Alternative mental care

Tucson residents looking to improve their lives and mental health opt for alternative methods of therapy over conventional therapy, a trend that holds true to all of the United States.
According to an article recently published in the New York Times, there are more than 80 million people in the United States using some form of alternative medicine, and because of this, scientists research these alternative methods of health care more empirically than before.
According to data gathered by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the National Center for Health Statistics, 38 percent of adults and 12 percent of children use alternative therapy in the United States. True to the growing industry in alternative health, there are over 200 private alternative therapy clinics in Tucson; some of which use various forms of alternative therapy in the field of mental health.
One such clinic is Counseling Concepts, LLC, located at 336. E. Ft. Lowell Rd. The clinic is run by founder Dr. Jo Ruddy and Jodi Hardy. Ruddy worked in the field of traditional therapy for over 20 years, but eventually became interested in using metaphysics after becoming disenchanted with conventional forms of therapy.
“In traditional therapy, you’re diagnosing the patient by their “mental illness” like it’s a disease,” Ruddy said, “When using metaphysical techniques it’s about hope, it’s not about being sick it’s about getting well.”
Counseling Concepts, LLC uses a number of different therapies, all of which are practiced in accordance with the individual being treated and their particular problem.
Ruddy is a “Metaphysician”. According to Ruddy, this term is comprised of the word Meta meaning “beyond” and physics, therefore it refers to something beyond what we can prove is real.
“Say I have a couple come in who have been disagreeing about everything,” said Ruddy, “Metaphysical counseling will allow the couple to go beyond their own normal perceptions and find out how their unconscious minds are tapping into one another and making each other tick.”
In addition to holding a master’s degree in counseling and doctorate in philosophy of religion, Ruddy is a certified practitioner in Neuro-linguistic Patterning (NLP), hypnotherapy, Reiki, Psych-K and Holistic Life Coaching. She specializes in the study of the unconcious mind, “The unconscious mind holds the cycle where emotions, memories and addictive behaviors are held,” Ruddy said, “Through metaphysical healing we seek to connect peoples’ unconscious minds to their bodies and once they tap into this they are more acutely aware of their problems and more likely to heal.”
In the poor economy, counselors are seeing more patients come in with severe bouts of depression. Ruddy believes this new tendency towards a preference for alternative mental care stems from the whole globe being, “Worried about mortality and the world.” Two of their offered treatments, hypnotherapy and neuro-linguistic patterning, show effectiveness in the treatment of depression.
Hardy holds a master’s degree in counseling and received her hypnotherapy certification from the Wellness Institute in Issaquah, WA. She practices both traditional talk therapy and hypnotherapy at Counseling Concepts, LLC. She claims hypnotherapy is effective in the treatment of any presenting problem, including depression and problems stemming from depression.