Empowering the Individual to Heal the Mind and Body
The Center for Mind Body Medicine empowers patients with evidence-based,
self-care tools for improving physical health and emotional well-being.
Drawing on new theories in neuroscience, our treatment involves teaching
you how to change long-stored memories in your brain’s neural pathways
to help alleviate or significantly improve stress-related emotional and
physical illnesses, chronic pain and hard-to-treat medical conditions.
NEW PATIENTS: Please take a moment to read the new
Patient Welcome Letter as well as the information on
Intro to Neural Pain Pathways. Viewing these materials and its additional resources before your first
visit will help your experience be as positive as possible.
Help for Stress-Related Emotional and Physical Conditions
Studies show that psychological stress impacts our health—both emotionally
and physically. For example, stress tends to exacerbate mental health
problems such as anxiety, depression and drug addiction, while also playing
a role in heart disease, high blood pressure, stomach and intestinal problems,
insomnia and other serious health problems.
New theories in neuroscience explain how stress causes these very real
changes in your physical and emotional health. Mind-body medicine brings
together these theories to help you take charge of neural pathways within
your brain and fight off stress-related illnesses, enrich mood, enhance
resiliency and optimism, and improve overall health. We essentially help
you “rewire” your brain’s stress centers.
Our services include:
Anxiety and stress-reduction groups, where you’ll learn in a group
setting evidence-based tools and techniques that enable you to have more
control over stress and chronic illness
Acupuncture-mindfulness program
Traditional Chinese acupuncture
Reiki
Mindfulness classes
Physician visits for diagnosis and treatment planning, if needed
Candidates for mind-body medicine treatment of stress-related conditions include:
If you have been diagnosed with stress, anxiety or mild depression and
you want to explore an alternative to medication and traditional talk therapy
If you have a chronic illness that increases the stress or anxiety in your life
If you have a medical condition that sometimes flares when you are under
more stress
If you are looking for more tools to manage your stress, perhaps because
you want to be less reliant on doctors, therapists and medications
Chronic Pain and Other Hard-to-Treat Medical Problems
The Center for Mind Body Medicine draws on emerging neuroscience theories
to teach patients how to change their brain’s response to chronic
and debilitating health problems—chronic back, neck or pelvic pain,
migraines and other hard-to-treat medical conditions—that haven’t
responded to traditional medical therapies.
New studies using functional MRI and other brain imaging techniques are
beginning to unlock the puzzle, demonstrating that pain can occur in the
absence of tissue damage or nerve irritation. In fact, emerging theories
suggest that our brain creates all of our experiences, including pain.
Drawing on this research, we’ll empower you with tools to eliminate
or significantly reduce the severity of your symptoms. Our goal is not
pain management, but pain cure.
Candidates for mind-body medicine treatment of chronic pain and other hard-to-treat
medical problems include:
If you’ve tried numerous interventions—shots, procedures, medications
and maybe even surgery—and you are still living with unwanted symptoms
If different doctors have trouble agreeing on a diagnosis, or you have
an unusual diagnosis that not all doctors understand
If you have a “syndrome” (Fibromyalgia Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, Postural
Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, Low Back Pain Syndrome, Restless Legs
Syndrome, any Headache Syndrome including migraines, TMJ Syndrome, piriformis
syndrome, patello-femoral syndrome, etc).
Relying on concepts in neuroplasticity—a term that refers to the
brain’s ability to modify, change and adapt both in structure and
function in response to experience—mind-body medicine uses the conscious
mind to influence some of the seemingly “automatic” processes
in your brain and body. Mind-body techniques effect changes in the circuits
of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which is our involuntary nervous
system, resulting in real neurohormonal and physiologic changes in our
brains and bodies.
Symptoms that appear to be automatic and out of our control—heart
palpitations, migraines, anxiety reactions, chronic pain to name a few
— are frequently the result of an imbalance between the sympathetic
(fight-or-flight) branches of the ANS and the parasympathetic (relax,
restore, digest) branches of the ANS. Studies dating as far back as the
1960s have demonstrated the ability of mind-body techniques to address
this imbalance.
The scientific literature on these approaches is now rich and robust, supporting
the emergence of mind-body medicine as a legitimate mainstream medical
intervention. These techniques have been shown to create beneficial changes
in many of the body’s physiological responses at a molecular and
biochemical level, including changes in stress hormone levels, pain response,
immune function and gene expression in white blood cells. Mind-body techniques
have also been shown to provide significant clinical benefits for conditions
as diverse as hypertension, heart disease, chronic pain and insomnia,
as well as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress syndrome.
Specific mind-body techniques employed at BCH Center for Mind Body Medicine—and
used in conjunction with education–include mindfulness, meditation,
movement therapies and movement meditations, breathing techniques, journaling
and written dialogues, drawing exercises, body scans to identify where
stress and trauma are being held in the body, self-compassion exercises,
somatic tracking and guided imagery.
Many of these techniques are unique to mind-body medicine but can overlap
with ideas in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavioral
therapy (DBT) and trauma therapy.
Mission Our mission is to provide patients and their doctors with evidence-based,
self-care techniques for stress management, pain management and healing
that are grounded in neuroscience, and to promote self-care and self-empowerment
as a central principle of health and wellness, all with the support of
an integrative health care team.
Values Empowering the patient to take charge of their health and well-being is
at the core of our values. We educate the patient with the use of tools
that helps them connect to their mind and body. We support the patient
with respect, compassion and listening – guiding them on their healing
journey, as they become aware of their innate ability to heal themselves.
Our Focus is Not on Medications We are happy to see patients who are already being treated with medications
of any type. We recognize the importance of medications for many patients
to help manage symptoms. But medications, while sometimes useful to alleviate
symptoms, are not a part of our practice.
The Center for Mind Body also provides integrative health care to support
its patients, which include acupuncture and Reiki.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture provides relief for chronic pain conditions and mental health
imbalances, connecting the mind and body. Hair-thin needles are inserted
into acupoints along pathways of energy throughout the body, accessing
the body’s natural ability to heal. The stimulation of these points
increases local blood flow, calms the nervous system and lessens pain
sensitivity.
Studies indicate that acupuncture offers relief for a variety of diseases
and conditions, including the following:
Lower back pain
Headaches
Fibromyalgia
Migraines
Osteoarthritis
We offer a 4-week program that includes both acupuncture and mindfulness.
The patient receives a 1-hour session each week with acupuncture and a
new mindfulness experience. This offering provides tools to the patient
to empower them to take charge of their health and well-being (read more).
Research has shown its effectiveness at treating chronic pain, releasing
neurotransmitters and promoting health and overall well-being:
Teresa received her bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology from the
University of Wyoming and her master’s degree in Oriental Medicine
from the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine. She is also certified as
a Massage Therapist, Qigong and Mindfulness Practitioner. She has been
working in Holistic health care for over 20 years.
Teresa is passionate about creating a space of awareness for patients to
heal on all levels, body, mind, and spirit. She incorporates mindfulness
into her acupuncture sessions along with Shiatsu massage and reflexology.
Teresa’s vision is to have integrative medicine offered in hospitals
and clinics and excited that BCH is leading in this service.
Teresa loves being in nature, hiking, skiing, biking or meditating by a stream.
Reiki
Reiki (pronounced ray-kee) is a healing therapy practiced originally in
Japan. It can be used to facilitate the person's own healing response.
Reiki is based on the belief that universal energy supports the body's
innate healing abilities. Practitioners seek to access this energy, allowing
it to flow to the body and facilitate healing. They place their hands
lightly on or just above the person receiving treatment in order to support
the body's innate healing energy.
Reiki can help provide the following benefits:
Deep relaxation
Stress reduction
Relief from chronic pain and anxiety
Improved overall health and well-being
The natural state of the mind-body connection is one of harmony and well-being.
The principle that one can learn to create positive thoughts, influencing
the body’s physical responses, thereby decreasing stress and illness.
Reiki allows one to relax deeply to find this wholeness inside.
Meet the Reiki Team
Carol Hiesterman, RN, Reiki Master
Carol graduated from nursing school with a diploma in nursing in 1964.
She received a BSN and MSN from Colorado University School of Nursing
in 1992. She has worked in hospitals since 1964 in a number of areas including
Pediatrics, ICU, ER, float pool, education, and 20 plus years in oncology.
Carol currently sees patients for Reiki and wellness counseling at the
Center for Integrative Care and the Center for Mind Body Medicine. She
has completed three levels of Healing Touch, is a Reiki master teacher,
and a certified Urban Zen Therapist.
Carol’s passion is seeking and learning and enjoys horses, motorcycle
riding, walking, and spending time with family.
Contact the Center for Mind Body Medicine The Center for Mind Body Medicine is located on the first floor of the
Della Cava Family Medical Pavilion. For more information, please call
303-415-8615.
The Center for Mind Body Medicine empowers patients with evidence-based,
self-care tools for improving physical health and emotional well-being.
Drawing on new theories in neuroscience, our treatment involves teaching
you how to change long-stored memories in your brain’s neural pathways
to help alleviate or significantly improve stress-related emotional and
physical illnesses, chronic pain and hard-to-treat medical conditions.
Teresa received her bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology from the
University of Wyoming and her master’s degree in Oriental Medicine
from the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine. She is also certified as
a Massage Therapist, Qigong and Mindfulness Practitioner. She has been
working in Holistic health care for over 20 years.
Carol Hiesterman, RN, Reiki Master
