Treatment

For someone who has never been to a hypnotherapist before, you can expect the following to happen:

You will have a free consultation, where your details will be taken, we will discuss the issues you wish to change, and I will explain how the mind works and the ways we can help proceed with your treatment.

The number of sessions taken will depend on the nature of the problem, and the indivdual, as a general rule, stop smoking takes one two hour session, phobias take 3 one hour sessions, and the rest can take anything from 4 to 10 sessions.

In many cases, you may be asked to do homework between sessions, and you will be given a relaxation CD to listen to to help reduce anxiety and allow you to progress with the therapy.

The first session in hypnosis itself will involve the following:-

You are led, by means of the my gently guiding voice, into a state where your body and mind are totally relaxed. Although you may think you have fallen asleep at various stages, your subconscious mind is awake and it this part of your mind I will be working with to induce beneficial changes.

This may mean that you will be picturing, as in a daydream, the things which are being spoken of and that you may experience the associated pleasant feelings.

If at any time you feel uncomfortable and want to terminate the session, then you will be perfectly capable of doing so.

The subsequent sessions, we will discuss the homework and how things are progressing. This is often an important part of the process. Finally, payment for the session is made and any further appointments are agreed.

Your confidentiality is 100% assured. I am a member of the National Council for Hypnotherapy, whose code of conduct ensures absolute confidentiality for clients. This confidentiality may only be breached in potentially life threatening situations.

Hypnotherapy can help you with a range of issues:

IBS
Stop Smoking
Phobias
Performance anxiety
Weight loss
Sports performance
Anxiety
Depression
Get motivated
Cost of treatment

IBS

IBS is highly prevalent in the Western world, but despite the advancement of many theories, no clear cause has yet been established. IBS may be a conglomeration of disorders with similar symptoms but multiple different root causes. All cases of IBS should be checked out by your doctor, so that physical problems are not the cause, and to establish it may be psychological, and stress related.

The symptoms of Irritable Bowel may include:

• Abdominal pain and spasm
• Diarrhoea
• Constipation
• Bloated stomach
• Rumbling noises and wind
• Urgency - a need to rush and open the bowels
• A feeling of incomplete emptying of the bowels
• Incontinence if a toilet is not nearby
• A sharp pain felt low down inside the rectum
• Nausea, belching and vomiting

Stop Smoking

The physical side of addiction to smoking is less than 10% the remainder is all in the mind - the subconscious mind where behaviour patterns are stored. Your smoking is not a conscious behaviour, which is why trying to quit with conscious will power alone just isn't enough. Hypnotherapy can access the subconscious mind, suggest new perspectives on the habit, and remove your desire for smoking.

Smoking is one of the major causes of stress and anxiety because it increases your blood pressure levels. You may think having a cigarette is calming you, but it is in fact stressing your body. Once a person regains control by quitting smoking, they are able to regain control in other areas of their life.

People who smoke throughout life are 80% more likely to suffer severe anxiety and clinical depression in middle age than non-smokers, because it depletes the body of the motivational hormone Seratonin.

Smoking does not just cause lung cancer and heart disease. There are many poisonous substances in cigarettes, including Benzene, Formaldehyde, Carbon Monoxide, Arsenic, Acetone, and Nicotine, which many people don't realise is used commercially in insecticide. This puts a strain on the liver, pancreas, bladder and kidneys, and you risk your chances of developing cancer in these areas too.

Links:

New Scientist reports

Smoking doubles risk of post-traumatic stress

Chancing your arm on nicotine patches:

Phobias

It is generally accepted that phobias arise from a combination of external events and internal predispositions. Some phobias such as arachnaphobia (fear of spiders) and ophidiophobia (fear of snakes) however, may arise more easily due to an evolutionary trait that conditioned humans to fear certain creatures that could cause them harm.

In a famous experiment, Martin Seligman used classical conditioning to establish phobias of snakes and flowers. The results of the experiment showed that it took far fewer shocks to create an adverse response
to a picture of a snake than to a picture of a flower, leading to the conclusion that certain objects may have a genetic predisposition to being associated with fear.

Many specific phobias can be traced back to a specific triggering event, usually a traumatic experience at an early age. Social phobias and agoraphobia have more complex causes that are not entirely known at this time. It is believed that heredity, genetics, and brain chemistry combine with life-experiences to play a major role in the development of anxiety disorders and phobias.

Performance Anxiety

Whether you are budding pop star or have to perform presentations for your company, hypnotherapy can help with reducing your anxiety. Using specially designed NLP techniques to help lower your emotional responce and gental guidence and visualisation to motivate, it is the perfect solution to help get rid of performance nerves, stage fright and fear of public speaking.

Weight Loss

We lose weight when we consume fewer calories and burn off more during exercise, unfortunately, life is usually not as simple as this and we find ourselves cutting corners, eating the wrong foods and making excuses. Poor self-image, fussy diet, and issues such as Anorexia add to the problem.

By making careful choices, monitoring our eating habits and our body mass, gaining control over our habits and emotions, hypnotherapy can help you achieve your ideal weight. The number of sessions involved will depend on your targets and how motivated you are.

What hypnosis will NOT do regarding bingeing

Hypnosis is not about reprogramming the brain, but allowing your subconsious mind know what is best for you and relay it to your conscious mind. A session will not automatically turn a switch in your head and you'll wake up NOT bingeing. It will instead help you to gain control and understand the mechanisms that are making you binge. You can then monitor all aspects of your life and put in place the habits you need to loose and maintain your perfect weight.

The weightloss programme operates over 3 months, and about 8 - 10 sessions. It is the aim to lose 2lb per week.

Sports performance

Improve your performance in sports.

Many sportsmen and women use hypnotherapy to focus on their skills and to enhance their performance. From athletics to boxers (Bristol's world champion middleweight boxer Glenn Catley used hypnotherapy to help him gain his world championship title) It is also excellent for concentration and helps with improving your golf, darts and pool matches too.

Create positive focus and new automatic response patterns
to achieve your full potential.Whether you need to deal with the pressure of competition or simply wish to overcome nerves or negative behaviour patterns

Hypnotherapy allows you to remove the triggers and negative responses that can be encountered due to pre-competition nerves or self-belief issues. Through simple relaxation and various other techniques, you can become focused on what you really want to achieve.

Anxiety and Depression

Hypnotherapy will work for any mind or stress related problems. By learning how the mind works and by understanding how we are effected by our states of mind, we can get back on the road to recovery in no time. Where as councelling can often go back over old wounds which the client may not want to uncover, hypnotherapy instead focuses on what the client wants to achieve, and how they want to achive it.

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Panic attacks
• Insomnia
• Lack of confidence
• Self esteem
• Exam nerves
• Grief
• Divorce
• Separation
• Unwanted habits
• Physical and mental exhaustion.
• Recovery after a nervous breakdown
• Unnecessary fears and worries
• Work stress

Links

Depression raises risk of diabetes in elderly

Goal setting and getting motivated

Using positive thinking and realistic goal setting, you can become focused to achieve anything. From alleviating exam and interview nerves, to really sorting out what you want in your life. Examining what you can do and using focused, positive visualisation to achieve it. We can't make a brain surgeon out of someone with a GCSE in ICT, but we can help you gain insights into your weaknesses and more importantly your strengths.

How much does it cost?

1 hr session £50
Stop smoking 2 hour session - £100

Concessions are available, and special rates on promotions and in association with other therapies, sports programmes etc. Please ask at the initial consultation.