As we learn to meet whatever arises in the body, heart, and mind with radical acceptance,
we discover a precious freedom.”-Tara Brach
What Makes This Therapy Approach Different?
In conjunction with traditional insight-focused methods, I use a variety of innovative mind-body healing tools found to be extremely effective in multiple new studies. A literature review by Dr. Feinstein (2012) found 18 randomized controlled trials that provided substantive, powerful evidence for the mind-body healing techniques I use called Energy Psychology. One of the primary interventions that I use is called “acupoint tapping” in which clients tap on specific points on the body (acupressure points) to assist in the release of neurological and biochemical processes. New research is correlating these mind-body points with changes in both brainwave and physiological responses. Studies show that using this method appears to out-perform traditional types of therapy that involve only talk-therapy.
Below several clients have provided their own descriptions of this approach. All identifiable information has been removed to protect individuals’ privacy.
CLIENT #1
“I have seen a couple different therapists in the past that practiced traditional talk therapy. And while it helped in the short term, I never felt as if we were actually resolving anything. They suggested anti-depressants and herbal remedies, but it felt as if we were masking my feelings rather than addressing them. The first time I went to see Dr. Heather LaChance she explained that her therapy is based on treating the whole body because it isn’t just our minds that are affected when something happens to us. This is why when we’re angry, or scared, or sad, we feel it in other parts of our body.
With traditional talk therapy you discuss the issues and how you’re responding and/or reacting to them, but I wanted to know how to break the cycle and move away from certain behaviors. I felt as if I continued to repeat the same behaviors. In my case, I continued to date men who were unkind and abusive toward me. Working with Dr. LaChance we were able to not only identify the core beliefs that were driving my behavior, we were able to address them and clear them out! For the first time in my life I was able to not only recognize certain traits in men, I no longer felt the pull or attraction. I just simply am not the same person anymore. I feel like I am finally the person who I want to be, and I’m no longer driven by the events that occurred in my past.
Dr. LaChance is a warm and compassionate person and it is evident that she truly loves what she does. While traditional therapy has it’s place, I found that since it was about talking and not resolving the issues, it could essentially go on forever. Dr. LaChance’s goal is to “heal” her clients so that they can clear out the negative core beliefs in their lives that may be holding them back. She helped me in every aspect of my life and this is exactly what I was looking for. I am so glad that I found a therapist who works WITH her patients toward a common goal. She is phenomenal at what she does and I continually recommend her to my family, friends and acquaintances.”
CLIENT #2
“My therapy with Dr. Heather LaChance has been life altering. Seriously. Life altering. I began to experience anxiety and mild depression in my early twenties, which corresponded with the years I was enrolled in a doctorate program. At first, I didn’t know if it was my graduate studies provoked my anxiety and depression, or whether it merely exasperated issues that were already there. I spent those years in talk therapy with a wonderful therapist, who helped me get through that program.
When I moved to Denver, I found Dr. LaChance and began working with her, and the type of therapy we did was different than anything I had previously experienced, and I can now say much more effective. We focused on the “trauma” I had encountered as a child as a root cause of that depression and anxiety. I think it is important to note that “trauma” can mean a lot of different things, which is why I put it in quotes, and that therefore most people have experienced some sort of “trauma” in their lives. Recognizing that trauma, acknowledge it, and then retraining your body and mind to move beyond it is a major component of Dr. LaChance’s approach to therapy. Over the course of an intensive six months, we used EMDR and other mind-body therapies to address the issues I struggled with. I cannot emphasize enough how much this treatment worked—helping clear so many of the issues I had struggled with for over a decade. I feel so happy, healthy, and secure now in my own life and career, and in my relationships. I think the therapy I did with Dr. LaChance is a major factor in helping me find that serenity and fulfillment. I’m so grateful for the work I did with Dr. LaChance and I would recommend her in a heartbeat to anyone suffering from depression, anxiety, and other life issues. She is compassionate, kind, thoughtful and intelligent, and moreover the methods she uses work.”
CLIENT #3
“Working with Heather has given me the opportunity to release energies in my body that were weighing me down. Using tapping therapy, I was able to access base problems without having to put a lot of words to it. Sometimes working through big problems can be intimidating because you don’t necessarily have words to describe it, or perhaps you are not ready to tackle it. But with tap point therapy, I was allowed the space needed to break down those problems into tangle solutions using a gentle, whole body approach. I was able to access the stem deeper that I would have been able to do solely with talk therapy. I wholeheartedly believe in this approach and now have an easier time listening to my body and self-soothing if problems or discomfort arise.”
CLIENT #4
“The rational person that I am wanted to be skeptical about muscle testing, EFT, EMDR, etc. But when I came to Heather initially to address issues around recovery from trauma, I was so fatigued by conventional approaches that I just wasn’t. I trusted Heather instantly. I was comforted by her outstanding academic and professional background and by her straightforward explanation of how the process would work. As I saw it, someone so accomplished in traditional psychotherapy who found her way to these techniques, and that anyone that could so authentically describe something so new and different to me had to have done the theoretical and practical work to know that this was legitimate. So I went for it without hesitation.
In just a few weeks I knew that this was going to be groundbreaking and it continues to be just that. These techniques have engaged and exposed underlying truths about both challenges and opportunities in several aspects of my life. I have no doubt that some of the things that proved most critical to my healing and growth would not have been accessible to me through traditional approaches. My conscious mind simply could not have reached some of the deeply held beliefs and patterns that I needed to address to really make meaningful improvements. At this point I can’t imagine psychotherapy without these techniques!”