Sharing Information with Clients

When I talk to clients about the results of their consult and give them suggestions about lifestyle changes they can make I find it is essential to give them reasons for those changes. Often, people have been told the same things all their life - "eat right", "eat more vegetables", "don't eat so much meat", "don't eat so much bread", "exercise more". What you need to do is describe to them what EXACTLY their habits are doing to THEM to cause THEIR issues (that they have described to you). This description will often be different for different clients. For example, if a client is consuming too many starches and/or too much bread and they are overweight I may talk to them about how starches help you gain weight. If a client complains of irregular menses I may talk to them about how starches can put your menses out of sync. In addition, giving details can make your evaluation more effective too. Clients often appreciate details such as ingredients, scientific studies or more. However, you must also remember that clients need to hear things in laymen's terms and you need to make it as short as possible. They don't always have time to read that entire book that inspired you or even to take a course. This is why I enjoyed the following article so much. The following article is one of the most effective ones I have seen to date that describes the dangers of fast food in an effective, yet concise way. I have files it away to share with future clients. I am sending the link to you so you can do the same.

The Shocking Facts About Fast Food
We all know it is bad but this article has some great DETAILS...
http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/45380/4-shocking-secrets-about-fast-food/

Client Tips: The Short Checklist

When I return a client consult form with their results I make sure I check the following items so I am sure I have provided them with the best program possible. This is the short list of items I go over in my head:

I always make sure my clients are "on track" with a number of things - this is my brief check-list:

1. Sleep - quantity, quality and rhythm

2. Diet - quality, proportion of healthy and unhealthy foods, amount of sugar in diet, amount of wheat in diet, amount of vegetables and fruits in diet, drinks consumed, amount of caffeine in diet, rhythm of diet, times and amounts eaten.

3. Lifestyle - stress factors (even exciting things), repetitive movements like working on a computer for hours at a time or sleeping on your arm at night, walking with the same shoes daily, etc...

4. Exercise - gentle -vs- intense, how often and does it include stretching?

5. Spiritual life - find a comfortable place

6. Personal relationships - need to resolve conflicts

7. Finances - bad-vs-good, develop coping mechanisms

8. Herbs and supplements - make sure they are the right ones, being taken at the right times, for the correct length of time and that they are quality supplements. Make sure the client does not have any contraindications in their condition or temperament to that therapy.

Each of these is just as important as the next one. There is not one that is more important than the other (although exercise, positive thought and spirituality have shown evidence that they may be) so each must be considered.

If you have any favorite consulting client tips please share them with other students on the list.

Blessings & Health,
Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND

Client Consulting: Depression

Question:
I am almost ready to send in my 1st answers. I have a question about one of my client's and her son if you can help - The boy has been put on alot of medicines and labeled anything the parents asked about.so they have him on only 1 med but would love to get him off it and help him His moods are way up or way down and then she gets depressed also. I wondered if you had any specific reflexology tips to use on them I am also going to use reiki on them since I just finished reiki11.

Answer:
I would recommend doing a temperament evaluation on him and seeing which temperament he is first. In terms of mood swings it is really essential to know where the "normal" is for that temperament. For example the Sanguine has mood swings as a normal part of their life - it is called "seasons" and any extreme can be balanced, but cannot be eliminated. The melancholic can often go into depression and then out but the swings are usually not extreme. This is also normal. The choleric does not usually stay in a depressed mood for long at all. They snap out of things quickly so if they stay depressed that is bad. The phlegmatic can seem depressed most of the time. They just function at a slower pace and take things in stride more and don't get too excited about things although they can get very angry when pushed out of their comfort zone (which is much smaller than most people) so they CAN exhibit signs of mood swings if they are in their comfort zone they can seem depressed (but they are not) and when they get pulled out of it they can get really angry and lash out to protect themselves. It is really good to know this baseline first.

Secondly it is good to check his sleep habits and eating habits. Any caffeine at all will up his testosterone levels and hormone fluctuations can wreak havoc on a young kid. Also, in general check his rhythms - any "mood swings" are usually an indication that some rhythm in his life is off kilter - it could be his sleep rhythms, eating rhythms (sugar and junk foods - caffeine, etc...foods that cause big ups and downs can throw this off), lifestyle rhythms, etc...any thing like this can cause mood swings as it is the body's attempt to get itself back into balance.

The meds themselves can cause mood swings so also make sure they chart his mood swings and chart when he takes the meds. He MUST take the meds at the exact same time every day. This is essential for mood meds but a lot of people don't realize this.

In general, they can chart his mood swings and show you the chart after a week or two and that can also help. Also, can they/you be more descriptive about mood swings? How does he exhibit them? What are they like?

Hope this helps!

It really depends on the reason as to which herb he should take or which reflexology points you should use. Does he need an herb for hormone balance? For help sleeping? To balance blood sugar? Etc...