What exactly is hypnosis?

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My name is David Faratian. I am a consultant hypnotherapist practising at the Cumbria Hypnosis Mindfulness Clinic and in this article, I would like to explore the fascinating psychology of hypnosis and hypnotherapy and attempt to unravel some of the more common myths. Hypnosis has become well-known thanks to popular acts where people are prompted to perform unusual or ridiculous actions, but, it has also been clinically proven to provide medical and therapeutic benefits, most notably in the reduction of pain and anxiety. It has even been suggested that hypnosis can reduce the symptoms of dementia. When you hear the word hypnotist, what comes to mind?

If you’re like many people, the word may conjure up images of a sinister stage-villain who brings about a hypnotic state by swinging a pocket watch back and forth. While hypnosis is often described as a sleep-like trance state, it is better expressed as a state characterised by focused attention, heightened suggestibility, and vivid fantasies. People in a hypnotic state often seem sleepy and zoned out, but in reality, they are in a state of hyper-awareness. In psychology, hypnosis is sometimes referred to as hypnotherapy and has been used for a number of purposes including the reduction and treatment of pain. Hypnosis is usually performed by a trained therapist who utilises visualisation and verbal repetition to induce a hypnotic state.

  So what can hypnotherapy help with? Often hypnotherapy is seen as the magic bullet for dealing with smoking cessation and weight loss. While this is partially true, what people may not always realise is that hypnosis has applications far more far-reaching and effective for a wide range of limiting beliefs, behaviours and emotions, including generalised anxiety disorders, OCD, ADHD, IBS, PTSD, Panic attacks, and even some forms of chronic pain. Often hypnotherapy can be a powerful ally for conventional medical treatments as it empowers self-belief and the ability for the client to heal themselves. Essentially the hypnotherapist acts as a bridge between the issue being dealt with and the part within capable of learning and making changes, namely the subconscious mind. If this brief introduction has piqued your interest and you would like to learn more about how this approach may offer a solution to a long-standing issue which has not been effectively dealt with yet, then find out more by reading the rest of the information on this website.




Hypnotherapy Gives Cancer Survivor Her Life Back


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When Melissa Fox was recovering from breast cancer she turned to CancerCare in Barrow for help, not anticipating that it would completely change her life in more ways than one.

Melissa, who lives in Barrow, said the hypnotherapy she received to help her cope with the fact she’d had cancer also helped her to deal with a severe alcohol problem caused by personal problems.
 

A care worker, mum and grandmother, Melissa, said CancerCare had given her a second chance at life.
 

She said hypnotherapist, David Faratian, had saved her from self-destruction and helped her to realise that there was a lot to live for.
 
 

Melissa, who has been married twice and now lives around the corner from her daughter in Barrow, has recently had the ‘all clear’ from breast cancer following her treatment five years ago.
 

She said: “I felt fine even during my treatment for breast cancer but I had a lot of anxiety afterwards and, due to some other personal problems, I was drinking too much.
 

“I had heard about CancerCare and when I spoke to the team they suggested that hypnotherapy might help.”
 

CancerCare’s Barrow base is at the Trinity Church Centre on Warwick Street near Abbey Road. Free hypnotherapy, counselling, aromatherapy massage and other therapies are available to people affected by cancer.
 

Melissa, who was 14 years old when she moved from Guisborough in Yorkshire to Barrow with her family, said she didn’t know what to expect from the hypnotherapy sessions.
 

She said: “It’s not like what you see on TV where the hypnotherapist makes you do different things.
 

“David taught me various methods for coping with how I was feeling and behaving.
 

“He helped me to see that I didn’t need to drink to escape from my negative thoughts.

“He also gave me a recording to listen to and help me relax. I’m usually quite hyper but he showed me ways to relax. I saw him six times at his premises at Roa Island and he was very professional.

 
 

“We visualised situations where I might have had a drink and he helped me to react differently. Being under hypnosis and visualising situations felt very real.
 

“Another thing he helped me to realise was that I had recovered from cancer so why would I want to kill myself with drink? It was amazing. It really worked.
 

“I stopped wanting a drink. Now I can go for days without drinking and if I do it’s just a social drink.
 

“Being treated by David has made such a difference to my life. I’m not addicted to alcohol now and I don’t want to go back down that road again.”
 

Melissa attended Alfred Barrow Girls’ School and then Dowdales School in Dalton before leaving to work in various local factories including Blair’s in Dalton and Lister’s in Barrow.
 
 

She has a daughter called Hannah who lives close by in Barrow. She has three grandchildren named Dakota, 10, Amaya, 5, and Emelise, 2. 
 

“I see them lots,” said Melissa. “I love them to bits.”
 

Melissa has a sister called Andrea and two brothers, Martin and Barry. She also had a brother called Anthony who has passed away.
 

Melissa is surprised and delighted with the success of her hypnotherapy treatment and said she would recommend it to others.
 

She added: “Life is so much better now.
 
 

“I don’t think I would still be here if it wasn’t for David and the hypnotherapy. He’s wonderful!”
 

David Faratian said: “It has been a privilege working with Melissa and helping her to reach a point in her life where she feels more empowered.
 
 
“Hypnotherapy has a very good track record in helping people to deal with any limiting belief, behaviour or emotion they were not born with.
 
 
To find out if you would be able to have hypnotherapy through CancerCare please email tct@cancercare.org.uk or call 01524 381 820 and ask for the Therapy CoordinationTeam.






Jedi Mind Power


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In my practice, I come across wonderful people all the time who have unfortunately lost the ability to believe in themselves. Through unconscious coaching, anyone can train their unconscious minds to install new 'software' which can empower self-belief and confidence. You see hypnosis can achieve something quite special once it is fully understood. Our minds create emotions through the 'pictures' we create with our imaginations. Once a person 'sees' themselves failing in a certain situation then the mind obliges by creating the symptoms often associated with failing; fast heartbeat, dizziness, fast breathing. These symptoms are clearly symptomatic of adrenalin release but what is often underestimated is the power of unconscious thought to re-rehearse a different outcome under trance so that the person can access that more resourceful part of their system to experience a process without the same unpleasant physical feelings. Often it is not the fear which is the issue but the feeling of the fear. Someone who is scared of dentists isn't actually scared of dentists, more they are scared of the feeling of being scared. Once this is processed almost any phobia can be reprocessed and eliminated.

Introducing Lorraine. Lorraine approached me recently with an unusual request. She needed to perform a fire and ice walk for charity to raise money for cancer care. Naturally, the anxiety of walking on hot coals and then across broken glass was stimulating her 'panic centre', and the prospect of completing the task was overwhelming. Through a number of hypnotic techniques, Lorraine was quickly able to re-imagine the outcome of the task in hand with a clear sense of inner calm and control and this was how she was able to successfully complete the walk and raise the money for her cause. The power of human determination is referenced through the thoughts we generate and how those thoughts relate to our model of the world. Change the thought you change the emotion; change the emotion and literally, anything becomes possible…..

Here is the link for the event http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/walney/Video-Fire-walking-Walney-mum-braves-the-flames-for-cancer-charity-80b832f2-511a-47ec-b6e9-100b734099e8-ds

…..and Lorraine's recent letter following the event


Hi David,
I hope this finds you well, sorry it’s taken so long to put together! I just wanted to thank you for your considerable achievement in helping me to organise, control & face several huge challenges to enable & empower me to walk over glass & over hot embers!!! The fire walk was 20ft long, the embers were 1,236 degrees Fahrenheit!!! Because of your help I raised £150.00 for Cancer Care!
I know I couldn’t have done this without your hypnosis skills, I was a serious sceptic about hypnosis & how it would work for me, but you convinced me that I could do anything if I put my mind to it!! For this I owe you a considerable debt of gratitude! I really would recommend you & your services to anyone who wants to achieve their unachievable goals. I work with people who have disabilities helping to them to find work, achieve their goals / dreams so it was really refreshing to have someone instil this self-belief in me & help me to rearrange my everyday thinking, from the chaotic to a more organised / compartmentalised way of thinking & that my friend is some feat!!
Very kind regards & all good blessings be with you
Lorraine Buckley xx

To find out more about how hypnosis can help you with any limiting belief, behaviour or emotion, contact us directly through this website or by clicking on the link
highlighted here.



Exercising Mindfulness While Driving

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So why would you choose to practice mindfulness while driving?

There are numerous reasons why being mindful while driving can be incredibly beneficial to a daily commuter. First of all through being more 'present' while driving and not having your mind elsewhere you can better learn to enhance your focus rather than reduce it. Many road accidents tend to result from people driving without due care and attention because, for one reason or another, their minds are more focused on the day ahead rather than the road ahead. Apart from making driving safer, mindful driving can also ease the stress associated with commuting so that you can arrive at your destination more energised, refreshed and focused, rather than frustrated, irritable and unproductive.

Let's try a short exercise. Next time you are driving try switching off your phone, or at least make sure its silent or placed where it can't distract you. Avoid eating and just for this exercise, as a kind of experiment, switch off any background music or radio so that you can give your full attention to the exercise. Now as a first step, give your full attention to what's going on around you. Notice everything from the cars, trucks, bikes in front to any you can see with the use of your side and rear view mirrors. Notice your speed, if you know intuitively that you are going faster than the limit try slowing down. Remember this is just an experiment to teach your subconscious more mindful living. With me still? Great let's continue….

Back to driving within the speed limit. Too often we are in a hurry to get somewhere even though it's only an illusion born out of our 'go go go' society. You are more likely to reduce stress by driving slower if you know as a rule you may not always honour the code. Moreover you will also be setting a good example to all drivers. Just making this very small change can help you switch out of the normal habitual state of mind, which for most people is part of the subconscious norm which is responsible for more stress in life than we actually need. Next instead of focusing on your radio or background music which actually can make you more mindless than mindful, focus more on your breathing as you drive. Take a deep breath in through your nose and as you exhale, breathe slowly out through your mouth while paying attention to how calm that out breath makes your entire body feel. Repeat this over and over and as with any new habit you will begin to realise that not only is your mind feeling more clear but you are more readily able to concentrate on your driving almost without effort. Instead of getting lost in trains of thought, you can feel more present and aware. At first your mind may try to wander, so simply keep bringing your attention back to your breathing each and every time this happens until it becomes trained to 'behave'.

While driving and as you keep the majority of your attention on your driving, turn a percentage toward your bodily sensations. Scan for any tension and release that tension if you can. Be aware of any feelings of ligament or muscle tension in your head, shoulders, neck, back, torso, hips, legs, calves and feet and simply choose to let those areas go limp loose and relaxed. If you can't then just be aware of whatever comes and accept that awareness. This is what we refer to as mindfulness. Next you can open your attention to your surroundings again. If you approach a red light, try to slow down and see the red light as an opportunity to pause rather than something you should resist. The red light is there to remind you to pause. While you pause take some more mindful breaths maybe focus on the colour of the sky or shape of the clouds or if you are in the UK more likely listen to sound of the rain. With practice you can end up looking forward to the red light instead of dreading it, seeing it as a chance to breathe and refocus.

Even traffic jams can become a mindful experience. Realising that the traffic is already there you can learn through mindfulness to accept not resist. Fighting the traffic, constantly trying to win the lane battle, ultimately makes no difference. Instead let your mindful attitude encourage smiling and again just focusing on the breaths. Use this time to glance at other drivers and mentally wish them well. This may sound an unsual practice, but as you do this you will notice your attitude automatically becoming more friendly toward other drivers. Even when someone cuts you up while driving use the same technique to wish them well and hope they will be happy. You will find that swearing at people or feeling angry has only one outcome to enhance your overall stress and it's too late anyway so just let it go and return your thoughts to your breathing.

Mindfulness can help the journey be far more enjoyable and can make the entire experience on average sixty to eighty percent safer and more focused. As you drive in this mindful way, feeling more present, value your driving and arrive at your destination in a far more positive and balanced frame of mind.

Here at the Cumbria Hypnosis Mindfulness clinic we teach several strategies as well as mindfulness to anyone wishing to overcome any limiting belief, behaviour or emotion. If you would like to learn more then please click here


Wishing you a balanced and positive day

David Faratian (NLP Practitioner and Clinical Hypnotherapist)


Spider season is approaching!


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Practically every year as summer waves goodbye and autumn re introduces itself with a hint of cooling and wetter weather, I can get my calendar out and circle some key dates. What dates you ask? The dates in question are during September and reflect the start of spider season and dates which invariably result in people calling up a service like mine and seeking help for this uninvited ‘terror’. Spiders suddenly seem to be crawling out of the woodwork and terrifying the nations many sufferers. The truth is of course that spiders don’t just appear in autumn and are always present throughout the year but just like anything we give focus to, we are more likely to notice them if we choose to and certainly more because we believe autumn is the worst time for spiders. Unfortunately when we have had a wet summer the chance of noticing these little visitors is more likely but you know that already so what’s the point of my blog?

Spider phobia or as you already know it, arachnophobia, affects 55% of women and 18% of men in the UK. It is a real phobia in the sense that it causes all the symptoms of panic and triggers the freeze, flight and fight response in the sufferer which is hard wired for impending danger and a need to defend oneself from attack. Truth is of course that in our country the number of truly ‘dangerous’ spiders amounts to 0.01 % and even then none of those breeds are found in the typical house spider which is what we are talking about here. When it comes to be scared of spiders our irrational minds, also known as our limbic response builds a picture of the spider being a much bigger entity than it actually is, whether that’s the body, movement, legs, we tend to experience a perception of a creature that belongs more in a 60s horror film rather than reflecting the wholly non threatening insect it actually is. So why is a tiny insect that’s only function is to hide and survive and an insect that certainly has no mission for human domination such a perceived problem. Let's not fool ourselves, spiders are not very attractive and certainly wouldn't win any beauty pageants but they are also not the monster our minds tell us they are. Spider phobia, like most phobias is nine times out of ten born out the unfortunate association we make with them at moment in time, usually childhood when a spider may have caught our eye and caused a spontaneous moment of panic which resulted in the release of the threat hormones cortisol and adrenalin. Now as adults our conscious brains may have forgotten that experience, but since that point when we may have been too young and defenceless to rationalise the startled feelings, we therefore get good at over generalising every future experience which involves an encounter with any spider and those old feelings just reinforce the already negative learning and so the phobia around spiders is born.

But it doesn’t end there. Once a person declares themselves a spider phobic, they begin projecting into the future, creating an anticipation of how they are likely to feel when encountering the next spider even though they haven’t even seen one. In other words, they anticipate anxiety before even having any justification for this belief. Then again, why would they feel any other way. Every single experience in spiders has never been a positive one and they have had no way of rationalising or neutralising these thoughts to create a more positive point of reference and so the phobia seems incurable and debilitating. The end result is more often than not an over anxious person, especially around this time of year, who is constantly on guard and worried. When, God forbid, a person actually encounters a spider then they have to get someone else to remove it or they never enter that room again. This of course is all too common for anyone who identifies with this unfortunate limiting belief.

So can it be dealt with. Can you be spider phobia free, and be cured? The simple answer without any doubt whatsoever is YES. That’s where I come in. Here at the Cumbria Hypnosis Clinic we recognise the fact that spider phobia is a construct of the emotional sub conscious brain. That being the case it is also true that is has been programmed through experience and memory to believe spiders are a threat, therefore the emotional, irrational brain can also be re-programmed through a number of psychological processes to recognise new and more empowering feelings around the encounter, whether in reality or just imagined, with a spider. The sub conscious, responsible for the majority of our independent, thoughts, feelings and emotions can be imprinted with a new set of reference points which teach the individual suffering with the phobia to recognise the thought of a spider is simply not resulting in any anxious feelings, no sense of impending doom and there can even be a sense of feeling more and more relaxed around the very thought of the spider and experience which practically wipes clear the old connection and replaces it with thoughts of confidence and being able to function.

"Since seeing David I have been free from my fear around spiders for more than four years. My husband mentioned it was that time of year again the other day and I hadn't even realised nor was I bothered. Anyone thinking about this, all I can say is give it a go, it worked for me" Jane S (Windermere Cumbria)

What I teach you is set of practical, no nonsense skills, which don’t require any effort, to help develop a sense of independence and confidence around thoughts to do with spiders. This process is highly effective and permanent for more than 85% of the population. If you have been a sufferer or you are currently reading this and want to know more, then please click this link for more information and opportunity to have a free phone consultation. As with every treatment offered by Cumbria Hypnosis I offer the guarantee that if I don’t feel you qualify as one of the 85% then you won’t pay a single penny and so there is absolutely no risk for you if you are not completely sure this is is for you. Remember that any limiting belief you weren’t born with can be changed and removed so why continue suffering…..?


I look forward to being able to explain how I can help you.

Regards

David Faratian (NLP Practitioner and Clinical Hypnotherapist)


Eliminating fear of heights with hypnosis

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Jim from Windermere in Cumbria approached me very recently for his fear of heights. Like so many people with phobias, Jim had an irrational understanding of his problem. Having not been born with this problem, Jim had spent a good part of his life with no issue whatsoever. In fact part of his life had been spent as a fireman and so heights were a natural part of his reality and his experience. Unfortunately this was all to end once he encountered a one off experience which locked itself in as a limiting belief around heights. The detail of the trauma is not as significant as the new reality it created. From that point onwards Jim was able to activate his reticula memory so that every height was generalised as a problem. Through the reframing of his experience with Hypnotherapy Jim was able to not only neutralise and own the feeling rather than run away from it but he was also able to neutralise the spontaneous release of adrenaline associated with the phobia. You can listen to, and watch Jim
talk about his experience with hypnotherapy when dealing with his fear of heights. In the interview you can find out about how Jim overcame his fear of heights once and for all and watch him as he demonstrates his new-found confidence.


Some recent photos sent by Jim demonstrating his new found confidence. These photos were taken from the top of Barnard castle. Thank you to Jim for agreeing to share his experience.


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If you are struggling with a particular phobia and would like to know how Hypnotherapy may be able to help then click on the following link for more information.





Anger in the workplace

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Recently one of my male clients who we will refer to as Graham from Windermere in Cumbria approached the Cumbria hypnosis habit change clinic for help with his anger. Anger management refers to the techniques that people can use to control their feelings of extreme emotion and how they use these techniques to avoid situations which can trigger anger in certain situations and with certain people.

Unfortunately for Graham he was being challenged by his frustration around the behaviour of some of his work colleagues. The problem with anger management in the workplace is that negative behaviours can very quickly threaten not only important relationships but also can threaten the very livelihood of the person suffering with the anger issues. Generally speaking, problems with anger in the workplace are dealt with directly through the employer by sending the individual concerned to an anger management class. Through these classes, and with most anger management therapy, the individual is trained how to identify the triggers, and at the same time given strategies to neutralise the trigger. Indeed hypnotherapy and the coaching that we offer here at the cumbria hypnosis clinic can successfully teach an individual how to deal with these unproductive feelings, and to control the reactions at a subconscious level which can lead to more healthy responses rather than reactions. With the exclusive methods which we teach here at the clinic you are taught to rid yourself of the in a cause of unwanted anger. This method is powerful and the complete system and can be used to get the most successful outcome out of any situation involving anger. Hypnosis and hypnotherapy can give the tools necessary so that you can express your emotions in a healthier and safer way thereby avoiding unnecessary conflict and damaging outcomes whether in personal relationships, in work scenarios, or simply in terms of the self inflicted stress that anger can cause.

Since treatment, Graham has felt empowered so that his anger no longer feels like an automatic response over which he has no control. In his own words;

“At times all I could see was red and from that point onwards anything could happen. It really scared me. David has told me how there is no point resisting the emotion and through his strategies I have learnt to bring the emotion immediately under my control before it has chance to take over. What’s great about this therapy is that I don’t need to really try to calm down now it’s just the way I am. Since seeing David I am sleeping better and feel I have far more energy to channel into my life.”

With our clinic helping people across Cumbria, including Windermere with flexible appointment hours, this service may have and answer to your problem with anger. Follow this link for more information about the service OR click here to request your
free 20 minute consultation.



Mind Over Weight

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Recently one of my clients, Claire from Ulverston in Cumbria came to see me for her years of struggle with her attempts to lose weight. She had literally tried everything she could think of and like so many people had spent hundreds of pounds searching for her holy grail. She had attempted numerous diets, traditional and a few unconventional ones which she had found on Facebook and the internet but each and every attempt had resulted in the same outcome which was short term weight loss and a sense of optimism followed very quickly by an abject sense of feeling dismayed and disheartened: “I felt like a complete failure and just went straight back to eating again, putting all the weight back on again” Claire is not alone, however. Her story, like 90% of people worldwide is one of failure to lose weight with diets long term. Why is it so hard? The answer is pretty simple really. The body was not designed to be starved. When you put your body into a famine all you end up doing is stressing the system and the body kicks in to recovery mode. What this means is that once you starve yourself the body makes you feel more hungry, more irritable and more focused on the foods you shouldn’t be thinking about rather than anything else, which then compels you to grab the first opportunity to eat as much as possible thereby undoing all of the work you may have already put in. The body will keep this up until the balance is restored and the ‘emergency’ of no food is over.

And yet the dieting industry which is worth billions of dollars happily pedals the false dream of the perfect body as long as you keep trying again and again. The perfect business model for the big name weight loss companies, which I don’t even have to mention, but not necessarily the perfect solution for those they sell to. Diets are artificial, they are boring and they are unsustainable long term. This is our starting point in this discussion. So is it a lost cause? Is the idea of controlling your weight the impossible dream? Well, yes and no. You see if you are always comparing yourself to the airbrushed models in Vogue or Cosmopolitan then you are setting yourself an unrealistic challenge to become something which doesn’t even really exist. If however you can condition yourself to be happy with a balanced and healthy body, where you are simply comfortable and happy in your own skin then very quickly your resistance around what you think you should and shouldn’t eat can become less important. If you can accept and understand that food is merely a function of your life and NOT the be all and end all then you can relax more and live with less stress about your body.

So if you don’t achieve weight loss through dieting then how do you do it? The clients I work with learn to control three key areas of their lives, which once dealt with help reshape their entire philosophy around food so that they cannot only control the weight but more importantly can learn to lose weight naturally without sacrificing anything in their lives. Claire told me “ This was like nothing I had ever done in the past, because at no point did I feel like I was having to give up anything or having to use will power”. What Claire had identified was the one main difference between experiences with diets and the gastric band hypnosis process which I teach. In diets you have to choose what you can and cannot eat. With gastric band hypnotherapy, using a variety of cutting edge mental strategies you do not need any effort or willpower because our starting point is that food will always be around you therefore why fight it? You can try denying yourself but you will always want the thing you are trying to avoid so just stop resisting and realise your environment will not change BUT you can! Once food doesn’t tempt you in quite the same way, your behaviour based on your emotions will start changing. The autopilot of the body also known as the subconscious can readily train your ability to know when you are full and can be trained to feel full quicker. Claire’s experience illustrates this: “ I had always known that gastric band operations existed, but I didn’t want to put my body through dangerous surgery and I certainly wasn’t willing to spend £8000. Once I was shown how to achieve similar results using hypnosis, I was amazed at how quickly I was feeling full and how much more food was left on my plate” Once you can have more subconscious awareness of feeling full quicker with less food then through sustained automatic balanced eating, the body begins to more efficiently process burning off existing fat and preserving less new fat. The metabolism can, in effect, return to normal and function more efficiently, doing its job properly after having maybe spent years speeding up and slowing down according to any yo-yo dieting attempts.


“I would recommend this service (Cumbria Hypnosis Habit Change Clinic) to anyone who is struggling with diets. It Takes all the effort out of losing weight, gives you confidence and enables you to live your life to fullest without sacrificing anything.” Louise (Barrow-in-Furness)

The mind and body working in balance can result in dramatic and long lasting weight loss, once you have been able to engage with the creative part of brain. The reason why this approach works, is simply because it does not rely on resisting your environment and yourself, instead it is about reframing your perceptions of food and how much you actually need to eat to have the energy you need to get from one mealtime to the next without running back to the fridge an hour later. If you want to find out more then visit our dedicated page HERE

Cumbria Hypnosis serves Cumbria, South Lakes including Ulverston, Kendal and Lancaster with flexible daytime and evening clinics to suit you. If you would like to have a no obligation 20 minute consultation where I will share exactly how this process can help you then you can contact me by clicking this link

Wishing you well

David Faratian











How Medical Hypnosis Is Giving Hope

By David Faratian

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For many people hypnosis and hypnotherapy belong in the realm of voodoo and hocus-pocus. As more studies are conducted on brainwaves and how altered states can be induced through guided suggestions, there is more and more agreement within the scientific community that positive physiological benefits can be experienced through carefully structured hypnotherapy sessions. More interestingly, studies have found that children and animals who naturally exhibit the brainwave frequencies typically associated with Hypnosis are more prone to Hypnotherapy treatment and are more likely to deal with problems experienced during childhood such as bedwetting and nightmares and lack of self confidence through bullying etc the most exciting area, yet to be explored in depth, is the area of learning and the brains ability to accelerate memory. It is now generally agreed that Hypnosis and self-diagnosis induce the natural states of learning associated with alpha and theta brainwave frequencies. Once these states can be conditioned and triggered at will the ability to retain information long term is dramatically increased.

But studies have gone further and proven that through carefully guided imagery people suffering from pain and in particular burn victims have greatly increased their speed of recovery by visualising cooling images around any affected areas. This would indicate that Hypnosis has a neuro psychoneuroimmunological effect on the individual and is a very versatile alternative therapy which has a scope far beyond simple habit management like losing weight and stopping smoking. This has very exciting implications indeed. As there is a greater understanding of consciousness and in particular the innate intelligence we all understand as the subconscious, Hypnosis opens the gateway to self-healing on a much larger scale than we may at first have appreciated.



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



The power of the human mind


Please picture an iceberg and now imagine that the iceberg is submerged and all that you can see is the very top of it. The rest of that huge bulk lies deep below the water. Well, if you were now to imagine that the bit that you can see above the water approximately 10% represents the part of your mind that you use during an entire lifetime, while the bit below that huge roughly 90% is the part of your brain that never gets used, then you’ll understand how we are not only underutilising our very own ‘supercomputer’ but just consider the potential of the mind which many people miss out on. In the words of author James Allen “ You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you”

So what if you could harness that potential no matter how old or young and literally master your mind to achieve some quite amazing things, which may at first seem impossible and certainly untreatable from a conventional medical point of view. Would that be of interest?

In the blog that now follows, over coming weeks and months, I hope to be able to share with you just how powerful the mind really is and what you can personally achieve once you are open to the possibilities for change. My intention is not to baffle you with science nor do I wish to make any extreme claims about the subject matter to follow. What I do hope is to de-mystify the myth about all things to do with the mind, mind control and hypnosis. The media has understandably stirred a subconscious interest in mind power, from psychological illusionists like Derren Brown to hypnotherapists like Paul McKenna and even more recently from magicians like Dynamo, that enigmatic blend of science and the paranormal is intuitively appealing to even the most skeptical. It is far more interesting to be challenged by the unexplainable than to simply have that experience handed to your understanding on a silver platter; it’s just how we are built.


I hope that the reader finds the information interesting, educational and certainly helpful in what it may open up in terms of opportunities for personal development. I will begin as from next week exploring how the mind can be used for faster and more effective learning by discussing the fascinating subject of accelerated learning and memory, so whether you are an emerging student or a more mature learner looking to maximize your brain’s potential you may just wish to ‘tune in’ next time. Let the journey into mastering your mind begin.





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.


Mind Over Cancer

Research has shown that harbouring negative emotions in the mind and body is one of the major causes of psychosomatic illnesses today. It is possible that past trauma, anger, resentment, sadness, regret, guilt and other negative emotions which  have not been resolved are embedded deep in our subconscious memories, causing an imbalance in the body which could manifest as illness and chronic pain.

This program allows you to bring would bring about a  new refreshing, holistic approach to healing through your mind. Each session is dealt with empathy, compassion, caring and understanding.  These sessions are known to cause a positive shift within you and can turn your health around dramatically!

Note: Through various studies,  research has shown that hypnotherapy can have tremendous benefits to those requiring hospital care and especially for patients before and after surgery. The healing times for those who undergo some form of relaxation and hypnotherapy before surgery is minimised, patients feel more in control and less stressed and this assists in overall healing of the body.

Try this short exercise
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