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...

Certificates and Transcripts

Dear Students,

I sent the following letter to a student today and wanted to share it with everyone else as well. This letter has now been posted to the FAQs section and student BLOG so you can easily find it in the future:

Dear (Student),

Once you complete a course you need to fill out the "Certificate Request Form" on the website at:

http://naturopathichealing.weebly.com/certificates.html

Because of the expense and time involved in sending the certificates they are sent in batches of three at a time. When you complete three courses I send you those three certificates. If you need one before that time you can opt to pay a rush fee of $15.00 for one certificate via Paypal to: herbnhome@yahoo.com

Transcripts are available any time for an additional $15.00 and $7.50 per additional transcript after the first request.

The following additional information can be found at the link above:

Because of the reduced "package" price for full time students, certificates for students of the Naturopathic Healing Course or Medicine of Avicenna course are sent after a student completes three courses. Certificates for students of individual courses are sent upon completion of the course and after the student has submitted the request form below. If you are a full student of the Naturopathic Healing Course or The Medicine of Avicenna you can request a certificate early by paying a "rush fee" below for each certificate requested. Upon receipt of the fee your certificate is sent by 2-day mail within a week.


Blessings & Health,
Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND

Quick Start Guide& New 2010 Tech Support for Students

You may need some time to adapt to the website or explore the many materials we have on the website. However, I don't want you to have to wait to use the program. Here are some quick start tips you can use to get started right away:

1. Go to your Homeroom and your Study Group. If you can't get to these right away please e-mail me and I will e-mail you your files while we work on some tech support.

2. Download (or receive by e-mail) your main course material E-book.

3. Print out this E-book or send it to Kinkos or Officemax to get printed. If you have it professionally printed it usually costs between $15.00 and $30.00 and includes binding (depending on the course). You can upload online and then have them send it to you or pick it up at the store.

As you start using the materials you will start to have questions and may then want to explore some of the videos, reference files, guides, student extras, FAQs and other resources that are available on the student website. If you have the time, I recommend that you at least skim those materials before you start. However, if you are looking for a quick way to start all you need to do is follow the five steps above.

If you have any trouble please fill out the tech support form at:
http://naturopathichealing.weebly.com/techsupport.html

This e-mail has now been added to the FAQs section of the website and the student BLOG so you can easily find it again in the future.

Blessings & Health,
Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND
www.TheAvicennaInstitute.com

How to Find Replacements for Missing Course Links

Question: Dear Kristie, I was trying to finish up unit 5 of The Medicine of Avicenna but the sites except for the one about olive oil and henna will not work, all of the domains are for sale. Do you have those sites in your files or should I ignore it. I'm not sure what to do.

Answer:

When you need to find files that are missing or have a question you can check here at the FAQs on the new website or you can still check the BLOG. Here is an example of what you would find at the BLOG:

http://naturopathichealingcourse.blogspot.com/search/label/Missing%20Files

Help categories can be found in the right hand column.

The best place to find replacement links and help, however, IS this new website. For the answer to your question (where can you find some of the broken or missing herbal links?) you can visit the main student website and scroll down the left hand side to the fourth section called "resources". You will find the first webpage is called "Broken Link Replacements".

If these links do not help you please send me the EXACT LINKS that you are missing so I can add more replacement links to this page. Thank you!

Herbs and Medicine in Germany

I was doing research for an article today and stumbled upon this paragraph. It has nothing to do with the article I am writing, but it was such a good description of "what is wrong" with our way of looking at medicine I wanted to share it here:

(source: http://cms.herbalgram.org/commissione/intro/ceherbsingermany.html)

One of the driving forces that has resulted in mainstream acceptance of phytomedicine in Germany is the inclusion of phytotherapy in the medical and pharmacy school curricula. In the opinion of several medical groups, "modern phytotherapy is not perceived as alternative medicine, but as a part of so-called traditional medicine" [i.e., conventional medicine] (Schilcher, 1997c). Since 1993 all medical school students in Germany must successfully complete a portion of their board examinations in the area of phytotherapy as a precondition for practicing medicine (Schilcher, 1991). Medical education on medicinal plants and phytomedicines includes regular lectures in universities and medical schools, four one-week courses with 26 hours of lectures in phytotherapy in Weiterbildung (continuing education), lectures and courses in Fortbildung (postgraduate education), the publication of scientific literature (papers and books), the Commission E Monographs, and directions on product uses according to section 11 of the Second Medicines Act (AMG 76) (Schilcher, 1991, 1997c).