Page 39 - Cindy Salas Murphy San Diego Woman Magazine

Women of Distinction

her first son Benjamin in the third year. ple don't realize how psychological problems How long the process takes is depen-
Grateful for a wonderful nanny who helped affect the rest of our lives. We try and push dent on how much trauma you have had
care for him, she presented her dissertation them aside and feel that we are being weak in your life, if you were one of the lucky
and earned her Ph.D. when he was just two. if we give into them. We tell ourselves that ones and your life hasn’t been chock full of
Gretchen started her private practice we can handle it. A lot of times it's better to trauma the healing doesn’t take long and
in Coronado then moved her practice to get it out. Some women (and men) are just will provide long-lasting results, for those
Scripps Ranch. She gave birth to her second afraid to do that. Often it is worse for men as with complex trauma the healing will take
son Jackson and as her boys grew so did they are raised to hide their emotions.” longer.
her practice “I started adding employees So, what is a first appointment like at Once the patient determines if I am a
to my roster and hiring some very talented Healthier Life Therapy? “I will get a pretty good fit for them and they feel comfortable
professionals. “I built up a group practice extensive history about them and their talking to me, then we would make our
with other therapists working under me. I family, and the events that their family next appointment. At this appointment, we
also trained new therapists who joined our
practice. I have a very unique modality
that I use that combines yoga and mind-
fulness with psychotherapy, which is not
as unique as it used to be when I started.
Today Dr. Pound and her husband Randy’s
two boys are Benjamin 18, and Jackson 13,
and her practice Healthier Life Therapy is
going strong.
I asked Gretchen to share why her
business was unique. “I focus on heal-
ing the core issue, rather than putting a
Band-Aid on it or finding ways to distract
away from the problem. I use the body as
a vehicle to help people heal their anxiety,
depression, trauma, etc.
Sometimes people are suffering
through what appears to be a medical prob-
lem, but it really is based on a psychological
problem. Our goal is to find the absolute
basis of the problem.
A lot of autoimmune diseases are rooted has been through. I ask this because a lot might start with something that was going
in emotions, often unprocessed emotions, of times we're not only carrying our own on in their life. For instance, if someone
or trauma. I have helped a lot of people with burdens, but we can also be carrying family said, I'm having panic attacks, I would ask
Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Lupus, Celiac burdens. So, that can be really useful infor- them to tell me about that. As they are
disease, endometriosis, and fibromyal- mation to learn about the family history. sharing their story, I will ask them to take a
gia. I don’t always cure the problem, but I I will then explain how I work through minute and close their eyes and just notice
help improve their symptoms making life the body. This is not talk therapy, it's not any sensations that are happening in their
significantly better for them.” I asked Dr. your normal type of therapy that the body. Often, they will speak of a symptom
Pound how long this process takes. “It varies patient might have done before. Dr. Pound they are experiencing for instance, ‘oh yeah,
depending on the patient. A lot of people is RU1200 registered yoga instructor 200 I'm feeling like my throat is closing up.’ I
don't realize how the emotions that they hours, a Reiki master, and an Ayurveda then ask them to focus on the sensation.
go through affect their health. Some of my Health Counselor, so she is able to utilize They may say that their throat is feeling
clients totally get it right away and it’s easy all of these elements to help her patients tight or warm. I then ask if any images or
for them to access through their bodies and heal. There are often a lot of questions memories are coming to them. One patient
their system. For other people, the concept about the process and a lot of times it's why said that she was recalling a time when she
is foreign to them, so it takes longer because they're coming to me, because my modality was about seven when her parents wouldn’t
their system won't allow the healing to easily is just a little different than, just coming in let her talk, or a teacher silenced her. She
happen. I think it truly depends on how and talking about your problems, which felt she didn’t have a voice and felt she
much protection you've built up in order to doesn't solve anything except it may make couldn’t speak up to defend herself. Once
survive the life that you're living.” you feel a bit better to get some of these she realized this, the panic attacks disap-
I found it so interesting to learn that so things off your chest. In the long run, that peared, and her throat was no longer tight.
many health problems are actually based on alone won’t fix your problems. That type of For some patients, they need to work out
psychological issues. Dr. Pound adds, “Peo- therapy keeps you in therapy forever. their trauma through their bodies and this

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