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Talk to Your Dog and Bounce Back from Depression | Boca Raton, FL

Talk to your dog. . .

You know you are depressed when you have nothing to say to anyone. But do you have nothing to say to your dog? I doubt it. Your dog needs you to take care of his or her emotional needs just as much as Fido needs you to feed him and walk him and groom him. Your dog is communicating with you all the time. Can you interpret what your furry friend is telling you? 

You don’t have to be a dog whisperer to learn your dog’s language. You simply have to pay attention and talk to your dog just like you would talk to a child or even a close friend. The benefits of talking to your dog have been documented by researchers to include lower blood pressure, relief from pain, better breathing (even for those with allergies to fur and dog hair), and relief from depression.

Think about it. Your dog loves you unconditionally. Your dog will never buy into your negative self-talk. But when you put yourself down, this is reflected in your mood state and your appearance. It even affects your scent. Your fur baby is sensitive to all these things and responds accordingly. So, when you give off a depressed scent, and evidence depressed body language, your dog gets depressed! Yup, dogs do get depressed. And dogs are exquisitely sensitive to our feelings and moods. Dogs really are our best friends.

Naturally, you don’t want to depress your dog. Please – I am not giving you another thing to blame yourself for and become more depressed about. I am simply suggesting an avenue to help you get un-depressed and as part of the bargain, make your dog happier. I am not a dog whisperer. However, I love dogs and have owned many. Currently my best bud is Leo who is a 2 ½ year old German Shepherd. I have trained him to be a therapy dog. Therefore, he is hypersensitive to the moods of people around him. In my clinical psychotherapy practice, I use dog-assisted therapy (DAT) to help depressed clients feel better more quickly. And you don’t have to own a dog to keep up the momentum. Just a few sessions of DAT can give you the necessary stimulation to get back on your feet. It is like ECT without any of the risks or negative side effects. 

If you would like more information about dog-assisted therapy, call Dr. Bruce Eimer in Boca Raton, FL at 561-377-1039 for a free consultation or visit www.bruceeimer.com. You’ll be glad you did.

Dr. Eimer proudly serves Boca Raton and all surrounding areas.

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Articles Depression Pain Relief

Multimodal Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression | Boca Raton, FL

If you are depressed, read this and call me anytime. . .

You know you are depressed when it is a struggle to get up in the morning. You don’t want to face the long day because you feel you have nothing meaningful to look forward to doing. Frequently, nighttime is a welcome part of your day because the day is over, and you do not need an excuse to rest. 

Depression is your mind and body telling you they are depleted. If you have been running on empty for a while, your functioning will naturally not be like it was before you lost your energy and drive. This changes your thinking patterns also. You think more concretely and you are not as sharp. Think back to a time in the past when you were not depressed but you were overly fatigued. Your thinking and performance were spotty. 

When you are depressed, your sleep patterns are disturbed, and it is difficult to get restorative sleep. So, you have less energy to run on during the day. This is the reason one component in the medical treatment of depression is the prescription of medication that can improve the architecture of your sleep. 

Depression needs to be treated multimodally. Medicine alone does not help you address the underlying issues that led to your depletion. An effective treatment program incorporates behavioral interventions, such as structuring your daily activities, affectively focused interventions to help you address the painful feelings you live with when you are depressed, sensory focused interventions to bring a little bit of pleasure – which is the opposite of pain, imagery focused interventions to transform some of the negative images in your mind’s eye, cognitive therapy interventions to change your negative thinking patterns, interpersonal interventions to get you back to having social experiences, and biological interventions such as drugs, diet and exercise.

The above seven types of interventions spell B.A.S.I.C. I.D.  If you would like to learn more about how I incorporate the B.A.S.I.C. I.D. in my Multimodal Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Depression (MCBT-D), give me a call and we can schedule a free consultation. Call 561-377-1039.

If you would like more information about Multimodal Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Depression, call Dr. Bruce Eimer in Boca Raton, FL at 561-377-1039 or visit www.bruceeimer.com.

Dr. Eimer proudly serves Boca Raton and all surrounding areas.

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Articles Depression Stress

COVID Fatigue | Boca Raton, FL

It has been a year since Covid-19 invaded 2020 and changed life as we knew it. By now, most people are suffering from COVID Fatigue. In fact, it has given rise to what I term Covid Fatigue Syndrome or CFS. The symptoms include boredom, anxiety, depression, anger, impatience, irritability, and impulsiveness. Many people feel like they can no longer wait to get out of COVID prison. People want out. People want to end the social isolation. This is understandable. However, we still need to be careful. Covid is no picnic. I went through it. You still need to take precautions. The consequences of carelessness can be devastating. Sometimes having someone to talk with who is an empathic listener with a solution-oriented mindset can help. If you are clinically depressed, brief solution-focused therapy can often help alleviate the depression. You could benefit from seeing a clinical psychologist to evaluate your depression. I am here to help. Call me at 561-377-1039 to schedule a free consultation. 

If you would like more information about Covid Fatigue Syndrome, call Dr. Bruce Eimer in Boca Raton, FL at 561-377-1039 or visit www.bruceeimer.com.

Dr. Eimer proudly serves Boca Raton and all surrounding areas.

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Depression Meditation Stress Uncategorized

What is Hypnotic Regression Therapy

There aren’t very many people who have a good understanding of what hypnotic regression therapy is – and what it can do. As soon as they hear the words “hypnotic regression,” some people automatically think of past-life regression. Rest assured; hypnotic regression therapy is something completely different. 

If you’ve ever spent any time on around rivers, you know that there can be powerful currents flowing beneath the surface of the water. The river might look calm and tranquil, but if you were to fall in, you might easily be swept away.

Your subconscious mind is like those currents, churning away beneath the surface of your conscious mind. You might not be aware of the powerful forces being exerted on your behavior by your subconscious mind.  

If your life seems like it’s going well – on the surface – but you are struggling with emotional undercurrents or sabotaging yourself, the thoughts, feelings and ideas churning away in your subconscious mind might be to blame. Hypnotic regression therapy can help access those subconscious thoughts and feelings and reduce their ability to impact your behavior.

Hypnotic Regression Therapy

As the experts at Good Therapy explain, “Regression therapyis an approach to treatment that focuses on resolving significant past events believed to be interfering with a person’s present mental and emotional wellness.”

According to John Ryder, Ph.D., a psychologist, hypnotherapist and the author of Positive Directions writing at PsychologyToday.com, “Hypnosis is one of the best ways to help people access those ‘buried’ memories. Everyone has memories or experiences in their unconscious mind that they may not be able to recall but still play a significant role in everyday life. Hypnotic regression is the process by which you enter a trance and recall material from deep inside that is normally not available to the conscious mind.”

Hypnotic regression therapy should only be undertaken by a licensed mental health professional who has been well trained in the use of clinical hypnosis and in hypnotic regression therapy theories and techniques. If you live in Boynton Beach, Delray Beach or Boca Raton, that licensed mental health professional can be Dr. Bruce Eimer. Dr. Bruce is a licensed psychologist and certified hypnotherapist living in Lake Worth. He is the co-author of two books on regression therapy and hypnoanalysis:

Ewin, D.M., & Eimer, B.N. (2006).  Ideomotor Signals for Rapid Hypnoanalysis: A How-To Manual. 

Hunter, C.R. & Eimer, B.N. (2012). The Art of Hypnotic Regression Therapy: A Clinical Guide.

If you would like more information about hypnosis and regression therapy, please contact us.

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Depression Meditation Stress Uncategorized

Feeling Stressed? Meditation Can Help

Everyone is feeling the stress and strains involved with staying home and staying safe. If you suffer from chronic pain, you probably don’t need us to tell you that stress like that can exacerbate your pain. Psychotherapy and hypnotherapy help chronic pain sufferers to cope. But you can’t spend the whole day talking to your licensed psychologist in Delray Beach. Fortunately, there are things you can do on your own that will help ease your stress and your pain.

Even if you’re in good health, the stress of the current situation can be hard to manage. Mindfulness Meditation is a great way to reduce stress and help you navigate these unchartered waters. Essentially, mindfulness means being present without judging.

The Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation

According to the Mayo Clinic, “Meditation can give you a sense of calm, peace and balance that can benefit both your emotional well-being and your overall health. And these benefits don’t end when your meditation session ends. Meditation can help carry you more calmly through your day and may help you manage symptoms of certain medical conditions.”

The health experts at the Mayo Clinic say that those medical conditions may include:

  • Anxiety
  • Asthma
  • Cancer
  • Depression
  • Heart disease
  • High blood pressure
  • Irritable bowel syndrome
  • Sleep problems
  • Tension headaches
  • And, yes – Chronic pain

Getting Started

Lots of people give up on meditation before they’ve even begun because they’re under the impression that meditation means stopping your brain from thinking and they know they could never quiet their brain to that extent. Good news – you don’t have to. It’s not about shutting down your thoughts; it’s about not getting caught up in all those stray thoughts that pop up in a continuing stream. It is about practicing being present and non-judgmental.

There are lots of different ways to meditate, from simple deep breathing exercises to yoga, which is considered meditation with movement. Do some exploring and find a method that works for you and try to make it part of your normal routine.

And if you are interested in incorporating mindful psychotherapy in your pain management arsenal, please contact the offices of Dr. Bruce Eimer, a licensed psychologist serving Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Boynton Beach. Dr. Bruce recently released his new book on Mindfulness Meditation. It is entitled Taming Chronic Pain: A Mindful Approach to Bringing Pain Relief.

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Depression Meditation Stress Uncategorized

Am I Depressed or Just Sad?

Many people looking for a licensed psychologist in the Delray Beach/Boca Raton area contact me because they are struggling with depression. Some are not sure what the problem is, they just know something is wrong. Others are familiar with the diagnosis of clinical depression and are interested in exploring the idea of hypnosis treatment for their depression.

If you think you might be depressed, you are not alone.  Estimates are that about one in every 15 adults will be affected by depression in any average year – and since this year is turning out to be anything but average – it wouldn’t be surprising to see those numbers grow.

It’s important to note, however, that being sad or feeling depressed about something – like the loss of a job as a result of Covid-19 – is not the same as having a diagnosis of clinical depression. If you lost your job or are worried about a loved one who might have been exposed to the virus, it would be only natural for you to be feeling down and/or scared. We all experience feelings of sadness; it’s a natural response when life serves up lemons, or when there is a lot of uncertainty as there has been as a result of COVID-19.

Symptoms of Depression

With clinical depression, you might be feeling down for no reason. And those feelings would last for at least two weeks, but usually longer.

Feeling sad is just one of many possible symptoms associated with depression. According to the American Psychiatric Association, if you suffer from clinical depression you may:

  • Lose interest in activities you once enjoyed
  • Experience changes in appetite, leading you to lose or gain weight
  • Have difficulty sleeping or may find yourself wanting to sleep all day
  • Feel worn out and fatigued
  • Feel worthless or guilty
  • Have difficulty thinking, concentrating or making decisions
  • Thoughts of death or suicide are also possible.

Don’t get discouraged! Depression is treatable. As a licensed psychologist serving Boynton Beach and Delray Beach, Dr. Bruce Eimer has extensive experience dealing with depression. If you would like information about hypnosis treatment for depression, contact us to arrange a free 15-minute phone consultation.

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Articles

The Gift of Hypnotic Pain Relief is the Gift That Never Stops Giving

This is because it is so liberating to be free of pain! When you are pain free, it is as if the pain was part of a bad dream you can’t remember much of.

  • If you suffer from chronic pain, book an private online or office  session with Dr. Eimer here.
  • Health professionals and hypnotherapists can learn how to give the gift of hypnotic pain relief at my live Pain Control Hypnosis Practitioner Courses as well as by taking this course online here.
  • If you are a professional hypnotherapist, complete our course, and return to your hypnotherapy practice prepared to teach client’s suffering in pain how to transform their daydreams of less pain into waking reality.

Some people are more complicated than others. When a client goes to a hypnotherapist for help and does not get better, it is never the client’s fault. It is that the therapist does not have the requisite skills, knowledge or personality to effectively help the client. Now hypnotherapists can acquire these skills here.

Training for hypnotherapists and health professionals.  We offer intensive one-day, two-day, and three-day fundamental and advanced Pain Control Hypnosis Practitioner courses. These courses are designed for professional hypnotherapists, physicians, physician assistants, nurses, chiropractors, physical therapists, occupational therapists, dentists, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and other mental health professionals. All of these practitioners see patients with severe acute and chronic pain in their respective fields, and are in a position to offer precise hypnotic pain relief if they know what to do and how to do it.

The real world of pain is a lot more complicated and much less black-and-white than the distinctions and generalizations given in textbooks or on this website. Effectively treating any patient or client with hypnosis for pain control demands empathy, compassion, wisdom, knowledge, technical know-how, experience, interest, good intentions, good training, and a competent intake evaluation. It also requires a thorough knowledge of hypnosis, good hypnosis training, and adequate knowledge of pain mechanisms, human physiology and neurology, and psychology.

Acute pain requires an appropriate medical or dental work up. If you can confidently and competently explain to a client or patient the cause of the client’s pain, if you know it, and how treating the cause will alleviate the pain, this is likely to reduce the client’s anxiety. However, if the patient’s work-up doesn’t identify a treatable or fixable cause, we must address the patient’s anxiety. It has been said that the fear of pain is often worse than the pain. This is so true, plus fear can make pain worse too.

Chronic pain also requires an appropriate medical or dental work up. However, chronic pain is way more complicated. Living with severe and unrelenting chronic pain makes most people experience some type of depression. And depression makes pain worse. Successful employment of hypnotic techniques for altering pain sensations and distracting the client his/her preoccupations with the pain requires that the client believes that you take him or her seriously and that you agree that the pain is real and NOT all in the client’s head.

FACT. All pain is real. With chronic pain, there is almost always old emotional baggage that needs to be released. Hypnosis practitioners learn how to do this effectively in our courses. The problem of controlling chronic pain is compounded when a patient is diagnosed with a medical condition that isn’t going to go away. Patients with chronic or debilitating medical conditions associated with persistent pain face the challenge of figuring out how to get along with their pain and somehow make peace with it.

It is the Pain Control Hypnosis Practitioner’s job to help patients with pain to accept their condition medically and accept responsibility for what they do about it.  

It is the Pain Control Hypnosis Practitioner’s job to help patients with pain build ego strength, self-confidence, self-love, find faith, develop curiosity, and mobilize courage in order to be able to learn new pain coping skills.

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Dr. Bruce Eimer emerging girl from trance

Emerging girl from trance and debriefing with her about her feelings and attitude about getting her medical school applications. She stated that she was now eager to get them done.

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Dr. Bruce Eimer doing street hypnosis with girl in dog park

This is a video of Dr. Eimer doing a rapid induction with a girl in the dog park. She agreed to videotape me on my iPhone doing a pitch for a class, and in return I hypnotized her to help her change her attitude about working on her applications for medical school. Up until today, she was procrastinating and unable to get them done.

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Videos

Dr. Bruce Eimer’s Short History of Hypnosis

Three thousands years of hypnosis history summarized in several minutes. Not possible you say?

Well think about the fact that hypnosis is so flexible that a hypnotized individual can re-experience a lifetime in trance in just several minutes of real time. An experience that occurred over years can be unconsciously reviewed in seconds. The language of hypnosis is the language of the imagination. Therapeutic or Clinical Hypnosis is just the well-directed use of the imagination. The human imagination knows no bounds.