Help is available

Help is available 

A recent newspaper article highlighted the very sad case of a young man who committed suicide some while after returning home from a tour of duty in Afghanistan. A terrible tragedy for this young serviceman, his family, friends and comrades, compounded by the fact that it appears he didn’t have access to the help he needed. There is, of course, no way of knowing whether therapeutic assistance would have helped him deal with the traumas he was going through. But, the evidence does show that therapy can play a tremendous role in helping people recover from even the most profound traumas. The Ministry of Defence have said in a statement “The mental health of service personnel is a top priority”. But, I’ve often wondered whether service personnel know that in addition to formal therapeutic provision (which may not always be as readily available as we all might wish) there is a network of trained and registered psychotherapists who offer some of their time at reduced cost (indeed some will even offer therapy for no fee) to anyone who is serving, or has served, in the forces. The offer also extends to the partners, adult dependants, and parents of current and ex-service personnel. Details of this service can be found at http://www.thelongboathome.co.uk 

One very effective way of working with the aftermath of trauma is Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing – or EMDR for short. EMDR was developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro in the 1980s. Since then it has developed a truly impressive research base which shows its effectiveness in treating psychological trauma arising from experiences as diverse as war-related experiences, natural disasters, assault, surgical trauma, road traffic accidents, sexual and/or physical abuse or neglect, and workplace accidents. It has also shown its effectiveness in treating phobias, anxiety, and fears around public speaking to name a few.  More details can be found at: http://www.emdrassociation.org.uk/home/index.htm

The process of EMDR rests on the incredible observation by Francine Shapiro that holding a distressing thought in mind whilst performing rapid eye movements, which your therapist shows you how to do, leads to the distressing thought becoming less and less disturbing, until eventually the traumatic experience becomes adaptively resolved. [Eye movements are the standard way of doing EMDR, but there are other equally successful ways of achieving the desired results for those who cannot perform the eye movements.] Accredited EMDR training is only available to suitably qualified therapists (such as UKCP or BACP registered psychotherapists and counselors). There are plenty of films of YouTube claiming to show EMDR in action. Sadly many of these bear little relationship to actual EMDR. The most helpful films, albeit consisting only of text and a voice over, are available at: http://www.emdrassociation.org.uk/home/EMDR_videos.htm

I am two-thirds the way through my accredited EMDR training and finding it more and more useful in my practice for treating a wide variety of issues. I particularly value the fact that EMDR fits really well with my main approach of hypnotherapy. Together the two approaches offer genuine possibilities for resolving even long-standing issues.

Importantly, psychotherapy is not just for people who have experienced life-threatening trauma. Therapy can also be of huge assistance even when life is generally okay or even good, except for that one issue that stumps us (whether it’s battling with a weight issue, premature ejaculation, fear of public speaking or indeed any of the countless human issues that so many of us face).

So, if you know someone who is struggling to live with the memories of deep trauma, or just struggling with a life issue, you can let them know they don’t have to struggle on in isolation. Confidential and professional help is available.

By David Corr

David offers psychotherapy and hypnotherapy at Waterloo Therapy Rooms, The Waterloo Body Station and The Aston Clinic. For more information please contact David via his website: www.corehypnosis.co.uk

Can A Good Cry Be The Answer?

As a British woman I have grown up with the British stigma that still seems to be around about the stiff upper lip. Whilst there is a time to show emotions, not just sadness but also happiness, sometimes all we need is a good cry and then we can start to laugh about life again.         

In Japan, crying is expected and there is even a “crying boom”. Instead of karaoke bars after work to wind down, business people watch weepy films called “tear films” in crying clubs, to help them let go of the day.

Whilst I am not suggesting that we all join crying clubs, it may be time realise that it is ok to cry, sometimes you just need to let it out. It is not a sign of weakness, quite the opposite. Many things in life do need to be mourned over and you often need time to heal. Whilst I believe in the power of laughter and positive thoughts I also believe in forgiving yourself and allowing yourself the time to heal. Life is a roller coaster and the “downs” help you to learn and appreciate the “ups”. You can have a good cry, let it all out, clear away the cobwebs and then laugh away with a new energy having let goof the old sadness.

'When you're upset and stressed, you have an imbalance and build-up of chemicals in the body and crying helps to reduce that,' says Dr Abigael San, chartered clinical psychologist.

New research is showing that tears could actually be a way of flushing out negative chemical from our bodies. So why is it good to allow yourself to cry?

Research has found three types of tears:

Basal Tears

Basal tears contain Lysozyme, a powerful and fast acing antibacterial and antiviral agent. This is the layer of protective fluid that covers our eyeballs. This fluid is secreted by the lachrymal glands, which sit above each eye. Without this basal fluid our eyes would be in danger of drying out and become susceptible to bacterial attack.

Eye Watering

One of the most important functions crying can have is to protect our eyes from irritants and foreign bodies, such as dust or getting rid of the acidic fumes when cutting onions. These tears are known as reflex tears. When our eyes come under attack from irritants, the lachrymal glands in our eyes start stimulating more fluid to wash away the irritant and drain it from the eye.

Emotional/stress-related tears

A study by Dr William H.Frey II, a biochemist at the St Paul-Ramsey Medical Centre in Minnesota, found that there is an important chemical difference between emotional or stress-related tears and those simply caused by physical irritants – such as when cutting onions. They found that emotional tears contained more of the protein-based hormones prolactin, adrenocorticotropic hormone, and Leucine Enkephalin (a natural painkiller), all of which are produced by our body when under stress.  

'Crying can help release tension and stress, as well as expressing emotions,' says Dr Abigael San,chartered clinical psychologist.

Crying is a natural part of us, just as is laughing. If you are crying all the time and feel like you can never find that high point, then you might need help to realise a feeling or help cope with stress. But it is ok to have a cry every now and then, to allow your body that emotional release. You will be surprised how much better you feel after it.

Sometimes we need to allow the tears out to make way for the laughter and those positive thoughts.

Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP can help you to deal with any stressors you have or grievances that you feel you need to “let go” of or “deal” with, so that you can laugh more and cry through tears of laughter instead of sadness.

By Erika Keat

Erika offers Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP at Waterloo Therapy Rooms on Wednesdays all day, please contact Erika for more information.      

© EKTherapies

Stop Smoking Discount. Today is the last day you can take advantage of 1/3 off your one-off stop smoking treatment ( quote blog ) - that's a 33% discount! *

Today is the last day you can take advantage of 33% off your one-off stop smoking session.*

Since the smoking ban came into force across the UK there have been changes in the country's overall health. Here are extracts from articles that illustrate this.

• Since Scotland introduced a ban on smoking in public places in 2006 there has been a 10% drop in the country's premature birth rate. Tobacco smoke has been linked to poor foetal growth and placenta problems. Plos Medicine analysed smoking and birthrates for all expectant women in Scotland before and after the ban. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17262897
• The number of emergency hospital admissions for heart attacks in England has fallen since the smoking ban was introduced three years ago, according to a new report. The decrease saved the NHS almost 8 and a half million pounds in just a year. 9th June 2010 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10271620  
• Ex-smokers Tracey Irving and Matthew Henderson knew smoking around their asthmatic young daughter Ellie was bad for her health, but did not realise that even smoking outside could harm her. Since they stopped smoking, Ellie's health drastically improved and she no longer needs an inhaler. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8583935.stm 

The government are now looking into banning smoking in cars; it is already illegal to smoke in cars used by the public such as taxis and buses, but it won’t be long before smoking in private cars will also be banned. Take the decision to stop smoking on your terms before the government forces you to stop.

You can take control of the power cigarettes have over you and take the first steps to enjoying life as a non-smoker in a positive and focused way. Book a one off Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP session today.

By Erika Keat

Erika offers Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP at Waterloo Therapy Rooms on Wednesdays all day, please contact Erika for more information.     

*book by 19th March 2012 to receive 33% discount

© EKTherapies

Wednesday 14th March is National No Smoking day. To help you become smoke free get 1/3 off One-Off Stop Smoking Treatment (quote blog) - that's a 33% discount! *

Smokers are being encouraged to kick the habit on No Smoking Day. No Smoking Day was established as a national event on Ash Wednesday in 1984, and it has grown in status for the past 28 years, helping people to find the motivation to become a non-smoker.

So what is the trick to giving up smoking?

The biggest thing is your own commitment and feeling that you want to become a non-smoker. Have you reached that point of being tired of being a slave to a cigarette and all the restrictions it brings with it? If yes then you are ready to become a non-smoker. You don’t have to know how you are going to do it, just simply that you want to do it. It is important to remind yourself that you are giving up nothing of value to you but gaining so much. Think of all the reasons to become smoke free, as you know there are plenty; health, smelling good, enjoying the taste of food, seeing your children or nieces & nephews get married, meeting your grandchildren, being around to a ripe old age with lungs that aren’t full of Emphysema, the money you will save. The list of the benefits you would get from being a non-smoker is endless and also personal to you and your motivation to succeed.  

How can Hypnotherapy help you become smoke free?

This is the bit of great news! Using Hypnotherapy you are 10 times more likely to remain a non-smoker. Although Hypnotherapy isn’t a magic wand and still requires your commitment, it is a very powerful tool that makes sure that you have the inner focus and determination to become a non-smoker in a positive way. There is no need for Nicotine patches or gum all you need is a one-off Hypnotherapy session along with your commitment and motivation to want to become a non-smoker. I work with a combination of Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP helping you to really understand what cigarettes mean to you on an emotional and psychological level and how you can take control of them and choose whether to have them in your life or not.  

“Thanks for the session, it has really helped and I haven’t smoked since!” Jehan, London  

How about if you have tried to stop before?

There are many reasons why stopping smoking may not have worked for you before. The main reason, I tend to find with the clients who come to see me, is because they didn't deal with the psychological addiction of smoking (rather than just the physical addiction). In fact, they probably put cigarettes up on some kind of a pedestal. Maybe they weren’t truly motivated to give up and didn’t really want to stop. Maybe their partner was pushing them to do it or it wasn’t the right time for them to give up. Perhaps their motivation was weak in certain situations or associations. For whatever reason they didn’t have the drive that they needed to start looking after their future health, to be able to breathe easier, taste food, not be out of breath when they climbed the stairs and so much more. If you start to focus on what you are gaining rather than the fear of what you may lose then all of a sudden cigarettes don’t seem that powerful any more.  

“It has been a month since I saw you and smoking hasn’t even crossed my mind, which is amazing. Thank you!” Ben, Surrey  

Feeling motivated to take control of your life and make that change?

The next step is completely in your hands. When you are ready to take control of the power cigarettes have over you, then give me a call 07952 619939 and we can talk further about helping you have the tools to become a non-smoker and remain one. Remember if you book your one-off session before Monday 19th 2012 you receive a 33% discount (quote blog). I look forward to speaking to you soon and helping you take the first exciting steps to becoming a non-smoker in a positive and focused way.

*book by 19th March 2012 to receive 33% discount

By Erika Keat

Erika offers Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP at Waterloo Therapy Rooms on Wednesdays all day, please contact Erika for more information.     

© EKTherapies

A look at the History of Hypnosis

We are living in a world of technology but at the same time the world is also looking for different ways to help people help themselves. We are starting to question if prescription drugs always are the answer, or if there is another way. Can we look after our body and mind? We are beginning to understand more and more how the power of the mind is incredible and if we work with it we can achieve the most amazing things. As this awareness grows so does the understanding of hypnotherapy. Hypnosis is no longer just what you see on the stage, almost like magic where the hypnotist seems to have power over people. It is now becoming recognised its abilities to help people to work with their own minds. The NHS now offers hypnotherapy; for some treatments like IBS it is one of the first treatment they recommend.

"The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitude of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." William James

So where did it all start? How long has hypnosis really been about? Here's a few of the people and organisations that have influenced hypnosis and hypnotherapy over the years:

Sleep Temples (2000 BC)

Ancient India, Hindus cure sick in sleep temples. This ideology was adopted by Imhotep, who was an Egyptian priest. Also by the Greeks – Hypnos means sleep

Paracelsus (1493‐1541)

Swiss physician. First to pass magnets over bodies. Claims of healing, as it was thoughtbody’s magnetism went out of balance with disorders and magnets could restore the equilibrium

Father Maximilian Hell (1720‐1792)

1771 Took up earlier theories about the body’s polarity and used magnets over naked bodies to heal. A Viennese doctor named Mesmer was one of his students

Dr Franz Anton Mesmer (1734‐1815)

Austrian physician investigated effects of using magnets and brought concept of Animal Magnetism to attention of Western scientists – also known as Mesmerism

James Braid (1795‐1860)

Scottish surgeon. Braid put forward the concept of “protracted ocular fixation” –prolonged gazing at an object, which he claimed fatigued certain parts of brain, causing trance. He coined it neuro‐hypnotism meaning “sleep of the nerves”. He later named it hypnotism

Sigmund Freud (1856‐1939)

Founder of psychoanalysis. Employed hypnosis in his early career but abandoned it, due in the main to being a poor practitioner of it and focused more on psychoanalysis. Defined sexual desire as being a prime behavioural driver

Carl Jung (1875‐1961)

Student of Freud but went on to disagree with much of his theories on psychoanalysis. Utilised hypnosis. Founder of analytical psychology, dream analysis and the concept of the archetypes, as well as synchronicity and collective conscious. Myers Briggs psychometric testis principally based on Jung’s philosophies

British Medical Association 1892

BMA unanimously endorse therapeutic use of Hypnosis, although they reject the theory of Mesmerism (animal magnetism)

Dave Elman (1900‐1967)

Helped promote medical use of hypnosis. His definition of hypnosis is still used today. No medical education, but trained the greatest number of physicians and psychotherapists in USA in hypnosis. Known for introducing and eliciting rapid inductions

Milton Erickson (1901‐1980)

Developed many ideas and techniques in hypnosis that differed from previous practice. His style, commonly referred to as Ericksonian Hypnosis, has greatly influenced many modern schools of hypnosis

British Medical Association 1955

23 April BMA approved use of hypnosis for psychoneuroses and also for hypnoanaesthesia, where it was accepted as beneficial for pain management in surgery and childbirth. BMA advised all physicians and medical students to receive fundamental training in hypnosis

UK National Occupational Standards (NOS) 2002 & 2010

2002 Department for Education and Skills first developed NOS for Hypnotherapy. Revised by Skills for Health and Hypnotherapy Regulatory Forum in 2010 Dave Elman’s definition. Hypnosis is a state of mind in which the critical faculty of the human mind is by passed and selective thinking established

Hypnotherapy today

Largely based on work of Milton Erickson ‐ regarded as “Godfather of modern day hypnotherapy”.  Erickson made use of the informal conversational approach, along with complex language patterns and therapeutic strategies. His  style was ‘modelled’ by Richard Bandler and John Grinder, founders of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)

So as you can see Hypnotherapy has been around a long time. I work using a combination of Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP. These three therapies work well individually, and extremely well together. Click here to see what kind of things these fantastic therapies can help you with.

By Erika Keat

Erika offers Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP at Waterloo Therapy Rooms on Wednesdays all day, please contact Erika for more information.     

© EKTherapies

My Week of learning new things

 

This has been an interesting week as it was filled with a couple of new experiences.

Monday I took up Michele Roberts offer of joining a Psychic Development Workshop in Bethnal Green, which was the first of four workshops. Unfortunately some people did not arrive, so it was just two of us plus Michele (the tutor). 

I have not had much experience with this sort of thing, and being a mild sceptic I was a bit apprehensive, as I did not know what to expect. It turned out to be a lovely experience channelling energy and light down through the chakras and into the earth via the grounding chord. Michele is very passionate about what she does and guided us beautifully in our trances.

I must be honest, I don’t know whether I saw what I wanted to see, or did not feel/see anything where I was supposed to, but it was a lovely spiritual evening spent in the company of two lovely ladies. I do admit that I left feeling more energised, and did sleep very well that night.

I have been learning a lot about marketing and what that involves. It has made me aware of the fact that I am actually quite bad at it! It is very hard work and mind boggling to know where to start and what to do. Twitter and Facebook are doing my head in! Anyone willing to help or advise me on this aspect of marketing, I will be most grateful.

I met a lovely homeopath Cassie Everett through a case study client and went to see her yesterday as part of a therapy swap. I have never had much interaction with homeopaths (or homeopathy) except for the few remedies I have bought in the past. 

What a lovely experience, even though it went against my grain by having to open up about aspects of my life that I would rather keep to myself. But, I left feeling more energised and lighter in my heart. I will take the “remedies” she prescribed with an open mind and fingers crossed…

I spent the rest of the afternoon packing my therapy belongings which we carted off to the new office in the late evening to avoid the rush-hour traffic. That was hard work. Packing and unpacking, never mind three trips back to the car and negotiating a number of fire doors and stairs, but we managed...just.

If you want to see how nice the office is, please book an appointment with me, or a training session with Wolf.

What a week, but well worth it.

By Walter Black

Walter offers Health Kinesiology and Integrated Touch for Health, as well as Reiki. He still needs to still complete his EFT case studies in case anyone is interested. Please visit www.walter-black.com for more information.