Inna Khazan, Ph.D., Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Certified Biofeedback Therapist.

Health psychology

Health psychology is a branch of psychology that focuses on people's health. As a health psychologist:

• I help people reduce stress, lose weight, quit smoking, and adopt a healthier lifestyle.
• I treat headaches, mild-to-moderate hypertension, insomnia, and TMJ/jaw pain without medication.
• I help my clients cope with and modify their lifestyles in response to numerous medical conditions such as cardiac disease, diabetes, cancer, and multiple sclerosis.
• Having to change life-long habits, especially in the face of a medical condition, can be difficult and overwhelming. I can guide you through this process and help you achieve a healthier lifestyle.

Research shows that therapy with a trained psychologist can alleviate numerous medical problems. The human body and mind are inter-connected in remarkable ways, and working on one can frequently help heal the other.

Biofeedback therapy

Biofeedback is a powerful mind-body therapy that teaches people to use their minds to regulate their bodies. Physiological processes such as heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, muscle tension, and breathing are non-invasively measured by sensors placed on your skin, and are then displayed on the computer screen. With my guidance you can learn to modify your physiological reactions in ways beneficial to your health. Many people retain their skills for life and require only occasional refresher sessions.

Biofeedback is considered to be particularly effective for people struggling with:

• Asthma
• Anxiety
• Chronic pain
• Essential hypertension
• Heart arrhythmias
• IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)
• Migraine headaches
• Raynaud's syndrome
• Repetitive strain injury (RSI)
• Stress
• Tension headaches
• TMJ/jaw pain
• And other conditions with physiological manifestations

Is biofeedback the right choice for you? It can help you:

• Take charge of your body and your own treatment
• Reduce, and in some cases eliminate, your need for medication
• Alleviate conditions that have not responded to medication
• Decrease your overall medical costs

Biofeedback is:

• Non-invasive
• Free of side effects
• Continues to be effective long after you stop the treatment

Cognitive-behavioral therapy

I use new-generation cognitive behavioral therapies to help people achieve their life goals through committed action and a change in the way they relate to their thoughts and feelings.

• I use CBT to help my clients with a wide range of problems, such as
  • Depression
  • Generalized Anxiety
  • Insomnia
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
  • Overeating
  • Panic Disorder
  • Performance Anxiety
  • Phobias
  • Social Anxiety
  • Smoking cessation
  • Stress reduction
• I also apply CBT when working with medically-related issues. See Health Psychology.
• I help my clients become more effective and productive at work and in their personal lives. We work on
  • Assertiveness
  • Interpersonal communication
  • Organization
  • Procrastination
  • Time management

Mindfulness and acceptance techniques

Have you ever tried not to think or feel something? Have you ever tried to fight off anxiety or sadness?

If your answer is yes, as it is for most people, take a moment to think about how well that worked. Was this strategy effective long term? My guess is that it was not.

What I can offer you is a way out of the struggle with your thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them. In my work with clients I encourage focus on living the life you want to live rather than on thoughts and feelings you want or don't want to have. By allowing yourself to stop struggling with what you cannot avoid or control, you will be able to free up time, energy and resources to devote to moving toward the life you want to live. You and I will work on skills that will enable you to take action in that direction as well as skills that will enable you to let go of the futile struggle.

Mind-body interventions

Mind-body interventions take advantage of a powerful connection between the mind and the body. I teach my clients to enhance their minds' capacity to affect bodily functions in order to cope with and treat a variety of medically-related conditions, anxiety, depression, and stress. Examples of mind-body interventions that I practice include:

• Biofeedback
• Hypnosis
• Meditation
• Relaxation
• Autogenic training
• Imagery

Call me (617-231-0011) to discuss how I can help in your particular case.