The rationale for this is the same as for not doing rituals. If, for example, you cover your mouth, turn away from people, or use heavy makeup, you won’t learn to tolerate situations without doing these things. So it’s important to stop using camouflage in the exposure situations, unless it allows you to enter the [...]

Aromatherapy must be one of the most delicious ways of treating insomnia. It consists of massage using essential plant oils in a vegetable oil base, and is a wonderful way to experience deep relaxation, excellent for tension and stress-related conditions. It is more than a pleasant experience, however. The essential oils are distilled from the [...]

The Alexander Technique can help you sleep better by creating greater physical and mental harmony, enabling you to go through life with less strain. It is a way of learning how to use your body as it was meant to be used — easily, effortlessly, and without tension. The Technique was developed over eighty years [...]

This technique also applies to people who dissociate first and become frightened by the altered state. ‘What’s happening to me. Here it comes again. I’m going insane’. We can stop the escalation into anxiety and panic simply by being aware. ‘I’m dissociating.’ I’ve just gone into a trance state’. When we acknowledge what is happening [...]

This “Readiness Factor” has more to do with the success of all of the methods than any other factor. This cannot be emphasized enough and should certainly not be scoffed at. Too often parents will succumb to feelings of guilt or to pressure from other people. They try something—usually whatever has been “suggested” m often—and [...]

We have noted that the main reaction of the body to anxiety is one of preparation for action—the increased output of the heart, the diversion of blood to the muscles, and the liberation of glucose into the blood to provide extra energy. Of course any movement of the bowels would hamper this preparation for physical [...]