Combating bulimia with CBT
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is generally thought of as being one of the most successful psychotherapies for bulimia, or bulimia nervosa. Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder where the sufferer will often binge on extremes of food and then force themselves to throw it up to prevent themselves from gaining weight. Many sufferers report a feeling of loss of control whilst bingeing and the purging is often their way of gaining back that control.
CBT, especially when combined with hypnosis, is a very effective and quick therapy. When dealing with bulimia, CBT aims to interrupt the old thinking processes associated with the issue, such as the preoccupation with food or weight, the 'all or nothing' thought process and the low self esteem that generally comes with bulimia. It also aims to interrupt the 'binge-purge' cycle.
Many therapists will ask their patients to keep a food diary and give feedback on the meal plans, triggers of thought processes, etc. CBT and hypnosis are used to challenge these old patterns. Around 50 per cent of bulimics are able to stop the binge-purge cycle using CBT. From the remaining 50 per cent, many show partial improvement and only a small minority do not respond. Sometimes, bulimia is a symptom of a food-obsessed family background so occasionally, family therapy is also recommended to decrease the chance of a relapse.
26/06/2008 | Posted in CBT, Hypnotherapy, Psychotherapy,
How hypnotherapy can help insomnia
When you are having trouble sleeping, it can affect all areas of your life. You feel tired, lethargic, can get run down and become ill, feel ill-tempered and emotional and take it out on your family, friends and work colleagues. Hypnotherapy is often a great help in curing insomnia, especially when combined with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
One common theme, usually present with those who regularly suffer from insomnia, is that they are thinkers and over-think or over-analyse situations. Hypnotherapy can help to break the over-thinking and old sleeping pattern. A good therapist will also teach you strategies to help reduce over-thinking and learn to let go. If you are suffering from insomnia or having difficulty sleeping, why not try hypnotherapy?
24/06/2008 | Posted in CBT, Hypnotherapy,
A virtual gastric band to lose weight
In the last year or so, publicity about the fitting of a gastric band around your stomach to help you lose weight has heightened and many people have undergone the procedure, despite its £7,000 plus price tag. Now imagine that if you were overweight and hypnotised, you could wake up convinced you had had the procedures and could experience all the sensations of the gastric band, including the steady weight loss without actually having had the surgery.
For one British-run clinic in southern Spain, they have been finetuning hypnotherapy combined with cognitive behavioural therapy to do just that. The patient undergoes six relaxing and pleasant sessions over a two week period, including one deep hypnotherapy session where they have the gastric band virtually-fitted. Just like when you have a real gastric band fitted, the patients even re-visit the clinic over the ensuing months to adjust the virtual gastric band to suit the weight loss rate agreed.
The use of hypnotherapy and CBT has been publicised widely as ideal therapies to combine, each underpins the other, working in conjunction with each other for some amazingly effective results in all sorts of cases. Even the BBC has run several documentaries on the use of the two therapies. Indeed, the medical profession has now come round to accept the idea of the mind-body link, and it may well be the answer to our global obesity issue.
In the case of the virtual gastric band, if nothing else, the client saves the £7,000 fee, the hospitalisation and surgery, no risks of MRSA, anasthetic or DVT (deep vein thrombosis) and more. As hypnotherapy grows in popularity and becomes more widely accepted, because people now feel it is not taboo to talk about it, we may well be seeing a real increase in acceptance from the medical profession.
23/06/2008 | Posted in Hypnotherapy, CBT,
Hypnotherapy cures gambling addiction
A local newspaper in Huddersfield, reported this week that hypnotherapy cured a compulsive gambler of his addiction, against all the odds. Gambler Tony Mays, aged 38, has quit his gambling habits and sold his Village Bakery business in Marsden, to move to France for a new life with his wife Zoe. Mr Mays said it took just three hypnotherapy sessions to cure him completely. After the third session, he said:
“I knew instantly that I would never bet again. I couldn’t even bring myself to buy a lottery ticket”.Mr Mays said he started gambling, at the age of 13, in the arcades whilst living in Blackpool. He continued:
“I’d probably known since the age of 20 that I had a problem, which I tried to hide. It wasn’t the money that was a problem – I didn’t get into debt or put my career or business at risk – it was the amount of time it took up. I felt guilty that Zoe was always waiting around for me and I felt tired all the time. I must have spent around 30 hours a week in the bookies. It was compulsive to go every day.”When his mother died from cancer one year ago, Mr Mays decided to change. During his three hynotherapy sessions Mr Mays also learned to self-hypnotise and claims it has also helped him to get fit and lose weight.
“Over a year on, my former gambling colleagues still can’t believe the change. When we went back to Blackpool I had absolutely no desire to gamble, I just wanted to tell all the lads playing the machines to get treatment".
21/06/2008 | Posted in Hypnotherapy,
The effectiveness of hypnotherapy in smoking cessation
Earlier this year, the results of more than 600 individual studies on more than 72,000 people were combined to get an overall success rate from several methods of smoking cessation. On average, each one had a success rate of about 19 per cent. As you might expect, the highest success rate was among the group of people with serious heart problems, with a 36 per cent success rate - although even that was a disappointingly low rate.
Across the board, however, the most successful treatment was hypnotherapy. Patients were given suggestions whilst in a relaxed hypnotic trance and the success rate was 30 per cent.
Next was combination therapy with a success rate of 29 per cent. More than one therapy, such as exercise and breathing methods or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) combined with hypnosis, was used. Old fashioned methods, such as having stale cigarette smoke blown in your face, was surprisingly successful at 25 per cent. Acupuncture followed with 24 per cent. GP advice was the least successful. Some people were successful with just sheer willpower - at six per cent. Self-help books or magazines came in at nine per cent and nicotine gum at 10 per cent.
Hypnotherapy can be very effective when giving up smoking and many people are surprised at the level of success that can be achieved in just one session. According to the British Society of Medical & Dental Hypnosis, the latest hypnosis techniques have been up to 60 per cent successful from just one session.
However, for hypnotherapy to work on anything, you must want it to work and want it enough. For example, if you really love smoking and you are only going along to hypnosis because your partner asked you to, then it is not as likely to work.
20/06/2008 | Posted in CBT, Hypnotherapy,
Hypnotherapy and weight loss
Even if you don't believe that hypnotherapy can help you to lose weight by itself, there is no doubt that many people find it difficult to stick to a diet or exercise plan. This is where hypnosis can help. It can help to retrain your mind to increase your motivation, make that motivation feel more real for you and keep it in your mind.
Hypnotherapy can help you to think like a leaner person and develop new habits as well as discard old ones. This does not, however, make it the easy option and you should be wary of wild and exaggerated claims that it is some sort of magic. It is a shame that there are not more scientific, properly monitored studies into hypnosis and its effect on weight loss. Mott (1982) said:
"although hypnosis is sometimes referred to as a method of treatment, it is more accurate to regard hypnosis as a facilitator of a number of different treatment methods".Previous studies have shown that hypnotherapy works best when combined with a behavioural weight management program and works best when the hypnosis is tailored to the individual rather than just a group programme, which is why many people prefer to visit a hypnotherapist rather than use a CD recording. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) helps to identify problematic behaviours and retrain and adopt new behaviours. If you are interested in how hypnotherapy can help you to lose weight, ask for details.
19/06/2008 | Posted in Hypnotherapy, CBT,
Obesity in 2010
In recent years, obesity has become a favourite topic in the news, with many articles and much publicity on the damage it can do to our bodies, our nation and our children.
A government report published earlier this year predicted that, by 2010, more than 12 million adults and a million children will be classed as obese. The problem is getting worse and we need to do something about it now.
Just going on a diet does not usually turn out to be a permanent solution for many people; to combat obesity requires a change in lifestyle. However, willpower and motivation play a huge factor.
Hypnotherapy is often used for weight loss and obesity so hypnotherapists are likely to see an even larger increase in the number of clients wanting hypnosis. Over-eating is an emotional need or want, rather than a physical one, so it makes sense to tackle the problem emotionally.
Many people associate eating with a comfort or habit or they overeat when they experience emotional turmoil of some kind, or a regular emotion such as boredom or upset. For this reason, other therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) are ideal as this therapy focuses upon habits and behaviour and works to replace them with more positive habits.
Many people like to find a hypnotherapist who is able to combine the best techniques from more than one therapy to suit the individual. For example, CBT can be combined with hypnotherapy and has proved very effective.
17/06/2008 | Posted in CBT, Hypnotherapy,
Are we handling depression incorrectly?
An article in the Daily Mail last week talked about how using the wrong drugs could actually be causing depression rather than helping it. There has been some concern in the media recently that family doctors diagnose depression too easily - for example when we feel tired and find it hard to get out of bed in the morning.
According to a new book by Professor Jane Plant, a London University College scientist, called Beating Stress, Anxiety and Depression, many of the two million people in the UK who take antidepressants are actually misdiagnosed.
"A study by an American psychiatrist found that more than 10 per cent of patients diagnosed with mental illness are actually suffering from an underlying physical condition, such as a heart murmur or a mineral deficiency such as calcium or magnesium that causes depression-like symptoms," says Professor Plant.
Many believe that, within the NHS, there is too much emphasis on a one size fits all approach and feel that other methods should be taken into consideration, such as using alternatives where possible: counselling, psychotherapy and other forms of stress management.
For example, many people suffering from anxiety react well to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) as this looks at their existing patterns of behaviours and triggers and trains them to react and think differently, so they can avoid anxiety at different situations. CBT is often combined with relaxation therapies, such as hypnotherapy, to make it even more effective. It's also a relatively quick therapy and there is no need for drugs.
However, even the alternative treatments should be considered for individual cases. For example, CBT would not be as helpful for someone with post-natal depression as this is considered a hormonal issue and is best treated by support, counselling or psychotherapy where needed. We live in a nation where we are sometimes too hasty to turn to drugs, our doctors are overworked and alternative treatments and therapies are often still overlooked by many.
16/06/2008 | Posted in Psychotherapy, Hypnotherapy, Counselling, CBT,
Hypnotherapy for achievement in sport
When you take part in any physical activity or sport, many people start to find reasons for failing before they've even set out. Your mental state is an important factor in anything that you do, and that includes sport or athletics. Yet, it is still one of the most neglected areas in sports training.
Is it really possible that hypnotherapy can be used to help train your mind to help you achieve your physical goals?
We need to learn to use our minds in a positive way and we tend to get what we focus on. We need to learn to expect success rather than failure and this makes a key difference in anything we do. Hypnotherapy can help you to change your focus and your approach, to make you feel more confident, set realistic goals, reduce anxiety and maintain a positive attitude.
Hypnotherapy has been used in sports therapy for many decades and is still little known. Famous sports stars have used hypnotherapy: for example, Tiger Woods had hypnotherapy for his golf. Many of them, however, prefer to keep their use of hypnotherapy quiet because of the myths and misconceptions about hypnosis.
Hypnotherapy is a highly effective method of improving your mental attitude and focus. Like anything else, and just as it is in sport,practice and preparation improves performance. When times are tough, when you're feeling mentally or physically exhausted, your hypnotherapy sessions will kick in. You will be able to shake off discouragement and anxiety and focus on the matter in hand. Concentration and technique will be easier to find. A hypnotherapy session for sports enhancement can be customised to the individual and, when combined with CBT techniques, it can be even more effective.
13/06/2008 | Posted in Hypnotherapy, CBT,
Cognitive behavioural therapy
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, otherwise known as CBT, is a form of psychotherapy most effective in a face to face consultation with a therapist. It is a form of counselling based upon individual assumptions, beliefs and behaviours and modifying those by developing new behaviour. The technique is easily adaptable to individual clients by identifying key areas, associated feelings and thoughts. It is commonly used in conjunction with relaxation methods and distraction techniques.
For this reason, it is an ideal therapy to combine with something like hypnotherapy. By doing this, the client gets the advantages of both therapies. Hypnotherapy, when combined with cognitive behavioural therapy, is incredibly effective and many clients feel the benefit after as little as just one single session. The use of hypnotherapy and CBT separately have both been shown to work very well with children and adolescents as well. CBT is commonly used for anxiety disorders, mood problems, trauma and post traumatic stress disorder. Cognitive behavioural therapy can also be used as a stand alone therapy if necessary.
11/06/2008 | Posted in Hypnotherapy, CBT,
Hypnotherapy cured bedwetting
This weekend, the Times told the story of one boy's experience with bedwetting and how it was cured using hypnotherapy. The boy, aged nine, grew up with a normal background but was still wetting the bed at the age of seven. The problem was causing him embarrassment and making him withdrawn, at school and socially, as happens with many young children.
Using hypnosis, the boy was cured within three months after years of suffering and many different treatments.
Bedwetting, also known as nocturnal enuresis, is very common in children, especially in boys under seven years old. Children are particularly receptive to hypnotherapy because they are still used to using their imaginations. To them, guided imagery can be a little like storytime.
When looking for a hypnotherapist, be sure to use someone who has experience of working with children. Most hypnotherapists offer a free initial consultation for you to assess whether you and your child feel comfortable with the hypnotherapist, and for you to ask questions about the process and its suitability for your child.
09/06/2008 | Posted in Hypnotherapy,
Top five hypnotherapy myths
The publicity of hypnosis has been poorly presented over the years and as a result many people have misconceptions about hypnosis and confuse hypnosis with hypnotherapy.
Hypnosis is the state of relaxation achieved. Hypnotherapy is the use of hypnosis for therapeutic benefit.
Many people feel apprehensive when they go for their first hypnotherapy appointment because they aren't sure what to expect. Here is a list of five common myths about hypnotherapy:
- The hypnotist can make you do anything. False. Hypnotherapy relies on you being willing and a reputable hypnotherapist would not want to make you do anything you did not want to do.
- You are asleep or unconscious. False. You will not be asleep or unconscious. In fact, you are only relaxed and will hear everything that is said.
- You won't be able to open your eyes. False. You can open your eyes at any time you want to.
- It is dangerous. False. Hypnosis is a safe, controlled method of relaxation and therapy, and a safe way for you to access your subconscious mind.
- It is guaranteed. False. Hypnosis is not magic and, although it has a very high success rate and works quickly, like anything in life - and every form of therapy - it is not 100 per cent guaranteed.
07/06/2008 | Posted in Hypnotherapy,
Omagh victims would benefit from psychotherapy
Yesterday, one of the UK's top psychiatrists told the Belfast High Court that the families of the victims of the Omagh tragedy had received inappropriate treatment. This is week six of the trial and Dr Nicholas Cooling, a psychotherapist and psychiatrist of more than 25 years, suggested to the court that, had the right treatment been available, many of these families would have been able to move on.
Dr Cooling said that many of them suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and chronic depression and the counselling that they had received had not been beneficial. Dr Cooling recommended that therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy with psychotherapy would have been much better than the counselling they had received.
"Unfortunately the help available was not effective. None of these people had any effective psychotherapy intervention," he told the court.Psychotherapy can be extremely effective when dealing with deep issues, in particular where distress is being caused from past situations including traumas.
06/06/2008 | Posted in CBT, Psychotherapy,
