Retrain the Brain for Chronic Illness | Anxiety and Stress Relief, Immune Dysregulation, Nervous System Regulation, Food and Chemical Sensitivities, Mindbody Healing

Join me for episode 71 where I will talk about how to use your mind to optimize the healing capacity of your body. These are practices that you can pursue on your own, outside of MAP sessions, that are complementary to MAP or any other form of neural retraining.
While MAP is a fast and gentle method of releasing emotions, changing patterns of negative thoughts, quieting the inner critic, changing beliefs and perspectives, and even changing patterns of behavior like people-pleasing -- there is more that you can do with your conscious mind.
In this episode I discuss:
- The role of stress and how it affects your healing capabilities.
- How stress blocks all restorative functions of the body
- 7 ways you could be using your mind to prolong chronic illness
- Conscious versus subconscious sources of stress.
- How MAP sessions can help with subconscious sources of stress and negative mental patterns.
- How the predisposition to chronic illness is often established in the subconscious mind by traumatic events in childhood.
- 10 ways to manage your conscious mind to promote healing
- Helpful practices you can incorporate into your day to optimize wellness.
If you enjoyed this episode, you may be interested in the related episodes that were mentioned: Episode 30: The Impact of Trauma on Chronic Health Issues, Episode 52: MAP for Painful Memories and Episode 60: MAP for the Emotional Causes of Illness.
To learn more about the MAP Method, please visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at TCNeuralRetraining.com.

Join me for episode 70 where my client, Dr. Alia Paquette, joins me again to ask even more questions about the MAP Method and how it works. Having had 20 or more MAP sessions herself over the last 2 years, she is well acquainted with the Method.
To hear her story about how MAP Method sessions have helped her through traumatic times, including a bout of pancreatic cancer, please listen to my conversation with her in episode 67.
In this episode we discuss:
- How practitioners use muscle checking to guide a MAP session.
- How the Practitioner monitors multiple streams of information during a session.
- How MAP Practitioners protect themselves from taking on the trauma of their clients.
- The value of working with a MAP Practitioner includes having cleared enough of our own stuff to be a clear channel for others, and being able to identify patterns in others.
- Why MAP sessions are gentle, easy and private. Unlike talk therapy you don’t have to share too much about the painful memory you want to work with.
- In the MAP Method your subconscious mind is healing itself.
- How we work with children in MAP Method sessions.
- How my work with the MAP Method has influenced my relationship with Western medicine.
- How emotional balance sets us up for optimal health.
- How engaging in the MAP process enhances other treatment methods.
- The resources that I provide as part of my practice for those that are interested in learning more.
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t miss part I of this conversation in Episode 68: Understanding MAP with Dr. Alia Paquette, where we discuss her first set of questions about the MAP Method and how it works.
To learn more about the MAP Method, please visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses.
To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at TCNeuralRetraining.com

Join me for episode 69 where we talk with my client, Susan, about her experiences with the MAP Method and how MAP helped her to overcome 10+ years of chronic illness.
Hear how she came to understand that there was a trauma connection and how MAP Method sessions proved more effective than other modalities she tried including somatic work, counseling, EMDR or tapping.
In this episode we discuss:
- The connection between trauma and chronic illness and how she learned from her chronic illness specialist that 80-90% of patients have a significant trauma history.
- The experience of a MAP session and how Susan knew that MAP was changing something at a fundamental level in her mind.
- How she came to MAP with a desire to release the trauma her body was holding, and to resolve her chronic fight-flight-freeze response.
- How sessions have helped her to know herself better and realize that she was living her life in a small way.
- The benefits she noted after 4 sessions, and after 6 sessions as her confidence increased and her brain fog resolved.
- Her observation that things that used to be triggering aren’t anymore which frees up a lot of energy for living and healing.
- How we work with the subconscious mind during sessions and uncover important associations.
- Why Susan describes MAP as “beautifully simple” and “way more effective than I even hoped.”
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t miss Episode 60: MAP for Emotional Causes of Illness where I describe the research of Candace Pert, PhD on the biochemistry of mind body medicine and the benefit of working with the emotions to promote healing.
To learn more about the MAP Method, please visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at MindReMAPforHealth.com

Join me for episode 68 where my client, Dr. Alia Paquette asks her pressing questions about the MAP Method and how it works. Having had 20 MAP sessions herself over the last 2 years, she is well acquainted with the method.
To hear her story about how MAP Method sessions have helped her through tough times, including a battle with pancreatic cancer, please listen to my conversation with her in the previous episode.
In this episode we discuss:
- How we set up each MAP session and what happens in the introductory session.
- The experience of the practitioner during a MAP session.
- How the MAP Practitioner uses muscle-checking to guide the session.
- The science behind the MAP Method and resources for learning more.
- How did you know that MAP was something you wanted to learn? What was your personal experience with MAP?
- How has working with the MAP Method impacted your spiritual beliefs?
- The principle of oneness and how it represents a coming together of science and spirituality and religion.
If you enjoy this episode, don’t miss Episode 67: MAP for Serious Illness to hear Alia’s story about MAP for multiple traumas including cancer, and how she incorporates MAP sessions into her self-care routine.
To learn more about the MAP Method, please visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses.
To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at MindReMAPforHealth.com

Join me for episode 67 where we talk with my client, Dr. Alia Paquette, about her experience with the MAP Method and how MAP supported her through a harrowing 1 ½ year journey with pancreatic cancer, from diagnosis to surgery, ensuing complications, and painful recovery.
Hear how she incorporates MAP sessions as a part of her self-care routine, along with acupuncture, and why she calls it “EMDR on steroids.”.
In this episode we discuss:
- Dr. Alia’s interest, as a primary care physician, and in helping her patients find the resources that will work for them.
- How Western medicine’s mental health support options, which include antidepressants, talk therapy, and EMDR, are often not enough.
- How she heard about the MAP Method and immediately signed up her partner for sessions, based on his significant trauma history.
- The impact of his first session and why she decided to try MAP herself., even though she did not have a trauma history.
- The sequence of traumas that befell her in the next 2-3 years, including the pandemic, wildfires, house fire, loss of pets, and a serious and prolonged health crisis, and how MAP has helped her cope.
- How she regards MAP sessions as ongoing self-care, similar to acupuncture or physical therapy.
- Why we have as a culture separated mind from body and why that has to change.
- Why she understands the brain to be “the foundation of health.”
- How painful emotional experiences of any kind, even if they seem minor, can register in the brain as trauma.
- How she utilized MAP sessions to cope with every step of her pancreatic cancer journey, from the traumatic experiences around diagnosis, pre and post surgery, hospital experiences, life-threatening complications, extreme weight loss, additional procedures, and chronic gut and pain symptoms.
- Why she uses MAP sessions instead of talk therapy due to its efficiency and why she says MAP is so dramatically effective, so quickly.
- How loving yourself and prioritizing yourself is the way that you support your body and your health.
If you enjoy this episode, don’t miss Episode 35: MAP for Optimal Health and Fertility to hear Kristen’s story about MAP for hormonal imbalances, relationship stress, and sensitivities and her understanding of how MAP works.
To learn more about the MAP Method, please visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at MindReMAPforHealth.com

Join me for episode 66 where we talk with my client, Josie, about her experience with the MAP Method and what she has learned about how working with the mind impacts emotional, mental, and physical health.
Hear how the benefits she experienced have even extended to her relationships, and her role as a parent, and how she used the MAP for Sensitivities Program for food and mold sensitivities.
In this episode we discuss:
- How MAP compares to talk therapy and the benefits of working directly with the subconscious mind.
- Why her “mind was blown” by her first MAP session and what it felt like to have a traumatic memory neutralized.
- The immediate effects of a MAP session: more clarity, lightness, empowerment. Longer term effects include feeling more peaceful and like you’ve reorganized things in your brain.
- MAP for big T and little t traumas and how we can change the meaning of those events in a MAP session.
- How MAP sessions have improved her relationships and helped her be more intentional in parenting.
- Physical effects she has noted: resolution of stomach symptoms, elimination of food and mold sensitivities, less severe skin issues and improved sleep.
-How the Sensitivities program works with fears and the shift from a fear-based mindset to a more secure empowered mindset.
- The benefits of two years of MAP sessions in uncovering her authentic self, changing her personality in positive ways, and contributing to physical health.
If you enjoy this episode, don’t miss episode 62: MAP for Changing Your Relationship to Illness for more on how your attitude towards your symptoms and conditions could be the first thing, and the most important thing to change.
To learn more about the MAP Method and how it works, visit MAPforHealth.us for our free courses.
To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at MindReMAPforHealth.com

Join me for episode 65 where we talk with Sofie Hon, a top MAP Method™ coach in Singapore, and an instructor for the MAP Coaching Institute.
Hear about her work with the MAP Method and how she aspires to create a ripple effect by training leaders who then improve the lives of those around them and how her work as a MAP trainer supports students who seek to certify in the MAP Method.
In this episode we discuss:
- How Sofie first discovered the MAP Method in a Mastermind group.
- Her first experience of MAP and why she decided to train in it.
- Her specialty: helping leaders succeed in business, in coaching, and in parenting.
- Examples of clients she has helped.
- Her role as instructor at the MAP Coaching Institute.
If you enjoyed this episode, tune into my conversation with Colette Streicher, founder of the MAP Method in episode 29: The MAP Method Origins, Research, and Applications. You can also visit the MAP Coaching Institute’s website for more information about training as a MAP Coach.
To learn more about the MAP Method and how it could work for you, try one of our free courses at mapforhealth.us. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at TCNeuralRetraining .com

Join me for episode 64, where I talk about the relationship between finding your true nature and why it is often part of the work of recovering from chronic illness. I will discuss how we use the MAP Method to address blocks and barriers you may have developed to your authentic self.
I will talk about my own insights from working with clients as well as the those of Martha Beck as summarized in her book, Finding Your Way in a Wild New World, including her description of the type of person most often affected by chronic illness and the four essential technologies that she advocates for learning to turn things around, which are also utilized by my own work with the MAP Method.
In this episode I’ll discuss:
- Why burying our true nature makes us vulnerable to chronic illness.
- How finding and reclaiming your authenticity is often part and parcel of recovering your health.
- Martha Beck’s description of her tribe of wayfinders or menders: the highly sensitive, intuitive, mission-driven person and how it relates to the type of person I see in my practice.
- The 4 technologies of magic, as described by Martha Beck: Wordlessness, Oneness, Imagination and Forming.
- How I utilize these four technologies in MAP Method sessions.
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t miss episode 61: MAP for Personality Traits that Predispose to Chronic Illness for additional background on how repressive emotional coping styles increase lifetime risk of chronic health issues.
To learn more about the MAP Method and how it works, visit mapforhealth.us for our free courses.
To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at MindReMAPforHealth.com

Join me for episode 63 where we talk with my client, Wendi, about her experience with MAP Method sessions for chronic gut and immune issues and severe headaches.
Hear about her experience and how her physical symptoms improved along with other positive benefits including more mental clarity and focus, personal insights and a feeling of empowerment.
In this episode we discuss:
- How Wendi came to the conclusion that there was something subconscious that was causing her symptoms.
- How she had tried talk therapy, nutrition, and functional medicine to address her symptoms: gut, immune and bladder function, headaches, restricted diet.
- Why being a highly sensitive person (HSPs) can predispose us to chronic health issues and how MAP can help..
- Why she describes the results of MAP sessions as “dramatic” and how the emotional charge around a trauma can dissipate even in one session.
- How the MAP Method helps to get to the roots of behavioral patterns and relieves subconscious sources of stress you don’t even realize you are carrying.
- How she describes the process of MAP sessions as mental house cleaning and how it has helped her grow into a better version of herself.
- How she uses the MAP audio files and finds them helpful between sessions.
- Why MAP is an important key that can help you unravel layers of subconscious stress quickly, easily and peacefully.
- The variety of topics we can work with in a MAP session: painful memories, conditioned behaviors, compulsions, triggers for symptoms, negative repetitive thoughts, etc.
- How lifelong patterns of behavior can be changed by working directly with the subconscious in sessions.
- Why Wendi feels that MAP sessions would be beneficial for most everyone, especially sensitive, empathic people.
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t miss episode 61: MAP for Personality Traits that Predispose to Chronic Illness which describes how repressive emotional coping styles increase lifetime risk of chronic health issues.
To learn more about the MAP Method and how it works, visit mapforhealth.us for our free courses. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at MindReMAPforHealth.com

In episode 62, I’m going to talk about why your relationship with illness can actually be hindering your recovery.
This is a concept that is part of my new program, MAP for Self-Healing. I call it Changing Your Relationship to Illness, and although the stress of chronic symptoms and health issues will be the subject of this podcast episode, the same principle applies to any difficulty you face.
In this episode I will talk about my insights from working with clients as well as the work of others, including Byron Katie and Anita Moorjani.
We’ll discuss how your stance toward illness –either fighting it, fleeing in fear, or withdrawing and freezing– may be triggering the stress response and how advanced neural retraining may be helpful.
In this episode I’ll discuss:
- The stress response (fight/flight/freeze) and how negative thoughts prevent recovery by inhibiting the restorative functions of the body.
- Why the person with chronic illness can have hundreds of stress responses each day.
- How most people’s response to adversity and illness is fear and resistance.
- Why fearful and fighting thoughts lead to desperation, frustration, helplessness and powerlessness.
- A few guiding lights: Anita Moorjani, Gerald Jampolsky, MD.
- Frank Bruni’s book, The Beauty of Dusk and what it has to teach us about the power of a positive mindset.
- The work of Byron Katie and her exercises for turning thoughts around.
- How MAP sessions can be a powerful way to change patterns of emotional, mental and behavioral responses.
- Why working with the mind is complementary to traditional medicine, functional, and alternative approaches.
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t miss episode 60: MAP for Emotional Causes of Illness where I discuss the biochemistry behind mind body medicine and the benefit of working with emotions to promote healing.
To learn more about the MAP Method and how it works, visit mapforhealth.us for our free courses. To schedule an Introductory MAP session please book online at MindReMAPforHealth.com