Thyroid disorders were rarely discussed by lay people until Oprah spoke out about the topic in 2007, shedding light on a critically important issue. And why is the thyroid so important? The thyroid produces hormones that regulate many of the body’s metabolic functions. More and more research is surfacing that connects them to various conditions and diseases. For instance, thyroid disorders can disrupt sleep, mood and mental sharpness, and cause weight gain or loss. The problem is that thyroid disorders are often undiagnosed. There are a variety of reasons for that, but one problem is that environmental toxins disguise it’s…

Autism – just the word causes panic in parents everywhere. When I was growing up, polio had a similar effect.  But the vaccine for polio has been found, while work on the prevention and treatment autism is still continuing feverously. To the horror of families with an autistic child, the scientific community can offer little in the way of reassurances. The main reason for this stems from the lack of agreement over the causes of the disorder.  And without knowing the causes, it’s pretty difficult to design treatments. without knowing the causes, it’s pretty difficult to design treatments. We can…

Got a question from a counselor recently, here is the gist of what she said, “I am not a physician and do not practice medicine, why do I need to know about thyroid disease? I’m interested in mindfulness meditation, hypnosis and guided imagery.” Good question really. (In case you didn’t know, the topic of the first session in NICABM’s free summer teleseminar series is on A Holistic Approach to Thyroid Disease and that’s probably why she brought it up.) At first it might not be so obvious, but NICABM is recommending that it’s critical for the psychotherapist to know something…

Watching the retrospective analysis last night of Robert McNamara’s service as Secretary of Defense during the Viet Nam war was fascinating.  One quote from his memoirs just stuck with me, “We were wrong, terribly wrong.” The conversation led to the lessons learned about what went so wrong with US strategy. This included discussion about McNamara, the man. He served at the pleasure of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, and in that capacity was fiercely loyal to both. One commentator in the retrospective last night described the decision makers during the war as prisoners of their own misconceptions.  You can learn more…