Depression May Not Be a Mental Health Issue

Holistic Practitioner Spotlight with Suzanne Kellner-Zinck, a Hypnotist and Linguistic Practitioner on How She Uncovered a Key Factor in Treating One of her Clients with Depression

We are speaking with Suzanne Kellner-Zinck who is a Certified Advanced Clinical Hypnotist and Master Practitioner of Neuro-linguistic Programming. She specializes in working with people who have obsessive thoughts that are followed by impulsive behaviors.

Tell Us a Story About  a Client with Depression and How You Helped

Depression is one of those things that is too often mentioned as the reason for a person feeling down with a lack of energy. However, depression is merely a symptom that is like a physical pain that is telling us that there is something that needs to be found and healed. When the drugs don’t work, it’s a clue that the source of the problem has not been addressed.

Feeling Low, But Hasn’t Discovered Why

I had a patient, Claire, who many years ago was told by conventional mental health therapists, counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists and psychiatric social workers that she would be stuck taking antidepressants all of her life. This was not something that Claire wanted to believe, especially since not one of the many types of antidepressants had worked for her…not in the least. She did a lot of reading of personal development books and decided to look elsewhere for help.

Claire had originally come to me for substance abuse – drugs and alcohol which we dealt with through doing a breakthrough process including clearing all the issues that were an issue of her past – the reasons for her drug and alcohol abuse. The result was that Claire was  able to stop using both and said that she felt a whole lot better. But still Claire’s energy was lower than she wanted and sleep was an issue for her. The depression still showed up with her feeling ‘down’. Sure, she had some challenging things going on in her life at the time, but that was not what appeared to be the cause of her depression.

Ruling Out a Mental Health Issue

Knowing that the antidepressants of whatever type never helped Claire was the indicator that this was not a mental health issue, but that there was something physiological going on here. So, I wanted her to be tested for hormonal issues and neurotransmitters and I suggested she see the integrative doctor. The testing revealed that Claire had very little GABA (a naturally occurring amino acid that works as a neurotransmitter in the brain) – making sleep difficult for her. Imbalances in serotonin and dopamine – naturally occurring chemicals (neurotransmitters) in the body that have roles in a person’s mood and wellbeing, brought Claire into a more depressed looking individual.

From here it was determined that Claire’s low mood and lack or energy had little to do with depression. She was unable to metabolize the amino acids from her protein sources of food into the neurotransmitters necessary for balanced emotions and good sleep.What the underlying cause was dealing with was leaky gut.

It’s in the Gut

Claire was referred to a Functional Medicine doctor to rebuild her microbiome. With the healing of her gut, Claire turned that corner and now could say that she felt great!

Why and When Did You Choose the Holistic Path?

I was trained to work in conventional mental health programs. The first was for a social club for severely affected mentally ill adults ages 19 and over. My bosses there were wonderful mentors who taught me how to have healthy boundaries with any client that would walk in regardless of the illness(s) they had. However, when I moved onto other programs, the treatment that the clients received was infantilization (treating them like children), patronizing and totally against what I knew anyone needed in order to heal. I had learned to have respect for their process and respect for their inner understanding of what they required to be well. So, I left the conventional mental health paradigm of pathological illness for a complementary and alternative one. This path was of clearing the issues of the past to create a quality of life worth living based on the client’s notion of what their compelling future could be.

What Lessons Have Your Work and Personal Experiences Taught You?

The most important lesson I have learned is that which I learned in my hypnosis and NLP trainings; every client has their own answers in their own mind. Our job is to help them to access them and re-frame the manner in which they view their past experiences.

The second most important lesson I have learned is that the best client is the client who is willing to do ‘whatever it takes’ to reach their goal – letting go of their problems while creating their life the way they want it, working for their compelling future.

Lastly, it really does not matter how complex, how many issues or how harmed the person has been over the years. So long as they are willing to do as their unconscious mind has told them, they can transform their lives in ways that the average American, who constantly complains about the most mundane of things, could never truly comprehend.

My clients have come through horrific situations and have created lives of giving back to their communities in some cases, and just having ‘normal well adjusted’ lives in other cases. Where compassion along with knowledge is imparted, these clients who do not have a history of psychosis or an IQ below 70 have proven that labels need not be given and that health and wellbeing can occur.

Biography

“Coming from the world of mental health and elder care, I found the fabulous world of hypnotism.”

Suzanne Kellner-Zinck has earned the certifications of Trainer of Hypnosis, Trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Trainer of Time Line Therapy (R). She is a certified Advanced Clinical Hypnotist and Master Practitioner of Neuro-linguistic Programming.

Suzanne specializes in working with people who have obsessive thoughts followed by impulsive behaviors. This would cover addicts, anorexics, bulimics, sex addicts, smoking cessation and those with sugar addiction.

Suzanne has brought hypnotism to Africa to be used with family members suffering from depression.

Suzanne Kellner-Zinck
Hypnotist/Neuro-Linguistic Practitioner
Dawning Visions Hypnosis
Springfield,  NJ      United States

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