus, muscle tension, and hives.

To learn more about the MAP Method and how it works, visit mapforhealth.us. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at MindReMAPforHealth.com

Moments from our conversation

[37:00] So, during the time we were working together, August and September, that was the biggest leaps in recover, now that I think about it. The brain fog was starting to dissipate and I was starting to physically start to do things I hadn’t been in many months. I was taking my son swimming and bike riding. Since then my symptoms have flared up, but before if I did any activity with my son, I’d have to rest for the week, just to be able to see him again. That time where I was having more bad days than good days has switched to having more good days than bad.

[50:00] I’ve done everything. I’ve done a lot of illegal things, and also legal medications. I’ve done psychotherapy, psychiatry, clinical counseling, acupuncture, acupressure, meditation retreats, ayahuasca and some of them helped, but I haven’t ever found any long term benefits, whereas I feel like the MAP Method and the things I am doing now, I’m starting to see change in my personality and how I approach life and my thinking. Or even when it’s not going well, it doesn’t derail me like it used to before.

[51:00] I’ve found that traditional medicine and traditional healthcare, there’s something lacking there, it doesn’t offer long lasting change. I think it's good and healthy, but if you’re struggling with the mental health side, the neural feedback is a track to pursue. The MAP Method is a track to pursue, and some form of conscious neural retraining plus self care, meditation and pursuing a calm healthy life.

[54:00] If you’re struggling with stress and mental health things and everyone has traumas to resolve, it will help you with understanding your own identity. As I understand it your mind, your body, your nervous system, the emotions and your physical body is all one entity. Of course, you will see some positive manifestation of the positivity of letting go of that stress.

[55:00] There are a lot of studies and research that show that trauma and emotions over a lifetime are stored in the brain and the nervous system and have a direct effect on your physical health. It’s something to look into for sure.

Reflections

I work with a number of clients with autoimmune conditions and chronic fatigue (CFS) that are pleasantly surprised by the positive impact neural retraining has on their emotional state, their mental state, and their physical symptoms as a result of a set of sessions. Joe has tried it all, and he was convinced of the value of the MAP Method before we started to work together. I believe that his one-on-one sessions with me built on all the experiences he'd had with other forms of therapy, MAP group sessions, and the MAP Program for Autoimmune Conditions. I admire his tirelessness in pursuing so many things to recover his health and his willingness to share the best of what has worked for him. His decision to train as a MAP Practitioner speaks volumes about the value he places on neural retraining in breaking the cycle of chronic illness.

How Do We Retrain the Brain for Physical Symptoms?

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 17:12:31 GMT

Mindbody healing and how it works with the MAP Method of advanced neural retraining.

What is Mindbody Healing?

The evidence that the mind--our conscious and subconscious emotions and thought patterns--have an impact on the physical body is mounting. Some would say it's indisputable.

In her book, Mind Over Medicine , Lissa Rankin, MD talks about the controlled studies that have proven the placebo effect in drug trials for more than 50 years. What is the placebo effect? It's the healing that can occur based on the expectation and belief that we will be healed, without the benefit of an active ingredient or drug. It's the healing power of the mind.

Dr. Joe Dispenza describes habits of the mind as being primary in maintaining chronic health conditions in his books including, Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself and Becoming Supernatural .

Bruce Lipton, PhD describes the Biology of Belief in his book of the same name. What we believe is reflected in our health, the very function of our cells. And Candace Pert, PhD, backed that up with research that shows that every cell in the body has receptors for the Molecules of Emotion (also the title of her seminal book), and that cellular function is impacted by the emotional chemistry coursing through our bodies.

Dawson Church wrote The Genie in Your Genes: Epigenetic Medicine and the New Biology of Intention to elucidate the impact our thoughts, emotions and beliefs have on the expression of our genes. Yes, our psyche exerts control over our health, even down to the genetic level, by affecting which genes are on or off.

There is a whole new field of science called PsychoNeuroImmunology (PNI) that studies the connection of the psyche (our thoughts and feelings) to the function of the nervous system, the immune system and even the endocrine system.

The Innate Healing Power of the Body

And underlying all of this is the understanding that the body has the ability to heal itself. At one point in your life you trusted this implicitly, but when your condition became chronic, you may have started to wonder: why is my body broken? Why am I stuck in this state? Why isn't healing happening for me this time?

Another important concept is the relationship between stress and healing. Put simply, when you are in a stress response, you are not healing. Dr. Rankin estimates that the average person experiences 50-200 stress responses per day. For the person with a chronic health condition, it may be many times that.

What creates the stress? Stressful thoughts, unreasonable expectations, negative belief systems, unresolved painful emotions, compulsive behaviors, need for perfection or control, feeling anxious, fearful, powerless, helpless, insignificant, guilty, ashamed, over-responsible, burdened, or not accepting what is. Plus all the stresses associates with relationships, work, finances, parenting or caregiving.

The point is that when you are ill, you need optimal healing faculties. Therefore, to accelerate healing we need to resolve all the conscious and subconscious sources of stress.

How does MAP enable Mindbody healing?

So, when we talk about mindbody healing through neural retraining, we are talking about unraveling the conscious and subconscious sources of stress that are preventing your recovery through a set of sessions with a practitioner.

The MAP Method is an advanced method of neural retraining that can be done at a distance, usually over Zoom videoconference. It is the latest energy psychology technique that builds on modalities from the 1980s and 90s such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).

What Kind of Conditions Can Be Improved?

I've recorded many Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episodes with my clients, some of whom are practitioners, about the healing they've observed in themselves and in their patients. You can listen to episodes about everything from high blood pressure (episode 44), thyroid health (episodes 49 and 53), food sensitivities (episode 38 and 53), COVID Long (episode 45), chronic pain and autoimmune disease (episode 40), MCAS and immune dysregulation (episode 47), to cancer (episode 42) and more.

In episode 33, functional medicine practitioner, Cathy Moore, talks about how the MAP Method differs from other techniques that work with the brain. In episode 36 we hear from Dr. Kelly Halderman about how the MAP Method was effective for chronic fatigue, skin issues, and other health concerns and why she finds it a gentle yet powerful technique. She was so convinced of its efficacy that she included it in The Thyroid Debacle , a bo ok she was writing at the time with Dr. Eric Balcavage in the chapter on Emotional Fitness.

Learn More

Learn more about the MAP Method of advanced neural retraining.
Try a free course about MAP or see all the MAP Program s.
Find out how we use the MAP Method to retrain the brain for Sensitivities.
Listen to the Thyroid Answers podcast with Drs. Balcavage and Halderman about the MAP Method for thyroid health.

What are MAP Method Programs and How Do They Work?

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 20:33:26 GMT

How online self-paced neural retraining programs complement live MAP Sessions with a practitioner.

What is the MAP Method?

MAP, which stands for "Make Anything Possible", is an advanced method of neural retraining that can be done at a distance, usually over Zoom videoconference. It is the latest energy psychology technique that builds on modalities from the 1980s and 90s such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).

The MAP Method is the next generation of these methods, as it is gentler, faster and doesn't require bilateral stimulation or tapping on acupressure points. The brain takes care of all of that itself, quickly and efficiently. With the MAP Method we utilize the brain's natural ability to heal itself by harnessing the power of the subconscious mind.

In a MAP session the client chooses an issue to work on, for example social anxiety, and then focuses on a specific memory while in a relaxed meditative state. As the practitioner begins to offer verbal instructions to the client's subconscious, the mind begins to reveal its programming through images, sensations, words and insights.

It's important to note that the client's subconscious mind is in control of the session, and sets a safe pace. The rewiring happens in the session, therefore there's no need to practice scripts or affirmations. Progress is individual and can be influenced by many factors including the extent of previous trauma, obsessive thought patterns, and other traits.

Applications of the MAP Method include trauma healing, resolving anxiety/depression, repetitive negative thoughts, self-defeating behaviors, limiting beliefs, or unconscious stressors underlying chronic symptoms. To learn more about the MAP Method and how it works, see our related posts below.

What are the various ways MAP can be experienced?

There are multiple ways to experience the benefits of MAP. The gold standard is live sessions over Zoom with a practitioner which are completely individualized. Other ways to experience MAP are through group sessions, recorded video sessions, and audio files.

In a group session, usually done over Zoom, a set of instructions is given on a topic of general interest. The instructions are based on what is generally helpful for that topic, and there is no opportunity to share individual feedback, although participants may be asked to report their emotional intensity level periodically by entering a 0-10 rating in a chat box, for example.

Recorded video sessions are another way to experience MAP. These are the core components of our MAP Method Programs. Each session focuses on a particular subject, for example negative emotions, and is designed to be "evergreen" which means the same session can be used repeatedly for different memories or topics.

Audio files are recordings that can be used on the go. The audio is comprised of two tracks: your conscious mind hears a soundscape and your subconscious hears a set of MAP instructions for the selected issue. Audio files can be used while walking, reading, working or any other quiet activity. There is no need to be in a meditative state, which makes them convenient to use. Audio files are often used for support between MAP sessions.

What are MAP Method Programs? And how are they used?

MAP Method Programs are organized around a particular condition or health issue such as negative mood states (i.e., anxiety, depression), chronic infections (i.e., COVID long), sensitivities and intolerances (food, chemical, environmental), chronic conditions, or sleep issues.

Programs work with the conscious mind through a carefully planned progression of educational components and practices, and with the subconscious mind through recorded MAP sessions and audio files. Programs are online and self-paced. The time commitment is about 3 hours a week, if done at the recommended pace, based on 3 MAP sessions per week, but can also be done faster or slower as desired.

Programs include a structured set of core MAP sessions. For example, the Anxiety & Depression program includes MAP Sessions for Events, Thoughts, Triggers, and Intentions. Each recorded session is designed to be used repeatedly with different topics.

For example, the Events session can be used to neutralize the emotional intensity of any event or experience that triggers a negative emotion--anxiety, sadness, anger, fear, shame, guilt, or anything else. For each session, you pick a memory that has a high emotional intensity, rate the level of the relevant emotion from 0 to 10 (10 being the most intense), do the recorded MAP session and re-rate the emotions. If there is still some intensity by the end, you can repeat the session for the same memory the next time you do it. If the memory is feeling neutral, you can choose a different memory when you repeat the session.

Programs are generally organized into a set of stages or weeks, which should be done in order. However, it is expected that multiple cycles through the program will be needed to achieve your goals. For example, a 4-week MAP for Sensitivities Program may be used multiple times to address multiple types of sensitivities to foods, chemicals, or environmental irritants. It may take more than one 4-week cycle to fully reintroduce the first food or sensitivity item. Most programs have an access period of 6 months for this reason.

What are the advantages of a MAP Program?

Programs are a toolkit that allow motivated individuals to make faster progress between live MAP sessions. It is not absolutely necessary to have live MAP sessions alongside programs, but it is often desirable. Live sessions can help when your progress starts to plateau, or there is a topic that is not adequately addressed by the provided sessions alone.

The primary advantages of MAP Programs are convenience and affordability. Programs are available instantly upon purchase and are available 24x7. This means that you can have MAP sessions at night, on weekends, in any time zone or location in the world where it may be difficult to schedule with a practitioner. Programs allow you to have several MAP sessions per week at your convenience, at a cost that is much more affordable than live sessions.

There is also the advantage of speed. Live MAP sessions are usually spaced a couple of weeks apart. For someone who wants to tackle an issue with some haste, MAP Programs will allow you to have up to one MAP session per day. (Doing more than one session per day is not advised, as time is needed between sessions for integration.)

Another advantage is the increased impact of working with a structured program with the opportunity for frequent repetition to keep you on track.

And MAP Programs allow you to try MAP in a low risk way. There is a free preview for each program that introduces the basic concepts and the neural retraining approach. There's a grace period after registration for a few weeks when you can request a refund, which allows you to try a Program with less risk than live MAP sessions, which are not eligible for refunds.

Learn More

Learn more about the MAP Method of advanced neural retraining.
Try a free course about MAP or preview a MAP Program .
Find out how we use the MAP Method to retrain the brain for Sensitivities.
Learn about MAP for Mindbody Healing
Listen to the podcast about MAP for Complex Chronic Conditions

MAP Method of Neural Retraining with Colette Streicher, LMFT

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 23:19:30 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 29 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

What is the MAP Method of neural retraining?
The neuroscience research behind the MAP Method.
Applications for the MAP Method for emotional, mental and physical health.

Show Notes

Join me for special double episode 29 where we learn about the latest innovation in neural retraining from Colette Streicher, licensed psychotherapist and founder of the MAP Method(TM) and the MAP Coaching Institute in Houston, Texas. She is the best selling author of the book Abundance on Demand.

Hear about this new frontier in rewiring the subconscious mind to overcome anxiety, depression, chronic pain and chronic fatigue as well as weight issues, allergies/sensitivities and autoimmune diseases. Listen until the end to hear how you can experience a MAP Method session with Colette.

In this episode we discuss:

What is the MAP Method of neural retraining?
How do you explain MAP to someone who has never heard of it?
Tell us about your journey, and how you discovered MAP.
Can you talk about the neuroscience research behind the MAP Method?
What were the early applications for MAP?
How is it being used today--new applications? Case studies?
What should I expect from my first MAP Method session?

Don’t miss the chance to experience the MAP Method for yourself. Check out our free courses about the MAP Method and how it works, as well as our MAP Introduction Program at www.MAPforHealth.us . For more information about the MAP Coaching Institute, please visit: www.mapcoachinginstitute.com

Transcript

**Please note: Transcript created by AI, accuracy not guaranteed.**

[Music]

Welcome to The Flourish with Functional Nutrition Podcast. I'm your host, Madeleine Lowry, founder of Twin Cities Nutritional Therapy and a Nutritional Therapy and MAP Method Practitioner, specializing in chronic digestive issues, allergies, sensitivities, and autoimmune conditions.

Join me for episode 29 where we learn about the latest innovation in neural retraining from Colette Streicher, licensed psychotherapist and founder of the MAP Method and the MAP Coaching Institute in Houston, Texas. She is the best-selling author of the book Abundance on Demand . Hear about this new frontier in rewiring the subconscious brain to overcome anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and chronic fatigue, as well as weight issues, allergies, and sensitivities, and autoimmune diseases. Listen until the end to hear how you can experience a MAP Method session with Colette.

As always, we must disclaim that the information we share in the podcast is for educational purposes only. As MAP Method Practitioners, we do not diagnose or treat disease and we recommend working with a qualified practitioner. Now let's talk with Colette!

Welcome Colette. I'm so excited to have you on the show and I'm so happy to have you join me for this special episode of the Flourish podcast.

Thank you Madeleine for inviting me. I am so excited to share with you and your audience this cutting edge information.

I just want to take a moment here and explain why we are going to take a little deviation from the usual topics, the usual nutrition-based discussion that we usually have on the show. To talk about something I find really interesting, which is retraining the brain. As some of you may know, I've gotten into a neural retraining technique that I call Retrain Your Brain. It's something that I teach to my clients that have allergies and sensitivities and it has often quite dramatic and remarkable results for people who have severe food restrictions or sensitivities to chemicals or environmental allergens.

But along the way I found that there were maybe 20 to 30 percent of people that I taught that just couldn't use the method. They just couldn't engage with it. They couldn't achieve their goals and I was puzzled by this and I really wondered if I could find another method. So this method, Retrain Your Brain, that I've been teaching is a self-directed method of neural retraining. That means that I teach you a method and you go home and you practice it yourself, right? So that's the self-directed part. This other method that we're going to talk about today, which is so cutting edge and so exciting is a practitioner-directed method of neural retraining. That means that the practitioner rewires the client's brain in a session and this is called the MAP method.

Colette Striecher is the founder of the MAP method and I'm just so honored to

have her join me for this conversation because I just think it's going to be so illuminating for

for our listeners. So Colette, can we just start with a little a little background? What is the

MAP method?

Yes, that's a good question. It's a method that allows us to help our clients literally,

like you said, rewire their brain. What we do is we actually teach the brain to rewire itself

on instructions. So, we literally give instructions to the brain and the client is observing

their brain being rewiring itself and that means that it's very gentle, it's very fast,

it's very effective and it's a long-term results that we're getting through that method.

So let's see. So the MAP method is something that you refined and have worked with for some time. How do you explain how it works to someone who's never heard of it?

The MAP method is very unique, because what we do is we literally use metaphorical language to teach the brain to heal itself and the brain slash mind, you know, the mind is the software and the brain is not hardware. But what is unique about MAP is that we use metaphors. So perhaps it could be linked to the history of Ericsonian language patterns and use of metaphors.

Really it is something that you need to experience yourself to understand. It's not like EFT where you tap on different points or it's not like EMDR where you have to imagine or use your mind to really consciously, you know, follow instructions. It's literally training your brain so that when we give it instruction to heal itself it will naturally find the negative memories or the painful memories, the belief systems that are not supporting you and beginning to neutralize those old memories.

Neutralize meaning eliminating the negative emotions associated with the learning that has been

recorded in the brain. So for example when you have an event that happened to you in the past,

you can have a lot of negative emotions attached to that event. And the issue with that is that the emotions will motivate your behavior. So if you become, for example, afraid of something, afraid of swimming, you were thrown as a baby into the water, you can't swim, you're afraid to die, for example, in that example here, and you connect water with fear.

And then in a MAP session we would neutralize the memory. That means you could still see and remember that memory, but it would not have this negative fearful connection. Therefore your behavior will change and you will be able to go and swim and do whatever you desire with water.

So this is what is so innovative in the field of psychology. MAP is like nothing else that exists out there really. That's what is unique is, yes, it feels really magical from the first experience you have. When you have the experience of MAP, it's very gentle, very simple, very easy. You just simply close your eyes, remember the memory, and because we give an instruction to your mind to go and neutralize that memory, it will within minutes literally neutralize that memory and therefore affect your future behaviors.

Thank you. I love that explanation. So MAP as I understand it fits into an emerging field called

energy psychology. Would you agree with that?

Not really. I actually don't know if I would see it with energy at all, even though I was invited, you know, in the energy psychology conference. No, I would say in the new field of neural retraining, how do we retrain the brain and how do we change long-term memories? This is like a new field. It's a new cutting edge if you want in the field of psychology. I would say that's the next level. That's the next step.

Energy psychology was created 30, 40 years ago, you know, in the 1980s. It's quantum leap. That means there is no more explanation around the meridians or the tapping or we don't have to stimulate different acupoints. We don't have to. So I think it's very far away from it. It's the next generation of psychology on the planet, I would say.

Well, thank you for clarifying that. I'd love to hear the story about MAP and your journey and how

you discovered this and at what point you understood that you had something here that was extremely powerful, like the world has never seen before.

Yes, so the journey began, of course, when I was really, really young, I was nine years old. I was living in France. I am a French citizen originally. And I made the decision through a traumatic event that I would be happy and I would have a happy family. So from then on, at 12 years old, I was studying Freud. I was studying psychology. I was literally hypnotizing my friends. And so it has never stopped. After that, I was very interested, when I was 18 years old, in the body, the energy system. I studied oriental medicine. Then I did a lot of personal psychology work and eventually moved to the US and became a licensed psychotherapist after seven years at the university studying many things, including quantum physics and became also at the same time a massage therapist.

So I was accumulating an incredible amount of knowledge and information on the body, mind and the spirit part of it. So I, it all came together through my own journey of discovering that I needed to know more. Like I had studied energy psychology since the 1990s, with Gary Craig, EFT, TFT, all those methods. And it still was not enough for me. Even though it was a revolution at a time, but it was not enough because I was looking for faster, easier, gentler, and constantly learning, learning the latest tools and techniques. And then at one point, everything came together. I had a mentor in Canada. I had a client that was extremely difficult that came from Europe that I didn't realize. My reputation was good here in terms of therapy then someone from France sent her daughter for depression and anxiety and phobias. And I thought,"Well, there would be no problem." And I realized she was misdiagnosed and she had actually bipolar

disorders.

So it led me into a complete research in psychiatry, in how do we change personality disorders? And then I found really cutting edge information. And I put it all together at one point. And that's where MAP was born. I put all my 35 years of experience, we systemized and organized this process. And when I realized that it was really valuable, and I didn't want to spend my entire life creating a new method that would just give a micro benefit. Why would I do that? I had enough tools.

So I was really asking the universe, give me a proof that will give me the courage to turn my back, to energy psychology, to everything I've ever learned, and to begin fresh and develop this method. And that came when I was introduced to a young girl. She was around 17

years old. And her mom said, "Please, please, please try to help her. We've tried absolutely everything. She has obsessive, compulsive disorder." And I told her, "You know, I am testing out this new method. I don't know if there will be any results. Are you okay with that? We're going to do a case study."

And she said, "Yes, absolutely. I am ready to try anything." So when this young girl came to the door, she shocked me because when I saw her face, she had literally soap scales, you know, on her face. Like she had dried out soap and the soap was scaling out, but still stick all over her face.

She had gloves that were full of soap, gloves and little fingertips were cut off so she could,

you know, use her cell phone. And she had not changed her shoes for like a few years, and she had not washed her hair for also a long time. And so she was like an interesting experience to say the least. So she didn't look at me. She was focused on her cell phone and she absolutely didn't want to have anything to do with me. So no eye contact, nothing. So I say, "Well, the cell phone has to go, so she throws it in the corner, the mom picks it up like just before it gets to the floor." And the good news is I said, "Okay, the only thing you will have to do is look at this video training for your brain." And that's it. And you sit down here, you have nothing else to do. So she was a teenager, totally bored to death, looking at the video.

And I was thinking, "Oh my God, like if, you know, if I can get through to this person, that will be it." So I begin giving instructions to her brain. I have zero feedback. She still doesn't look at me. She still doesn't say a word. I'm just giving instructions after instructions, having zero feedback from her. And then she turns her back and leaves. And the third session, of course, the first session, I had absolutely no clue what I had done and if anything had worked.

The third session, she comes to the door and her face is clean. She has let go of her gloves or

skin was beginning to grow again back. She had like really rashed, you know, the skin was so hurt because she was cleaning her hands and arms for, you know, 20 times a day. Now the skin was getting healthier, the face, she looked at me in the eyes normally and she said, "Can you help me out with my belly this time?" Because she's washing the belly 20 times, too. I said, "Okay, let's go."

And so I do that, again, you know, but this time she gives me a little bit of feedback. And then the fifth session, she's like completely normal. She had the first weekend that she had used no soap.

She was communicating with me normally, etc, etc. So when she left, that was my miracle. Like, okay, five sessions, OCD disorder. Yes, I can do that. I will turn my back.

And so I turn my back to my, to everything I've learned before. Don't use EFT, don't use anything,

and just use MAP. And from then on, I had those kind of miracles over and over and over again.

And we ended up doing QEEG research to find out in the brain what was going on because we had no doubt that something was altered in the brain. And that's, yes, the story of my decision.

Wow, wow, that's amazing. That's quite a story. I can't even imagine trying to make that

decision of leaving behind your training, your 30 plus years of experience, everything,

everything you'd accumulated up until that point. Of course, you put a lot of it into the MAP method. But, yes. To strike out like that on this journey without anyone else, probably in your profession, really understanding what, what it is you had and, and, and what you were doing. That takes a lot of courage, I think. But I love that you started to talk about the neuroscience. And I would love to hear more about the research that the MAP coaching institute has been doing into the MAP method. And the encouraging results that you've been having.

Yes. So actually, I would like to explain in neuroscience terms what we are doing in MAP because I

begin to do neuroscience, you know, research. I begin to try to understand what is happening here. We are obviously changing long-term memories. In psychology, there is a theory called learning theory, which I, you know, adhere to. It's like, that means everything is learned. And it is very positive because then everything can be unlearned. So we knew we were changing and unlearning memories.

And this was the revolution because for more than a hundred years in neuroscience, we thought

that long-term memories could never be unlearned. And when I digged in, because I had the proof that we could unlearn it very fast. Within minutes sometimes, we unlearn a phobia, we unlearn things that we can measure every three or four minutes of progress being made, the brain being rewired, you know, obviously. So I looked into the research and I have found a breakthrough research that happened in year 2000. Dr. Karim Nader from McGill University in Quebec had found out that long-term memories could change within minutes in a certain condition.

And that's the kind of conditions we were using in the MAP method. So it's totally reinforced

what we were doing. And it's like the application of the cutting edge research in neuroscience.

So that gave me a lot of energy, if you want, in support. We went into QEEG research and this is

just to give you an idea, it's a very expensive research. So in the beginning, we, you know,

it's about $700 an hour. So we couldn't afford a lot. So I was asking again the universe,

the universe, give me a case study that will really help clarify all of that. And so we found

someone who had a very deep height phobia. And I didn't know how deep and complex it was.

There are phobias that are simple and phobias that are complex. So this one was actually a complex phobia. And I had no clue before we began. So we're just hoping that we would not clear the phobia in five minutes because for $700, I wanted my results. So we get into the session with the neuroscientist and, you know, put all the head gear on and all of this connected to the computer. And the benefit of MAP is that people don't have to tap or move or imagine or really talk in any way, shape or form like I was telling you with the example of the first story with the OCD. Therefore, it is possible to do QEEG because QEEG means quantitative electroencephalography. And encephalograms are very, very sensitive to any movement, your eyelid movement, and it could spoil the research. So it's impossible to do, for example, this kind of research with EFT because the tapping would completely affect the brainwaves. So here, because she had nothing to say, and she was just able to say a number, you know, 7, 3, that's it.

And we knew when because we were recording everything. We were able to do this research. So it was for one hour, I treated actually seven different phobias around height. But what we did to prove the pudding, if you want, before that, we brought her to the seventh level of a building downtown in Houston. And it was more so she could prove the idea. When she got out of the elevator and she tried to look into the lobby downstairs, through the atrium, you know, bending over the railing a little bit, looking down in the lobby.

Well, we did the pre-test before going to the QEEG experience in the same building. So we were

lucky. It was at the first floor. We go up the elevator and she just cannot get out of the elevator.

I mean, she, she three steps out, hands on her eyes. "I can't do that. I can't do that. I can't do that."

Back in the elevator, going back down. Then we do the one hour QEEG experience.

So I treat one phobia after the other. Things like I've never heard before, like, you know, the floor will melt under me. The floor downstairs is actually that I'm looking at is a magnet and it's pulling me above and over the ramp. I mean, those fears that were number 10 one after the other and each time we went from 10 to 0, 10 to 0, 10 to 0, 7 times, 7 phobias and related to a height. And then at the end, we wanted to test the results. We went back up the elevator and this time she walks out of the elevator cautiously, but she walks out, gets to the ramp, looks down, opens her arms, then over the ramp and smile, say, all right, we got our research. So that was an experience that also encouraged me along the years.

Wow. And I've, you know, this is a video that anyone can watch if they search up the MAP Coaching Institute on YouTube. It's one of the case studies that's on there. And I've seen this video. I've seen it, but, you know, it's edited, of course, to make it shorter, but I didn't realize that you were working on seven different phobias. And I'm just curious, how did she communicate them to you when she was only allowed to say her SUM rating each time?

Yeah, she did have one sentence like the floor is melting. Oh, I see. I see. It's magnetic. It's

pulling me down. So, but because we recorded everything we knew when she was talking, I was very short. Yes. It didn't affect the research.

And so, can you just explain the use of the numbers? I think maybe we need to clarify that in SUM ratings. Can you explain what that is?

Yes, because MAP is immediate results, literally, we can measure and the kind of measures if you want their progress. So, 10 meaning out of 10, I am panicky. I am feeling really a huge level of discomfort. And zero means I'm completely neutral. I am thinking about the same thing. For example, she was thinking walking out of a balcony, on a balcony. She was thinking about the same thing. But now she had a zero. No response. It's like completely neutralized. The memory was neutralized. The thought was neutralized. So, now she was able to walk out and bend over.

And what we discovered after a week after just to get the end of the story is that the neuroscientists had to spend time analyzing the data. And so, we came back, and he was floored. Literally said that "I'm floored." Like, this is what we were looking for. And there were areas of the brain out of every type of brainwave that he was analyzing, which was a lot, like 30 or 40 of them. Every single one of them pointed to the same area of the brain related to pain and related to memory. And so, it was absolutely clear that we had literally rewired those areas of the brain. \

Yeah, that's fascinating. Now, I think you did QEEG research with a couple of more clients as well.

There were more right there, a few more examples. That's true. Yes, we ended up buying a Wi-Fi QEEG headset that helps with research. So, we did it in my office, and it's not as official, but in my office, we could record the changes that were made, especially when I was giving an instruction.

I was really curious about what was going on when I gave an instruction. The person is not saying

a word, and is the brain literally changing while I'm giving an instruction to the brain. And yes,

we got absolutely clarity about that. So, we could see when the person was actually processing

information.

And I remember that there's one, yeah, there's an example with a woman who's just having trouble with her academic studies, right? She's just really, really, really anxious.

Yes, and it's a great story, actually, that I wanted to talk about, because this actually is a story of MAP that could explain the application of MAP. She was one of my clients 6 years ago, just at the very beginning of MAP. She was one of our first clients. And actually, I do volunteering work, so I actually took her as a volunteer, you know, to help her out, because she was the mom of five young kids, and in a very traumatic relationship. And I wanted to help her out, and she was so motivated, desiring to move forward in her life. So, we cleared a lot of things, traumas from her childhood that allowed her to accept such relationships. Then she had the courage to divorce, actually, this very, very painful situation. So, she divorced her husband, and she was the single mom of five kids. And so, she was going back after a year, she decided to go back to school and finish up her engineering degree.

And again, every time she had a block, she would come and we would release. And then she ended up having, you know, she had not studied for years. She couldn't remember things. She,

and she was in one of the toughest electrical engineering schools, you know. So, she had to have

results. And one time she came and she just, you know, chose to take three classes that semester,

and she felt overwhelmed.

So, we did a QEEG, and within literally three minutes, she shifted her mind, and she laughed, and she said, "No, I've done it before, and it's all good, and I wonder why I was ever anxious." And she literally laughed. So, it was a three-minute session that is recorded, and that was pretty impressive. And then the good news is, she literally graduated at the beginning of June, and I'm so proud of her, and she has been hired by NASA, and she's officially a rocket scientist. So, it has been a journey, but it's definitely someone we are very proud of at the Institute.

That's a great story. I think her name was Michelle, is that right? Yes. Yes, and you can find that video as well if you search on YouTube for the MAP Coaching Institute's case studies. I remember there was one more. It was a guy this time. I can't remember what his issue was, but again, I remember dramatic results.

You know, actually, we could sit here for about two years. Every single session we've given,

every single thousands and thousands and thousands of cases, now all over the world with trainers, and MAP practitioners all over the world. This is what we love the most. This every single session we measure, and every four or five minutes we measure the progress, and there is no doubt in the mind of the person who goes to a session that something has changed. Either they have cognitive shifts, which is suddenly they have an insight and complete realization, they see things differently, or they have physical shifts, the muscles relax, and you have back pain dissolving, and other issues in the body releasing. I mean, there are so many things going on that during that rewiring, both at the conscious and unconscious level down to the cellular memories.

So maybe it's a good time for us to just talk about what a MAP session is like. So just for people who are a little apprehensive about something that we're talking about rewiring your brain.

I know you've described it as being gentle, but maybe you can just describe what it's like for

a person who's new to this to come to their first session. And you know, what should they expect?

Yeah, that's a good question, because it's unique. It's unique, but it's very gentle and very simple.

So mainly you will have to watch a video which will begin to train your brain and all parts of

yourself to understand the process. Very easy, you don't even have to remember or understand

anything like this young teenager, you know, she was bored to death, but she still got it. And

after that you go to the session, there will be a little more metaphorical language to explain

even more specifically to all parts of your mind, what to do. And finally, all you do is you pick a

subject. The first time around is very good to pick a phobia, a specific event. These are things

that the brain and the wiring in the brain is very clear. And it's perfect for a first example.

So you bring up, let's say, your traumatic memory. And all you have to do is remember it. You don't try to repress or change it or do anything else. You completely passive, you remember the memory, and you notice what is going to change while the coach is going to give instructions like we talked about. So you're going to hear instructions, you don't even bother with that. You just keep focusing on the event and you keep noticing what is changing. And literally the event and the memory, well, things will begin to shift. So sometimes is the memory is getting fading away. Like you have a harder time to really get the details or it's going to be on the contrary, extremely clear, but then it gives you an insight into it and say, oh, but that didn't take, you know, that happened. I have a story about that, but I want to continue on that.

So your mind will show you, perhaps, a lot of different memories that are connected to this one. And that's really one of the strengths of MAP that I didn't explain before is that one of the biggest limitations with other methods is that you have to take one traumatic time, one memory at a time, one belief at a time. Everything out there is, and this is great, but it is so slow when you know that the subconscious mind is hundreds and hundreds of memories that are similar to that are, it felt overwhelming to me as a therapy, saying that especially when I began focusing on success and money blocks and I knew it was so unconscious, there were so many layers to clear generational memories. I mean, it's, it's so complex. So I felt like I needed something better and that was part of my search.

So with MAP, what we do is really throw like a net over your subconscious mind and we clear and neutralize all the memories that are similar to the one you have picked, for example, during that session. So you might have lots of memories pop up that are either similar or connected that you never even knew consciously. So that's why it is so effective because you don't have to remember where it comes from or why you have this phobia or any of it. The, you know, the subconscious mind and all the parts of your mind will know and remember and clear as we go. So that's the benefit of MAP and can you remind me where I was? I think I went a little bit off but one story, one story I do want to say about what will come up in the session is that yes, I, we were in the session, where will come up in the session is all those memories or none of it.

If you don't have to remember it or it doesn't matter, all you do is observe the change and before you begin, you give a number from 0 to 10 and 10 being, oh, how much, you know, distressed, you feel thinking about this phobia of anything, of swimming, for example. And if you feel like a 10 and you are, you know, your heart is beating hard, you are sweating, then, okay, it's a 10 and then a few minutes later, you ask, okay, now whatever you noticed, where are you now? Looking and thinking about this exact same thoughts, firing the exact same neurons originally, now there is not the same reaction. It has been neutralized, so, perhaps you go from 10 to 8 or to 6 or, and then a few more rounds and you get down usually to 0 and it's completely neutralized and then

it's forever, it's a long-term neutralization.

Yeah, that's the amazing thing. It can work so quickly that literally people can come in with, in and they'll say, I have, I have a lot of anger about this situation I'm at, I say, how intense is that for you? And they say 10 and 20 minutes later, after a few commands. So where is the anger for you now? And they're just sitting there with a peaceful look on their face and I'm saying, I'm saying, can you even connect to the anger anymore? And they're like, no, there's no anger anymore, there is no stress that I'm, it's just peaceful. And that's pretty remarkable because I'm sure, you know, in your psychotherapy days, that was not, what was happening, right? In a therapy session. Right, yes, absolutely. So it's really magical.

For therapy, someone who has had a lot of experience, we have psychotherapists who are literally

even retired now. They have 30 years of working in a psychiatric hospital or with clients one on one for 30 years. I've studied everything and I'll be, you have to, everything. And they still love

MAP because that's so unique. And it's literally, they appreciate it the most because they have struggled with all of that. We have actually a therapist in England who has an entire trauma center. And she was coming to MAP just to get one more tool, you know, in her belt. And actually she has told me lately, "Colette, I cannot do anything else other than MAP right now because it's just too slow." And so she turned an entire clinic into MAP. And that's what we're talking about.

And I know that your audience is wondering, what is the connection between the body and the mind? I mean, is there anything like, are we only talking about suffering emotionally? And if you want, I can, I can answer this question.

Yes, I was going to ask you about that because, you know, we had the original applications from

MAP, which were really around, you know, psychotherapy topics, right? And so maybe you can just talk a little about like what the original applications were and how that's changed because it has grown so much in these six years. There are new frontiers that you're doing case studies on now that are just very exciting.

Yes, absolutely. So we began with psychology as you know, and it turned into peak performance because I was working with athletes going to the Olympics or even business leaders in the world. So I did develop my own peak performance aspect and money blocks and success blocks. And then we have this institute now that we teach psychotherapists, nutritionists, chiropractors, medical doctors. We teach them, or coaches even, we teach them how to use MAP in their practice. Some of them have begun to, like you Madeleine, you're beginning to go on the

cutting edge and experiment because as we know now, there is no doubt that the mind is connected to the body. The body-mind connection has been absolutely confirmed scientifically.

So it is actually of utter importance to find out what are the emotions and the beliefs at the core or associated with any kind of illness. So some of our trainers actually have been on case studies. We have one that is exploring autoimmune disease and we have had incredible results with that. I mean, we are exploring sleep issues and learning issues at school and oh man, there is so many. Also weight loss, of course, and oh, I have a story about weight loss. I mean, I have stories on all of that. But one of it is one of our actually coaches and she called me and she said, "Colette, I've had a breakthrough." I said, "Okay, what's going on?" She said, "I never worked on my weight and especially food, things, addiction kind of." I mean, she didn't say that, but I decided to focus on it because I'm putting on weight.

I said, "Okay." And she said, "In four sessions, the four sessions I found, I remember the event that happened when I was 13 years old that made me put on weight." And then, since that, exactly after the session, my taste buds changed. And I said, "How do you know that?" She said, "Well, I was delivered this big bag of chips and I opened the door on the front step and I opened the

bag of chips and I tried to eat one and it just didn't fit. It was too salty, too fat. It just was not me anymore." And then one thing after the other, the coffee and the sugar, all of that, and I'm exercising now. She said, "Oh, but I exercise now. It's not a condition anymore." I mean,

this is what truly am. I'm back to who I am. So these are the kind of stories I get, more or less,

every day. And that's why we are encouraged to go on the continued edge and do research.

So I know Madeleine, you've been beginning research, too, in different areas also.

Yes, I'm very excited about the potential for MAP for physical health because, as you know,

I was working with people who had allergies and sensitivities and other physical symptoms like

chronic fatigue and chronic pain syndromes. And they, many of them were helped with the old method that I was using, not old. I mean, it's still relevant. Retrain Your Brain, the self-directed method.

But for people who weren't successful there or got stuck, I can now use the MAP method to get

them unstuck. And for people who are just not willing to go through the program, the Retrain Your

Brain program takes three to six months of practice one hour a day. So it's quite a commitment.

For people who just don't have that ability to commit to that kind of practice, we can use

the MAP Method instead. And what I'm seeing is really good results for people who have things like, of course, anxiety and depression, but also things like chronic fatigue and chronic pain syndromes. So that is really super exciting because I don't think there are very many good approaches to those things.

Yes, and that's really what is the most exciting from MAP. And it's called, "Make Anything Possible." And I think the name is right because we have not found the limits yet. We are exploring the boundaries, the frontiers, and we have found that we can make progress. Actually, the therapist that I was talking about in England, she says to me, "There is nothing that cannot be

improved by MAP. She had done addiction and PTSD and all of that, and she's so surprised."

So not only in psychology, now we're beginning to go out there and thanks to Madeleine and others of our practitioners beginning to explore. The potential is unlimited, I really believe so.

Yes, and I just want to mention that Suzanne Bond is the practitioner in London and Jelena.

I can't say her last name. Can you say it for me?

Katic.

...in Croatia is the one working on autoimmune disease. I'm also interested in autoimmune disease, but we have so many talented MAP practitioners that are just going out there into the world and exploring so many frontiers. And I hope to have to be able to interview some of them on this show as well because I just think it's really important to get the word out there about this new approach and the potential that it has. And so for people who have tried everything and are still looking, they're still searching for their answer. I really think that working with the brain is

that final frontier and the most powerful one.

Yes, and we even have chiropractors, chiropractors. One of them we talked about last week. I talked to him and he had results with neck pain and back pain and things like you can't believe. So because I mean we can believe it when you begin to study the connection between the the mind, the brain, the hormones of stress, how stress affects healing or not healing. You know, when you have too much stress it totally reduces your healing and introduces your immune system. All of that has been completely proven.

So it's really about reducing stress, which is usually connected to some time types of thoughts,

beliefs, emotions, memories that are, you know, attached to some emotional components. And when you neutralize those, then there is less stress in the body and there is more healing abilities.

Yeah, I think that's exactly right. You know, I started reading this book yesterday called The

Divided Mind by Dr. John Sarno. I don't know if you're familiar with him. But he was known as,

he's, he's, he retired, I think, from a long career at NYU Medical Center where he treated people

with chronic back pain with a unique method that was around helping them uncover repressed emotions. So a lot of overlap with what we're talking about here, he had his own method for doing that and it involved education. He had them journal about emotional issues or traumatic memories, right? So that they could, he believed that once they were aware of what was causing this and they could release those emotions that it would, it would improve their, their back pain. And in many cases more than probably 50 to 60% of his patients did improve with his method and often dramatically.

But anyway, in this book he talks about the psychogenic disorders and this is part of what makes me so excited about what we can do with MAP in terms of physical health. He talks about five different classes of psychogenic disorders. Number five are the psychosomatic disorders and psychosomatic is a term that's kind of been disparaged in the medical community. But here we're simply referring to the influence of the brain on the physical body health. And he says that there are two types of psychosomatic disorders. One is the conditions that are directly influenced by unconscious emotions. And he includes in this something he calls TMS, tension myelitis syndrome that was his own term, pain syndromes like back pain and neck pain and chronic pain issues like joint pain, GI conditions. So the gastrointestinal tract like IBS reflux or ulcers, he includes skin disorders and also allergies and sensitivities in that group. And the second group is the un, the group that involves unconscious emotions that play a role. So they're not the entire ball of wax right there, not the entire cause, but they play a role in exacerbating these conditions. And he includes in those autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, cancer and certain cardiovascular conditions.

So you know, this just corroborates, you know, what we're seeing in the MAP Method universe basically of practitioners that are going out there and trying, you know, we're trying, we're like pioneers trying different things and we're seeing like, well, this really responds nicely, you know, weight loss, okay? Or, you know, smoking, uh, smoking addictions or addictions to food or like I said, chronic pain, chronic fatigue. These all seem to be things that respond very nicely to the MAP method. And so I, you know, I'm excited to see where this can go further.

Yes. I have several stories. One of them is like for the back pain, it's actually Dr. Ed, our chiropractor at the institute. Yes. He had a tremendous pain actually and he couldn't, you know, he had done chiropractic activity, he had done anything he could. He was really going to have to go to surgery because he could see through the MRI that there was physiological things going on. And, um, he did his first MAP session with, with another chiropractor that was a MAP practitioner and he was just testing out MAP.

So he took one stress. He didn't even tell her that he had a back pain and, uh, here we go.

After the session, he realized his back pain is gone. And it was gone a week later, two weeks later,

three weeks later. It was completely gone. So just another example that would support, you know,

the book that you're reading.

Yes. That's Dr. Ed Leshin in Arizona. And I, give him a lot of credit. He did record a video on this again. You can go to the MAP coaching institute channel on YouTube and find it. But as a chiropractor, you know, it's humbling to have back pain that you can't resolve. And so debilitating for him too, but, um, it's just wonderful to hear that he found solution. And it was as simple as a MAP session on stress release. So, I mean, that's the kind of miracle you can experience. And I'm not going to suggest that any physical ailment that you have can be resolved by a MAP session or even multiple MAP sessions, but it's worth trying. It's worth trying once. It's worth trying to see if maybe it can take the edge off or, um, you know, sometimes remembered pain, I think is kind of a factor in some of these chronic pain syndromes.

So Madeleine, we found out actually that for chronic issues, having a MAP session every single day, that is actually recorded by the practitioner, etc. So for some people, it will need repetition and going deeper because, of course, they've had suffering for 20 years. Actually, my first other miracle story was not for me directly, but I trained one of the practitioners here in Houston, one of the first. And this person was hired as an assistant, health, you know, a health assistant to a young woman who was in the dark for five years. She had been in the dark, with even covers on her eyes. She was blinded because of the medication she had taken, but she had extreme allergies to absolutely anything, like even the smell of coffee or anything. And she could only drink a little bit of a soup every day the same for five years. She was on her bed, so she her legs had more or less the muscles that disappeared. She was on a wheelchair. She was taking 20 plus medications. They tried more than 27 doctors. I mean, the whole nine yards. And what this person did was MAP.

And the entire method that I have not had time yet to explain, but there are several steps to really rewire the brain completely. And she did that like one hour or two hours a day. After three months, she was not blind anymore. She could let go of all of her medications. She was not allergic. She began to eat. She could eat everything. And then finally, she could walk. And now she's playing tennis. So this is the kind, but it took a year of daily practice. And I always in my mind thought, well, I couldn't do it because clients come once a week. But now we are getting to develop other ways that allow that for this kind of level. So that's why I feel like there is no limit unless you stop too early.

Yes. Yeah, that's exciting. So I want to let you go ahead and talk about the steps you said you wanted to cover the various steps are involved. And then I think we should tell people how they can experience MAP for themselves, right, to the MAP Coaching Institute.

So since we have this method, and yes, we can do miracles and stuff like that. But really what I

have in my heart is to help everyone make anything possible in their lives and realize their dream

life. Why limit it to just ... and then you are still suffering in your relationship or not satisfied in your job or having a life that doesn't make you happy.

So my goal at the MAP Coaching Institute is the MAP Method of coaching, which is those steps that allow someone to really create their life consciously. Since we have the essential method that allows to clear the rocks on the road. So literally the first three steps are about wiring your brain to become a new person to become the one that will be a rocket scientist. It's not the same person that came to see me, Michelle, you know, when she first arrived, lacking self esteem, self-confidence, all of that had completely transformed to a point that now she is working there. So what I want for everyone who enters the MAP Coaching Institute and our coaching program is to go beyond the limitations, beyond the pain, beyond the depression, beyond anything because this will be realized and neutralized and there is no doubt about that.

So since we can release those boulders on the road to your dream destination, why not have a destination? So a new destination for your life. So what I like to do is the first step is really to magnify your dreams. To find out what is it that you truly want. You know, if the pain was not there, if you could clear and since you can clear that, since you can clear your pain and your blocks, who do you want to become? So defining that more clearly is a fundamental step. It's like taking a journey without knowing where you are going. So it's very fundamental for you to begin to focus your attention not on the now with all the blocks, but on the future where are you going and so you can begin wiring your brain towards that destination.

And step two is definitely the heart of the MAP method, which is the clearing, neutralizing, remapping your mind. Call it "MAP it." You know, you want to create a new MAP of your subconscious mind and neutralize those blocks. Absolutely sure. But then I realize it's not

enough if you really, if your destination, when you decide to become this new person that is successful,happy, healthy, you know, abundant, then you do need to wire your brain differently. And that's a step that is forgotten by most any methods out there. Either they focus only on the clearing and it's not always very effective or fast, but then there is zero wiring towards where do you want to be? Who do you want to become? And that is what we call the magnetization. It's a way to have your brain magnetize new thoughts, new ways of thinking and new beliefs and new abilities to realize the potential around you. And this is fundamental.

Those three steps are the steps that I use to go from where I was to this international million dollar business and transforming the world. And that was really what I truly desired. So these are the three steps I personally used and then I used two more that we teach also at the institute is you want to meditate or be connected to your intuition and and go inside and quiet the conscious mind and be aware of the inner guidance and your intuition. And then fifths you do need to take action, but those actions have to be inspired and guided instead of you know overwhelming you into doing, doing, doing without really the alignment. So you

want to live in flow and listen to your intuition and take actions.

And these are the five steps that will lead you wherever you want to become the person that you prefer and dream to be. There is absolute certainty that when you follow those steps you will get there.

Well thank you for that. That's very, very inspiring and I'm glad you had this the chance to really lay the whole system out because it is much more than just the MAP sessions that we were talking about. So how can someone who's interested or intrigued, how can they have an experience with MAP and kind of get a sense of what it's like for themselves?

So one thing they can do is you might want to actually put a link down there where they can get a 30 minutes extra training, pre-training and then they can sign up for two hour workshop with me. We go through those three steps and you're going to experience your first MAP session neutralizing your first memory. And that workshop right now has been really discounted at $17 I think instead of $100. So you're at a good time. You can click on that link and get a two hour live workshop with me I offer that three times a week so there is unlimited possibilities literally to sign up. Also you can visit the MAP Coaching Institute website, www.mapcoachinginstitute.com and you will get also there is this button where you can click and learn more.

Fabulous. Thank you so much for joining me today and spending the time to help people understand what the potential of MAP is for their lives. I so appreciate it.

Oh I love having this conversation, Madeleine. I live for that. I live for sharing MAP with the planet.

So thank you so much.

Thanks for joining us for the Flourish with Functional Nutrition Podcast. Please listen again and remember to follow us and leave a review on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play or Stitcher. To learn more about Twin Cities Nutritional Therapy or check out our podcast page visit TCnutritionaltherapy.com. To find a nutritional therapy practitioner in your

area use the provider search at nutritionaltherauby.com.

Until the next time, be well and flourish.

Music by Barbara Benn.

[Music]

How does the MAP Method Compare with DNRS or the Sarno Method?

Mon, 10 Oct 2022 23:13:47 GMT

Learn about the latest advanced neural retraining method that's faster and easier than basic methods requiring months of practice.

What is DNRS? What is the Sarno Method?

DNRS-- the Dynamic Neural Retraining System-- and the Sarno method are two basic methods of neural retraining that have been around for decades.

The DNRS method was created by Annie Hopper, and the Sarno method was created by John Sarno, a medical doctor. They were developed for different purposes: DNRS was developed to address multiple or severe chemical food, electromagnetic, or environmental sensitivities (like mold, pollen, dust). Sarno developed his method to address chronic back pain originally and then he expanded the use for chronic pain syndromes in general.

Both of these methods consist of an educational component, and a set of mental exercises and practices that you practice on your own for a number of weeks or months. Both of these methods are relatively generic in terms of delivery, in other words you learn the method from watching videos, an online course, a workshop, or reading a book. The educational piece is delivered the same way for everyone.

Where it becomes specific is in how you apply the principles and exercises for yourself and how you see them operating in your own life. Both of these methods work with the conscious mind and conscious memories and while simple, I would say both of these methods are very effective which explains their popularity.

The role of trauma

However, when they're not effective, and I have found this to be in about 25-30% percent of clients, there's often a significant trauma history. This could be in the form of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) or lifetime trauma. In sensitive individuals, these could be smaller traumas or painful emotional experiences, which might not register as trauma for others. When it comes to painful emotional experiences, the impact is very individual.

Traumas can also be infectious (bacterial, viral, fungal, parasites, etc.), chemical (anesthesia, medications, or severe chemical exposures) or physical (including injuries, or medical/dental procedures.) To the brain, any potential threat can be interpreted as a trauma.

Traumas create mental blocks that prevent a person from achieving their goals with simple neural retraining methods. This is where the basic methods often fall short: you're trying to create a new neural pathway over an old one that has some significant barriers. Do you see the problem? We have to deal with the blocks first before a new neural pathway can be successfully created. This is where advanced methods are beneficial.

How can an advanced neural retraining method help?

For anyone who has been doing DNRS or Gupta or Sarno for 4-6 weeks without much benefit, or for the person that feels anxious or uncomfortable while doing the daily script repetitions and practices, it may be time to try an advanced neural retraining method.

The MAP Method is the latest energy psychology method, and is individualized in one-on-one sessions, delivered over Zoom videoconference. It's surprisingly gentle and effective. And it's particularly effective in these cases because it harnesses the power of your subconscious mind to uncover the blocks that are preventing progress.

With the MAP Method we can find those mental blocks and release them by neutralizing the painful emotional memories associated with them, and this allows you to re-engage with DNRS or the Sarno method and make progress, or in many cases people will just continue to use the MAP method to achieve their goal, whether it's overcoming sensitivities, chronic pain or chronic symptoms.

If you've found it difficult to commit to doing DNRS practices daily, the MAP Method offers a less time-consuming alternative. The rewiring happens in the session, no practice needed. The other advantage of the MAP Method for people who find it hard to visualize, or summon positive emotions and memories, is that working with the subconscious mind is easier and more powerful because the subconscious has access to all memories, everything that has ever happened to you.

So, if you have sensitivities, chronic pain, or physical symptoms, or you're having emotional distress and you don't understand why you are stuck in this pattern, we can use the MAP Method to guide the subconscious mind to find the root causes and neutralize them.

It's not necessary for you to know what trauma or what emotional experience is actually affecting you. Your subconscious mind already knows and through the process of a set of MAP sessions we uncover the layers of issues that are affecting you. We start to diffuse them one by one by one until the conscious and unconscious stress on the psyche and the body are relieved to a point where the issue resolves itself.

Learn More

Learn more about the MAP Method of advanced neural retraining.
Read more about the difference between basic and advanced neural retraining methods .
Learn how the MAP Method is used for retraining the brain for Sensitivities
Find out how the MAP Method compares to EMDR and EFT/Tapping.
Listen to the podcast episode: MAP for Sensitivities
Preview the MAP for Sensitivities Program
Try MAP for yourself with our MAP Introduction Program

MAP for Sleep with Dr. Jenna Foster

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 17:01:55 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 58 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Meet Dr. Jenna Foster, MAP Practitioner, and hear how MAP has transformed her life.
How we use the MAP Method to address sleep issues.
The questions to ask yourself if you're having sleep problems.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 58 where we talk with my fellow MAP Practitioner, Dr. Jenna Foster, about the MAP Method for sleep issues. Jenna has a PhD in Sociology and Social Psychology and she joins us from her office in Pahoa, on the Big Island of Hawaii. We discuss her background and how she became a MAP practitioner, how she works with clients and how we can use the MAP Method to resolve sleep issues including: trouble falling asleep, interrupted sleep patterns, nightmares and bad dreams, waking in fear or panic, and insomnia.

In this episode we discuss:

Her background and how she discovered the MAP Method.
How she pursued coaching after 10 years as a scientist.
How she heard about the MAP Method from reading Colette Streicher’s book, Abundance on Demand.
Her training in various energy techniques, Soul-centered healing, and NLP.
How 3 years of MAP have transformed her life.
How she was able to stay calm through a separation and a very stressful construction project with MAP.
How she works with clients who are mainly health professionals, coaches and healers.
How she prepares for each MAP session, and what it’s like to be the practitioner.
The importance of sleep and good sleep hygiene.
The questions to consider if you are having sleep problems: what keeps you awake, when did it start, and what was happening in your life around that time that may have been stressful?
The importance of creating a goal.
Disrupted sleep or poor sleep patterns as self-sabotage behaviors.
The approaches and procedures we can utilize in the MAP Method to address internal and external causes.
The role of emotions like stress, overwhelm and anxiety on sleep patterns.
The importance of focusing on the goal–what does life feel like when you’re well-rested?

To find out more about Dr. Jenna Foster and her practice, please visit: www.dr-jen-healing-work.com

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t miss episode 49, MAP for Thyroid Health , with my client Melissa, who discusses the benefits from MAP sessions for thyroid function, back pain, digestion, sleep and hair shedding.

To learn more about the MAP Method and how it works, visit mapforhealth.us , to find our free courses and MAP Program offerings. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at MindReMAPforHealth.com

Moments from our conversation

[12:00] “MAP is supporting you as you clear, step by step, anything that you created to limit you. We are the creators. We create anything in our life. When we stop and own whatever we created we can change it.”

[20:00] "Sleep is fundamentally important. While we sleep the body detoxifies, and heals. The brain detoxifies. Actually sleep between 10 and 12, it is important to have this early sleep… There are many things we can improve about sleep. We create fight and flight responses during the day and these affect our sleep."

[22:00] “I ask clients what changes they notice and I often hear that when they work with their issues and improve, sleep improves too. When sleep is an issue I find out what is keeping them awake. I ask: Have they had it for a long time, or is it recent? Do they know the event that caused it?"

[23:00] “The mind and the body respond to this work because as the systems get more into alignment, the entire personality gets calmer, more peaceful and more clear. With more peace and clarity, you can manage more work, or you are smarter in what you do.”

[26:00] "As MAP Practitioners it’s not just about the words that we say, it’s about who we are as a person and the intuitive and empathic connection that we make with the client."

[31:00] "All behaviors are based on memory, including sleep. This person is waking up in the night at the same time, one o’clock, and I say: What is the significance of one o’clock for you? They may not know and I have to help them [find the memory that underlies the behavior.]"

[43:00] “The brain is an energy monster. It takes about 25% of our oxygen and body energy being not even a half gallon in volume. The brain is always looking for savings. The brain develops a script for anything you do. When the trigger is cleared, the script is still there. If I don’t take care to create something new and pay attention, the old script will still run.”

[45:00] "Client and practitioner are a team and they have different jobs to do. For a good outcome, both parties have to do their part. The practitioner needs to be 100%, and the client needs to pay attention to themselves and continue to transfer their insights from the session into their lives. It’s not just automatic. MAP is fixing the memories, the charge so I am calmer, more focused, more clear, and I can make better decisions.”

[1:02:00] “When there are significant sleep issues for a client with physical health conditions, sleep is something we need to work with sooner rather than later because it is essential to be well-rested if you want to be able to recover.”

Reflections

Sleep is an important topic and foundational for good health. For my clients with chronic health issues, it's an important consideration because restorative sleep is essential for recovering our health. Dr. Jenna shares a lot about her story and how she came to be a MAP Practitioner. I think it is notable that she's trained in Reiki (as am I), several years of NLP and other modalities, and yet MAP is her primary method. This is true of many of my colleagues who have training in hypnosis, EMDR, EFT, or other energy methods--MAP is their method of choice. Why? I think it's because it is often faster and easier and you can also combine other skills into it.

How does the MAP Method Compare to EMDR or EFT?

Tue, 04 Oct 2022 20:18:15 GMT

Learn about the latest energy psychology method and why it has been called a quantum leap over EMDR and EFT.

What is The MAP Method?

It's an advanced neural retraining method that can be done at a distance, over Zoom videoconference. It is the latest energy psychology technique that builds on the techniques from the 1980s and 90s such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).

"We believe, and we have seen, that our brain can actually heal itself in minutes."

-Colette Streicher, Psychotherapist and Founder of the MAP Method.

EMDR and tapping were developed to help people fully process trauma memories, or emotionally painful memories. With EMDR, the client focuses on the painful emotional memory and bilateral stimulation is used -- either eye movements, audio, or some other bilateral stimulation -- to help the mind fully process through the emotions so they can be released.

Tapping is similar, again the client is focusing on one consciously-remembered memory or phrase and, at the same time, tapping certain acupressure points, with the objective of processing through those emotions and allowing them to be released.

Both of these methods work and they can be quite effective. However, my clients who have tried these other methods (and even some who are certified practitioners of EMDR or EFT themselves) tell me that the MAP Method is faster and gentler. EMDR, in particular, can be a difficult experience for the client requiring exhausting rehashing of painful memories. The MAP Method, by contrast, is relaxing and effortless.

"Therapists, coaches, and healers who have studied hypnosis, EMDR, EFT, NLP, etc. have been amazed at how much faster, easier and more gentle this method works."

- Colette Streicher, Psychotherapist and Founder of the MAP Method.

The MAP Method accomplishes essentially the same thing, but instead of working with one consciously-held memory at a time, MAP actually neutralizes clusters of memories simultaneously during the session. With MAP we instruct the subconscious mind to neutralize the painful emotions from a set of related memories.

How does this work?

With MAP, the client comes to the first session with an idea for a subject that they want to work on. This may involve a painful memory, anxiety trigger, relationship stress, or a phobia. We have the client focus on a specific example, a memory, and we instruct their subconscious mind to identify the emotional signature of the memory and identify related memories.

So, whether the emotional signature is anxiety, helplessness, abandonment, anger, guilt, grief, loneliness, or anything else, we ask the subconscious to find the other related memories -- either consciously-held or subconsciously-held -- and neutralize them as a group.

Therefore, with the MAP Method we're working with clusters of memories and this is what allows us to release painful emotions more quickly. Plus, these negative emotions are often connected to behavioral or mental programming that may be playing and replaying in our subconscious mind and impacting our mood, negative thought patterns, unwanted personality traits like perfection or procrastination, and our physical health.

With the MAP Method, not only can we release the negative emotions and neutralize the memories but we can also start to to break down some of the self-sabotage patterns and behaviors that are associated with them as well. It's a very, very powerful technique.

Learn More

Learn more about the MAP Method of advanced neural retraining.
Hear Colette Streicher, licensed psychotherapist and founder of MAP, describe the difference between the MAP Method and EFT, EMDR, hypnosis and NLP .
Listen to my client, Lea, describe the difference between her experience of EMDR and compare it to the MAP Method in episode 54 of the Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast .
Try it for yourself with our MAP Introduction Program

How Can Resolving Sensitivities Accelerate Healing?

Mon, 19 Sep 2022 19:30:34 GMT

Learn how neural retraining can rewire the sensitivity response and alleviate an unconscious sources of stress that impedes healing.

When I talk to people who have chronic health issues as well as sensitivities, they want to know whether dealing with their sensitivities should be a priority. I understand the confusion, because so often our attention is on much more pressing symptoms and conditions.

They may be having digestive issues, nutrient deficiencies, problems with detoxification, immune dysfunction, thyroid problems, autoimmunity, infertility, cancer, or any number of health problems. And sensitivities don't really rate as their biggest issue.

And, yet, in many cases it is. That's because people with multiple sensitivities are stuck in a stress response that is slowing their recovery and in some cases stopping it altogether.

Why is that? When your body is in an extended stress response all restorative functions of the body are put on hold. All of them. This is by design, because for our ancestors stressors were short-lived and often life-threatening so it was adaptive to sacrifice all bodily maintenance to escape the lion and live.

In our modern lives however, stressors are much more prevalent and longstanding. And if you have multiple sensitivities, by definition you have a daily subconscious source of stress that is interfering with your ability to heal.

What kind of interference? Well, literally everything you need to be well: digestion, nutrient uptake, energy production, immune function, fluid balance, detoxification and elimination, hormonal balance, neurotransmitter production, wound healing, and more.

So, eliminating your sensitivities can be the key to accelerating your recovery.

How do I know this? Because it happened to me.

As a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP) I had applied everything I knew about functional nutrition to myself: hydration, nutrient dense whole foods diet, handfuls of supplements. And yet I was very underweight, prone to irritable bowel, had an extremely low threshold for stress, memory issues, irregular sleep, and a dysregulated immune system. I was doing everything right--exercise, diet, supplements, probiotics, meditation--and could not understand why my health was still so poor.

Visits to functional medicine practitioners (and expensive lab tests) found root causes: adrenal fatigue, high mold counts, high heavy metal counts, chronic Lyme. My gut microbiome was extremely unbalanced, IgG testing showed that I was becoming sensitive to everything in my very limited diet, and cortisol levels were low.

However, I didn't follow up on their recommendations for treatment because my intuition told me that these “root causes” were evidence of something deeper. A common root cause underlying these root causes, if you will.

Of course, I was aware that I had multiple sensitivities to foods, chemicals, environmental irritants, medications, bee stings, and even silicone, and that more cropped up with every passing year, but I didn't see a connection with my health problems. I thought that taking precautions to avoid the many things I was sensitive to was essential for my health.

Around that time, as luck would have it, I was working with a large client base of people with sensitivities and they pushed me to learn about sensitivity elimination techniques. My training was based on avoidance, like most functional practitioners, but my some of clients were not satisfied with avoidance. At the time I thought they just lacked discipline. But I listened.

In order to satisfy them, I learned and tested many, many allergy and sensitivity elimination techniques and found that the best ones worked with the brain.

Imagine my surprise as my various health issues evaporated as I retrained my brain to tolerate the things I had become sensitive to. This happened very quickly and without doing anything else--after years of trying everything!

Now I'm just healthy. I eat whatever I want, and I don't take any supplements, vitamins or medications.

Doesn't that sound nice? Do you remember when being healthy was easy? When you didn't have to think about health, you just had it? Well, that's how it is for me now.

As Nutritional Therapy Practitioners, we are taught that the body has an innate ability to heal itself. This is true. But what I learned through this experience is that it cannot do so in the face of a perpetual stress response, which is what happens when you are sensitive to everyday things like food, the air you breathe, and the environment you live in.

If there is one thing I want you to understand from all this, it's that being stuck in a stress response is a non-starter to healing . And resolving your sensitivities could be the first step to accelerating the healing process.

Learn More

To hear more about my story and my work with Sensitivites, listen to episode 38 of the Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast: MAP for Sensitivities.
Learn more about the MAP for Sensitivities Program , and watch the explanatory video: How Does Retraining the Brain Resolve Sensitivities?
Learn more about the MAP Method of advanced neural retraining.
Listen to a podcast episode with my client, Geri, and hear about her experience with the Program: Episode 57: MAP for Food and Chemical Sensitivities.

MAP Method for Complex Chronic Conditions with Cathy Moore, FMPA

Thu, 15 Sep 2022 01:55:20 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 33 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Using the MAP Method for complex chronic conditions like CFS, MCAS, chronic Lyme and autoimmunity.
How the MAP Method differs from psychotherapy, EMDR and brainspotting.
Why Cathy refers patients for MAP Method sessions.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 33 where we talk with Cathy Moore, a functional medicine Physician Assistant specializing in chronic health issues including Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Mast Cell Activation syndrome (MCAS), chronic Lyme and autoimmune conditions. She practices at One Agora Integrative Health Clinic in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Hear about her experience with the MAP Method and why she finds it useful to refer patients for MAP sessions. Listen until the end to learn how the MAP Method differs from psychotherapy, EMDR and brainspotting.

In this episode we discuss:

How Cathy Moore discovered the MAP Method™.
How the field of Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) and the work of Candace Pert, Ph.D. supports the connection between emotions and the immune and endocrine systems.
Her personal experience with the MAP Method and how it compares with EMDR, EFT, tapping, or brainspotting.
The top 3 reasons people with complex chronic conditions get stuck in their healing process.
Why she recommends the MAP Method for her patients.
Results Cathy has seen in her patients as a result of MAP for chronic fatigue, impaired detoxification, sleep issues, anxiety, addictions, and multiple traumas.

Don’t miss episode 30 for a discussion of how trauma impacts chronic health risks and episode 31 for Frequently Asked Questions about the MAP Method . For more information about Cathy Moore's practice or to schedule a consultation with her, please visit One Agora .

Transcript

**Please note: Transcript created by AI, accuracy not guaranteed.**

[Music]

Welcome to the Flourish with Functional Nutrition podcast. I'm your host, Madeleine Lowry, founder of Twin Cities Nutritional Therapy and a nutritional therapy and a MAP Method practitioner, specializing in chronic digestive issues, allergies, sensitivities, chronic fatigue,

chronic pain, and eating disorders.

Join me for episode 33 where we talk with Cathy Moore, a functional medicine physician assistant, specializing in complex chronic health issues, including chronic fatigue syndrome,

mast cell activation syndrome, chronic Lyme, and autoimmune conditions. She practices at One Agora, integrative health clinic in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Hear about her experience with the MAP Method, and why she finds it useful to refer patients for MAP sessions. Please listen until the end to learn how the MAP Method differs from psychotherapy. As always we must disclaim that the information we share in the podcast is for educational purposes only. As MAP Method practitioners, we do not diagnose or treat disease and we recommend working with a qualified practitioner.

Now let's talk with Cathy.

All right, so welcome Cathy. Welcome to the show. I'm so excited to have you here. Cathy and I met, oh I don't know maybe a year or two ago, Cathy came to one of my workshops where I was teaching a basic method for allergy and sensitivity elimination and Cathy and I met there and have been friends ever since.

So Cathy welcome. Why don't you start up by telling us a little bit about your practice and what you like to specialize in? Sure, thank you Madeleine. It's such an honor to be here with you and to be getting the word out about MAP therapy and I.... it's a pleasure to be here.

So I I am super blessed because I get to work in a multi-disciplinary practice. I work with another nurse practitioner. We have some chiropractor, acupuncturist, those that do body work and massage therapy with frequency-specific microcurrent. We have skin care specialists and we also offer neurofeedback and IV therapy. We have medical laser therapy, low dose immunotherapy and we do craniobiotic techniques. So we have a wide variety of things that we can do in our practice that really help patients to get well and I personally have I have a history in women's health background.

In the 90s I I served as a missionary midwife overseas and then I went on to the University of Washington medical program for their physician assistant studies. So when I graduated I worked in surgery for a couple years and then for the you know then I did ER work for about 10 years.

However 12 years ago I took a a nose dive into holistic and functional medicine and so now I mainly specialize in complex chronic illness in treating you know chronic fatigue syndrome, those with Lyme disease or Mold toxicity, Mast Cell... Syndrome. I deal with a lot of just different

gut issues like SIBO, intestinal bacterial overgrowth, a lot of autoimmunity, lupus and Hashimoto's and since my roots are more in women's health I really enjoy also balancing hormones naturally and also use some bio identical hormone therapy.

Wow Cathy do you want to mention the name of your practice and where it's located? Yeah sure. Yeah so I work at One Agora Health in Bloomington, Minnesota. Just south of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis.

Yeah. Yes. Cathy tell me tell me how you learned about the MAP Method. I'm laughing here because I know exactly how you learned about the MAP Method.

Yeah so I well of course I learned it from you and after we became friends after I took one of your courses you know I had prior to that tried so many different methods to try to help patients and and also in large help myself to really get on an avenue in a path in which our bodies were

optimally functioning probably about 10 years ago.

I was looking at how the mind and the body and emotions and how they affected the body

and through my research I discovered psychoneuroimmunology and found out that there were lots of researchers you know since the 70s that were discovering links between how emotions were affecting the immune system. And then in the 80s in which they found that it wasn't just,

it wasn't just emotions that can affect the mind that can affect the the immune system but that the nervous system is involved with that too.

And so through all these different research I kept reading about was just I was just amazed at how they had already discovered that you know like David Fulton in the 80s had discovered how there were nerves actually on the thymus and the spleen and that there was terminating from those vessels where clusters of lymphocytes and macrophages and mass cells all of which helped to control immune function.

And I was like gosh that's so fascinating how our bodies are wired in such a way and how the different studies that they did was using these rats and invoking different modalities on them to be able to get an immune response and that triggered their nervous system.

So like Candace Pert in the 80s then she she was this neuropharmacologist from Georgetown University. She found that there were neuro peptide specific receptors present on the cell walls of both the brain and the immune system. And so her discovery with those neuro peptides and neurotransmitters acting upon the the immune system showed their close association with emotions and you know ultimately suggest the mechanism through which emotions from our limbic system and our immunology are are just deeply interdependent.

And so I just find that with what I've seen in clinical practice how you know the immune system and the endocrine system are modulated not just by the brain. We used to think that it was the brain that was turning those all on but it's also by our central nervous system itself.

And so I had found the study by Kaiser you know that Kaiser Permanente did about the ACEs study the adverse childhood events so you're familiar with that Madeleine right? Yes. Yeah and how that study showed how anything that happened or didn't happen in childhood how that affects your mitochondrial function and your longevity ultimately.

So I dove deep into looking at that and then read Steven Porges' book about the vagal nerve and how we need to activate the vagal nerve and that gut brain connection. And then I discovered about Annie Hopper and the DNRS system and the dynamic neural retraining system that helps to

retrain the brain in its response to different triggers.

And I've experienced and went through and they have done EMDR and brain spotting and EFT I mean there's so many different modalities out there. And when you and I got to talking and like you know I've tried all of those things myself because there isn't anything that I would offer as a modality or a therapy or healing for a patient that I haven't tried myself.

And you started talking about this MAP training that you were going through. You showed with me some videos and and I just was so fascinated about not only the the method itself but also just the research that had already been done using the QEEG research during a session was just fascinating to me. So I was like I need to know more about this.

You've just gone through a litany of things that I think we both have sort of glommed on to and I love that you talked about psychoneuroimmunology and the addition of the endocrine system also to that complex. I just spoke about that in my last podcast. Also I spoke about the ACEs study.

These you know these and you know Annie Hopper's work, Stephen Porges's work all of this kind of adds up to a growing picture, growing interest in the role of the brain combined with the nervous system, the immune system and the endocrine system as one super system that is instrumental in running the body, the brain and the body. We understand to be one now right.

We talk a lot about the mind body and the synergies between the mind and the body but there's still a gap I feel certainly in Western trained medical settings but also in alternative medicine settings really understanding how tight that integration is and when there is there are we can call them unconscious stressors on the subconscious mind that this can have an effect on your health and this is something that I see all the time with MAP sessions.

So you know if you wouldn't mind sharing what your experience has been with MAP sessions and you know what is it so you saw the videos you heard about it for me then you you experienced some sessions and you know what about those sessions convinced you that there was something really here?

I initially had an appointment with Collette the founder and just did a session with her and

she's like just pick something that is more of like a phobia or you know something that you want to work through and I had picked an issue that I was having a problem with my emotional response to one of my children and she's like well that's not really like what she says he was sort of was it wasn't really like a phobia or like a quick thing but she's like let's just see what will happen.

And it was really interesting during the session there was almost like you know it was just listening to her questions and her prompts and what I find interesting during these sessions is that it's almost like there's like this roladex in my mind and all of a sudden there'll be like thousands of pages turned in that roladex of different memories and sometimes I can catch what they are and sometimes I don't and I don't think it really matters. But what I found was that the actual event of me and my emotional reaction to my child wasn't necessarily a her thing or you know of that me responding to her but that it had to do with how I was responded to when I was a little girl. So

it took me completely back to my childhood and recognizing that that pattern of response when I was a child was actually what I was putting on to my daughter in my reactions and responses to her. That was really profound to me that within, and by the time that we even got to the session because I was talking to so much about the method, we only had 20 minutes so this was all unveiled within like 20 minutes.

So the emotional reaction and responses that I was having with my daughter didn't didn't even exist anymore so that when events or series events would lead up to how it would normally respond there was just such a different response that came out of me. And this reaction was, this response was just immediate. I hadn't really ever experienced that through other modalities that I had gotten therapy with like EMDR or even you know brain spotting or other things that it was just so immediate in my, in the reaction. So that's kind of what was the hook line and sinker for me to be like okay I need to do more of these and I need to figure out more of like how does this work so that I can offer this to my patients because it was just it's just really profound and how immediate it was.

So we like to say that the MAP method is is a quantum leap over EFT or tapping or EMDR. You know, those are methods that were created in the 80s the 90s and while they are effective the MAP method just takes it to another level completely-- very gentle, very fast-- and and we like to say it's painless. Right so you don't have to live you don't have to relive painful traumatic memories. In some cases you may, we may ask you to bring to mind just a little bit just so that we can have the memory in the active experience and the superconscious can work on it, but you don't have to relive anything that you don't want to. It's still very effective.

Also the superconscious doesn't show you everything that we're neutralizing so it's also like if someone is a is afraid if they feel like oh you know I always wondered if I was abused as a child or something it's not like you have to, you're going to be peering into this window and seeing every memory that's being neutralized. No it just happens.

It's very rapid some people experience it as like dizziness or lightheadedness maybe a tingling in their head, other people experience it like REM eye movements. But this is the experience of processing and with the MAP Method you know I should explain we are targeting not just the one memory that you're focusing on but every associated memory to that memory, so typically it's every associated memory with a similar emotional signature that's related to that topic to that response to that experience or to that subject.

Cathy I'm really curious about -- you know you said I have to learn more I have to learn more about how this works so I canoffer it to my patients and do you feel like you have an understanding now about how it how it works? And do you feel like you're pretty comfortable in explaining this to your patients and referring them for MAP sessions?

Yeah definitely so my utmost desire is for all of my patients is to really find the root cause and you know irregardless of what they show up with, I explain to them that we are ultimately designed as a triune being. You know we have our spirit an emotional realm, we have our mind, and then we have our body. And I explain it to my patients that our our spirit and emotions operate at the highest frequency and vibration and when something happens in that realm it affects our mind and how we think and and how our subconscious will respond in different situations.

And then oftentimes if those emotions and how we process those emotions don't clear out of our body or we didn't have a safe place to process those then those emotions get stuck in our body and then we end up with physical symptoms. And so our body then is giving us a warning that we need to deal with something. And so I believe that those emotions in order for a patient to be able to operate in the optimum wellness for their well-being like those emotions need to be cleared out of those cells, and out of those tissues, out of those organ systems in which they had caused dysfunction.

And I'm not saying that the underpinning of all diseases is that you're a head case and you got some sort of emotional issue that's not it at all but with even going back to like the neuropsychoimmuneology we understand that there is an emotion I believe at the core of all illness. And so when you know so when I explain to patients about what this is and why I'm recommending that they go visit with you is because there's a stuck there's something there's a disconnection. And that's you know these patients they come in and they're doing everything right: their diet is pristine, they're exercising, they're getting good sleep, they're taking supplements, they're you know getting outside, they're they're practicing meditation, but yet they're still stuck in their health journey.

I will find that there are mainly three reasons why the body isn't healing. Number one it's either they have some underlying mold toxicity and that the triggering their immune system that maybe that wasn't something that was initially discovered on their initial intake they have or sometimes I'll bring sometimes with mold toxicity sometimes I'll bring that up. That you know could there potentially be that you're working in a water damaged building or that there's been a leak in the house that hasn't been discovered. But many patients don't want to go down that road because that's a huge expense and it's also very emotional in that case but that's their right, fine.

The main three reasons why the body isn't healing is there's mold toxicity, underlying cavitations which are it's like some part of the bone is dying in the jaw bone that comes from either a root canal tooth or some sort of wisdom tooth that was removed but the peridontal ligament was left behind and that creates bacterial growth that affects the jaw and that can really have an underlying immunological burden on the body, and then thirdly it's some sort of emotional trauma that wasn't dealt with.

So when I look at the person who's come you know any person that's come in to see me that's what I tell them. I'm like look at we have to get to the root issue and I can ask them a few questions in regards to you know they're past, their upbringing, and did they feel safe and secure growing up. And tell me about your childhood and usually that will reveal some sort of pattern in which you can lead to well why they ended up with some sort of autoimmune issue.

You know oftentimes I find that with autoimmunity there's this underlying life theme of I'm I'm not good enough or I'm not enough andI find that MAP there be does such a beautiful job in bringing that to the surface. To really be able to deal with those underlying emotional underpinnings which will set the cells in the organ systems free to be able to optimize and be in such a state of health and vitality. Where those emotions will cause that organ system to shut down and not work in function very well.

Well yeah, beautifully said. You have a different way of explaining it but I love the way you go

through that in your explanation of root causes. I think it's really important that people understand that their emotional life is not separate from their physical health and that even in the case where you don't think there's something bothering you, you're just only aware of your conscious what's going on in your conscious mind, and your conscious mind you know I keep reading research about this but the conscious mind is only about 5% of all brain activity.

The conscious mind can only handle about seven to ten bits of information per second where the unconscious mind can handle millions of bits of information per second we are processing way more with our unconscious mind than we will ever be aware of with our conscious mind. And in fact studies have shown that even when you think you make a conscious decision, the decision was made in the unconscious mind seven seconds before and then it's fed to your conscious mind.

So the unconscious mind is just this really unexplored realm and with the MAP Method we just have a perfect tool for going into the unconscious mind creating a rapport really with the unconscious mind and harnessing the power of the unconscious mind to find these root causes,

these unconscious stresses that are causing the body to be at a non optimal state of health.

And as you said when we can relieve these, when these memories are neutralized, because really that's what the MAP Method is about. It's about finding these memory structures that are affecting your health -- either mental health or physical health-- and then when we can neutralize the emotional pain around those memories then we can be free of them. You know the memory is still there we still see the memory. We can you know we can still recall the memory but the pain around the memory is relieved now so that it feels more like, 'Well that was just something that happened to me.' But it doesn't have this extreme emotional pain associated with it and then it can become more like wisdom rather than emotional baggage that we live with.

And not only does this free anatomical structures so that they can function better but it also relieves stress, a load of stress that may have been acting on us and keeping us more in that sympathetic mode of the autonomic nervous system, which as we know when you're sympathetic dominant you're not able to carry out all the restorative functions that are needed for healing. No matter what that healing is whether it's eliminating mold or heavy metals, or dealing with immunological infections, or anything else: restoring hormone levels or neurotransmitter levels.

You know these these become projects on the back burner until the body feels like it is safe enough or the psyche feels like we are in a safe enough place that we can start to work on these projects and heal.

Cathy I wanted to see if you are you willing to share maybe some examples of situations where you've referred patients for MAP therapy and what results you've seen with them.

Yeah definitely. Well the first one that comes to the top of my head was with a patient who had a major phobia of bugs and she was not able to enjoy being outdoors and which is we all know is so important for us to be getting sunshine and breathing fresh air. And within one session she was completely free of of any kind of bug phobia. And she explained it to me and such that she was like you know: "Every time I'm outside I'm just curious about these different creatures crawling around me." And has no, it's like almost like that memory of being fearful of bugs is

not even there, or that doesn't even remember it was there. So that was just amazing!

I've had patients who I have referred to you for chronic fatigue and you know just debilitating chronic fatigue that can come from long-standing history of of any kind of virus or Lyme disease and so forth. And you know, patients that have really found restored energy and vitality and function and I think that being able to find out that it's not so much the disease process in which that their bodies have resulted in going into a fatigue syndrome, but that there was some sort of

emotion that was connected to an event or in a time and or place that caused them to believe

something about that.

And so with some of the chronic fatigue patients you know they're like newfound viewpoint on life was that you know my life is limitless. Where before when they were in that chronic fatigue realm of thinking was that they're limited. They can't do things. They can't go out. They can't go places. And so a lot of my patients have just felt like such like they found what the underlying pinning emotion that was really keeping them down and when that was clear then their energy returned which is super profound.

I mean that's such a big issue in today's world of just chronic fatigue and due to multiple different aspects. I find too that patients who have very poor detoxification like their bodies just don't detoxify well and so if they're exposed to toxicants, you know everybody's born with their their bucket of toxins that they you know inherited from their mother and father, when they were born. And depending on how toxic their mom or dad were you know that's how full their bucket is of toxins and so when you keep accumulating more toxins but the body isn't letting go of them that too I find it's not just a genetic issue with MTHFR hydropholate genetic SNP or it's not just their liver needs to be cleansed or they're having some needing some additional supplements and so forth.

There's a reason why is the body is not letting go of toxins. Why does it want to hold on to them I have found that patients who have done MAP therapy as well their detoxification of these toxins in their body accelerate and they're able to let go of those things. And those have been disconnected from their mind and body start to understand and feel what it feels to be like in their body instead of being disconnected which causes a whole host of physical and physiological issues in the body as well.

So sleep issues have been restored, you know, patients with insomnia. Anxiety lessened and

actually resolved, and as well as addictions and multiple traumas. You know I just find that anybody has gone through any kind of trauma whether physical, mental, sexual, those have a profound ability to cause dysfunction in the physical body. So many of my patients have found such relief of going through the emotional piece about it but yet not having to relive that trauma and that's what I love about MAP, is that it's such a gentle way to be able to to to neutralize those

emotions and those events which thereby allow the bodies cells and organ systems to operate as

they were designed to.

Yeah, thank you. You know those are super wonderful examples and I'm really happy to hear that your patients have had such good results. You know often I don't hear about the results. I do the session and then they go away and I I never know you know what the result is. I always hope, I'm always very optimistic that we got to everything but you know sometimes, well often I would say, most of the time for things that are more complex patterns it takes it takes a handful of sessions you know not just one.

So I'm always happy to hear that you know people have experienced benefits from the MAP Method. And I feel very responsible for making sure that everyone has a really good experience with with MAP especially here in the Twin Cities area. I'm the only certified MAP Method practitioner currently in this state of Minnesota so I do feel like I'm kind of the emissary, right? I'm introducing this this new therapeutic modality and I want to make sure that people have a good experience and they have, you know, it's just a very positive introduction.

For those that hear about it and are not really sure about this whole emotional piece thing it feels

very just very new very speculative. I feel like there's a lot of skepticism and you know I hope that

after your patients have had one session with me that even if they're still skeptical they have the experience of, you know, what this modality is and what the experience of a session is

and how it works. Like they start to see how the dots are getting connected between you know what they come in wanting to work on, their subject for the session, and then what comes up for them during the session that we that we work on.

So each session is kind of an iterative process of feeling into something and then we ask the super conscious to treat it. The superconscious is just our name for the unconscious mind. We've promoted it from the subconscious to the superconscious because we feel that it has a lot more power. It has actually access to both the conscious and unconscious mind and we've been giving it a short shrift by calling it the subconscious as if it's less than the conscious mind.

So by working with the superconscious mind we are able to harness its power, and it does sometimes they'll bring a memory to the conscious awareness and they'll think Wow! I haven't thought about this in a long time or I had no idea this was still bothering me but it becomes very emotional for them and once we've neutralized that memory then they feel a lot lighter.

They've moved towards their goal so whatever the subject of the session is, those are

the memories those are the dots that we're connecting through each iteration of treatment until we reach a point where there's sort of this feeling of peaceful completion for that

session.

Yeah and I remember too like even in one of my sessions the... was that like I I

actually like fell asleep like in a deep sleep. I tell patients like after we've done therapies with

them in our office that sometimes you know your body is doing a deep reset and you just need to rest so please feel free to just take some time and rest and if you fall asleep, great you know. B ut I've I've never really felt depleted after a session where I've had some sessions in the past where

like I just I was crying so hard or just and I felt so exhausted and depleted you know where I've

never really felt that after I've never felt that after a MAP session.

I've always felt renewed and restored and more lighter and vibrant after a session. But it's amazing to me how the body will respond in such a way. Have other clients had that experience where they've fallen asleep?

Yeah I have seen that on several occasions where I don't know I mean I guess I wouldn't call it a

sleep, but you know, I'm not experiencing what you're experiencing. I'm just I'm just so all

these sessions are done through video conference. So I'm just observing through video conference and I'm picking up on just yes's and no's to questions that I ask about what's going on with you. So I can tell when someone's processing, when they're not processing, when they're done, if they're stuck, or where we need to go next with the session.

I I do see people go into a I don't know I guess I think of it as sort of a dormant state and it's almost like the conscious mind says or the superconscious says, you know, what we just need to put you take you down for maintenance mode you know. There's something deeper that we need to shift here and we're just going to put you into maintenance mode for a few minutes here and and then we'll bring you back. And so I've had people kind of become unresponsive for a few minutes, 12 or 15 minutes or sometimes it's the whole session.

The person will just kind of be offline and and afterwards they'll kind of wake up and they'll look at me their eyes are really big and they're like, "What was that?" You know they they were there they heard everything that I said. I usually I get some feedback from from the client after each

round of treatment just to see if anything came up for them, if any body sensations were felt, any images, any thoughts, any other memories. And so that helps me kind of figure out where we're going next but in some cases I don't I don't get that feedback, they're just gone, and I just use my own muscle checking to figure out where we're going. And so I can conduct a whole session like this and it and it seems to work, it's just as effective.

So it's yeah it's very interesting different people experience it differently. Some people have the really deep sessions occasionally. Some people have those really deep sessions where they're kind of offline almost every time. You know we like to say that your experience with MAP is what is right for you. It's it's your experience with MAP.

Also I have come to appreciate that people who are referred to me for exactly the same

condition, so like you know I've had many people come with allergies and sensitivities. I have

had many people come with chronic fatigue or chronic pain. And with MAP because we usually get this little feedback you know what's going on in the mindscape in between treatment rounds I get to see people I get to understand like they explain to me what's going on and I get to see how

this experience was created in the subconscious mind. And I can tell you it's it's different. It's completely different for different people because we all have different experiences.

It's a very extremely personalized process and so we can really get to the heart of the matter for you. There's no cookie cutter, there's no recipe, like oh you have chronic fatigue we do A, B, C, D, E. No, it's really about what comes up for you in the session and we just have no plan other than we're going to figure out what the subject is, we're going to figure out what the emotional signature is of that experience for you, and then we're going to work on this until your emotional intensity around that has come down as low as we can bring it.

And that's that's really the framework for every session. It's extremely individualized, just as each of our mindscapes, I like to call it a mindscape, it's kind of a landscape of the mind, you know, are extremely individualized. As individual as we are.

I like that "mindscape" that's a good one.

Yeah you know I do and I've seen two like just with patients who they'll even tell me that ever since their sister died or you know some sort of trauma took place in their in their family they haven't been able to eat a certain food. And I've seen this time and time again of where if you were young or even as an adult and you had some sort of emotional thing and you went to go and eat something the immune system responds to that food. So being able to take a step back and look at the instead of looking at things so microscopically you take a step back and look at things three thousand feet up above and be like okay, well what what was happening during that time? What was going on during that time period in which you became sensitive to that food or started having fatigue or experienced sleep issues?

It's so amazing to be able to and such a privilege to be able to work with people and have this avenue for patients to go deeper because I don't always have time in a visit to get to those root issues. And so I'm so so very grateful to you Madeleine for what you're doing to be able to have the time with those patients to deal with that emotional piece of that triune body so that they can function better and really experience freedom in all avenues of their life.

Because I think in medicine we've done such a disservice in separating okay well if you have a gut issue go see a gastroenterologist if you have a bone issue you go see you know the bone doctor like you have all these different specialties that have divided patients. If you don't look at things in that holistic viewpoint that we're spirit, emotion, mind and body and we have to look at all of those facets in order to heal we're just missing out on the big picture of really patients getting stuck in the loop of just being dependent on their provider to help them through instead of giving them the tools they need to really truly be free, so they don't have to keep coming back.

I agree wholeheartedly and you know I think both of us have this holistic view of

health and for me you know I trained first as a nutritional therapy practitioner and this was I

mean I went through the training to solve my own health problems, but the the training process of the nutritional therapy association is very much a holistic view of health: all the systems of the

body. So as nutritional therapists we are trained to assess all the systems of the body and so

that training kind of gave me that perspective that even though a person comes in with these

health concerns you know I kind of keep that in the back of my mind, yes we we want to resolve

the skin issues or the GI issues or whatever but I'm looking at the entire picture to see which systems of the body need support.

And in doing that work it just informs me now as you know, as a MAP practitioner, because I have had that you know that perspective and so I can you know kind of bring it to this work as well. The MAP Method--I just want to say that the MAP Method even though I keep using the word therapy is not psychotherapy. I am not a psychotherapist and most people trained in the MAP Method are not psychotherapists the method was created by experimental psychologists and psychotherapists so it comes out of that tradition, and it was first developed to work with mainly emotional issues so emotional and mental issues. So things like anxiety, depression, PTSD, panic attacks, phobias those were the primary applications and most of my colleagues practice in in that space but I came to this work from a different angle you know I was already working with allergies and sensitivities.

I was learning allergy and sensitivity elimination techniques I I came to the basic

neural retraining method known as DNRS and realized how effective that was working you know it was kind of a shock you know I worked with my brain and I eliminated all of my allergies and sensitivities! Like whoa wait a second this is important! There's something here that most of us are missing and what else could would improve if we could work with the brain in an effective way? And so that's how I came you know to this advanced method of neural retraining.

So I would say the MAP Method is really about neural retraining. It's about working with memories and neutralizing the emotional pain so that the instead of being high priority in the psyche they become lower priority and they aren't running you all the time either emotionally or physically.

You know I like how you said that, Madeleine, and just how things integrate together you know with one another and I think there's... I had recently listened to what MAP even stands for is make anything possible, right?

Yeah

...and you know I think that's such a such a a wonderful way to be able to approach

life and not feeling limited but making anything possible for you and that's exactly what I've

experienced and so many of my patients have experienced with this therapy.

Thank you it's been wonderful talking with you about this. Please tell us again how we can find you, how interested patients can connect with you.

Definitely thank you so much for having me it's been such a pleasure. I work at One Agora Integrative health clinic in Bloomington, Minnesota. And the website is one the

number one spelled out: o-n-e agora .com. OneAgorahealth.com.

So wonderful to have you and I appreciate all of your insights and your experience!

Thank you Madeleine.

Thank you for joining us for the Flourish with Functional Nutrition Podcast. Please listen again and remember to follow us and leave a review on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play or Stitcher.

To learn more about the MAP coaching institute please visit MAPcoachinginstitute.com

To learn about Twin Cities Nutritional Therapy or check out our podcast page visit tcnutritionaltherapy.com.

Until the next time be well and flourish.

[music]

Why Haven't I Heard of the MAP Method of Neural Retraining?

Wed, 07 Sep 2022 20:32:19 GMT

Learn about the latest neural retraining technique that works directly with the subconscious mind.

Video Transcript

Hi, Madeleine Lowry, certified MAP Method practitioner. I'm here to answer the question: Why haven't I heard of this method before--the MAP Method?

The MAP Method is a very new method of advanced neural retraining. It is only a few years old and there are only a couple of hundred practitioners in the world, and so that is why you haven't heard of it.

The method has grown out of the energy psychology methods of the 1980s. You may have heard of techniques like EMDR, or EFT, or tapping. These are methods that work with memories that help to release painful emotions by using bilateral stimulation, eye movements, or other kinds of bilateral stimulation. With this method there is no need for any of that. The brain does it itself because we are working directly with the subconscious mind. We can just ask it to neutralize the memory.

But, not only does it neutralize the one memory that you're focusing on, we harness the power of the subconscious mind to find the related memories and so it neutralizes a cluster of memories at the same time.

Now, we are not erasing memories. This is not about erasing memories. This is about neutralizing the intense emotions around the memory. Why? Because the subconscious operating system of the mind uses emotional intensity as a kind of prioritization system.

This is how nature intended it. Any experience that has a high emotional intensity, that's an experience and that is a pattern that is highly prioritized in the operating system of your mind. By neutralizing the emotions we can downgrade the importance of that pattern and that circuit and we can make it less likely to fire.

So, the the brain is rewired in a very gentle, very easy way just facilitated by a practitioner over a zoom video conference. There's no need to go anywhere, no need for equipment. So this is really, well it's described as a quantum leap over EMDR and tapping and I do believe it is.

In fact it can't really be put into the category of energy psychology anymore. It is something new; it is a quantum level modality. With this method we can rewire the brain during a session. The changes are happening in your brain in the session.

And, as I explained before, the shifts happen in a certain order: emotional shifts first, then mental patterns, and then physical patterns, or what we call symptoms.

How long does it take? Well, this very much depends on how significant your trauma history is. People with more significant histories of lifetime trauma tend to need more sessions. People who have deeper more entrenched patterns, a pattern that has been going on for years and decades, that's something that will take longer to unwind.

But, generally speaking, you know, it doesn't take forever. Generally speaking, most people are noticing changes on a physical level around sessions four, five, or six so, it's pretty fast and the changes are durable.

If you're curious, but you want to be able to figure out how you can evaluate this for yourself I do recommend signing up for the Introductory Session-- it's one hour.

We meet over Zoom video conference and during that session your mind will be initiated to the MAP method. You watch a 15-minute video before you come to the session and we do a few preparatory steps at the beginning. It's just me talking to your subconscious mind while you breathe and relax with your eyes closed, because this is an eyes closed process of rewiring the subconscious mind.

We work on an emotional topic because in order for you to have confidence that this is working for you I want you to feel the the difference in emotional intensity from the beginning to the end of the session and for this we want to work on a specific memory that has emotional intensity.

It can be something that makes you feel really sad or something that makes you feel really ashamed or angry or afraid. Or maybe you have a phobia that you want to work on?

Usually within one session you will notice a distinct difference. You will notice that emotional intensity dropping and that is how you will come to understand what the potential is of this method. So, I encourage you to try an Introductory Session.

The other thing you could do to learn more is to visit my podcast page and listen to episodes of the Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast . The first 30 episodes are about nutrition. But now I have a collection of episodes that are all about the MAP method: the origins, frequently asked questions, stories from wellness practitioners and why they refer patients to me, and also a collection of stories from my clients where they talk about what they experienced--what changes they noted with a set of three or six or eight sessions.

So, I encourage you to check that out! Thanks for listening.

Learn More

See the videos about the science behind the Method , QEEG brain studies , and a demonstration MAP session .
Read more about the MAP Method and how it works.
Listen to a podcast episode with the founder of the MAP Method , Colette Streicher .
Take a free course on the MAP Method and applications of the method.

MAP for Food and Chemical Sensitivities - Geri's Story

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 17:20:39 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 57 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

Using the MAP for Sensitivities Program for food, chemical and environmental intolerances.
Contrasting live MAP sessions over Zoom with the experience of using a Program.
How emotions, especially fear and anxiety, and beliefs contribute to sensitivity patterns.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 57 where we talk with my client, Geri, about the MAP Method for chronic pain and food, chemical and environmental sensitivities. She describes her experiences with the MAP for Sensitivities Program and how working with a program differs from live sessions over Zoom.

In this episode we discuss:

How she heard about the MAP Method from her functional medicine provider.
How live MAP sessions helped with chronic pain, anxiety, and thyroid imbalance.
The importance of our thought processes in keeping us stuck and contributing to chronic symptoms.
How sensitivities to food, chemicals, noise, and pets were running her life.
How the emotion of fear underlies sensitivity symptoms.
How she used the Program the first month pretty intensely for food sensitivities.
How she did additional cycles of the Program for environmental sensitivities over 2 months.
How her chemical sensitivities resolved on their own.
The big moments when she realized she was free of sensitivities: eating croissants, being able to breathe at Fleet Farm and around Easter Lilies, and not having to take medicine before visiting friends with pets.
The significance of negative thoughts and beliefs in sustaining sensitivity reactions.
How the MAP Method is a holistic healing modality that connects mind, body and spirit.

If you enjoy this episode, don’t miss episode 38, MAP for Sensitivities , where I talk about the development of the MAP for Sensitivities Program and a case study. To learn more about the MAP Method and how it works, visit mapforhealth.us , to find our free courses and MAP Program offerings. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please schedule online by using the Book An Appointment button at the top of the page.

Moments from our conversation

MAP for chronic pain...

[4:00] Having had pain issues for 45 years, I have done all kinds of modalities, but this has been a piece that has helped me so much to become in touch and aware of all the thought processes that keep me stuck. We have messages in our brain and our bodies that play over and over and keep us stuck.

Using the MAP for Sensitivities Program...
[13:00] It was very powerful for me. Truly it was kind of amazing to do the process. Basically, I feel like I’ve gotten really, really far. It was interesting to me that the emotion of fear that I’ve never been able to feel in my life. It somehow popped up while doing the piece on emotions. It was really surprising to me the number of times that fear came up with each sensitivity.

Learned information becomes beliefs that contribute to food sensitivities...
[14:00] All of the messages, especially around food. We live in this culture… that’s a feeding frenzy of information about food. It’s very distracting. We learn that we can’t trust our bodies to know what they need.

How the Program has changed her relationship to negative emotions...
[22:00] Now, when a thought or an emotion comes up…instead of going full fling with mind chatter, I can just be with my emotion and feel it so that I can let it go.

How the Program has changed her relationship with food...
[26:00] It’s pretty profound really, what can happen…[with this Program]. [In terms of food sensitivities] gluten was big, dairy, nightshades, beans and legumes. Now, I just eat. Really, the idea that food is safe, that it’s nourishing and healthy, that’s a mantra I used during the whole first month. I trust my body to eat what is healthy.

Realizing she could eat gluten again without symptoms...
[27:00] After a month, we took a trip to Hawaii and I ate croissants filled with yummy fillings that we bought warm at the farmer’s market. That was my reward for all the hard work.

Reconciling the freedom she has now, in contrast to others...
[29:00] Another part that was hard for me is that I have family and friends that are gluten intolerant. I almost didn’t want to say out loud that I could eat it now. That was another huge emotional piece. I had trust in what my body was doing. And that this is the truth and the reality of my life now.

Wishing she could have done this years ago...
[40:00] If people could do this when they are younger, when they don’t have as much baggage. Go young people, do this while you’re young! It’ll be easier.

MAP as holistic mindbody process...
[43:00] I think that’s what I like about [MAP], even after the first session, I didn’t have to think about things, it could just be rewired. And it made a difference in my whole body. You don’t have to analyze and look at stuff. You just let it be what it is and you let your superconscious heal those pieces. It’s so holistic - it connects mind, body and spirit. It connects all of it; it’s a huge piece that we’re missing in health.

Appreciating the freedom from fear and anxiety...
[46:00] In this culture, after COVID especially, so many people are suffering from anxiety. We have all that fear from what’s gone on and I saw that it all works to trap us in that thinking pattern. It makes you feel stuck. It’s good to be free from all of that.

Reflections

I love Geri's spirit and after listening to this conversation, I think you will too. I really appreciated her willingness to talk about her experiences with the MAP for Sensitivities Program because she's experienced live sessions, and now the program. and could speak to both.

Both have their place, of course, but programs offer a structured set of sessions, reinforced with educational pieces and other resources, that make the process very convenient and affordable if resolving sensitivities is your primary goal.

Geri approached the program with a lot of gusto in her first month, and it paid off for her. But, I want to emphasize that this is a self-paced program and is very approachable even if you don't have time to do more than a session or two each week.

Will the MAP Method Work for Me?

Sun, 04 Sep 2022 17:49:09 GMT

Learn more about the latest energy psychology method and who can benefit from MAP sessions.

If you've come across the MAP Method of advanced neural retraining in your research, you may have heard that it represents a quantum leap over other energy psychology methods such as tapping and EMDR. Or that it's a significant advance over basic neural retraining methods including DNRS or Gupta. So, now you may be wondering if it is something you would benefit from.

And the short answer is, yes, most people do. Do you have to believe in anything? No. Do you have to have special skills to benefit from sessions? No. Having done thousands of MAP sessions for people of all stripes, I can tell you that the vast majority of people who opt to try the method are responsive to it from their first session.

Characteristics of non-responders

There is a small group, probably less than 5% of new clients, who don't respond to the method. The reasons for this vary, but they generally fall into a few groups:

People who believe it won't work. Your mind is in control of each session, and if you believe it won't work for you, you will be right.
People who are cut off from or have no interest in emotions.
People in a constant high state of panic.
People who are coerced to try it. Or those that are not open to help at this time.
People who are on significant doses of benzodiazepine medications, such as Xanax, Valium or Klonopin. That class of drugs seems to interfere with the brain's ability to rewire itself. (Though I still recommend trying one session as I have had clients on low or infrequent doses that still respond well.)

Once you've had a one-hour Introductory MAP Session over Zoom and confirm that you're responsive to MAP, you are ready for longer sessions. Follow-on sessions are generally 90-minutes, though younger people (children and teens) or those with short attention spans may choose to continue with 60-minute sessions.

As a practitioner, it is interesting to see how new clients respond to their first experience of MAP. There is often a sense of disbelief at the end of the session when I ask them to revisit the painful memory we started with and they realize that the intense feelings that usually accompany it feel much more neutral. They can still remember the memory--nothing has been erased--but it feels more distant. Some people report that the memory feels fuzzier or less distinct. They regard it as "just something that happened to me." The other comment people make is: "I feel lighter."

Part of the disbelief is the concern that the effect is going to be temporary. In fact, the memory feel just as neutral, and maybe even more so, the next day, as more rewiring may occur while you sleep. It will continue to feel that way. When we say the the effects of MAP sessions are durable, this is what we mean.

Now, please understand that the objective of a MAP session is not limited to neutralizing one memory. Each session harnesses the power of the subconscious mind to identify related memories and neutralize clusters of memories. Which memories? Those that are related by the emotional signature. So, if the memory we have chosen to work with is a memory of being embarrassed or afraid, the subconscious mind will identify associated memories that feel the same way and process them as a batch. This contributes to the speed and power of the method.

The side benefits, such as a feeling of peace, lessening of anxiety, repetitive negative thoughts, or physical symptoms after a session may be temporary because it is likely that there are more memories contributing to that pattern. It generally takes a few sessions for emotional patterns to change, a few more for mental patterns (like worrying or catastrophizing) to resolve and a few more for physical symptoms.

Why? Because there is increasing complexity in these patterns as we move from emotional to mental to physical, therefore resolving the patterns and changing that programming requires the cumulative effect of multiple sessions.

Who is likely to be gifted?

Now, it is true that there are certain kinds of people that have a natural affinity for the MAP Method. They tend to be emotionally sensitive, intuitive, or empathic. They may be creative or artistic. And anyone with a strong meditation or prayer practice is also an excellent candidate because they have developed their ability to access the 'no-mind' state that is conducive to processing MAP instructions.

Let me emphasize that you do not have to be "gifted" to benefit from MAP Method sessions. As long as you can relax, with your eyes closed, focus on a memory and how it makes you feel, it is very likely that you will benefit. A good part of the appeal of MAP is that it does not require much from the client, and the experience is gentle and easy.

It's also perfectly okay to be skeptical of the method, as long as you are not closed-minded to the process. It's okay to have doubts about how it works, as long as you are not preoccupied with these kinds of thoughts and judgements during the actual session when your mind is trying to rewire itself!

While no neural retraining method is perfect for everyone, I do think that one advantage of the MAP Method is that we can usually figure out if it's effective for you in the first couple of sessions. That's why I offer an Introductory Package that includes the first three sessions: a 60-minute Introductory MAP session, plus two more 90-minute sessions.

Reason to give the MAP Method a try

Applications for the MAP Method are many, but generally they fall into a few categories:

Emotional — trauma, PTSD, phobias, fears, and other negative mood states: anxiety, panic attacks, depression, anger, shame, grief, etc.
Mental — negative repetitive thought patterns, incessant worry, lack of mental focus, inner critic, limiting beliefs, etc.
Behavioral — compulsions, phobias, self-defeating behaviors, eating disorders, personality traits such as perfectionism, people pleasing, procrastination, etc.
Physical — optimize healing for chronic symptoms and conditions including: fatigue, pain, brain fog, IBS, sleep issues, immune dysregulation, sensitivities (food, chemicals), low thyroid, autoimmunity, chronic infections (Lyme, COVID, EBV), infertility, and more.

The applications are extensive and while it may seem unlikely that working with the mind could have such broad effects, if you are inclined to give it a try it is best to start with an emotional topic or a phobia.

Once you've seen success in one area, you may feel more encouraged to continue with sessions for more complex issues. Generally, we see resolution on the emotional level first, then the mental/behavioral. Again, physical symptoms and chronic health conditions take longer and resolve as a result of the cumulative effect of multiple sessions.

Learn more

Read the related articles: What is the MAP Method of Neural Retraining? and What is the Difference Between Basic and Advanced Methods?
See comments and reactions from clients.
Hear client stories on our podcast: Flourish with Neural Retraining
Learn more about MAP and how it works with our free courses at MAPforHealth.us
Try MAP for yourself by scheduling an Introductory Session or registering for the MAP Introduction Program .

How Can We Retrain the Brain for Sensitivities?

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 20:15:00 GMT

Learn how we use neural retraining to re-establish tolerance to food, chemicals, or environmental irritants.

Video Transcript

Hi, Madeleine Lowry, certified MAP Method practitioner, I wanted to talk about how neural retraining or an advanced method of neural retraining, like the MAP Method, can address sensitivities. The first concept that I want to introduce is that your sensitivity response is a conditioned brain response.

The subconscious mind is a pattern mind, it's a habit mind. It recognizes and reacts to patterns and it can learn a new response to an old stimulus we didn't want it to, but it just did. And so that creates the sensitivity. But, whatever can be learned can be unlearned, right? And so that is where neural retraining comes in.

I want you to recognize that the immune system, as one of the functions of the body, is also directed by the brain. And when we have a brain that is locked into a hyper-active or hyper-reactive state, a brain that is identifying a lot of things that are relatively benign as being threats, and is directing the immune system to attack, over and over again, things that are in our environment or in our life on a daily basis, this can and does cause collateral damage. Damage to the intestine lining or other things, but it also results in a dysregulated immune system. So often we see that people who have multiple sensitivities and allergies also have chronic infections, whether they are viral, bacterial, fungal, or otherwise.

Now, who are the people that are predisposed, shall we say, to this kind of hyper-reactivity? This kind of predisposition to developing multiple sensitivities? It's the people who have significant lifetime trauma histories. 'Trauma' here just meaning 'painful emotional experiences.'

And for the sensitive person those traumas don't even have to be that significant, really, because it's all about what the brain does with the experiences of your life. It's not necessarily how those events would rate on some objective rating of trauma, on a trauma scale.

So the brain, through experiences, especially when we're young, can become convinced or can become programmed into a very high state of alert. Those early experiences, or really trauma throughout life, but it is especially the early experiences, can change the way your nervous system works, it can change the way your brain works, and it can put that danger-sensing part of the brain into high alert.

Learn more

Listen to a podcast episode about using the MAP Method for Sensitivities .
Learn more about the online, self-paced MAP for Sensitivities Program and try a free preview.
Read our client testimonials and success stories.
Read about how we retrain the brain for multiple sensitivities .

What is the Difference Between Basic and Advanced Methods of Neural Retraining?

Sun, 21 Aug 2022 19:30:00 GMT

Learn about alternatives to DNRS, Gupta and other basic methods of neural retraining.

Video Transcript

Hi, Madeleine Lowry, certified MAP Method practitioner. I'm here to answer the question: What is the difference between basic and advanced methods of neural retraining? So, you may have heard of basic methods like Gupta, like Louise Hay's work with affirmations, like the DNRS method--Dynamic Neural Retraining System.

The difference between a basic method and a more advanced method is that a basic method is trying to work with the conscious mind in order to influence the subconscious mind. Now, remember the subconscious mind is a habit mind, it's a pattern mind, it's a very powerful aspect of mind because it is responsible for 90 to 95% of all brain activity. It is, as Andrew Weil describes it, 'the mind of the body.' It is the part of your mind that has been running all of your systems,

has always run all of your systems. And so when we need to rewire or reprogram the subconscious mind the more effective way is to work directly with the subconscious mind.

Basic methods don't have that capability. They're trying to work through the conscious mind. How do they do that? Through education, through visualizations, through meditations, through scripts, through intention work. It's a long process. It often requires learning a set of mental exercises and practicing them an hour a day for many months.

That is a long process. It takes some commitment. With an advanced method like the MAP Method we work with the subconscious mind directly. The practitioner--you meet with a practitioner over Zoom--and we conduct the session. The very first session we are initiating your mind to the Method which means that the practitioner is establishing a rapport with your subconscious mind. Your only job is to breathe and relax. That's it. It's like meditation.

The changes are accomplished over a set of sessions, so remember that these patterns-- sensitivity patterns, pain patterns, symptom patterns-- they're all patterns that have been established in the mind over a period of time. It could be months, could be years, and so it can take some number of sessions to unwind all of this. So, this is where programs help, because with programs you can have a set of sessions in quick succession and make progress faster than if you had to schedule. And at a lower cost than if you had to schedule a lot of live sessions with a practitioner.

Now, the programs also include an educational component, but the centerpiece of each program is really about the recorded MAP sessions that are available for you to use again and again with different topics.

Each of those sessions is getting at root causes. What kinds of root causes? Well, the kinds of causes that are part of your subconscious mind. The kinds of programs that you have been running. Programs that could look like beliefs or experiences that you've had, like early childhood traumas, all kinds of memories whether they are known or unknown. Because we're working with the subconscious mind and it has access to all memories from conception forward.

Now, if you've heard about medical hypnosis or the practice of hypnosis then you may be familiar with this kind of approach to working with the subconscious mind, but I think the MAP Method is a little more elegant and it's a little more accessible for people because you don't have to be in a trance.

You are listening to me the entire time. We're having a little chat, I'm giving a few instructions, and we're having a little chat. You're giving me some feedback: Oh I thought of this, or this came up in my mind, or I had this thought, or I felt this sensation. And then based on that feedback, I see how or where we have to go next for the next round of instructions. And so you're in control subconsciously, you're in control of the session the whole time, so I do like that about the MAP Method.

Similar to medical hypnosis, it is addressing the subconscious mind directly and that is why we can see changes happening at a much more rapid pace. I hope you'll give it a try!

Learn More

Watch videos about the science behind the Method , QEEG brain studies , and a demonstration MAP session .
See our Frequently Asked Questions videos about MAP.
Learn more about retraining the brain for Sensitivities.
Listen to client stories on our podcast

MAP Method and Energy Medicine with Cilla Whatcott, PhD

Fri, 19 Aug 2022 20:45:00 GMT

Flourish with Neural Retraining Podcast, Episode 56 - A Listener's Guide

Listen to the podcast episode

In This Episode

The MAP Method as an energy modality and complement to other allopathic and alternative treatments.
Using the MAP Method for trauma healing and the role of trauma in chronic conditions.
The role of client and practitioner in a MAP Session, and the client's experience of sessions.
Applications of the MAP Method for fear, anxiety, PTSD, depression, phobias, and stress around cancer.

Show Notes

Join me for episode 56 where we talk with Cilla Whatcott, my client and Classical Homeopath, about the MAP Method and her experience with MAP sessions. Hear how she describes the impact it has on trauma and the role that trauma has in health. We discuss the MAP as an energy modality and applications for anxiety, PTSD, depression, fears and phobias.

In this episode we discuss:

The impact of trauma on health.
How Cilla’s baseline sense of anxiety was reduced through MAP sessions.
How meditation practice makes it easier to access the MAP Method.
How, during MAP sessions, the images from childhood and past life experiences are served up by the subconscious mind revealing trauma “bubbles” and beliefs.
The experience of a MAP session and how the practitioner and the client work together.
How it can take a few sessions to understand the flow and the benefits of MAP. Increased anxiety at first can be a sign of resistance.
How treating trauma memories also allows us to identify and replace negative beliefs that are holding us back.
How contributors can be very small things that don’t appear to others as a trauma, but it has more to do with the individual’s perception.
How MAP Practitioners connect with the client’s subconscious mind to identify priorities.
How we follow the thread of the topic throughout the session and the element of trust necessary.
The importance of individualized medicine and how interest in it has grown, along with Energy Modalities.
Why working with the mind is essential for chronic conditions.
The positive results in reduction of fear and anxiety around cancer.
How she knows when something big has happened, that traumas have been released. How we can reframe our experience of a traumatic event.
How MAP is deceptively simple, yet the effects are deep. The instructions kick off a search in the subconscious mind.
How people are layered and the emotions are the deepest layer. As we resolve layers of painful emotions, we start to see changes on mental, behavioral and physical levels.
The concept of “Never well since…” as used in Homeopathy and MAP.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t miss episode 33 , MAP for Complex Chronic Conditions , where functional medicine practitioner, Cathy Moore, describes her experiences with the MAP Method and why she refers patients for sessions. To learn more about the MAP Method and how it works, visit mapforhealth.us , where you’ll also find our MAP Program offerings. Or, if you’d like to schedule a 60-minute Introductory MAP session please schedule online at MindReMAPforHealth.com

Moments from our conversation

How MAP helped with anxiety...

[5:42] I have a low level of anxiety that is running like a motor all the time. What I have found most distinctly, significantly, with the MAP Method is that the engine has gone down. That sense of anxiety has reduced. It’s subtle, but clear. I can find my equilibrium more quickly. I’m not waking with that sense of anxiety in the middle of the night. It’s been very positive in that regard.

What it feels like to uncover and release trauma...
[8:00] As you’re speaking and putting me into a meditative state, images start moving through my imagination and it takes me back to my childhood, to experiences I had. It’s almost like watching a rapid fire TV show. Those are the trigger points that are like bubbles that are holding trauma. And then you help me burst the bubble because you look at what that image caused me to believe– each time it’s triggered that belief pops up.

What's special about the client-practitioner connection in a MAP Session...
[9:30] What you’re doing is identifying where the trauma lies and where the triggers lie based on your sensing of the energy. So, you have this capability to really identify where to focus. And then you focus on that, and basically it’s just chatting between us. But it’s coming from a meditative state on my part and an empathic skill on your part. And those two things together become very effective.

It can take a few sessions to appreciate the power of MAP...
[11:00] Part of me was a little held back: What is this going to be? What’s going to happen? I almost stopped after the first few sessions, As I allowed myself to open up to it more, it definitely started moving forward and I feel like there’s been great results. I’ve tried a lot of modalities over the years and I really feel that addressing trauma is key.

How MAP sessions can relieve the anxiety and fear around cancer...
[23:00] In terms of treating cancer…A very important part of it is the mental state surrounding it–the fear, the anxiety. I feel that has definitely been impacted, so that’s a positive result.

The experience of observing the subconscious during a session...
[26:00] It’s like going through a database and different things are popping up and by the time we complete a session, I walk away with a feeling like, ‘Whoa, that was big! That was really big!’ And then it just settles into my body.

Connections and insights and the release of trauma during MAP sessions...
[27:00] I’m driving the bus. As you’re talking I’m rifling through a database of experiences and once I’ve done that, I can see how this relates to that. There’s a flood of emotion, or a realization and the bubble pops. That’s the mechanism where we identify something and it clearly gets dissipated.

Reflections

I really enjoyed having this conversation with Cilla. It was good to talk with her about the role of trauma in chronic health conditions. I also appreciated hearing how the homeopathic approach overlaps with my approach in MAP sessions, including understanding the stressors that were present in the months leading up to the onset or worsening of symptoms.

One of the more interesting comments Cilla made about the impact of MAP sessions is that she noticed that way her son managed his issues changed. We were doing sessions for her PTSD from the history of her's son's mental illness, and yet she observed changes in him. This is something I've seen in multiple situations--we do sessions for the parent and the child changes, or vice versa. Cilla's explanation, that we are all connected, is true. But, what I understand from doing this work is that when we can change our own beliefs and emotional responses, we show up differently, and this allows other people's behaviors to change.

I also appreciate what she had to say about needing a few sessions to be able to appreciate the power of the MAP Method. It is a subtle process, but also profound. It can take 2-3 sessions to understand the potential, and this is why I offer a 3-session introductory package .

How Do We Heal Trauma by Retraining the Brain?

Tue, 16 Aug 2022 17:30:00 GMT

Advanced neural retraining for painful emotional memories

When it comes to healing trauma, many people are familiar with the energy-psychology techniques of the 1980s and 90s: Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) or tapping and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). These are the precursors to the MAP Method of advanced neural retraining.

The MAP Method differs in that it is much gentler and yet more powerful. Your brain heals itself based on verbal instructions from a MAP Practitioner. The process is easy and requires little from the client: Can you close your eyes and relax? Can you focus on your memory, or just a bit of it if it's very painful? Can you feel the emotions and rate them? Once the practitioner starts to give instructions to your subconscious, your only task is to observe what comes up in your mind.

This is the basic flow of a MAP session. Each round of instructions takes about 5-10 minutes and we do a few rounds in each session with an opportunity for you to share feedback after each round.

No equipment is required, beyond what is needed to connect to a Zoom videoconference. With MAP there is no longer any need for bilateral stimulation, tapping, or eye movements; the brain does all of this itself simply and elegantly.

You may be wondering: How will my brain know what to do to heal the memory? Is the Method solely based on verbal instructions? And would the same words spoken by anyone else have the same healing effect?

Let me explain: Yes, your brain will know what to do. In my practice only about 2-3% of new clients are non-responders and we can usually figure this out in the first session. The brain activity that ensues is not all based on spoken instructions, there is an empathic and intuitive connection between the practitioner and the client that is essential. Developing this ability is a significant part of the training to become a MAP Practitioner.

But there is also one more piece: Your subconscious mind has to be initiated to the MAP Method. It's a simple two-step process and it only has to be done once.

How to prepare for your first MAP Session

When you book an appointment for an Introductory MAP Session, or register for the MAP Introduction program you will be asked to watch a 15-minute preparatory video. This is the first step. The video explains how memories form the personality and introduces some of the terms that you will hear during a MAP session.

You will come to the first session with a few ideas for a topic. The first session is always about a painful emotional memory, fear or phobia. In this session we want you to be able to feel the difference in the emotional intensity from the beginning and the end of the session. The memory you choose could also be a stressful event that preceded the development or worsening of symptoms, or it can be a recent memory that triggers anxiety or stress.

We begin by reviewing the concepts you learned in the video and prepare your subconscious mind for MAP sessions with a few basic instructions such as: "Superconscious, please do what is necessary so that we can communicate clearly." (Superconscious is our term for the self-healing aspect of your subconscious mind.) We also teach your subconscious how to treat a painful or emotional memory with a metaphor. This is the second step and takes about 10-15 minutes.

Healing trauma memories in MAP Sessions

Once your subconscious has been initiated to the Method, it becomes receptive to MAP instructions. The painful emotions associated with your selected memory are neutralized by your subconscious mind as you focus on the memory and your subconscious is guided by the instructions. Throughout the session, your subconscious mind will be revealing connections and we follow those connections to neutralize the associations. In this way, your brain neutralizes clusters of memories that were serving to reinforce the emotional intensity.

Let me emphasize that your subconscious mind is in control of the session at all times and can accept or reject any instruction. Your subconscious also sets the pace. Any rewiring that happens is always in alignment with your intention for the session, your topic and your goals.

MAP Sessions are very gentle and the results can be subtle especially when we are working with something more abstract, like a negative thought pattern, or sensation. That is why we always start with a topic that is emotional. By the end of the first one-hour session, you should to be able to feel the difference in emotional intensity as you focus on the original memory.

Please understand: you will still have the memory. This is not about erasing memories or inhibiting your ability to feel negative emotions. But the memory will feel more neutral and you will be able to regard the experience as simply something that happened to you in the past.

This process is much harder to explain than to experience. It may sound a lot like EMDR or EFT, but unlike EMDR the Method does not require re-hashing the memory in detail. It's really just a gentle placing of the mind on whatever part of the memory you're willing to observe. Once the instructions are given, your attention can turn to whatever is coming up in your mind. The effects go beyond EFT in that we are harnessing the power of the subconscious mind to search for related conscious and unconscious memories and neutralizing them at the same time.

What are the benefits of neutralizing traumas?

The obvious benefit is that a painful memory becomes less intense and you can observe it with some neutrality. But often trauma memories create or reinforce programming in the subconscious mind that can lead to negative thought patterns, negative moods, compulsions, personality traits, or self-defeating behaviors. As we work together in a set of MAP sessions, these programs become weaker. Why? Because the intense emotions around the trauma prioritized the related program in the mind. When the memory is less charged, the program is de-prioritized and runs less often, or becomes more easily dismissed.

After the first few sessions, people report emotional shifts; they feel less anxious, sad or irritated and more peaceful. After a few more sessions, people report mental and behavioral changes --less negative self-talk, less catastrophizing, etc. And, for those with chronic conditions and symptoms, physical shifts may be noted after additional sessions. These can include alleviation of sensitivities, better sleep, improved energy, hormonal balance, digestion, detoxification, thyroid and immune function. The pace of progress varies by individual, but it's exciting to witness the changes. It's what keeps me doing this work!

Summary

With the MAP Method of advanced neural retraining, your brain heals itself in each session.
MAP is an advancement on previous energy psychology techniques such as EMDR and EFT.
Every client has to be initiated to the MAP Method in a simple 2-step process.
MAP harnesses the power of the subconscious mind to identify related associations.
Healing emotional trauma memories is the principle benefit of MAP sessions, but the benefits can also be mental/behavioral and physical.

Learn more

Watch the videos describing the principles behind the MAP method , studies of the brain activity during a session , and the experience of being in a session .
Listen to the Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast - Episode 52: MAP for Painful Memories-Client Stories which explains how resolving trauma memories lays the foundation for healing.
Watch the videos: Frequently Asked Questions about MAP .
Learn more about the Introduction to MAP online program.

How Do We Retrain the Brain for Multiple Sensitivities?

Fri, 12 Aug 2022 22:34:22 GMT

Learn about advanced neural retraining for sensitivities to food, chemicals, environment and more.

If you have sensitivities or intolerances to foods, chemicals or environmental factors, you know how limiting they are to your lifestyle. They require extraordinary commitment to watching your diet, studying the ingredients in every prepared food, and prevent you from enjoying social events and travel. And sensitivities to chemicals and the environment can be even more limiting--they can keep you from leaving your home at all!

As a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, I was trained to identify the signs of intolerances and sensitivities and help my clients remove these foods from their diet in order to improve their health. I even learned energy kinesiology to be able to screen clients against hundreds of food substances in a single office visit. And I felt the approach was helping people, because when we removed certain foods, their symptoms abated. Not always, and not all of them, but enough of the time that I was convinced of the merit of the approach.

That was until my clients started to ask me, "But how do I get rid of these sensitivities? I don't want to be limited in my food choices." At first I didn't know what to tell them. As Nutritional Therapists, we are taught to test, eliminate the suspects and wait a few months to try to reintroduce foods gradually.

I, myself, had a plethora of food sensitivities, and had never questioned the strategy of avoidance. I prided myself on learning how to cook without dairy, grains, gluten, nightshades, FODMAPS, legumes, and successively more categories of foods until I was only eating meat, some fruit and a few vegetables. I felt that eliminating the problem foods was what was required to maintain my health and I was resigned to the regimen. Sound familiar?

The Basic Neural Retraining Techniques

At the request of my clients I started to investigate allergy elimination techniques. I learn NAET and some similar acupressure techniques, and after a while I learned a basic neural retraining technique called Dynamic Neural Retraining System (DNRS). You may have heard of this method or Gupta, the other popular program. Both of these are basic neural retraining methods.

What I learned was that retraining the brain works surprisingly well, but not for everyone. When I tried to teach my clients a streamlined brain retraining method, not all of them improved. There was always about a third of the group that were unsuccessful either because they could not keep up the practice (the method requires an hour of practice every day for 3-6 months) or because they had bad reactions to doing the practices that seemed to worsen over time.

Why avoidance only leads to more avoidance

As a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP) I'd been taught that avoidance was the answer to sensitivities. And this is probably still true of most functional medicine practitioners. But for certain people, let's call them "Susceptible Individuals", avoidance leads to more avoidance. You start out maybe having a childhood allergy, and then you develop a few sensitivities later in life, and as the decades pass your list gets longer, sometimes exponentially longer. (I know this story because I've lived it.)

Who is the Susceptible Individual? This is the key to why basic neural retraining methods often fail: it is the person with significant trauma histories, or the sensitive individual who is impacted by even small traumas. Why? Because sensitivities are a sign of limbic system hyper-reactivity--the limbic system is the danger-sensing part of the brain.

For the Susceptible Individual it's as if successive traumas have flipped a switch in the brain that makes it hyper-alert and scanning for danger everywhere. Traumas come in many forms including emotional trauma, physical trauma (injuries, surgery, abuse), exposures (chemical, including meds, or things like mold) and infections (bacterial, viral, fungal, etc.)

Therefore, the more we seek to avoid items we are sensitive to, the more it reinforces to the brain that relatively benign substances like foods, stuff in the air, or in the environment are truly dangerous. Consequently, the brain becomes more zealous in its misguided attempt to protect us from even more things!

But, what I learned through exploring neural retraining methods was that there is another way: retraining the brain to tolerance.

Why does neural retraining work?

Sensitivity responses are a conditioned behavior, learned in the subconscious mind. Recall that the subconscious mind runs all the systems of the body, so it can create any symptom at will.

You may recognize that at one time you could eat the food, or smell the fragrance or be in the presence of pets without a reaction, but then something changed and you developed a new response. A symptom or a set of symptoms. Did the food change? No. Millions of people still eat that food without incident. You changed. That is - your brain's response changed.

And this is what I want you to know: Anything your brain has learned can be unlearned.

Why do we need an advanced method of neural retraining?

Basic methods do work, but when they do not, an advanced method is needed. Why? Because the conditioned behavior is in the subconscious mind. Basic methods are limited because they are exercises that we do with our conscious mind in order to influence the subconscious. That's a long road, which is why it can take 3-6 months of daily practice. (And many people come to me after practicing for a year or more!)

Advanced methods, like the MAP Method, work directly with the subconscious mind. The rewiring takes place in the session, no hours of practice required.

How do we retrain the brain for sensitivities and intolerances?

If you have tried a basic method for 6-8 weeks and have not seen improvement, have rising anxiety when you practice, or have hit a plateau, I recommend trying an advanced method. I certified in the MAP Method out of a desire to be able to help people retrain their brains directly in sessions instead of having to send them home to practice scripts for months on end. The beauty of the MAP Method is that the brain is healing itself.

If you want to learn more about the MAP Method, please see the related post.

Remember that for the Susceptible Individual trauma memories flip on the danger-sensing switch in the brain that predisposes us to develop sensitivities. In theory and what I've seen in my practice, is that neutralizing trauma memories, over a set of live MAP sessions, flips the switch off. You'll hear this mentioned almost as an aside in many of the client stories in my podcast.

To learn more about how the MAP Method enables us to heal trauma memories, please read the next post.

To date, I'm the only MAP Method practitioner that specializes in sensitivities. I've worked with all kinds of situations and types of sensitivity: people who can only eat a handful of foods, or can't take supplements, people who are sensitive to sound or light, people who have moved out of their homes due to mold, and even people who are sensitive to drinking water!

Based on my experience I've developed a 4 -week online self-paced program that is convenient and affordable and can be supplemented with live sessions over Zoom, as needed. To learn more about the program, try a free preview and watch the video tutorials provided. If you're interested in an advanced method, but aren't sure how it would work for you, you are welcome to try the program for a month risk-free.

Summary

Sensitivity reactions are conditioned behaviors in the subconscious mind.
Avoidance leads to more avoidance for the Susceptible Individual
Retraining the brain to tolerance is a better strategy for those with multiple sensitivities
Basic neural retraining methods are limited because they work with the conscious mind, and they do not address trauma
Advanced neural retraining methods work directly with the subconscious and can heal traumas

Learn more

Watch the videos describing the principles behind the MAP method, studies of the brain activity during a session, and the experience of being in a session.
Listen to the Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast episode 38: MAP for Sensitivities about our approach to food, chemical, and environmental sensitivities .
Learn more about the MAP for Sensitivities self-paced online program

What is the MAP Method of Neural Retraining?

Sat, 06 Aug 2022 23:46:55 GMT

Learn about the latest energy-psychology technique for retraining the brain.

The MAP Method(TM) is the latest energy-based neural retraining technique which has been described as a quantum leap over EMDR and EFT. It differs from basic methods of neural retraining, such as DNRS or Gupta, as it works directly with the subconscious mind.

Basic methods, which work through the conscious mind to influence the subconscious, require hours of practice. With the MAP Method, your brain rewires itself during the session, no practice needed.

Unlike hypnosis, MAP sessions require a relaxed, meditative state--not a trance state. You are awake and aware during the entire session. MAP Sessions are done at a distance over Zoom videoconference.

At your first session we choose a subject such as a phobia, anxiety trigger, or painful emotional memory. Topics for follow-on sessions may include a negative mood state, unwanted behavior, repressive personality trait, limiting belief, negative repetitive thought, or physical symptom.

In each session you form an intention and choose a specific memory related to your topic and rate the intensity of the emotions around it. As you focus on your memory, the MAP Practitioner offers instructions to your subconscious. These are plain English instructions such as, "Please neutralize the painful emotions around this memory and any related memories." Your brain will start to identify related memories and neutralize them. Your subconscious mind sets the pace and is in charge of the session at all times--your brain is healing itself!

What is the experience like?

Most people report feeling relaxed and peaceful by the end of a MAP session. During the session you may notice the sensation of rewiring as a tingling, buzzing, or REM eye movements. You may sense that your mind is working on something, though you may not be aware of what it is. Some clients are able to observe their mind flipping through memories as if searching a database.

It's important to understand that we are not erasing memories. You'll still have the memory, but it will be less intense.

What is the point of neutralizing memories?

All behaviors--emotional, mental, or physical--are based on a collage of memories. The brain ranks memories by their emotional intensity; the more intense the memory, the greater its impact. When the intensity of the memories is neutralized the associated behavior is de-prioritized in the operating system of the mind, and the pattern can be changed. This may happen briefly after one session, and last longer after repeated sessions.

How does this work?

It's deceptively simple from the client's point of view, but there are complex factors at play. Clients' receptivity to the method varies, but in general people who are more emotionally sensitive, empathic, creative, or intuitive are more receptive. Also, people who have a strong meditation or prayer practice are excellent candidates.

It's also important to find the right practitioner. Although all MAP practitioners use the same general technique, we bring to it our other training, background, and expertise. Even more important than the spoken instructions are the practitioner's empathic and intuitive skill, their ability to tune into your energy, and their experience with your subject.

Currently there are fewer than 200 MAP Method practitioners in the world, which is probably why you hadn't heard of it. The technique is still very new and training has only been available for a few years.

The method was originally developed over a 20-year period by a Canadian experimental and clinical psychologist who was a student of Francine Shapiro (EMDR), Roger Callahan (TFT) and adept at many other techniques. It was renamed the MAP Method (Make Anything Possible) after further development and systemization by Colette Streicher, licensed psychotherapist, and her son, Val Streicher.

Summary

The MAP Method is the latest energy-psychology technique.
The brain rewires itself during the session, no practice needed.
During a MAP session you are in a relaxed meditative state.
Sessions are done via Zoom videoconference.
Neutralizing painful memories de-prioritizes the associated behaviors.
People who are emotionally sensitive, empathic, creative, intuitive or have a strong meditation practice are especially receptive to the MAP Method.

Learn more

Watch the videos describing the principles behind the MAP method , studies of the brain activity during a session , and the experience of being in a session .
Watch our Frequently Asked Questions videos about MAP Method sessions.
Listen to my conversation with Colette Streicher, founder of the MAP Method, on the Flourish with Neural Retraining podcast, episode 29 about the history and origins of the method.
Take one of our free courses about how the MAP Method works.

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