Tips for Beating Blushing

It is not surprising that in today's "got to look good" society, facial blushing can cause people a lot of stress and worry. At its extremes, the embarrassment from blushing can become so acute that the sufferer avoids social contact as a last resort to avoid the problem.

So what can you and Hypnotherapy do to help yourself to control your blushing?

Acceptance
The first thing to understand is that blushing is a perfectly natural human response. Everybody blushes, of course some people blush more than others but it is a reassuring fact that blushing is a matter of degree, not whether you do or don’t blush. It is a natural occurrence. When you blush, the blood vessels in your face widen allowing more blood to pass through to the skin. The tiny muscles in your blood vessels usually keep the vessels slightly squeezed, but during a blushing episode, nerves in your body send signals to relax these muscles. Because this action is an automatic response, it is nearly impossible to stop once the action has begun. In fact, the harder you try to stop blushing, the redder you will usually get. Acceptance is the first step to controlling your blushing.

Relax
Blushing tends to increase as people start to get embarrassed about their embarrassment, creating a sort of vicious circle. The tenser you get as you start to blush, the more the blood is forced to the face. One trick is, when you feel it coming on is to deliberately drop your shoulders and relax your body. Breathe through your stomach, pushing it out as you breathe deeply and calmly, focusing on calmness or what is happening around you rather than not blushing. This can take a bit of practice to become second nature, so practice deep breathing and focusing on other things on a daily basis. You can learn all of this and more with a Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP session with Erika.

Accept it, don't Fight it
You need to shift your relationship to the blushing. At the moment you are trying to hide it because you are embarrassed about it. If you can work on relaxing about it, it will get better. This will be helped by you accepting it as a current part of yourself. You can try saying to yourself "At the moment, I am a blusher". It sounds strange, but if you can bring yourself to like that part of you more, it is more likely to go away.

Hypnotherapy can introduce you to some techniques that you can employ and keep working with on your own in the future.

Other peoples' opinions
Part of the embarrassment about blushing is caused by the thought that others will see you as weak or silly. However, everyone has had the experience of being embarrassed, it shows in people in different ways. Even people who appear as very confident have their moments of self-consciousness. Remember too that often it can seem a lot worse to you then it appears to be. People are so self-absorbed that they probably haven’t noticed you blushing; in fact it is often only your own change in behaviour that draws attention to it. Does this sound like your experience?


People tease you
If people tease you and point out your blushing they tend to do this because of your reaction to them. If when they tease you, you are able to smile with them, it will usually lessen the impact of their joke and make it less likely that they will push that button in the future. This can be done in a healthy way that does not internalise your anguish, but instead shares it!


Retrain your mind
Hypnotherapy can help greatly as you can train your mind and body to relax as you feel the blushing coming on, or have the thought that you might blush. Hypnotherapy can help you to feel more confident and at ease with the situations that make tend to make you blush.

Your Standards
Remember, you are an unique individual. Like everyone else you have different factors that contribute to make you the person you are. Accept yourself for all that you are, blushing is just one of those things that make you you. The more you accept it the more you won’t mind if it happens. The more you don’t mind the less it will happen as you refind that inner confidence in you.

Ring Erika for a no obligation chat and see how along with your commitment hypnotherapy, CBT and NLP can help you achieve your goals.

By Erika Keat

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


© EKTherapies

Smoking Ages You

We all know smoking is bad for our health; there is no hiding from the fact any more with cigarette packets carrying shocking images and smoking being banned from advertising. But the fact that smoking ages you will be a lurking demon in many people’s minds.The beauty industry is worth billions of pounds, but the most effective product available to help your skin remain youthful is stopping smoking.

“For smokers, middle age starts in the early 30′s as the tell tale wrinkles around the mouth and eyes begin to appear. Young female smokers are likely to be wasting their money on anti-ageing face creams if they continue to smoke,” says Amanda Sandford from Action on Smoking Health.

Smoking ages women more than men, a fact supported by many years of research by reputable medical bodies. The ageing effects of smoking on the skin are worse for women, who are much more likely to develop“smoker’s face” than male smokers. For women smoking and ageing are inextricably linked. Smoking is also linked to early onset of menopause.

Remember, when you look at your skin some of the damage caused by smoking won’t appear until ten to twenty years after you began to smoke. So if you haven’t been smoking that long and you don’t see much damage yet – don’t assume it won’t happen.

“Smoking exerts such a noticeable effect on the skin that it’s often possible to detect whether or not a person is a smoker simply by looking at his or her face. Smokers have more wrinkles and their skin tends to have a greyish pallor compared to non-smokers,”says Professor Young, Head of Dermatology at Guy’s School of Medicine, London.

So just how does smoking affect the skin in both men and women?

• Smoking restricts blood flow through the capillaries (tiny veins near the skin’ssurface) preventing oxygen and nutrients getting to the skin
• Smoking increases production of an enzyme which breaks down the supply of collagen to the skin’sstructure. Collagen supply is vital to the skin’s elasticity; it decreases with age but smoking cigarettes accelerates this process
• Smoking reduces the body’s store of vitamin A which provides protection from skin damage
• Smoking gets in the way of absorption of vitamin C – a vital antioxidant for skin protection and health
• Smokers’continual puckering from drawing on a cigarette and squinting in reaction to the cigarette smoke results in deeply wrinkled skin around the eyes and mouth –classic signs of ‘smoker’s face’

Smoking statistics will clearly tell you the risk of death and disease from your smoking habit. This is frightening enough but the fact that it ages us too is something we should be aware of.

This is what you might expect your skin to look like if you continue to smoke:

• Dull appearance to the skin – loss of skin glow and vitality
• Discolored skin (an ashy look on white skins)
• Deeper wrinkles around the mouth and eyes
• Loss of tone and elasticity above and beyond the normal ageing process

The damage done from smoking cannot be completely reversed, but the sooner you stop and begin to look after your skin and diet then you can begin to get back your youthful skin and body.

Take the first steps today to becoming a non-smoker in a positive and focused way. Your commitment and a one-off Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP session is all it takes. Hypnosis makes it 10 times more likely that you will quit smoking for good. During the session we will look at all your smoking triggers and make sure you have the coping mechanisms, motivation and determination to become and remain a non-smoker. Why wait until the damage of smoking is showing on your skin and in your body. Take control today, call Erika see how you can take the first steps to becoming smoke-free today.

“I haven't touched a cigarette!! Today is my 16th day as a non-smoker - I'm so proud of myself but don't want to get complacent. The first few days were really tough, but since then it has got easier and I think about it less and less. I've even been out with people at work or pub and have just stood with them whilst they smoke and it’s actually been fine . I'm starting to feel better in myself, have a bit more energy and plan to start jogging next week. So thank you very much! I'm still taking it one day at a time but those days are getting easier.” Lisa, London who had a one-off Stop Smoking treatment with Erika at EKTherapies.

By Erika Keat

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

© EKTherapies

15 Days into Stoptober - How Are You Doing?

We are 15 days into Stoptober. How are you doing? Have you taken up the challenge? If you have you should be well on your way to being a non-smoker for good. The Nicotine is now well out of your system and your body has started to repair itself. Well done and keep going!

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

Stoptober is Nearly Here – It’s Time to Stop Smoking in a Positive and Focused way

Smokers are being encouraged to kick the habit in Stoptober. During October thousands of people across England are taking part in a new 28 day challenge to stop smoking – if you stop smoking for 28 days, you are five times more likely to stay smokefree. With winter around the corner, it couldn’t be a better time to stop smoking.

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 

 

Overcoming a Fear of Flying

Do you dream of visiting Australia but settle for Bournemouth? If so you are not alone, fear of flying is a surprisingly common phobia that can limit your horizons both in business and pleasure. Using the powerful combination of Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP you can understand the fear of flying psychology. In a positive, quick and easy way you can overcome your fear and plan your dream holiday instead of talking yourself out of taking it.

Fear of flying is also known as aerophobia or aviphobia, it is caused by the unconscious part of your mind warning you that it is dangerous to get on a plane. This is an important part of our brain that helps to keep us safe and out of harm’s way. This part of your brain is developing all the time form the day you are born and on. Remember when you were growing up and an adult tells you “HOT” to stop you touching the stove. Your unconscious brain learns that when you're told “HOT” that you should be careful. However in the case of flying phobia that protection mechanism has become over sensitive, often from misinformation and is now a casing you to associate flying with danger.

Some people who are afraid of flying they have never even stepped foot on a plane yet they still have this fear. This fear would be appropriate if the plane was missing a wing or was obviously not in a condition to fly, but statistics show that flying is in fact one of the safest things you can do. 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

Hypnotherapy, CBT and NLP will help you to understand why you have this fear, where it comes from and help you to feel relaxed and safe when flying. In your tailor made session you will learn relaxation skills that can become automatic when practiced and perfected. Hypnotherapy can help you to learn a new pattern of behaviour, helping you to simply relax and start to enjoy the freedom of flying and all the wonderful places you can visit.

Remember that during a session you remain in complete control, learning the skills you need to take them out of the session and put them into practice. You will leave the session feeling positive, motivated, confident and in control. All you need to do is bring you commitment and determination to become someone who can fly without fear.

By Erika Keat

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

© EKTherapies

Does Hypnotherapy Really Work?

When I tell people I’m a hypnotherapist, they often ask “does hypnotherapy actually work ?”

For years within science, there were debates as to whether hypnosis existed or worked and sceptics often claimed that people in hypnosis were play-acting. But that has now all changed. In February 2002 the first conclusive scientific proof that hypnosis produces clear changes in the mind was presented by Professor David Spiegel of Stanford University School of Medicine in California at the America Association for the Advancement of Science conference.

Eight subjects were hypnotised and monitored using special scanning techniques called PET (Positron Emission Tomography) which measures blood flow to the brain.

Professor Spiegel said: “When people believe there is colour in the picture, their brains process the colour even if it isn’t there. They are not just telling you what you want to hear; the way their brains respond to the information is actually being changed. Under hypnosis, believing is seeing.”

Spiegel’s findings demonstrate that hypnosis has biological as well as psychological effects, disproving the cynics and supporting the application of hypnosis in a medical setting.

Spiegel said: “There has been a whole school of argument that hypnosis is nothing more than an exaggerated form of social compliance. This is evidence that they are not just telling you what they think you want to hear. They are actually perceiving things differently.”

For many of us, having scientific proof will help us to believe in hypnotherapy but there will be people who ask: “Is it all just a placebo?” With any therapy or drug there is always a placebo element to it – you believe that by taking this pill or receiving that therapy you will get better. By telling this to your mind it begins to happen. Hypnotherapy in that aspect is no different from any other treatment but it is also highly effective at changing the patterns we get into so that we can look at things in a new way and achieve our goals. Even the NHS has now recognised the benefits of hypnotherapy.

Look at other aspects in life where we are driven by our subconscious and the messages around us, such as in the media where the subliminal messages we pick up around us can influence our choices.

Marketers use branding to tap into our subconscious – take McDonalds for example. Their colours are red and yellow/golden, that’s because, according to the colour theory, these colours are known to subconsciously trigger hunger and/or induce excitement. These colours encourage guests to spend more and leave quickly, which is exactly what fast food restaurants want you to do. McDondalds has now started making the stores green, which is a colour we associate with health and the environment. As the world is becoming more conscious about the effects that certain foods have on our health and the damage we are doing to the planet, McDonalds is moving with the times making their fast food restaurants remain appealing.

Personally I have experienced many clients changing the way they look at a situation, their perception and becoming much happier people. I find my work so rewarding, seeing someone transform from the very first session full of anxiety to now enjoying life far more.

It is time to start working with your mind, take the first steps today to achieving your goals.

Click here to see what kind of things can be treated using Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP.


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

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

How to Choose the Right Therapist for You

The benefits of hypnosis are becoming more and more recognized, with the NHS using hypnosis as the main treatment for certain conditions and a supporting therapy for many more.


But how do you find the right hypnotherapist for you? With the knowledge of the internet at the click of the button, the amount of information we can access can be overwhelming, and which person to see can become a hard decision to answer. Just because someone has a flash website or is at the top of the search engines doesn’t necessarily mean they are the best therapist for you.

When I am asked by my clients how do I find the right therapist for me? I always say the best option is to have someone recommended to you, but this is not always possible. Even if you have someone recommended it is always very important to talk with the therapist and make sure you can see yourself working with them, that you like their working style and approach.

Any therapist should be happy to have a phone conversation with you. Talk with the therapist and see if you like how they sound. It is important that you feel comfortable with the person, that they fill you with trust in their abilities and also that you trust them to keep your sessions confidential.

Lots of therapists including myself offer a discount for the 1st session. I offer the first session at half price. The reason I do this is so that people can come and meet me, find out more about what hypnosis is and my working style and how we can work together.The first session normally contains a short hypnosis so that you can feel what hypnosis is; you leave the first session with a new excitement, empowered that you can achieve your goal.

To find out more about how I work please give me a call for a non-obligation chat and see how Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP can help you to take the steps to achieving your goals.

By Erika Keat

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