Patient Testimonial: Depression, low body temperature and irregular periods

I had pushed myself to the limits - I had become volatile, sad, depressed and hopeless. Miserable. Really, it wasn’t fun to be alive, every day I was afraid of myself. What doom would I bring upon myself or those around me? Physically, I always felt cold (even during the summer time), my periods had become irregular as well as the fact that I had become too skinny. 

A friend told me about herbal medicine. I was curious. I am a firm believer that conventional and complementary treatments can work well together, that way a person has more choice and freedom over their health. This time, the conventional way wasn’t helping me, I wasn’t taken seriously. That’s when I got in touch with Jonny, I needed my health and sanity back.

Jonny is extremely knowledgeable, non-judgmental, but still firm in his approach. He is what one imagines, when one thinks of a wise health practitioner. Jonny usually explains how a herb works, which might appeal and reassure those who are more sceptical of herbalism. It can feel liberating to be aware what truly is in the medicine (tincture, tea, powder) you consume. 

It’s been 2 years now. The journey has lead me to feel more self acceptance, a increased warmer body, slow but steady weight gain and a lot more happier outlook on life. When my mood dips, I don’t destroy my relationships, I don’t quit my job, I don’t self harm. I am able to put on a nice upbeat song and dance my way out of the blues. I dance and stretch again! I love my job, I am able to express myself to the people around me, if something is wrong. My journey is not over, I am getting better and better every day, and there’s still space for more improvement.

I am amazed by the power of the herbs.

I can only be thankful and grateful to Jonny and the Herbs.

Eve (UK)

Eve was in a deep state of prolonged depression and sensitive mood swings when we first consulted. Her body was beginning to slow down with fatigue, whilst negative thinking patterns were keeping her locked into a cycle of suffering. Not only this, but her periods had been irregular for some time. With herbs and constant exploration of feelings, emotions, past events and childhood experiences we managed to unravel things slowly. Her drive and focus began to shine through the more her life began to improve. Culminating in many powerful lifestyle changes that now feed more joy and passion into her life. Well done Eve. It has been an incredible transformation over the last 2 years.

Jonny Woodall
Medical Herbalist and Flower Essence Therapist
BSc (Hons) Herbal Medicine
National Institute of Medical Herbalists

Contact me for help with your health problems and illness

PHONE: +44(0) 7525827558

EMAIL: jonnyapothecary@gmail.com

SKYPE: jonnysapothecary

Patient Testimonial: Anxiety, depression, weight-loss and confidence

“Before I started working with Jonny, I had dropped out of university and generally felt miserable about my life in general, that I wasn’t going anywhere and was wasting my talents, but I was stuck in a rut I couldn’t get out of. No self confidence, unhappy with my physical or mental states, I never really felt comfortable talking about myself and my problems to anyone, so I kept it inside most of the time.

Initially I was sceptical about seeing Jonny but I’m glad my worries were baseless. The herbal medicines he gave me were tailored to my symptoms and changed month to month as my treatment progressed.

Since I started working with Jonny, taking the time to do the simple and sensible things he recommended, taking the herbal medicines that he made specifically for me and exploring honestly the reasons why I think and act the way I do, I feel like I’ll actually be able to take the next steps in life and not just wishing that I could: university, a proper career, overcoming deeply ingrained bad habit loops that stop me meeting new people and doing new things.

Jonny managed to get me to open up about things I’ve hidden for years, things that formed the bedrock of my anxieties and fears. Now, I finally am able to recognise and deal with them as they come up: the habits are hard to break, but I am finally equipped mentally to overcome them.

Jonny is so easy to talk to, I couldn’t believe some of the stuff I was saying in our consultations. It’s not easy to admit your failings, but he has a great empathy for people and helps you use those negative experiences as learning opportunities, not the failures you think they are.

I’m going back to university in September, have lost lots of weight and generally am feeling more confident in myself and my abilities than I can ever remember. I have clear goals and career ambitions for the first time, not just a vague outline of a plan that I could use to put off actually thinking about it. I’m glad that Jonny was recommended to me and I would recommend him to you.”

Chris Meredith (UK)

Chris was feeling trapped with his old patterns of behaviour that were stopping him from progressing in life. He was open about his scepticism of herbs and my coaching process but quickly started to see positive changes once we found what herbs and lifestyle changes he responded to. Chris has achieved all of the goals and targets we set out from day 1, plus many more he did not know were part of our 6 month journey.

Chris’s confidence, mental health and courage have improved significantly. I wish you all the best with going back to university to continue on your new path of success and independence.

Empowering your patients through the 'Locus of control'

It struck me recently how most of my work with patients these days is centered around using herbs for improving a patient’s perception of their situation and the control that they can take back in reclaiming a power within to move forward with their illness. Far too often i see people who suffer with mental or physical illness yet seem incapable of recognising how disempowered they are with their situation and how much of that disempowerment is a part of their own mind.

In psychology there is a concept known as the ‘Locus of control’. Locus of control is defined as an individual’s belief system regarding the causes of an experience and the variables to which that person attributes success or failure. Sound confusing? The concept is divided into 2 categories: Internal and external. If an individual has a more internal locus of control then that person is more likely to attribute personal success to their own individual abilities. An internal locus of control empowers individuals to experience themselves as able to influence outcomes that affect them. In a therapeutic context this is an important tool as it gives an individual the ability to recognise that when they make a mistake or something negative happens within their life that they take a courageous outlook to make sure it doesn’t happen again or learn from it to become wiser or better equipped for next time. I would term this psychological resilience.

Persons with an external locus of control will be more likely to attribute their success or failure to luck or fate. External locus of control disempowers people to engage with learning as they see so much of their current success or failure as something outside of themselves. They are essentially hopeless in situations that they perceive as negative or hurting as they lack the knowledge of responsibility that would run through an internal locus of control individual. People with a more external locus of control will be more prone to anxiety disorders as well as other mental health problems as they fall into constant negative cycles of social or romantic situations where they are reminded how life is ‘unlucky’ or ‘cruel’ and their is nothing they can do about it.

The ever rising rates of mental illness in our teenage generations is, in my opinion, a result of us losing the value in teaching our children how to recognise the power that can be found within making a mistake, having something ‘bad’ happen to you or experiencing something cruel. It is in these moments that an internal locus of control finds the courage in taking action to learn, to bolster their defences, to engage with life by improving one’s physical and psychological abilities so that you essentially mature and grow as an adult. Lets be clear, this isn’t about denying any emotional response to pain, hurt or suffering. Emotions need to be expressed, but once they have come and gone the hurt individual would do well to be taught that they have a power within themselves to learn from this event.

So much of therapy is in engaging an individual with the sense that whatever horrific things have happened to them that their is something valuable to learn, maybe even something valuable to give back to the world to hopefully stop that situation or cruelty happening again.

Within my clinical practice i use talking therapies to analyse an individual’s circumstance and then write prescriptions using herbs that not only deal with the underlying physical issues but also engage a patient to take action within their life so that they develop an attitude that control can be regained. It can be quite amazing to behold when patient’s begin to learn the momentum that exists within their own bodies when they start to view life with an excitement again and really self-develop.

Often the clues for how or why an individual may suffer more with an external locus of control is due to childhood experiences. Especially when parents or care-givers are the abusers as these are the people who are often the first ones we look to for support in reminding us we have a power, we have a responsibility. The message in those situations is that you have no power and you might as well always give up as that is always what you have known, so why change?

The truth is that you can change at any age, no matter how powerless you think you are. The fear of bad things happening again diminishes as the locus of control switches from external to internal. Anxiety, depression and mental illness begin to improve and vitality returns as the patient faces life with a stronger attitude and conscious approach towards the inevitable sufferings of life. They have hopefully become wiser, more resilient and clear about the way forward. So ask yourself right now….. what are my core beliefs surrounding negative circumstances? Do you recognise how this may be holding you back in life? Maybe even making you sick? Research shows us that moving towards a more internal locus of control is better for our health and vitality, you might need some help getting there.

Jonny Woodall
Medical Herbalist and Flower Essence Therapist
BSc (Hons) Herbal Medicine
National Institute of Medical Herbalists

Contact me for help with your health problems and illness

PHONE: +44(0) 7525827558

EMAIL: jonnyapothecary@gmail.com

SKYPE: jonnysapothecary