T
li f e q u a li t y r e s o u r c e s - l u c y ch a r t i e r , phd
By Lucy M. Chartier PhD, NP
O
ften when we become ill we feel
victims of that illness, embracing
the idea, for example, that a virus
attacked us and overwhelmed our immune
systems’ defenses. Or we accept our “fate”
of succumbing to cancer because our
mothers and grandmothers did, believing
that since the cancer is in our family DNA,
we have no control over the expression of
that potential.
Illness is real: we do have viral
invasions and expressions of DNA that
reveal themselves as morbidity. However,
contemporary science explicates an understanding many healers have held throughout history: our conscious and subconscious
beliefs shape the experiences we have, psychologiS el f- T r a n s f o r m a t i o n
cally, physically, and relationally—including the
“Truly the greatest gift you can give yourself
development of illness.
is that of your own self-transformation.” (Lao
Henry Ford famously stated: “Whether
Tzu) Deciding to release the chains that
you think you can or think you can’t, you’re
bind us to our past—our outdated beright.” This truth focuses on the conscious
liefs—allows us a first step in the process
belief system and the power of thought,
of self-transformation.
both positive and negative: If I believe
A patient I’ll call George came to me
that I can and will achieve my goal I am
after several years in psychotherapy with
likely to do so. If I doubt my abilities to
two different therapists in different cities.
achieve my goal, and sabotage my efforts
A “workaholic,” he understood that his
because of my doubts, I am unlikely to
success was “costing” him in terms of
accomplish the goal.
his relationships; he was driven to work
But what about people who appear
excessively nonetheless. The concept of
to be confident and who take all the right
“enough money” was foreign to him:
steps toward their goal, yet fail to reach it?
even though he had accumulated financial
Or those who accomplish a goal but don’t
wealth, he couldn’t stop earning more. The
feel satisfied? One explanation is that their relational “cost” was two lost marriages.
subconscious beliefs are in conflict with
He coped with his loneliness by having
their stated—or conscious—beliefs.
affairs, and, in the process, contracted
The subconscious mind harbors
sexually transmitted diseases. He ate and
doubts and wounds from earlier in life, the drank to excess to manage his stress and
residue of past failures or messages we’ve
guilt and developed hypertension, hyperabsorbed from our parents, teachers, and
cholesterolemia, and a peptic ulcer.
friends. Habitual ways of responding to
When I met him, George was angry,
life events, including underlying feelings
depressed, and ready to “give up.” Antideabout the self and deeply imbedded bepressant medications had provided unimliefs, arise from the subconscious mind.
pressive results and created difficult physical
These messages are powerful and most
and emotional side effects. So, medications
often are the driving forces of our lives. Our were no longer an option from his point
conscious minds seem to be overwhelmed
of view: he wanted something different.
by the constancy of the
He wanted to be differdeeper subconscious drive
ent. George was ready
to maintain the status quo,
and willing to experience
so we “give up” our efforts
a different paradigm
to combat what seems to
of healing that put him
be a losing battle with ourfirmly in the “driver’s
r. Chartier notes, “As
selves. We stop trying to
seat.” I provided guidance
referenced in The Bilose weight, for example,
and assistance to help him
ology of Belief, by Bruce
even though we want to
identify, clear, and balLipton, PhD, PSYCH-K, is
because we can’t seem to
ance what had been the
a new, scientifically-driven
stay with the (conscious)
auto-pilot of his life—the
therapy that helps people
plan for success.
beliefs of his subconfundamentally change deUltimately in order to
scious mind.
structive, unhealthy subachieve well-being we must
Using an integrated
conscious beliefs and pataddress, clear, and balance
approach drawing upon
terns of behavior. Nexalin
the underlying (subconmultiple therapies includAdvanced Therapy is transcious) beliefs we hold
ing Nexalin Advanced
scranial electrical stimulaabout ourselves in order to
Therapy/transcration, a brief therapy that adbe free of that which binds
nial electrical stimulation
dresses depression, anxiety,
us to the past and pro(TES), PSYCH-K, and
and insomnia. Both of these
motes our dis-ease. Then
self-regulation training,
therapies are available at
we are able to construct
George began his transLife Quality Resources, in
new beliefs that are relevant
formation.
addition to biofeedback and
for our present selves, the
The therapeutic
neurofeedback.
“self ” we want to claim, to
processes we used helped
craft, and maintain.
George release the
“
he subconscious mind harbors doubts
and wounds from earlier in life, the residue
of past failures or messages we’ve absorbed
from our parents, teachers, and friends.”
Powerful
Unconscious Beliefs
new
approaches
D
background “noise”
of the subconscious
mind. Those messages
had continued to play
the self-limiting beliefs
that undermined the
conscious beliefs he
had already changed.
For instance, although
he knew working
excessive hours was
not in his best interest,
he continued the behavior. Beliefs held in
his subconscious mind
were more dominant
and powerful than his
conscious beliefs.
Min d -B o dy
Th e r a py :
Biological
Feedback Loops
integrity, and partnership. He lost weight,
developed healthy eating patterns, joined
a health club and really used it. He learned
how to be kind and tolerant of others.
George transformed himself.
Christopher Reeve said, “If we accept that the mind/body connection can
produce harmful effects, then we can
assume that the same connection has a
healing power as well.” George is a shining
example of this truth. h&h
Dr. Chartier is an advanced practice registered
nurse. She holds a BS in nursing and master’s
degrees in psychiatric nursing, clinical psychology, and humanistic education. Her PhD is in
clinical psychology. Dr. Chartier has extensive
experience in the development and support of
human potential and consciousness, and psychopharmacology.
Number 4
Originally published in Health & Healing in the Triangle, Vol. 15, No. 4, Health & Healing, Inc., Chapel Hill, NC, publishers. Reprinted with permission.
For further information about
neurofeedback, biofeedback and
psychotherapeutic services
offered by Dr. Lucy Chartier and
Dr. Dan Chartier and their
associates, contact:
LIFE QUALITY RESOURCES
5613 Duraleigh Road, Suite 101
Raleigh, NC 27612
Telephone: (919) 782-4597
www.LifeQualityResources.org
h e a l t h & h e a l i n g • V o l u m e 15
The therapies we chose helped
address the psychological, emotional, and
physical expressions of conflict. We know
that physiological changes occur in the
brain when we give appropriate feedback.
These physiological changes support
behavior changes that become permanent.
This is important because people want to
be healthy, stable, and complete in their
psychological work. They want to be free
from the past and able to move forward
without repeating the old lessons over and
over again. So we moved beyond traditional “talk” therapy to methods that worked
more directly with biological feedback
loops.
These processes promoted neurological “re-wiring,” and thus fundamentally
changed cellular memory. George consciously and subconsciously forgave himself and others who had contributed to
his false notions of himself. He was able
to find peace. From his place of peace and
balance George was thus able to establish
new, healthy beliefs and behaviors because he was able to stop subconsciously
sabotaging himself. He was able to identify
new, healthy goals that honored his new
belief structure.
George continued to work because he
loved his work, but he decreased his hours,
allowing him to develop hobbies and to
learn how to play. Ultimately, he developed
a relationship that was built on honesty,
Dr. Chartier