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February 2009: Your Guide to Alternative Medicine – Meditation‘Alleviating depression associated with illness. Meditation also has a powerful effect on the mind: Researchers at the University of Louisville found that it helped relieve symptoms of depression in women with fibromyalgia. Tracy Latz, MD, a psychiatrist in Mooresville, North Carolina, teaches patients to meditate as part of treatment for a variety of conditions. “It can give patients an inner peace that helps diminish the feelings of isolation and abandonment that are so intense with depression and other mental health issues,” she says.


January 2009 Good Advice: Staying Centered, Coping, Living Fully
How Affirmations Can Work For You:
‘Really want it. An effective affirmation can’t be half-hearted. “It needs to be a want, not a should,” says psychiatrist Tracy Latz, M.D., co-author of Shift: 12 Keys to Shift Your Life, who uses affirmations in her North Carolina practice. “Get in touch with your deepest self and discover what it is that you want with all your heart. Then affirm that. What matters is that you really desire it.”


Suspend disbelief. “You don’t have to believe that your affirmation is true right now, but you have to believe in the possibility of getting what you want,” says Dr. Latz. “If you allow that nay-saying voice in your head to negate the affirmation as soon as you say it, it won’t work.”
Keep it short, to the point, and positive. The statement should be brief and in your own words, so that you can remember it easily when you need to focus. And, explains Dr. Latz, an affirmation should be expressed positively: “I’m happy” rather than “i’m not upset.” If you think in the negative, “you place your emphasis on lack rather than on possibility, and the latter approach is the likelier to lead to success.”

Write it and repeat it. “Jot down your statement and post it in a place where you can see it every day – on your mirror, your computer monitor, the dash of your car,” says Dr. Latz. “You can just think it in your head, but nothing is more powerful than voicing it. Saying your affirmation out loud implies a commitment that makes it more likely you’ll take the actions to reach your goal.” There’s no magic number of times to invoke your phrase, but repetition helps.’

November 2008: Wake Up Happier
‘Drawing figure eights. Repeatedly doodling a figure eight may stimulate eye movement patterns that create calm, says Tracy Latz, M.D. associate clinical professor at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. “When my alarm buzzed, I started drawing figure eights on a pad. For the first 10 seconds I felt silly, but then my hand relaxed and my mind wandered. After a minute of tracing the same path, I sighed happily and got out of bed.” “I love this low-tech, free option and will keep a pad and pen by my bed from now on.”’


September 2008: Make Your Bedroom a Better Place for Sex
‘Get good lighting. Even if you’re a lights-on kind of girl, having sex in an overly bright room can ramp up body anxieties for women and men, says psychiatrist Tracy Latz, M.D. “Try using accent lights and candles, which cast a more flattering, natural glow around the room,” she suggests.’




Will I Grow Old Alone?
‘This fear is common for both sexes but perhaps more potent for women since, historically, we live longer and many men tend to gravitate toward younger partners, giving them a wider pool from which to choose. However, when panic steers our decision-making, warns integrative psychiatrist Tracy Latz, MD, MS, “We make reactive choices that we would not likely make if we were living [in] a place of love and compassion for ourselves.” The co-author of Shift: 12 Keys to Shift Your Life continues, “We grab at the first opportunity for partnership because of constant faulty thoughts such as ‘What if nothing better comes along?’; ‘Beggars can’t be choosers’; and ‘Any warm body is better than nobody.’”’


Pondering Plastic Surgery to Please a Younger Boyfriend
‘However, if he is emphatic that his primary focus is on your inner beauty, it’s likely that your doubt is a product of your own self-image. Are you are defining yourself and your worthiness to be loved by your appearance? According to Marion Ross, co-author of Shift: 12 Keys to Shift Your Life, making a decision coming from a place of fear — like that of not looking fit enough for your partner — will typically lead us into making the wrong choice.’


7 Essential Coping Skills for Summer Travel
‘Lower your expectations: Not so long ago, you could depend on certain things when you traveled. Like, that the room rate you were quoted would be the one you paid, plus maybe taxes. In an era or unfair resort fees and hidden charges for having a safe in your room — whether you use it or not — that’s probably not gonna happen. And this summer, you can be sure they’ll come up with a few new extras. “Be realistic about what to expect,” advises Marion Ross, the co-author of “Shift: 12 Keys to Shift Your Life.” “Then let everything else go.” In other words, expect to be taken advantage of. That way, you won’t be disappointed.’