Avinoam Lerner, Cancer Trauma & Recovery Specialist, Author, TEDx Speaker
Growing up in a war-torn part of the world, where loss and trauma are rampant, I remember this seminal moment, at the age of six, witnessing a woman I looked up to breaking down after learning her husband did not return from the war.
The look in her eyes, of fear and loss, burned into my brain with intensity. I wanted it to go away so badly! But, being so young, I couldn’t do anything; I felt powerless and helpless.
Many years later, I saw the very same look in someone else’s eyes, a cancer patient who came to me for a consultation seeking relief. At that moment, I was no longer that helpless child; I had the tools and the knowledge and could finally help.
That patient changed the direction of my practice and gave it a clear and defined focus – to help people facing cancer and trauma break through to recovery.
I am asked sometimes – how can you do it? How can you stay so present, focused, and content in the face of others’ fears, trauma, and grief? My answer is – it’s what I am here for. I can support people this way because that’s who I am.
As an army veteran, I know the value of discipline and pushing through. Cancer is a battlefield of a sort, which is why my approach is goal-oriented and result-driven. And yet, as a parent of two daughters, I’ve learned to be nurturing and grounded. That is what I offer those I work with, a safe and structured place for healing of both mind and body.
Professional Training
I earned my degree as a Holistic Therapist from the Reidman International College for Complementary and Integrative Medicine in Israel in 2000. I am certified as a Clinical Hypnotherapist by the National Guild of Hypnotists (NGH) and the National Federation of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NFNLP) in the USA.
Approach
My innovative approach to recovery highlights the multidimensional nature of trauma and illness. I offer individuals seeking to play a more active role in their recovery a safe, practical, meaningful, and effective path. This path allows those I work with to enlist the restorative power of their mind to become more resilient and cultivate a mindset more conducive to health, freedom, and quality of life.
It’s not only common knowledge nowadays, it’s also research-based, that emotional problems can fast become physical ones. In other words, the whole notion that people can be scarred by their past should not be taken lightly. It is why my approach to healing is intensive, exclusively focused on the root cause of the suffering.