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When I’m looking at a new site, for a new protocol, person, or product, I always like to find out other people’s opinions and experiences, and I’m thinking you might feel the same.
So I’m posting some of the comments I’ve received from my clients, from the parents I’ve coached in prenatal and childhood issues, from first responders and doctors I’ve trained, and from the people who have used or recommend my CDs and books to their patients.
It’s such a blessing to be in the flow of giving and receiving.
Verbal First Aid:
Help Your Kids Heal From Fear and Pain—And Come Out Strong,
by Judith Simon Prager, PhD and Judith Acosta, LISW
“Verbal First Aid is far more than a parenting guide. Verbal First Aid is a profound prescription toward nurturing our children and evolving civilization to the healthiest levels possible!”
--Bruce H. Lipton, PhD, Cell biologist and bestselling author of The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles
“You can use Verbal First Aid everywhere: in the streets, in schools, at home. It is therapy of the people. It can help to prevent trauma and it can help children to heal themselves however and wherever they may be.”
—Helena Guo, MD, Chief Clinical Officer of PsychCN, the largest psychology institute in China and CCO of the “May 15 Soul Care Program for Earthquake Victims”, winner: “The Most Influential Charity Project of 2008” in China
“Verbal First Aid is not merely a communication tool--it is a developmentally appropriate, child-friendly and compassionate approach to children. It fosters supportive relationships between parents and children. When used by parents, it empowers children to master their fears around illness and injury, develop resilience to stress, and participate actively in their own healing. It is an overwhelmingly positive approach that can be invaluable to parents of children with chronic illness, but can also serve healthy children and their families.
--Ruby Roy, MD, Chronic Disease Pediatrician at the University of Chicago, IL
“As an Osteopath and a parent, I find the Verbal First Aid Techniques to be invaluable to teach both adults and children how to control and reduce their pain. They are a highly effective non-pharmaceutical way of relieving discomfort and calming an often stressful situation.”
--Karen Farrant, Bsc (hons), D.O.London, United Kingdom
“As parents, we would like to create a perfect world for our children filled with good health, beauty, peace and lots of fun! But, life happens and our perfect world is shattered. What then? How we cope determines if an event is perceived as a part of life or a catastrophe. This book is a must for parents and health care workers. It helps to guide their responses to the events in life that are unavoidable. Through the proven techniques of Verbal First Aid and positive reinforcement, a seemingly tragic event can be turned into an experience that is understood and accepted... thus leading to healing in a real and immediate way.”
—Deborah McCurdy, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA.
“Who knows the possibilities for health and well being, now, and in the future when we use these communication tools to speak to our children!”
—Susan Clark, MD, Medical Director of Endocrinology at Children’s Hospital of Orange County
“Verbal First Aid is a book that will change the lives of children for the better. It might even save lives. As beautifully written as it is practical, it is, in my opinion, an indispensable book for parents and for all those involved in child care.”
--Charles Montagu, member of the Board of the British Council for Complimentary Therapy and the first hypnotherapist in the United Kingdom to be funded by the National Health Service. He is also co-founder of The Health Partnership, a medical centre in London where doctors and holistic practitioners work adjunctively.
The Worst Is Over:
What To Say When Every Moment Counts
by Judith Acosta, LISW, and Judith Simon Prager, PhD
The Worst Is Over will be known as the seminal work for teaching compassionate crisis intervention communication to anyone who works with medical and emotional emergencies. All future books by others will reference this source as the "bible" for crisis communication.
--Patti White, Ph.D., Editor, International Journal of Emergency Mental Health
The Worst Is Over is like an answer to a prayer. It gives everyone, from parent to firefighter, the knowledge and courage to say exactly the right thing at the right time in a way that is healing, uplifting, and also life-saving.
--Christiane Northrup, M.D., Author, Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom and Mother-Daughter Wisdom
The Worst Is Over is a major contribution to healing and one of the most original books I have read in some time. At this moment in history, when many wish totally to give healing over to drugs, genome manipulation, and stem cells, we need this message more than ever -- that human consciousness, and the ways we choose to communicate with one another, can make the difference in life and death.
--Larry Dossey, MD, Author: Healing Words, Reinventing Medicine, Healing Beyond the Body and The Power of Premonitions
[The Worst Is Over ] is required reading for all who wish to work in the field of trauma response.
--Leo J. Shea III, Ph.D. Clinical Neuropsychologist, New York University
The Worst Is Over is a book that should be read by every police officer in the country.
Tom Scotto, President, National Association of Police Organizations at their 2002 Conference
It's finally becoming apparent that what we say during a medical emergency is often as important as the treatment we provide.
Alan Mistler, Associate Professor and Program Director,Center for Prehospital Education Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Cincinnati Medical Center
Reading about Verbal First Aid gave me the courage and the inspiration to be a source of comfort and ease to people who are ill or injured. The authors' very simple approach is both loving and practical. I recommend it to anyone dealing with a medical emergency. I use this as an ongoing practice in my work, both in the emergency room and the ICU.
Cara de Vries, Respiratory Care Practioner, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford
After reading the book The Worst Is Over, I became a believer in Verbal First Aid. I run the first aid training unit for our department and have incorporated it into our program. As Police Officers, we talk to people in a variety of situations, and unfortunately some of these conversations are not pleasant ones. Verbal First Aid is a valuable "tool" we can use with the public that we serve. The feedback thus far from the field has been great.
--F/Lt Mike Harvitt, Michigan State Police
Journey to Alternity:
Transformational Healing Through Stories 
and Metaphors
“What sets this book apart is the quality and concise style of writing, combined with the author's knowledge and experience with alternative healing modalities...Alternity is the magical world in which one trusts intuition, one follows one‚s heart, and taking intuitive leaps, one is met by the miraculous, though not always in the way one might picture. For example, there are stories such as Beth and the Angel which recounts one woman‚s spontaneous remission from cancer, contrasted with other stories in which lives were transformed as a result of openness to change.
‘Interchapters,’ labeled as such in case one wants to skip them, provide simplified scientific explanations for the theories, which underlie these unusual states. I enjoyed reading her pragmatic explanations of such concepts as ‘String Theory,’ or Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.
This heart-centered book includes exercises to expand awareness into the consciousness of boundless possibility where what one believes can change reality, and with desire, one can change what one believes.”
--Reviewed by Lorrie Kazan for The Whole Life Times
Owie-Cadabra’s Verbal First Aid for Kids:
A somewhat magical way to help heal yourself and your friends, by Judith Simon Prager, illustrations by David Hudnut
“Owie-Cadabra’s Verbal First Aid will change the way children speak to themselves and their friends about crises big and small and help them know they have the ability to support their own healing.”
~ Kathleen Archibald Simon, RN, HN_BC, Board Member of Children’s Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL
“When children learn this language of healing for themselves there is the opportunity for a generation to grow up more emotionally and physically healthy than occurs now. And who knows how much this might change our world!”
~ Susan J. Clark, MD, Director of Endocrinology, Children’s Hospital of Orange County, CA
“If you have a child in your life, run out and buy this book! It’s as necessary in every home as a box of Band-Aids.”
~ Award-winning children’s book author April Halprin Wayland
CDs
"As founder and medical director of the Harbor-UCLA Wellness Center, I was happy to offer Judith Simon Prager's Guided Imagery CD's to patients as an option to further self-healing. Judith Simon Prager's Guided Imagery CD's for Surgery, Relaxation, Pregnancy, Chemotherapy, etc. were an important part of a library of tools that empowered patients to their recovery."
--Joann Ng, MD, founder and medical director of the Harbor-UCLA Wellness Center
Guided Imagery for Surgery
(created in a pilot study with the cardiothoracic surgery unit of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center)
"When we compared patients [in this pilot study] to routine patients, we found that there was nearly 100% patient satisfaction, plus a dramatic reduction in pain medicine and sleeping pills requested."
-- Gregory P. Fontana, M.D., Director of Integrative Therapies for Cardiac Surgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
[In addition to the pain relief, anecdotally nurses reported that patients listening to this series seemed to recover more quickly and have fewer side-effects from the anesthesia.]
"This summer I had back surgery, my second and hopefully last. I had two discs taken out in 1986 from a college football injury and the recovery was painful and long. Now, many years later, I had to have another disc taken out.
"However, this time I had your CDs. The nurses played them for me before, during, and after my surgery as I was under general anesthetic.
"The nurses were very interested in the CDs as they had not heard of them before. They were amazed at my recovery and I had three of them comment to me that they had not seen anybody get up and walk and do as well as I did that soon. This prompted them to write down the website for more information. Thanks to the CDs, I'm walking easily, proof that they really do make a difference."
-- F/Lt. Mike Harvitt, Post Commander, Michigan State Police
Guided Imagery for Chemotherapy
In an ideal world, “Guided Imagery for Chemotherapy” would be provided to every man, woman and child undergoing chemotherapy. It does more than lift the spirits. In boosting the belief system, it also enhances the immune system. It is, in my view, a useful adjunct to any form or system used in healing critical illness. I wholeheartedly recommend it as a ‘must have’ for health professionals, those with cancer or who those who know of someone they care about who does.’
-- Charles Montagu, Hypnotherapist and co-founder of The Health Partnership in London, England.
I was so excited to experience the “Guided Imagery for Chemotherapy” CD from Judith because it affected me profoundly and shaped the way in which I judged the work being done by the chemotherapy. I became so relaxed and many times felt I was floating and “out of my own body”. I would go somewhere else and come back. I experienced and participated in creating body/mind wholeness and perfect health in a completely different way. One day, after 3 weeks of daily listening to her CD, I literally “felt” the leukemia leave my body. I knew I was in remission. The following week I had another bone marrow biopsy and my doctor confirmed my inner knowledge…”no evidence of leukemia”. I was in remission. I felt so much joy and gratefulness. I called Judith right away to let her know the news. The guided imagery, the mind/body work was the key and chemotherapy became an ally, a physical vehicle doing only good work.
The steps after “remission” involved more chemo, more biopsies, a spinal tap and a stem cell transplant. I continued my daily use of Judith’s CD and worked with her personally before the biopsies and before my transplant. Each of these sessions left me deeply relaxed, feeling safe and secure about moving forward with the procedures. I knew in my heart and soul that all would turn out successfully. Everything became easier, painless and every single procedure was, in fact, successful.
I am so grateful for Judith’s work and her commitment to help me and others heal on such a deep and lasting level. I recommend her CD in combination with her personal hypnotherapy sessions.
My doctors are stunned and pleased. I am overjoyed and grateful. I have discovered how powerful mind/body work is and how empowered I feel participating in my own healing.
--September 2007, Loretta Berlonghi, Licensed Acupuncturist, MS Traditional Oriental Medicine
Bonding With the Baby Within
10 Track CD with special healing music track
“Traditionally, the prenatal time is a time of great contemplation. It’s like being on the dark side of the moon, where a woman connects with herself, her femininity, and the baby within.
“You are in the process of composing a life, just as you compose a picture or a sonnet or a melody. This CD will help you to mother your child, mother yourself, and give a more contemplative air to this important time in both of your lives. And it will help prepare your baby for the chaos of the world shortly to be born into.
“When you listen to these guided imagery tracks, your baby will be listening, too. As you imagine the beautiful prospect of bonding, as you breathe the Breath of Love, as you protect your child from your worry, your baby can come into this world ready, secure, and feeling loved.”
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Bernadine Celoni, MD, FAAP, Former Chief of Pediatrics, Methodist Hospital, Arcadia, CA, Board Certified Pediatrician
"Dear Judith,
Our session together was extraordinary. I'm awed that you were able to understand all the interrelated issues in my life, focus on the key problems, integrate everything that has happened in the past with what I wish to accomplish in the future, and not only enable me to feel like my pain and suffering has had a purpose, but that I'm entering this wondrous new stage in which I can use what I have learned to benefit others."
-
Susan Bernard
Wellness Writer, author, The Mommy Guide
Dearest Judith,
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your profound and healing work. Before our session, I was not able to get over the agonizing emotional anguish and debilitating grief of losing my sister, a victim of incest and self-inflicted suicide. After our first session, this just disappeared and I experienced a miracle of freedom from this burden that was killing me inside.....The following morning I woke up "clear as a bell". This has been truly instrumental in catapulting my life, especially continuing to fulfill my purpose and calling---my non-profit organization in honor of my deceased sister, Joanne Lee.
Love, light and blessings eternally,
Karen Lee
...I continued my daily use of Judith’s CD ("Guided Imagery for Chemotherapy") and worked with her personally before the biopsies and before my transplant. Each of these sessions left me deeply relaxed, feeling safe and secure about moving forward with the procedures. I knew in my heart and soul that all would turn out successfully. Everything became easier, painless and every single procedure was, in fact, successful.
I am so grateful for Judith’s work and her commitment to help me and others heal on such a deep and lasting level. I recommend her CD in combination with her personal hypnotherapy sessions.
My doctors are stunned and pleased. I am overjoyed and grateful. I have discovered how powerful mind/body work is and how empowered I feel participating in my own healing.
--September 2007, Loretta Berlonghi, Licensed Acupuncturist, MS Traditional Oriental Medicine
"Where would we be without her?! Judith's professional guidance and expertise during both of my pregnancies was invaluable, her heartfelt presence and support eased us through some bumpy times. Our family is forever grateful!"
-Mari Brusseau
“I don't know where to start about how much you helped me be a more confident parent. I guess the basic thing is that you helped me see that I could face my own fears. By doing that, I learned that I could help my son face his own. It also helped me separate out what scared me vs. what is scary for him. For instance, when he cries, it animates a whole process in me that has nothing (or very little to do) with what he is trying to express to me -- a basic need. My work with you helped me see the emotions that are mine, put them aside for when I'm by myself, and then focus on listening to him. It also helped teach me that one of the most important things I can give him is a receptive, kind space to be who he is and express his wants. That's what you gave me -- the experience of a receptive, kind space. And, I am so grateful for that.”
-Allison Hills
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