For better or for worse, Avon has a high population of fast-paced achievers. If you've ever been caught in the traffic jam at the intersection of Country Club and West Avon roads at the close of every school day, you'll see some: Throngs of heavily scheduled kids and their heavily caffeinated parents, dashing from one educationally enriching program to the next - or perhaps just trying to put a dent in a very long list of errands. We say it all the time: "I barely have time to breathe!" Yes, we are lucky. And yes, we are stressed.

We know the solution. If you're a parent you've heard it come from your own lips many times - when your harried child can't find his library book, or her tap shoes, or those Elmo slippers - "just stop and think!" you sigh.

Denise Wolf, R. N., would heartily agree. But she probably wouldn't say it with quite the same frustrated tone.

Wolf and her partner, Malou Dusyn, are owners of the Complementary Healthcare Institute - CHI - with a main office in the St. Francis Care building on Nod Road in Avon.

Wolfe is nationally certified in holistic nursing, a practice that combines sound medical knowledge with holistic modalities.

Through the use of techniques such as guided imagery, visualization, hypnotherapy, meditation, energy medicine, spirituality, massage therapy, acupuncture and feng shui, clients are guided in ways to reduce and deal with their stress.

They are taught how to "just stop and think," or what Wolf calls "mindful living techniques."

CHI will see clients one on one and customize a therapeutic approach to specific needs, but the partners are also very active in the greater community. They offer classes for just about any stage of life. They run workshops for those seeking to improve their health and well-being through weight loss, smoking cessation and pain reduction. There are classes in yoga and "mindfulness- based" exercise.

Wolf says some patients come in response to CHI's marketing, but often they are referred by friends and physicians. The techniques offer help to those who are experiencing a trauma such as a cancer diagnosis or the death of a loved one - or those who just want to regain a little peace in their day-to-day lives.

"People come when they feel overloaded," Wolf says. "They're not able to focus on daily activities. This leads to a lot of frustration and anger. There's an overall buildup and then they know they're off balance."

Depending on the method chosen for an individual, it can take as many as three sessions or so to start "building inner resources - to understand what's going on in the mind, so [a client] can break the cycles of distracting thought patterns, or learn how to react to an anxious situation," Wolf explains.

She can even help you find ways to reduce the singular stress of being a parent. The classes she offers through St. Francis Care's facility at the beautiful new YMCA in Granby included one titled "Joyful Parenting."

"You will learn how to utilize parenting techniques without depleting your own energy," the course description promises. Hmmm, flash-forward to the after-school traffic jam. Visualize yourself calm, energized, focused on what you need to do, and, hey - you're actually breathing.