How can the past influence the future if you do not address it? Have you noticed something inside of yourself that you want to change for the better? Can sound healing be used to treat and help people in eating disorder recovery? In this podcast episode, Dr. Cristina Castagnini speaks about recovery through sound with Michelle McGough.

MEET MICHELLE MCGOUGH

Michelle McGough is an acoustic sound therapist that specializes in adult recovery of childhood trauma and eating disorders. Michell herself recovered from a long term relationship with bulimia. Visit The Practical Catalyst, connect on Instagram, and check out the Central Column Breathwork on YouTube.

IN THIS PODCAST

  • Finding the right therapist
  • Find the space between the triggers
  • Sound healing

Finding the right therapist

I got into my mid-twenties and realized that “Oh, the pattern that keeps happening? The only consistent ingredient there is me”. And so, I started to look for help. (Michelle McGough)
After her traumatic upbringing and experiences at home, school, and in the military, Michelle realized that something needed to change if her life was going to improve as well. She did not want to continue living on the old patterns that brought her down, kept her isolated, and fueled her eating disorder. Therefore, she started looking for a therapist. In her 30s, Michelle finally found the right therapist.
I started to realize that all that stuff that happened to me earlier in life was really bad, it wasn’t my fault, but I still have to live with it … I’m a mature adult now and I have to deal with it, so what do I do? How do I clean up this mess? (Michelle McGough)

Find the space between the triggers

Finally there was this point where there was enough space between the trigger and my awareness of it that I could stop … I mean, I still feel the pull sometimes, but I’m just like, “I’m not going there. I know where that goes, and I don’t want to go back to it.” (Michelle McGough)
With therapy, working on yourself, and bucketloads of love and patience, you can learn to identify your triggers and work on staying with yourself in that tense moment and not self-abandoning and engaging in the coping mechanism. Through working on yourself and with the help of a therapist, you can overcome these patterns, and put yourself on a new path forward and hold yourself from going backward.

Sound healing

Sound healing finds and releases stuck energy in the body with the tuning fork. The fork is moved around the body, making a clear, coherent ringing sound, and as soon as it encounters stuck energy the tune will change, showing where there is a blockage.
By breaking up that structure of incoherence, the person is able to digest that emotion and get another chance to go through it but in a safe environment. (Michelle McGough)
With sound healing, speaking about these events or emotions is not required at all. These emotions and energies can be worked on and released without words.

USEFUL LINKS

MEET DR. CRISTINA CASTAGNINI

  I am a licensed Psychologist and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist. While I may have over 20 years of clinical experience, what I also have is the experience of having been a patient who had an eating disorder as well. One thing that I never had during all of my treatment was someone who could look me in the eye and honestly say to me "hey, I've been there. I understand". Going through treatment for an eating disorder is one of the hardest and scariest things to do. I remember being asked to do things that scared me. Things I now know ultimately helped me to get better. But, at the time, I had serious doubts and fears about it. If even one of my providers had been able to tell me "I know it's scary, but I had to go through that part too. Here's what will probably happen...." then perhaps I would not have gone in and out of treatment so many times. My own experience ultimately led me to specialize in treating eating disorders. I wanted to be the therapist I never had; the one who "got it". I will be giving you my perspective and information as an expert and clinician who has been treating patients for over 2 decades. But don't just take my word for it...keep listening to hear the truly informative insights and knowledge guest experts have to share. I am so happy you are here!

THANKS FOR LISTENING

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