Our April presenter, Sandi Radomski, is a friend from Energy Psychology circles who, more than 5 years ago, helped to diagnose and begin to treat food allergies that had created difficult sinus and digestive symptoms for me. She has continued to evolve her healing work, and I am delighted to showcase her newest contribution in our upcoming teleseminar/webinar on April 14. Sandi is a Board Certified licensed social worker, a naturopathic doctor, and a Diplomate in Energy Psychology (for more about Sandi and Ask and Receive, please visit  www.askandreceive.org).

Go here now to register and remember that your fee admits you to live and/or unlimited audio replay access. Immediately following the live seminar from 9 am - 10:30 am Pacific time next Thursday, you can download the complete audio recording and can either listen via online streaming for 30 days afterward or download the mp3 permanently to your computer or portable listening device. When you register, you will receive a confirmation email from us within 24 hours that details all the information you will need to thoroughly enjoy and benefit from this experience (so please watch for this and save it!).

One of the many advantages of Ask and Receive is that it may be used on behalf of those who are unable or unwilling to perform the simple protocol. Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt, who received an award as the top alternative doctor in the US in 2007, has stated that Ask and Receive is the best distance healing he knows about.  Sandi and her team have received numerous reports of the elimination of many physical and emotional symptoms when done on someone's behalf regardless of distance and even if the recipient is completely unaware of the treatment. For example, the parents of autistic children are seeing great results in calming panic and fear responses when they use Ask and Receive on behalf of their children.

Here's what you will learn:

• A simple stand-alone protocol that can be modified to fit any healing orientation.
• An understanding of how and why Ask and Receive works.
• Suggestions for using Ask and Receive in specific situations that (for this seminar) will center on emotional and physical pain and other health symptoms.
• Strategies to further boost the results of Ask and Receive.
• Resources that can help you extend your learning into many healing contexts.
• Topics of special interest to you; we invite you to submit your questions in advance at  www.maggiephillipsphd.com/courses_interactive_sr.html.

On Tuesday, May 3, we invite you to join us for a teleseminar/webinar with Bonnie Badenoch, author of Being a Brain-Wise Therapist. Bonnie has applied the recent theory of Interpersonal Neurobiology in creative and highly effective ways. She is a highly regarded student of Daniel Siegel, one of the visionaries of this field, and excels in clinical applications of using brain theory to enhance secure attachment experiences for children and adults, the resolution of trauma and early developmental stresses, and the process of creating integration of the self. Watch your email for more information!

You may also want to plan further ahead, so look forward to "Hypnosis and Mindfulness" with Dr. Michael Yapko on June 2 and "Healing Trauma without Drama" with Bill O'Hanlon in early July.

 We are moving forward with our blogs. Please read the second installment of my own Best Healing Story at  http://besthealingstories.reversingchronicpain.com. We are actively seeking submissions from you that describe your best healing story, whether with yourself or someone else. Remember, your "reward" if we publish your story on our blog is free admission to 3 teleseminars of your choice! Please send your ideas or actual stories directly to me at mphillips@lmi.net. We hope you will respond to this call to action to share what is working in your healing practice as we will ALL benefit from this opportunity for connection and learning from each other!

We are also happy to launch a new column, Ask Dr. Maggie. We have our first question on the uses of mind body healing with older adults who have cognitive impairment and other limitations, which was submitted by a physiotherapist from Australia. Please go here now to read my answer and leave your comments and reactions at http://askdrmaggie.reversingchronicpain.com. We will be happy to receive questions that come up for you in your efforts to promote self-healing and healing experiences for others, including those that we aren't able to address in our monthly teleseminars. To submit your questions, please go to  http://reversingchronicpain.com/askdrmaggie.html.

Once again, I would like to express my genuine appreciation for your choice to remain a part of my online community, to support my work, and benefit from what we offer through our monthly newsletter and two websites.  

Your quarterly bonus is a recent article from The New Yorker on how a pediatrician came to recognize that trauma was the underlying cause of the illnesses in many of the patients she saw. This will be of special interest to those of you who are interested in childhood trauma as a public health issue. To access the article on my website, click here. 

POSITIVE INTENTIONS: AFFIRMING OUR PURPOSE 

This month, we are exploring positive intentions -- those thoughts and ideas that can positively shape the daily and moment-to-moment meanings of each experience that we encounter. We all have positive intentions, whether or not they are considered "positive" to those around us. For example, many people in authority in workplaces try to motivate their employees through intimidation and subtle (and not so subtle) threats. While this may be ineffective -- and the behavioral outcomes actually contradictory to what the authority is seeking (as when the employee in question becomes hugely stressed and is more constricted in work performance) -- the underlying intention may still be good. In this situation, the intention may be positive in that the employer wants the supervisee to actualize their full potentials and perform work tasks at their optimal capacity.

Positive intentions influence how we behave, both in positive and in negative ways. Simply because a certain action is considered to be motivated by a positive intention, this does not necessarily mean that we always have the correct tools for implementing it. The intention may be positive, but the behavior to execute it may be negative. We often justify the gap between intention and behavior because we may feel that it is all we know, or that we are unable to come up with other strategies for change that will produce positive results.

We can go further and claim that, at some level, all behavior is (or at one time was) "positively intended." Another way to say this is that all behavior serves (or at one time served) a "positive purpose." The positive intention or purpose behind fear-based behavior is usually "safety." The positive purpose behind anger can be to maintain good boundaries. The positive intentions behind a pattern like 'resistance to change' could encompass a whole range of issues, including the desire to acknowledge, honor or respect the past; the need to protect oneself by staying with the familiar, or the attempt to hold onto the positive things one has had in the past.

At the most primitive brain level, it is the reticular activating system (RAS) that gives the mind the ability to focus on what is in front of it. The RAS also allows us to sort through various stimuli in the environment to be able to concentrate on what we need to do. This powerful aspect of the brain helps us to control how we think, regardless of what is going on around us. It controls our abilities to focus.

Bad things, including debilitating symptoms of pain and suffering, happen to everyone. They are a fact of life. If we use our brain resources properly, however, we develop self-awareness, which allows us to think through certain circumstances and take a positive position in situations, even when they are difficult. As Einstein said, "You cannot solve a problem with the same type of thinking that created it."

Focusing on negative thoughts prevents you from being resourceful in relation to the situation.  

What if your situation is truly negative and you are having difficulty with finding anything to be positive about? What if you are struggling with negative memories of something that happened to you once, something you are unable to get past? What if you suffer from chronic pain on a daily basis? Can positive intentions really change these circumstances?

Sometimes a particular problem or symptom, as awful as it may be, may serve multiple positive intentions. I have worked with many people who have suffered from uncontrollable pain, and who discovered that this actually served many positive purposes for them. For example, some realized that because the pain was so persistent and resistant to all intervention, its continued existence pushed them to confront more unconscious sources of pain, like unresolved grief. For others, the result was to move them into a more committed search for pleasure, as hard as that was to find. In all cases, these individuals benefitted greatly from the process of recognizing the positive purposes underlying their problems and choosing intentionally to focus in that direction.

Many experts believe that positive intentions must be intentional in order to see results -- that is, that you must continue to use them "on purpose" to receive their full benefits, and there is some truth to that, of course, but it is also true that forms of remote healing, such as prayer, bring amazing results.   

This month, we are giving you an opportunity to extend your understanding by learning a method, built on positive intentions, that works when used both intentionally and consciously or in remote contexts. Please consider signing up for the Sandi Radomski teleseminar to experience and learn the gentle yet powerful Ask and Receive approach to healing.

I'm aware that some of you who are reading this may be a bit skeptical about positive affirmations and intentions because of the "new age hype" that sometimes surrounds them, or because many people who use them make such outrageous claims of success. I am happy to give you this opportunity to learn an approach that's grounded, effective, highly portable, easy and pleasant to practice and use, and consistently helps to activate the highest level of healing potential in each unique person or situation. Please join us (register now at  www.maggiephillipsphd.com/courses_teleseminars_sr.html). Do not miss this opportunity to take your healing practice to the next level!

Thanks as always for your support and for taking the time to read this newsletter.

My best,

Maggie