Have you got the yips?

The “yips” is a condition that can turn a promising sports career into a case of what might have been. But what is it, how does it work and can it be cured? The following report is a summary of an article which appeared in the Metro newspaper in March 2012 by Journalist Ross McGuinness.

The yips are normally associated with golfers – perhaps the most famous victim of the golfing yips when putting is Bernhard Langer, the German two-time Masters champion who first encountered the problem as a teenager. Bernhard was 18 years old when he won his first tournament on the European tour and this is when he first developed the yips. Langer continued to battle the yips throughout his career, even changing his putting grip several times to alleviate the condition.

The yips is not however exclusive to golfers. Steve Hooker is the Olympic pole-vaulting champion. The 29 year old Australian has jumped the second highest mark in the history of the sport however we will not be seeing him at the London Olympics this year. Steve has pulled out because he is struggling with an injury of the worst possible kind – the pole vault yips. Steve says “to be at your best, a pole-vaulters mind must be clear. If you have numerous calculations going through your head on the runway and through take-off, it just doesn’t happen. Sometimes I run in and I don’t take off. It’s as simple as that.”

Steve Hookers condition shows that even an Olympic and former world champion can succumb. Darts player Eric Bristow, snooker’s Stephen Hendry are just another couple of the famous names who have been affected. And it is not even just sports people who suffer with the yips – dentists, surgeons and even singers and musicians have experienced it.

The yips can manifest itself as a shake, tremor or a twitch while putting in golf or by not being able to physically let go of a ball for example in Cricket when bowling. It therefore manifests itself physically, however Dr Mike Rotherham from the Metaphorics Performance Consultants in Sheffield believes it is formed psychologically and is often caused by some kind of mental trauma associated with the action. Dr Rotherham reports that sometimes people panic or feel trapped inside the process and they then start overthinking, analysing, thinking some more and just heightening the experience. People who suffer with the yips often describe it as like a mental hesitation as they are trying to execute the skill, almost as though the brain is telling you it’s a dangerous situation. When this happens, the brain is irrationally saying that the specific process is more important than it actually is, like it is life and death; when in reality it’s not. 

So if someone has the yips, what can be done about it? What most people try to do is trick the brain to think they are doing a new skill so they’ll change aspects of their technique or change the equipment they are using. This can help initially however usually the yips will come back because the brain realises what has happened. Typically it affects people who are quite obsessive, highly perfectionist in their thinking and quite self-conscious. 

The search for a complete cure continues however experts have been very impressed with the impact of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). This is a psychological version of acupuncture which releases the energy blockages that often cause negative emotions. EFT works on an instinctive part of the brain where our unconscious thoughts and behaviours are stored. EFT has been successfully used in the UK for over 10 years now and has a rapidly growing following, particularly in the field of complementary medicine.

If you would like to find out how EFT could help you with your game of golf, then please give me a ring or drop me an email.

Christy

01252 334377 |  07527 576245
Christy@christyhypnotherapy.com
www.christyhypnotherapy.com

Hypnotherapy in the news

Hypnotherapy allows patients to manage their pain, claims psychiatrist  

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal's Health Journal, director of the Center for Health and Stress at Stanford University Dr David Spiegel explained that hypnosis allows people to become completely absorbed, much in the same way as they might do while reading a book.

The psychiatrist, who has 40 years of experience, said: "We can teach people how to manage pain and anxiety. There has been this mistake in medicine that if you have a certain amount of tissue damage, you should feel this amount of pain. But many things can alter how much pain you feel."

New York psychologist Dr Jeanne Safer told the same resource that using hypnotherapy to combat her leukaemia lets her feel more comfortable before examinations and surgery, despite starting out as a sceptic.

Among the most recent medical evidence to support this type of therapy was published by researchers in Sweden this month; a team from the Sahlgrenska Academy of the University of Gothenburg found that hypnotherapists can provide lasting relief for sufferers of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), reported Huff Post Lifestyle.

Magnus Simren, the author of the study, explained that the "deep relaxation and individually adapted hypnotic suggestions" were found to reduce people's IBS symptoms.

Hypnotherapy in the news - Hynotherapy for pain alleviation in dentistry

A growing number of organisations are promoting the use of hypnotherapy in dentistry as a means to alleviate pain, reports Worldental.org. A rising number of anecdotal cases suggest that hypnosis could replace other methods of pain relief - like injecting anaesthesia medication - when practised by trained professionals.

This is because hypnosis "can be used as a means to tell your subconscious that 'the drill will not hurt', or that 'the tooth extraction is a fast and painless process'," for example.

Some bodies, like the International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association, are so convinced in its ability to help patients that they are advocating the provision of hypnotherapy courses in complementary health care.

Similarly, the USC School of Dentistry (University of South Carolina) is teaching students hypnosis that can be used as an alternative to Novocain injections - the oldest injectable local anaesthetic still in use.

Achieving emotional freedom...

Fears and phobias, anxiety, stomach disorders, migraines and post-traumatic stress disorder… these are just a few of the things which have been treated using something called ‘Emotional Freedom Technique’ (EFT). EFT is a relatively new treatment developed in 1997 by Gary Craig who studied the work of Dr Roger Callahan in the 1970’s (Thought Field Therapy), which was rooted in ancient eastern “meridian energy” theories of acupuncture and shiatsu. These therapies claim that our bodies contain invisible energy pathways – meridians – and identified hundreds of ‘acupoints’ at junctions along these pathways. These can be disrupted by life’s traumas resulting in not only emotional but also physical problems. As a result EFT is often referred to as a cousin to acupuncture, a well-respected discipline over 5000 years old (but without the needles!).

In recent years, EFT has provided many people across the world relief from pain, disease and emotional difficulties. It has been successfully used in the UK for over 10 years now and has a rapidly growing following, particularly in the field of complementary medicine.

So what is EFT? In short, it is an emotional healing technique which is also capable of relieving many physical symptoms. When used to help physical problems, people are releasing the emotional memories associated with the symptom. Once the stress response of these memories is reduced, the body has a chance to heal. It is universally accepted that the thoughts and feelings we have make a major contribution to our physical well-being - there is a strong association between emotional stress and disease. Stress is often symptomatic of many chronic conditions such as arthritis, heart disease and IBS to name but a few. Clearly this gives further weight to the statement:

"Our unresolved negative emotions are major contributors to most physical pains and diseases."

In other words ‘we are what we think’…

So what happens in EFT? Points on the hands and face are stimulated by tapping on them with your fingertips. The process is easy to memorise and requires no special equipment so you can practice it anywhere. EFT is such a versatile therapy and so simple, it can even be done over the telephone or through Skype....you don't even have to leave the comfort of your own home.

EFT often works when nothing else will ... There are many scientific studies of EFT for depression, anxiety, and other psychological problems and they show that people who use EFT recover very quickly, often in just a few sessions. It has also been widely used to help overcome post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and it has been very successfully used with soldiers returning from war who have found their traumatic symptoms rapidly diminish after just one session of EFT (case studies can be found in the news).

EFT has also been used to help sports performance, school performance and physical performance. When the anxieties that claim a large part of someone’s attention are removed, their full capacities can be focused on the task at hand.

If you would like to find out how EFT could help you, then please give me a ring or drop me an email.

01252 334377
07527 576245
Christy@christyhypnotherapy.com
www.christyhypnotherapy.com

Hypnotherapy in the news - Darren Fletcher turns to hypnotherapy to help cure bowel problem

Manchester United star Darren Fletcher is turning to hypnotherapy in a bid to make a safe return to professional football. The Scottish international has admitted that he will be unable to play again this season after developing a rare inflammatory condition in his bowels called ulcerative colitis. However, the combative midfielder claimed that a variety of treatments including hypnotherapy will allow him to start playing football again by the start of next season.

He told The Mail Online: "It's something that will never leave me, but have to find somehow a way to manage it so that I can still play my football. I'm trying everything under the sun at the moment - diet, hypnotherapy."

Medical experts believe hypnotherapy can ease the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease by helping to relieve stress and anxiety, which has been proven to have a negative impact on such disorders.

As well as improving his psychological state, Fletcher will hope that a hypnotherapy course helps improve his physical recovery from the condition. According to The Daily Telegraph, Fletcher started to experience problems in March but was initially diagnosed by Manchester United doctors as having a virus.

The 28-year-old recently announced he would be taking an extended break from football in order to fully recover from the condition.

Inspirational poem

When things go wrong as they sometimes will;
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill;
When funds are low, and debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh;
when care is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns
as everyone one of us sometimes learns.
And many a failure turns about
when you might have won, had you stuck it out.

Don't give up though the pace seems slow;
You may succeeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.
And you never can tell how close you are;
It may be near when it seems so far.
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things go wrong that you must not quit!

Author unknown

Does hypnosis have a place in snowboarding?

Really interesting article posted on a great website all about snowboarding called "Afterbang Snowboarding" discussing how hypnosis, visualisation and mental rehearsal might be able to help snowboarders (both professional and amateur).

Synopsis: "Hypnosis. Hypnotism. Surely these things have nothing to do with snowboarding? For 99% of snowboarders that’s probably true, maybe even 99.9%. But is that because it’s irrelevant to the majority, or because people just haven’t considered it?"

Click here to read the article: http://www.afterbang.co.uk/blog/2011/12/02/does-hypnosis-have-a-place-in-your-snowboarding/