What if I don't know what the problem is?
Though many people worry that this question seems silly, it is a very common question from people considering treatments such as psychotherapy. If you were to speak to a counsellor, a psychotherapist or a hypnotherapist, they would all tell you that they often see people who do not know what the problem is.
A client might be a little depressed, upset or under the weather and be unable to pinpoint what is troubling them. But they know they are not happy with their life. A good therapist will be able to ask you questions, or use relaxation techniques such as hypnotherapy, to help you find the specifics yourself. If you are still concerned, try asking yourself the following questions before you visit a therapist for your first session:
- if you were briefly to describe your life, how would you describe it?
- how do these feelings affect your life and in particular, your home / work / social life?
- what thoughts stay with you? Occasionally, small niggles stay with us throughout our life and hold us back, preventing us from meeting our true potential.
- how long have you felt like this? Do you remember when it started and what was happening in your life at that time?
- what are you proud of in your life and what makes you feel good? This question is important as it is necessary to remember the positive aspects as well the negative.
By thinking about these questions first, it might help you and your therapist find the root of your issue more quickly - and give you something to start with. Whether you would prefer psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, CBT or any other treatment might depend on your preference - or you can seek advice on which would be best for you.
22/12/2008 | Posted in Psychotherapy, Hypnotherapy, CBT,
How can hypnotherapy help with physical problems?
To understand how hypnosis and hypnotherapy can help people with physical issues or problems it is important first to consider how our emotions affect us. Every single person on this planet experiences emotions and has what is called a mind-body connection. Emotions come from our brain and our brain is active in creating our emotions. If the brain is working and active, then so is our nervous system so, when you feel an emotion, the nervous system is affected in some way. It follows, therefore, that the rest of your physical body is also affected as the nervous system controls our body.
Some emotions, like laughter and joy, have a positive effect on our body. Others, like jealousy and anger, have a negative effect. These emotions can positively and negatively affect our immune system and other aspects of our physical health. Think about when you get stressed; how does your body react? Some people experience skin problems like acne, others experience a tension in the neck or back - these are physical reactions to an emotion. Although the body is quite resilient, it can only take so much.
As hypnotherapy works on the subconscious level and on our emotions, it can help to negate the negative effects of our emotions on the body and help us with physical problems caused, or exacerbated by, our mind and emotions. A hypnotherapist simply helps you to help yourself.
12/12/2008 | Posted in Hypnotherapy,
CBT effective for recurrent depression
According to recent research from the Netherlands, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is most effective when it is used for recurrent depression, especially on those who have suffered four or more bouts of depression. The research has been published in this month’s publication of the British Journal of Psychiatry and suggests that GPs could look at patients' past history of depression to identify the ones who would benefit most from CBT treatment.
The Netherlands study took 208 patients suffering from depression whose ages ranged from 18 to 70 and were receiving treatment from their GPs. Some continued with their usual GP treatment, some were given psycho-education and others were given CBT combined with psycho-education. All patients were continually monitored over a two year period. For those with three or less periods of depression, all three methods appeared to work equally as well as each other. However, for those with four or more previous bouts of depression, CBT plus psycho-education proved the most effective.
The researcher is quoted as saying:
“We found that in patients with three or fewer prior episodes the three treatments perform equally well, whereas in patients with four or more episodes, CBT plus psycho-education performs clinically better than usual care. This effect is assumed to be attributable to the CBT component of CBT plus psycho-education, since psycho-education did not differ from usual care (although a favourable interaction between psycho-education and CBT cannot be ruled out completely).”
11/12/2008 | Posted in CBT,
Quit smoking like Ben Affleck did
Ben Affleck quit smoking using hypnotherapy. The Pearl Harbour star told Oprah Winfrey on her show earlier this year that he had quit smoking after 20 years during which he smoked a minimum of one pack a day and had tried several times to give up. He said:
"I thought I would give it up at 25 and then 30, but that came and went."
Now, with his millions of dollars, there is no doubt that he had all the chances to quit smoking - and he had tried other methods. However, if was his childhood friend Matt Damon who persuaded him to try the same hypnotherapist he had used. To date, Ben Affleck has not smoked a cigarette for more than two years. Matt Damon had also been smoking for a long time – 16 years in fact – and after three hypnosis sessions, he quit without a glance back, as he told the Jay Leno show:
"I should have done it years ago. It's amazing, I didn't even want cigarettes anymore".These two are not the only celebrities to have quit smoking using hypnotherapy, despite having millions in the bank to be able to afford any treatment they want. Ellen Degeneres, Drew Barrymore, Charlize Theron, Winona Ryder and Samuel L Jackson also stopped smoking using hypnosis. Ellen Degeneres even quit smoking live on her show as she had a impromptu session with a guest hypnotherapist. No matter how rich or poor you are, quitting smoking is difficult - but help is available if you really want it.
10/12/2008 | Posted in Psychotherapy,
Freud’s contribution to hypnotherapy
There is much debate about who invented hypnosis and how it was discovered. Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939) is known for having invented psychoanalysis. He is generally credited with introducing the idea of dual consciousness to the western world i.e. the idea that we have both a conscious and subconscious mind and this underlying thought is the basis of hypnosis. Hence he made a great contribution to the development of hypnosis and subsequently hypnotherapy, the use of hypnosis for therapeutic benefit.
Nowadays, hypnotherapy is becoming more and more mainstream and many hypnotherapists do work for the NHS with referrals from GPs for patients who need to quit smoking or lose weight, although this is still fairly rare albeit often successful. Hypnotherapy is mainly thought of as a way of curing phobias and quitting smoking, but it can also be used for many other emotional and physical issues. If you are unsure if hypnosis can help you, make an enquiry with a hypnotherapist at a reputable clinic and a good hypnotherapist will be happy to answer any questions that you might have.
09/12/2008 | Posted in Hypnotherapy,
Counselling and hypnotherapy
When a hypnotherapist undergoes training, a lot of what they learn comes from a wide range of counselling methods and techniques. Naturally, these skills include learning to listen properly and, in the case of hypnotherapy, listening well helps the hypnotherapist to understand what you want to gain from the hypnotherapist session, or sessions. A good hypnotherapist will form a good rapport with their client, build a working relationship where need be in the case of longer term hypnotherapy and be empathetic to your needs.
Gone are the old days of authoritarian hypnosis. Nowadays hypnotherapists have adapted to a more modern role and part of their role includes counselling methods. However, this does not mean that you should expect a hypnotherapist to use specific counselling methods as there is a wide range of methods available to them and a qualified hypnotherapist will be trained and qualified to help you feel comfortable, able to talk and enable you to feel confident about the hypnotherapy work you do to help you overcome your problem or issue. For many issues, hypnosis is a very quick technique and often just one or two sessions will be required but your hypnotherapist will be able to advise you on this.
04/12/2008 | Posted in Counselling, Hypnotherapy,
Mediation settles Channel 4 dispute over Richard & Judy phone-in dispute
Through a mediation process, Channel 4 and the phoneline operator Eckoh yesterday reached an agreement and dropped legal action against each other in the Richard & Judy phone-in dispute.
A spokesperson for Eckoh said: "Eckoh announces that they and Channel 4 decided to resolve their differences through mediation rather than through the courts. Following a successful mediation held on December 1, both parties have reached an agreement and all matters relating to this dispute are now settled”.
Channel 4 has said that Eckoh breached their contract in an effort to recover the £1 million fine it received from Ofcom when viewers were not able to have a chance of winning the Richard & Judy You Say We Pay competition on the show last year. Eckoh had denied any liability and issued a counter claim against Channel 4. No other details have been disclosed about the agreement reached via mediation between the two parties. Mediation can be used as a process to reach a mutual agreement between any two parties, whether that is companies, as in this case, or individuals, as is usual in family mediation.
03/12/2008 | Posted in Mediation,
