Dr. Stacy Raymond, Psy.D.
Ridgefield, CT
drstacyraymond@gmail.com
203-493-0344
Mind/Body/Spirit Approach to Illness
Many experts in mind/body healing believe we may contribute to the creation of our own physical pain, illness and disease with our negative thoughts and feelings. Bernie Siegel, MD, Andrew Weil, MD, Deepak Chopra, MD, and Caroline Myss, PhD, are some popular, well-published names in the field. Dr. Raymond has helped many clients find symptom relief from illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, headaches, back pain, cancer and arthritis, as underlying negative beliefs and feelings are identified and released. When emotional pain resolves, oftentimes physical pain is relieved as well. The greatest culprits: guilt and shame, anger and resentment, and lack of forgiveness of self and others.
Trauma Resolution with EMDR
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. EMDR is a cutting edge energy psychology approach resulting in the rapid relief of emotional distress linked to disturbing memories of past events. Dr. Raymond's early training is in traditional psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy. These approaches, although effective, take much longer and results are not as dramatic and satisfying as those achieved through EMDR. Simply put, pain and dysfunction result when memories are not successfully processed and integrated into the self concept at the time of the trauma. Traumatic memories are stored in a raw, isolated state, unable to be balanced by the warehouse of healthier, more positive, memories within the self concept. If left unprocessed, these memories cause emotional and physical problems. EMDR permits the "stuck" memory to be adaptively processed and "appropriately filed", no longer evoking distress. Please visit http://www.emdria.org/ for more information.
The 6 minute CBS News video below shows how EMDR is used to treat PTSD
Stress Management with HeartMath®
Dr. Raymond trains all interested clients with a simple biofeedback tool created by the Institute of HeartMath called Inner Balance. Inner Balance is an App you can download to your iphone or ipad that helps you relax anywhere anytime in just a few minutes. It requires the purchase of an ear sensor input ($129 - $159 depending on your smart phone or tablet) that measures a client's heart rate variability (HRV). HRV is a very sensitive measure of nervous system balance. If a person is stressed, the screen shows chaos and the color red; if a person is calm, the screen offers a picture of a smooth wave and the color green. Dr. Raymond quickly and easily trains her clients with simple breathing and imagery exercises to reach a healthy state of calm. These exercises must be practiced to experience optimal health benefits, such as fewer anger outbursts, lower blood pressure, better sleep, decreased urges, improved academic performance, etc.