Blessings CD found effective in University Study!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Suzanne Jonas, Ed.D.
Walland TN. March 13, 2008


ARE YOU STRESSED AND ANXIOUS?
Dr. says: Take two CDs and call me in the morning!!!

In a study performed in three hospitals and a multi-branch home care agency in Connecticut, patients who had suffered a heart attack were asked to listen to a CD three times a week for four weeks. Researchers wanted to know if a spirituality-based CD would have any effect on anxiety and spirituality in a cardiac population.

Colleen Delaney, RN, PhD., faculty member of University of Conn, and Cynthia Barrere RN, PhD, of Quinnipiac University, CT, wanted to assess the effects of using a spiritually based music and imagery exercise in a variety of healthcare settings. Local Tennessean, Suzanne Jonas, Ed.D. behavioral medicine psychotherapist and specialist in sound and imagery for healing, was asked to develop a CD that would help patients decrease anxiety levels and increase their spiritual values. Dr. Delaney had developed a Spiritual Values scale in 2003 because she strongly believes that these values assist in keeping people healthy and in assisting their recovery from health issues.

The Blessings CD that Dr. Jonas wrote and produced was used by all of the participants. “The CD is not just another voice guided relaxation exercise, although it is very relaxing” said Jonas. “The focus is more on eliciting spiritual values”. Some of the values include: feeling in harmony with and respecting all living things, having a relationship with a Higher Power, feeling a sense of life purpose, and striving to find meaning in life experiences.

First time listening showed significant changes in the listener’s anxiety levels and feelings of well-being associated with increased spiritual values. At the end of the four weeks, all of the remaining participants demonstrated a trend in decreasing their anxiety levels and increasing their score on the Spirituality Scale.

Responses to the Blessings CD most often included: “beautiful", "relaxing", and "wonderful”. One participant who had recently lost her job said: Listening to the CD helped me to find peace and inner strength.” And another participant stated: “I liked it very much! I was able to totally, totally relax”.

This is the second time that Dr. Delaney has used one of Dr. Jonas’ CDs. In 1997 she investigated the effects of the Cardiac Healing CD on women with high anxiety levels following a heart attack. The listeners significantly decreased their anxiety scores by using that CD. “Cardiac Healing is a voice guided exercise that takes you through your cardiac system seeing it completely healthy,” described Jonas. “In the process of doing the exercise, the listener assists the body in recovering, feels some control in the healing process, and increases feelings of relaxation”. Many other research studies demonstrate the importance of the relaxation response in healing and staying healthy.

Dr. Jonas is founder and director of the Inner Harmony Health Center in Walland which assists people in finding Inner Harmony through spiritual counseling, music and sound therapy, and energy medicine. She has authored numerous CDs that are being used in a variety of healthcare facilities and hospitals in the US. She routinely teaches healthcare professionals how to implement music and sound for healing in their practices and facilities. Her book: Take Two CDs and Call Me in the Morning, is widely used in hospitals and schools.

Dr. Jonas can be reached at 865-980-0137, and through her website: www.InnerHarmonyHealthCenter.com
where you can purchase the Blessings CD and her book.