In this episode, host Ida Fanelli speaks with Mel Abbott, founder of Empower Therapies and creator of The Switch Program. After navigating her own lengthy personal health journey following a head injury, Mel explored psychology, neuroplasticity, and mind–body educational techniques to support her personal well-being.
We explore:
The connection between stress, emotional regulation, and the nervous system
Educational mind–body techniques and brain-retraining concepts
How neuroplasticity and positive mindset strategies can support personal wellness journeys. Mel’s work offers lifestyle programs for individuals managing stress, burnout, and chronic symptoms.
Bridging conversations between complementary wellness strategies and medical awareness. Whether you want to better understand the mind-body connection or seek supportive lifestyle tools for burnout and stress, this episode offers an engaging look at holistic well-being.
Connect with Mel Abbott:
Website: empowertherapies.co.nz
Free Educational Webinar: empowertherapies.co.nz
The Switch Program: empowertherapies.co.nz/pages
Connect with Host Ida Fanelli: www.link in Bio
Disclaimer: This podcast episode is for informational and educational purposes only. The mind–body and educational strategies discussed are designed to support general well-being and stress management. They are not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and they do not claim to cure or treat any disease or medical condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider about any health concern or before making changes to your healthcare plan.
#MindBodyWellness #BrainRetraining #StressManagement #WellnessJourney #MECFSRecovery #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #BrainRetraining #TheSwitchProgram #EmpowerTherapies #Neuroplasticity #ChronicIllnessRecovery
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Welcome to Where Science Meets Self -Care with
00:00:03 --> 00:00:06 Ida Fanelli. With over 30 years in beauty and
00:00:06 --> 00:00:09 wellness and a background in medical science,
00:00:09 --> 00:00:12 Ida blends clinical knowledge with holistic care.
00:00:13 --> 00:00:16 Each week, she and her guests share insights
00:00:16 --> 00:00:19 to help you achieve healthier skin, balanced
00:00:19 --> 00:00:23 energy, and empowered self -care. Now, here's
00:00:23 --> 00:00:32 your host, Ida Finelli. Today, we're talking
00:00:32 --> 00:00:35 to someone that's all the way down from New Zealand.
00:00:35 --> 00:00:40 She has a wealth of experience and knowledge
00:00:40 --> 00:00:44 to share. Hello, everyone. Today, I'm joined
00:00:44 --> 00:00:47 by Mel Abbott, whose journey is nothing short
00:00:47 --> 00:00:52 of inspiring. At just 18 years old, a head injury
00:00:52 --> 00:00:56 triggered myelologic encephalitis, chronic fatigue
00:00:56 --> 00:01:00 syndrome. doctors gave her no hope and told her
00:01:00 --> 00:01:04 it was incurable mel endured more than a decade
00:01:04 --> 00:01:07 of debilitating illness yet even while unwell
00:01:07 --> 00:01:11 she persevered with her studies completing her
00:01:11 --> 00:01:15 bachelor of science in psychology welcome mel
00:01:15 --> 00:01:19 can you take us back to the head injury when
00:01:19 --> 00:01:23 you were 18 years old what happened and how did
00:01:23 --> 00:01:29 i remember it Yeah, I mean, I have no memory
00:01:29 --> 00:01:32 of that whole day. All we know is that my helmet
00:01:32 --> 00:01:35 was smashed from all around the back of my head.
00:01:36 --> 00:01:38 Were you bike riding? So I must have had a fall.
00:01:39 --> 00:01:44 Yeah. No, I know. You don't remember. My husband
00:01:44 --> 00:01:46 actually had a head injury. He had a concussion.
00:01:47 --> 00:01:50 So I know all about head injuries. I had to help
00:01:50 --> 00:01:54 him from that. So I know they're not easy to
00:01:54 --> 00:01:58 deal with. Okay, so we don't have to talk about
00:01:58 --> 00:02:03 it. You lived with ME CFS for 11 years. Yet during
00:02:03 --> 00:02:07 that time, you managed to complete a psychology
00:02:07 --> 00:02:10 degree and further training. How did you push
00:02:10 --> 00:02:15 through while navigating such an illness? Well,
00:02:15 --> 00:02:19 I did my first eight papers of 21 before my head
00:02:19 --> 00:02:22 injury. So I was a full -time uni student, did
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 eight papers in my first year, had the best year
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 of my life. It was amazing. Everything was great.
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 Then I had my head injury right at the end of
00:02:30 --> 00:02:33 my first year of uni, the day before my final
00:02:33 --> 00:02:37 exam of first year. And so after that, I had
00:02:37 --> 00:02:41 about Five years, I think. The next year I tried
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 to go back and just do one paper at a time and
00:02:43 --> 00:02:45 then I got sicker and sicker over the next few
00:02:45 --> 00:02:47 years until I couldn't do anything and I had
00:02:47 --> 00:02:50 five years of nothing. And then I went back and
00:02:50 --> 00:02:54 looked through one paper per semester and I never
00:02:54 --> 00:02:55 even went to lectures. I wasn't well enough.
00:02:55 --> 00:02:59 I was just, you know, learning from home, doing
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 one paper at a time. And so it took me another,
00:03:02 --> 00:03:06 took me the whole 11 years to complete the next
00:03:06 --> 00:03:09 two years of a degree. But finally, I hit a bachelor's
00:03:09 --> 00:03:12 and I got all A grades apart from one B plus,
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 even though I was so sick. Well, see, that's
00:03:15 --> 00:03:18 incredible. You know, it took you a long time,
00:03:18 --> 00:03:22 but you did it though, right? Yeah. No, no, it's
00:03:22 --> 00:03:26 wonderful. 17 years ago, a chance meeting introduced
00:03:26 --> 00:03:29 you to NLP through someone who had recovered
00:03:29 --> 00:03:34 from CFS. How did that influence you, your own
00:03:34 --> 00:03:39 recovery? It was everything to me. I mean, I'd
00:03:39 --> 00:03:43 spent 11 years trying everything out there that
00:03:43 --> 00:03:45 we could find and nothing worked. We'd spent
00:03:45 --> 00:03:50 over $100 and I was still sick. A friend
00:03:50 --> 00:03:53 of mine who had been sick the same 11 years I
00:03:53 --> 00:03:57 had, she heard about this NLP approach and she
00:03:57 --> 00:04:00 did it. It was all better in 10 days. So then
00:04:00 --> 00:04:03 I traveled all the way from New Zealand to London
00:04:03 --> 00:04:07 three weeks later to do the same thing. So, you
00:04:07 --> 00:04:10 know, that's about New Zealand to London is about
00:04:10 --> 00:04:13 40 hours of traveling. And when you have chronic
00:04:13 --> 00:04:16 fatigue syndrome, that's hard. Did you go by
00:04:16 --> 00:04:21 yourself? Yeah. No, my parents came with me and
00:04:21 --> 00:04:25 then we had several weeks before the course for
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 me to get over the jet lag because when you have
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 chronic fatigue syndrome, it's not a two -day
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 recovery, it's a two -week recovery from jet
00:04:31 --> 00:04:35 lag. And then mum would have to take me out and
00:04:35 --> 00:04:39 practice how to find the train station and catch
00:04:39 --> 00:04:41 the train in the underground to get to the course
00:04:41 --> 00:04:43 because my brain fog was so bad I could never
00:04:43 --> 00:04:46 have worked it out. But yeah, it was a whole
00:04:46 --> 00:04:49 family effort to get me there. And then it was
00:04:49 --> 00:04:53 incredible how fast I started recovering. I'd
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 had three -hour afternoon sleeps every day for
00:04:56 --> 00:04:59 11 years. And they were just gone, like from
00:04:59 --> 00:05:03 day one. It's like, right, that's gone. I was
00:05:03 --> 00:05:06 definitely very tired in the afternoon, but I
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 didn't need to go to bed. It was already improved.
00:05:09 --> 00:05:12 And every day just got better and better until
00:05:12 --> 00:05:15 two weeks later was the day where I just knew
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 I was all better. I could just... feel it in
00:05:17 --> 00:05:23 my body it was like my whole body just felt clear
00:05:23 --> 00:05:27 none of that heavy foggy awful yeah painful feeling
00:05:27 --> 00:05:31 it was just free and open and I was in Rome at
00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 the time and I'd been walking for five hours
00:05:34 --> 00:05:38 all around Rome and had not felt tired at all
00:05:38 --> 00:05:42 and I just knew I was all better that's wonderful
00:05:43 --> 00:05:45 And then it's wonderful that your parents could
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 help you to get there because how do you know
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 where to go if you don't know where you are,
00:05:49 --> 00:05:53 right? Over. The course of probably the first
00:05:53 --> 00:05:57 year, I'd say my memory had restored. Not the
00:05:57 --> 00:06:00 memory of what happened, but my ongoing memory
00:06:00 --> 00:06:04 was fine. And the headaches from concussion had
00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 gone. But that's when the chronic fatigue syndrome
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 part really took off. And that's what got me
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 far, far sicker than the concussion. I mean,
00:06:11 --> 00:06:14 once I was stuck in chronic fatigue, that's when
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 I could barely walk up one flight of stairs.
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 You know, that was... was really what I was dealing
00:06:19 --> 00:06:23 with by the time I went to that course. I'm sorry
00:06:23 --> 00:06:25 you had so much trouble finding your way around
00:06:25 --> 00:06:28 after 11 years but it's great that you had your
00:06:28 --> 00:06:31 parents to help you around. For those unfamiliar,
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 what exactly is the SWITCH program and how does
00:06:35 --> 00:06:40 it work? So it's a four -day program that people
00:06:40 --> 00:06:45 can attend live in person or live online. There's
00:06:45 --> 00:06:48 also a pre -recorded version that takes place
00:06:48 --> 00:06:51 over six weeks instead of... four days for people
00:06:51 --> 00:06:54 that feel they just cannot handle the intensity
00:06:54 --> 00:06:59 of four days of doing something. And so it covers
00:06:59 --> 00:07:02 all the main things that help me to recover,
00:07:02 --> 00:07:05 all the different areas that I had to address
00:07:05 --> 00:07:09 in order to get a full recovery. Day one is all
00:07:09 --> 00:07:13 about the physiology of chronic illness, not
00:07:13 --> 00:07:15 just chronic fatigue, but chronic illness in
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 general. So, you know, chronic pain, autoimmune
00:07:17 --> 00:07:21 disorders, digestive disorders, endometriosis,
00:07:21 --> 00:07:24 any chronic pattern that doctors start telling
00:07:24 --> 00:07:27 you, you know, there's no cure. You have to just
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 manage this forever using pills and surgery and
00:07:30 --> 00:07:34 so on. looking at the physiology of why does
00:07:34 --> 00:07:36 a body get stuck in a pattern like this? Why
00:07:36 --> 00:07:40 can it not repair itself? And the essence of
00:07:40 --> 00:07:44 that is that bodies get so out of sync with such
00:07:44 --> 00:07:47 an accumulation of stress response that they
00:07:47 --> 00:07:50 then don't have any resources left to be able
00:07:50 --> 00:07:53 to initiate healing because all their energy
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 is pumped into this sort of fighting the tiger
00:07:55 --> 00:07:58 mode, which is all heart, lungs, limbs, hence
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 the restless leg syndrome that people get. from
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 all the charge in their legs and the aching that
00:08:03 --> 00:08:07 people get and the brain fog and the racing heart.
00:08:08 --> 00:08:11 But then your digestive system, your immune system,
00:08:11 --> 00:08:15 your hormone system, reproductive system, everything
00:08:15 --> 00:08:17 else gets jeopardized because all the energy
00:08:17 --> 00:08:21 is going to heart, lungs, limbs. So understanding
00:08:21 --> 00:08:24 that gives people a starting point of what they're
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 going to need to do to recover, which one of
00:08:26 --> 00:08:29 the major things is to calm your body down physiologically.
00:08:30 --> 00:08:32 That doesn't necessarily mean that a person feels
00:08:32 --> 00:08:36 anxious. It's a physiological thing. It's happening
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 at a very physical level in the body. So calming,
00:08:40 --> 00:08:44 addressing all the thoughts that maintain that
00:08:44 --> 00:08:46 level of stress in the body, addressing the beliefs
00:08:46 --> 00:08:49 that maintain it, the lifestyle patterns that
00:08:49 --> 00:08:53 people have got stuck in that maintain illness
00:08:53 --> 00:08:57 long term. lifestyle choices you know diet exercise
00:08:57 --> 00:09:00 all that stuff though being very aware that people
00:09:00 --> 00:09:02 with chronic fatigue have to be very careful
00:09:02 --> 00:09:05 not to jump into exercise that can cause a lot
00:09:05 --> 00:09:08 of flare -ups so we've got to get the body calmed
00:09:08 --> 00:09:11 before we start adding in anything like that
00:09:11 --> 00:09:13 because otherwise it could make them worse and
00:09:13 --> 00:09:17 also addressing all the past emotional trauma
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 that's held in their body which is also preventing
00:09:19 --> 00:09:22 recovery so there's a lot of different components
00:09:22 --> 00:09:26 that we need to cover in order to get a whole
00:09:26 --> 00:09:29 body system balanced enough that it can go into
00:09:29 --> 00:09:34 repair mode that's great and um all these things
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 were covered in the course or did you add a few
00:09:36 --> 00:09:42 things uh no the the course i did in london was
00:09:42 --> 00:09:46 only sort of the stuff some of the stuff on day
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 one of my course you know I've done a lot of
00:09:48 --> 00:09:51 different modalities in my life and you know
00:09:51 --> 00:09:54 the like day two stems more from my journey of
00:09:54 --> 00:09:57 resolving my goiter which I also was told was
00:09:57 --> 00:10:00 incurable but I managed to resolve that through
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 releasing all the emotions that were trapped
00:10:02 --> 00:10:06 in my body system um so day two stems more from
00:10:06 --> 00:10:09 that experience and day three stems more from
00:10:09 --> 00:10:12 my university degree and um you know it's like
00:10:12 --> 00:10:16 so many different things that I have learned
00:10:16 --> 00:10:20 that I knew all needed to be put together into
00:10:20 --> 00:10:24 a whole package that supports recovery. Well,
00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 that's great. See, all your knowledge sort of
00:10:26 --> 00:10:29 merged into one therapy. That's quite helpful
00:10:29 --> 00:10:32 for people. And now we'll take time for a commercial
00:10:32 --> 00:10:37 break. Welcome back. You've helped more than
00:10:37 --> 00:10:42 3 people with 80 % recovery rate. Could
00:10:42 --> 00:10:45 you share one or two? client stories that stand
00:10:45 --> 00:10:52 out to you? Yeah, I think one of my faves was
00:10:52 --> 00:10:56 a 15 -year -old girl who had severe fibromyalgia,
00:10:56 --> 00:11:00 which is a chronic pain condition, and her pain
00:11:00 --> 00:11:04 was so bad that she no longer moved at all. She
00:11:04 --> 00:11:06 did not even move her hands. She'd become a complete
00:11:06 --> 00:11:09 statue. to the point where I think it had been
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 about two or three years that she hadn't moved.
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 So people had to dress her, brush her hair, toilet
00:11:14 --> 00:11:19 her, everything. She couldn't move. She came
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 to the course on day one. Her parents wheeled
00:11:21 --> 00:11:24 her in a wheelchair and the wheelchair had to
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 go over the lip of the door to get in. And even
00:11:26 --> 00:11:30 just that meant that she was shaking and screaming
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 with pain for about the first 10 minutes of the
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 course. And the rest of the group was looking
00:11:34 --> 00:11:36 at her thinking, oh God, I wish I didn't have
00:11:36 --> 00:11:39 this girl in the group with me. But she ended
00:11:39 --> 00:11:42 up being their biggest inspiration ever because
00:11:42 --> 00:11:45 by the end of day one, she was moving her hands
00:11:45 --> 00:11:48 for the first time in years. During day two,
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 she stood up for the first time and we have a
00:11:50 --> 00:11:55 photo of her first standing up. And then at the
00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 end of the last day of the course, day four,
00:11:57 --> 00:12:00 that's when she walked from the venue back to
00:12:00 --> 00:12:03 her mother's car. And she calls it her penguin
00:12:03 --> 00:12:06 walk because she hadn't walked for so long that
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 she'd grown a lot taller. And so the ground looked
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 the wrong height away from her and she hadn't
00:12:10 --> 00:12:13 used her legs for so many years because she'd
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 been in a wheelchair for five years and completely
00:12:15 --> 00:12:19 statue. for three years um and so she was very
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 wobbly she couldn't walk in a straight line it
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 was you know an interesting walk and we've got
00:12:23 --> 00:12:26 a movie of that which is on my website um but
00:12:26 --> 00:12:29 yeah within and I said to her mum before the
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 course she will walk out of this course I knew
00:12:31 --> 00:12:34 we could achieve that um and she did but what
00:12:34 --> 00:12:38 amazed me is two days after the course she went
00:12:38 --> 00:12:42 for a one hour walk with the family and 10 days
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 after the course she went rock climbing and the
00:12:45 --> 00:12:48 this is a girl who hasn't even moved for three
00:12:48 --> 00:12:54 years. So that blew my mind, you know, because
00:12:54 --> 00:12:56 I thought there'd be a strength issue. I knew
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 she could get up and walk again once she'd learned
00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 to turn off the pain. But to have enough strength
00:13:01 --> 00:13:05 to do that was fascinating. So, yeah, so she
00:13:05 --> 00:13:08 was very exciting. And I can send you a link
00:13:08 --> 00:13:12 to put with your podcast to that movie because
00:13:12 --> 00:13:16 that was very cool. um another very different
00:13:16 --> 00:13:23 one um another fave that's quite a different
00:13:23 --> 00:13:26 story because all the ones that are similar you
00:13:26 --> 00:13:27 know getting out of wheelchairs the ones that
00:13:27 --> 00:13:31 spring to mind but thinking of um something very
00:13:31 --> 00:13:34 different yeah I had a man who had had two to
00:13:34 --> 00:13:39 three migraines a week for 55 years And he had
00:13:39 --> 00:13:41 been to every specialist. He'd tried every pill
00:13:41 --> 00:13:43 and nothing ever worked. He was just a lifetime
00:13:43 --> 00:13:45 of migraines. I think they started when he was
00:13:45 --> 00:13:50 about 10, I think. And so he came to the course.
00:13:50 --> 00:13:53 He sort of knew about it for several years before
00:13:53 --> 00:13:56 he came and was always curious but skeptical.
00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 And I just thought, you know, he's never going
00:13:58 --> 00:14:00 to end up deciding to do it. And then one day
00:14:00 --> 00:14:03 he just called me up and said, I need to do your
00:14:03 --> 00:14:05 course. And once he'd clicked into gear and decided
00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 to do it, he just could not get that fast enough.
00:14:08 --> 00:14:11 And it was just amazing. He literally had all
00:14:11 --> 00:14:13 the migraines over within those four days, and
00:14:13 --> 00:14:15 it's been 10 years since then. He's never had
00:14:15 --> 00:14:18 another. He's just completely migraine -free
00:14:18 --> 00:14:23 after 55 years of two to three a week. Wow, wonderful.
00:14:25 --> 00:14:28 Pretty exciting as well. And it did make me smile
00:14:28 --> 00:14:31 when I was at the GP conference presenting and
00:14:31 --> 00:14:35 there was a migraine specialist and he was saying,
00:14:35 --> 00:14:38 you can't fix migraines. All you can do is crunch
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 them with pills. And when they come back, you
00:14:40 --> 00:14:43 crunch them again. And I'm like, yeah, you can
00:14:43 --> 00:14:45 fix them. You actually can. If you understand
00:14:45 --> 00:14:49 the root cause of why someone is experiencing
00:14:49 --> 00:14:52 a migraine, then you can fix it. But it's all
00:14:52 --> 00:14:54 about having that whole body understanding, which
00:14:54 --> 00:14:58 in his mainstream training, he just didn't know.
00:15:00 --> 00:15:03 Like you, many of your clients come to you after
00:15:03 --> 00:15:06 years of being told nothing can be done. What
00:15:06 --> 00:15:09 shifts do you see in them physically and emotionally
00:15:09 --> 00:15:15 when they realize recovery is possible? Yeah,
00:15:15 --> 00:15:18 some people do get a real lift just by getting
00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 their hope back. They say, oh, you never believe
00:15:20 --> 00:15:23 it. But, you know, I've been waking up with a
00:15:23 --> 00:15:24 bit more energy this week and my headaches are
00:15:24 --> 00:15:28 less and I've been managing to walk for 10 minutes
00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 and I used to only walk to my letterbox. And,
00:15:30 --> 00:15:33 you know, so some people experience change just
00:15:33 --> 00:15:36 because. They've got hope again. And it makes
00:15:36 --> 00:15:38 sense because hope is going to help calm the
00:15:38 --> 00:15:42 stress response. And so healing can start. For
00:15:42 --> 00:15:45 other people like myself, I got hope and excited
00:15:45 --> 00:15:48 and was willing to travel all the way to the
00:15:48 --> 00:15:51 end of the world to get this help. I did believe
00:15:51 --> 00:15:53 it was going to help me, but I didn't get any
00:15:53 --> 00:15:56 physical improvements until I was actually doing
00:15:56 --> 00:16:00 the course. So some people are like that. they
00:16:00 --> 00:16:03 get hope and then they come along and start recovering
00:16:03 --> 00:16:05 and other people, they sort of start recovering
00:16:05 --> 00:16:08 just because they're hearing about it. Yeah.
00:16:08 --> 00:16:12 Your work was highlighted on national radio alongside
00:16:12 --> 00:16:17 orthopedic surgeon, John Dunbar, who shared cases
00:16:17 --> 00:16:19 of three young patients recovering within weeks
00:16:19 --> 00:16:23 under your guidance. What was it like to hear
00:16:23 --> 00:16:28 that kind of medical endorsement? Yeah, well,
00:16:28 --> 00:16:31 John Dunbar, he was wonderfully open -minded.
00:16:32 --> 00:16:36 I had a young girl who had CRIPS, which is Complex
00:16:36 --> 00:16:40 Regional Pain Syndrome. I think in America they
00:16:40 --> 00:16:43 call it CRPS, but in New Zealand we just say
00:16:43 --> 00:16:49 CRIPS. And so with CRIPS, you get a limb, generally
00:16:49 --> 00:16:54 a limb that is... purple and so painful you can't
00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 even touch it with a feather like literally the
00:16:56 --> 00:17:00 people would not wear a sock over their affected
00:17:00 --> 00:17:02 foot they wouldn't be able to put it under a
00:17:02 --> 00:17:05 bed sheet they can't even wash it so they have
00:17:05 --> 00:17:08 this limb that they they just cannot get even
00:17:08 --> 00:17:12 a puff of air near it And I had one of these
00:17:12 --> 00:17:14 kids come along and do the course. And, yep,
00:17:14 --> 00:17:18 she was up and walking on her crypt's foot within
00:17:18 --> 00:17:21 the four days of the course and was completely
00:17:21 --> 00:17:23 pain -free within a week. And I sent a report
00:17:23 --> 00:17:26 to John Dunbar, and he read it and thought, surely
00:17:26 --> 00:17:29 not, and put it aside. And a couple of weeks
00:17:29 --> 00:17:32 later, I had another of his kids come along and
00:17:32 --> 00:17:36 do the course and have a very similar result.
00:17:36 --> 00:17:38 And I sent a report. And when he read the second
00:17:38 --> 00:17:41 report, he thought, I've got to investigate this.
00:17:41 --> 00:17:44 So he contacted both the parents and said, is
00:17:44 --> 00:17:45 this true? And they went, yes, she's all better.
00:17:45 --> 00:17:47 And he said, well, would you please bring her
00:17:47 --> 00:17:49 to see me? I won't charge you. I just want to
00:17:49 --> 00:17:51 see with my own eyes. And so they took the kids
00:17:51 --> 00:17:54 in and he saw the limb was a normal skin tone.
00:17:55 --> 00:17:58 It was not swollen. The child was walking on
00:17:58 --> 00:18:02 it, wearing shoes on it, you know. So the same
00:18:02 --> 00:18:04 day he contacted me and said, I have to meet
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 you. And so we had a Zoom call and chatted about
00:18:06 --> 00:18:09 what I do. And he said that night he just did
00:18:09 --> 00:18:12 not sleep all night long. so excited he's like
00:18:12 --> 00:18:15 this is the missing piece of the puzzle that
00:18:15 --> 00:18:18 I've never known in a 40 -year medical degree
00:18:18 --> 00:18:22 or medical career you know and so he flew me
00:18:22 --> 00:18:25 to Dunedin to meet me and learn more about it
00:18:25 --> 00:18:27 and it's completely changed the way he talks
00:18:27 --> 00:18:30 about pain to his patients now he's done a lot
00:18:30 --> 00:18:33 of research into mind -body approaches and developed
00:18:33 --> 00:18:37 his own ways of discussing the the role of mind
00:18:37 --> 00:18:40 in creating chronic pain because ultimately you
00:18:40 --> 00:18:42 know the research is all there we know that pain
00:18:42 --> 00:18:44 comes from the brain which doesn't mean that
00:18:44 --> 00:18:46 it's not real it doesn't mean someone's making
00:18:46 --> 00:18:49 it up but the actual pain signals are coming
00:18:49 --> 00:18:53 from the brain and so you can't fix it by chopping
00:18:53 --> 00:18:55 off a limb for instance you know 75 percent of
00:18:55 --> 00:18:57 amputees feel pain in the limb they don't even
00:18:57 --> 00:19:00 have anymore because the pain's coming from the
00:19:00 --> 00:19:03 brain so he has completely changed the way he
00:19:03 --> 00:19:07 works with his chronic pain clients now and does
00:19:07 --> 00:19:09 a lot of explaining to them about the nature
00:19:09 --> 00:19:12 of how the brain creates the pain and how you
00:19:12 --> 00:19:14 have to change those thoughts and that changes
00:19:14 --> 00:19:17 the pain and so he's getting very different outcomes
00:19:17 --> 00:19:22 himself now. Great and now we'll take time for
00:19:22 --> 00:19:26 a commercial break. Welcome back. To further
00:19:26 --> 00:19:29 reach out more people you also speak to doctors
00:19:29 --> 00:19:32 about the importance of not making patients lose
00:19:32 --> 00:19:39 hope. Why is that message so critical? Well,
00:19:39 --> 00:19:42 I guess when people get sick, what's the first
00:19:42 --> 00:19:44 thing they do? They go to the doctor, right?
00:19:45 --> 00:19:50 So we need a whole wave of frontline doctors
00:19:50 --> 00:19:54 who understand about the role of the mind in
00:19:54 --> 00:19:57 health because that is people's first port of
00:19:57 --> 00:20:02 call. And I know for me and my illness, The worst
00:20:02 --> 00:20:05 thing that ever happened in 11 years of illness
00:20:05 --> 00:20:08 was when the doctor told me, it's incurable,
00:20:08 --> 00:20:10 you have to live with this forever. I mean, that
00:20:10 --> 00:20:14 made me want to die. Like, it was the worst thing
00:20:14 --> 00:20:16 I could possibly hear as a 21 -year -old. Three
00:20:16 --> 00:20:18 years into a terrible illness, and now you're
00:20:18 --> 00:20:23 being told it's forever. I never want any other
00:20:23 --> 00:20:26 person to ever be told that by a doctor. So I
00:20:26 --> 00:20:28 have a real passion for getting out there and
00:20:28 --> 00:20:33 talking with doctors to make sure that they understand
00:20:33 --> 00:20:35 all this stuff and can talk to their patients
00:20:35 --> 00:20:39 in a more positive way and definitely validating
00:20:39 --> 00:20:41 their patients that what you have is real and
00:20:41 --> 00:20:43 serious. I wouldn't want them to go the other
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 way and be dismissive and say that these really
00:20:45 --> 00:20:48 terrible conditions are not real because they
00:20:48 --> 00:20:52 are real. But they're real and your mind can
00:20:52 --> 00:20:55 influence your recovery. So, you know, and doctors
00:20:55 --> 00:20:58 seem very open to it. You know, I've presented
00:20:58 --> 00:21:02 at the National GP Conference six times and two
00:21:02 --> 00:21:05 times I was. voted best speaker out of 200 speakers
00:21:05 --> 00:21:07 and another time I was second place. So, you
00:21:07 --> 00:21:09 know, these doctors in New Zealand are pretty
00:21:09 --> 00:21:12 keen to hear these messages. It's, you know,
00:21:12 --> 00:21:14 it's a pretty positive space in New Zealand.
00:21:14 --> 00:21:16 I don't know what it's like in other countries,
00:21:16 --> 00:21:20 but it does seem like GPs really want to know
00:21:20 --> 00:21:23 more ways that they can help their patients on
00:21:23 --> 00:21:25 these things that they've always seen as incurable.
00:21:26 --> 00:21:30 That's wonderful. Yet some doctors remain skeptical
00:21:30 --> 00:21:33 while others are strong advocates. What do you
00:21:33 --> 00:21:37 think needs to shift in medical training or mindset
00:21:37 --> 00:21:40 for mind -body approaches to be more widely accepted?
00:21:44 --> 00:21:46 Yeah, there are definitely some that remain skeptical.
00:21:48 --> 00:21:52 One New Zealand chronic fatigue specialist who
00:21:52 --> 00:21:57 I've now sent 44 reports to her of her own patients
00:21:57 --> 00:22:00 that found me and 42 out of 44 had recovered.
00:22:01 --> 00:22:04 And yet she still says you cannot fix ME with
00:22:04 --> 00:22:06 these approaches. I'm like, well, why did I manage
00:22:06 --> 00:22:10 to fix 42 out of 44 of your patients then? But
00:22:10 --> 00:22:15 yeah, so there are people like that. But I think...
00:22:15 --> 00:22:17 In New Zealand, we only have two med schools.
00:22:17 --> 00:22:19 We're a little country at the end of the world.
00:22:19 --> 00:22:22 And one of those med schools has a whole mind
00:22:22 --> 00:22:25 -body module in their training. And I'm one of
00:22:25 --> 00:22:28 the contributors who's written part of the manual
00:22:28 --> 00:22:32 for that module. And it's wonderful. You know,
00:22:32 --> 00:22:34 we're having a whole new wave of young doctors
00:22:34 --> 00:22:39 who are emerging out of med school, already understanding
00:22:39 --> 00:22:41 the bigger picture of looking at their patients
00:22:41 --> 00:22:44 holistically. you know that that's going to flow
00:22:44 --> 00:22:48 through throughout the the whole field as every
00:22:48 --> 00:22:51 year another wave of new doctors comes through
00:22:51 --> 00:22:53 who already know this stuff from the get -go
00:22:53 --> 00:22:55 and it doesn't seem weird and alternative it's
00:22:55 --> 00:22:59 just part of their med school training so I have
00:22:59 --> 00:23:02 a lot of hope for the future I've been in practice
00:23:02 --> 00:23:05 15 years and I can see a really big evolution
00:23:05 --> 00:23:09 in that time so yeah I would trust that that
00:23:09 --> 00:23:12 trend is going to keep going but yeah it's just
00:23:12 --> 00:23:16 a a long, slow burn to get all those ideas through.
00:23:18 --> 00:23:22 Do the medical students respond well to your
00:23:22 --> 00:23:28 teachings? Yeah, yeah. I mean, we've had very
00:23:28 --> 00:23:32 positive, you know, feedback and people contacting
00:23:32 --> 00:23:35 me afterwards with some more questions. And,
00:23:35 --> 00:23:39 yeah, it's been very positive. I think mostly
00:23:39 --> 00:23:43 people who are training to be a doctor, fundamentally,
00:23:43 --> 00:23:45 they want to help people. That's why you become
00:23:45 --> 00:23:49 a doctor, isn't it? And so they want to know
00:23:49 --> 00:23:52 all the different things that could help people.
00:23:52 --> 00:23:57 And overall, I'd say the positivity is there.
00:23:59 --> 00:24:02 Beyond individual recoveries, you've made it
00:24:02 --> 00:24:05 a mission to shift the narrative around conditions
00:24:05 --> 00:24:10 like ME. slash cfs being incurable what progress
00:24:10 --> 00:24:17 do you see in that area that's a bit harder i'd
00:24:17 --> 00:24:20 say the um the mainstream medical profession
00:24:20 --> 00:24:24 as a whole is more open -minded to this than
00:24:24 --> 00:24:29 the me community which i've really found difficult
00:24:29 --> 00:24:33 to understand i i came back to new zealand with
00:24:33 --> 00:24:36 my heart full of joy and optimism to come and
00:24:36 --> 00:24:39 help the community that I had been part of. And
00:24:39 --> 00:24:42 I really thought I had something wonderful to
00:24:42 --> 00:24:45 contribute. But there's been a lot of skepticism
00:24:45 --> 00:24:49 from a community who've, you know, spent 30,
00:24:49 --> 00:24:54 40 years believing that they're incurable and
00:24:54 --> 00:24:57 very resistant to hearing alternate possibilities.
00:24:58 --> 00:25:02 And that's been pretty devastating for me. and
00:25:02 --> 00:25:06 hard to understand. But I think I've been talking
00:25:06 --> 00:25:09 to some GPs lately who've been around longer
00:25:09 --> 00:25:13 because my illness was now 25 years ago through
00:25:13 --> 00:25:16 to 15 years ago. And in that window, the message
00:25:16 --> 00:25:19 was it's incurable, which was devastating for
00:25:19 --> 00:25:23 me. And it still, to some degree, is still like
00:25:23 --> 00:25:27 that. But if people had ME... 40 years ago through
00:25:27 --> 00:25:30 to 20 years ago, that's the zone where they were
00:25:30 --> 00:25:34 told it's all made up. You're lazy. This is not
00:25:34 --> 00:25:37 real. And you need to just get on with your life.
00:25:38 --> 00:25:40 And so people weren't believed that they were
00:25:40 --> 00:25:43 even sick. And so I think the people who had
00:25:43 --> 00:25:46 that experience. from doctors and from their
00:25:46 --> 00:25:49 family and no one believing them they have so
00:25:49 --> 00:25:53 much trauma around not being believed that they
00:25:53 --> 00:25:56 now feel pretty threatened by mind -body approaches
00:25:56 --> 00:25:58 because in some way if i could get well by using
00:25:58 --> 00:26:00 a mind -body approach does that mean it was made
00:26:00 --> 00:26:03 up and actually no it doesn't mean that like
00:26:03 --> 00:26:07 you know your illness is real it's physical But
00:26:07 --> 00:26:10 your mind is influencing your body. So, you know,
00:26:10 --> 00:26:14 yes, you can use your mind to overcome physical
00:26:14 --> 00:26:16 conditions. It doesn't mean they're made up.
00:26:16 --> 00:26:18 It doesn't mean that they're not real and serious.
00:26:18 --> 00:26:22 But I think that's partly where the resistance
00:26:22 --> 00:26:25 has come from, which is very sad because I'm
00:26:25 --> 00:26:28 just here to help. I'm just here with a lot of
00:26:28 --> 00:26:32 positivity and good things to offer. But I think
00:26:32 --> 00:26:37 that's the maybe, I think. the barrier that we
00:26:37 --> 00:26:42 need to get past. For someone listening right
00:26:42 --> 00:26:45 now who may be struggling with ME slash CFS or
00:26:45 --> 00:26:49 another chronic condition, what's the first step
00:26:49 --> 00:26:54 they can take today towards recovery? Well, the
00:26:54 --> 00:26:57 first thing is throw away the belief that what
00:26:57 --> 00:27:00 you have is incurable because that is a massive
00:27:00 --> 00:27:04 barrier to ever recovering if you believe that
00:27:04 --> 00:27:07 there are thousands of people who are recovering
00:27:07 --> 00:27:12 it is possible and then you know get out there
00:27:12 --> 00:27:15 online and find which program suits you best
00:27:15 --> 00:27:19 because there are so many mind body sort of brain
00:27:19 --> 00:27:22 retraining type programs so you know my own website
00:27:22 --> 00:27:27 empowertherapies .co .nz or look up Mel Abbott
00:27:27 --> 00:27:31 the switch empower therapies any of those google
00:27:31 --> 00:27:34 searches should find me But on my website, there's
00:27:34 --> 00:27:37 a free 45 -minute webinar that people can watch
00:27:37 --> 00:27:40 to learn more about the principles around calming
00:27:40 --> 00:27:42 the stress response and how to get your recovery
00:27:42 --> 00:27:45 started. And then there's a range of different
00:27:45 --> 00:27:47 programs running from little short, cheap ones
00:27:47 --> 00:27:50 through to the full deluxe four -day program.
00:27:52 --> 00:27:55 So there's a lot to offer in my website. But
00:27:55 --> 00:27:58 there's many others. There's a lot of mind -body
00:27:58 --> 00:28:01 programs out there. So it's a matter of researching
00:28:01 --> 00:28:05 them to see which course they feel drawn to,
00:28:05 --> 00:28:07 which trainer they feel drawn to. But always
00:28:07 --> 00:28:10 holding on to the belief that if some people
00:28:10 --> 00:28:12 are recovering, that means it's possible and
00:28:12 --> 00:28:16 I could too. And even if you've tried so many
00:28:16 --> 00:28:18 things and nothing worked yet, you can never
00:28:18 --> 00:28:21 have tried everything. So my belief right through
00:28:21 --> 00:28:24 my illness was I always have to keep trying,
00:28:24 --> 00:28:26 even though I've been told this is incurable,
00:28:26 --> 00:28:28 there's no point trying. It's like, well, what's
00:28:28 --> 00:28:30 the alternative? If I don't try anything, I'm
00:28:30 --> 00:28:33 going to stay sick. That's a guarantee. But if
00:28:33 --> 00:28:35 I keep trying things, maybe one day I will find
00:28:35 --> 00:28:39 the answer. And when I did, it became so easy
00:28:39 --> 00:28:42 to get well. So, yeah, I would encourage anyone,
00:28:42 --> 00:28:45 never give up, keep trying. And, you know, do
00:28:45 --> 00:28:48 the free webinars to suss out the trainers and
00:28:48 --> 00:28:51 see which one you resonate with. And now we'll
00:28:51 --> 00:28:54 take time for a commercial break. Welcome back.
00:28:56 --> 00:28:59 Would you like to explain your five -step process?
00:29:01 --> 00:29:06 Well, I mean, the process requires about six
00:29:06 --> 00:29:08 hours of training to be ready to understand and
00:29:08 --> 00:29:11 use it. So it doesn't really work in a short
00:29:11 --> 00:29:14 explanation. But in essence, there's a whole
00:29:14 --> 00:29:19 series of movements, coaching to self, guided
00:29:19 --> 00:29:23 visualization. all sorts of different things
00:29:23 --> 00:29:27 that are all combined into one format. Different
00:29:27 --> 00:29:29 language patterns, you know, there's lots of
00:29:29 --> 00:29:32 components to it that help to rewire neural pathways
00:29:32 --> 00:29:36 through the use of your body, the use of your
00:29:36 --> 00:29:40 thoughts, overall calming the system, so that
00:29:40 --> 00:29:43 all those neural pathways can be repatterned.
00:29:43 --> 00:29:46 into pathways like a healthy person because what
00:29:46 --> 00:29:50 we need to do is restore healthy patterns in
00:29:50 --> 00:29:53 the body so it's looking at how do we reprogram
00:29:53 --> 00:29:55 your body back to the state of health that it
00:29:55 --> 00:29:59 used to do and you help people with more than
00:29:59 --> 00:30:02 any cfs would you like to talk about other things
00:30:02 --> 00:30:07 that you help them with Yeah, there's been over
00:30:07 --> 00:30:11 200 different conditions that people have been
00:30:11 --> 00:30:15 to see me for. So very wide and varied. I've
00:30:15 --> 00:30:20 seen like the top five that I see would be chronic
00:30:20 --> 00:30:23 fatigue, chronic pain, anxiety, depression, digestive
00:30:23 --> 00:30:27 disorders, and probably autoimmune disorders
00:30:27 --> 00:30:30 would be number six. So I see a lot of lupus,
00:30:30 --> 00:30:36 rheumatoid arthritis. Digestive ones like ulcerative
00:30:36 --> 00:30:43 colitis, IBS, nausea, food intolerances, celiac,
00:30:43 --> 00:30:46 which celiac is another one that doctors will
00:30:46 --> 00:30:49 tell you is incurable, but I have seen people
00:30:49 --> 00:30:51 who have resolved that and they've been eating
00:30:51 --> 00:30:53 gluten for years now and been absolutely fine.
00:30:53 --> 00:30:56 They've had the retest with the hospital to make
00:30:56 --> 00:31:00 sure they're safe. Fibromyalgia, endometriosis.
00:31:03 --> 00:31:08 And then things like OCD and anxiety and panic
00:31:08 --> 00:31:13 disorder and all those sorts of ones. I also,
00:31:13 --> 00:31:16 one I never thought could work was cerebral palsy
00:31:16 --> 00:31:19 because, you know, that's a condition that someone
00:31:19 --> 00:31:21 is born with. You know, during the birth process,
00:31:21 --> 00:31:24 parts of their brain get oxygen starved if the
00:31:24 --> 00:31:26 birth process takes too long. So that part of
00:31:26 --> 00:31:29 their brain died off at birth. It's never functioned.
00:31:30 --> 00:31:32 So I would not have thought that that was possible
00:31:32 --> 00:31:36 to influence it. But I had a boy come and do
00:31:36 --> 00:31:38 my course for chronic fatigue syndrome who also
00:31:38 --> 00:31:41 happened to have cerebral palsy. So he didn't
00:31:41 --> 00:31:44 come to fix the CP. He came to fix CFS. But he
00:31:44 --> 00:31:47 fixed the chronic fatigue so quickly that he
00:31:47 --> 00:31:50 said, I want to work on my cerebral palsy. okay
00:31:50 --> 00:31:52 I've never worked with that before I don't know
00:31:52 --> 00:31:55 if that's possible but he wanted to have a go
00:31:55 --> 00:31:57 and he had a hand that was twisted in like a
00:31:57 --> 00:31:59 claw he'd never been able to use it in his life
00:31:59 --> 00:32:03 and he did the process on his hand and literally
00:32:03 --> 00:32:06 within five or ten seconds his hand opened out
00:32:06 --> 00:32:09 and swung out and his arm reached out and that
00:32:09 --> 00:32:12 had never done in his entire life his eyes were
00:32:12 --> 00:32:14 just boggling he was watching his hand opening
00:32:14 --> 00:32:19 out before his eyes so that was incredible and
00:32:19 --> 00:32:21 then And it was only like two weeks later that
00:32:21 --> 00:32:24 I had a girl do the course for chronic pain.
00:32:25 --> 00:32:28 And she also had cerebral palsy, which was very
00:32:28 --> 00:32:30 bad because I'd never had someone with CP before.
00:32:30 --> 00:32:32 And then there were two people two weeks apart.
00:32:32 --> 00:32:35 So like him, she fixed all her chronic pain in
00:32:35 --> 00:32:37 the first day or two and had nothing left to
00:32:37 --> 00:32:40 work on. So she decided to work on her CP. And
00:32:40 --> 00:32:43 she had a foot that didn't move properly. And
00:32:43 --> 00:32:47 she improved it so much that... I don't think
00:32:47 --> 00:32:49 anyone would even notice that she had a limp
00:32:49 --> 00:32:52 anymore. Like it was, if you really looked, maybe
00:32:52 --> 00:32:55 you could see it, but she just, she looked, you
00:32:55 --> 00:32:57 know, really quite normal at the end of that.
00:32:58 --> 00:33:00 The guy with the hand, his hand improved a lot.
00:33:00 --> 00:33:05 He still had a pretty slurred speech. It improved,
00:33:05 --> 00:33:08 but it was never, never reached a full normal
00:33:08 --> 00:33:11 speech sound, but there were some improvements.
00:33:12 --> 00:33:14 So yeah, that, that blew my mind. It sort of
00:33:14 --> 00:33:16 kept my mind open. that you never know what's
00:33:16 --> 00:33:21 possible. Some things seem more logical that
00:33:21 --> 00:33:24 they would be resolvable than others, but things
00:33:24 --> 00:33:28 like those two people really blew my mind. That's
00:33:28 --> 00:33:32 great. Do you find that you keep learning every
00:33:32 --> 00:33:38 time you work? Yeah, I mean, you know, you're
00:33:38 --> 00:33:41 always seeing new conditions, learning about
00:33:41 --> 00:33:45 new ways to work with people, hearing different
00:33:45 --> 00:33:48 explanations on how things can be explained to
00:33:48 --> 00:33:53 people. It's an ongoing thing. I think any practitioner
00:33:53 --> 00:33:57 who stops learning is getting left behind. You
00:33:57 --> 00:34:00 know, the science is evolving all the time. And
00:34:00 --> 00:34:03 so I'm always trying to keep up with everything
00:34:03 --> 00:34:05 new that's coming through as well as what I'm
00:34:05 --> 00:34:09 learning from being in practice. Yeah. So what's
00:34:09 --> 00:34:13 next for Empower Therapies? Are there new projects,
00:34:13 --> 00:34:18 research or resources you're excited about? Yeah,
00:34:18 --> 00:34:21 I've been working on a new anxiety webinar series
00:34:21 --> 00:34:25 for two years and it's nearly finished. Like
00:34:25 --> 00:34:28 we're always thinking just two more weeks and
00:34:28 --> 00:34:30 we'll be there. Just two more weeks and there's
00:34:30 --> 00:34:34 drifts and drifts. We are so close. We're in
00:34:34 --> 00:34:37 the sort of final rounds of nitpicky edits now.
00:34:37 --> 00:34:43 So that's going to be released soon. And given
00:34:43 --> 00:34:46 I did the Switch webinar series the year before
00:34:46 --> 00:34:49 that, so I've been pretty much three years of
00:34:49 --> 00:34:53 constantly in development mode as well as regular
00:34:53 --> 00:34:56 teaching mode, which is... really intense so
00:34:56 --> 00:34:59 after I finish the anxiety series I need to just
00:34:59 --> 00:35:02 have a patch of not developing anything new and
00:35:02 --> 00:35:05 just actually just doing the job and having more
00:35:05 --> 00:35:08 hours in my day again but generally I find when
00:35:08 --> 00:35:10 I have an intense development patch that goes
00:35:10 --> 00:35:11 for a couple of years and then I have about a
00:35:11 --> 00:35:14 year or so of just doing the job and then I go
00:35:14 --> 00:35:17 oh what else should I develop and I go into the
00:35:17 --> 00:35:19 next area that I want to develop something new
00:35:19 --> 00:35:23 in so let's see Hopefully there'll be some research
00:35:23 --> 00:35:26 soon as well. I've been liaising with universities
00:35:26 --> 00:35:29 and trying to get some research opportunities
00:35:29 --> 00:35:33 because I collect data from every client and
00:35:33 --> 00:35:35 collate it all, but having it verified by external
00:35:35 --> 00:35:38 people would be awesome. So we'll see where that
00:35:38 --> 00:35:43 leads as well. Yeah, great. Well, you've sort
00:35:43 --> 00:35:45 of talked about your programs, but would you
00:35:45 --> 00:35:47 like to re -talk about them to give a bit more
00:35:47 --> 00:35:52 information for the people? Yeah, so there's
00:35:52 --> 00:35:56 the first free webinar is called The First Steps
00:35:56 --> 00:36:00 to Recovery. And that's a very introductory one,
00:36:00 --> 00:36:03 just explaining the science behind the stress
00:36:03 --> 00:36:06 response and how that affects health. And that
00:36:06 --> 00:36:09 can then progress to the next Steps to Recovery,
00:36:09 --> 00:36:13 which is a two -hour webinar, which has more
00:36:13 --> 00:36:16 info about... what contributes to that stress
00:36:16 --> 00:36:18 response and how to recognise the thinking and
00:36:18 --> 00:36:21 behaviour patterns that cause it and then techniques
00:36:21 --> 00:36:24 to start calming that stress response and changing
00:36:24 --> 00:36:27 the thoughts. And then that goes up to the next
00:36:27 --> 00:36:30 one, which is the Switch webinar series, which
00:36:30 --> 00:36:34 is six weeks long and it's about 15 hours of
00:36:34 --> 00:36:39 training. And it also has... uh six live participants
00:36:39 --> 00:36:43 that demoed all the techniques and and show um
00:36:43 --> 00:36:45 you know how to do it all because that one has
00:36:45 --> 00:36:48 a lot more techniques in it including the quick
00:36:48 --> 00:36:52 switch which is my five step you know combo process
00:36:52 --> 00:36:55 of everything together and then that steps up
00:36:55 --> 00:36:59 to the four -day program which has everything
00:36:59 --> 00:37:01 in the switch webinar series plus it has all
00:37:01 --> 00:37:04 the deep trauma methods as well so how to address
00:37:04 --> 00:37:07 all the trauma from your past that's trapped
00:37:07 --> 00:37:09 in your body and holding you back so then people
00:37:09 --> 00:37:13 learn the deep switch which is allowing you to
00:37:13 --> 00:37:15 learn how to access your body memory to know
00:37:16 --> 00:37:20 what is the root cause of your problem? A lot
00:37:20 --> 00:37:22 of people have a theory, oh, I think it was this
00:37:22 --> 00:37:26 or that, or my illness began when I was 18, so
00:37:26 --> 00:37:28 it was something that happened then. But what
00:37:28 --> 00:37:30 they often find is the original trigger was actually
00:37:30 --> 00:37:34 many years before that, and the first event sat
00:37:34 --> 00:37:37 there in their body and affected them over the
00:37:37 --> 00:37:41 years, bit by bit, and it gradually built up
00:37:41 --> 00:37:43 and built up until, bang, they've got their chronic
00:37:43 --> 00:37:45 illness. So being able to trace it all. the way
00:37:45 --> 00:37:49 back to its origin and then release that trauma
00:37:49 --> 00:37:54 from their body that allows for a far more full
00:37:54 --> 00:38:01 and all -encompassing recovery. Mel, thank you
00:38:01 --> 00:38:04 so much for sharing your journey with us today.
00:38:04 --> 00:38:08 From your own bottle with ME -CFS starting at
00:38:08 --> 00:38:12 just 18 years old. to creating a program that
00:38:12 --> 00:38:15 has now helped thousands reclaim their health
00:38:15 --> 00:38:18 and their lives. What really stood out is how
00:38:18 --> 00:38:20 your work is not only transforming individuals
00:38:20 --> 00:38:23 but also reshaping how the medical community
00:38:23 --> 00:38:27 views chronic illness recovery. Hearing doctors
00:38:27 --> 00:38:30 describe patients turning around in just weeks
00:38:30 --> 00:38:33 is such a powerful validation of the mind -body
00:38:33 --> 00:38:37 connection. If you've been told that your condition
00:38:37 --> 00:38:40 is incurable, let's today's conversation be a
00:38:40 --> 00:38:44 reminder that recovery is possible and hope is
00:38:44 --> 00:38:49 real. After her own recovery using NLP mind -body
00:38:49 --> 00:38:53 techniques in London, England, Mel returned to
00:38:53 --> 00:38:56 New Zealand determined to help others. Over the
00:38:56 --> 00:39:01 past 17 years is it? She has supported more than
00:39:01 --> 00:39:04 3 clients achieving an extraordinary 80
00:39:04 --> 00:39:09 % success rate, even among people who had been
00:39:09 --> 00:39:12 unwell for years and told recovery was impossible.
00:39:13 --> 00:39:16 Her work has gained recognition not only from
00:39:16 --> 00:39:19 clients, but also from the medical community.
00:39:19 --> 00:39:25 One doctor put it that That overcame my skepticism
00:39:25 --> 00:39:28 I had from then on. I knew there was a whole
00:39:28 --> 00:39:32 group of people in medicine who may not have
00:39:32 --> 00:39:35 to go through the loop of seeing doctor after
00:39:35 --> 00:39:40 doctor without answers and hopefully end up with
00:39:40 --> 00:39:44 Mel. Mel has since become a respected voice in
00:39:44 --> 00:39:48 both holistic and medical circles. Through Empower
00:39:48 --> 00:39:51 Therapies and her four -day program, The Switch,
00:39:51 --> 00:39:54 Mel is reshaping the narrative around chronic
00:39:54 --> 00:39:58 illness and building bridges between science,
00:39:58 --> 00:40:02 psychology, and real -world recovery. For those
00:40:02 --> 00:40:06 listening who want to connect with Mel or explore
00:40:06 --> 00:40:10 her resources, I'll put her information in the
00:40:10 --> 00:40:13 details, but her website is empowertherapies
00:40:13 --> 00:40:19 .co .nz. She's also on Facebook, Empower Therapies,
00:40:19 --> 00:40:22 and she's on YouTube, Empower Therapies, and
00:40:22 --> 00:40:25 she's discussed her webinars, and I'll put the
00:40:25 --> 00:40:30 links later for you. Mel, thank you again for
00:40:30 --> 00:40:33 the incredible work you're doing and for inspiring
00:40:33 --> 00:40:36 all of us to see health and healing in a whole
00:40:36 --> 00:40:42 new light. Thank you. Thank you for tuning in
00:40:42 --> 00:40:45 to where science meets self -care with Ida Fennelly.
00:40:46 --> 00:40:49 Ida bridges clinical science with holistic wisdom,
00:40:49 --> 00:40:53 guiding you toward radiant skin, balanced energy,
00:40:53 --> 00:40:56 and lasting wellbeing. Don't forget to subscribe,
00:40:57 --> 00:41:00 share the show. And join us next time for more
00:41:00 --> 00:41:03 inspiration and practical tools to help you live
00:41:03 --> 00:41:07 beautifully inside and out. To connect with Ida,
00:41:07 --> 00:41:13 visit linktr.ee/idafanelli. Until then, take good care
00:41:13 --> 00:41:16 of yourself. And remember, self-care is where
00:41:16 --> 00:41:18 science and soul meet.