By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Mindfulness can help people train themselves to get unstuck from a vicious cycle of negative thinking, often a cornerstone of trauma.” – Jennifer Wolkin Experiencing trauma is quite common. It has been estimated that 60% of men and 50% of women will experience a significant traumatic event during […]
By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Meditation gives you the wherewithal to pause, observe how easily the mind can exaggerate the severity of a setback, and resist getting drawn back into the abyss.”— Richie Davidson We’re very emotional creatures. Without emotion, life is flat and uninteresting. Emotions provide the spice of life. We […]
By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Mind-body exercise offers a low-cost approach that could be used as a complement to traditional psychotherapy or drug treatments. These self-directed practices give PTSD patients control over their own treatment and have few side effects.” – Sang H. Kim Experiencing trauma is quite common. It has been […]
By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Meditation isn’t a magic bullet for depression, as no treatment is, but it’s one of the tools that may help manage symptoms.” – Alice Walton Depression is the most common mental illness affecting over 6% of the population. It is debilitating by producing any or all of […]
Brain damage is more or less permanent. The neurons and neural structures that are destroyed when the brain is damaged for the most part do not regrow. Acquired Brain Injury is a form of brain damage caused by a number of different events from a violent blow to the head (Traumatic Brain Injury, TBI), to […]
By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Tai Chi Chuan, the great ultimate, strengthens the weak, raises the sick, invigorates the debilitated, and encourages the timid.” –Cheng Man-ch’ing The aging process involves a systematic progressive decline in every system in the body, the brain included. The elderly frequently have problems with attention, thinking, and […]
Improve Chronic Fatigue Syndrome with Tai Chi By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Tai chi does not mean oriental wisdom or something exotic. It is the wisdom of your own senses, your own mind and body together as one process.” – Chungliang Al Huang Myalgic encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) occurs in about […]
Improve Shoulder Pain with Brief Meditation By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Mindfulness also helps deconstruct the pain: Rather than seeing it as a solid block that has taken over a part of your body, you go into the pain and see moments of pressure, moments of burning, moments of iciness, etc,” – […]
Psychedelic Drug Treatments have Little or No Adverse Side Effects By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Flashbacks and psychosis can happen to anyone, but research has shown that they are more often observed in patients with a history of psychological problems.” – Buddy T Psychedelic substances such as peyote, mescaline, LSD, Bufotoxin, ayahuasca and psilocybin have […]
Reduce Opioid Dosage in Chronic Pain Patients with Mindfulness By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “It’s clear that when it comes to tackling pain, it takes all of the tools in the toolkit. And when it comes to opioids, the approach needn’t be all or nothing. . . the combination of medicine plus […]