Inner Balance Psychiatry & Wellness

07/23/2025

The best thing about this field is that as my patients heal, I do too and vice versa. It’s a collective soul healing.

Part of my recent showing up on social media is because I’ve been working on “changing the story” and I thought I’d share some things that come up during sessions with patients and my own life.

I told someone recently, thinking of an experience I had in the recent past, “ the absence of pain doesn’t mean the presence of peace”.
That was one of those thought provoking moments that I myself reflected on later.

We’re often taught to measure healing by how little it hurts:

By how calm we seem or how we don’t complain about it.
By how “over it” we appear.
By how far we think we’ve moved from the grief, the pain, the old wounds because we don’t think about it and put it out of our minds.

But pain isn’t the enemy.
Pain is information. It’s the body’s language. A signal. A flare in the sky to catch your attention.
A sacred message.

It’s not the pain that keeps us stuck;
It’s the pattern we keep looping through.

Healing isn’t about pain disappearing.
It’s about what happens when the pattern finally shifts.

The pattern of leaving ourselves behind when it gets hard,
Or chasing people who echo our childhood wounds.
Or over-functioning, people-pleasing, shrinking… just to feel “safe” or keep the peace.

Real healing is when the nervous system no longer grabs onto that old story like it’s fate.
When the emotional spiral loses its pull.
When that same wound doesn’t keep showing up in a different disguise.

You can still feel sad. Still get triggered. Still fall apart sometimes

But now…
You don’t betray yourself like you used to.
You don’t abandon your truth to keep the peace.
You don’t numb the ache and call it strength.

That’s healing.

It’s NOT perfection.
It’s NOT constant calm.
It IS choosing differently when the loop reappears.

When your body feels safe enough to stay.
When your nervous system begins to believe:
“This story gets to end differently now.”

So let’s celebrate all the wins, big and small, that reflect our healing💜

07/21/2025

🌀 Your vagus nerve is your body’s peace pathway.It connects your brain to your gut, heart, lungs, and more; calming your organs and regulating your mood.When it’s out of balance, you feel it:💔 Racing heart😵‍💫 Gut issues😰 Anxiety😴 Fatigue✨ Support your vagus nerve = support your mental health and physical health. Full video:https://youtu.be/jZD_—i9vBM

07/16/2025

Hormones matter and they REALLY matter in mental health! Advocate for yourself if you’re feeling off and don’t let anyone say it’s “normal aging”. Finding a supportive, compassionate and educated provider is GOLD for your “ golden years” 💛🌟👑

07/08/2025

Organic acids can be used for anything from depression, anxiety and addiction to inflammation, diabetes and other metabolic conditions. Knowing the why behind the symptoms gives you a more personalized approach to treatment.

06/28/2025

I often get referrals after someone has undergone a thorough work up by gastroenterology. When a patient’s chronic gut issues persist despite medical treatment or nothing found on diagnostic testing, mental health strategies can make a difference, but it isn’t always about medication. Using neurobiological approaches and brain science can help in treating IBS, GERD, and other digestive disorders!

06/21/2025

This is such a great perspective on living in the now. Too much in the past and too much about the future will both cause emotions that may settle in and discharge a pain circuit. 😧

A good reminder to breathe when we feel pain of any kind; Physical or emotional. It helps remind your brain you are ok💞

“my brain and
heart divorced

a decade ago

over who was
to blame about
how big of a mess
I have become

eventually,
they couldn't be
in the same room
with each other

now my head and heart
share custody of me

I stay with my brain
during the week

and my heart
gets me on weekends

they never speak to one another

- instead, they give me
the same note to pass
to each other every week

and their notes they
send to one another always
says the same thing:

"This is all your fault"

on Sundays
my heart complains
about how my
head has let me down
in the past

and on Wednesday
my head lists all
of the times my
heart has screwed
things up for me
in the future

they blame each
other for the
state of my life

there's been a lot
of yelling - and crying

so,

lately, I've been
spending a lot of
time with my gut

who serves as my
unofficial therapist

most nights, I sneak out of the
window in my ribcage

and slide down my spine
and collapse on my
gut's plush leather chair
that's always open for me

~ and I just sit sit sit sit
until the sun comes up

last evening,
my gut asked me
if I was having a hard
time being caught
between my heart
and my head

I nodded

I said I didn't know
if I could live with
either of them anymore

"my heart is always sad about
something that happened yesterday
while my head is always worried
about something that may happen tomorrow,"
I lamented

my gut squeezed my hand

"I just can't live with
my mistakes of the past
or my anxiety about the future,"
I sighed

my gut smiled and said:

"in that case,
you should
go stay with your
lungs for a while,"

I was confused
- the look on my face gave it away

"if you are exhausted about
your heart's obsession with
the fixed past and your mind's focus
on the uncertain future

your lungs are the perfect place for you

there is no yesterday in your lungs
there is no tomorrow there either

there is only now
there is only inhale
there is only exhale
there is only this moment

there is only breath

and in that breath
you can rest while your
heart and head work
their relationship out."

this morning,
while my brain
was busy reading
tea leaves

and while my
heart was staring
at old photographs

I packed a little
bag and walked
to the door of
my lungs

before I could even knock
she opened the door
with a smile and as
a gust of air embraced me
she said:

what took you so long?"

~ John Roedel (johnroedel.com)

John Roedel is a comic who unexpectedly gained notability as a writer and poet through his heartfelt Facebook conversations that went viral and became an Amazon best-selling book titled, "Hey God. Hey John." The author of five books, John offers a sincere and relatable look at his faith crisis, ment...

06/10/2025

People ask all the time what is the difference between integrative and functional medicine.

Integrative medicine combines conventional medical treatments with complementary therapies like acupuncture, nutrition, and mindfulness.

Functional medicine looks at the “why” people are having complaints. It addresses genetics, lifestyle, environment (epigenetics) and lab markers to create highly personalized treatment plans, often using advanced testing, nutrition, hormones and targeted supplements to bring the body back into balance

08/14/2024

It can often be difficult for trauma survivors to understand how or why they reacted a certain way during a traumatic experience.

Instead of seeing their trauma response as the result of a split-second, unconscious decision made by their nervous system, your client may blame themself for not reacting differently.

This can be especially true for clients who went into the freeze or collapse response.

We put it into an infographic that you can share with your clients. Have a look.➡️ https://www.nicabm.com/how-the-nervous-system-responds-to-trauma/?del=8.13.24.FBPost2

08/11/2024

A wish for the week ahead 💙 ~ Nanea

07/12/2024

Sometimes life is messy! Let the ducks and pigeons roam around once in awhile; it’s ok, you’ll get them back on track 💜 it’s perfectly ok to be imperfect

This made me laugh 🤭

07/08/2024

The beautiful ancient practice of Ho'oponopono offers a holistic approach to mental health by addressing emotional wounds, promoting forgiveness, reducing stress, and fostering self-awareness and mindfulness. It can be a powerful tool for personal growth and healing! 🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻

Let's explore 5 key ways that you can benefit from Ho'oponopono:

1. Emotional Healing... Ho'oponopono helps to release and heal deep-seated emotional wounds by acknowledging and taking responsibility for them. By practicing the technique, you can let go of negative emotions such as guilt, resentment and anger... promoting emotional well-being and inner peace.

2. Stress Reduction... Ho'oponopono encourages you to let go of the need to control or fix external circumstances. This surrendering attitude can help you to reduce stress and anxiety... allowing for a more relaxed and balanced state of mind.

3. Self-Forgiveness... Ho'oponopono emphasizes self-forgiveness as a way to heal and transform. By accepting responsibility for your own experiences and forgiving yourself for past mistakes or regrets... you can free yourself from self-blame and cultivate self-compassion.

4. Relationship Healing... Ho'oponopono can be used to heal and improve relationships with others. By focusing on your own healing and taking responsibility for how you internally experience conflicts or misunderstandings... you can create a space for forgiveness, understanding and reconciliation.

5. Mindfulness and Presence... Ho'oponopono encourages you to be present in the moment and aware of your thoughts, emotions and actions. This mindfulness practice promotes self-awareness and clarity and... a deeper connection with yourself and the world around you.

Cleaning on global mental health!

Love and Light,
Helen Earle ❤️🙏🏻❤️

07/03/2024

Oxytocin’s Link to Obesity and Postnatal Depression

A new study has identified the TRPC5 gene as a critical factor in obesity, behavioral issues, and postnatal depression.

Researchers found that missing or impaired TRPC5 genes disrupt oxytocin neurons, which are essential for regulating appetite and emotions.

The study showed that restoring oxytocin could alleviate symptoms, offering new treatment possibilities.

These findings highlight the biological basis of certain behaviors and conditions, suggesting that oxytocin may be a viable treatment option.