This month, we had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Malasri Chaudhery-Malgeri from recovery.com on an episode of her podcast, where we discussed our integrative approach to the treatment of eating disorders, addiction, and trauma at THE BALANCE Healthcare Group.

As Head of Psychotherapy at The BALANCE Healthcare Group, I had the honour of speaking alongside my colleague and friend Dr. Sarah Boss at this year’s Masters Event in Oxford, held from September 11–14, 2024.

We are living in a special time — a time of crisis. Our familiar life structures have been shaken, while new ones have yet to clearly emerge. We cannot be sure whether the rules of the future will still resemble those we know. It is a phase of vacuum at the levels of meaning and action — a state of suspension.
To move toward the new, still unseen reality, we must undergo a transformation that can feel threatening and painful. In these transitional phases, we often encounter challenges that push us to our limits and leave us feeling helpless. We feel threatened by new external circumstances — changes in life and the environment that we may not be able to control.
This makes it all the more important to cultivate our inner states positively, including the way we perceive, navigate, and make use of these external changes.
What do we need in order to endure this threshold phase and complete the transition?
What fears and concerns weigh on us?
What existential challenges do we face, and what new opportunities can we discover?
What possibilities for new ways of living might unfold?
A crucial task during this time is the letting go of the old:
What do we leave behind, and how can we succeed in doing so?
Who will we become in the process?

Questions like these arise repeatedly throughout life. Events such as birth, adolescence, marriage, separation, job loss, or the process of dying are just a few examples of challenging transitions.
In such phases, many people seek counseling or therapy as supportive companions — like a bridge between the "old" and the "new."
The hope that everything might stay as it is transforms into a hope for new possibilities.
Turning toward existential questions and making the "leap" into a new reality is a difficult process. It is accompanied by mourning what is lost and fear of the unpredictable.

At the same time, it opens up the possibility for growth, personal development, and even societal evolution.

In this sense, fear and grief during a process of transformation are positive signs that individuals are beginning to engage with new tasks. In these times, people need strong emotional support.Humans fundamentally rely on secure connections and relationships as essential for survival.
A framework that provides orientation is crucial for navigating existential crises successfully.With it, we can maintain a sense of curiosity about what lies ahead.

Throughout history, cultures have offered various rituals to guide people through processes of transformation — through fasting, ascetic practices, meditation, and similar rites.In modern society, such rituals are largely absent, and these processes must often be faced individually.
Nevertheless, it is all the more important today to cultivate cooperation, empathy, and open dialogue — even with those who think and act differently from ourselves.

In times of uncertainty, we become restless, worried, and fearful, and often risk losing our sense of self. External threats activate our autonomic nervous system into a state of high alert, which, over time, wears down both our physical and psychological resilience.

We experience chronic stress, and our body’s natural healing powers — including immune function — become depleted.

By pausing and taking time for reflection, we can calm ourselves and reconnect with who we are.We are called to stay awake and mindful, listening deeply within:

Where does my strength lie?
When do I feel it most clearly?
How can I stay true to myself?

When we succeed in returning to a place of inner calm, we can access an authenticity that transcends news cycles, politics, or dogma.
We experience ourselves as competent and connected to our core.
We cultivate joy and gratitude for the journey of becoming our true selves — and thereby also deepen our ability to connect meaningfully with others.

When we feel both safe and free, our autonomic nervous system can regulate our body’s physiology in an optimal way, promoting health, healing, and regeneration.

We return to a state where creativity, solidarity, and empathy are once again possible.

The term hypnosis is often associated with magical or mythical rituals and linked to ideas of external control, loss of willpower, and spectacular phenomena, such as those seen in stage hypnosis. But what exactly do we mean by hypnosis in psychotherapy? How does it work, and how is modern hypnotherapy used as a scientifically grounded method of healing?
Hypnosis deliberately induces a state of altered consciousness — a trance — in which individuals react differently than they normally would. Alertness decreases, and the external reality, with its logical categories, becomes less significant, while the ability to perceive internal processes increases.
In this state, more physiological, emotional, and cognitive response options become available than in everyday consciousness. This opens new avenues for problem-solving, which can be used therapeutically to activate internal resources, modify emotional experiences, and influence psychosomatic reactions.

Modern hypnotherapy is based primarily on the work of American psychiatrist Milton H. Erickson (1901–1980), whose methods gained increasing recognition among physicians and psychologists from the 1960s onward. Erickson, who experienced two episodes of polio at ages 17 and 51 and lived with chronic pain, discovered firsthand the effectiveness of self-hypnosis for pain management.From this experience, he developed the understanding that individuals, within the state of hypnotic trance, can independently access their own inner resources and abilities.
The focus in hypnotherapy is therefore not on the influence of the therapist but rather on empowering the client to discover their own solutions.
Hypnosis can thus mobilize key therapeutic factors and self-healing capacities that are not typically the focus of conventional medicine or traditional psychotherapy.

Hypnotic trance can occur on different levels. In everyday life, we frequently enter trance-like states without consciously intending to or even noticing it.
The experience of being completely absorbed in a book, a film, music, or one's own thoughts closely resembles the state of hypnotic trance.
Focusing intensely on a particular subject or stimulus leads to heightened perception while the rest of the environment fades into the background.

Even light states of relaxation — such as those achieved through autogenic training or meditation — allow for inward-focused attention.
A mild relaxation trance can already harmonize the body's internal processes and positively affect the hormonal and immune systems, as well as the autonomic nervous system.
Hypnotherapy purposefully uses these processes through the guided induction of trance states and can apply them to the targeted treatment of specific symptoms or problems.
Clinical hypnosis is often used as a brief therapy, typically over just a few sessions, and can be integrated effectively with almost all other therapeutic approaches.
It is suited to support and accelerate many therapeutic processes and can later be applied independently by clients through self-hypnosis techniques.

The applications of hypnotherapy are diverse and scientifically well-documented.
They include behavioral issues such as smoking cessation, weight management, nail-biting, and enhancing academic or athletic performance; psychological disorders such as anxiety, phobias, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, depression, and sleep disturbances; as well as psychosomatic conditions, chronic pain, allergies, and somatic disorders related to immunology, vasomotor function, or neurology.

For most people, love is the essential force that holds a relationship together.
It is seen as the key element for building a fulfilling partnership.
While the initial phase of being in love is often a euphoric and temporary emotional state, love evolves into a deeply felt bond — a sense of closeness, trust, belonging, and intimacy.

Few other emotions allow us to experience our own vitality as intensely as love does.
It is irrational, spontaneous, and beyond our control.
Love, however, wears many faces. It can shift into destructive feelings such as anger, hatred, jealousy, or possessiveness.
We develop expectations of our partner and inevitably encounter disappointments.

In loving relationships, we must constantly navigate the delicate balance between maintaining our own independence and offering ourselves fully to the other.
Loving partners create a shared inner and outer world that provides them with identity, security, and meaning.
Yet love is not only about happiness and satisfaction.

A relationship also involves pain, limitation, and sacrifice.
Partners support and challenge each other — but they can also restrict one another, wound each other, and fall short of each other’s desires.
Thus, romantic relationships stimulate personal growth and maturity like no other human connection.
They challenge us to engage in the "art of growing together" — a true and demanding endeavor.
Such growth never occurs without conflict and tension.

To keep love alive in a partnership, it must be nourished and cared for.
Love needs attention, mindfulness, and respect.
A thriving relationship is built on the willingness to be moved by the needs of the other and to seek to fulfill them.

Small gestures that say, "I’m thinking of you," shared time together, common interests, and special moments that break the routine all nourish the bond.
At the same time, it is the very differences between two partners that breathe life into a loving relationship.
It is the encounter of two individuals who remain distinct and enrich each other through their uniqueness.

Love means staying curious about new experiences and changes.
It means saying "yes" to conflict and tension, being willing to compromise, and staying in dialogue even when faced with opposing perspectives.
How do I inspire my partner to care about what matters to me?
And how can I express my affection in a way that truly makes them feel loved?

Ultimately, we can only give what we possess.
To love another, we must first know how to love ourselves.

Even simple exercises that can be easily integrated into daily life help to create inner calm and balance, make us more resilient to stress, and promote greater satisfaction and well-being.
Whenever you find a moment, you can practice a simple mini-meditation:

Turn your attention entirely to your breathing for a few minutes.
Let your breath flow naturally without trying to control it.
Observe the movements and sensations that accompany each breath.
Notice how your upper body gently lifts as you inhale an
d relaxes as you exhale.Feel the rise and fall of your abdomen with each breath.Become aware of the air flowing through your nose — tracing it from the nostrils into the nasal passages, down the trachea, into your chest, and into your belly.
Follow your breath, listening to it as you might listen to the ebb and flow of ocean waves.

Notice when your mind starts to wander due to incoming thoughts — and gently bring your focus back to your breathing.
By "anchoring" yourself to your breath, you can calm the busy activity of your mind.
Sense the stillness that exists behind all thoughts, and enjoy the peace that comes with the steady rhythm of your breathing.
Simply observe your breath and rest in the present moment.
How does your state of mind change?
Start this exercise with just three conscious breaths and gradually extend the time with each practice.
In doing so, you will train your attention and strengthen your concentration.