I’ll never forget my first day as Pam Brewer’s student. For some reason, I signed up to take Latin my sophomore year of high school, so in early August of 2006, I found myself in the classroom at the end of the hallway overlooking the football field. I was one of the youngest students in my class, I’d never even considered learning a new language, and I was terrified. The rest of the day is a blur, but I remember Mrs. Brewer coming in, calmly turning on her old-fashioned projector, and saying, “Okay. Let’s start with verb conjugations.” I didn’t even know what conjugating was, but her calm demeanor and the level of comfort she obviously had in her classroom and with the language immediately eased my fears. Within 15 seconds of meeting her, she taught me the first of many valuable lessons: always be ready to learn, even if it’s scary.

I spent the next 3 years drifting in and out of ‘Mama Brew’s’ classroom like it was a home base for my entire high school career, not unlike many other students who knew her. Anytime I needed somewhere to go, or someone to talk to, or advice about a paper I was writing, or book suggestions, or a chariot race via wheelie chair down the hallway, Mama Brew’s door was open. I specifically remember the wheelie chair race tournament of Spirit Week 2008. I don’t know that a lot of learning happened at BHS that week, but I do know that a lot of memories were made.

“Brewer classes” were hard. There’s no way around that fact. Whether she taught you Latin, AP English, AP Lit, or some other class she took on, you could always rest assured that you would work your butt off for whatever grade you earned. I distinctly remember the research paper she assigned to our AP Lit class our senior year: 25 pages, 25 sources, only 10 sources could be web-based, and our topic was “a classical author and a theme in their works.” My first reaction was, “SERIOUSLY Brewer?! 25 pages?!” I think that’s the most time any of us spent in the library in our entire high school careers. By the time I turned in my paper, I felt like a contestant on Lost. My brain was mush and I had written the last half of the assignment in a deep mental fog. I was sure that level of academic torture was completely unnecessary and that I’d never benefit from it. When I got to college and my first paper in Spanish Lit 401 was assigned, and I had to write an incredibly difficult essay in another language, I was intensely grateful for the literary boot camp Mrs. Brewer had put me through in high school. Thus surfaced yet another Brewer lesson: the benefits of hard work may not be seen immediately, but they still exist.

Mrs. Brewer’s background led her to be more forward thinking and open minded than most, and she made sure to instill some of that particular trait in every student she could. We were assigned a project in one of her classes that required us to summarize each book of the Bible, including the Apocrypha. I, like many of my classmates, was raised Southern Baptist, and had never even heard of the Apocrypha until then. Some of the stories seemed totally outlandish. I told Mrs. Brewer I could see why they weren’t in the standard Bibles. Who could believe such fantastic stories?! I hardly got the words out of my mouth before I was swiftly (though kindly) taught another valuable lesson: what’s normal to you may be fantastical or strange to those of other cultures. This particular lesson has sent ripples throughout many facets of my own life, and I’m sure plenty of her other students could say the same. 

One classroom element that was specific to Mrs. Brewer was her disciplinary spray bottle. When you have a room full of mischievous students, keeping the focus on learning can be a challenge. True to form, Mama Brew came up with a creative solution for us sometime around AP English. She started using her spray bottle, originally kept strictly for projector screen washing, to keep a select few of us subdued enough to be effectively taught. If one of us got too rowdy, SWOOSH, we’d get sprayed in the back of the head. It was similar to disciplining unruly cats, and I’m 100% sure that’s where she got the inspiration for it. This was a surprisingly effective method of classroom management, until the select few offenders stole the water bottle and started spraying her back. Somehow I don’t think “water bottle wars” was a topic in the syllabus for AP English, but we all became quite proficient at it.

Anyone who knew Pam Brewer knew she was a hippie. An actual, real life, flower power, hippie. The entire time she was my teacher, everyone bugged her relentlessly for hippie stories and for her to tell us her hippie name. We would try to guess what it might be, saying random “hippie words” to see if she’d react to them with any familiarity, but she would never even give us a hint. She’d occasionally tell us tidbits about Woodstock and long hair and flowy skirts, but we couldn’t ever really tell how much of it was true and how much of it was just her messing with our heads. Finally, our senior year, she told someone her real hippie name. It circulated quickly, and I can imagine she had a steady flow of students coming to her classroom to confirm the news. I refused to believe it until I heard it from the source, and when I did, I knew it had to be true. What other name would suit such a person? Our beloved Mama Brew was, in fact, Butterfly. Today, as I reflect on the impact she had on thousands of students, and remember her floaty, calming, magnetic personality, I can think of no better name for such an incredible lady.

The best teachers are those that teach academia as well as life lessons, and Pam Brewer was the epitome of that. From Latin, to literature, to the Apocrypha, she never failed to make learning fun and exciting (even Grapes of Wrath, sometimes). She made sure her classroom was a place for curiosity, comfort, and friendship. She inspired so many of us to follow career paths that would have otherwise been skipped over for lack of confidence or comprehension. She provided guidance and a haven for those in need. She was a role model, a confidant, and a friend. She will forever float through our memories, and the ripple of her influence will continue for many years to come. Thank you for the laughs and lessons, Mama Brew. We’ll see you later.

Written by Rebecca Stroud, for the thousands of lives you’ve touched.

Summer Safety Pro Tips

The sunshine has returned, school years are coming to a close, and the temperatures are climbing everyday which can only mean one thing: Summertime has arrived! This summer is already shaping up to be a busy one, with the U.S. Travel Association estimating about 6 in 10 Americans to take at least one summer trip. After years of COVID restrictions keeping us home, current events causing us stress and grief, and everything getting much more expensive, it looks like Americans are consistently planning trips to domestic beach locations, drawn to the sun and the sand and the relaxation. Even those of us who live in vacation locations (like the Emerald Coast) are already getting out of the house more than we have since pre-COVID summers.

While sunny beaches offer ideal conditions for a vacation, it’s important to remember the not so fun things that may come with it. Injuries, illnesses, and accidents don’t know the difference between a beautiful beach resort and an office building in the city, so being prepared to handle those things can mean the difference between a relaxing beach trip and an out-of-town nightmare. Here are a few common things you might run into on your Summer 2022 excursions and how to keep them from ruining the vacay vibes.

     Picture it: a beautiful day on the beach, fishing with the kids or maybe just yourself, when suddenly your perfect cast goes a little awry and there’s a hook sticking out of your arm, or your kid’s leg. You know better than to yank it out, you know infection is a real threat considering what we do with fishhooks, and it looks like it might even need stitches but you’re in a place that isn’t home and you have no idea if your insurance covers out of state clinic visits.

Or maybe you’re downtown with your friends celebrating finishing up another round of final exams at UWF and some of you went a little too hard downtown and now you’re pretty sure one of them has alcohol poisoning.

Or you get home from a relaxing night out and a delicious, fancy dinner but your head is stuffy and your throat is getting scratchy.

Or a jellyfish wrapped around your ankle at the beach.

Or you accidentally sliced your hand open on the aluminum can at the barbecue. Or you’re just feeling really blah and you know your energy is low, but you aren’t at home to go get a quick B12 shot from your regular clinic.

Or your sunscreen wasn’t quite strong enough and now you’re pretty sure you have sun poisoning.

Any of these would be annoying and stressful to encounter on vacation or a beach day on your day off, and some of them could ruin the whole trip if not handled quickly and effectively. While you’re checking things off of your pre-sun & sand do-to list, make sure you add a few bullet points for checking your insurance policy to see what’s covered, specifically for out of town needs. Look into clinics in the area you’ll be visiting and the services they offer and how to handle emergencies (especially for overseas vacations). Keep water on hand to fight dehydration, pack the first aid kits and make sure they’re refilled and up to date, and plan for a relaxing and safe vacation so you can get the most bang for your ever more valuable bucks!

If you happen to be vacationing here or even if you’re a local of the Emerald Coast, ProHealth can help you with almost all of those things! Our walk-in clinics in Pensacola and Gulf Breeze offer treatment for a variety of common summer mishaps like alcohol poisoning, sun poisoning, unexpected illnesses like the flu or stomach viruses or colds, jellyfish stings, B12 shots, and even lab work. Clinic visits are much less expensive than the out-of-network fees insurance companies like to charge, and we are cash pay clinics so we don’t even require insurance to be seen. Click here to learn more about the services we offer and how much they cost, and if you find yourself in the midst of a summertime mishap give us a call or come on in and let us help you get back to the beach in no-time!

How Hypnosis Helps People

         We’ve talked a lot about how you can become a hypnotherapist and how this career path can change your life, but what about the lives of your clients? According to several recent studies, around 93% of hypnotherapy clients see success within the first six sessions. We see a lot of false narratives about hypnosis in media (swinging pocket watches, people clucking on stage, etc.), but the realities of this field are much more scientific and effective than most people realize. How exactly does hypnosis help those clients? What kinds of things are they seeking help with in the first place? Keep reading to see how your hypnotherapy practice will help your clients live happier, more fulfilling lives.

-Sleep issues

         Many clients will come to you because they’re experiencing trouble with their sleep. This can include insomnia, trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, and sleep walking. As a certified hypnotherapist, you’ll be able to help your clients reset their sleep habits and triggers so they can get full, restful nights of sleep. You’ll also be able to help them learn how to hypnotize themselves so they can more effectively fall asleep and stay asleep through the night.

-Anxiety

         You’ll also be able to help your clients with anxiety, including that surrounding phobias. Hypnosis can be very effective when it comes to helping clients lower heart rates, slowing breathing, and soothing the physical symptoms of anxiety responses to triggers. Especially when used as an addition to other forms of therapy, hypnosis can sometimes help erase trigger responses altogether, allowing clients to reclaim control over their traumas.

-Irritable Bowel Syndrome

         Hypnosis has been consistently proven and supported as a valid method of treatment for bowel disorders, most prominently IBS. By leading clients through the stages of relaxation, helping them settle on comforting imagery, and guiding them into a hypnotic state, you’ll be able to help clients improve the symptoms that come with digestive issues. This includes constipation, diarrhea, and bloating, but also secondary symptoms like nausea, urinary problems, backaches, and fatigue.  

-Chronic pain

         In a world more racked by pain and treatments for pain than ever, it’s estimated that between 18% and 35% of the population suffers from chronic pain. As a certified hypnotherapist, you’ll be able to help your clients who fall in those percentages find relief from pain related to arthritis, fibromyalgia, cancer pain, sickle cell disease, lower back pain, post-surgery pain, and migraines. Hypnosis helps pain patients gain more control over their pain and offers them a healthy way to cope with it. It can also be an effective, healthy, long-term tool for pain management, which is an advantage pharmaceutical treatments can’t offer.

-Quitting smoking

         Some clients might come to you for help to break their smoking habit, and you’ll be able to help with that too. First, you’ll be able to help them replace the smoking habit with a healthy and effective action (swapping cigarettes for a healthy snack, going for a walk, etc.) and to guide their subconscious toward that rather than smoking. Second, you’ll be able to help them reprogram their mind’s association with smoking to negative feelings over positive ones, like how bad cigarettes taste or smell. Hypnosis works best for smoking cessation when the client truly wants to quit and when there’s an opportunity for them to work one-on-one with the hypnotherapist.

-Weight loss

         Hypnosis helps to focus our attention with an effectiveness we don’t achieve in a day-to-day consciousness. This focus offers the opportunity for reshaping behaviors, like altering dietary habits and reprogramming feelings around exercise, which can help clients lose weight. The goal with weight loss clients should always be a generally more healthy lifestyle that may lead to losing weight and is most effective when the client can implement healthy diet changes and exercise. In a world racked with toxic societal pressures surrounding body image and beauty standards, hypnosis can help clients reprogram their unhealthy habits and beliefs and finally see success in their health journeys.

         Becoming a certified hypnotherapist can change your life, whether you experience it as a client or a student or both. You can find more information about both options by visiting our website or giving us a call. We can’t wait to help you start your hypnotherapy journey!