Hypnotherapy and Counselling

HYPNOTHERAPY for good health

Pain Control

Hypnosis has been used successfully in the treatment of all kinds of painful conditions, including headaches, cancer, burns, surgical procedures, dental conditions, irritable bowel syndrome, and many other conditions. Whether the pain is as a result from surgery, injury, illness or disease, hypnosis can be of benefit.

People suffering from acute or chronic pain can get substantial pain relief from hypnosis.

To reduce the discomfort to a manageable level or even to eliminate it altogether is one of the most meaningful applications of clinical hypnosis which allows the person to become more comfortable and in control in the management of their own pain.

A person is capable of using his or her mind to change the perception of the discomfort and this ability is amplified with hypnosis. With training, you can learn the techniques for creating analgesia or anaesthesia. Using and practicing these skills can help increased management and relief from pain.

The fact that pain levels can be altered through hypnosis does not indicate that the person's suffering is psychogenic. Instead, it indicates that our experience of our bodies can be changed.

How clinical hypnosis can help

It is important to recognise that pain is a warning signal. It's the body's way of communicating that something has changed. Appropriate medical evaluation must be the first step before hypnosis is applied. Once pain has been diagnosed by a doctor then hypnotherapy can commence.

When we perceive pain, whether it be a painful emotional situation or a painful physical state, we tend to realise our expectation of pain. Therefore our perceptions of the discomfort and suffering are valuable in changing the pain sensations.

Physical Pain

Physical pain is only the interpretation of the sensations of touch, pressure, temperature and disturbance. The interpretation is also based on our past experiences. Since our unconscious mind created this pain signal, it can alter it.

This is achieved through hypnosis, creating anaesthesia in the hand or leg and transferring that feeling to the area of pain together with suggestions for the change of sensation of the symptom.

Where physiological pain is caused by stress or trauma, then the underlying psychosomatic cause is also dealt with by using therapeutic suggestions.

Psychological Pain

Psychological pain is caused by the how we think and what we think. To remove this pain, complete relaxation is achieved followed by therapeutic suggestions. Any initial seeding events and all associated events are desensitised.

What is pain?

Although pain is something we all experience at some stage in our lives, it can vary greatly from a minor experience to complete loss of independence. How we respond to the discomfort can be managed by hypnotherapy.Hypnosis has been well proven and documented to be an effective tool in the management of pain and pain perception.

Pain management is about changing what happens between reception and perception and hypnosis can bring about the perceptual and sensory changes to help alleviate the discomfort being experienced.

Psychological factors play a major role in the way an individual will tolerate, describe and cope with pain. It can often lead to anxiety and the two may become inseparable.

Psychological factors

Psychological factors that can influence our experience of pain (and lower the threshold) are:

Interpretation – how the pain is perceived
Fear
Tension
Low Mood – the person may be unhappy or depressed and worried about the pain and their lack of ability to control it. There can be frustration in the way that the pain limits them and the possibility of having no medical solution available to them.
Learning – past encounters with pain can influence how we respond to that pain in the future.
Thoughts – worries about what the pain represents – whether it means illness or injury – and the emotional effect it has on their lives
Belief – the future holds any further pain, losses or remoteness

What causes pain?

A series of peripheral nerves send messages through the nervous system to the brain to register an injury, for example. The brain then sends a down a danger signal to that area of the body in the way of pain so that we are prompted to take the necessary action.

When the message reaches the brain, it is divided into 2 components. The first component gives information such as to the location of the pain and its sensory quality. Is the pain sharp, throbbing, burning, stinging. The second component gives information as to how much the pain bothers the sufferer.

We have successfully helped lots of clients in the control of chronic pain. Back pain is responsible for a lot of absenteeism from work for example. We have devised a programme which will help you learn to cope with pain which is constant. The doctor says "you will have to live with it". Well with hypnotherapy you can cope better. This can help reduce the number of pills you have to take. Take back the control and feel so much better.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

We have successfully treated many clients suffering from IBS. This modern day disease is triggered by stress and anxiety. Having the disease also causes you stress and anxiety. You don't need us to tell you how debilitating this disease is. Irritable Bowel Syndrome can be easily controlled once you have learned self hypnosis. We teach self hypnosis to all of our clients. Pain and discomfort can be overwhelming. We teach pain control with hypnosis. Getting to the root cause of when why and how this began for you, we can deal with any issues which resulted in this disease, and then begin the process of getting your health and life back under control with this invaluable skill which you can also use to resolve many issues in your life.

IBS and hypnotherapy may seem a strange option, but it is an alternative therapy that is available to the Irritable Bowel Syndrome sufferer. Those with IBS often search for non-pharmaceutical ways to treat their IBS symptoms. Using Irritable Bowel Syndrome hypnotherapy to beat IBS and physical ailments is a method approved by the American Medical Association since 1958, and can be a safe and effective treatment to relieve the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Hypnotherapy and Irritable Bowel Syndrome is designed to help you change the way you perceive the illness, and help you create new ways to respond to symptoms. In fact, the medical field recognizes that hypnotherapy for IBS can be an effective way to treat and prevent pain, diarrhea, constipation, nausea, wind, and bloating. There have been several small studies comparing Irritable Bowel Syndrome hypnotherapy against medical treatments and also to placebo (medically inactive) IBS treatment. These have demonstrated some benefit in the short term, particularly with the symptoms of abdominal pain .

IBS hypnotherapy is a way of working with both the mind and body to achieve results. The individual is placed into a state of selective consciousness, during which he or she becomes aware of the inner workings of the body and stops noticing the distractions of the outside world. People who have undergone hypnosis report that they feel relaxed and comfortable and that the entire experience is pleasant. While the body and mind are relaxed, the brain is more open to suggestion, essentially opening the window between the conscious and subconscious mind. Hypnosis moves a patient into the same mental state that they experience while sleeping, without completely turning off the conscious mind. There are some people who are not susceptible to hypnosis, however most people will find that hypnosis can provide relief from a wide range of illnesses Researchers over the past fifteen years have found that using hypnosis to beat IBS may not be possible, but may reduce the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Most traditional therapy for IBS ranges from nothing at all to a prescription for sporadically effective anti-spasmodic medication, so the idea that hypnotherapy and Irritable Bowel Syndrome might be effective in reducing or eliminating symptoms is good news to patients.

The benefit of hypnotherapy for IBS is its ability to decrease the effects of stress on the body. While no one is sure what the cause of IBS is, high stress levels can impact your physical well being even if you feel otherwise healthy. Living with IBS can lead to tension, anxiety and depression, which can compromise your immune system and further aggravate your symptoms. IBS hypnotherapy relieves stress by placing the patient into a deeply relaxed state, and then using the power of suggestion to provide positive thoughts and coping strategies and removing negative attitudes.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome is one of the illnesses that are most responsive to hypnotherapy for several different reasons. Stress related flare ups of IBS can be reduced through hypnosis. IBS hypnotherapy is noted for its ability to relieve pain of all types, including the gastrointestinal pains that can make IBS so difficult to live with. IBS is also a syndrome, not a disease, and so by preventing the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome you can truly help the syndrome. As with other treatments, both those provided by alternative therapy and by traditional medicine, IBS hypnotherapy can provide lasting benefits for sufferers. Hypnotherapy for IBS acts upon the unconscious mind, changing how your body is able to regulate involuntary responses.

If you are ready to try Irritable Bowel Syndrome hypnotherapy, you will be glad to know it is effective in people of all ages, and there are no side effects or health risks. You can use a self-hypnosis programme at home - the most effective of which are specifically designed for stomach related ailments. IBS hypnotherapy is worth trying because it is a completely safe treatment that can provide near complete relief of all symptoms associated with IBS.

Insomnia

Insomnia grinds you down. Sleepless nights make it difficult to concentrate in the day. We feel so tired and irritable. We try all sorts of methods to get us back to sleep once we have woken up. The only way to ensure a good night's sleep is to learn self hypnosis. It reprogrammes your mind to break the cycle you have got into. You tell yourself.."I hope I sleep tonight" or "I bet I don't sleep tonight"... you talk yourself into waking up! You watch the clock and get more anxious about not sleeping. This vicious circle reinforces your bad sleeping patterns. A few sessions of hypnotherapy would soon have you sleeping better. It's worth a try to have a decent night's sleep, isn't it?

Perhaps the most simple and obvious cause of insomnia is excess muscular tension and anxiety over sleeping - and/or excessive thinking or worrying.

The approach is a systematic focus on learning to lower arousal, calm the mind and relax muscles, removing unhelpful behaviours and thinking patterns around sleep - and using hypnosis to rehearse and encourage positive thinking and behaviour around sleep while learning to deepen relaxation and sleep.
Excess tension in the skeletal muscles increases the amount of activity across the whole nervous system - including the amount and "speed" or "volume" of our thinking. By learning how to relax the muscles directly and deeply - and retraining our body to a more relaxed state we can fall asleep quickly, stay asleep and awake refreshed.

By learning self-hypnosis, clients are able to naturally and easily fall asleep as nature intended.

Insomnia ranges from a short term acute insomnia to long term chronic insomnia, which is usually combined with obsessive rumination over sleep and sleep quality.

In some cases with two or three sessions the problem is solved and natural sleep response is restored. More chronic cases should plan on six sessions

Meniere's Disease

This disease can affect anyone. It is debilitating and demoralising. An imbalance of the inner ear means at any time you can suddenly feel very dizzy, feel sick or are actually sick, and have to lay down, sometimes for days on end. In my experience some clients with Meniere's, will also suffer from Tinnitus, another form of inner problem, often causing a ringing in the ears, or banging or clunking sounds. It is enough to drive you mad. Hypnotherapy can reduce the number of attacks you get, sometimes even putting the clients into permanent remission. The Tinnitus becomes inaudible, giving the client back the vital sleep he or she is probably deprived of, as Tinnitus is most obvious when the room is quiet.

Cancer Support

We are living in times where CANCER is so prevelant, we are all touched by someone who has this disease. I have worked with a number of clients now, who either have the disease and are trying to cope with it, and the treatments they have to endure, and also supporting the families surrounding them.

Much of a person's attitude to cancer can influence the disease, and part of looking after the whole of the body's terrain to get the most help for oneself, comes from a totally positive way of thinking, together with controlling cancer with diet, exercise and healthy living. the food we eat is vitally important in creating the best internal environment for your body to fight the cancer. Sugar, white flour, white pasta and salt should NOT feature in your diet. Eating food the colours of the rainbow will give your body the best chances of keeping this disease at bay and even beating it. Create your own anti-cancer diet to support your treatment.

I use hypnotherapy with my clients to help them create the best possible mental attitude to their cancer. I teach my client how to use self hypnosis to maintain their positive attitude, approaching their personal battle from a winning mindset.

Sometimes when the people around us are failing to support us through difficult health issues, and we feel we have to support them to support us, the responsibility weighs heavily on our shoulders when we need it least. Hypnotherapy will give you all the internal support you need to approach your cancer head on, and start making the changes which can make the difference.

Whether it is coping on a day to day basis, or maybe you are facing an operation, have a fear of hospitals, are struggling with a diagnosis or indeed any aspect you need help with, I am here.