Holistic, Alternative Therapy and Treatment for depression, panic, mental disorders, New York, nyc, ny, Manhattan, U.S., globally, healing, in every country in the world, without medication and drugs for Depression, Panic disorder, Bipolar disorder, Anger management - Talk-Therapy for natural happiness, Holistic Natural Therapy Solutions, Effective, safe cognitive and integrative ways to treat Depression, Panic and Anxiety Disorder, panic attacks, religous conflicts, ADD, ADHD, anger management, post-traumatic stress, Individual therapy, couples therapy and couples counseling that is natural and effective for depression, treatment-resistant depression, emotional tension, psychological stress, blocks to creativity, writers block, anger management, Natural, Drug-free, Alternative, Psychologist, Therapist, Marriage Counselor offers Cognitive Psychotherapy, Couples Counseling, Family Therapy and Prescriptions for Change as well as Treatment for stress, bipolar, seasonal depression, holiday depression and major depression, sexual addiction, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, mental illness

Natural psychotherapy, developed by New York Drs. Eric and Miriam Riss, is an alternative holistic therapy and treatment that helps people of all ages deal constructively with personal problems, relationship difficulties and "mental illness" issues.

This healing natural remedy is available in New York City, throughout the United States, and on a global basis, in every country in the world.

This positive and effective treatment does not use psychiatric diagnosis and labeling, psychiatric drugging, or any of the negative and risky practices of psychiatry. (Please see FAQs #1 and #3, below)

Instead, in this integrative therapy - whether it is individual therapy, couples counseling, or marriage counseling - something truly beneficial takes place:

You learn how to acquire the necessary practical skills for creative problem solving and overall stress reduction and healing!

And then, what happens when you start to use this holistic alternative therapy and treatment for depression, panic, anxiety, stress, bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder (ADD, ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), schizophrenia, spiritual problems, relationship difficulties, etc.?

And secondly, what is even more important then happens: You discover specific ways not only to get better, but actually to stay better!

Learn how you can develop and sustain emotionally enriching and fulfilling relationships, while at the same time truly thriving in your personal life!

Find out how, in this complex world of so much uncertainty, conflict, suffering and despair you can attain and maintain comprehensive well-being.

And find out how this natural therapy can help those you love and care about also achieve greater happiness.

But above all, discover how you can clarify where you are in life, where you want to go, and how you can actually get there!

NATURAL PSYCHOTHERAPY as well as HEALING HOLISTIC COUNSELING, LIFE COACHING and EXECUTIVE COACHING are available not only in New York City, but also in every state of the U.S.A. and globally, in every country in the world.

This holistic, alternative treatment and therapy is available in New York by means of in-office personal therapy and counseling.

And throughout the U.S. and internationally, this integrative and emotionally enriching alternative therapy is offered on a global, world-wide basis via special e-mail and telephone sessions.

MANHATTAN OFFICE HOURS: Mon.- Fri., Days and Evenings (By Appointment Only)

If you are feeling excessively depressed, anxious, angry, bored, or emotionally overwhelmed, this practical, solution-oriented talk-therapy and effective non-drug treatment can be of definite help.

Yes, you can definitely treat depression, panic, anxiety and the large variety of problems listed below, with no medication and no drugs.

As the list below illustrates, natural therapy consists of alternative, holistic treatments without medication that can successfully resolve issues and problems such as the following:

troubled relationships and poor communication, as well as more complex issues such as panic attacks, bipolar disorders, conflicts in identity, and even, treatment-resistant depression, and schizophrenia.

FOR FULL LIST OF THE ISSUES THAT CAN BE HELPED PLEASE SEE THE COMPREHENSIVE LIST BELOW

DISCOVER HOW Holistic Natural Psychotherapy enables everyone to benefit from effective, no-drugs, no medication, no psychiatric hospitalization approaches.

Learn how this holistic, integrative psychological treatment helps with each of the following issues or problems:

Holistic natural therapy, treatment, and life coaching in New York - and also on a global, international basis - for any issue and symptom of the (so-called) mental illnesses

Holistic, natural, alternative drug-free therapy for any emotional problem or crisis

Holistic Alternative Treatment and Therapy for Depression and treatment-resistant clinical depression in New York City and world-wide

Holistic therapy and treatment without medication or any kind of drugs for mild, moderate, or severe depression: seasonal depression treatment, treatment and therapy for recurrent depression, holiday depression and holiday blues, major clinical depression, bipolar disorder or any mood disorder

Comprehensive holistic psychotherapy and life coaching for positive and lasting resolution of couples problems and marital and family issues, anger management

Sex therapy for sexual addiction problems, sex coaching and sex counseling for ways to increase love, intimacy, erotic excitement, spiritual closeness, honesty, commitment, responsibility, trust, and joyful interaction

In-depth holistic integrative and cognitive treatment of fears, anxiety disorders, anxiety attacks, depression, panic disorders, fear of panic attacks, confusion, conflict and guilt issues, issues of spiritual and religious conflicts, for people of all ages - children, adolescents, young adults, adults, seniors, and the elderly

Therapy, treatment and coaching in New York and internationally for personal, spiritual, situational and financial stresses, difficulties and panic reactions

Comprehensive (step-by-step) learning of positive, constructive and realistic communication and relationship patterns

Natural treatment and therapy of bipolar depression, general mood-swings, seasonal depression and mood-swings, manic states, hypomania, racing thoughts, euphoria, impulsivity, and "socially inappropriate" acting out

Focus on learning how to thrive, how to develop positive ways toward self-empowerment, self-confidence, self-reliance, self-direction, self-fulfillment and growth in one's career and one's work

Learning to deal constructively with issues of personal identity, identity conflicts, independence, self definition and self actualization by means of role-playing and creative educational approaches

Holistic guidance, counseling and coaching in NYC, NY and world-wide in constructive role-playing and learning comprehensive ways to move in the direction you want to so you can bring more joy and purpose into your relationships and into you life

Natural treatment for attention deficit, ADHD, ADD, impulsiveness and hyperactivity patterns

In-depth and holistic treatment in New York and internationally for catastrophic disasters, posttraumatic stress and current emotional stress reactions related to experiences and situations of pain, suffering, abuse (abuse and trauma in one's early or later family life while growing up, general other abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, etc.), exploitation, cruelty, injustice, financial hardships and financial crises, poverty, hunger, starvation, deceptions, oppression, serious accident, disease, natural and other disasters, catastrophic events, terror, crime, war, bombings, kidnapping, torture, mutilation, and other trauma or horrors of life

Comprehensive holistic guidance, role-playing, and educational counseling and coaching for postpartum panic and depression, parenting problems, child development issues and issues of child confidence, child competence, and child happiness

Natural therapy and holistic role-playing for excessive fault-finding and habits of blaming and being impatient with oneself and others

Learning how to balance creativity, work and career issues with one's spiritual well-being and personal happiness in the most constructive ways

Natural therapy, stress management and executive coaching in New York for difficulties in concentration, organization and focus

Natural integrative, cognitive and in-depth therapy for impulsive behavior and actions

Constructive natural treatment, therapy and relationship coaching for burnout and exhaustion; for taking on too much or putting oneself last

Natural therapy, executive coaching, stress management, and workable solutions for outbursts of temper, reactions of anger and rage and especially for lack of effective anger management

Holistic and comprehensive natural treatment with no medication and no drugs for reactions of religious and spiritual emptiness, alienation, loneliness, boredom, withdrawal and lack of goals and lack of purpose in life

Natural therapies and alternative treatment for chronic fatigue, immune, allergic and somatic reactions

Holistic and in-depth natural treatment and therapy for panic attacks: mild, moderate or severe panic reactions and panic disorders

Natural therapy and holistic counseling for reactions of grief, as well as for complicated grief and unremitting grief and feeling of hopelessness and despair

Comprehensive alternative natural treatment for obsessive and compulsive reactions and patterns and behaviors labeled as OCD

Intensive psycho-social, integrative, cognitive and in-depth natural treatments for psychotic reactions, behavior, habits, patterns and symptoms

Intensive, alternative, non-psychiatric, psychosocial, natural in-depth treatment and therapy for schizophrenia and all types of schizophrenic and paranoid reactions and issues

Holistic and psychosocial, non-psychiatric, in-depth alternative natural treatments for current reactions or long-term habits and patterns of delusions or hallucinations

Comprehensive and in-depth holistic and psycho-social therapy and treatment for drug addiction, alcoholism patterns, problem drinking, cigarette smoking and computer addictions

Constructive holistic treatment for eating and weight problems, anorexia, bulimia, binge eating responses, obesity, weight preoccupation and patterns of unhealthy or damaging food intake habits

Holistic coaching and therapy, in NYC and world-wide, for lacks in overall, comprehensive well-being - physically, emotionally and spiritually

Immediate and long-term constructive stress management and stress reduction with no psychiatric drugs in New York, the U.S., and world-wide

Natural sex therapy and holistic sex coaching and sex counseling for issues of sexual satisfaction, "too little" or "too much" sex and erotic excitement, sexual addictions, paraphilias, compulsive, offensive, or antisocial sexual behavior and the varieties of sex problems people have

In -depth coaching and natural therapy for love, love-hate and intimacy and anger issues

In-depth natural treatment and therapy for altered states, confusions of identity, conflicts in identity, and dissociation responses

Natural therapy, holistic role-playing and educational coaching for toxic and harmful interpersonal relationships, such as abuse, deception, exploitation etc.

Holistic counseling, treatment and intensive, creative role-playing for passivity and passive-aggressive reactions

Learning to deal constructively, positively and creatively with problems arising out of conscious and unconscious self-defeating, harmful and destructive life-styles

Comprehensive therapy and very practical guidance and coaching for family relationship issues involving troubling and upsetting past, present and possible future family interactions

In-depth cognitive and integrative treatment, creative role playing, very practical guidance, coaching and the learning of original, bold psycho-social techniques to deal constructively with generalized feelings of inadequacy, inferiority and powerlessness or "delusions of inadequacy" related to negative, unloving, disrespectful and abusive treatment in the present and in the past, by parents and other family members, peers, friends, the school system, work environment, and/or one's culture or society

Natural therapy, stress management and constructive holistic guidance and practical coaching for digestive problems and irritable bowel symptoms and responses

As this evidence-based alternative Web site will show you, every issue or problem listed above, actually is not - as psychiatry claims - a mental illness or mental disorder.

Rather, they are all very real psychosocial problems, but not "psychiatric disorders" or "mental diseases."

As Thomas Szasz M.D., demonstrated long ago, the idea of mental illness is a myth.

Depression is not a medical disease. Anxiety is not a medical disease, a bipolar pattern is not, schizophrenia is not, nor are any of the other problems and issues listed.

Rather, what the scientific evidence shows is that each listed issue is a problem in living - an understandable (though sometimes self-defeating) natural bio-psycho-social and spiritual reaction to a problematic, painful, depressing or emotion-arousing situation.

YES, your problems and issues are learned emotional reactions, but not permanent conditions.

YES, the so-called mental illnesses are all psychological reactions and emotional difficulties which you can modify by means of this holistic, alternative therapy.

NO, your problems in life are not permanent biological, medical illnesses or medical conditions.

As you will see on this Web-site, your problems (no matter how severe) are not conditions for which you "need" to be drugged, electro shocked, or worse.

In sharp contrast with psychiatric drugging or electro-shocking or magnetic tinkering for the so-called psychiatric treatment of mental illness, the focus of this alternative, natural and positive treatment is always on self-understanding and the constructive resolution of personal and relationship issues.

In natural psychotherapy you gain natural and holistic prescriptions for constructive change. For positive changes that last!

By following natural therapy's constructive prescriptions for change you learn, specifically, how to find your self; how to achieve well-being and happiness by alternative, natural means.

Natural therapy thus is a drug-free way to search for, to find, and to maintain a state of natural happiness and natural well-being - on a regular basis!

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If you want more specific clarification, please go to READINGS AND REFERENCES

Carefully examine the strong evidence behind the questioning of the prevalent psychiatric treatment of so called mental illness presented by Mary Boyle, Ph.D., Paula Caplan, Ph.D., Peter Breggin, M.D., Grace Jackson, M.D., Lucy Johnstone, Ph.D., B.P.Karon, Ph.D., Lauren Mosher, M.D., Thomas Szasz, M.D., Robert Whitaker and others.

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And most important: The incontrovertible hard scientific fact is that not one of the problematic reactions listed is a permanent "mental illnesses"!

The facts actually show that all the troubling aspects of a so-called mental illness are learned patterns and behaviors rather than physical genetic illnesses.

The so-called mental illnesses are all transitional reactions to stress and they can all respond well to a solution-oriented, straightforward, natural psychotherapy and treatment.

These reactions and experiences of emotional distress require exactly what natural therapy and counseling offer: a new perspective, and a new in-depth understanding of oneself, one's relationships and one's situation.

Your natural, no-drugs therapist can show you specific ways to make constructive changes in your life.

As you make these changes you are enabled to relieve your pain and suffering by learning alternative, creative and new ways to resolve general or specific psychological, social, spiritual and biosocial issues and problems.

First, you talk your problems over with your holistic therapist in a confidential, safe, problem-solving environment.

In this constructive setting your holistic, natural therapist enables you to help yourself to challenge your negative assumptions and negative ways of thinking about yourself or your problems.

Your natural and holistic therapist enables you to think and talk in positive solution oriented ways that help you actually find the solutions that work for you.

Second, you practice the actual daily giving up of any numbing negativism and paralyzing pessimism you may have acquired in the past.

You learn how to rid yourself of any delusions of inadequacy or hopelessness from which you may have suffered.

Third, as you give up your habits of negativism and pessimism, you learn how to tap into your inborn, natural creative abilities to heal and change for the better.

And, most important, no matter how bad your past was, nor what your age is today, natural therapy can now enable you to use and to experience the strengths and the creativeness of your real self!

As a result of this integrated constructive talk therapy and constructive action therapy you become more self-reliant and more self-confident - on a daily basis.

This is done by means of comprehensive, eclectic, integrative psychological treatments that include: cognitive, psychodynamic, bio-social, eco-psychological, Zen Buddhist, and humanistic concepts and practices.

And in addition, in natural therapy there is an emphasis on finding new directions in one's search for psychological health by means of a variety of a variety of natural treatments.

These natural and positive treatments include: relaxation therapy, stress management, anger management, holistic and spiritual life coaching, focused breathing, financial planning and financial management, executive coaching, physical exercises, natural hypnotherapy, nutritional guidance and positive life-style enhancement.

Each of these is always useful in one's quest for comprehensive health and well-being.

In fact, these natural, holistic and positive psychological ways can increase and promote the body's natural abilities to heal neurological, circulatory, endocrine, musculoskeletal and other body systems.

By means of natural therapy one can discover when and how it is actually possible (and when it's not possible) to use the positive psychology of a natural approach.

A NATURAL HOLISTIC APPROACH is a way of life in accordance with nature and "reality," without falseness and artifice. It is consistently focused on in-depth understanding of what is going on in your situation in life.

And if you use this holistic approach you find out that it always is a constructive prescription for positive actual changes.

By gaining in-depth understanding of your self and your situation you can learn to become free; truly free to get on - and stay on - roads of self-discovery and positive change!

You learn how to become free and how to stay free to be responsible for the choices you make.

You realize how you can empower yourself to actually choose to make positive or negative choices.

Your start to realize through natural therapy, that it is you, in the end, who can learn how to shape your life and to choose the roads on which you want to travel.

Through actual practice in your therapy you find out how, specifically, you can choose the roads that lead to self-realization and the freedom to be your authentic self !

In natural therapy, counseling and coaching you can learn how take a variety of roads that lead to self-empowerment and freedom to become true to your unique self.

These natural roads to freedom can take you from a life of emotional distress, depression and anxiety to an authentic, self-assertive and productive life of well-being and joy.

And along these roads and ways, you learn how to find, value and cherish your uniqueness and your unique ways of interacting with and benefiting from the natural world!

You learn how to actually attain the positive changes you seek so that you achieve a greater degree of general well-being and happiness.

"Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then is not an act but a habit."

And in natural therapy one learns that the habit of excellence can indeed be acquired.

One comes to see that excellence is nothing more and nothing less than the habit of being truly alive!

In the words of Howard Thurman, "Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

Please click here for CONTACT INFORMATION and find out how natural therapy can help you "come alive."

In this holistic, gentle and truth-seeking talk-therapy and positive action-therapy, you learn to free you mind from stress. You develop the freedom to examine your problems, issues and goals in alternative and creative new ways.

And, at the same time, you start to practice to put your new insights into actual positive and constructive actions.

You develop the ability to free yourself from stress by freeing yourself from paralyzing inhibitions, negative attitudes, emotional impulsiveness, self-destructive behavior patterns, and conscious as well as unconscious self-defeating actions and reactions.

You learn how to become more aware of yourself, your current situation and your past. As a result, you start to understand yourself better and integrate your thoughts, feelings and actions in constructive and realistic ways.

You become free to see how your real problems in life - even those which produce severe emotional pain - can be treated constructively and creatively - no matter how severe the emotional pain, or how serious a catastrophic event in your life.

Second, you acquire and develop abilities to perform positive acts based on these insights.

Third, you gain the power to free your mind from mind-altering medications or street drugs.

Fourth, you practice to free yourself from an array of distractions and ways you may have acquired to "block out" reality.

Fifth, You learn to focus on practical plans to do something positive and constructive for yourself every day.

Sixth, you start to focus on the here and now: not on guilt or regret over a past that cannot be changed, and not on worry about a future that is always unknown.

Seventh, you practice, practice and practice the skill you have acquired of giving up blame and performing positive, alternative, constructive actions on a daily basis - 24/7.

And as you move away from practicing blame (of yourself and others) you start to feel the freedom of being truly in the constructive realm of choosing - and working for - a life that is truly good for you.

And significantly, during this seven step process you gradually acquire the power to free yourself from the damaging influences of irresponsible, negative, harmful people, and especially from the propaganda of critical, fault-finding family members, "friends" "authorities" and "experts." ( See: FREEDOM AND THE GOOD LIFE )

And at the same time, you acquire skills in interpersonal relations that can free you from negative and destructive ways of relating to yourself, to others and to society.

It becomes especially gratifying in natural therapy to learn how to free yourself from the negative ways of life you may have learned!

You learn creative new ways to free yourself from impulsive outbursts of anger or rage, passive-aggressive patterns, unethical or harmful behaviors, automatic tendencies of withdrawal into depressing passivity, paralyzing fearfulness, or self-defeating unassertiveness.

In natural therapy and counseling you can learn how to free yourself from ever being a victim of toxic relationships with others.

You learn to free yourself from becoming a victim of destructive or irresponsible actions, toward yourself or toward others, that you yourself may have acquired.

You acquire the skill to manage stress and anxiety so that your focus can be on the active development of a positive and truly satisfying life!

To truly become free to be yourself, your unique self, you learn how to regularly emancipate yourself from false ideas, from ignorance, damaging preconceptions and prejudices, superstitions, obfuscations, lies, unnecessary fears and unresolved (but resolvable) conflicts and ways of inhibiting yourself.

That may certainly feel like a tall assignment, but it gets easier and easier once you get started.

You start to welcome the truth and to appreciate that indeed the truth does make you free.

You discover the benefits of focusing on the practice of truth-seeking, self-emancipation and creative self-realization on a regular (24/7) basis.

In natural psychotherapy you find out how to free yourself to discover and use your inner strengths and powers to actively shape your life in positive ways.

You become skilled in both stress management and stress reduction.

You practice shaping your life in ways which really make sense to you, which fit your sense of ethics, your personal sense of right and wrong, and which you truly desire and truly value.

You become open and willing to actually choose alternative, new, original and creative ways to attain your goals and values.

You learn how to exercise your capacity to choose, plan for, and actually bring about (what you consider to be) an over-all responsible, fulfilling and truly productive way of life.

As a result of living a productive, responsible and fulfilling lifestyle you don't feel "tired," '"fatigued, or "hopeless."

Rather, to your surprise, you start to develop a much happier and emotionally exciting life for yourself and others.

You start - and continue - to experience the "natural highs" of comprehensive creative well-being!

3a) Natural therapy is an alternative therapy that does not approach psychological problems as medical illnesses.

Natural psychotherapy is a comprehensive and effective alternative treatment for life's problems and difficulties - from the simplest to the most severe. It carefully avoids psychiatric theory and practice as carried out by the average biologically oriented psychiatrist today.

Natural psychotherapy is, in fact, one of a growing number of creative, constructive and positive psychosocial treatments that have completely and successfully resisted the medicalization of psychotherapy.

Natural therapy has successfully avoided and actually has protected many from the attempts of biological psychiatry to practice "mind control" masquerading under the name of "psychiatric treatment" or "medical treatment of mental illness."

Natural psychotherapy is a therapy of no psychiatric theory and practice, no psychiatric labeling and none of psychiatry's risky treatments:

No psychiatric medication and drugs, no ECT (electro-convulsive shock therapy), no surgical body implants, no surgical brain implants, no magnetic interferences with your brain, no neurological and brain surgery, no laser brain surgery and no forced psychiatric hospitalization, falsely called "psychiatric treatment."

What natural psychotherapy offers instead, is an effective "psychological, creative talk and problem-solving therapy."

Natural therapy is a treatment that shows you how to make and sustain a choice of positive actions: Actions that enable you to achieve positive results that last.

3b) In this alternative holistic therapy one is given Psychological Prescriptions for Constructive Change: one learns how to become more curious, how to let the truth make one free.

Instead of getting psychiatric prescriptions of risky and hazardous psychiatric medication and drugs, one gets psychological prescriptions for constructive change.

Peter Breggin, M.D. contends that in counseling and psychotherapy, one should "avoid starting patients on medication or to referring them for medication evaluation..."

As he puts it, "When people are already feeling emotionally overwhelmed in the extreme, the last thing they need is a big dose of brain dysfunction." (Breggin, Peter. (2008). Practical Applications: 22 Guidelines for Counseling and Psychotherapy. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 10, 43-57.)

Therefore, in natural psychotherapy one finds out how to free oneself completely from the mistaken psychiatric idea that there is something biologically wrong with people who have psychological problems or who behave in ways which others find not acceptable.

One learns the truth that distressing and troubling psychological reactions or socially unacceptable behaviors are not the results of a mythical, non-existing brain disorder, chemical imbalance or mental disease.

And as one makes progress in natural psychotherapy, one gets to see clearly that one's emotionally upsetting and disturbing experiences are really transitional emotionally charged reactions to problems in living or to self-defeating and damaging life styles.

*Again, please see the strong evidence supporting this view presented by Mary Boyle, Ph.D., Paula Caplan, Ph.D., Peter Breggin, M.D., Grace Jackson, M.D., Lucy Johnstone, Ph.D., B.P.Karon, Ph.D., Lauren Mosher, M.D., Thomas Szasz, M.D., and Robert Whitaker by clicking READINGS AND REFERENCES!

Of course, actual neurological, physical, organic, medical problems that should be medically treated do exist. And they should be diagnosed and treated with competent, compassionate and suitable medical methods. But these are not what modern psychiatry refers to in its mistaken view of labeling social, psychological, and spiritual problems as "mental disorders."

Real medical conditions can, of course, actually be verified by physical, neurological, physiological, and laboratory tests. And then such actually verified medical conditions can be treated and hopefully cured by appropriate medical procedures. But the hard fact is that such verification is not possible, for what psychiatrists label mental illness.

They are: psycho-social and spiritual crises that can be resolved by appropriate psychological methods!

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The fact is that none of psychiatry's so called mental illnesses can be verified as biological diseases by means of any scientifically and medically valid procedures.

There exist no blood tests, no x-rays, no lab-tests, no physical examinations to do this!

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3c) Too many psychiatrists miss the simple and obvious fact that human beings do indeed have psychosocial problems and issues that result in biological disturbances, but are not caused by biological disturbances.

Each person is an ever-changing and ever-growing being who has complex feelings, thoughts and values, and who lives in complex human situations and interactions.

And it is within these complex human bio-psycho-social situations that these problems (whether called depression, schizophrenia, etc.) have their origin and maintain their current existence.

One always needs to look carefully and compassionately at the whole context of someone's psychological, spiritual and social situation before trying to "help" in any way.

Natural therapy should, in fact be more accurately called "wholistic" or holistic, since it always considers the whole context and all the complexities of one's situation, experiences and goals. That is the kind of respect and realistic, truly scientific, understanding that a troubled or upset person always needs!

What a trouble person does not need is to have her or his brain or body chemistry tinkered with or assaulted by the reductive, mistaken theories and harmful practices of current psychiatry.

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Natural therapy regards most of psychiatry's ideas and procedures of treating "mental illness" as scientifically unsound, logically flawed, therapeutically harmful and morally bankrupt.

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Therefore, the natural therapist does not ever resort to psychiatry's ways of "treating mental illness," to the usual psychiatric, unscientific, immoral, and pathologizing ways of regarding and treating distressed and emotionally troubled people.

Troubled people are seen, and learn to see themselves, as what they really are: basically healthy but often perplexed, frightened, or troubled human beings caught up in transitional or long-standing emotional situations of suffering - situations and contexts that need to be understood and dealt with constructively - not masked or hidden by psychiatric drugs.

In this effective, evidence-based holistic alternative to the disempowering methods of psychiatry, people get to realize the following:

One just does not need to get endlessly, and too often forcefully and brutally, labeled, drugged, electro-shocked, get devices implanted into one's brain and body, get a variety of risky "patches," get the vagus nerve electrically stimulated, be given magnetic brain stimulations, or be subjected to destruction of vast numbers of brain cells by means of lobotomies, brain implants or laser brain surgery. Especially since safe, constructive and self-empowering natural methods are available, and have been proven to work.

In natural therapy people get to understand why the methods of biological psychiatry are not only inhumane, but are also unnecessary, outdated, and can be seriously damaging.

3e) A Psychosocial Empowering Perspective Rather than a Psychiatric Disabling One:

Besides making those who are emotionally stressed feel even more disabled, helpless and hopeless, current psychiatric practices too often are downright damaging! Too often people undergoing such thoroughly inhumane "psychiatric treatments" are disabled for life.

Why are persons in natural therapy never stereotyped and classified by means of psychiatric labels?

Because human beings are unique; their minds and spirits are much too complex and individualistic for that kind of naive oversimplification.

Troubled human beings do not need just to be classified and labeled by a psychiatrist; they need to be treated with utter respect for their uniqueness.

Emotionally troubled and perplexed human beings must always be treated humanely and compassionately.

They must be given gentle encouragement, and afforded steady promotion of their resilience and natural powers to heal themselves.

They certainly do not need the labels of mythical "mental illness" (e.g. The DSM series) which are really "accusations" that can deprive them of their human, civil and legal rights.

They certainly do not need to be arrogantly "accused" of "mental illness" under the guise of being medically "diagnosed."

Such "accusations" are too often part of the totally immoral process of "incarcerating" them in "mental hospitals" and subjecting them to forced psychiatric drugging, electro-shocking, and worse.

In non-drug psychotherapy people are made psychologically stronger by learning how to use problem-solving solutions that last.

Rather than being told to rely passively on psychiatric medication for life, they are shown how to change in positive ways, how to make better and healthier choices in life and relationships.

They learn how to use their inner strengths and become their own healers for the rest of their lives.

They are coached on how to attain life-long mental health, physical health, and spiritual well-being by learning how to avoid toxic aspects of their environment in the best ways.

How to exercise and have healthy physical activities on a regular basis. (e.g., walk, run, do physical work, get involved in aerobic, stretch and weight exercises, learn meditation, focused and spiritually uplifting breathing, yoga, kung fu, regular dance or form-free dance, etc.)

They learn how to improve their diet, how to live in over-all healthier ways, how to develop greater awareness and greater clarity of thought and purpose.

They learn how to discover, and actually choose to practice, realistic and workable ways to enhance their own well-being and the well-being of others and the environment.

In natural therapy people learn that when they are anxious, panicky, troubled, depressed, etc. they, of course, produce natural chemicals in their bodies that are harmful and that upset them even more.

However, when people learn to live a balanced, healthy and productive life their bodies naturally produce chemicals that make them feel good and that enhance their well-being.

Psychiatric or street drugs don't truly help! They may make one temporarily feel better.

However, learning how to live a healthier, more productive and balanced life and having fulfilling, positive relationships always helps! And not only temporarily, but on a long term basis.

The approaches that are always focused on in natural therapy are the following:

Learn how to choose and get engaged in a way of life that you value and that you find emotionally and spiritually satisfying.

Become involved in goals and relationships that you find morally worthwhile, that you desire from your heart and the depths of your soul!

Learn how to help your true spirit come fully alive!

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(To find out how to make your spirit come alive by making "good" choices in life, choices that actually work, please click MAKING LIFE CHOICES )

In addition to helping you resolve your problems, the main aims of natural psychotherapy are to enable you to value and respect your complexities and to develop your ability to change for the better.

This holistic, global treatment always aims to enable you to achieve self-actualization and actually choose the "good life."

This means that in this natural therapy you learn how to change certain specific ways of how you have been living.

You become empowered to attain the actualization of your freedom, the fulfillment and growth of your uniqueness, your strengths, your spiritual strivings, your interests, and your true, ever-changing and adaptive self.

And beyond that, other important aims are to enable you to use natural psychotherapy to actually become more creative, more productive and help you live well.

The over-all aim of natural therapy is to show you specifically how to find constructive solutions to your problems and bring more emotional and spiritual satisfaction, more happiness and more joy into your life.

What Natural Therapy Can Help One Accomplish

In the course of resolving your problems, this very practical therapy can show you how to:

(1) be in charge of your relationships and life in balanced, productive ways

(2) eliminate self-defeating unconscious habits and automatic reactions

(3) achieve what is meaningful and important to you

(4) bring more love and joy into your daily existence

(5) attain and then maintain comprehensive (physical, emotional, spiritual) well-being

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IN NATURAL THERAPY THE FOCUS IS ALWAYS ON NATURAL SELF-HEALING, SELF-REALIZATION AND THE ATTAINMENT OF SATISFYING RELATIONSHIPS AND THE GOOD LIFE.

Natural psychotherapy works by being not only a psychological talk-therapy but also a psychological action-therapy.

Its truth-seeking, jargon-free and down-to-earth approaches for positive change work for all ages.

People learn - one day at a time - to live in better ways. Ways that maximize self-actualization and the attainment of greater happiness by natural means.

And as that happens they get to feel better - not just once in a while, but on a regular basis.

The focus of this evidence-based, global treatment is a workable integration of both - constructive in-depth talk and constructive actions:

The Talk Therapy

The talk-therapy involves:

(1) in-depth, natural conversation - a collaborative search by means of straightforward, honest, open and bold dialogue

(2) creative brainstorming for constructive, new, completely original solutions.

And the therapeutic atmosphere that always fosters such talk is one that is positive, patient, gentle, calm and thoroughly realistic.

The aim of such collaborative conversations is always to understand, in depth, what really is going on and has been going on in your life.

And especially to get to understand - through constructive conversation - what you really want to be going on in the future. And how - realistically - to attain that kind of future.

The Action Therapy

The actions-therapy involves your actual practice of actions, behaviors and ways of thinking and communicating that you find truly constructive.

This change to the truly constructive and positive happens when you choose to put the insights you have gained through your therapeutic conversations into the practice of your everyday behavior and relationships.

This means giving up old destructive patterns of acting and of communicating you may have learned (and over-learned) in childhood.

In natural actions therapy, you learn to become bold and actually try out the completely new and more productive ways of behaving you have evolved in the natural talk therapy.

That the constructive new ways actually work is totally surprising to those in whose family background either one or both parents were authoritarian, dictatorial, angry, moody and abusive.

* * *

Research findings indicate that the very doing and practice of constructive, honest and responsible talk and actions speeds all three: biological, psychological and spiritual healing processes. You learn how to achieve states of natural happiness and well-being.

As people become progressively freer and empowered to think clearly and to act positively and constructively, their feelings start to change.

Though they may feel strange or guilty when they start to act in ways that primarily consider their own needs, goals and preferences, these negative feelings get to become less frequent and less intense over time.

After people practice constructive and positive actions and constructive ways of communicating with others on a regular basis, they gradually get to feel better each day.

At the beginning, they may feel guilty for taking care of themselves primarily and not putting others first.

But over time, they stop feeling bad or guilty and actually feel good when they truly take care of themselves. They find that then they are in a better and stronger emotional state to take care of others also.

They discover that it is only after they act and behave in constructive ways, that they can start to feel more comfortable being themselves.

They give up seeking the non-existent "quick fix," the "escape" from logical thinking.

Despite a feeling of resistance to want to give up old, and by now automatic patterns of damaging behavior, they are willing to try new ways of searching for and actually learn how to attain states of natural happiness and general well-being.

They learn how not to be mistreated, not be a victim, and not be involved in abusive relationships - either with themselves or with others.

As a result, they become less frustrated, less unhappy with themselves and less fearful, less depressed and less anxious.

At the same time (because they become less frustrated and spiritually more fulfilled) they become less hostile, less abrasive, less fault-finding, and less belligerent or antagonizing.

They thus learn how to differentiate among withdrawal, hostile relationships and assertive ones.

Each person learns how to separate her or his authentic values from her or his inauthentic values.

And as people start to feel more authentic and real, they get to feel more and more self-empowered, and to feel more free to express their uniqueness and creativity.

They also gain the desire and the power not to be victims of their own blind and destructive impulses.

And then, they can become more caring and more able to create and work toward the kind of self, the type of relationships and the kind of environment they truly value.

To accomplish these goals, natural psychotherapy has evolved an eclectic, yet unified and holistic treatment approach that is deeply influenced by the findings and principles of ecopsychology.

The comprehensive approach of natural psychotherapy is bio-psycho-social, interpersonal, cognitive, spiritual, and psychodynamic.

Natural therapy's in-depth approach is centrally a humanistic and humane treatment that is an effective alternative to the ineffective and harmful psychiatric drugging and other invasive biological techniques of psychiatry.

From the interpersonal viewpoint, natural therapy regards human experience as always related to one's situation, interactions, and relationships.

And in its natural state, human experience is always suffused with culture in all its aspects, be they social, linguistic, spiritual, traditional, religious, historical, political, economic, legal, etc.

In natural psychotherapy people start to explore both conscious and unconscious influences on their everyday behavior, and especially on their emotional reactions to events.

They start to see that what they feel and do is always related to what has come to be called psychodynamic influences.

This simply means that the nature of the relationships one has with oneself and others is influenced by aspects one is aware of and also aspects one is not aware of.

And through greater self-understanding one comes to see how totally unconscious influences have their roots in one's present psychosocial situation as well as in one's past.

And once one explores how that happens, one's problems become much more understandable and, subsequently, more manageable.

In fact, under the umbrella of such a perspective, the purpose of every therapy session is to show one how to become aware of, and be able to use, one's inner freedom and power to attain the good life - responsible, reasonable, fulfilling and joyful.

And one becomes aware of the ways one may have denied that freedom and unconsciously repeated self-deception, superstitions and false ideas, self-defeating habits of thinking and feeling, and self-harming patterns of behaving and interacting negatively and destructively with others and with one's milieu.

Throughout, each therapy session is focused on gaining self-understanding of one's own complexities as well as of the complexities of the psychosocial situation related to one's suffering.

The focus is on clear understanding of all the complexities of one's choices.

One steers clear of "foolish choices" and "quick fixes"!

One avoids the easy "escapes and distractions" of blame, regret, drugs, anger, withdrawal, passivity, irrational attachments, addictions and infatuations - all of which are self-destructive acts that can prevent self-understanding, self-growth and spiritual self-enhancement.

And during, as well as between sessions, the focus is on clarity of vision.

One commits to put into actual practice the productive changes in self-understanding and self-growth which one has achieved.

One learns and practices positive self-direction!

What open, natural, and positive dialogue really becomes when it works well is effective teamwork.

The teamwork is effective when both the person seeking therapy and the therapist work together cooperatively and patiently on all the issues and problems a person faces. Then such teamwork becomes a naturally creative kind of joint brainstorming by the person seeking creative solutions and the natural therapist.

Both join - as a team - in the search for constructive, natural, healing solutions!

One of the many reasons such brainstorming conversations have to be collaborative is that you are the only one who really knows - even though you may not be fully in touch with that knowledge - what your conscious and unconscious perspectives and assumptions about life are, what your basic healthy goals are, which human values you want to develop and foster.

And the natural psychotherapist with a global holistic approach, is the one with the know-how to enable you to become fully aware of that knowledge and use it constructively.

You gradually learn to avoid potentially destructive, or actually destructive ways of doing things.

For example, you become able not to focus on changing others, finding fault with others or blaming others.

Instead, you learn how to focus on carefully thought-out ways through which you can make your life really better - physically, emotionally, spiritually.

And as you make your own life better in truly constructive and realistic ways you inevitably increase your self-confidence and self-reliance and become able to actualize your true self. And as you keep doing that you start to feel better and better!

Your daily existence will become more satisfying as you keep on developing and improving your own natural resilience, creativity and strengths!

And most important, you learn that if you want creative and really constructive solutions, differences of opinions, of perspectives and even of values you and your therapist may have, are the beginnings of conversation, and never the end!

You learn the real value of being honest, patient, and reasonable in working out your differences with you therapist (and with others) in constructive, moral and life-enhancing ways: constructive conversation and clear thinking.

You learn how and why to continue dialogue for a reasonable length of time before giving up having dialogue.

And natural therapy is the best place to practice how not to stop therapeutic conversation prematurely!

Thus in natural therapy one learns - often for the first time - the magic of kind, calm and reasonable conversation.

One learns how to explore, and slowly get to truly understand, the differences and disagreements one may have with another human being and how to use these very differences constructively.

And this may be the hardest to stick to: to practice, to practice and to practice: To make sure that you truly come to see that the new ways of life you are starting, really work and have been truly mastered by you.

Learning to live well and productively, and in ways that you truly feel are responsible, is a skill like other skills, only more complex. That is why it is so important to persist and prevail in the open, totally honest therapeutic and natural conversations despite the time and the effort they may take.

Your emotional concerns, upsets, and any psychological disabilities you may have developed in the past, as well as the spiritual despair you may have experienced, are seen as transitional wake-up calls.

They are all experiences that can help you finally to get rid of misconceptions, of blind spots, and destructive patterns.

And as that happens, you develop the ability to understand yourself better and become more and more skilled in living well!

Unpleasant and distressing feelings, when approached with curiosity and patience, are always opportunities for greater self-understanding and for positive reorganization of yourself and your relationships.

In psychodynamic, analytically oriented therapies the analysis of these experiences are called "analysis of transference" and they are always useful in natural therapy also.

They are feelings and behaviors people transfer form their childhood, their past, into the therapy experience.

"Transferred feelings and behaviors" of course take place regularly in everyone's life, but can be especially significant when an unconsciously feared but important break-through is about to take place. And to understand them, makes it possible for therapeutic progress to continue in constructive ways.

As natural therapy progresses you start to realize that with the knowledge and strengths you gained through therapy, it is you who can become and stay responsible for how you use your freedom to shape your life.

You learn to explore the meaning of impulsive, anxious, or depressing feelings and not just to follow them blindly.

You learn not to run away from negative feelings but to use them to gain greater self-understanding and self-empowerment!

If you wish a clearer and more specific explanation of how natural psychotherapy actually works please click on FREEDOM AND THE GOOD LIFE.

A person, of course, may have a specific medical disease, actual medical symptoms, illnesses, or impairments that require proper medical evaluation, diagnosis and treatment.

Therefore, if any concern about an actual physical illness, impairment, or problem exists at the time one starts or is in the process of natural psychotherapy, one should always have a physical diagnostic checkup by one's regular personal or family physician.

And one should also, always, have a consultation with someone who is expert (e.g. board certified diplomate) in the areas of one's concern, whether it be an experienced specialist in cardiology, internal medicine, neurology, endocrinology, pediatrics, geriatrics, oncology, otolaryngology, ophthalmology, physiatry, or in any of the various medical specialties that may be relevant to one's concerns.

Competent, compassionate, expert medical diagnosis and treatment should never be avoided when any concern about physical illness is present!

Physical, medical disease or impairment always requires suitable medical diagnosis, intervention and treatment.

The answer is: yes, if you mean adaptive chemical changes as a result of the emotional and physical distress they experience in their lives..

The body is exquisitely sensitive to any kind of stress, even mild stress, and reacts accordingly.

One's psychological problems in living can therefore cause chemical changes, as well as musculoskeletal and other physical changes.

Thus it is important to remember that there is overwhelming research and clinical evidence that psychological experience causes changes in body chemistry and physiology.

However, research shows that generally it is not the other way around: it is not that people have "mental diseases" or "genetic defects" that cause their psychological problems. When their psychological and social problems are resolved, so is their mental upheaval and suffering.

Thus drugs do not eliminate the psychological and psychosocial reasons that caused the chemical changes in the first place !

And furthermore, the crude "treatments" by means of psychiatric drugs not only can have serious and damaging side-effects, but also tend to impair the mind's and body's natural healing and reparative responses to stress.

So what is one to do if told by a "professional" that one has a chemical imbalance not related to one's psychologically upsetting situation?

If that happens, one should always ask what specific laboratory tests one can take to demonstrate and determine exactly and clearly what the imbalance is.

And remember this:

No medical examinations or laboratory tests exist showing that chemical imbalances precede mental distress! Not even one!

There are no laboratory tests or medical findings in existence today that can point to actual medical and laboratory findings with regard to chemical imbalances causing mental problems, as exist with other problems such as diabetes, TB, cancer, infections, actual vitamin or mineral deficiencies, etc.

And one must not forget either that psychiatry has promised definitive medical tests for "mental illness" for over 150 years. And it has still not delivered!

Because, as Thomas Szasz M.D., has so clearly pointed out in his many books: the task of finding such tests is hopeless.

This is so because the very idea of "mental illness" is a mistaken idea, a myth.

Whether people choose to take or not to take mind-altering drugs relates to the culture, religious influences and the laws under which they live.

All, of course, should arrive at the choices they make regarding the use of mind altering drugs in well-informed and carefully thought out ways.

In a democratic society probably the less the government actively interferes with, prohibits or punishes such behavior the better.

Thus people should have the legal right to take drugs if they choose to do so, whether the drug is cocaine, ecstasy, Prozac, "grass", alcohol, nicotine, Xanax, heroin, Zyprexa or any other mind-altering substance.

But under no circumstances should they be coerced, cajoled or pressured to take these chemicals!

And the reason for this is clear: all mind-altering chemicals can have serious and damaging side-effects.

Educated about these chemicals, YES. Pressured or coerced to ingest them, NO!

(b) OK to start natural therapy while still drinking, smoking or using mind-altering drugs:

Even though drugs may make it easier to avoid dealing constructively with one's problems, experience over the past three decades has shown that one can benefit from natural therapy even while still using them.

Thus the use of excessive alcohol, nicotine, or drugs, whether one uses them out of choice, habit, because one is in the process of weaning oneself off them, or because one is committed to their use for recreational, tranquilizing or analgesic purposes is never a reason not to start natural therapy.

It is always beneficial to explore psychologically the pros and cons of one's risky life styles. And it is always beneficial to explore specific ways to stop taking risky drugs and chemicals.

In natural psychotherapy medication is hardly ever used. And if a person wants it, it is used in minimal amounts in order to reduce acute upset in emergency situations.

However the emphasis always is on therapeutic dialogue and therapeutic problem solving..

Constructive dialogue is encouraged and reliance on cigarette smoking, alcohol and drugs is discouraged.

If someone is acutely distraught and agitated, or in the throes of deep depression, tranquilizing and mood altering drugs may be advised if quick calming down is necessary and serious health or management crises exist.

Clinical evidence demonstrates that a safe, structured, caring, personal and compassionate therapeutic environment is mostly sufficient to bring about a general calming down.

But if a safe, loving, caring and structured environment is not available and potentially dangerous emergencies exist, psychoactive drugs are prescribed and should be prescribed. Ideally, by someone who is expert in, or at least congenial to, alternative, holistic medicine - either a prescribing holistic psychologist, psychiatrist, internist, psychopharmacologist, or psychiatric nurse-practitioner.

Thus, in certain serious situations, judiciously prescribed use of psychoactive drugs may be of help on a temporary basis and may definitely be required.

Each individual's safety, welfare and comprehensive well-being are always of prime consideration!

Some individuals respond very quickly (even in minutes or hours) to psychotropic medication.

Some don't respond to drugging or medication at all, or respond minimally. Some respond negatively with negative side effects.

Prescribed mind-altering drugs can thus sometimes be of help in jumpstarting someone into psychotherapy or in helping them overcome an acutely disturbing transitional episode.

Once some stability has been achieved, the tranquilizing or mood altering drugs are used to the minimal degree necessary to maintain focus on the psychosocial issues that caused the emotional disturbances and upsets in the first place. This should be done in consultation with those professionals familiar with the person's psychosocial and medical history and background.

(e) The focus in natural therapy is always on one's natural healing powers:

In holistic natural psychotherapy one focuses on the organism's natural ways of healing, on its natural inner healing powers and resilience. These natural powers to heal oneself are consistently encouraged and stimulated in natural psychotherapy.

It is self-empowering to go through the process of natural therapy since one gradually learns how to make use of the hormones and chemicals naturally produced by one's own body.

9. WHAT IS IT BEST TO DO IF ONE HAS BECOME HABITUATED OR ADDICTED TO MIND-ALTERING STREET DRUGS OR PSYCHIATRIC PRESCRIPTION DRUGS?

In the event one has become habituated or addicted to street drugs, psychiatric drugs, or toxic levels of alcohol, it is not advisable to stop impulsively or abruptly.

The reason not to stop abruptly is that some people can have very serious negative physical and psychological reactions and side-effects if they do so.

As Peter Breggin, MD has put it: "Most psychiatric drugs can cause withdrawal reactions, sometimes including life-threatening emotional and physical withdrawal problems. In short, it is not only dangerous to start taking psychiatric drugs, it can also be very dangerous to stop them." ( www.breggin.com )

It is therefore important to remember that some psychiatric prescription drugs can be far more addicting, damaging, and habit forming than many biological psychiatrists and psychopharmacologists are willing to admit.

If one decides to stop excessive alcohol or excessive taking of prescription or non-prescription drugs, it is important to wean oneself off carefully and slowly.

And such a decision should only be carried out with the help, the planning, the guidance and the supervision of a caring, responsible, knowledgeable and experienced, licensed professional clinician.

Natural psychotherapy is a therapy in the old sense of the word (from the Greek therapein, to attend to, to heal, to make whole):

In Natural Psychotherapy you learn how to attend to and heal your psychological wounds and become whole.

And this therapy, this attending to your self, consists of care for your self: truth-seeking, constructive conversation and creative brain-storming for positive and lasting solutions.

In this process you are enabled to learn how to consider, love, and respect yourself and others - more compassionately and more comprehensively.

You learn the value of a committed, responsible and trusting relationship of love, of caring, of reason and of kindness.

In natural psychotherapy one acquires the skill of being realistic - to see oneself, things and others as they actually are.

One becomes enabled to give up "spacing out" and just passively having hope that "things will get better" or that "others will one day change for the better."

One becomes able to achieve realistic change: one learns how to actually make one's life better in active ways!

In natural therapy one gradually acquires the skill to become one's own therapist, to be truly responsible for the direction and quality of one's life!

Throughout the natural psychotherapy process one learns how to come alive, how to love, care for, and find joy in oneself, in others, and in the natural world.

Click here to send e-mail for an appointment for therapy, counseling, coaching, and emotional support.

If, however, you prefer to telephone for an appointment, just click here also.

If the line is busy or you get the answering machine, don't worry. Just click here and send the e-mail form in. You'll get a quick response - generally within a day or so.

Though the office is located in New York City, natural psychotherapy is also available - nationally and internationally - via telephone and e-mail.

Persons who live in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island, or Long Island and New Jersey generally come to the office for therapy.

Persons who live far from the New York City office often have a session in person and then continue their natural therapy sessions by e-mail and telephone.

Natural therapy sessions work well by telephone and bring productive and positive results. This is borne out by over twenty years experience of using such "long-distance natural therapy."

In many situations people who live far from New York work with their international natural therapist only by e-mail and telephone. Such sessions work very well and can bring constructive, long-lasting, and very positive results.

E-mail and telephone therapy sessions are also very useful to persons who do a lot of world-wide traveling and only occasionally can stop in New York City for a personal natural therapy session.

So whether you live in New York, in the United States, or in any country in the world, any of these ways of natural therapy can be especially useful.

Find out how natural therapy can help you get started on the road to a more meaningful and productive life, better relationships, and more consistent general well-being!