Do you need a new approach to easing your pain? My name is Vicki Langemo, LPC, MA a licensed professional counselor. I have written this article because of the personal experience I have had with the results of combining my counseling of patients and chiropractic care.
Counselors and Chiropractors Join Forces to Give You Pain Relief
In the field of pain reduction, a new integrative holistic health model includes counselors and chiropractors teaming up to achieve your health goals. An innovative total wellness program includes more than one specialty to achieve recovery from pain. Teaming up with your doctor of chiropractic and your counselor can add a variety of healing components to your recovery plan.
Physical Predispositions (it is in your genes)
The human body is a miraculous machine. It can see the world, hear music, taste food, feel a soft blanket, smell a rose, run, jump, climb, and contemplate the subtle aspects of our intelligence. But the truth is even though our bodies are amazing, they normally aren’t perfect in every area. Everyone tends to have a predisposition towards a certain health problem. My mother always grappled with her swollen feet; one daughter has stomach problems while another tends to get skin irritations. I used battle sore throats, and now it’s lower back pain. Maybe you struggle with a trick knee, a crick in your neck that never goes away, or stiff shoulder. Everyone has certain soft spots of regular irritation in their body and a predisposition to problems. What are your problem areas? You can get help with a chiropractic/counseling duo.
Chiropractors and Counselors Are A Pain Relieving Team
I find when I am more stressed or angry, my physical problems tend to flare up. That is because we tend to hold or emotions in our body. As an illustration, think of clenching your jaw when stressed, tensing your muscles when angry or holding your breath when you are afraid. These are natural reactions. Chiropractic can help you release the tension in your muscles, relaxes the nerves causing your pain or realigning your bone structure to give you relief. The chiropractor can also give you at-home exercises to aid in healing and staying fit. Then your counselor can follow up with ways to help retain your health. You can vent your feelings to your therapist, learn how to let go of your anger, reduce your stress/anxiety or learn ways to build healthy, happy relationships. Together, these pain fighting professions will help you to recover or reduce your pain.
Healing Through Chiropractic Care
Pain relief through the manipulation of the body dates back to the beginning of civilization. The word, “Chiropractic, come from a Greek word meaning “done by the hands”. The first recognized doctor by the name of Hippocrates agrees these who lived in the fifth century used body work as part of his practice. Even back when Greece was the top civilization, there was an understanding that the body parts can become strained or misaligned, and will cause pain. One holistic belief is that the body has an inner healing power. This inner power will be triggered by a spinal adjustment, massage, stretching or relaxing of key nerves, muscles or bones. These chiropractic methods help put the body back into balance, well-being and promotes healing.
Pain Reduction Through Counseling
Sigmund Freud became known as the father of psychoanalysis. As a medical doctor, he realized that the mind was a complex energy system that affected all parts of the human experience. Memory, observation, beliefs, values, language, movements of the body and the perception of pain all come from our master computer, the brain. Freud came to realize that there are two different thought process going on in our brain: our consciousness and unconscious thoughts. These parts of the brain are compared to an iceberg. There is the part you see and the huge part you do not see. Similarly, the unconscious brain is the part of your inner thinking that you do not know about in your mind. A person doesn’t realize it is happening or working 24/7. Counseling helps bring these thoughts, beliefs, values, memories and emotions to the surface.
Once you are aware of these underlying causes, you can empower yourself to heal them. Then you can learn healthy ways of changing or dealing with your inner reactions if they are causing you distress. Sometimes pain is coming from our thoughts or emotions, and our body is saying, “Ouch.” there are mind/body interventions derived from decades of research that help people reduce pain and promote healing. Some of these techniques are Cognitive/Behavioral Therapy, Relaxation Training, Guided Visualization, Stress Reduction, Anger Management, or Cognitive Restructuring (changing your thoughts to promote healing). There is a CD that contains both, relaxation techniques and guided imagery, called Relax, Unwind & Sleep that can be downloaded from Amazon or iTunes sites. Now that you know that counseling can reduce pain if you cannot get relief from your doctor, a quick solution is setting up a conversation at supportivetalk.com.
The Ultimate Pain Take Down
Throw a one, two punch at your pain by incorporating the help of professionals from chiropractic and counseling care. If your medical doctor cannot cure your pain or is just hiding it with pain relievers, consider using chiropractic therapeutic care. A chiropractor can heal or reduce your pain physically, and a counselor can restore your health, mentally. With this team of professionals by your side, you can promote healing and a healthy, long-term, and holistic manner.
For helpful books, try Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection by John E. Sarno or Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief by Jon Kabat-Zinn. For more information about chiropractic care, go to coonrapidschiropractic.com. More about stress reduction, anger management or healthier relationships visit supportivetalk.com