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Welcome

Are you experiencing difficulties in your life?

Do you need help to change?

Are you curious about how Cognitive Hypnotherapy can help you to achieve your goals?

Cognitive Hypnotherapy approach is based on our thoughts directly affect our feelings… which directly affects our behaviour.

Each person has a unique way of “doing” their problem. The aim is to identify the unique mind-pattern programme of the problem and to guide the unconscious towards the solution that you want for yourself consciously.

Modern neuroscience shows that the unconscious controls 90 per cent of our behaviour, so if you have emotions or behaviours that don’t respond to your conscious efforts to change or control them, “updating” your unconscious could help.

This approach can help with many concerns such as:

  • Anxiety, Fears, Panic, Phobias
  • Weight Management, Unhealthy Relationships with Food
  • Addictions, Habits and Obsessions
  • Confidence, Self Esteem
  • Heath Issues like IBS
  • Sleep Issues like Insomnia and a Chattery Mind
  • Unresourceful Belief Systems
  • Public Speaking and Exam Nerves
  • Quitting Smoking and Excessive Drinking

If your concern is not listed here, then please contact me to discuss.

Our emotions act as a feedback system — an emotional GPS so to speak. It navigates us… Sometimes our feelings start with a thought, sometimes it seems our feelings start and create thoughts, the point is they are both closely related to one another and hard to tell them apart at times. But learning to live consciously and be empowered to have control over your thoughts, feelings and behaviours to give you the experience of life you want takes a little bit of practice. It’s a life skill.

Whenever we are feeling bad… upset… anxious… fearful, you can be sure that you are thinking about something you do not want — that you want to avoid — or not have / feel. Our thoughts feel like they happen to us and we have no control over them, our thoughts are spontaneous, but you do have control over them and with practice you can exercise great control over how you think, feel and act.

Most problems exist because we do not want to accept the way things are. Whether this is something that has happened. You resist it. You block it. You suppress it – push it down. Sometimes you express it – scream it out! Either way there is another choice. It’s called releasing.

When we grow up, due to social, cultural, family influences and factors, we learn to suppress our emotions. You can see how children, in their natural state before this conditioning are very good at expressing their emotions — also releasing them. What is releasing then? You’ve seen children playing, or you remember when you were little yourself… running around on the playground, then fall down, hurt themselves and then look around to see if anyone is looking… if they have a suitable audience, then they may cry for some attention or run over and to have it looked and ‘kissed better’. Once they have what they need, they let it go… naturally — and get right back to playing! Children naturally release unwanted emotions. It’s only as we grow up and we are told it’s not okay to express that we learn to suppress. Suppression becomes the most natural thing to do… but it’s also the most harmful to our well being.
How do you re-learn how to release?

As I mentioned, resisting or blocking is the main reason that you hold onto unwanted emotions. It may sound paradoxical, but by resisting the way you are feeling, you keep it in place. Even if you are not ready to ‘let it go’ because you’re still mad / sad / hurt / upset… The cure is to feel free to resist, it eliminates itself. I often ask clients to ‘watch themselves with curiosity’ as if they were going to write a research paper on how they do their problem. When you find yourself resisting something instead, just watch, notice… Give yourself permission to feel it… Stopping resisting is just more resisting, and then when you stop trying to stop trying to resist you add another layer, and it just goes on and on.

How are you feeling?

Take a moment of reflection to yourself and tune into what you are feeling in your body.

Ask yourself:

Could I allow myself to feel everything I needed to feel about this?

Whatever it is that you are feeling, could you love or appreciate the feeling exactly as it is?

If not, could you love or appreciate yourself for feeling the feeling?

If not, could you love or appreciate yourself for not being willing or able to love or appreciate yourself for feeling the feeling?

If not, could you find another aspect of whatever you are experiencing until you are feeling a genuine sense of love or appreciation for yourself or the feeling?

Now ask yourself:

Could you let go and release this feeling?

If yes, can you release it now?

If not, when can you release it?

If not, what is the one thing you need to understand before you can release this feeling for good?

The purpose is to let and allow yourself to feel whatever it is you need to feel and let it be okay. You’re emotions are a like a navigation system – they are telling you that you need to learn something about the situation so you can grow and get back on course to where you want to be.

By giving yourself permission and releasing negative feelings you reset your body to balance state. Suppressed emotions can cause dis-ease in the body. All challenges / difficulties we face in our lives are only opportunities to learn something about ourselves and how we can love ourselves even more.

It’s okay to feel emotions. Emotions are there to be felt. It’s worth reminding you though that when we think of things we don’t want we tend to find more of it. Tune your mind to things you do want and see what you will find instead! Be kind to yourself. You are the only you you have!

Believe…

Building Belief

Today I end more things that serve me no purpose – thoughts / behavior… and do the things that will bring my life to yet another level. It isn’t always easy but sure is worth it. – Tom Nicoli

Hypnotherapy at the forefront of IBS awareness month

by William Hobson

This April has been named IBS awareness month – a month that aims to increase awareness of the condition of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), which affects an estimated six million people in the UK alone.

IBS is a debilitating condition, with symptoms including stomach pain, bloating, constipation, diarrhoea and vomiting. Many sufferers also feel considerable fatigue or depression given their frequent or even constant discomfort.

Unfortunately, there is no identifiable biological cause of IBS – so there is no simple, satisfactory treatment to offer hope to the millions of sufferers. Although dietary and lifestyle chances can work for many people, in others the symptoms persist even further. Prescribed medication can also be effective in some cases but again, the effects are far from universal.

Recently though, hypnotherapy has been identified as one of the more effective methods of helping IBS sufferers. Last month, The Therapy Lounge reported that Dr Roland Vaori, a gastroenterologist at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital revealed that he had had been using hypnotherapy as an IBS treatment for twenty years and had “never looked back.”

Dr Vaori claimed, in his comments on the launch of new medical journal Frontline Gastroenterology, that in his experience nine out of ten IBS sufferers have seen significant improvement in their symptoms thanks to hypnotherapy. A remarkable four out of ten said that their condition had even cleared up completely.

The role of mental treatments such as hypnotherapy in treating IBS has been supported by others in the medical community. The Daily Express, writing on IBS treatments for IBS awareness month, has interviewed both an NHS hypnotherapist and the head of The Gut Trust, the national IBS charity.

Dr Nick Read of the Gut Trust said: “This is a disease of the whole person. The emotional area of the brain often shows increased activity in IBS sufferers…IBS is so response to confidence and belief.”

NHS hypnotherapist Helen Bremner says that she has seen great successes by helping people sort our their anxieties from the past, leading to the end of their physical symptoms.

 ”People are sceptical at first” she told The Express, “but after just a few sessions they’re socialising and doing all the things they couldn’t do before, such as walks in the country where there is no loo.”

 Brenda Bentley Cognitive Hypnotherapist will soon be providing IBS Rescue Group Sessions in the Warwickshire area. Please contact 0845 269 5029 for more details.

Hypnosis ‘doubles IVF success’

By Caroline Ryan
BBC News Online health staff in Berlin

Hypnosis
Hypnosis may aid relaxation

Hypnosis can double the success of IVF treatment, researchers have claimed. A team from Soroka University, Israel, found 28% of women in the group who were hypnotised became pregnant, compared with 14% of those who were not.

The study of 185 women was presented to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Berlin.

But other experts said the research failed to account for key differences between the two groups.

The longer a couple have been trying to conceive, the less likely they are to conceive
Dr Francoise Shenfield

The Israeli researchers were looking to see if hypnosis could make the embryo transfer stage of IVF more successful.During this stage, the embryo is transferred into the womb. However, if the womb is contracting, it can affect the chances of the transplant being a success.

It was hoped hypnotherapy could help women relax and therefore improve the chances of success.

Stress

Women undergoing IVF were assessed to see if they were suitable to be hypnotised.

Eighty-nine women were then given hypnosis while their embryos were implanted. Some underwent more than one cycle of IVF treatment.

Ninety-six other women underwent embryo transfers without hypnosis. All received one cycle each.

Dr Eliahu Levitas, who led the research, told the conference: “Embryo transfer is known to be a stressful time for patients, and it may be that the procedure is the peak of their stress in IVF.

“Hypnosis may be related to a tranquilising effect.

“Performing embryo transfer under hypnosis may significantly contribute to an increased clinical pregnancy rate.”

But experts said the study failed to take into account key differences between the groups which would have a major influence on their chances of conceiving.

On average, women in the non-hypnosis group had been trying to conceive for 7.4 years, compared with 4.7 years for those who did receive hypnosis.

Dr Francois Shenfield, of University College London Hospital, UK, said: “One of the very important confounding factors in this field is the duration of infertility.

“The longer a couple have been trying to conceive, the less likely they are to conceive spontaneously, and with technical help.”

The Cognitive Hypnotherapy Review

How to Forget Fear

New research suggests we may be able to erase traumatic memories. Meet the scientists who can manipulate our minds

Fear, Cover Feature. posed by model.

Negative emotions that are evoked by past memories can be removed, according to new research from the University of Amsterdam. Dr Merel Kindt discovered that administering a beta-blocker called propanolol while patients were thinking of a negative emotion caused the emotion to disappear when the memory was recalled later.

The principle behind it is called reconsolidation theory and guided the work of Cognitive Hypnotherapists since it was discovered by neuroscientist Joesph LeDoux. He found that recalling a memory rendered it unstable and capable of being changed. Drugs appear to be one method, interventions used by our approach are another. Trevor Silvestor has written a comprehensive blog on this theory for those who would like to know more – and there is an excellent article in the Times.

Top Sante’ recently contacted me as one of the few Cognitive Hypnotherapists based in the West Midlands (guess they wanted to get more ‘national’ appeal and out of London for this article!) to comment on a few questions they had about hypnotherapy. I’m delighted to be featured next to well known therapists such as Georgia Foster and Ursula James.

It’s great publicity for the organisation I’m proud to be a member and apart of their executive team — the National Council for Hypnotherapy.

For more good reads on Cognitive Hypnotherapy featured in media — please go to In the Media.

Top Sante Magazine - Feb 2010

Hypnosis has ‘real’ brain effect

Hypnosis

Hypnosis can be used for overcoming anxiety and addiction

Hypnosis has a “very real” effect that can be picked up on brain scans, say Hull University researchers.

An imaging study of hypnotised participants showed decreased activity in the parts of the brain linked with daydreaming or letting the mind wander.

The same brain patterns were absent in people who had the tests but who were not susceptible to being hypnotised.

One psychologist said the study backed the theory that hypnosis “primes” the brain to be open to suggestion.

Hypnosis is increasingly being used to help people stop smoking or lose weight and advisers recently recommended its use on the NHS to treat irritable bowel syndrome.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

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