In the UK, society's relationship with homosexuality has progressed
in the last few years. It is now more acceptable to be lesbian, gay or
bisexual (LGB) and homophobic attitudes are more frowned upon. However
many people are still exposed to homophobia at home, school, work etc.
LGB people are more likely to experience a mental health issue.
Not only are they faced with coming to terms with their own sexuality
but they are often exposed to the homophobic attitudes of the people
around them.
Some people have trouble coming to terms with being gay, others
may accept their sexuality but can be deeply affected by the homophobic
attitudes they have been exposed to. This can often lead to low self
esteem and other issues.
Counselling is a talking therapy that can be very beneficial
for people who are experiencing difficulties that may be related to
their sexuality.
Discussing your sexuality can sometimes involve talking about
issues you are uncomfortable with. I aim to put my clients at ease by
creating a safe, warm and friendly environment so they feel free to
talk openly about what is distressing them. I want to help clients to
resolve their issues so that they can really benefit from a fresh
outlook.
I work flexibly with people in Waterloo, Central London and via Skype. Please contact me to book a session or to discuss your situation in more detail to see whether I can be of help.
Written by Jonny Sibbring
Jonny offers Counselling Sessions on a Tuesday at Waterloo Therapy Rooms. Check out his website for more details jonnysibbring.co.uk
Tuesday 23 October 2012
Monday 22 October 2012
Did You Watch The Plane Crash On Channel 4?
Just in case you haven’t managed to watch The Plane Crash on Channel 4 here is their description of it:
“This dramatic new documentary follows an international team of scientists, experts and elite pilots as they deliberately crash land a 170-seat Boeing 727 passenger jet to provide a once-in-a-generation chance to study the mechanics of a plane crash in real time.
The documentary recreates a common type of crash - a serious, but survivable 'forced landing' - in order to study the crashworthiness of the aircraft's airframe and cabin, examine the impact of crashes on the human body, and look for possible means of increasing passenger survivability.
By crashing the plane, the programme also aims to answer key questions - such as whether sitting at the front or the rear of the aircraft, wearing a seat belt, and whether you use the brace position - can make the difference between life and death.
Fed Ex captain James 'JimBob' Slocum, who has previously survived three plane crashes, pilots the passenger jet, nick-named 'Big Flo' (after crew member Leland 'Chip' Shanle's grandmother, Florence) on her last flight. Putting their lives on the line, JimBob and the rest of the crew aim to parachute from the plane just minutes before impact, after setting it on a crash course.
The plane will then be flown remotely until impact from a chase plane by former US Navy pilot Leland 'Chip' Shanle - making it the world's biggest remote controlled aircraft. Flying at 140 mph, and descending at 1500 feet per minute, the aircraft will crash land nose down in a remote and uninhabited area of Mexican desert.
Rather than carrying passengers, the plane is packed with state-of-the-art research equipment, including three crash test dummies worth $150,000 each (plus a number of simpler sand bag dummies) and accelerometers to measure the G forces on passengers.
Dozens of cameras record the crash from inside the aircraft, on the ground, in chase planes and even on the pilot's helmet.” http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-plane-crash/episode-guide/series-1/episode-1
Many people have a fear of flying and may think I am crazy to suggest watching this program, but it is a fascinating program about airplane safety. Air travel remains statistically safer than crossing the road and flying has been proven to be twenty five times safer than driving your own car.
- 21,000 people (on average) die on the road in the USA in a 6-month period. This is approximately the same amount of all commercial air travel fatalities worldwide in 40 years
- More than 3million people fly every day
- A Boeing aircraft takes off or lands every 2 seconds somewhere in the world – all day, every day
- 1 plane in 5 million crashes. Even then people still survive plane crashes, going on to fly again
By Erika Keat
Erika offers Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP at Waterloo Therapy Rooms on Wednesdays all day, please contact Erika for more information.
© EKTherapies
Wednesday 17 October 2012
Treating Anxiety
In 2009 The National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health
reported that around 4.4% of the adult population in England were suffering
from generalised anxiety disorder.
4.4% may not sound very much, but this equates to around 2.3
million individual people! If we add in
all of the other various anxiety disorders (such as Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder, phobias, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder etc.,) the number of people
whose lives are blighted by some form of anxiety is probably close to 3
million. That’s a huge amount of human suffering.
Anxiety is intimately related to fear. Aaron Beck, one of the founders of Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy, says that fear is the anticipation of being damaged in
some way, while anxiety is our felt emotional reaction to that fear (Beck, A,
T. 1991, Cognitive Therapy and the
Emotional Disorders). Winter, in his
classic 1966 book - Origins of Illness
and Anxiety - defined anxiety as a state of chronic emergency against a
threat (real or imagined), where the individual is so confused and afraid as to
what action to take that too little or no action is taken.
Whenever we perceive a threat we have feeling and thinking
responses (of which we may or may not be conscious), which lead to some form of
behavioural response:
The Fight or Flight response is a deep part of our biology
and is vital for keeping us safe.
However, many of the threats we experience in the modern world do not
require fight or flight (road rage, for example, is in part a fight response
and is rarely, if ever, the most appropriate response). Winter also pointed out that sometimes our
response is to ‘freeze’ i.e. take no appropriate action (which as we all know
so often just makes matters worse). The
‘ideal’ response to life is ‘flow’ – where we meet life’s challenges in
resourceful, appropriate and effective ways.
The fight, flight and freeze responses are governed by the
‘emotional’ brain. These are deeper
lying brain structures (such as the amygdala) over which we have little or no
direct conscious control. But, there are
a great many things we can do to manage stress and anxiety more
effectively. One very simple, yet
profoundly effective, way is the 7-11 breathing technique. Try it now:
Breathe in
(ideally through the nose) comfortably for the count of 7. Momentarily hold the breath and then breathe
out slowly and comfortably (ideally through the mouth) for the count of 11. Continue breathing this way until you feel
relief (but do no more than a couple of minutes at a time). This is an unusual breathing pattern, so may
take a little bit of practice. The
results are worth it though as it is the most effective breathing technique I
have come across for bringing quick relief to many forms of distress.
Another favourite of mine is the ‘dial-down’ technique:
Picture a
meter in front of you that runs from 0 – 10 (where 0 = beautifully calm and
relaxed and 10 = the most stressed/anxious you can imagine being). Notice that the calm and relaxed zone of the
scale (between 0 and 3) is green, the next zone (4 – 6) is amber and the
remainder (7 – 10) is red. Sense how you
are feeling and see the needle on the dial registering that value (e.g. 7 in
the red zone or 5 in the amber zone). Now
see a dial connected to the meter and reach out and place a hand on the
dial. Slowly, and with expectation,
begin to turn the dial toward your left-hand side. As you turn the dial down see the meter
needle moving down. Keep dialling down
until you are well into the green zone.
As you do this feel yourself becoming calmer, and your thinking
clearer. Repeat as necessary. The trick to having this technique really
work for you is to begin dialling down as soon as your feelings of stress or panic
get into the amber zone. With practice
you won’t have to wait until things are already in the red zone.
These are just two examples on the many effective self-help
techniques that can assist us in manage anxiety, panic and stress reactions.
Sometimes though, we need to go a step further and address
the cause or causes of our anxious, stressed responses. This is where a skilled therapist comes
in. Treating anxiety is one of my
specialisms. Using a combination of
cognitive behavioural techniques, supportive and analytical hypnotherapy and
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (see my blog “Help is available” 28th
March 2012) genuine resolution can be achieved.
If you would like any further information about treating anxiety or the
way in which I work, please do contact me via my website and/or post a comment
here.
© David
Corr July 2012
David is a
UKCP registered hypno-psychotherapist who has also trained to Master
Practitioner level in NLP. He offers integrated psychotherapy and hypnotherapy
at Waterloo Therapy Rooms Waterloo Body Station, The Aston Clinic in New Malden and also in Epsom,Surrey. For more information please contact David via his website:
www.corehypnosis.co.uk
Monday 15 October 2012
15 Days into Stoptober - How Are You Doing?
If you haven't taken then plunge then it's time to Stop Smoking in a positive and focused way !
Are you ready to kick the habit for good and stop being a slave to the cigarette ?
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.
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.
By Erika Keat
Erika offers Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP at Waterloo Therapy Rooms on Wednesdays all day, please contact Erika for more information.
© EKTherapies
Monday 8 October 2012
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
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