Anxiety is a most wide spread emotional issue that thousands of people have to cope with every day. Under the spectrum of anxiety also fall the following issues:
Sexual issues , Nervous Tics, Insomnia/Sleeping Issues, Depression,Self Confidence,Anger issues, however the issues above which all have an element of anxiety at some level, stem from a whole range of personal experiences and treatment needs to be inclusive of these to be effective and long lasting.
If not resolved to its origin anxiety tends to spread easily in to every single fibre of the sufferer and may become really hindering preventing the person from enjoying life in its simplest situations. And it is horrible trying to cope with it because usually whatever method we try it is not efficient, let alone long lasting.
Some level of anxiety is normal when we face something new, but there is no need for it to pop up in everyday situations that many people can deal with easily an even enjoy them. The anxiety sufferer instead experiences free floating anxiety that gets triggered by different common situations, or may be felt like constantly present “in the background” and for some other people it may seem like it just comes up from nowhere when it’s least expected.
However there is always a reason as to why we are getting such symptoms and in most cases that reason is completely locked away from awareness and residing in the subconscious mind.
There are many ways anxiety can hinder our life but there is no need to put up with it and try our best at coping in the hope that one day it will just disappear, because it won’t, and if left untreated anxiety will easily spread to affect the sufferer in many other ways and can easily turn in to panic attacks that take place anywhere and anytime.
Sexual Issues are hardly ever organic in origin, however it is wise to have a GP check up before embarking on therapy.
Relationships can be complex because they are based on feelings and sexuality itself is more complex than most of us like to think of!
Fear is usually at the base of sexuality issues, fear of not being good enough or of being hurt, fear of reputation or any other kind of fear indeed.
Because the aim of hypnotherapy is to release fear and reframe the mind to achieve goals, sexuality issues are easily treated with this kind of therapy.
Anger is one of the primordial feelings and as such it’s difficult to manage, like fear, however an anger issue is present when our own personal reservoir for anger cannot contain any more and thus anger feeling easily overflow the reservoir. Obviously the reservoir is full at present because there is a lot of unresolved anger from the past.
Finding out about past experiences where rather than expressing our anger we just swallowed it down and releasing it in a safe environment and in a safe way will empty out the reservoir to an acceptable level. Techniques will then be taught to deal with and release anger when it arises in the future so the reservoir is kept to a safe level all the time.
To procrastinate is to avoiding doing things that ought to be done, putting off something until it is impossible to avoid doing it once again which usually is the very last minute and then we rush in to doing it and the chances of that something being given the attention it deserves is very low with obvious results of lower quality than planned and probably resulting in being exhausted mentally and physically from rushing especially when a few deadlines are close to one another.
Putting off doing things often hides a fear of failure masked by what comes across as laziness whereas the issue is much deeper and can become quite hindering as things done in a rush often don’t bring the results hoped for or needed which will reinforce the feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem.
Resolving any self-esteem issues first and then visualising having reached the goal and the feelings associated with it will empower any procrastinator to take the reins of their life in their hands and be proactive about it.
Past Life Regression is often seen like something magical and with good reasons!
One of this being the lack of explanation of how the mind works during hypnosis.
PLRs can be guided experiences but may also happen spontaneously during therapy. Whether solicited or not a PLR is often a metaphor or fantasy which is put together by the subconscious mind simply to enable resolution in the form of understanding and acceptance of a certain bothering even or even one’s own general life experience.
During hypnosis the mind pulls out memories of experiences related to the suggestions given by the hypnotist/hypnotherapist that are to enable positive changes in the client and this happens by putting together memories in a way that makes the client gain insight about themselves and their past experiences.
However the memories are not necessarily real because of the way the subconscious mind works: this mind being stores our memories by category as opposed to real/not real, this means that all memories of a carrot are stored in the Carrot file. Now in this file will be memories of an actual vegetable (real memories) and also memories of any drawing or picture of a carrot that the person saw as a child when mum used to read him/her a book at night and all images takes from movies where a carrot was present and all memories of the word “carrot” that the person would have read in books and newspaper/magazine article bring to mind the image of a carrot. As the mind pastes memories together no memory can be guaranteed to be 100% real, in fact it doesn’t matter how real a memory is as long as the process of “remembering” brings about the results sought after and this is even more so with an experience of PLR.
Despite most of PLR being a creation of the subconscious mind there have been studies that have proven that the subconscious mind tapped in to a previous life’s memories however this would not be the norm. The fact remains that experiencing a PLR is always an incredible experience as your mind is transported in to another time and place and it is literally like re-living a past life and the insights that come from this kind of experiences are always amazing!
This course of treatment has been conceived to help those who are facing the end of their life journey or for those who are facing illness and those who are affected by these events. This kind of therapy can easily be adapted to help get through the stages of bereavement ensuring the person affected can go back to a balanced life. Facing an illness or the end of one’s journey in life can be daunting as nothing can prepare you to face such a challenging experience that is bound to bring to mind challenging questions on the meaning of life and of one’s existence. It is bound to make the person face his/her own self and the way they have lived life until this moment which may trigger regret, anger and frustration and the inability to change things magnifies the fear of what is going to happen next.
This course of treatment aims at bringing the mind to a peaceful state of acceptance of what cannot be changed by putting in to perspective the way the person understands life by questioning reality as we intend it and by guiding the person to find the meaning of their life and their journey.
For those who are to accompany someone on this difficult journey help will be provided in identifying ways to be of assistance to their dears and to get further assistance for themselves if required.
Self-confidence is a very important aspect of a person and when we are lacking it we are missing out on life so much! Lack in self-confidence goes hand in hand with social anxiety but not everyone is lacking in self-confidence is also socially anxious as sometimes we are very good at masking our deepest feelings and the anxiety connected with not being good enough will only show when we are to face more challenging situations like speaking to a particular person that we have an interest in or to a person of authority, or when we are faced with a job interview or a speech or again when we are dissatisfied with someone’s behaviour but we cannot bring ourselves to voice our feelings.
The quality of life goes hand in hand with the amount of confidence we have as when we deeply believe that we are good enough and therefore deserve things we will automatically set goals for ourselves and then go about reaching them thus feeding ourselves with a sense of purpose and accomplishment that make for a good quality of life.
Self-confidence is instilled very early in life however it isn’t easy for a parent to know how and how not, especially considering that psychology is a relatively new field and still remains not very common knowledge especially when it comes to child psychology.
Depression varies in level of seriousness, however even if at a light or initial level it is important to be vigilant and realise that something is wrong because depression is a spiralling issue and if not kept an eye on it can easily deepen and get out of control. Depression is an awful condition to live with and despite medicines help for an initial uplift, depression is an emotional issue and as such medicines cannot fix it, just like any other psychological issue.
Being informed of the departure of someone dear is often-most a shock even in those cases where it was expected after a long illness and more so when it happens suddenly. The news is always devastating and it is normal to feel heart broken and deeply disorientated on this initial stage of shock. The stage that develops soon afterwards is a strange one as it is characterised by feeling like you are living in a bubble or in a dream. This is the stage of denial which is a coping strategy of the brain that is trying its best to dull the pain by dissociating from the harsh reality letting you feel only the amount of pain you are able to handle at this initial stage.This feeling is particular to trauma and usually lasts from a few days to a few weeks until the nest stage is reached when the realisation sinks in completely.
This third stage and also the following ones are very painful as you slowly adjust to the new reality and it simply cannot be described how painful it is to cope during this lengthy time before eventually acceptance kicks in. The stages of anger, bargaining and depression are characterised by hatred and deep anger for oneself or the departed, frustration and blaming self, others and even God for your loss. It is normal to experience these feelings and it is OK to have all those blaming thoughts as you go through this particularly difficult time as you are experiencing all the pain that was initially numbed and denied. You may also experience fear or feeling at a loss at how you will ever be able to carry on without that person. The intensity of the anger and fear is directly proportionate to the love you have for that person.
The support of family and friends is important, yet if the departure was of a close family member it can easily be that more people in the family are going through the same lengthy ordeal and they can only give each other so much support for obvious reasons of common fragility.
Friends and family who haven’t been directly or as badly affected will try and be of help both in practical ways and offering psychological support in the hope that you can move on quicker but unfortunately the prompting to move on or take action for distraction at this time is usually not quite appreciated as the person affected would understandably rather take time off everything in order to grieve their loss. Accepting the help of someone who can be there for you in a quiet manner will help best.
While the brain needs to complete the whole grief cycle to be able to fully deal with and integrate the loss, professional support before the cycle is completed naturally is likely to speed up its completion. Normally the full cycle takes an average of two years to complete which is a very long time for someone to try and cope on their own.
If opting for therapy it is wise to wait until the onset of the anger stage to get the most out of it. While it is difficult to manage the deep anger, the frustration and blame on your own it can be of help being guided through these feelings and stages safely in a therapeutic environment with the help techniques constructed specifically for this purpose so you can better manage through these stages.
With professional help you may lastly reach the acceptance stage quicker however there is no shortcut to overcoming the deep feelings of sorrow that accompany grief as in order for a person to be able to come around grief completely the feelings must be felt fully.
In general such deep feelings if not dealt with fully will may simply linger in a much longer state of depression or more specifically the repressed feelings of anger and blame will re-present themselves later on when triggered by what is perceived as similar situations to the subconscious mind that may not appear obvious or even make sense to the conscious mind. Yet again they may re-present themselves even much later on in life in the form of lingering anxiety that may trigger panic attacks in apparently unrelated situations.
Saying that hypnosis can help in relationship issues is a bit uncommon, however because of the nature of therapy I do, starting from the issue presented and working with its effects and the added bonus of the insight gained during the process the relationship brought to the attention is bound to improve. In some cases when the issue is uncertainty about the relationship itself or about its course, things will become very clear and it will be easy to decide on the next steps to take.
About 17% of Irish adults suffer to some extent from ringing, buzzing or other noises in the head, mainly localised in the ears. The auditory pathways are one of the most delicate and reactive mechanisms of the body. Since these are directly associated with the nervous system, their response in in direct proportion to the sufferer’s anxiety state. Generally it is difficult to extinguish the noise completely however hypnosis is efficient at reducing the volume of the noise and the noise itself can be transformed into a cue for relaxation instead of annoyance.
The pain relief effect of hypnosis can be largely divided into two mechanisms; physical relaxation and perceptual alteration/cognitive distraction.
Muscle tension often accompanies the occurrence of pain. When there is pain, the painful area is instinctively withdrawn, and as muscle tension increases, the pain intensifies.
Experiencing pain leads naturally to become anxious.
Being anxious can increase your perception of pain as you become more stressed and focused on the sensation. Also the anticipation of pain caused by being anxious will create more anxiety which will increase the perception of pain in an endless vicious circle.
A big part of hypnosis for pain looks at this very issue: by helping your mind to react differently to the sensation of pain, anxiety levels reduce and thus does the perception of pain.
Therefore rather than convincing you that your pain doesn’t exist, hypnosis for pain aims to manage any fear and anxiety you may have relating to your pain and with the help of relaxing images that arouse physical relaxation, such as ‘floating’ or ‘lightness’, the muscles become relaxed and the pain is reduced.
The regular induction of self-hypnosis helps to reduce stress and relax the nervous system thus helping it become less reactive to pain. This changes the thought patterns related to pain which can therefore make a huge difference to pain perception.
Having hypnosis as a tool also helps eliminate the stress that comes from not having control. In this way patients can take an active role in managing their pain by taking mental control in those instances where medication is not enough or where a desire for reducing medication is present.
Hypnotic analgesia has been used successfully in a number of interventions in many clinics, hospitals, burn care centres and dental offices. For acute pain, it has proven effective in interventional radiology, various surgical procedures, the treatment of burns, child-birth labour pain, bone marrow aspiration pain, and pain related to dental work, especially so with children.
Chronic pain conditions for which hypnosis has been used successfully include, among others, headache, backache, fibromyalgia, carcinoma-related pain, temporal mandibular disorder pain, and mixed chronic pain.
Studies show that more than 75% of people with chronic conditions, like rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis and related diseases, experience significant pain relief using hypnosis, however the bearer of a chronic condition may require a comprehensive plan that targets various aspects besides the pain experience. This is because living with pain on a daily basis can be incredibly difficult – both physically and mentally. Having to cope with long-term conditions can lead to increased levels of stress, insomnia and even depression and anxiety. And here insomnia has an especially important role in the experience of pain. Sleep is very important as it gives our minds and bodies time to recover from the day – something that is often especially important to those with chronic pain conditions.
If you have a chronic pain condition, it’s important to realise that you don’t have to go through it alone.
Seeking both medical and therapeutic support is essential. Utilising expertise from the medical profession can help you to practically manage your condition, while mind-body therapies like hypnotherapy can help manage related symptoms and change the way you cope with the pain.
Very often, it is this combination of approaches that helps people in the most effective way with their chronic pain management.
If you are considering hypnosis for pain, be sure to tell your doctor and remember that it is a complementary therapy, designed to be used in conjunction with traditional medicine.
Firstly, you will need to get the pain checked out by your GP to rule out any medically treatable or potentially serious problems. If you haven’t seen your GP you will be referred to him/her before any hypnotherapy can begin – this is for your health and safety and no hypnotherapist should ever treat pain without asking if you have seen a GP first.
Is there evidence that hypnosis works in pain management?
In the beginning of the 19th century, hypnosis was being used as anaesthesia until chloroform started being used in 1831.
In the 20th century, hypnosis re-emerged as a conventional treatment modality, being used in clinical psychotherapy by Milton Erickson as well as in dentistry and medicine. Erickson also regularly used self-hypnotic techniques to experience relief from his own enduring pain due to polio which affected him at the age of 9.
Furthermore we know about hypnotherapy’s effectiveness as a pain management tool largely through the research and publications of Ernest Hilgard former Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, who used control research groups to show that hypnosis was highly effective in managing pain.
Hypnosis continues to be used in modern medicine, mainly in the US, as regrettably it is a practice surrounded by much misconception due to stage hypnotism, movies and a general lack of knowledge.
Menopause can be a trying period for women who can experience regular physical discomfort and also may find themselves on an emotional rollercoaster due to the hormonal changes. As such support is available in order to accept changes in the body and the onset of a new period of life.
Smoking is considered and addiction and as such we believe it difficult if not impossible to stop easily and one and for all. Unfortunately though labelling something an addiction takes away any power from the “sufferer” as to what they can do to help themselves and manage the “addiction”. Instead a change in the way we perceive we “need” a cigarette will make it easy to stop smoking and future pacing ourselves to be a non-smoker will ensure we stay smoke-free forever.
How many times we need something and think we know where it is but when we go get it it is not there and after hours if not days of searching that item is still nowhere to be found?
It happens more often than we like to think and most often we can put up with the volatilisation until eventually we have a sudden illumination or we simply find the object by chance, however sometimes the lost item is a valuable one and it we cannot accept its loss, nor we want to even think of having to report the lost item to family and friends, for example in the case of a lost engagement ring or a sum of money.
Hypnosis can help greatly and easily in these cases as under correct guidance it is easy to retrace the steps that lead you to lose the item and so you can be reunited again to your dear item
Difficulty in falling asleep and waking up in the middle of the night and being unable to fall back asleep, mind racing and worrying over not getting a good sleep night and being wrecked tomorrow. Worry is often at the base of sleeping issues although in certain cases the cause is organic. In either cases,hypnosis is a very relaxing state and using self-hypnosis or listening to a hypnosis CD will help you greatly in falling asleep easily and have a good restorative sleep throughout the night.