The diagnosis of a food allergy is life-changing, not just for the individual but for those who love and live with that person. In addition to avoiding exposure to certain foods, the condition requires that these families and individuals explain, over and over again, the seriousness of the allergy at
Tag: chronic illness
Take a moment to imagine the following scene, with you as the protagonist: A few days ago, you woke, went for a run, had breakfast and headed to work, where you attended a committee meeting. The next thing you remember is lying in a hospital bed and being told that
Separating somatic from affective symptoms is important in determining the true level of depression in clients who are chronically ill.
By the time the 43-year-old man, a victim of an industrial accident, limped into American Counseling Association member David Engstrom’s office, he’d been experiencing lower back pain for 10 years and taking OxyContin for six. The client, whose pain was written in the grimace on his face as he sat
Chinese medicine has always acknowledged the link between the body and the mind. In Western medicine, from the time of the ancient Greeks through the Elizabethan era, the thinking was that four bodily humors (black bile, yellow bile, phlegm and blood) influenced mood, physical health and even personality. Shakespeare built
Imagine what it’s like to suffer from seizures that can strike anytime, anywhere. Imagine losing your driver’s license, job and social life because of seizures that seem to be uncontrollable. Imagine the emotional turmoil that ensues as these seizures take over more and more of what you once enjoyed, considered
A variety of invisible illnesses can greatly impact both the physical and mental health of individuals. Some of these illnesses are debilitating, preventing participation in the normal activities of daily living. Examples include chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis, Ehlers–Danlos syndrome, fibromyalgia, lupus, Lyme disease, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS),
Most of our clients come to us for help with relationship difficulties, work-related stress, persistent anxiety, chronic depression or other well-researched and commonly encountered challenges. Most of us feel that our education and experiences have effectively prepared us to deal with these conditions. Armed with a time-tested array of evidence-based
Clients or patients facing chronic pain require a special counseling approach that can be applied universally, no matter their source of pain or the number of months or years they have tried to deal with the pain. We have honed and practiced these techniques at the Betty Ford Center in