Healing Charlotte Podcast

Our guest today is Lynne Beck, a Licensed Mental Heal Counselor who works with adults and specializes in couples therapy. Her journey to couples therapy began when she was working with adults and saw how much distress was related to relationships; romantic, parent-child, and friendships. She began her training in "Emotionally Focused Therapy" developed by Sue Johnson. Lynne also works with adults in an individual capacity with difficulties around anxiety, depression, ongoing relationships, and trauma.

"People think the conflict is what's pulling them apart but it's really the emotional disconnection has happened first and the conflict is them trying to get that back."

Lynne describes EFT as a modality that helps couples identify patterns of communication, strengthen their relationship, help them hear each other and can work together to come up with their own solutions, and slow down the process of what we are saying when we communicate. She said that most couples do not get a chance to really hear what their partner is trying to communicate or get that far in the discussion. Lynne says that both parties in a relationship want to feel hear, feel like their partner is in it with them, and to feel like a priority. Lynne will help couples utilize "active listening" as part of their homework where they can only respond by paraphrasing and avoiding thoughts, opinions and directives. Lynne states that EFT uses the acronym ARE; How Accessible are you? How Responsive are you? and How Engaged are you?

Lynne recommends all couples read "Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment" by Levine and Heller as well as Sue Johnson's book, "Hold Me Tight." Lynne discusses adult attachment, how it is formed and reinforced through life, and how it plays out between couples. She referenced the research experiment "Still Face" where a mother has no expression on her face and her baby demonstrates the 3 major attachment styles; secure, anxious, and avoidant. In Charlotte, Lynne is inspired by Anne Hancock of the Wellness Counseling Center who she has trained in EFT with for many years.

"Being proactive and using it to strengthen your relationship and really enhance communication so that when some of those bigger things happen, you can protect your relationship moving forward."

Lynne's recommendations for couples seeking couples therapy to consult with 1 or more therapists before starting(most offer no-charge), find someone trained in EFT which is evidenced based, give it a chance, and reach out when you start thinking about it.

In this episode, we are fortunate to meet Alison Pulito; a Reiki Master, Intuitive Healer, Meditation and Yoga teacher. Her journey into these healing spaces happened when she endured a hip injury 14 years ago which led to 2 hip replacements, a tear in her iliopsoas, immense pain, and depression that left her isolated in her home for 10 years. During this trying time, Alison started a meditation practice to see if it would relieve her pain. Around this same time, she also decided to try Reiki where she was able to be pain-free for 15 minutes. She immersed herself into over 150 books during this time as well as completed multiple online Reiki trainings and since has completed an in person training. She became certified as a Reiki Master in the Usui system. She describes Reiki as "life force energy" and as a practitioner she allows energy to come through her for the highest and best good for the person on the table. During a Reiki session, she also works with the Chakra system which is described as "wheels of light." These energy centers each housed along the spine associated with an organ can become blocked therefore causing complications in certain areas of life that they coincide with.

"With Reiki, you can see it mid-stream and understand a little about it then we can become in more flow with that experience as opposed to resisting it or trying to push it away from us."

Alison's entry into Intuitive healing occurred during her own journey of healing as she would utilize automatic writing after a meditation. It started as a wind sound in her ear which turned into a message of "we need you." During sessions with her she channels messages from the Angelic Realm. Alison also leads group meditations which she recommends as a great place for people to start with her work. The messages in her meditations are channeled from what we are experiencing collectively. She says it provides her students support as they realize that they are not alone in what they are experiencing.

"What I've been told, I'm here to be a teacher and healer for people who are beginning to experience something that transcends their physical day to day experience that brings them into a higher understanding of why they are here."

Alison has provides 3 books that she has found to be influential in her work; "The Calling" by Rasha, "Many Lives, Many Masters" by Brian Weiss, and "Conversations with God, Book 1" by Neale Donald Walsch. She also recommends "The Seat of the Soul" by Gary Zukav for anyone starting their spiritual journey. Alison loves Charlotte for the inclusive nature, the artistic and spiritual communities, as well as the opportunities for growth that are available. She is inspired by Robbie Warren, a Shamanic Healer, Autumn Austin, a Psychotherapist who utilizes Sound Healing, and the entire staff of Noda Yoga for the environment they provide and wealth of knowledge each teacher possesses.

Alison offers many of her guided mediations online complimentary. Visit her website for the links or join her for her weekly meditation classes.

In today's episode, we meet Lindsay Bierwert, a licensed Acupuncturist at Lotus Acupuncture. She has been practicing for 3 years in Charlotte after receiving a dual Master's degree in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. She found Acupuncture and Chinese herbs at the end of her college career when a professor recommended it to her while finding support for herself with the treatments.

Lindsay enjoys the holistic view of her clients. She spends time with each person listening to the challenges they are coming in with as well as the stories they tell regarding their history. She believes a person's history as well as diet, exercise, digestion, sleep all affect each other and the chief complaint. Lindsay was inspired during her trip to China to see how integrated Acupuncture is in the medical model there.

"There are things that we can do to help your body relearn and adjust and regulate its hormones properly."

We learn that herbal medicine is made up of twigs, roots, leaves, and flowers in a specialized concoction as a complement to the work done with Acupuncture. The herbs can help expedite the process and provide relief in between treatments. She discusses the actual needles that are used and reports that ~30 Acupuncture needles can fit into the opening of a hypodermic needle. About 20 needles are placed in the body in specific locations depending on the chief complaint and the session can last anywhere from 30-40 minutes. Lindsay describes the treatment process starting a 1x week for approximately 12 weeks before tapering, but notes that each person has a different response. She describes that with Acupuncture,

"We are accessing your body's natural ability to heal itself. Your body was designed to heal itself and to be healthy. It doesn't like being autoimmune or having an immune issue."

She is passionate about working with young women who would like support around menstrual cycle issues, anxiety, and depression. We learn that Acupuncture can support many areas including pain, allergies, digestion, emotional struggles to name a few. Lindsay offers a free consultation to anyone who is interested in learning how Acupuncture and Chinese medicine can help them.

Lindsay suggests the book "The Web that has no Weaver" by Ted Kaptchuk and the podcast "Qiological" hosted by Michael Max both for more information on Acupuncture and Chinese medicine. In the Charlotte community, she has been inspired by Cori Stuart, a Reiki practitioner, and Laura Puckett, an Acupuncturist and owner of Lotus Acupuncture. In her opinion, both of this women help their clients access parts of themselves in unique and special ways. Lindsay loves the Charlotte community because of the diversity and acceptance of people.

In this episode, we sit down with Kelly Howard. She calls herself a "multi-faceted healer," combining Massage Bodywork, Grief Coaching, Women's Circles, and Yoga Retreats. She's been a Massage Therapist for 6 years and came into the profession as she saw her then husband suffer from pain as well as her younger brother when he was in a medically-induced coma. She believes her work around grief is her dharma as she also began this work after the loss of her brother and her husband. Kelly believes strongly in this work as it's a universal truth that levels us. She notes how we've all experienced grief; dreams/desires, relationships, jobs, stages of life.

"Loss is the only guarantee in the human experience."

Kelly's talks about her Healing Circles for Women that include intuitive movement, a topic to explore such as resiliency and fear, guided meditation, and a group share that is intended to hold space and listen. Her Yoga Retreats are for small groups and are full of adventure, life coaching, yoga, meditation, and culture. With her business partner, Carrie Wren, of Explore and Expand Retreats, they want to challenge our way of thinking and believing while exploring the world.

"By leaning in and recognizing and giving it {grief} a name, we can more easily walk with it. And when we can more easily walk with it, I've found in my own experience and with the experience of my clients, that you can more easily lean into those joyful experiences and joyful moments and recognize the little pieces of beauty and bliss."

As mentioned before, Kelly believes her life's work is Grief Coaching. Her own experience of losing loved ones has given her the knowledge to help put support structures in place for her clients. It is her hope that her clients feel stronger, more capable, more resilient, and acutely aware of joyful moments while moving through the process. Kelly calls out an important aspect of grief work; there is no endgame. She is passionate in giving others support who have lost a loved one as a way to honor her late husband's legacy. She recommends beginning grief work at 6 weeks past the event and on.

"You are going to move through it and it's going to shift and change and be different from day to day and different year to year."

Kelly has been inspired in this work by her own travels as well as "The Grief Recovery Handbook" by John James & Russell Friedman, "The Smell of Rain on Dust" by Martin Prechtel, and "The Courage to Grieve" by Judy Tatelbaum. In the Charlotte community, she is inspired by Jillian Longsworth, co-owner of Noda Yoga. She loves what she is doing for the veteran community as well as the Charlotte community as a whole. She appreciates the variety of her Yoga offerings as well as her mission to serve "everyBODY."