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Chawkat
IR-2nd period
4 February 2019
Hills: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today. I want to start out by asking:
What techniques within nutrition and herbal medicine are currently used to treat anxiety
Gafton: When we work with herbs, it really depends on the kind that we are working with, it is
really important to match up their energies. Nerve tonic herbs are used frequently, for instance
chamomile, passion flower. It is really important when you look at the person to then look at how
to support them.
Hills: So I know that many communities do not have access to a balanced diet, so are there any
herbal medicines that are especially beneficial to certain areas with limited resources?
Gafton: When you are talking about balanced diet, what is your understanding of a balanced
diet?
Hills: I know that many impoverished communities do not have access to the necessary
nutrients or many herbal medicines, so is there any particular herbal medicines that are
ingredients, fresh fruit and vegetables, and we would look at their diet to make sure that there
were no trigger foods, such as eliminating hydrogenated fats. Also we would make sure there
were no stimulants, like excess caffeine coming from different sodas and soft drinks, so we
would look at all of these factors before we look at what kind of herbs we should refer. First we
Hills: So I’m understanding that herbal medicine is very individualized and that we can decide
how to treat patients based on their symptoms and what they are lacking in their diet. So, what
are some physical manifestations of PTSD that change among the individual, and how can they
Gafton: So that’s quite a complex question because symptoms can manifest in different ways,
so we would look in their history, you know are they coming from a dysfunctional family, were
they victim of an assault, were they in combat. It’s a very complex situation that you are looking
at, and just allowing the client to express themselves and creating a comfortable and safe space
for them to really express themselves starts creating a healing process. So we really look at the
person to really assess the situation before we ever go to herbs, but herbs like chamomile and
passion flower, that support the body, we would look at the categories of nerve tonics and look
at the degree of how PTSD is manifesting and then look at the root cause to understand how to
treat it.
Hills: Your list of herbal medicines makes me wonder how has herbal medicine evolved over
time, and are their any types of plants that are proven to have a greater efficacy today?
Gafton: So currently, we are looking at the evolution. What our ancestors used before
pharmaceutical companies came on board because they were able to reproduce synthetically
herbs that naturally occur so then they started developing drugs. But now we are learning that
these drugs have side effects because they are created with synthetic materials. However it
takes time for a herb to really show results because it is not as gentle and it takes time, and
clients need to really believe in the body's ability to cure itself with the right nutrients.
Hills: I thought what you said about the synthetic production of herbal medicines was really
interesting so I was wondering, what you think the future of mind body medicine entails as it
pertains to nutrition?
Gafton: Well there is the biofeedback, you know that's an alternative practice for clients with
PTSD, deep breathing, we also create a mind shift by asking them to create some mantas
which really works for them and engage on a daily basis and keep breathing. It is very result
driven. Also allowing them to express themselves and just giving them a piece of paper and
crayons allows the to draw what is triggering them and explaining the symptoms of what they
feel and then being able to talk about it is very healing. SO there is a lot more focus on
integrative medicines, however it takes time to work with a skilled practitioner who takes the tie
to listen to that client. It’s not 5 to 10 to 15 minutes, because in 15 minutes you can't accomplish
a whole lot. And that's why they rely on drugs. And that’s why there is a new field of mind body
medicine specialists. There are a lot of different kinds of modalities, acupuncture is another
really useful tool and shoes a lot of improvementS there are a lot if alternative and integrative
modalities so when you are studying it is important to incorporate more than just one modality.
Hills: I think it is amazing that we can conien different mind body medicine techniques in order to
Gafton: And you always need to look at the body as a whole, it’s like we are not separating like,
the person has PTSD so I’m going to focus on the PTSD. Instead you need to look at the other
systems in the body to see if their are any triggers that cause ti. Because PTSD is a cause of an
event, so we would find the root cause, which involves a lot of listening to the client so that we
are connecting to see which area needs intervention. Lieka are they lacking exercise, or are
they not sleeping. Are they constipated, or do they have daily bowel movements. Because if
they are constipated then they have lots of toxins in the body that could cause PTSD symptoms.
SO looking at the whole body and all the systems in the body creates results. So it’s not like I’m
Gafton: Of course, so if you have any other questions you have my email you can just call me
and I would be delighted to help you out to better understand complementary medicines.
be used to improve the state of the body, and thus the mind. I think it is interesting how
herbal medicine and nutrition are closely related to mental disorders such as PTSD, and
how these mental disorders can be treated using proper nutrition. Ms. Gafton also gave me
a new perspective on mind body medicine. Instead of singularly looking at PTSD as the
issue, she said that it was important to look at the person as a whole in order to figure out
how to best treat the individual because the PTSD can not be treated effectively unless the
medical professional is able to find the trigger of the PTSD. For my next interview I would try
to build a conversation with the interviewee, instead of just asking questions that I had
previously written down. I think I should have used the previously recorded questions to
prompt new topics and continued conversations about each individual topic because I think
I moved to quickly and may have missed some valuable information. I thought it was difficult
at times to think of questions because I wanted to craft questions that the advisor could answer
and was highly educated on. I also had to create questions in a way to get the most information
possible, while being very clear in what I was looking to learn. I thought that the preparation that
we did before the interview, including watching videos on how to conduct interviews etc. was