Archives

Stress and Anxiety – Use Hypnotherapy to Overcome Them and Find Peace

Now more than ever, scientific surveys are attesting the primary role played by stress in triggering or aggravating different physical and emotional afflictions. In the June 6, 1983 issue of Time Magazine, the cover story labeled stress “The Epidemic of the Eighties.” It also said that stress is our leading health problem. Indeed one has to recognize that our world has become a lot more complicated and stressful in the last two decades since that article was written.

Numerous surveys indicate that almost everybody is under the impression of being subject to a lot of stress. Authorities in the field estimate that between 75 and 90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians somehow have to do with stress.

Most people report their stress is primarily due to their job. And stress levels have also grown in children and the elderly population because of several reasons including: Peer pressures that often push people to everything from smoking to alcoholism and drug abuse; the wearing away of religion and family values; increased crime rates; threats to personal safety; and last but not least social isolation and loneliness.

Stress can cause and aggravate conditions such as diabetes, ulcers, low back and neck pain, high blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks. This is due to the ever growing sympathetic nervous system activity along with a high level of cortisol, adrenaline, and other hormones. Chronic stress is often associated with lower immune system resistance. Stress can contribute to anxiety, depression, and its various effects on the body’s organs.

The following definition for “stress” can be found in the American Heritage Dictionary:

“To subject to physical or mental pressure, tension, or strain”

The following is the definition of “tension” from the same dictionary:

“Mental, emotional, or nervous strain”

The following definition is given for “anxiety”:

“A state of uneasiness and apprehension, as about future uncertainties”

And the following is the definition of “depression”:

“The condition of feeling sad or despondent”

The following is the definition of “clinical depression”:

“A psychiatric disorder characterized by an inability to concentrate, insomnia, loss of appetite, anhedonia, feelings of extreme sadness, guilt, helplessness and hopelessness, and thoughts of death.”

One thing is for sure, our mind is the first source of our feelings of stress, anxiety and depression. Put differently, what we think about, and our attitudes and points of view about our experiences create our feelings. That way, if we can learn how to change our thoughts, attitudes, and points of view, we can get rid of our feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression and change them for a more positive state of being.

Since the beginning of time, people have tried to find methods that would allow them to eliminate stress. With the pharmaceutical industry there seems to be a drug for everything. And to that end the industry has created a large line of sedatives from Valium to Xanax. If you choose to utilize drugs for relief, please be sure to pay attention to the fine print and learn about the side effects, which commonly include addiction and dependency. Unfortunately, these types of drugs aim at treating the symptoms, but not the cause. So as soon as one stops ingesting them, the symptoms can come back.

A finer method to get rid of tension, stress, anxiety, and depression is to work on the root cause, which as I said previously, is generally our thought processes. There is the good news. Hypnosis is all about relaxation. The AMA accepted hypnosis in 1958 as an effective way to cure stress or stress related symptoms. Moreover unlike anxiolytics, there are totally no negative side effects.

When you are in hypnosis, you are in the Alpha level of consciousness. It’s the daydream like temporary psychological state that we experience as we’re just about to fall asleep at night. And we experience it once again when we awaken again. There are several different ways that will help us guide ourselves into this state of tranquility, from progressive relaxation to visual imagery to listening to hypnosis CD’s.

Once we access a hypnotic state, we can communicate with our unconscious mind, which is the seat of our feelings. And it becomes easier to acknowledge new points of view and ideas that will help us to dissipate anxiety, or even avoid it completely.

NLP, which is a recent sort of hypnotherapy, offers numerous excellent methods for getting rid of stress. Perhaps the technique that works best is called the “swish” pattern – or the “flash” pattern. When you use this method, your unconscious will automatically use negative, stress producing mental images, as triggers for tranquilizing mental images. Otherwise stated, your stressors will automatically cause relaxation!

TO SUM THINGS UP

Tension, stress, anxiety, and depression can be caused by our thoughts. So by changing our attitude and the way we feel about our situation and what we’ve experienced, we can dissipate these feelings at the source. Hypnosis and NLP are natural tools that we can use to help us change our attitude and point of view to swiftly dissipate the root cause of our negative feelings.

Motivational Courses Using Hypnotherapy NLP And Life Coaching Part 2/3

Now all of those are great reasons to go to the gym, but did they get you there? No. If the pleasure of going was a good enough reason, you would have done it already! So your commitment to this motivation you want, will be tested by using pain. During the motivational courses I have provided in St Albans, I have found that people are put off by this relatively simple concept which is really just about getting leverage. Leverage is a bit of an American term, but it gives us an idea of how we can apply movement to something that seems to be stuck- and remember that in order to be motivated, you must be moving.
If you think of a great big boulder made of stone that you wanted to move, you could try pulling and pushing it and getting exhausted, but it probably wouldn’t budge easily. However, if you use a lever, you can apply half the amount of pressure, use half the energy and the boulder will move. Our pain reasons (negative/ stick) are going to work like a lever, so here is a list of those applied to the example of going to the gym:
1) There is a history of diabetes in my family. If I do not go to the gym I will be unfit and more likely to be ill like my father is.
2) I am currently single. If my body doesn’t get fit there is a strong possibility I will stay that way. Then I will never have children.
3) If I do not exercise my heart, I will be more likely to have a heart attack.
4) If I get sick, which is more likely when I am unfit, it will take me longer to recover because my body will struggle. I will be aging faster than my peers who will be enjoying their lives.
Just take a look at the two lists of reasons. One is fluffy and one hits you in the gut. One list moves you, it takes you by surprise. Only one of those lists physically creates a shifting internal feeling when you read it. Now imagine that they were your reasons, applied to your motivational problem. Which list is going to get you doing something, pain of getting away from what you don’t want, or the pleasure of moving towards what you do want?
In my private practice, I offer 3 different alternatives to help with motivation. This has been beneficial to the St Albans Motivation Courses, because it means that everybody is three times more likely to find a motivation solution that works for them.
I start by providing a free consultation which takes about 40 minutes. There is no obligation to attend motivational sessions after you have attended the consultation, you can just come along to find out a bit more information about how I work, and I can find out more information about your particular problem.
Now read Motivational Courses using Hypnotherapy, NLP and Life Coaching 3/3

The Use of Biofeedback Devices in Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy

Biofeedback devices measure a range of physiological variables including brain waves (Electroencephalography), muscle tension (Electromyography) and the electrical conductivity of the skin (galvanic skin response). All of these variables indicate continuums of emotional arousal. It is precisely these measurements that are used in lie-detector machines as they pick up the most subtle of physiological changes – many outside of conscious awareness. Many biofeedback devices exist and create a feedback loop for the user. Having the ability to see these readings, the user can learn to gain control over these physiological measurements by relaxing and seeing (or hearing) measurements rise and fall in response to meditation, self-hypnosis or breathing techniques.
In my private hypnotherapy, psychotherapy and NLP practice, I sometimes elect to use a Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) meter with clients. Galvanic Skin Response (also called electro-dermal response) is a measure of the electrical conductivity of the skin. If I am using a GSR meter within a session, I first connect my clients to device by placing electrodes on two fingers on the same hand. After several minutes, I take an initial baseline reading. During the session, the meter readings will rise and fall in line with the emotional arousal of the client. In essence, the greater the presence of water and salt on the skin, the more conductive of electricity the skin is. Changes in sweat production in the fingertips can occur for a number of physiological reasons; however, there is a correlation between electrical conductivity of the skin and emotional arousal. A higher GSR reading tends to reflect an increase in emotional arousal (whether that emotion be anger, stress, anxiety, and startle response).
Whilst therapists develop great sensory acuity though many client hours experience, the GSR meter provides another tool to provide a clue that something is happening for the client. It is of particular use in hypnoanalysis or regression when the client has accessed an emotional memory and is experiencing it vividly. Whilst abreactions are easily spotted by a therapist, the GSR meter provides an early sign of emotional arousal that may assist the exploration of the traumatic material. The GSR reading can also be useful for testing the change in the client’s emotional arousal regarding phobias before and after the change work has been completed. The client’s responsiveness to hypnotic induction is clearly demonstrated by a falling reading on the GSR meter. The device can, therefore, be used to indicate when the client is deep enough into trance to make suggestions more direct. I recently conducted a hypnotherapy session and during a section about learning new skills, I mentioned being back at school to access and utilise that regressed learning state that children possess (this is a popular approach popularised by the late renowned hypnotherapist Milton Erickson). The meter rose rapidly at this moment although there were no visible changes to skin tone, breathing rate etc. At the end of the session, my client explained that she had enjoyed the experience but mention of the school had reminded her of a time when she had been bullied. Whilst not a significant event, it was nevertheless a demonstration of the usefulness of GSR meters within a therapeutic setting.
Biofeedback devices will never replace the skill of a therapist nor the importance of watching and listening but they can be a useful adjunct to the therapists toolkit in certain situations.

Hypnotherapy For Childbirth

Hypnosis for child birth is used as a technique as much throughout the pregnancy as it is used during the labour itself. The benefits include a sense of calm and relaxation- and of course the calmer mum can be, the calmer the baby will be during the normally quite stressful experience of being born. This can later influence the ease at which they feed and sleep as a result of a less traumatic birthing experience.
During the pregnancy, hypnotherapy in Hemel Hempstead can be used as a means of mentally preparing the mother for the forthcoming events, offering her suggestions of a calm pain-free experience to come, and a reassurance that she will be able to manage her own levels of pain. The hypnotic experience aided by a hypnotherapist or a hypnotic recording, can help to maintain blood pressure at a safe level during the gestation periods and induce positive beliefs and feelings about the imminent experience as well as offering positive suggestions for things like diet and lifestyle throughout the pregnancy.
During the labour, the trance experience may be used, though not in a deep sleep kind of a way. Instead, the mother will be able to experience the event fully and fell in control during the process. The pain control method reduces the need for medication throughout the experience and ensure that any physical “healing” needs to take place after the labour happens quickly.
In short, anxiety creates tension which can create more pain. Hypnotherapy in Hertfordshire is able to break this cycle with the injection of relation and positive thoughts and attitude. It is well documented that childbirth is a very different experience in other cultures because the expectation of pain does not exist. If you are interested in how hypnotherapy can be helpful for you, please contact our hypnotherapist in Hertfordshire.

What’s All the Fuss About Life Coaching?

Coaching in all it’s different forms- life, business, career- originates out of the field of Sports Coaching. In 1974 Timothy Gallwey wrote a book titled The Inner Game of Tennis which wasn’t so much about tennis but about the inner qualities of the tennis player which drive him to win. In sport and in life there are two opponents; the other player, and the self (self referred to here as our own beliefs and self talk about what we are capable of). The tennis player, and the player of life, has to compete with both.

Through this book people began to understand that as human beings, our level of achievement in anything be it tennis, business, wealth, or happiness, is in direct proportion to what we really think of ourselves deep down. And so personal coaching for the mind was born and is now used throughout the world to bring out the best in individuals and corporations, and unleash the human potential for excellence.

The thing to note about Life Coaching is that it is coaching to enhance your personal qualities, not directing or teaching of someone else’s ideas. A good sports coach doesn’t say to his pupil ‘No that’s not how you do it, here let me show you!’, and goes on to try and mould the student to be like him. Instead he identifies and maximizes the pupil’s unique strengths, and helps them transform any weaknesses into positives. He ‘coaches’ them on improving their own style of playing the game so that they are functioning at their ultimate best.

Similarly Life Coaching is not about telling you how you should be living your life. No coach will claim to be a life expert and if they do they are coaches to be avoided. Sure, Life Coaches are highly trained in human behaviour and will usually achieve great results in their own style of living, but the only expert in your life is you. As does the sports coach, the life coach will help you tap into your strengths while turning the tables on any weaknesses so that every aspect of your unique game of life is being controlled by you.

Coaching is increasingly used in companies to maximize and develop their best people. It’s not the systems that make a company powerful and continually reaching its targets, it’s the people that make up the company, the puzzle pieces that make up the whole. Systems are great to keep the company operating smoothly however without people working at their most efficient that’s all the company will do- operate smoothly. Coaching, all the way from the executives to the most junior employee, will bring out the best in people and create powerful results.

You may have noticed that all top athletes have a coach. They are at the top because their coach pushes the forward and supports them in staying there. All entrepreneurs have a coach, keeping them on a clear path to increased success in their chosen ventures. Most coaches have a coach! Because to bring out the best in others we must be constantly striving to better ourselves.

Coaching using NLP (the study of human excellence and how to replicate it in others) is the way of the future. It is the fastest way to achieve anything from overcoming a current challenge in your life, to realizing your biggest goals and dreams.

Find the coach that best suits your goals, who gives you the level of support you need, and who is genuinely committed to their craft; and you will find passion and purpose within you that you never knew existed. This new power that is unleashed from within you, your true human potential, allows you to function at a higher level mentally, physically, spiritually, financially, in every area of your life. And the changes are, without a doubt, deep and lasting.

Here are a couple of motivational quotes to get you started on your journey:

‘It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste time.’ – Henry Ford

‘Success is not for the timid. It is for those who seek guidance, make decisions, and take decisive action.’ – Jose Silva

‘If you don’t act now while it’s fresh in your mind, it will probably join the list of things you were always going to do but never quite got around to.’ – Paul Clithero