Making A Gentle Decision
Many years ago, I stopped smoking. No nicotine patches, no hypnotherapy, no group therapy, no Alan Carr programme or any other programme. I just decided one day that the following day would be the day.
The Chemicals of Stress
You probably already know that long-term stress can harm your health. The body is perfectly geared up to handle stress - of the short-term kind
Flying Phobia and the Fear of Flying
Over the years that I have been working as a hypnotherapist, fear of flying has been one of the phobias I have treated most often.
Today is National No Smoking Day
Nobody wants to be preached at and everyone has free will. It has to be the right time for you to stop smoking, the time when you feel ready and sick enough of it to want to stop.
Relaxation and Guided Imagery
Starting on Sunday 6th March, I will be running free monthly 30 minute relaxation sessions online. These will be largely sessions of guided imagery.
The Importance of Appreciation
I have been reading the book “Time to Think: The Power of Independent Thinking” by Nancy Kline. In one chapter, she talks about how appreciation stabilises the heart and stimulates thinking what she calls good thinking that is productive.
Helping Social Anxiety
In a 1986 study, university students were asked to describe the kinds of situations that caused them to feel shy. A whopping 80% of them reported that talking to strangers and authority figures evoked this feeling in them.
Keeping Problems In Place
People who come to therapy do so because they are experiencing some kind of problem that is causing them pain and don’t know how to resolve it. Usually, there is some kind of pattern operating that we call a pattern of chronicity.
Are You One of the 15%?
According to a poll published in i newspaper this week, 15 per cent of those polled intended to set a new year’s resolution to cut down their alcohol consumption.
Cake - Making a Gentle Decision
Recently, I was telling someone that I was going for coffee with some of the people with whom I attend a dance class. He said there would inevitably be cake (we had been having a conversation about health).
Is It Stuck In the Past?
I am coming to the end of some training in Integral Eye Movement Therapy, a brief change model that allows you to dissociate from upsetting memories and process difficult emotions.
Comfort Zone to Growth Zone
Recently, I watched a video on you tube by a young woman about getting out of your comfort zone and how she herself was doing this in her own life. I thought it was such a useful topic to cover as it is one with which we are all confronted.
Reviewing the Past
There are times when I need to review something from the past with a client. This might be because an event or events that took place in the client’s history had such a strong impact that they are still affected by it at an unconscious level in the present.
Rehearse It
In hypnotherapy, we frequently use mental rehearsal. For example, when someone comes to see me say to stop smoking, they will often have a few scenarios that they believe will be the most difficult ones for them in which to not smoke.
Can You See It?
When someone comes to see me for help with losing weight, I will always ask them if they can see themselves at the weight they want to be.
Strong Emotion and Belief
Our beliefs are formed in many ways throughout our lives. We have been influenced by our caretakers, teachers, religious leaders, peers and have made our own decisions about what we believe in different circumstances.
I Won’t Ever Get Over It
As I was looking through the BBC website today, my attention was taken by the headline “GB rider won’t ever get over back-flip crash”.
Stress - Building Your Strengths
The term ‘stress’ was coined by the endocrinologist Hans Selye to describe ‘the non-specific response of the body to any demand‘. Selye noted on ward rounds that despite having different diagnoses, many patients would have certain symptoms in common.
Why Are You Here?
Stress dampens pleasure. In my opinion, we are not here to lead stressful lives but rather to grow and develop.
Stress Awareness Month - Your Inner Resources
One of the things that people may not think about too much in relation to stress is their inner resources. We tend to live compartmentalised lives.