Does Hypnotherapy Work?

I wanted to write a quick post about this question as it is something which I am asked all the time by new and potential clients.

The short answer is yes, the studies have shown that it most definitely does work... but  you must WANT it to work. For example to stop smoking you must first 'want to' stop, for it to be successful. When a client calls me regarding stopping smoking, I always first ask, 'on a scale of 1-10 how much do you want to stop smoking?' If the answer is not '8' or above, it is usually an indication that they are not ready to stop.

Most people can be successful using hypnosis as long as they follow my guidance, accept my suggestions and practice the techniques I will teach them... in other words, fully commit to the process. It's like anything else; you get out of it what you put into it. Even though with my hypnosis sessions I help, empower, persuade and in many cases give my clients a different perspective (e.g. how to talk to themselves in a more beneficial way, to manage their thoughts, etc.), I cannot of course take away free will, nor would I wish to. You are the one in control of your own  mind - all I can do is suggest a better way of thinking, feeling or behaving for your own benefit.

My clients who get the most benefit from hypnotherapy are the ones who arrive with the knowledge that they have to want to make a change and that this change is not something to be entered into half-heartedly. And they leave feeling extremely successful because they know they worked really hard and practiced the techniques I taught them. And this is my ultimate aim - to help my clients go away feeling they have the skills they now need to continue forward with a positive direction in their lives.

Hypnosis can help with stopping smoking, weight control, stress management, overcoming fears, boosting confidence and much more. For a personal consultation, please feel free to email me on christy@christyhypnotherapy.com or call 01252 334377.

Mind your thoughts and change your mind...

Why is it that some people have more self-belief than others? Why do some people ‘get on with it’, while others procrastinate or not even step up to try? Is self-belief innate within us, or is it a skill that can be learned?

As a hypnotherapist and sports performance coach, a lot of my work focuses on confidence building. My extensive work with athletes and business people over the years has shown me that everyone suffers from self-doubt from time to time. The differences between people lie in our ability to voice our fears and take action to overcome these negative beliefs.

Successful people tend to share a positive mindset. They also set personal goals and are quick to take action. Whether it be CEOs, small business owners or entrepreneurs; successful people tend to have several core traits in common: they are decisive, action orientated and they set clear, measurable goals. And most importantly, even if they don’t always know how they are going to achieve their goal, their expectation is they will find a way. They BELIEVE they can.
 

So where do our beliefs come from? They develop from a complex mix of our attitudes, values, memories, decisions, internal self-talk and, most importantly, the impact of our personal environment. We really are what we think. Without self-belief we are more likely to procrastinate, make poor choices, lack accountability, or even fall into a state of victim mentality.

What is the solution? If you find your own self-talk is becoming negative, how can you change it? The answer is to challenge our fears and take positive action; to overcome any limiting beliefs that are holding us back. Easy to say, but sometimes harder to achieve.

The great news is turning negative thoughts or attitudes into positive ones can be quick and easy. It all depends on the motivation of the individual and their willingness to give the concept a try. Much has been written about ‘acting as if’ you have already succeeded, or creating affirmations to help change your state of mind. The most important thing with affirmations is that they must be realistic and believable – your brain would naturally resist things it doesn’t feel is authentic.

However, these two actions are an extremely powerful starting point for change. It’s really important to understand that often, when a limiting thought enters our head, nothing has actually changed except our point of focus. We have taken our eye off what we are looking to achieve and instead, have allowed doubt or negative self-talk to creep in. That affects not only our thoughts, but our body language, posture, what we feel, how we view the situation in that moment, the things we say to ourselves – and therefore the outcome as well.

The following are 5 simple techniques to help turn negative thoughts into positive beliefs:

1. Stop. Take a breath and adjust your posture. Notice how your stance has changed since a limiting belief appeared. Ask yourself, “How do I want to feel instead of worried / anxious / fearful?” Name your feeling and then stand up, walk around and sit back down in a way that reflects that mindset.
2. Change your point of focus – literally. We usually look down when we are unhappy and up when we are more confident. Look up at the sky and see how you it can change how you feel!

3. Identify your limiting belief. For example you might say to yourself, “My business is going to fail”. Then ask yourself, “What’s the worst that could happen?” “How can I prevent this happening?” “If it still happens how could I handle it?” In looking at your core fear or problem in the face and preparing for it, you will change the way your brain perceives the problem and it will literally alter your mindset and help you prepare for positive action.

4. Speak to someone you respect, whether a friend or work colleague perhaps. By vocalising what is going on, it becomes easier to reframe the outcome.
5. Take action. Action is empowering because it brings about change. The clearer you can be about what you want, the easier it will become to break down your goal into manageable chunks and start working towards it, one step at a time. 

The truth is that over 90% of what we fear never actually happens. By acknowledging the 10% of possibility and preparing for it in case it does happen, it becomes easier to take practical actions towards the successful outcome you actually want. 

So by changing your self-belief, you can literally change your mind.

If you would like to find out more about how to change your beliefs, please feel to contact Christy for a one-to-one appointment at christy@christyhypnotherapy.com or call 01252 334377.

Quit smoking, it's STOPTOBER!

Today is the first day of STOPTOBER!

Stoptober is an NHS campaign to encourage people to stop smoking throughout the month of October. In 2012, the NHS said there were more than 160,000 people who managed to stop smoking for the month of October with the campaign. This year, according to the website stoptober.smokefree.nhs.uk, there are over 200,000 people taking part - will you be one of the smokers who's made the decision that now is the right time to take control of this habit and stop smoking for good?!

In the UK, around 114,000 people die every year from smoking-related illnesses and it remains one of the biggest causes of death and illness... do you want to end up as part of these statistics? Or would you prefer to make up a much more positive statistic of how many people manage to quit?! Research suggests that those who successfully stop for four weeks are then five times more likely to stay smoke-free.

There is no question that stopping smoking is an insurmountable challenge to many who try, but we do know that kicking that nasty habit can make a big difference to your health. With support and dedication, you can stand out from the pack.

Stoptober participants will be supported every step of the way being provided with a support pack, mobile app, and motivating texts throughout the month. And if you would like some additional help for that extra boost of motivation, hypnotherapy could be just what you are looking for. Hypnotherapy has helped many many people stop smoking in just one session and it could also help you.

For more information on hypnotherapy to stop smoking, please contact Christy today on 01252 334377 or email: christy@christyhypnotherapy.com

Could how much you smoke be linked to the chance of developing Arthritis? It would appear so.

For women who smoke, it would appear that the number of cigarettes they smoke each day directly correlates to their risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis... not good news for millions of women who are still smokers!

This may seem like a bit of a sweeping statement, however research undertaken at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden looked at the arthritis risk faced by female smokers aged 54 and 89 and results found that women who smoke anything from one to seven cigarettes on a daily basis have a 1.31-fold higher chance of becoming arthritic than those who have never smoked. What's more, the longer a period of time a woman smokes, the higher her risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis. Whilst those ladies who have smoked for a year have a smaller risk, those with a history of smoking spanning over 25 years have a 1.6 times greater chance of developing the condition.

We all know that smoking is not a 'healthy' habit, but this research clearly identifies just how much of a hidden impact smoking can have on the body as a whole over a long period of time. Of course this does not just affect females, however it seems women are far more likely to be impacted with arthritis than men. These worrying findings may well convince women around the world to think about whether their habit is worth it, particularly when they are so many people out there that could support them through smoking cessation.

Hypnotherapy has been used as a way for smokers to kick the habit for many years. Many smokers struggle with the various "stop smoking aids" such as nicotine patches and gum, mainly as they act as a substitute for the real thing, meaning the person remains addicted to the substitute. This often results in the person going back to cigarettes within a short space of time! What makes hypnotherapy a much more effective (and long term) solution is that it can help the person identify the root cause of their addiction and help smokers break the habit  rather than just the nicotine addiction, thus making the process a little easier. Not just for women!

If you would like to find out more about hypnotherapy for smoking cessation, please contact Christy on 01252 334377 or email: christy@christyhypnotherapy.com

New research discovers a link between sleep and obesity

This following post has been taken from an article published in PRWeb (www.prweb.com) in which the National Council for Hypnotherapy responds and supports that hypnotherapy can be useful in assessing anxiety and the root cause of it when related to weight.

Earlier this month, researchers from the University of California have published some new research which has found that a lack of sleep can cause substantial changes in brain activity which can then cause cravings for high-calorie food.

The researchers used brain imaging techniques to study the responses of sleep-deprived people while they showed them images of both low and high calorie foods. The results of this research showed that tired people had higher brain activity in areas associated with the motivation to eat. However there was less activity in the areas that encourage us to choose health food, which is why people often have an increased desire for high calorie treats when they’re tired.

The journal 'Nature Communications' published this new research which also backs up other studies conducted which have shown that poor sleep actually increases the levels of hormones linked to weight gain. People crave sugary and fatty foods as they struggle with a lack of concentration and tiredness.

So what does this mean for people who are trying to lose weight? Both findings suggest that simply getting a solid eight hours sleep a night COULD help people stay in shape. And if you are finding it tough to stick to a healthy eating plan or have problems with portion control, you could combine a good nights sleep with some hypnotherapy to give your motivation a boost in the right direction.

To view the full article, please click here: http://www.express.co.uk/news/health/420233/Lack-of-sleep-can-lead-to-obesity

Why everyone is talking about hypnobirthing

With the 'Royal birth' imminent towards the end of this month, the papers have recently been filled with stories about how Kate Middleton has been practicing hypnobirthing techniques to help her prepare for the birth of her child.

Despite the recent spark in interest, Hypnobirthing is actually nothing new and has been used by many celebrity Mum's in the past including Jessica Alba, Pamela Anderson and Cindy Crawford. Hypnobirthing should by no means be considered the latest celebrity trend however... women from all walks of life have been benefiting from using self-hypnosis to aid child-birth for many years. The NHS is now even funding research into how hypnobirthing could be used to help reduce the number of birthing complications and reduce the need for drugs.

The idea behind hypnobirthing is that women use specific breathing exercises and visualisation techniques at different stages of labour to relax the 
body, helping to combat pain 
and lessening the need for an epidural. There are many options for Mum's to be and generally training involves either a home-study programme working from support materials or alternatively couples can attend classes or workshops together so that the Father can also be involved in the process. Anyone interested in considering using hypnobirthing should of course contact a professionally trained hypnotherapist for more personalised advice and support when considering birthing options.

French firemen testing hypnosis to help accident victims

Hypnosis has, for some time, had a less than favourable reputation which has mainly been borne out of the world of stage hypnotists getting people to do silly things on stage. In recent years however, hypnotherapy has become much more an accepted and respected form of intervention and even treatment in many different areas, including childbirth, smoking cessation and trauma recovery.

In France, the idea that Hypnotherapy can complement traditional first aid assistance is now being put to the test in the world of firefighting. At the Haguenau fire station in the Alsace region of France, 120 firemen have been trained in basic medical hypnosis which they can use to soothe someone trapped under rubble or in a car following an accident, or even a person suffering an asthma attack.

The basic idea is that while firefighters arriving on the scene of an accident get to work tending to the injured or cutting a victim free, those staff who have been trained in hypnosis establish a more personal link with the person and divert his attention away from the trauma of the scene.

The Haguenau fire station manager David Ernenwein says he is convinced that the method is useful. He says, "We have all noticed that when we hold someone's hand, things go better, even if we did not label it as 'hypnosis'. The first thing that we can do to help people is to calm them down, and this technique has given us the tools to be able to do that, to help people suffer less".

Whilst the firefighters have only received basic training in hypnosis so far, they have begun to be able to use simple hypnotic techniques so that instead of focusing on the person's pain, the emphasis is on his wellbeing. Typically the firefighters speak in a calm and measured voice and are careful to avoid any negative words.

Initial evaluations seem to be showing significant benefits and officials at the firefighters ministry are apparently "cautiously optimistic" about the Alsace experiment. Their results will be carefully monitored over the next 6 months - I personally look forward to reading the feedback!

For more information about hypnotherapy for trauma recovery, please email: christy@christyhypnotherapy.com.