Top tips for stress management
Everywhere we look at the moment, people are feeling the strain of everyday life. It might be family troubles, pressures at work or something completely different. But more and more therapists are seeing clients for anxiety or stress-related problems.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and hypnotherapy are both useful when it comes to handling stress. But here are a few tips to help you handle stress:
- a healthy lifestyle: there are not many of us who really have the time to fit in hours of exercise every week, but to adopt a healthier lifestyle means making small changes to our diet and our exercise levels, as well as getting enough sleep. This helps our bodies to cope with stress.
- avoid taking on any more: if you are feeling anxious or stressed, try to avoid taking on any more. All of us wish to please and do not want to let anyone down. However, this can only add to your stress so learn to say no without offending or upsetting anyone.
- take time out: it is important to find a little time to relax, even if it is only 10 minutes to chill with a cup of hot tea and a magazine. If you can, find time to meet up with friends for a cuppa; having a break will mean you are more productive afterwards and make you feel better. Laughing also helps boost your immune system, helping you cope with stress and anxiety
These are just a few general tips to help you. A therapist will be able to help you spot recurring patterns of behaviour and responses, helping you to prioritise things, look at your situation from a different point of view and learn how to cope.
27/10/2008 | Posted in Psychotherapy, Hypnotherapy, CBT,
Couples therapy
Couples therapy is usually viewed as being completely different from psychotherapy, because it is the relationship that is being focused upon, rather than the individual. However, the individuals within the couple cannot be overlooked. Psychology is often seen as a medical treatment, being used when somebody has a problem and so they are sick and need assistance. However, psychology should not be viewed purely as a medical system, because psychology deals with both problems and changes.
Couples counselling or couples therapy focuses on relationship troubles between two individuals, which inevitably involves both individual problems and relationship issues. For instance, when a couple argue constantly, then individually, they will be feeling anxious, depressed or angry, or a combination of these. This sort of behaviour can often be traced back to unconscious family issues. The process of couples counselling can a combination of counselling, psychology and mediation, making it particularly effective. With couples counselling, the therapist will help the couple pick out the problems in the relationship, help them to decide how they need to change and work towards making these changes. The therapist is helping the couple, and not either individual. Changes could include the interaction within the relationship, personal problems, communication, sharing responsibilities and choosing life goals.
25/10/2008 | Posted in Mediation, Psychotherapy,
Helping children through a relationship breakdown
Earlier this month, The Sun newspaper wrote about the importance of children when parents are having personal relationship troubles. At times like these, children can be scarred, not only in terms of their memories as they get older but they can also carry these problems into adulthood. It can damage them and help prevent them from forming proper relationships with other family members, friends and even from finding the right sort of relationship with partners in the future.
When you are experiencing personal problems, you often feel low in confidence, tired – both physically and emotionally, and the last thing you might feel you can cope with is the additional pressure of coping with your children’s needs. However, how you handle your children now can affect the rest of their lives.
There are many ways that counselling or mediation can help, even with just a few simple and straightforward tips:
- Do not pretend that nothing is wrong. Tell them that you are not getting on but be sure to emphasise that it is you both love them (so long as that is true).
- Re-iterate constantly that it is not their fault.
- Ask how they feel.
- Tell the school what is going on.
- Do not blame your partner.
Family or partner counselling or mediation is not there necessarily to try to keep a failed relationship going, but it can also help you negotiate your way through the hurt to make necessary arrangements for dealing with your children and helping them through it too.
23/10/2008 | Posted in Counselling, Mediation,
Advice to find the right therapist for you
Yesterday we wrote about the importance of the client’s role in therapy and their rapport with their therapist. This view is emphasised in a new book by Professor Mick Cooper, of the University of Strathclyde, called Essential Research Findings in Counselling and Psychotherapy: The Facts are Friendly. His work is also supported by a group of colleagues including Barry Duncan, a highly regarded American psychologist. In 2004, they stated that:
"clients, not therapists, make therapy work".
Professor Cooper’s advice to those who are considering visiting a therapist is summarised below:
- ask therapists for any thoughts about why you may be facing your difficulties and what they believe may be able to help you. If your own thoughts radically conflict, then you might find it difficult to establish a good rapport;
- consider a therapist to help you concentrate on your own strengths. For instance, if you believe you are good at understanding the reasons behind your own behaviour, then choose a therapist who can help you develop these skills rather than one who prefers to focus on emotions or on the behaviour itself;
- be sure that you work with a therapist who you like and who makes you feel respected. A good working relationship is an important factor in therapy, whether that is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) or psychology.
After all, the best indicator of the outcome of your treatment is how much you can actively involve yourself and this is more likely with a good working relationship.
22/10/2008 | Posted in Psychotherapy, Counselling, CBT,
The importance of the client and therapist relationship
A new review of research, launched last week in Telford at the Annual Conference of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy, challenges the idea that it is the therapist who plays the most important part in influencing treatment results. Professor Mick Cooper, from the University of Strathclyde, has written a book, Essential Research Findings in Counselling and Psychotherapy: The Facts are Friendly, which states that the most important factor is ... a motivated client.
Another indicator, according to Professor Cooper, is the relationship and rapport between the client and their therapist.
The government has recently committed £170 million over the next three years, in its Improving Access to Psychological Therapies initiative, which will be used on treatments including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Professor Cooper, of Strathclyde's Faculty of Education, said:
"Many clients will benefit from CBT but there is a danger in putting too much emphasis on the type of therapy that a therapist provides, rather than the therapist's ability to relate to his or her client in caring and understanding ways, and the needs and preferences of individual clients. Rather than moving towards a therapeutic 'monoculture', we need to be able to provide people with a range of therapies and therapists, so that they can choose the one that best suits them and build on their particular strengths".
21/10/2008 | Posted in CBT, Psychotherapy,
Psychotherapy for seasonal affective disorder
There are many people who dread this time of year. It is when people start to feel the effects of Season Affective Disorder (SAD). Symptoms include feeling depressed, hopeless, anxious, as though you have no energy, oversleeping, losing interest in otherwise favourite activities, weight gain and difficulty concentrating.
They only apply during the autumn and winter and tend to fade during warmer, sunny days.
A doctor can advise if your own symptoms are actually related to SAD and they might run tests to rule out other possibilities. However, there is no test to diagnose SAD.
For those who do suffer from SAD, the most effective treatment is an increased exposure to sunlight and many people purchase a light box, which imitates natural light. Another option that not everyone thinks of is psychotherapy or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). CBT can help to pick out and change the thought processes that contribute to the symptoms. It is all about spotting negative thought processes and helping us to replace them with more positive thoughts.
SAD is a long-term illness. However, psychotherapy and CBT can often help sufferers to cope with it.
17/10/2008 | Posted in CBT, Psychotherapy,
Fear of dentists – Part 2
Research has shown that a fear of dentists is surprisingly common. In fact, a survey conducted by the British Dental Association showed that approximately 25 per cent of the British population has a fear of dental procedures or the dentist. Sometimes, just the mention of a dentist, the sign of a dental practice or even just a simple advertisement for toothpaste is enough to give a person a feeling of anxiety. It is therefore not surprising that these people avoid the dentist so much that their oral health is suffering and they are desperately in need of a dentist. Often, a person will put up with much discomfort and real pain rather than visit the dentist, as their fear and reaction is so great they would rather struggle on.
When they come to a hypnotherapist, it is often as a last resort, because they have no alternative than to visit a dentist. Hypnotherapy can cure this dental fear in just one or two sessions - and completely release someone from their phobia.
A fear of dentists is a common condition, encountered by many hypnotherapists. Either a dentist or a doctor can refer someone to a hypnotherapist, so that they can have the dental treatment they need without their usual feelings of panic, anxiety or palpitations at the thought of, or when visiting, the dentist.
16/10/2008 | Posted in Hypnotherapy,
Fear of dentists – Part 1
The origin of a fear of dentists (or dental phobia) often lies in a person’s childhood or, at least, in a past experience. Occasionally, the fear has been inherited from a parent, as is often the case with phobias. Sometimes, it may even have been caused by an unhelpful comment from a dental nurse or dentist during a dental procedure. Many people associate a visit to the dentist with a feeling of vulnerability or a loss of control, however, often they can conquer these fears with the knowledge that advances in modern technology make their fear unjustified; the vision of healthy teeth and gums is compelling.
Hypnosis can be of great benefit in cases such as these. Nobody is born with a natural fear of dentists; they have learned this fear and reaction. This means it can be unlearned and we can re-program our reaction in just one or two sessions of hypnotherapy. Although sufferers of this phobia, like many other phobia sufferers, already know in their own mind that their fear is mainly irrational and unnecessary, they are not empowered to conquer this fear. This is where hypnosis can help to rid the person of their fear forever.
15/10/2008 | Posted in Hypnotherapy,
Post-surgical hypnotherapy
A common problem with surgery is the pain we feel afterwards. Recovering from surgery can be painful and take some time. Other side effects could include infection or bleeding.
A hypnotherapy study was published in the Anesthesa & Analgesia journal in 2002 to determine if hypnotherapy could play a role in handling the side effects from surgery. It talked about how past research had only focused on the pain element but this study looked at how the hypnotherapy was given and whether it could help with other side effects. It involved researchers analysing results from 20 studies, all of which were controlled and all of which used hypnosis with patients having surgery. It concluded that hypnotherapy was very effective at treating post-surgery side effects and, from all the 20 studies, those who received hypnosis had a better outcome after surgery than 89 per cent of those in the control group that did not have hypnotherapy.
The study concluded that hypnotherapy is beneficial when it comes to helping people deal with post-surgical side effects and their healing and the researchers involved in the study were said to
“strongly support the use of hypnosis with surgical patients”.
10/10/2008 | Posted in Hypnotherapy,
Can hypnotherapy improve my finances?
Hypnotherapy can do and help an awful lot of things, but directly improving your finances is not one of them. However, it can improve your finances indirectly.
How much money you earn and the way your finances are organised depends on things such as:
- how you approach money and feel or behave towards money
- how you feel about yourself, your self-image and how you deal with your self-image or try to improve it
- your ability to motivate yourself in order to learn new skills, try new things and develop beliefs
- your level of self-confidence
- the amount of control and self-belief you have and how you believe this affects your lif.
Each of these affects the others and the most important one is the final point. How much control you believe you have over your life will directly impact on what you do and your finances and hypnosis can be used to help you develop your self-belief and self-perception. For example, clients have improved their self-belief and used this to gain more job interviews and opportunities than they had ever done, or believed they could do, in the past. Their self-confidence has shone and they have been able to share this with others.
08/10/2008 | Posted in Hypnotherapy,
What is family mediation?
Family mediation is often done in the months following divorce or separation. It is a way of helping couples search for their own solutions to any disputes they may be experiencing. It is not some form of psychiatry, as some believe; it is simply being able to discuss issues in front of an impartial third party to help people find solutions they might have missed, without things getting too heated.
Family mediation is growing in popularity and is now used for many issues such as disputes between children and their parents, upset or angst over caring for seriously ill relatives or elderly relatives, children becoming homeless through family arguments, or even disputes over contact with an absent parent or grandparents.
So what happens during family mediation? Both parties explain their concerns to the other in front of a family mediator. The mediator is not on anybody's side but is there to help both parties. Occasionally, the mediator might suggest ways of solving the issue, to discuss the options, but will never tell either party what they should or shouldn't do. In addition, the mediator might provide information on legal matters but, again, will not and cannot give advice on what to do. So, if legal advice is needed, the mediator will recommend seeing a solicitor. In some instances, it is useful to see a solicitor when agreement is met, or between sessions, so that each party can be certain that whatever is agreed is fair to them.
07/10/2008 | Posted in Mediation,
