News from Maggie Phillips, Ph.D.
January 2011

Click a topic link below to jump directly to any section of this newsletter:
In This Issue
* Teleseminar News
* Advances in Energy Psychology
* Innovative New Programs
* News You Can Use

Calendar of Training Events

 

January 26, 2011

Teleseminar with Martin Rossman & Maggie

The Worry Solution

 

January 31 - March 25, 2011

Online course with Maggie

Advances in Energy Psychology

 

February 2011

Teleseminar with Brother David Steindl Rast & Maggie

How Love Heals Pain and Suffering

 

February & March 2011

E-course with Peter Levine & Maggie

In An Unspoken Voice
 

April 2011

Teleseminar with Sandi Radomski & Maggie
Ask and Receive

 
May 2011
Teleseminar with Bonnie Badenoch & Maggie

How to Become a Brain-Wise Therapist
 

June 2011

Teleseminar with Bill O'Hanlon & Maggie
Treating Truama Without Drama
 

July 2011
Teleseminar with Michael Yapko & Maggie
 
How Hypnosis Can Expand

Mindfulness Practice
 

 















Maggie Phillips, Ph.D.
2768 Darnby Dr.
Oakland, CA 94611
USA
510-655-3843
Greetings!

We hope you have navigated the holidays safely and successfully and are into the flow of "new life" in the New Year. On January 26, we present a teleseminar on "The Worry Solution" with Dr. Martin Rossman based on his new book of the same title. Remember that all of our teleseminars now offer CEU's for professionals. To learn more, click here. Our News You Can Use article is "How to Stop Worrying" (scroll down to find it or click on the sidebar). And be sure to watch your email carefully; the next one will contain instructions for accessing your quarterly bonus.

 

Wishing you the best of the New Year all year long, 

Maggie Phillips
Teleseminar News


image

We kick off the New Year on Wednesday, January 26, from 9 am - 10:30 am Pacific time with a teleseminar on The Worry Solution with Dr. Marty Rossman, MD, alternative mindbody medicine pioneer. In this teleseminar, Dr. Rossman turns his attention to the epidemic problem of worry, showing us how we can use stress beneficially to lead us toward happiness. The topics we'll be covering include:

  • How to separate "good" worry from unproductive, futile worry
  • Strategies to transform "bad" worry into positive focus and "good" worry into life-changing action
  • Ways of using cutting edge brain science and practical techniques to stop uncontrollable anxiety and worry
  • How to turn stress and worry into confidence and other positive feelings without changing anything in your outer life
  • How to use your creative imagination to eliminate negative health impacts caused by worry

To make sure you don't forget to sign up, please go now to www.maggiephillipsphd.com/courses_teleseminars_mr.html. Remember that your registration fee includes a study guide, useful handouts, full and permanent access to the audio recording whether or not you can attend live (click here for further information), and opportunities to ask your most important questions about worry either during the live event or ahead of time at www.maggiephillipsphd.com/courses_interactive_mr.html.

 

In February, we hope to schedule a teleseminar with Brother David Steindl-Rast on How Love Heals Pain and Suffering. In late February and March, we will feature an ecourse (3 teleseminar series in February) with Dr. Peter Levine on his extraordinary new book, In An Unspoken Voice. April follows with Sandi Radomski's new energy approach, Ask and Receive, which expands and extends the effectiveness of EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques); in May, we present Bonnie Badenoch on How to Become a Brainwise Therapist. Finally, in June, we feature Bill O'Hanlon on Treating Trauma Without Drama and in July, we'll present Michael Yapko on How Hypnosis Can Expand Mindfulness Practice. In August, as we do every year, we will offer a special sale on many of our teleseminar and ecourses, which will be entitled The Best of Our Audio Learning Programs. Please watch for more information, including dates, on all of these events, and put them on your calendar if you like to plan ahead.

Advances in Energy Psychology


I also want to announce a very special course. For 5 years I have taught an online class, Advances in Energy Psychology which has been well received. I am teaching it for possibly the last time due to changes in programming with NICABM (National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine), the organization that sponsors the event. The class begins January 31 and continues through March 25th. It is taught online (at your own pace) except for two live teleseminars, which will be recorded if you cannot attend. This is an excellent opportunity to review and extend your skills in Energy Psychology or to immerse yourself in this field if you have been wanting to learn more about it. Beginners through advanced levels have all found benefit. CEU's are available. 

This was an extremely well planned course that allowed me to learn the basics and then build upon my progress each week. Maggie Phillips certainly knows her subject! I not only accomplished my goals for this course, but exceeded my expectations. Even though we've never met, it was fascinating how the student's personalities came through in the message boards. I'd recommend this course without hesitation - and already have!

-- Beth O'Boyle, Hoboken, NJ


For more information, please go to: http://www.nicabm.com/?course=ene&affid=740118


Innovative New Programs

 

 website imageWe are launching several new programs in 2011 that  we want to introduce to you in this newsletter.

 

1. First, we are beginning a "Make A Difference" affiliate program. We want to encourage those of you who are professionals who work with people struggling with emotional or physical pain, stress, or health problems to share our products with them, especially our online self-help "Reversing Chronic Pain" and our CD "Coaching for Success" audio programs. If you encourage appropriate clients to purchase these programs, we will be giving anyone you refer a 30% discount off the regular price and you will receive a 10% credit for the referral, which you can use toward our future programs. For more information about signing up, go to www.reversingchronicpain.com/affiliate.html.


 

2. We are expanding the use of our online blog as a way to foster communication within our community and replace excessive email. Apparently, this is a "hard sell" for most of you. Perhaps, like me, you're a bit wary of yet another communication process on top of emailing, cell phone, regular phones, faxes, social networking, and on and on.

 

Since we really want to encourage your participation, we will try to make this shift as seamless as possible for you. In every monthly newsletter, we will include updates on our blog to let you know what's happening there, and we will also send you selective updates in the body of other regular emails used to promote and facilitate our teleseminar programs. Ultimately, we want to connect the two so that blog and emails synchronize information of highest interest.

 

So we're announcing a contest to help this process along. This contest is designed to motivate you to share the successes you have achieved with your clients, loved ones, or yourself. Specifically, we are soliciting your stories of how you have used any of the tools we have shared with you through our teleseminar series, my book Reversing Chronic Pain, the RCP online program, or through our Coaching for Success CD program.

 

If you submit the top pain story of the month, it will be published on the blog and you will receive free registration in 3 teleseminars of your choice. This gift is worth $150 USD, and that's how much we value the time you may spend in thinking about your successes and sending us your positive results. To enter the contest, send your pain story (up to 1000 words in length) to: [email protected]. In the subject of your email, please include the words "Best Healing Story."


 

News You Can Use


HOW TO STOP WORRYING

Worry and anxiety are highly related to the experience of emotional and physical pain. I sometimes tell clients, "If you could reduce the worry and stress in your life, I predict that your pain levels would be cut in half." For many of them, this prediction has more than been proven true.

 

In general, excessive worry can make any illness, disease, or disorder stress-related. One of the most effective steps toward the healing of any health imbalance, including pain, is the reduction of stress and worry.


When does normal worry become a problem? It's important to understand that anxiety is a continuum, with one end being "normal" anxiety and the other being a diagnosable anxiety disorder. Somewhere in the middle is a tipping point, where "normal" anxiety grows to be a problem. This point varies with every person, depending on their resilience, the way they handle stress, and how they control their anxiety.


Some experts have mused that what separates "normal" worry from dysfunctional worry is the level of difficulty a person has in "turning off" or regulating the worry process. 


It's also not so much the content of the worry that matters, it's the degree to which the person worries. We all have some tendency to worry a great deal about specific events, but we can usually get "back on track" by putting things into perspective fairly easily.


Worry that is so excessive, distressing, and intrusive that it interferes with normal functioning so that it's difficult or impossible to control the anxiety and focus on something else is the dysfunctional type.


Here are some common worries:

            Making a big mistake                                                                                     Parents dying                                                                                                 Getting fired                                                                                                 My son or daughter marrying a person whom I don't like


Sound familiar? Any of these could keep us up at night. Worry is part of the human condition, encoded in our DNA to help us survive. While there is value to vigilance and to planning, most of us would be happier and healthier if we worried less. Whether you are an extreme, frequent worrier or an average, once-in-a-while worrier -- or you fall somewhere in between -- there are several strategies that can help free you from worry and anxiety. The key is not to control the worrying itself, but your reaction to it, proposes Dr. Jeffrey Rossman, an advisor to Rodale.com.


Instead of "worrying about worry," consider these strategies instead:


#1: Differentiate between constructive concern and unproductive worry. Ask yourself, "Is this worry that can lead me to some constructive action?" If it doesn't lead to some action, set it aside.


#2: Don't suppress your worries. Recognize that a worry is just a thought; it is not a reality. In other words, don't always believe what you think.


#3: Learn mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness techniques can help you pull back to the present moment, rather than obsessing over things that may go wrong in the future. Focus on your breathing and observe your thoughts without becoming entangled in them. This can diminish worry, especially as you become more skilled in mindfulness practices.


#4: Put things in perspective. When worries overwhelm you, ask yourself, "What's the worst that could happen? What's the real chance of that happening?" Challenge your fears. "Am I overestimating the risk that this might happen?" Also remind yourself about the transient nature of worries: "Will this matter to me next year -- or even next week?"


#5: Learn to accept some risks and challenges in your quest for certainty and control. Notice the many uncertainties and things you cannot control throughout the day, and practice mindful acceptance of each. Remember, certainty is only a feeling and rarely is a reality. You can't prepare for everything. The bad things that happen to us are rarely anticipated through worry, and rarely allow us any control. A compelling worry is still just a thought that will pass.


#6: Expose yourself to worry. Practice saying or writing whatever you fear most, such as "the plane is going to crash" or "I'm going to lose my job." That may sound like the opposite of what you really want to do, but even the most worried brain can't hold on to the worry forever. Repeat it over and over again slowly, in a lifeless monotone or in a funny voice, and the fear will begin to subside. Eventually, you'll just get bored with it. After all, we know from neuroplasticity that the brain craves novelty!


#7: Give a worried thought your full attention for five minutes, but then do something physical and/or social. Exercise and interpersonal contact on the heels of worrying (not seeking reassurance from someone, just spending time in someone's company) help you feel better, and usually make your worry much less compelling.


#8: Schedule your worry time. Try using scheduled "worry periods." Give your worries your full attention during 15- to 20-minute periods at set times during the day or week. When worries intrude at other times, try to defer them until your next scheduled worry period, perhaps using a written list. If you can postpone worrying, you are exercising control over it, rather than letting it control you. And knowing that you will later be spending time on the problems that worry you makes it easier to put your worries aside until that time.


#9: Let go of your need for reassurance. Frequently seeking reassurance (searching the Internet, checking your body, or repeatedly consulting with a doctor or friend, for instance) often stimulates more worry and doubt. The brief relief provided by reassurance only perpetuates the worry cycle. If you repeatedly seek reassurance from your physician or spouse, encourage him or her to gradually withdraw the reassurance that only perpetuates the problem. Stop "investigating" the issue on the Internet.


#10: Relax your body. When you accept worries as a type of negative thinking, your body will respond accordingly. Likewise, relaxation and diaphragmatic breathing skills can help you release the physical tension that often accompanies worry. Discover what calms you, (massage, yoga, exercise, music, a hot bath, journaling, prayer, nature), and turn to that when worry overwhelms you. When your body relaxes, often your mind will, too.


For more information about putting an end to worry, please join us for the January 26 teleseminar with Dr. Marty Rossman on The Worry Solution.

Remember, your good intentions are not sufficient to sign up. Join us now by making one click of your computer mouse to reach www.maggiephillipsphd.com/courses_teleseminars_mr.html.

 

Thanks so much for taking time to read this newsletter.

 

My very best to you,

Maggie



It is my hope that you are interested in hearing from me periodically with news; however, if at any time, you wish to stop receiving emails from me, just send an email with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject to [email protected] or use the options at the bottom of this email to instantly unsubscribe.