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.






Are You An Angry Person?



CD-Cover

What truly annoys you? Maybe it’s your boss, maybe it’s your kids, maybe its the unfair way the government is giving with one hand and taking with the other or maybe it’s because the thought of another working day, travelling in a stuffy car and being cut up by some thoughtless driver; the one that totally ignores the fact that no indication was given and so you had to make an emergency manoeuvre to avoid collision. Whether it’s down to a thoughtless spouse or irritating neighbour, anger is an emotion which plagues us all and unfortunately all too often.

We can control it right? Well, that depends. If you have grown up knowing that you can express how you feel and have felt listened to then the chances are you have developed socially adept skills at dealing with your anger. But what if you didn’t have that opportunity and your frustration and feeling misunderstood wasn’t given its proper forum for expression? What happens then? Often, people will grow up with unresolved issues, around powerful and often unresolved memories and experiences, which left them unhappy in some way. This inevitably leads to frustrations and feelings of insecurity, which then have to manifest in some way. The subconscious mind is very good at recording a particular emotion and connecting with that emotion many years later through some very innocent trigger. Once triggered, then anger and rage can be unleashed. In times of great emotional stress, people can exhibit uncharacteristic and often extreme behaviours which can be fuelled by alcohol and accelerate uncontrollably with dire consequences.

As our roads get busier, road rage is now becoming a very serious problem for many commuters. Where does this problem come from? Again it originates from a feeling of not having control over a situation, in this case the actions of other self-serving drivers. The trigger is latent stress, which develops through our everyday experiences with negative occurrences. The husband, who has an argument with his wife or teenage daughter, leaves home without releasing any of the tension. He arrives at work and struggles with a project which needs to meet a deadline and he knows his reputation depends on it. In the afternoon the printer needed for the all important project deadline is malfunctioning and even though our imaginary man is able to resolve the problem he has layered even more tension until eventually he is driving home knowing that he has a further one hour commute stuck in traffic and the inevitable selfish driver behind is flashing his lights to get past and the cork finally pops!

Angry people are only human but this damaging emotion can destroy relationships, get people disciplined or sacked and if unchecked will eventually lead to all kinds of health issues including stress, low self esteem and even depression. So are there ways to deal with this problem. Clearly there are otherwise we would have all killed each other by now.

Learning to create a natural release valve, which you build in to your everyday routine, is the best way to keep the latent stress to a minimum and these practices can be as simple as fifteen minutes of dedicated relaxation time every day. In fact it is now generally accepted that with diligent meditation practices people live longer, are healthier and cope better especially with damaging emotions like anger. If you would like to find out about effective tools for dealing with anger then you can find information here http://www.mind-sync.co.uk




Colour spinning

Colour Spinning – Keeping your emotions under control

One of the most paralysing and worrying emotions people face throughout their careers is that of fear borne out of self doubt about a particular situation and its potential outcome. What NLP teaches us is that often this ‘fear’ is nothing more than an illusion, a construct of our own imaginations, and since this is the case, there is no better ally in dealing with this type of emotion than the imagination itself. The self talk that constantly unsettles and deceives us before we have even faced a particular situation can be damaging and unnecessary but herein lies the beauty of NLP in its simplicity to change perspective and quickly neutralise these negative feelings.

With the following technique you must first establish mentally what the problem you might be facing is. Then with your eyes closed try to imagine experiencing that situation as clearly as your imagination will allow. Try to ‘see’ ‘hear’ and ‘feel’ and bring as much clarity to the imagined situation as you can. Where do you experience this feeling most? Usually people will identify the anxiety of a perceived challenge as starting somewhere below their solar plexus. Now, can you identify which way that feeling moves? In other words, it is rare that when you feel anxiety that it will simply habituate in one place, and it is far more likely that the feeling will rotate somehow and usually that feeling will be like a churning upward feeling. If this is the case try to imagine this ‘churning’ feeling as a colour. The colour itself could be any colour you wish, although contrast will be important for this exercise so try to choose a colour you associate with ‘negative’. Now with your eyes closed and using the breathing techniques which are explained in this book, imagine pulling this churning , rotating colour ring out of your stomach, flipping it over and giving it another more ‘positive’ colour. As you do this, make sure you spin the new colour ring in the opposite direction so that instead of it churning upwards and round it will instead be perceived as spinning in the opposite direction. Finally bring the new rotating ring back inside your chest and breathe more calmly.

If you have done this as explained then you should notice a dramatic reduction in anxiety. Of course reading about the process and doing the exercise are very different so make sure you actually give the exercise a go. At cumbria hypnosis we show you how to use similar stratgies to self empower and negate unnecessary paralyzing emotion.


Eliminating Fear


A variation on same theme as colour spinning is called the ‘swish’ method. With this technique you learn to literally ‘swish’ the problem from a negative one into a more positive one. This technique is slightly more complex because it requires you to go through a number of stages to reach the final desired effect but by following the guidance carefully you should learn to master this powerful approach quickly and easily.

So let’s begin. Firstly it is important to find a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed for at least fifteen to twenty minutes. Make sure your mobile phone is switched to silent and ensure you have a comfortable place to sit. I always say ‘sit’ because with this kind of exercise there is the danger that once you enter a reflective, meditative state you could easily fall asleep if you happen to be lying down. Now consider a situation where you were strong and sure of yourself. This need not be related to a current memory, just any scenario where you felt good about yourself, your achievements and your emotions were more than positive. Now try to imagine this as vividly as you possibly can. See colours, hear sounds and feel your emotions as if you were there right now.

Next try imagining pushing that scene off to the right. Use your imagination and push the picture you just created off to the right. In front of you create a new picture. This one should be the current challenging situation you are facing. ‘See’ this scene with equal clarity as the previous one. Now here is the trick – You must now imagine this image getting gradually smaller, duller, and with less colour. The image must gradually fade and become smaller and smaller. At same time take the positive experience which is waiting over to the right and literally ‘swish’ it very quickly right in front of the fading image and make it completely mask and overshadow the negative experience. Make the image bright, colourful and bigger than before. Now immerse yourself once more in this positive experience. What you should find is that your immediate challenge is now reduced. Repeat this process as many times as you need to.