The Life-Changing Iasis Difference
Val Gourlas, ICT-P, ICM, IASIS Clinical Advisor-Curriculum
I’m not sure how many years ago I realized that my most distracting depression consistently occurred in the first quarter of the year. I think I was in my 40’s. The thought was something like this: “Hmmmmm. The holidays are insane and even before that we have birthday after birthday, and the weather sucks even in Texas in Q4 so maybe there’s a little seasonal affective disorder at play. No wonder I’m burnt to a crisp and a little down in January. And February. And sometimes even March.”
I lived with short periods of mild to moderate depression for a lot of years. They usually didn’t last long. And by my late forties I had developed some ways to alleviate and even eliminate it. Mostly.
We moved to Houston from San Antonio at the beginning of 2018, and by the end of the year we were pretty well settled in. The fall of that year was fun, and I celebrated my 50th birthday in November. The holidays were awesome. Life was good.
But the first quarter of 2019 was hard. SO hard! It started with a two-week bout of debilitating depression in January. I watched a lot of Netflix, and cried when I wasn’t feeling numb. I tried to take care of myself. I prayed. I hung in there as a wife, homeschool mom, and personal assistant to a dear friend. After two weeks the depression lifted and I was feeling myself again.
Then in the middle of February another bout of depression started. More Netflix. More struggle over my lack of productivity and lack of availability to my family. I was really relieved when it lifted after a couple of weeks.
Two weeks into March, when the third round of depression descended, I was mad.
And motivated.
I stepped up my self-care. I took my supplements, went to bed on time, ate well, exercised. I was SUPER determined to see the end of depression.
My husband, Jason, had recently been researching a new type of neurofeedback with promising results treating depression. Among myriad other issues. The more research we did, the more excited we were about the potential of this technology to be seriously helpful. Not just for me, but for a LOT of people.
We read the research and talked to the practitioners and to the developer of Iasis Micro Current Neurofeedback, and felt led to step out in faith (we had not yet experienced Iasis therapy ourselves) and start a business to help others like me who struggled with brain issues.
We started seeing Iasis clients in October of 2019, and have been blown away by the results. I’ll save the results our clients experience for our Testimony page, but want to share my own, stark contrast before and after microcurrent neurofeedback.
As I mentioned, the fall of 2018 was fun and relatively uneventful; I still had three bouts of depression by the end of Q1 2019.
The fall of 2019 was anything BUT fun and uneventful.
Our dishwasher leaked, causing our home to be torn apart due to the water damage. A third of the flooring and drywall were removed, and the kitchen was unusable. We were still dealing with the aftermath of a mild car accident when this happened on December 18, and it interfered with our plans to celebrate Christmas because one can’t cook without a kitchen. Not that that stopped us from trying: Jason was washing soup bowls in our powder room (with a super low sink and faucet) when a bowl slipped out of his hand. His attempt to catch it ended in a cut into the joint capsule of his left middle knuckle which didn’t heal properly for weeks. From that time until our rebuild was complete, we did not cook a single meal at home.
As we began to rebuild our home we discovered that the drywall on the wall we share with a neighbor was wet, and that they had ongoing water damage which delayed our rebuild until the third week of February.
During all of this madness we were still planning a trip to Asia for the first two weeks of February. Our itinerary included staying with friends in China, but the coronavirus story hit the mainstream news a week before our departure and necessitated the reworking of our entire trip. And no, in case you are wondering, international plane tickets for a return trip to the US that are rebooked two weeks in advance are NOT economical.
I haven’t included all of the stress-inducing events that took place between the middle of December 2019 and the middle of March 2020. Suffice it to say that it was one of the most stressful times of my life. Based on my history I should have been mired in depression for most of Q1 2020.
But I wasn’t.
Because my Iasis therapy made all the difference.
In fact, I have not had one depressed day since starting treatment in October of 2019. I don’t know which Netflix series are hot, because there are too many other interesting things to do. I no longer startle when I hear a loud noise, or when a car drifts too close to my lane. I am much less fearful. I have fewer and fewer catastrophic thoughts. When challenging circumstances arise, as they always do in life, I recover quickly rather than spiraling into a funk.
I also notice positive changes. My sleep is improving. I am more productive. My mind is much sharper. And, I am hilarious.
I used to think about funny things to say in a given moment hours after the moment had passed. Now my brain comes up with sharp comments on command and in the moment. Even Jason reluctantly (my newfound witticisms are at times at his expense) agrees that I am objectively funny. So, I have that going for me. Which is good.
I am honored to be an Iasis Certified Provider. My work as an Iasis therapist allows me to give to others out of the gifts that God has providentially sown in me. When I meet a new client, I am always so excited to watch the huge difference Iasis makes in the handful of weeks that are typically necessary for lasting change! I’m especially grateful to be married to such a brilliant man who will oversee me and, as an avid researcher and compassionate functional medicine provider, will add such value to our clients and our practice.
I can’t wait to meet and help you. Let’s do a complimentary Iasis session so that you can see the difference for yourself! Just click here to make a start.