Treatments
Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy is an effective treatment for the following:
Anxiety & Stress · Panic Attacks · Fears & Phobias · Lack of Confidence & Self-Esteem · Habits · Depression · Insomnia · Obsessions & Compulsions · Pain Control · Personal Development · Weight Loss / Weight Management · Stop Smoking · Learn Self-hypnosisHypnotherapy and Counselling Articles & News
Anxiety & Stress
Anxiety and stress can be described as nervous tension which is not expressed in a healthy manner. Distressing feelings are usually caused by fear, worry and negative thinking; the body can feel tight and tense as a result. Stress can come from thoughts or situations that make a person feel angry, frustrated, irritable, anxious, etc. Anxiety makes a person feel apprehensive or fearful. Common symptoms accompanying anxiety are: dizziness, irregular heart rate, rapid breathing, sleeping problems and nightmares, sexual problems, fatigue, irritability and not being able to concentrate. When the cause for the anxiety is not apparent it can be worrying and fearful to the person and causes further anxiety. Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy can help by identifying the triggers for the anxiety and stress, turning negative thinking into positive and reducing the anxiety triggers. By learning how to manage anxiety symptoms through relaxation exercises and expressing feelings in a more constructive and healthy way, stress and anxiety can be overcome. Back
Panic Attacks
Panic attacks are extremely uncomfortable to experience but are not harmful. Panic attacks are anxiety attacks, also known as “Fight or Flight Response”. When experiencing a panic attack the person might feel a range of symptoms, brought on by the body’s own natural response to a perceived threat or danger. Adrenaline and stress hormones are released causing the body to react; fast heart beat, perspiration, trembling, shaking, feeling faint, sick, breathing deeply, hyperventilation, viewing surroundings in slow-motion or speeded up, due to the mind and body’s ability to respond quickly to the danger in the environment. The problem is that this reaction might be triggered in situations where there is no threat or danger and is out of proportion to the situation, such as social situations, driving or public speaking. Hypnotherapy is effective in calming the nervous system down, learning how to control and prevent further attacks. Attention to negative and unrealistic thinking is also important, as worry about a situation or worry about having a panic attack can actually bring on an attack. Back
Fears & Phobias
Some common fears include fear of snakes, spiders, thunder, heights, etc, which are likely to be childhood fears a person never learnt how to deal with while growing up. Phobias are intensified fears, and are much more commonly experienced in relation to social activity, such as; fear of rejection, humiliation, embarrassment, failure, etc, which is usually caused by traumatic event(s).
Social phobia can make people extremely uncomfortable experiencing nervousness, blushing, sweating and fearing they will make a mistake or look silly in front of others. This could cause avoidance of social situations, creating loneliness and unhappiness. Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy and counselling can help to strengthen self-esteem and confidence, deal with traumatic events, becoming able to socially interact.
Agoraphobia literally means "fear of the marketplace" in Greek and is a fear of being separated from a safe place or person. Usually accompanied by panic attacks, agoraphobia is most commonly triggered by separation, loss, relationship problems and new responsibilities. Treatment through Cognitive Behavioural strategies and hypnotherapy, disputing irrational fears and self-defeating thoughts while strengthening self-esteem and self-efficiency leads to significant improvements. Back
Lack of Confidence
Lacking in self-confidence, self-esteem and self-belief prevents a person from living their life to the full. Negative attitudes towards ourselves may have been learned through parental reinforcement or negative life events. By learning to adopt different attitudes and looking from a different perspective a person’s view of themselves can change, and have a positive effect on their life. Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy can bring out confident feelings on a deeper emotional level by internalising them and making them grow and become stronger and stronger. Back
Habits
People can get stuck in behavioural patterns by forming habits to deal with distressing or uncomfortable feelings. Habits such as smoking, nail biting, hair pulling, overeating, drinking, etc, can be formed as a distraction to escape uncomfortable feelings. In some cases, like drinking and overeating, it can be a way of self-medicate; to soothe, numb or suppress difficult and painful emotions. Hypnotherapy can help through various techniques to stop the unwanted habit or behaviour and replacing it with a more healthy, constructive and appropriate behaviour. It is also necessary to look at the emotions that are being suppressed or ignored and find ways of dealing with them to prevent the habit from reoccurring. Back
Obsessions & Compulsions
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder where the person has a fear or worry they try to manage through certain rituals such as; hand washing, checking and counting to reduce the anxiety (remain safe or prevent terrible events from happening). Intrusive disturbing thoughts or images are called obsessions and the rituals performed to block them or prevent them are called compulsions. Common obsessions are fear of germs, dirt, etc, imagining having harmed oneself or others, forbidden thoughts, urges, etc. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy works as an effective treatment for OCD and some people overcome the condition completely while others can learn to minimize it to a level where it does not interfere with life and acts only as insignificant "background noise". Back
Depression
Depression consists of feeling a sense of hopelessness, helplessness, sadness, lack of motivation, feeling negative about self and world around. There are different levels of depression (mild, moderate and severe) which can be diagnosed by a mental health professional. Normally it is the severity and duration of symptoms that determines what type of depression it is. However, many people feel sad, low, cry a lot and feel unable to cope without having clinical depression, but are clearly distressed and having depressing feelings. Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy can address depressive symptoms by turning negative thinking into realistic, helpful and positive thinking about self and the world around, engaging in constructive behavioural strategies, strengthening self-esteem and building confidence in a supportive environment. Back
Insomnia
There are different types of insomnia (not enough sleep or poor quality sleep); trouble falling asleep at night, waking up at different times during night with difficulty going back to sleep, early morning waking feeling tried. Insomnia can be part of a wider problem (such as stress or depression or a medical problem) or can be caused by poor "sleep hygiene" such as drinking a lot of caffeine or fizzy drinks, poor diet, lack of routine and bad sleeping environment. Its effects are feeling fatigued, irritable, lack of concentration, lack of motivation, etc. Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy can help by addressing wider emotional issues that may be causing the insomnia, practicing relaxation techniques and work on better sleep hygiene. Back
Pain Control
Hypnotherapy is very effective in relieving and controlling pain but must be used with caution. The cause of pain must already be known and have been diagnosed by a medical doctor in order to not mask the symptoms of an underlying serious problem. Once a diagnosis has been established it would be fine for hypnotherapy to proceed. There are a variety of situations where pain can be treated with hypnosis; post-operative pain, management of chronic pain, dental pain etc. Back
Personal Development
Personal development can help improve the areas of your life where you feel you are lacking somehow, maybe to become a better communicator with family members, becoming more enthusiastic about your work, or to become more effective dealing with certain situations? Whatever you feel you would like to improve about yourself and your life, hypnotherapy can help by installing new ideas on a deeper emotional level and identify what (if anything) is holding you back and how to overcome it. Hypnosis can also help with raising performance in sport or academic studies. Back
Weight Loss/Weight Management
If you have given up on diets and struggle with being overweight, hypnotherapy is an effective and permanent way of loosing weight and keeping it off. Hypnotherapy will not ask you to reply on will power to resist overeating, but will change perceptions about food and change eating habits on a deeper emotional level. Through hypnosis you can make yourself feel and think differently about food making it an easy choice to become healthy. Emotions are strongly linked to overeating so it is therefore essential to look at underlying feelings which can hold reasons for eating excessively. In some cases it may be low self-esteem or confidence, in other cases it can be sadness, grief fear or anger that makes a person overeat. Dealing with the underlying issues will ensure a permanent shift and change in eating patterns and therefore loose the weight and keep it off. Back
Stop Smoking
Smoking is an emotional addiction as well as the physical craving for nicotine, which is why it is necessary to address the emotional reasons for smoking as well as associations and habits which are formed around smoking. For example; if someone craves a cigarette while drinking coffee or alcohol, this is a mental association which can be changed or removed in hypnosis. By coming to an understanding of why a person feels the need to smoke, those needs can be replaced with more healthy and positive responses making it easier to kick the habit. Back
Self-hypnosis
By learning self-hypnosis you could have a valuable tool for life. By visualising and imagining the positive changes you would like making them a deep and lasting impression deep within your mind. Self-hypnosis will bring a sense of calm and serenity, making you feel more settled and happy. It can make you more focused and motivated with a new sense of energy and enthusiasm. For any hypnosis to be effective (including self-hypnosis) the person must want to engage in the process and imagine suggestions taking place. Back
