stevenik – Hypnosis, EFT, NLP, Therapy Coaching

Depression Causes, Symptoms, Help Hypnosis Derby, Belper, Matlock

Depression is “as state of extreme dejection often with physical symptoms” according to a well-known dictionary. There are, as with all life’s problems, varying degrees of this condition which differ in severity and duration.

To be human is to experience highs and lows and how you feel is commonly referred to as a “mood”. You can be in a bad, good, low, high, or indifferent mood. It is quite normal to experience all these moods some time or another. Some of these moods can be started by conscious events in our lives whilst at other times we may be unaware of why we feel a particular way. There may be physical causes behind particular moods too.

The expression ‘depression’ or ‘feeling depressed’ is often used to refer to feeling ‘blue’ or ‘low’. This may last for only a short period of time. Referring to this short time of feeling down as depression is not helpful or necessarily true. It is helpful to distinguish between occasional low moods and depression.

Depression, generally speaking, is when someone experiences a sustained period of dejection or feeling low that seems to have little respite. It may also be a low mood that continues to return on a regular basis. So there are categories of depression ranging from mild depression to darker and longer terms of low moods referred to as clinical, chronic or manic depression.

Depression Symptoms
Usually a person with depression can have one or more of the following:

1) Insomnia or broken sleep patterns
2) A lack of appetite
3) A constant feeling of dread
4) No motivation
5) Guilty feelings
6) Low self esteem and self confidence
7) A sense of being trapped with no means of escape
8) A sense of shame and failing
9) A pessimistic outlook on life (always expecting the worst to happen)
10) A lack of energy
11) A hunched stance, unhappy expression and negative attitude to any or everything
12) A sense of being a victim or always having bad luck
13) A high level of anxiety or stress

For someone who has mild depression only some of these symptoms may be true and then only a short period of time. In the person with manic depression many more of these symptoms may be true and can be coupled with psychotic episodes of delusions, hallucinations and a loss of a sense of reality. A person with manic depression should be under the supervision of a psychiatrist and will be prescribed drugs to help the condition.

It is mild depression or event driven depression (bereavement, divorce, job loss etc) that other forms of help such as hypnotherapy and EFT may be useful. Certainly if you do feel that you are depressed, even if it is only a mild form of depression and has been with you for a only few days or keeps returning you should seek the expertise of your medical practitioner first. It is not the intention of this article to address anything other than mild depression.

Events that can typically start mild depression are:

1) A divorce
2) Shock or upsetting news
3) Loss of a job
4) Loss of the home
5) Being assaulted (mugged)
6) A burglary
7) Rape or constant abuse
8) Physical, verbal or psychological abuse at home or at work

Of course these events in life can happen to any one of us. For many people, although any of these events will be upsetting, they will not necessarily tip someone into depression. It is how we perceive these events and handle them that can be the difference between someone who copes with the crisis and someone who feels unable to cope. Young children can suffer with depression, which may be due to factors in the home or at school. People who have had successful family life and careers may suffer from depression in old age too.

For those people with mild depression which they know has been caused by a particular event or events, hypnotherapy can provide the difference needed to escape those debilitating feelings.

Hypnotherapy brings a wonderful relaxing and calm feeling which is the opposite of the anxiety and dread someone can feel with mild depression. With your stress released hypnotherapy encourages you to view your future with optimism and excitement.

Sometimes, all it takes is a different way of viewing or perceiving matters, for the person who is feeling low to gain a new sense of perspective and proportion. The relaxation qualities of learning self hypnosis will help release stress and help the world to seem a better place.
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Author’s Details

Steven Harold BA(Hons) DCH DHP
Clinical Hypnotherapist – Derby, Belper, Matlock

Website: www.hypno-therapist.com Email: [email protected]

Brain Damage, Strokes, Help Hypnosis Derbyshire Nottinghamshire

Brain damage or impairment to brain function, can occur for a number of reasons and damage may be recoverable through professional and medical help. However, severe damage to the brain can lead to permanent restrictions on previous abilities and independence. Brain damage can happen because of injury, strokes, various disorders or can be hereditary.

Causes of Brain Damage
The main causes of brain injury are car accidents, sports injury, falls or be hereditary.

1) With a car accident or sports injury, damage is caused by the initial blow to the head and by the subsequent movement of the brain within the skull.
2) Strokes are when a blood clot develops and the brain is starved of blood. A loss of function is the result.
3) Disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s are conditions which lead to loss of brain functionality. A cancerous tumour can put pressure on the brain leading to a blood clot.
4) In the case of a hereditary cause, a gene may have been passed onto the unborn infant that prevented the brain from fully forming.

Types of Brain Damage
Brain damage can be focal or diffuse. Focal means located in a specific region of the brain and diffuse refers to more widespread function impairment through injury.

Aphasia – This stems from damage to the frontal lobe. It affects the ability to communicate such as difficulty in speaking and being able to combine more than a few words. Hearing speech itself may be a problem.
Amnesia – This when the memory is affected. Short-term memory may be difficult but long-term memory may still be accessible. There may be gaps in memory too. Again this is through damage to the frontal lobe.
Agnosia – This is the inability at times to recognise people or objects or places that should be familiar to them. This is also due to amnesia but affects long-term memory.

Other Symptoms of Brain Damage

Emotional – there may be a restless feeling or an ability to get angry quickly, frustration and other personal changes may be experienced.
Physical – loss of strength, flexibility, coordination of movement difficulty.
Sexuality – libido, erectile dysfunction
Sensory – tinnitus and visual impairment such as blurred or double vision. Unusual taste in the mouth.
Cognitive – speech, memory and an ability to analyze may be affected

Treatment of Damage Caused By Strokes
If you have an ischaemic (reduced blood supply) stroke, it is treated by using ‘clot-busting’ drugs whose aim is to dissolve those clots. These need to be administered within 3 hours of the stroke to be effective. After this anti-coagulants are used as a preventive measure and cholesterol levels are also monitored and if necessary treated with drugs. Good blood pressure is also another important aspect in prevention of future strokes.

A hemorrhagic stroke is when the blood vessel weakens or for some other reason bursts and again the blood supply to various parts of the brain is interrupted. Treatment includes surgery aimed art repairing the burst blood vessel. Subsequently, the cause of the damage is assessed and a program aimed at prevention is instigated. For example, high blood pressure may have been the cause and medication is issued to maintain a healthy level. Anti-coagulants could be a cause of this type of stroke in which case these are stopped.

Longer term treatments of strokes follow a similar path for brain injury patients and involve care plans, physiotherapy and emotional help.

For most long term patients recovering from brain damage, the aim is to gradually increase functionality of those abilities that were lost. Time and patience and determination are the 3 most important factors that are apart of any long-term recovery program.

Recovering the ability to walk and talk or even move an arm require the right communication from the brain to those parts of the body (legs, mouth or limbs). The damage to brain means that the communication either doesn’t happen or at best is weak.

Recovery involves regularly exercising and practising that communication and it can be encouraging to notice even small amounts of progress.

Hypnosis and Brain Damage Rehabilitation.

Hypnosis encourages the patient to use their mind and imagination to send those electrical signals from the brain to the limbs or other parts of the body.

Most actions that we take happen in this order:-

1) We think about what we want to do
2) We imagine doing it
3) and then we do it.

Hypnosis can assist the recovery of a stroke patient by helping them to relax and then use their imagination to help make the communication between the brain and desired body part.

Many studies believe that improvement in stroke patients capabilities, 6 months after the initial event, is unlikely to continue. However, hypnosis has been used to help with what is considered , a “learnt” non-use of a previous working ability, such as moving a leg or arm. One particular recent study(1) was carried out in the USA in 2006 into the efficacy of hypnosis on stroke patients and the research concluded that there were noticeable improvements strength, spectrum of motion and movements and a reduction in stiffness and tightness in muscles. In fact there has been an awareness of the usefulness of hypnosis with stroke recovery dating back to the 50’s (Shires, Peters and Krout, 1954) and supported by various studies since then.

Help for Stroke Recovery with Hypnotherapy in London
You will be learn what hypnosis is like and in particular how to practice self hypnosis. You can then use self hypnosis to help release stress and tension and also how to use your mind to help your recovery.

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Author’s Details

Steven Harold BA(Hons) DCH DHP
Clinical Hypnotherapist – Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire

Website: www.hypno-therapist.com Email: [email protected]
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(1) HYPNOSIS FOR REHABILITATION AFTER STROKE: SIX CASE STUDIES. Solomon Gilbert Diamond, Orin C. Davis, Judith D. Schaechter, and Robert D. Howe

Fibromyalgia (FMS) Help Hypnosis Nottingham Derby

Fibromyalgia Syndrome or FMS, is a disorder that brings both a sense of exhaustion and pain. It affects the whole body robbing the person of their energy and bringing with it sensations of pain. Currently there is no known cure for FM. The word “”fibromyalgia” has a definition that refers to the fibrous tissues in the body and to pain. Some people may describe it as similar to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS, formerly known as ME) but with the addition of pain.

The soft tissues in body such as tendons, muscle, and ligaments are the places where the pain and discomfort is produced. Many FM sufferers describe having total body pain rather than a sense of isolated pain. They often feel like their muscles are extremely taut and they may experience twitches or spasms in their muscles.

Who Gets FM?
As with many disorders, there are certain characteristics that are noticed. For the person with Fibromyalgia, it has been noted there seems to be a connection to Type-A personalities. Type-A personalities tend to be hard-working, driven, constantly on the go, ambitious, competitive and may even seek stressful situations or experiences. Unfortunately, Type-A personalities are also less likely to admit to being stressed and recognising that they need to slow down and relax more.

Fibromyalgia has also an association with what are called mood disorders. Typically this means that the person may register somewhere on the spectrum of depression. They may be over-sensitive and quick to be hurt emotionally by others. A dip in mood may trigger an FM attack and they have to take to the bed until the pain subsides and their energy level picks up.

Some studies have noticed that women tend to get fibromyalgia in greater numbers than in men. FM can affect people of any age.

How is FM treated?
As there is no known cure for FM, treatment tends to be around managing and reducing symptoms. In many cases fibromyalgia is treated with a mixture of drugs, complementary therapies and alterations to lifestyle.

The prescribed drugs tend to be anti-depressants for mood, and paracetamol for pain. FM patients do not react in the same way to these drug combinations and so there may be a period of trying out various medications until the patient discovers what works for them. Codeine may also be used to help reduce pain.

For some FM sufferers muscle relaxants and sleeping pills may be prescribed to help alleviate tension in the muscles and combat bouts of insomnia.

Lifestyle Changes That Aid Recovery
For the FM patient, lifestyle changes occur because of the pain and lack of energy anyway. However, it is the acceptance that the FM sufferer should pace themselves more and not stress about what they have not been able to accomplish. Opportunities to relax more often and not have to be driven to always need to work or take action are encouraged. Also a different way of perceiving experiences can aid better moods.

Hypnotherapy Helps Fibromyalgia
As stress may have been a major contributor to the onset of FM, it is vital to introduce a means for the FM patient to manage and reduce their stress levels. Hypnosis has proven to be highly effective in this area. Self hypnosis is a practice that when used regularly reduces stress and encourages relaxation and well-being.

A professional hypnotherapist who treats a FM patient may also assist in helping a change of perceptions that enable the FM sufferer to view life and any sense of what they “need” to do or “must” do differently. A hypnotherapist may also, through the use of regression, seek to aid the release of negative emotions experienced during past upsetting or hurtful events.

Self hypnosis is also used to help reduce pain and discomfort and eases tension in the muscles and encourages restful sleep. Self hypnosis can prove to be an important part of the total support structure for any FM patient helping them back to enjoying a fulfilling and purposeful lifestyle.

Can’t make it to the practice? Download this special hypnotherapy recording specifically designed for Fibromyalgia suffers >>> Help for Fibromyalgia
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Author’s Details
Steven Harold BA(Hons) DCH DHP
Clinical Hypnotherapist – Derby, Nottingham

Website: www.hypno-therapist.com Email: [email protected]
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Multiple Sclerosis and Hypnotherapy Derby Nottingham

Multiple sclerosis (also called MS) is one of those afflictions whose cause is unknown and for which a cure has yet to be discovered. MS, also referred to as “disseminated sclerosis” or “encephalomyelitis disseminata” is a disease which leads to damage of white matter. White matter in the body are myelin sheaths in brain and spinal cord.Who Contracts Multiple Sclerosis?
Generally, but now always women are more likely to suffer from MS and more often it starts when the person is in their later teens or early twenties. Early signs are tiredness and fatigue that is unusual and doesn’t seem to improve even with rest. MS was first observed and described in 1868.

Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms
With damage being caused to myelin and the corresponding nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord losing their ability to communicate a number of symptoms can be noticed. These can fall into the areas of motor (muscle control, paralysis), visual (blurred vision, pain), cognitive (memory loss, communication difficulty) sensory (tingling, numbness) and coordination (over or under movements of limbs). Other possible symptoms can affect sexual performance and the bladder and bowel functions may change to a sense of urgency and increased frequency.

Helping Multiple Sclerosis
As there is no known cure for MS, treatment tends to be around containment and managing the symptoms. People with MS may have periods where the symptoms subside substantially but then have a sudden flare up. They may discover their own MS triggers and employ strategies to manage their MS.

Drugs are prescribed for pain and corticosteroids are administered during severe attacks but this does not seem to have any long-term positive effect. There are also some medications that seem to reduce the severity of MS attacks and can slow the degeneration towards increased impairment and loss of ability.

Alternative and complementary treatments are therefore popular as a way of coping and for the MS patient boosts their sense of retaining and maintaining a level of control.

Multiple Sclerosis and Hypnotherapy
Hypnosis helps bring about a profound state of mental, physical and emotional relaxation. A person with MS may experience higher levels of stress, anxiety and worry. In doing so chemicals are released in the body (acid in the stomach etc) which may increase the severity of MS symptoms. Some MS sufferers believe that regular use a relaxation process such as self hypnosis helps manage Multiple Sclerosis symptoms and provides a time for the body to rest other than sleep.

Self Hypnosis Helps MS
Often a hypnotherapist will teach a person to use hypnosis with the aim of bringing a sense of tranquility and a better coping ability. Through feeling more relaxed and at ease, a person with MS will release their excess stress and feel better able to manage with life.

Self hypnosis is both easy to learn and the positive relaxation effects can be felt and enjoyed from the very first occasion it is used. The practice of self hypnosis can take just 5 minutes or 20 minutes or longer according to choice. This means that self hypnosis can be incorporated easily into even the most busiest of life styles.
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Author’s Details

Steven Harold BA(Hons) DCH DHP
Clinical Hypnotherapist – Heanor, Derby, Ilkeston, Ripley

Website: www.hypno-therapist.com Email: [email protected]
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Better Self Confidence Derby Nottingham

Confidence, at least healthy self confidence, is something most people would like to have more often. In seeking to become more confident though, it can be useful to explore what self confidence may or may not be.

So what is confidence?
Is it feeling superior to others? Is it being single minded or stubborn? Is it about being unaffected by other people? Is it about be self-centred?

A dictionary definition of confidence may be a helpful place to start. The Oxford Reference Dictionary states confidence is..

“firm trust, a feeling of certainty, sense of self-reliance, boldness”

Regarding the expression ’self-confident’ it states…

“having confidence in one’s own ability”

I think we all have our own idea about what self-confidence is and how we experience a sense of our own self confdence or lack of it. Your own ideas may be different from the above descriptions.

Why is it that some people seem to have more confidence than others?
This is a big question and yet it is a relatively easy to offer a plausible answer. It really comes down to how a person perceives the world and in particular how they perceive themselves.

If someone has a sense of themselves as being a person of low confidence, then they are more likely to retain that feeling of low confidence. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Their thoughts about themselves will influence their actions. Their actions will provide feedback to their perceptions of themselves.

A person who lacks confidence may avoid challengingh situations. They will want to stay within their comfort zone. In doing so, they are not learning anything new because they stick to what they already know. Their life can become routine and they feel like they are in a rut but fear jumping out of their rut. This “trap” increases their perception of lacking confidence.

How does a person get low confidence?
Well, if you accept the fact that no one was born with low confidence then you must also accept that low self-confidence must be a learnt response and behaviour. What can be learnt can be un-learnt.

Some possible reasons for low confidence are:-
1) A mother or father had low self-confidence and passed this way of being onto their children

2) Past achievements have been belittled by someone of influence

3) A mistake was made and the consequences (loss of job, relationship, money, home) made them feel bad about

4) A repetitious bullying experience at home, school or place of work

5) Mental, physical or emotional bullying

6) Unhealthy psychological processing of events (always seeing the negative side of everything)

7) Unrealistic goals that are never achieved

8.) Living in the shadow of a parent, sibling, friend or colleague who are consistently successful

9) Always being compared by a parent, sibling, friend or colleague to another person

10) An experience of being a victim that has been accepted permanently.

How do people who have good self-confidence keep it?
These people continue to do many things, consciously and unconsciously to keep their self-confidence in a healthy state. Yet, it is important to realise that although confident people may always appear that way, they too can also suffer doubts to their confidence.

A temporary period of low confidence can occur when some events do not go well for them. These could be:-

1) A personal relationship issue (separation, divorce etc)

2) Loss of a loved one through death

3) A demotion at work

4) Not getting that expected promotion at work

5) Loss of the home

6) A sudden shock (near fatal accident)

7) An illness

After this difficult experience has moved into the past and been dealt with, they will recover their self-confidence. In fact going through an upsetting experience can lead to stronger and more resilient self confidence because they were able to handle it.

There is an expression which highlights this …

“What doesn’t kill us has the potential to make us stronger”

Is it possible for someone with low confidence to gain super self-confidence?
Absolutely, however a better aim would be for healthy self-confidence. You see that over-confidence may be just as bad as low confidence.

I am sure we have all met that person who says a lot but when it comes to delivery, they are generally unable to live up to their hype.

In fact an externally over-confident person may be a person who suffers from chronic self-doubt and low esteem. They just try and mask their low esteem by a display of over-confidence. You may recognise them as being that person who was the loudest in your peer group. They may have been the bragger who said they could do so much and yet there was little evidence to support this.

A healthily confident person doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone, least of all themselves. They do their best. They aim to stretch themselves and are able to accept responsibility for success and failure.

The idea or experience of failure to a confident person is just feedback. It gives them more information enabling them to make a better decision and increases their chance of success the next time.

Another aspect to a person with healthy confidence is that they are themselves. They do not need to pretend to be something they are not. There is no need to brag or boast or talk-up their life. They are what you see and they can admit to being wrong.

Hypnotherapy and Better Self Confidence
Hypnotherapy is often used to help people with low confidence to feel better about themselves. This is acheived through putting to bed any past experiences, relationships or events that may have undermined the natural growth of the person’s esteem and confidence. The regular practive of self-hypnosis helps to reinforce the new way a person views themselves.

Healthy self confidence can make an enormous and positive impact on your life. If you have ever suffered from a lack of confidence, take control of your life and do something about it. A hypnotherapist can help you feel better about yourself and to then go after your life goals.

Hypnosis Helps Crohn’s Disease & IBD

Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Ulcerative Colitis & Crohn’s Disease
Crohn’s disease is both debilitating and painful. Crohn’s and Colitis are conditions that come under the term called Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). According to research it is not preventable but the unwanted symptoms of Crohn’s disease may be managed and even lessened by adopting various lifestyle practices.

Some of the symptoms of Crohn’s disease are abdominal pain, diarrhoea, loss of appetite and weight loss. Currently there isn’t a known cure available so patients are encouraged to manage their symptoms.

Stress, Anxiety Triggers Crohn’s Symptoms
Patients who have developed Crohn’s diseases report that their symptoms are exacerbated by stress and anxiety. It therefore follows that if patients are offered stress management knowledge and techniques to reduce their stress, they are more likely to keep the symptoms under control and suffer fewer flare ups.

Treatment Options
Amongst the treatment options are a drug regime to reduce inflammation in the affected areas of the digestive tract, including the bowels. Some drugs are also aimed at affecting the immune system which is believed to be overreacting and causing the problem. Another option is surgery. The surgery removes the section of the digestive system that is inflamed.

Other medications used to help Crohn’s patients are aimed at healing ulcers, boosting iron deficiency and reducing diarrhoea.

Some of these drugs have side-effects however it is vital that you should stay with the advice of your doctor and report any reactions that are not expected.

Managing Symptoms and Stress Reduction
Typically of a digestive disorder, and as has already been mentioned, stress, anxiety and worry can cause the body to react in a way that increases or re-starts painful and distressing symptoms. When we worry or become stressed about anything, the stomach can produce more acid that may then lead to ulcers. Excess stomach acid can irritate existing ulcers and any already sensitive and inflamed tissue.

Self Hypnosis Can Ease Crohn’s Disease Symptoms
Hypnosis, and particular self hypnosis can help reduce stress, bringing about a state of calmness and lessen the body’s overreaction. Hypnotherapy for Colitis, Crohn’s disease or any of the other digestive tract disorders typically helps to manage the symptoms which are affected by stress, allowing people to get on with living their lives.

A hospital in Manchester has been using self hypnosis to great effect in helping their patients with digestive disorders to control and manage their symptoms. A cure for Crohn’s disease may not be available yet but self hypnosis offers a way of learning to relax and reducing any need to get overly stressed about life’s unexpected events.

Typically your hypnotherapist will ask you for background information about your symptoms whether from the two main forms of IBD: Colitis or Crohn’s disease, and will work with the medical treatment you are currently receiving. Hypnosis should be viewed as an adjunct to your medical treatment and not as a replacement.

Most hypnotherapists will provide you with a self hypnosis recording or teach you self hypnosis to help you release your stress, feel calmer and keep your Crohn’s disease or Colitis symptoms in check.
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Author’s Details

Steven Harold BA(Hons) DCH DHP
Clinical Hypnotherapist – Derby, Nottingham

Website: www.hypno-therapist.com Email: [email protected]
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Stop Smoking Derby, Nottingham, Hypnosis

Stop Smoking with Hypnotherapy Derby Nottingham
More people are choosing to stop smoking and using hypnotherapy as their quitting help method. Smoking cessation in the UK is being encouraged not only by education and the long-term effects of smoking but also by legislation and the limitations imposed on where smokers can now smoke.

For decades health bodies in the UK have been trying to persuade smokers to stop smoking. They have utilised images of smokers who have suffered with some of the most life-threatening and debilitating illnesses associated with having a smoking habit. There was always a dilemma for any government. Being seen to recommend smoking cessation weighed against the loss of revenue collected in tax on smoking. Tax on alcohol and tobacco products has always been a source of income to any government.

Legislation Encourages Smoking Cessation
At long last, the government has now made it more difficult to smoke in public. In fact smoking cigarettes or any other means of inhaling and exhaling tobacco smoke has now been banned from all public places.

Employees in offices and factories have to stand outside of their work building in order to indulge in smoking. People who socialise in public houses or bars also have to vacate the building to smoke. Some pubs, fearful of losing trade, have added designated areas, for people to smoke.

All of these steps to encourage smokers to quit, including the use of horrific images of organs that have succumbed to smoking poisons, videos of smokers who are still alive but whose quality of life is impaired, dire warnings on each packet of cigarettes and the restrictions on where you can smoke seem to be working. More and more smokers are deciding to become ex-smokers.

How Do I Quit Smoking?
Now the main question for numerous smokers is not “if” they want to stop, it is “how” will they quit smoking. Most smokers will have had thoughts during their time as a smoker about quitting. They will have had several attempts to stop smoking.

Many smokers will have employed will-power or gone “cold turkey” which means that they use no other form of support to quit smoking. Other smokers who have so far failed to quit a number of times will try patches, gum, lozenges and zyban. They may still fail.

This is often when the failed quitter will seek one-to-one help to finally stop smoking permanently. Hypnotherapy is proving to be the quit smoking method of choice for many people. Hypnotherapy in London is helping more and more smokers to finally quit for good.

Hypnotherapy in London to Stop Smoking
A hypnotherapist knows how to help smokers change their misconceptions about what smoking is and what it is not. This different perception in tandem with effective suggestions in the form of hypnosis support a change of mind. Smokers who have been unable to stop previously find it so much easier to quit with hypnotherapy as offered in London.

The reputation of hypnotherapy, often spread by word-of-mouth has led to the opening of many hypnotherapy practices throughout the UK. Quit smoking hypnotherapists can now be found from Essex to London, Harley Street to Surrey.

There are some hypnotherapists who specialise solely on providing smoking cessation sessions. Most hypnotherapists provide support for a range of life issues that may be connected to the reason for smoking such as stress, anxiety, relationships, coping skills, low confidence alcohol consumption, and old behaviours that have yet to be resolved.

Stop Smoking and Better Self Confidence
One thing is for sure, quitting smoking with hypnotherapy seems to lead to a more successful life. Clients of hypnotherapy in London often report back that quitting smoking has led to them feeling a boost to their self confidence and from this they then feel better able to strive for a more successful life.

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Author’s Details

Steven Harold BA(Hons) DCH DHP
Clinical Hypnotherapist – Derby, Sheffield, Chesterfield

Website: www.stop-smoking-hypnosis.com Email: [email protected]
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Confident Public Speaking Hypnosis

Posted on November 14 2009 Add Comments

Public Speaking Nerves

Public speaking is one of the most popular or should I say unpopular tasks that many people dread being asked to do. Indeed a person can experience an instant state of panic just at the thought of speaking in public.

Fear of Speaking in Public

The fear of addressing an audience, group or meeting, whether that is a social or professional group can be all consuming and play on someone’s mind so much, it can affect their ability to get sleep.

Public speaking at meetings or presentations can be so frightening for some people that they will avoid promotion at work because they know that the new position will require them talk in front of others.

Why does speaking in public have such an instant reaction of fear in so many people?

Public Speaking Fear Causes

More often than not, the cause of the anxiety of making a speech is connected to a past event. It could be that the person remembers being ridiculed in front of their class as a small boy or girl. It could be that at university they did not prepare adequately enough for a presentation and forgot what they wanted to say. Some people just hate being in the spotlight and feel uncomfortable in being the centre of attention.

Public Speaking Hypnotherapy

The good news is that help is available to improve existing presentation skills and reduce and release public speaking nerves and anxiety. Hypnotherapy is one of the most effective forms of help. It changes “wrong” thinking, releasing anxiety and tension.

Hypnotherapy aids public speaking confidence by helping you to change the way you think or perceive your speech, presentation or meeting skills and abilities. It brings with it a state calmness and relaxation that then gets associated with giving a speech confidently and with authority.

Public Speaking Confidence

Hypnotherapy for speaking in public assists you to feel more assured and confident. Many of the clients I have helped over the years, as a natural result of changed thinking, talk about enjoying and relishing speaking in front of others. In fact, with the help of hypnotherapy sessions I provided, they have changed their view of public speaking so much that they often volunteer to speak.

If you would also like to release your public speaking phobia, hypnotherapy can help you. Just imagine what it would be like to feel confident and calm when talking to groups of people?

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Author’s Details

Steven Harold BA(Hons) DCH DHP
Clinical Hypnotherapist – Near Derby, Nottingham, Sheffield

Website: www.hypno-therapist.com Email: [email protected]
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Quit Smoking – Is it a habit or an addiction?

Wanting to Quit Smoking?
When many smokers contemplate stopping smoking they will think about what it is they are trying to stop. Part of that thinking, (depending on how hard or easy they find it to quit) may be whether smoking is an addiction or a habit.

Addictions are harder to quit
If you were to ask anyone the question “What is more difficult to end – a habit or an addiction?”, you would probably get a majority of respondees saying that an addiction is far harder to stop than a habit. In the light of this response, labelling something that we get an urge to do, as an addiction, can rob us of our power. It is almost like saying ‘I can’t stop because I am addicted’ or ‘I can’t stop because I am not in control’. An addiction has many people perceiving that they have little or no control. This is part of the issue with stopping smoking. If you view it as a total addiction and have accepted the above perception of an addiction then you have now made quitting smoking much harder in your mind.

Of course an addiction is quite a general term. There can be different types of addiction such as a physical or a psychological addiction. A physical addiction is when the body craves for something and a psychological addiction is when the mind believes it wants or needs something.

Now, coming back to stopping smoking, is it a physical or psychological addiction, both or something else? This area has many differing opinions. After all with over 4,500 chemicals entering the body with any single puff it would seem logical to assume that there must be some physical addiction.

Is Smoking, an addiction, or something else?
Yet when sleeping for 6, 7 or 8 hours and then waking up in the morning, the vast majority of smokers will NOT smoke immediately upon waking. They may have breakfast, or wash, or have a cup of coffee first before lighting up. If smoking really was a 100% physical addiction then surely the body having been without those 4,500 chemicals during sleep would be craving for a cigarette so much that the smoker would have to light up immediately. However in many cases this does not happen.

Most of major airlines have a non-smoking policy. Some of the long haul fights might last for 12-14 hours. This policy would be impossible to keep if smoking tobacco was a 100% physical addiction would it not? The vast majority of smokers find coping with a long haul flight no problem at all. Indeed the only time a smoker starts to get a bit needy is when he or she hears the captain announce “we are on our final approach”. To the smoker, this translates into “I can soon have a cigarette” and in thinking that way, the desire to smoke grows.

In the light of the examples above, can smoking really be a physical addiction?

Answering that question might just be enough to help you quit smoking for good.

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Author’s Details

Steven Harold BA(Hons) DCH DHP
Clinical Hypnotherapist – London and Essex

Website: www.stop-smoking-hypnosis.com Email: [email protected]

Financial Anxiety, Worries & Hypnotherapy

During these unusual and disturbing financial times it can be easy to slip into panic mode. The world and its financial health is going through a crisis of confidence during what has been called the credit crunch. When confidence slips people become more wary and even withdraw.

You may be worried about the safety of your current job. If you lose your job or your earning levels reduce the next thing you may get anxious about is how are you going to pay your bills. How will you pay your mortgage or rent?

All of these concerns are very real and appropriate. We are seeing the largest and previously considered, safest of corporations including banks struggle to survive. Some banks have already gone to the wall.

Hype Drives Anxiety and Worries

All the hype you read in the newspapers and watch on television just adds to the consensus that we are in for a difficult period. The end of the recession, which most financial analysts agree we are already in, no matter which country you reside in, is at best a year away and at worst more.

It doesn’t look good and it is natural for anyone to become more stressed and anxious as further unexpected and unwanted shocks to the financial system unfold.

How To Cope With Financial Threats

So how is the ordinary man or woman in the street expected to cope with all this financial doom and gloom? After all if you allow yourself to get caught up in the financial hysteria you could find yourself frozen by anxiety. You may find yourself doing nothing when you should be taking action. Your sense of worry or fear may make you de-motivated and apathetic when you should be using your motivation to take action.

Stress and Anxiety – Motivator or Demotivator?

Stress or anxiety can be a motivator too though. There are some people who seem to thrive on stress. So we don’t all react in the same way. One thing is clear though, losing your way and feeling a victim will not help you. Facing up to reality and taking action will not only enable you to feel good it will also motivate you to know that you can make a difference.

Self Hypnosis for Relaxation and Motivation

One practice that can really help keep your stress and anxiety to a manageable level is the relaxation method known as self hypnosis. Self hypnosis in one form or another has been used for hundreds of years as a way of relaxing and reducing stress.

Powerful Uses for Self Hypnosis

In fact mothers-to-be, who want a natural child birth will often turn to self hypnosis so that they can enjoy a more relaxed and comfortable pregnancy and birth for all concerned. Some dentists teach their patients self hypnosis as an alternative to anaesthesia. A Manchester hospital teaches its patients who suffer from IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) self hypnosis to help them reduce their stress and anxiety levels and control their symptoms.

Even high-flying executives of multi-national corporations have recognised the positive benefits of not only exercising the body at the local gym but relaxing the mind to enable them to function and handle highly challenging and ordinarily stressful events.

Relaxation Brings Clearer Thinking

A reduction in stress levels and anxiety can lead to clearer thinking. If we think more clearly we are more likely to feel motivated to take the action that we need to and cope with life’s ups and downs. Clear thinking can often lead to new ideas and solutions to previously considered insurmountable problems.

Drugs, Drink and Sex Are No Solution

Some people turn to drugs or drink or sex during stressful times as a form of escape. Unfortunately none of these tactics resolve anything and are actually more likely to lead to increased stress and worry.

Easy Self Hypnosis Brings Comfort, Peace and Inspiration

The basics of self hypnosis can be learnt in one 90 minute session. The session can be tailored to your individual needs too and is often supported by a self hypnosis recording to take away with you. The great news is that once you have learnt self hypnosis it is a skill for life. You can use it to help with so many future occasions such as in sport, public speaking, weight, alcohol, confidence, smoking and so much more.

The relaxation you enjoy through using self hypnosis can help you and inspire you to even greater successes than you have enjoyed before no matter what the financial climate may be. As you know, even in the gloomiest of times there are people who not only survive but they thrive. You can be one of them too.

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Author’s Details

Steven Harold BA(Hons) DCH DHP
Clinical Hypnotherapist – London and Essex

Website: Stress Management Hypnosis London [email protected][email protected]