Chronic Health Conditions – How To Find The Right Help
Top tips on how to find the right help when you have suffer from complex or chronic health conditions.
Exploring some of the biggest challenges getting the right help or wellbeing support when you have a chronic illness, chronic disabilities or a complex medical history.
One of the biggest problems many people face with chronic health conditions face is the length of time it takes them to get the right diagnosis or the right help.
Without having to waste a lot of time, energy and money or all of their life savings on the wrong type of help, wrong therapists, doctors or wellbeing professionals.
Navigating The Holistic Wellbeing Arena With Chronic Health Conditions
Now more than ever the healthcare system and the holistic wellbeing system can be a bit of a minefield to navigate through.
I know as someone who at 54 years of age, dealt with a complex health history and wide range of rare and chronic health challenges and medical harm from a young age.
I spent over 30 years investing in peoples, courses and programs that were not an ideal fit for a variety of reasons. But often because of over zealous or naive therapists who assumed they were the right fit when they weren’t really.
The last thing anyone needs with a long-term health condition is waste more time, energy and emotions on someone or something that is not a perfect fit for your needs.
5 Things To Consider When Trying To Finding The Right Help With Chronic Health Conditions
No 1 – Identify What Kind Of Support You Want:
It is so important to get clear what kind of support and help you really want or feel you need. If you are not specific enough and very vague just looking for any sort of help, you will often attract a lot of help that is not an exact march for your specific needs. Think about your biggest challenges or those tricky aspects of your wellbeing you struggle to shift. Particularly the main issues that if yo get help with are more likely to help and make a better impact on other areas of your life or health.
Identifying those things that maybe the root of the problem or the things that can make the biggest shifts should always be considered a priority.
One of my best investments was getting tests and nutritional support around gut health, intolerances, and nutritional deficiencies this helped address some very serious issues with my health when my health was dramatically declining. I chose to go with a naturopath and nutritionist who were highly experienced and qualified in the areas I had problems in, they both had many years of experience working with complex issues.
No 2 – Identify What Level Of Support You Need And Can Afford:
Think of what level of support do you need and can afford for support or help with your chronic health conditions. No matter if that is practical support or health and wellbeing education or support.
For example today we have so many online coaching, therapy programs designed to help the masses. But the reality is group programs are not always ideal for those with complex or chronic health challenges.
Sometimes you can have so much going, so many conflicting medical and therapeutic opinions or challenges you don’t know where to start. Unless you invest in a course with someone who is definitely an expert in your problem and has a tried and tested program that demonstrates a high success rate with hundreds of similar clients. It can be difficult to be assured if it will help you. Sometimes it can better to invest in more one to one support even if it is just initially, if you can afford it.
But the problem is most people with chronic health condition have often spend so much time and energy on the wrong things that they can struggle to find the money for the right things. It is one of the reasons why I always think therapists and wellbeing practitioners should always be really honest and realistic with their clients.
No 3 – Asking The Right Questions
It is so important for anyone with a chronic health condition to be able to ask the right questions from anyone they are getting medical, health or wellbeing advice or support from. Depending on what type of support or help your seeking one of the questions is usually important is checking the health professional does have the right experience and qualification.
And please never assume if someone has a certificate that it actually equates to the right training or right level of expertise. Ask, ask, ask, consider things like how long was their training, who did they train with, is their qualification recognised with and by who.
Never be shy about asking direct questions to the practitioner about their expertise, depth of training, where and when they studied, how many clients they have helped with similar challenges, how many of these clients improved. When it comes to your health and wellbeing you should know.
No 4 – When Will I Start Seeing Serious Health Improvements
Another thing many people suffering from chronic health conditions fail to do is ask how long they should need to wait or invest before seeing results from the help or support they are investing in.
This will obviously depend on the type of help or support your investing in.
I spent years in my twenties going to therapists and one homeopathic doctor who encouraged me to keep coming to them for years.When I wasn’t seeing any results or actually was having constant relapses or chronic healing crises that didn’t seem to heal anything. This is so unhealthy and in sometimes it creates co-dependency issues or you just become someone’s cash cow.
On the other hand I went to other practitioners expecting the results to take months and had instant relief or problems permanently solved in one session. This made me question a lot about so many types of modalities and therapies how they were being sold. And how important it was to value a lot of investments not on the cost of the session but how quickly, deeply and permanently was the result.
No 5 – Look For Testimonials From Other Chronic Health Suffers
Testimonials and reviews especially those that have been submitted on social media are a great way to ensure that testimonials are actually from real live people. And have not been falsified or adapted in anyway. If you can see any evidence on your specific issue.
Sometimes therapists have previous clients who are willing to share their experiences. Of course for many reasons this may all not be appropriate for the therapist, healer, coach or medical professional to ask. But it doesn’t mean you cannot inquire if there is someone willing to share their experience working with this person, especially if you are investing a lot of money or time into a program or a certain amount of sessions.
Chronic Health Conditions And Self-Responsibility For Your Health
One of the most important thing that anyone with a chronic health condition can do is take as much self-responsibility for their own healing, their own health and wellbeing.
The daily lifestyles choices you make everyday that help reduce or increase those chronic health conditions, your mental and emotional wellbeing. Can make a huge impact in the quality of your life.
Chronic Health Conditions And Stress
Managing your anxiety and stress, creating healthy boundaries, especially saying NO to what isn’t right for you. Is a vital aspect of any wellbeing approach.
I learned early on how important it was for me to manage my anxiety and stress levels, Also the importance of a clean and healthy diet, and to reduce as much toxins from my environment as they were having a considerable impact on my general every day functioning. Especially being someone who had gut issues since infanthood and all sorts of toxicity exposure.
Chronic Health Conditions And Listening To Your Own Body
And began to learn how to listen to my own body and not be bullied by medical and wellbeing practitioners who tried to gaslight or bully me into taking medication or approaches that were more likely to cause me more harm than good.
Why I Choose Therapists Who Really Understand Chronic Health Challenges
It is one of the reasons when I can, I choose therapist, healers and other wellbeing professionals who have had some sort of similar challenge. Who really know what they are talking about, walk the talk, have just not read in a book or magazine some sort of theory or perspective.
Have experienced some of those challenges themself, have tried and tested approaches, have a more wider holistic approach in the way the work, than be too stuck or fixed on one perspective or a few modalities,
Because they often have a higher degree of awareness, insight and experience, as well as greater empathy and compassion. So tend to not to be as quick to make pre-judgements about you or your situation.
If you are struggling with the anxiety and stress of living with complex chronic health conditions and would love access to some powerful anxiety and stress reducing tools that help reduce chronic pain, improve sleep and support general wellbeing check out my Stress Management Program For Sufferers of Chronic Health Conditions as someone who has suffered from fibro, M.E, suspected Late Stage Lyme and a whole list of rare and complex symptoms I can’t recommend highly enough how much managing your anxiety and stress helps improve your health.
