Remote Hypnotherapy. A new possibility?

Week 3 in lockdown and I just wanted to offer some thoughts on how this service is continuing to adjust and function during the current conditions, and I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised at how effective remote hypnotherapy has been. Since the government announced the lockdown measures I have treated all of my clients through a combination of WhatsApp and Skype and up to this point I have seen no evidence that this has been detrimental to the overall effectiveness of any of the treatment. People appear to respond very well to direct hypnosis through the screen. This would have been unthinkable a few years ago with slower internet speeds and poorer technology.

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This was also the week I was invited to speak about tips for better sleep and anxiety management on Radio Cumbria. During a 20-minutes interview with Radio Cumbria's Darren Milby I was able to share some of my tips for establishing better sleep rhythms and even though the technology did let me down half way through the interview with a bit of team effort we were able to get back on track and deliver the intended message. Full broadcast can be accessed here
Radio Cumbria Interview


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Nobody knows exactly where this current situation is leading and undoubtedly that is the main reason many people's mental health is being challenged right now. Whenever there is a void where there is a lack of clarity of how each day is going to turn out we fill it with our own stories and 'what if' scenarios. Those stories we tell ourselves are often less than helpful or productive and belie the fact that in the moment we find ourselves in more often than not there is no immediate danger even though everything around us from the media to social media and the echo chambers of our own fear would suggest otherwise. At the time of writing I do know that there is a tremendous spirit in all of us and a much stronger resilience than we might appreciate especially among the vast majority of people in our individual communities and neighbourhoods. We will come through the other side and my hope is we will be better people for it with more empathy and willingness to connect with the real world and not just virtually. Never has there been a better demonstration of our willingness to accept we are part of a collective whole than on Thursday nights at 8pm when everybody celebrates our appreciation for our key workers. In years to come we may remember 2-minutes every week when we stood outside with our neighbours and other strangers, looked at each other smiled and waved and then realised that may be for far too long we have taken our relationships for granted and ignored what we are all about.

Be safe, be well.

David

The power of words in hypnosis part 1

hypnotherapist


Today we are going to discuss an aspect of hypnosis that most people are probably unaware of. This is the area of language and how it is used in hypnotherapy. The reason why this is so important for the work we do as therapists is because all language is processed and created unconsciously. This is why therapy does not fit into a neat box and it can never be a case of one size fits all, especially when it comes to delivering language to the unconscious of our clients. Therapists who use scripts are merely indulging the 'junk food' of hypnosis. Before you write to me defending the script based approach, let me tell you I used to be exactly in the same school of thought. All that has now changed and here's why.

When we speak we don’t actually know how we produce language we just make various sounds and the words seem to just emerge from our mouths as sentences with meaning. Whenever I initiate a trance in any of my clients I don’t think about what I’m going to say in advance I just seem to ‘know’ what to say. I’m not following a teleprompter I’m not following a pre written script, I’m just saying what comes to mind and letting the ideas ‘flow’, In fact, unless I say something random during a particular train of thought like “butterfly” you will naturally make sense of everything I say to you, because as the subject you are also processing information unconsciously. There is a neuroscience and the neurology going on behind the scenes. This is why language when it comes to hypnotherapy and change work. If the therapist cannot deliver language which evokes a person's own unique representation of their world, then how can he hope to engage with their perceived reality and change it? Language is produced unconsciously, it’s comprehended unconsciously and it’s perceived unconsciously. Language is able to produce powerful hypnotic states, emotional states, deep feeling states. Language can cause us to create pictures in our minds. You only have to think about your favourite novel that you’ve ever read that stimulated your imagination. Why was that? Clearly the language that you were reading was being perceived through your brain as a set of emotional and visual associations and connections which brought the story to life. However, the way you perceive the story is very different from how someone else perceives it based on how they unconsciously process that language. All language is hypnotic, which is why there are certain words and phrases that carry more power than others. In my next blog I will talk about these in more depth.


David Faratian





Migraine Relief

Migraine-therapy


A migraine is a severe form of a headache. Many people suffer from migraines all around the world. Various triggers can produce the onset of a migraine. However, reducing the likelihood of a migraine occurring and getting rid of one once it occurs, can be challenging. Studies have been conducted showing that hypnotherapy can be quite beneficial to the migraine sufferer. In many studies, hypnosis has been shown to be more beneficial than medications.

Common triggers of migraines include hormonal changes, stress, food, changes in sleep patterns, medications, and changes in the surrounding environment. Symptoms of migraines vary from person to person, but many people report moderate to severe pain that pulsates, worsens with physical activity and interferes with day-to-day activity, nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light and/or sound, and sometimes experiencing auras. A migraine can last for 4 to 72 hours, but frequency varies greatly.

One study compared the effect of hypnotherapy versus the prescription medication prochlorperazine (Stemetil). The study consisted of 47 participants who reported feedback every month for a year. They reported number of attacks per month, severity of attacks, and complete remission. Results of the study showed that those who received hypnotherapy reported far fewer migraine attacks compared to those who received medication. Out of 23 participants who received hypnotherapy, 10 of them ceased to experience migraines. Out of the 24 participants who used medication, 3 of them ceased to experience migraines.

Another study reported the benefits of behavioural therapy. These approaches include relaxation, biofeedback, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and hypnosis. Hypnosis can help migraine sufferers avoid triggers such as controlling stress and avoiding certain foods.

Two hypnotherapy techniques used in treating migraines include the hand warming and glove anaesthesia. These techniques put migraine sufferers in control of their pain by helping them transfer warmth or numbness to their head where their head hurts. These techniques were shown to be more beneficial than simple relaxation exercises. This study concluded that medication is ineffective in treating chronic migraines and supports psychological treatment because there are no side effects.

These studies show that hypnotherapy and natural methods of treating migraine headaches are more effective than using medication. The fact that hypnosis has no side effects and many prescription medications have many side effects makes hypnotherapy a more natural and safe approach to treating migraines. In addition to no side effects, many studies have shown that the effects of hypnosis are more lasting and beneficial compared to the use of medication.

To get a free consultation and to find further information about treatment options
CLICK HERE



Hypnosis Effectively Treats Irritable Bowel Syndrome


By David Faratian (Clincal Hypnotherapist)

IBS

There is now growing evidence strongly suggesting a link between psychology and IBS treatment. Like so many other areas of medicine which eventually have to admit defeat, Irritable Bowel Syndrome is an area which normal medicines can only partially treat. New research indicates that hypnosis may be effective at relieving certain cases of IBS and indeed several independent scientific studies have linked "gut-directed" hypnosis to an easing of symptoms in some patients with IBS when other standard treatments have failed. In some cases there were noticeable improvements in some IBS patients receiving hypnosis. Out of a group of patients selected for being unresponsive to normal dietary and relaxation advice, over 40% of the group were able to see a decrease in their overall symptoms.

IBS patients suffer from repeated bouts of abdominal cramps and bloating, and alternate between constipation and diarrhoea. Through conventional treatment changes in diet, antidiarrheal medication and laxatives or fibre supplements for constipation can be sufficient to improve symptoms but where this isn’t the case psychological therapy like hypnosis may help train a spontaneous relaxation process which is driven through subconscious processes. With many irritable bowel cases, stress and over production of gastric acid can lead to many of the aforementioned symptoms. For this reason, hypnotherapy by its very nature is ideal for targeting any latent stress, which may be leading to over production of reflux acid or poor digestion. Reducing the amount of stress ,in effect, can help lower the frequency and severity of your IBS symptoms. Another way that hypnotherapy helps alleviate the symptoms is by changing the patient’s attitude and ability to handle the symptoms. Learning to relax is almost certainly a key strategy when it comes to dealing with conditions like IBS; other conditions include migraines and hypertension. If you wish to learn how to self hypnotise or develop ritual relaxation approaches you can gain access to a FREE course available on the HOME page of this website.

For more information about IBS treatment here at the Cumbria Hypnosis Clinic please
click here.






BBC Documentary Exposes How Diets Make you Fat!

Over the past few weeks the BBC have been running a documentary series called ‘The Men Who Made Us Thin’ which explores the history and origins of our modern day obsession with dieting, counting calories, exercise, slimming pills and weight loss. In the programme journalist Jacques Peretti traces why so many people have found themselves seduced by years of dieting propaganda despite the fact that the problem never really existed up until the mid 50s when, as a result of misinformed statistics which the American government commissioned, over half of America’s population were reclassified as overweight even though they weren’t at all. As Peretti explains “At the stroke of a pen normal healthy Americans had a weight problem” This redefinition of what might be termed ‘overweight’ was adopted by the medical establishments and even the government as a result the opportunity to ‘fix’ this problem developed, and of course, the result was that the dieting industry was born.

People who for no reason whatsoever were now ashamed of their bodies were turning in their millions toward solutions for this ‘problem’. People of all ages were now neurotic about their weight and wanted to do anything and everything to lose that weight as quickly as possible.

The promotion of shakes and systems which allowed you to monitor each and every calorie gave people the illusion that they had control over how much their bodies gained or lost weight. Very quickly these quick fix shakes which claimed to promote rapid weight loss were encouraging all kind of imitation brands to spring up for this invented weight problem.

Big business was about to cash in on the misery and depression and unhappiness of people, who up until that point in history, had been able to deal with their self image more realistically. In effect, the weight problems that even influences us today was invented, and the dieting industries were more than ready to offer the solution.

What followed however was shocking to say the least. Scientific studies began to show that there was an inverse relationship between dieting and weight loss. People who dramatically lost weight in the short term, actually caused the bodies natural metabolism to take action and protect it from any harm by conserving as much energy as possible, or in other words the metabolic rate of dieters slows down if starved or put into famine which causes it to actually gain weight.

The fact that Diets fail however was good news for the dieting industries, because they realised that as long as people were guaranteed to fail they would keep coming back to them time and time again for the solution and big business relies on repeat business.

Whether Slim Fast, Lipotrim, Rosemary Connoly, Weight Watchers, The Mars Bar Diet or Atkins, they all rely on the shame, depression and misery the overweight already feel about themselves, to stay in business. The pattern of behaviour this reliance on dieting products promotes is not only harmful but also dangerous. Through continuous dieting people are stressing the natural metabolic balance of the body and therefore long term negative health implications, through so called yo-yo dieting, are increased.

Surely the point with a diet is that you are trying to achieve a significant amount of weight loss, and more importantly, keep it off. The evidence however is that diets long term simply do not work. This evidence is borne out by the fact that statistically over a 5 year period only 18% of an original Weight Watchers control group had achieved any sustained weight loss the other 84% had not only regained any weight lost but also increased their weight. On average, therefore more people regain and gain weight following a diet than if they had adopted other outlooks.

Why am I even writing about this programme, why do I care so passionately about this? The reason is simple. I don’t like or agree with the fact that concerns about weight loss exist only because of an invention of data which suddenly shifted all future benchmarks of what is acceptable or unacceptable weight. This in turn created the fertile ground for greed and big business who never really cared about the misery and unhappiness of the people they were claiming to help. Essentially the dieting industry should have died years ago leaving people to heal and recognise that actually they are fine as they are. Unfortunately things have come too far now and thanks to the internet and media and fashion, the genie is well and truly out of the bottle and unlikely to ever be put back where it belongs. As long as people are constantly comparing themselves with unrealistic ideals, in magazines, in films, on TV, then diets and the unreachable dream weight are here to stay.

So what’s the alternative. To my mind it’s all about balance and moderation. For that you need a change in attitude and perception. Learning to be relaxed around food and have neither guilt or resistance toward our everyday fuel intake is what ultimately leads to a healthy balanced body. Dealing with our addictive thoughts around food without feeling stressed all the time reduces the perception of need . Once we can reconnect with the part of ourselves that knows intuitively what we need, no more, no less, then I believe that’s the most natural way to live. Let your body and mind guide you. This approach is possible for 85% of people. Once you unlock the sensible balanced subconscious which you have trusted to look after you so far then genuine, not invented weight loss is possible.



The Alternative Doctor

When people have problems where is the first place they turn? In most instances, if it can’t be dealt with through talking, it is either toward their doctor, their counsellor or their priest. With today’s technology most people will even ignore all the above and head straight for Dr.Google, that font of all knowledge and solutions. The internet can certainly provide many answers as can conventional medicine but these solutions usually involve medication, chemicals and sticking with what makes scientific sense, which may explain why alternative therapies rarely get a look in. How often do we type ‘how can I treat weight problems’ or ‘what helps with smoking addiction’ and get back a list of solutions which tend to leave out the many successful alternatives which have a proven track record but for some reason people don’t really know about, like homeopathy, reflexology, aromatherapy, nlp and of course hypnotherapy and hypnosis.

How many people really know that hypnotherapy can offer treatment for, and help with a full range of niche conditions including
Irritable Bowel Syndrome, migraines, sexual problems like impotence, premature ejaculation, vaginismus, insomnia, pain control, fears and phobias for flying, needles, heights, dentists, fear of horse riding, fear of childbirth to name but a few; general anxiety, addictions and habits like gambling, alcohol and sex, habit control for losing weight and smoking, solutions for relationship problems, anger management, improved self confidence, children’s problems like bed wetting, nightmares, bullying, and even relief from menopause symptoms, and developing better sports performance. The list is actually extensive and yet the fact that these complimentary remedies are ranked so low in search engines says a great deal about how narrow minded and conditioned we are as a society to be skeptical about anything that doesn’t always have a logical basis.

The truth is though, that alternative therapies like hypnotherapy are gaining more and more credibility from medical organisations like the British Medical Association even though the NHS (National Health Service), still appears to relegate hypnosis to the same category as trivial showmanship and voodoo. Fortunately though more and more general practitioners are welcoming alternatives for conditions like hypertension and
sleeping disorders because often the Doctor can only treat symptoms with a medical cause and in the case of primary or essential high blood pressure, in 90% of cases there simply is no medical cause and so hypnotherapy, meditation and relaxation strategies are regarded as the most sensible route. Insomnia, like hypertension can often have no visible medical solution because the symptoms are driven by latent stress and therefore a psychological alternative is needed.

Most conditions, which have a medical diagnosis are undoubtedly aggravated, at least in some respect, by psychological roots and the causes are more often than not given the title ‘stress’, so it certainly stands to reason that neuro-linguistic therapies come into their own when dealing with the vast majority of medical conditions.

Certain phobias, which for years were treated with several sessions of psychiatric interventions, can now be dealt with through rapid phobia NLP in just a handful of sessions and more importantly, the cure is permanent. NLP is also particularly effective for habit control and although weight loss and smoking are a given, the efficacy of NLP to deal with habits as niche as addiction to
alcohol or gambling, is hard to disprove. The reason is also logical, because despite medicine being able to dull or numb certain emotional triggers, which lead to the compulsions and obsessions of the habits mentioned, they rarely offer enough of a change in attitude or behavior, which could be seen as sustainable and visible in the long run. Tranquillizers and anti-depressants cannot take away the emotional attachment a gambler has for the momentary win or the person who exercises an unhealthy interest in porn because of the perceived high. NLP and hypnosis can however recondition the patterns of behavior by firstly teaching the person how to disconnect emotionally from any ‘buzz’ associated with habit and then helping them to develop recognition strategies for neutralizing the first signs of the old pattern.
In fact the exciting realization that alternative therapies can not only be effective for standard habit control and phobias, but can more directly affect the human immune system is opening up the debate about complimentary therapy even more. The relatively new study of psychoneuroimmunology has shown scientifically that there is a relationship between the mind and the human immune system. Encouraging the client to think about their immune system, and focus on what it can do for them, does have a beneficial effect. Guided visualisation and positive affirmations, while either meditating through self-hypnosis products, or being treated more directly in real time by a professional hypnotherapist can give the psychological edge a patient needs to deal more productively with conditions even as serious as cancer.
This clinic offers treatment for all the areas discussed whether you live in Cumbria, Barrow-in-Furness, Dalton-in-Furness, Ulverston, Kendal, Windermere, Whitehaven or you are looking for more indirect supportive measures for self-hypnosis through our full range of audio relaxation
self- hypnosis CDs and mp3s