Moodle at CCNM

Our mission as physicians is to assist and facilitate the healing of our patients. Before that can happen,the physician has to heal himself. They must practice walking their talk. The more doctors are able to heal themselves mentally, emotionally and physically, the greater will be the good they will be able to do for others. It’s a simple premise that makes all the sense in the world. My presentation is meant to empower doctors through utilizing and embracing certain techniques and practices that provide them with the means to change and heal themselves. These techniques are easily integrated into one’s lifestyle through simple repetition and discipline. The Physician Heal Thyself program both stimulates and motivates the participant to make the changes to work on themselves so they can better relate and heal their patients.

This presentation explores the construct psycho-neuro-intracrinology, which represents a complex system that is psychological, neurological and intracrinological and reveals a mind-brain continuum within the person. The example of women during the midlife transition provides a model of the development of personality and the ontogenesis of self with implications for women across the lifespan and to men through similar neurohormonal mechanisms. This lecture focuses on the nature of consciousness and the self and the biochemical mechanisms explaining the scientific and clinical applications of the psychoneurointracrine hypothesis. Two neurobiological theories of the mind-brain continuum are advanced: (1) the theory of psychoneurointracrine autopoiesis explains how the regulation of a steroid’s receptor is modulated by the person’s perception of experience and sense of well-being, and (2) the theory of emergent global states explains how limbic projections from the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal and adrenal axes regulate the reactive and anticipatory response to stress. This construct extends knowledge of the mind-brain relationship, the person-centered approach to science, and the growth-oriented dimension of personality.

Helping patients find the right balance between what they ‘know’ they ‘should’ eat, what they actually eat, and how they feel after eating can be a key to increasing health and vitality. How do we as providers guide our clients/ patients towards increased health and away from black and white, good and bad, shaming approaches to food choice? In the spectrum of ordered to disordered, the psychology of eating is a complex topic that links everyday human experiences with motivation, faith, intuition, and, potentially, struggle. In this engaging presentation, I’ll encourage the participants to consider a variety of more wholistic approaches (Mindful Eating, Intuitive Eating, Health at Every Size, Body Respect) to food and eating and body image. Then, we’ll examine complex spectrum of hyper- and hypo- controlled eating and provide insight on how guide patients in finding balance through flexible food choices for increasing overall health and wellbeing.

Evidence is strong that post-traumatic stress disorder is most effectively treated with an integrative medical approach. Two cases of triathletes will be presented to illustrate this: one patient had sustained an electrocution injury, the other had been hit by a drunk driver and saw his mother killed in the accident. This presentation will include the use of pharmaceutical medications as well as psycho-spiritual and naturopathic interventions. Specific medications discussed include oxycontin, lorazepam, metformin, duloxetine, testosterone, and triamcinolone acetonide.

We know that people experience and heal from trauma differently. Have you ever wondered why herbal and other therapies that should be effective don’t seem to work in some cases? The emerging field of psychogenetics offers important insights that can help us better individualize our herbal, flower-essence and nutritional therapies and to help people truly heal. We’ll begin with an overview of basic genetic variances that raise the risk of developing PTSD and discuss how to identify them in practice – with or without genetic testing. Using those insights we’ll differentiate among different herbs, flower essences and nutrients for each PTSD subtype.

In this first of two talks, Dr. Korn provides an in-depth overview of a non-ideological approach to the art and science of integrative and functional nutrition for mental health. We will explore the use of bioidindividual diets, ranging from carnivore to vegetarian in mental health including the use of specific foods and botanicals along with nutritional supplements such as vitamins, minerals, special nutrients, and glandulars to treat depression, anxiety, PTSD and insomnia. We will explore foundational nutrients, protocol design and issues of program adherence and personality. Finally, we will touch upon helping people decrease or eliminate psychotropic use by using an integrative approach.

In Naturopathic health care, we often see complex chronic illnesses that are unexplained or illexplained within allopathic medicine. Understanding emotional trauma, especially early life and population based, can offer us unique insight into the etiology of these illnesses, which can ultimately improve patient outcomes.  This workshop begins with a primer on the physiology of stress and trauma. We then follow the path of stress through the body to offer a fun and interactive overview of the long term consequences of emotional trauma, such as autoimmune disease, diabetes and thyroid disorders. We end with an overview of when and how to provide interventions for trauma: who to refer to for trauma treatment and how to shift the faulty physiologocial mechanisms of trauma.

Over the past several decades, we have gained immense insight into the world of the human microbiome. The observations made using techniques like Fecal Microbiota Transplant and microbial sequencing are contributing to a new paradigm of what it means to be human. We now know we are not alone in our own bodies. We are a compilation of trillions of microbes and human cells working together as an ecosystem with the bulk of this ecosystem residing in our colon. This ecosystem and the repercussions of its health are now being investigated outside the local GI system. The colonic microbiome is communicating with our brain through neuroimmune, neuroendocrine, and direct sensory input. The bi-directional role this gut-brain axis has on health expands our understanding of what GI and mental health really means.

This presentation will provide an in-depth understanding of Mindfulness (what it is and how it is practiced), its benefits in health, wellness and healing (for patient, doctor and the therapeutic relationship) and provide specific direction for its application and integration into Naturopathic Clinical Care. Drawing from over 30 years of using Mindfulness in my own Naturopathic practice, case studies will be shared that illustrate its effectiveness in the clinical treatment of a variety of conditions.The latest research will be presented on how Mindfulness positively impacts neuroplasticity, epigenetics and resilience to enhance the healing process. We’ll discuss how to integrate Mindfulness into clinical practice to create new neural pathways, affect genetic expression and enhance cellular and self-adaptation to life, stress and trauma. We will discuss the importance of the Therapeutic Relationship as an integral component of a patient’s healing process and use Mindfulness and compassion as a means to cultivate unconditional presence in the practitioner as a means of enhancing the therapeutic relationship and interpersonal neurobiology. This will be a practical and experiential session that will explore the benefits of becoming a Mindful Practitioner and provide instruction on how to integrate and apply Mindfulness in client treatment to improve clinical results and outcome.

Sue Sierralupe discusses the four most common mental health conditions she sees in her street clinic in Eugene, Oregon, including anxiety, schizophrenia syndrome and symptoms, substance abuse and several forms of depression. She shares the herbal and nutritional protocols that have been most effective clinically along with principles of patient-centered care. Conditions discussed include: Anxiety disorders including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, dissociative identity disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder; Schizophrenia syndrome and temporary schizophrenia symptoms; Substance abuse including cigarettes, alcohol or drugs; Depression including bipolar disorder, peripartum depression, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, situational depression, atypical depression, persistent depressive disorder, seasonal affective disorder, and major depression.

This presentation will focus on trauma and its importance in the diagnosis and treatment of physical symptomology and illness. We will begin with a quick overview of the different levels of the “Map of the Human System” to identify how trauma affects each level of the human system from the Mental, to the Emotional, Energetic and Physical. We will then define trauma and discuss several different types of trauma.From there, we will study the Trauma Layering System in the Emotional level, examining the emotions and beliefs within each layer which ultimately result in symptomology and illness on the physical level.An experiential exercise will accompany this presentation so that participants may discover trauma from a personal exploration. Case histories will be provided throughout the presentation.

Neuroinflammation is present undetected in many of our patients resulting in cognitive decline, mood disorder, chronic pain and a variety of chronic neurologic diseases. Even though neuroinflammation causes a great deal of morbidity, surprisingly there are a vast number of naturopathic modalities that have proven exceptionally effective at preventing and reversing neuroinflammation. This presentation will go through many of the the common causes of neuroinflammation to show the steps that can be take to reverse this process. Emphasis will be placed on proper glutathione repletion, dietary components, nutrients, and botanical agents. The important role of hormone in preventing and reversing neuroinflammation will be discussed. Lifestyle steps, including exercise, yoga and meditation have also proven useful in preventing and reducing neuroinflammation.

One in every 59 Americans is autistic and evidence shows that a great many more adults, particularly women and gender non-conforming patients, are misdiagnosed and/or undiagnosed. Whether or not physicians recognize it or specialize in working with autistic patients, they are very likely already in our offices. There are many myths both in culture and medicine about what it means to be autistic and how best to serve this patient population. Mainstream medicine has little to offer these patients, as the pathology paradigm deems it impossible to be both autistic and well. Autistic patients are underserved in basic health needs, provider understanding, and in the treatment of frequently co-occurring conditions such as migraines, seizures, digestive issues, chronic fatigue, hypermobility, dysautonomias, and mental health conditions. Suicide rates for autistic people are estimated 10x higher and lack of acceptance and understanding is one of the primary cited causes.My presentation will not focus on pharmaceuticals, but I will briefly discuss avoiding benzodiazepines and the potential use of clonidine, guanfacine, and lamotrigine in appropriate cases.