Anon

Phobias are very distressing and can grip on very tightly!  Most people with phobias know that their particular problem has been around for years and has taken over their life.  They will avoid situations or change their lives in order that they are “protected” from their worst nightmare.  They will make excuses to avoid that situation at all costs, and their particular phobia will be on their mind usually from the minute they wake up in the morning until they go to sleep at night.

Some people with a real, deep seated phobia, will spend their whole lives adapting to living with the phobia, because in some way they are also scared of actually being without it.  Do you have a particular phobia, and feel that no-one understands?  I am not talking of someone saying “oh I don’t particularly like spiders” – that is not a phobia.  If you have a real phobia you will understand.  You may have spent your life trying all different ways to conquer this, all to no avail.  As hypnotherapists, we are usually the last resort for these people, and I have even known people who have become so despondent, they have considered ending their own lives, to be free of this “thing” that plagues their life.

It can create not only huge amounts of tension and stress on the person, it can seriously affect their relationships with other people.  If their nearest and dearest do not have any particular phobia, they will tell the person “afflicted” to “shake themselves out of it!”.  People faced with their phobia can easily feel extremely anxious and may succumb to panic attacks, sweating, shortness of breath, chest pains, because they can see no way out of their situation.

Phobias are usually manifestation of deep seated emotions from experiences which may have taken place earlier in childhood, and hypnoanalysis is a very safe and efficient way of digging out and dealing with these phobias FOR GOOD.  Some therapies deal with the elimination of phobias by desensitization, which can be extremely lengthy and upsetting.  Hypnoanalysis is the most gentle and effective way of dealing with these difficulties once and for all.

There are other fears which, whilst not actually real phobias, can also be restricting, for instance, fear of flying, driving, dentist, spiders, etc., are usually easily dealt with.  Please read my therapies page for a more detailed explanation of the therapy that would be suitable for your particular difficulty.

Please be assured that you are not going “mad”, and certainly will not be judged for having any kind of phobia, as it is more common than you may think.  In the initial consultation, we can talk about your particular problem, and I will not do anything in the therapy which will make you uncomfortable in any way.  I do not make you “face your fear”.  Subconsciously you will be able to bring the original experience to the surface, look at it and understand it, and dissolve the need to keep hold of your phobia.

Sometimes it can be with you for years, others seem to “pop up” apparently without warning or reason.  Analytical therapy can help to release those bottled up emotions and let you live your life again.

Analytical therapy is the best therapy for this type of problem, and is very effective and people usually find that it resolves other “indirect” issues that they had as well!  However, with short term fears, such as fear of flying etc., suggestion therapy is the best method in that instance, particularly where there may be a restriction as to time, etc.

I have a whole list of the names of phobias, from things like emetophobia (fear of being sick), and claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces), to dendrophobia (fear of trees!), So I can prove that you are not the only person with this particular problem, and IT CAN BE SOLVED.

Have a look at my FAQ page to see what JULIET said about her therapy for her emetophobia.

Again, please feel free to phone me or email me for some initial reassurance.

Marilyn Monroe

Control of weight can be a particular problem for some people, who can go through years of yo-yo dieting, weight fluctuations, and maybe even depression and low self-esteem. We live in a very image conscious world, and people do feel pressured to “look” a certain way, or to be seen to be following some kind of food fad or weight loss regime! The media in particular is loaded with images of slim, supposedly “fit” people, and photographs are “doctored” to ensure that the model or person being photographed has no bumps or bulges!

Marilyn Munroe in her day was known as “the body”, and women longed to look like her.  The quote above is her answer to the question by a reporter as to how she felt, being considered a sex symbol!  Most people will not be aware, but she herself was a size 16!

Because people who may be overweight are made to feel worse by all the advertising, they don’t really know how to behave.  You are seen to be lacking if you are not on the latest fad diet or running yourself ragged at the gym! This can make you feel “abnormal”. Obviously there are health implications to consider and carrying less weight is of course much healthier for you. As you are probably aware, being overweight not only increases the burden on your heart and lungs, but also on your joints and muscles. It can also increase your risk of adult-onset diabetes, asthma and sleep disorders. Also, if you are younger, being overweight can also decrease your chances of having children, and children of parents who are overweight/obese, are much more likely to be overweight/obese themselves!

On the other end of the scale, people can have difficulties with weight control which has been taken too far, again usually triggered by the pressure to look good, sometimes amongst peers or within the media. This distorted thinking can lead to problems such as annorexia or bulimia, and these problems are not just restricted to young impressionable teenagers. These thought patterns can strike at any age, and more men are now suffering from this, again due to pressure to have a certain image. Whilst too much weight is unhealthy, too little can be just as unhealthy, causing damage to organs and the skeletal system.

Suggestion therapy is particularly effective and helpful for weight control if you have below 2 stone to lose. It can be also very good to give a boost in confidence. The therapy I do is tailored to you as an individual, as the habits that you have picked up will need to be adjusted to fit in with your lifestyle. It can put you back IN CONTROL and feeling much more “normal” and positive about the future. Some people with weight problems will also suffer with depression and guilt, which can be resolved with this safe and effective therapy.

Weight management for bad eating habits can usually be successful in three sessions (after the initial consultation). If necessary, a follow-up appointment can be given one/two months after the last appointment just to ensure that all is going well. Please telephone or email to make arrangements for an appointment.

However I also undertake a Supreme Weight Loss Programme using Gastric Band Hypnosis.  I use a combination of suggestion, cognitive behavioural therapy and programming to help with the main reason why you have such a weight problem – your emotional link to food and your need to find comfort!  The whole programme (in 4 sessions) deals with all these reasons to overeat and helps you to address the low self esteem, stress and anxiety that goes with being overweight and unhappy.

The first two sessions consist of the initial assessment and the start of hypnosis to tackle the comfort eating habits and your emotions, and the second two sessions actual take you through the simulated surgery.  It is necessary to investigate and deal with the reasons for the eating habits you have got into, before undertaking the virtual gastric band surgery to complete the process.

At the end of the four sessions your subconscious mind will believe that you have actually had Gastric Band surgery and you will feel full much quicker, just as you would have done if you had gone through the actual surgical operation.

You can also book a “follow up” appointment a few weeks later, to have the “band” tightened or loosened, just as you would after actual surgery, and this is undertaken at the price of a normal suggestion therapy session.

You may know someone who has had actual surgery and has not lost much weight.  This is because they cheat!  They liquidise their food and take high amounts of concentrated sugar in the form of liquidised mars bars etc., to get the kick they need without feeling over full.  Although they have had the surgery to give them the physical limitations, they have not dealt with the underlying anxieties, the reasons which led them to comfort eat in the first place, so they are still looking for that satisfaction.  The combination of therapies that I use, deals with those issues and helps people to rid themselves of the need to fuel their response to their mood, at the same time, convincing their mind that they have had the surgery!  And all this without the huge price tag!

If you feel that Gastric Band Hypnosis is something that you would like to look into, please contact me.   Please note however, that if you only have 2 stone or under to lose, this type of therapy is probably not suitable, and you would have good results with the three-session weight management that I offer.

With long term problems such as annorexia or bulimia, changing limiting beliefs therapy is particularly effective, as these conditions are very much connected to distorted thinking, and challenging this thinking is the best way to resolve this.

Please note that some will-power and MOTIVATION is required to make any long term commitment successful, but I know that following your treatment, you will feel fitter, leaner, and more in control of your life, ready to be the size you would like to be!

Have a look at my FAQ page to see what WILMA had to say about her therapy for her weight problems.

Please email or telephone for a private chat regarding your particular needs.

“Its impossible to be too strong at the decisive point”

Smoking, as I am sure you are aware, is the subject of so much publicity because of the health risks associated with it.  Apart from the usual reasons for stopping, eg., health, family, smell, money, etc., again there needs to be some personal motivation to ensure success with any therapy or method to stop smoking.
Over 70% of smokers actually want to stop!!

Napoleon knew what he was talking about.  If you want to make a decision about something, you need to have strong wills, and stick with your decision.  That is what people need to be aware of when they want to stop a habit such as smoking.  And it is a HABIT, NOT AN ADDICTION.  People have so many problems with stopping smoking because they believe it will be difficult, they believe that it will be really hard and that they are addicted to it.  So why don’t you wake up every hour or so during the night, needing a cigarette?  How come you can spend all day in the office or somewhere that smoking is forbidden, without keeling over with withdrawal symptoms?  I say again, SMOKING IS A HABIT, NOT AN ADDICTION!

Smoking is recognised as the cause for many chest problems, such as bronchitis, asthma, emphasemia, lung cancer, and other physical conditions, such as strokes, heart attacks, circulatory problems, to name but a few.   I am sure I do not need to go on about the benefits of NOT smoking.  You have to realise that for yourself.  Smoking is now becoming less socially acceptable, and more and more people are quitting because they are fed up with being shoved out in the cold or on their own to feed their habit.

I have trained under the “Rob Kelly Easy Smoking Cessation Method”, which has been taught by our Course Director of the IAPH, and has a 95% success rate!  Under this therapy, you can quit for good, and this can all be done in ONE SESSION.  The cost of this therapy is based on one month’s worth of the cost of cigarettes, and is therefore a real bargain.  The session lasts around one to one and a half hours and consists of some discussion relating to smoking and your reasons for stopping, and some therapy under hypnosis.

You do need to have some will power and motivation to be able to stop.  If you are being pushed to have hypnotherapy by your partner/family to stop smoking then it probably will not work.

If you really want to stop NOW and be a NON-SMOKER, telephone or email to arrange an appointment to see me.  There is no need for an initial consultation in this instance, but I will need to speak with you on the telephone before your appointment, to ensure that you are wanting to do this.   I do not want to waste your money.

Most people hang on to smoking, not because they want to, but because they are worried about putting on weight.   The only reason that happens is because of the feeling that “something” is missing, so therefore you need ”something” to replace it.  I therefore word the session sufficiently so that we replace the need to smoke with a sense of pride in yourself, and therefore that need for something else in the place of smoking is not required.  You will not feel the need to replace your habit with anything else, other than feeling really good about yourself!

Have a look at my FAQ page to see what DAVE had to say about his visit to quit smoking.

Also you only need to know one thing.  YOU are in charge of this, and YOU are the one who can do it!

Be prepared to walk out of my consulting room a NON-SMOKER and become one of the many who are now successfully kicking their habit!

“A life lived in fear is a life half-lived”
 Anon

Phobias are very distressing and can grip on very tightly!  Most people with phobias know that their particular problem has been around for years and has taken over their life.  They will avoid situations or change their lives in order that they are “protected” from their worst nightmare.  They will make excuses to avoid that situation at all costs, and their particular phobia will be on their mind usually from the minute they wake up in the morning until they go to sleep at night.

Some people with a real, deep seated phobia, will spend their whole lives adapting to living with the phobia, because in some way they are also scared of actually being without it.  Do you have a particular phobia, and feel that no-one understands?  I am not talking of someone saying “oh I don’t particularly like spiders” – that is not a phobia.  If you have a real phobia you will understand.  You may have spent your life trying all different ways to conquer this, all to no avail.  As hypnotherapists, we are usually the last resort for these people, and I have even known people who have become so despondent, they have considered ending their own lives, to be free of this “thing” that plagues their life.

It can create not only huge amounts of tension and stress on the person, it can seriously affect their relationships with other people.  If their nearest and dearest do not have any particular phobia, they will tell the person “afflicted” to “shake themselves out of it!”.  People faced with their phobia can easily feel extremely anxious and may succumb to panic attacks, sweating, shortness of breath, chest pains, because they can see no way out of their situation.

Phobias are usually manifestation of deep seated emotions from experiences which may have taken place earlier in childhood, and hypnoanalysis is a very safe and efficient way of digging out and dealing with these phobias FOR GOOD.  Some therapies deal with the elimination of phobias by desensitization, which can be extremely lengthy and upsetting.  Hypnoanalysis is the most gentle and effective way of dealing with these difficulties once and for all.

There are other fears which, whilst not actually real phobias, can also be restricting, for instance, fear of flying, driving, dentist, spiders, etc., are usually easily dealt with.  Please read my therapies page for a more detailed explanation of the therapy that would be suitable for your particular difficulty.

Please be assured that you are not going “mad”, and certainly will not be judged for having any kind of phobia, as it is more common than you may think.  In the initial consultation, we can talk about your particular problem, and I will not do anything in the therapy which will make you uncomfortable in any way.  I do not make you “face your fear”.  Subconsciously you will be able to bring the original experience to the surface, look at it and understand it, and dissolve the need to keep hold of your phobia.

Sometimes it can be with you for years, others seem to “pop up” apparently without warning or reason.  Analytical therapy can help to release those bottled up emotions and let you live your life again.

Analytical therapy is the best therapy for this type of problem, and is very effective and people usually find that it resolves other “indirect” issues that they had as well!  However, with short term fears, such as fear of flying etc., suggestion therapy is the best method in that instance, particularly where there may be a restriction as to time, etc.

I have a whole list of the names of phobias, from things like emetophobia (fear of being sick), and claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces), to dendrophobia (fear of trees!), So I can prove that you are not the only person with this particular problem, and IT CAN BE SOLVED.

Have a look at my FAQ page to see what JULIET said about her therapy for her emetophobia.

Again, please feel free to phone me or email me for some initial reassurance.