Dr.Barbara O'Neil Integrative Medicine

01/02/2026

🌙 Struggling With Sleep? CBT-I Can Help 🌙

If falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking too early has become a nightly struggle, CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia) is considered the gold-standard, first-line treatment for chronic insomnia.
I have recently completed training to be able to help provide CBT-I in my practice.

CBT-I is a natural, evidence-based approach that works by addressing the thoughts, behaviors, and sleep habits that keep insomnia going — rather than just masking symptoms.

Through CBT-I, many people experience:
✨ Faster sleep onset
✨ Fewer nighttime awakenings
✨ Deeper, more restorative sleep
✨ Reduced anxiety around sleep
✨ Improved daytime energy and focus

Unlike sleep medications, CBT-I helps retrain your brain and nervous system to sleep naturally again. For many people, this leads to a reduced reliance on sleep medications — or eliminating them altogether — under medical guidance. It is usually an 8 week program and can be done in a group or individual format. It is more than just learning sleep tips or learning good sleep hygiene.

CBT-I is structured, practical, and personalized. It teaches lifelong skills that continue working long after treatment ends.

01/02/2026

🌿 Clinical Hypnotherapy for Menopause Symptoms 🌿

Menopause can bring challenging symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disruption, anxiety, and mood changes that affect quality of life.

While hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is an effective option for menopausal symptoms, other treatments can be complementary or an alternative option for those who choose not to take HRT ( or are unable due to other health conditions).

Clinical hypnotherapy is recognized as a safe and effective non-hormonal treatment for managing menopausal vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes and night sweats).
In some clinical studies, women experienced up to an 80% reduction in hot flash frequency.

Hypnotherapy works by calming the nervous system and supporting the brain’s role in temperature regulation. Sessions typically use:
❄️ Focused relaxation
❄️ Cooling mental imagery
❄️ Mind–body techniques that train the brain to respond differently to hormonal changes

Many women may also experience:
✨ Improved sleep
✨ Reduced anxiety and irritability
✨ Greater emotional balance
✨ A renewed sense of control

As a clinician who has over 10 years experience with clinical hypnotherapy I have been impressed with results and plan to offer this modality for women experiencing perimenopause/menopause.

09/30/2025

Effective treatment for Chronic Insomnia

People who suffer from difficulty falling asleep despite doing all the usual things (your room is dark, no caffeine later in the day, no screen time for a few hours before bed) are often prescribed medication for sleep. While they can be effective and useful in the short term, longer term use for most people should be avoided.
There are a number of natural ways to help your sleep including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia - or CBT-i. This therapy addresses four main areas to help get your sleep back on track.
They include sleep restriction therapy, stimulus control, cognitive retraining and relaxation training.
There are many trained providers of CBT-I including therapists, psychologists and doctors.

01/05/2025

Protein intake during perimenopause and menopause

It seems like everyone is recommending protein powders these days for a multitude of reasons. Are we getting enough protein as we age and enter menopause?
Fortunately there has been some research to examine this question.
Managing the natural transition to a state of lower estrogen is best done using a holistic approach. Depending on your symptoms or other health issues this may involve medications or hormones -- but it should always involve lifestyle modification and diet. An integrative approach to menopause includes looking at your diet and making the right changes ( of course!).
Menopause brings on a drop in your metabolism, which often contributes to the weight gain commonly associated with mid life. There is often an increase in abdominal fat and reduction in muscle mass between the ages of 40 and 60. Ensuring adequate protein intake of 0.8-1.2 grams/kg of body weight and increasing resistance training ( to help build muscles) can help counteract these changes. The lower range is the recommended intake for the general population, with the upper range of up to 1.2g/kg per day being the amount supported by some experts or studies looking at preventing muscle loss with aging.
For most people this works out to about 25- 30 grams of protein per meal. Remember that protein is not just meat -- you can get protein from soy/tofu, lentils and beans, eggs, greek yoghurt, nuts etc. You may also choose to supplement with protein powder - but caution - if you do so be careful to choose a good quality product. Avoid products with sugar and extra additives. Collagen powder for example is flavourless and can be added to your food or drinks. A popular vegan option would be pea protein powder.
Consult with a dietician or healthcare professional - some people should not consume this level of protein ( such as those with kidney disease). Also, protein intake should be evaluated along with other aspects of your diet ( not in isolation). Reducing sugar, alcohol and refined carbohydrates is also helpful.

09/30/2024

Do you p**p like a rabbit? If your stool looks like rabbit pellets ( or goat pellets, or around where I live, deer pellets!) you may need to pay more attention to your gut health. Very small hard stools indicate that you are likely not emptying your bowels regularly and completely. There are a few things you can try to improve your bowel health over time ( it will take time to change!):

- Water -- make sure you drink enough water - the amount
depends on a variety of factors but try increasing by at least one glass in the morning

- Fiber - this supports your beneficial gut bacteria, and also helps to draw water into your bowels to bulk up your stool and stimulate your bowels to push things along. Think plants when you think of fiber -- leafy greens, apples, berries, beans, lentils, whole minimally processed grains, psyllium husks, ground flaxseed. Avoid heavily processed foods which have little to no fiber and do not promote a health gut microbiome.

- Toilet position -- squatting is the most natural way to empty your bowels. On a toilet you can use a stool under your feet to raise your knees up.

- Need help to get going? Try a cup of coffee or tea (black). Both are known to stimulate the bowels. Other options include ground flaxseed added to your food, or psyllium seed husks ( need to increase your water intake with this). Prunes actually work well as they contain fiber as well as sorbitol which is a natural laxative.

- Probiotic foods - eat these to help balance your gut bacteria. Things like sauerkraut, kimchi, and yoghurt.

- Prebiotic foods - These foods feed the good bacteria in your gut, which may in turn help regulate your bowels. Foods such as sunchokes, garlic, onions, leeks and chickpeas. Start with smaller amounts initially to avoid bloating and gas.

- Exercise - regular movement is important as well, such as brisk walking

Remember if you normally had regular bowel movements and develop constipation (or any change in your bowel pattern), or blood in your stool you should consult your healthcare provider to ensure you do not have serious condition such as colon cancer.
Your healthcare provider can also tailor advice to your own unique situation.

06/01/2024

Words matter and self talk can influence your ability to make healthy changes in your life.

How we talk changes what we do.

Try replacing “If” with “When”.

For example: What will happen WHEN I start taking a walk after supper each evening? I WILL feel better and have more energy.

Using “if” leaves doubt about your intention and future success in change.

03/29/2024

Black tea has many benefits -- just don't ruin a good thing with loads of sugar!

01/28/2024

Reducing Acne with Nutraceuticals

A recent review of thousands of research trials and articles by the medical journal JAMA Dermatology showed that there are some promising natural products that may improve quality of life for acne sufferers. The review identified 42 studies that were of reasonable quality. These studies collectively showed that foods, supplements and vitamins such as green tea, vitamin B5, omega-3, and probiotics may improve acne. It is not clear by what exact mechanisms but it is likely related to the anti-inflammatory effects of many of these products.
I usually recommend an Anti-Inflammatory Diet for people suffering from acne or other inflammatory skin disease. This type of diet is higher in prebiotics, fermented foods which provide probiotics, as well as healthy fats high in omega 3.
While this may not be a cure for many people, it is part of a good overall integrative treatment program.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/article-abstract/2811079?guestAccessKey=7afb9971-881a-47c3-a2bf-dac3a079cf5f&utm_adv=000003918894

01/22/2024

Note: If you drink alcohol regularly and have alcohol dependence stopping suddenly carries some risks - please consult your healthcare provider for professional help with harm reduction or abstinence.

01/14/2024

01/09/2024

01/07/2024