The hypnotist often gets a bad rap. People either laugh or feel unsettled when they hear that a loved one or a friend is seeing a hypnotherapist. The practice is gaining widespread acceptance in medical circles, but the general public still hasn’t warmed up to the idea that mind over matter is a real thing just yet. Truth be told, there is nothing hokey or scary about hypnosis at all.

The Setting

You’re listening to the sound of a soothing voice on a comfortable leather couch in a cozy room. It’s like being at a friend’s house.

The Process

You’ll be asked a few general questions about why you’ve come and what you hope to achieve. Next, you close your eyes and go through a series of guided breathing and relaxation techniques. You’ll be fully aware of everything that’s going on, but you will feel a bit like you’re in a dream. Everything the hypnotherapist tells you while you’re under will be positive reinforcement and very repetitive.

The Buzz

When you return to consciousness, an hour will have passed, but you’ll feel like it was just 10 minutes or so. You feel surprisingly well-rested and clear-minded — as though you’ve taken the most refreshing nap ever. You also feel extremely good – warm, empowered, exuberant. It’s as if you’ve just relived ten of your best moments in succession. You feel relaxed and totally at ease.

The Aftermath

Usually it takes a couple of sessions to really cement the new way of thinking into your mind. After all, no change occurs overnight. The idea is that, later in life, you will think back to your hypnosis session and remember the lessons learned there. For example, if you had been bitten and developed a fear of dogs, you might see a dog after your hypnosis phobia treatment and be filled with pleasant memories of playing with the family pet as a child, when dogs weren’t so scary to you. If you have self-confidence problems while playing tennis, you might take the “I can do this” attitude with you to your next match.

Give hypnosis a try. Call me for a consultation today.

It’s hard to imagine a martial artist being afraid of anything, really, let alone… bananas? Twenty-three-year-old Paula Ross of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire said she had been deathly afraid of bananas for as long as she could remember.  Her parents forced her to eat one of those yellow monstrosities as a toddler and she’s developed a phobia of them ever since. The mere sight of a banana wrenched her stomach and the smell of one sent her running from the room. School bullies would chase her around the schoolyard with bananas as a kid, only cementing her irrational fear.

Thanks to hypnotist therapy, Paula was not only able to kick her fears once and for all – but she has been able to actually eat bananas for the first time in 20 years too! “This therapy has changed my life,” she told The Daily Mail. “It is absolutely fantastic.”

Her therapy included Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), a powerful hypnotherapy technique where the hypnotist talks to the patient about how to detach from negative memories and form new positive ones. During her sessions, she was taken back to happy, calm memories when her phobia didn’t exist and she was instructed to associate these pleasant feelings with the sight, smell or taste of a banana.

Paula studied bioscience in university, but she was astounded when her therapist handed her a banana at the end of the phobia treatment and she didn’t feel the slightest tinge of fear. She explains, “I can go for lunch with my friends and I don’t have to worry about being around if they have a banana. I am forever grateful.”

Do you have a fear you’d like to kick? Contact me for a consult.

Belgian researchers have discovered that hypnosis plus localized anesthesia can be substituted for certain surgeries that typically require the use of general anesthesia. They examined the use of hypnotherapy in patients undergoing surgical procedures for breast cancer and thyroid treatments, specifically. Furthermore, researchers found that hypnosis techniques:

• Sped up healing
• Shortened hospital time
• Reduced the need for post-surgery opioid drugs
• Decreased costs of the procedures
• Improved patient satisfaction and comfort levels

What Researchers Are Saying About Hypnosis Therapy: 

There is still a lot of debate around the exact mechanism that allows hypnosis to reduce pain perception, but what is absolutely clear is that it does so.” – Fabienne Roelants, study author, professor and researcher Cliniques Universitaires St. Luc

Imagine you are driving your car. You suddenly realize how far you have driven, but for a long time your mind has been elsewhere. This is extremely common, and is nothing more, nor less, than a mild hypnotic trance, a modified state of consciousness, with a different perception of the world. The principle of hypnosis is to focus one’s attention on one particular point.” - Dr. Christine Watremez, study co-author, researcher at Cliniques Universitaires St. Luc

Who Can Be Hypnotized? 

The authors found that neither age, nor gender, affected the successfulness of the treatment. What was most important was that the patients were willing to trust the doctors and undergo the process.

What Processes Can Be Helped By Clinical Hypnosis? 

During the study, cancer patients were undergoing partial mastectomies, sentinel node biopsies, or lymph node removal through the armpit. Thyroid gland removal was the procedure for other patients. In all cases, hypnosis patients fared much better in terms of recovery. Researchers are also looking into applying their findings to: carotid artery surgery, egg retrieval for fertility, gynecological surgery, knee arthroscopy and plastic surgery.

Do you have more questions about hypnosis for pain management? I’d be happy to answer them.

Kerry Down knew 51 was too young to have a heart attack. Weighing in at 15 stone, she knew that she needed to lose weight immediately if she wanted to have any chance at life. Worse yet, her 29-year-old daughter, Amy, weighed a hefty 17 stone, so the risks were great for her as well. They had tried every diet in the book to no avail. Then, one day, they met with a hypnotherapist. 

Over the course of five sessions, a hypnosis therapist put them into a deep trance and talked with them in great detail about lap band surgery. He persuaded them to believe they had been fitted with gastric bands, which restricted their stomachs to the size of a mere golf ball. They were given golf balls to carry around with them to keep in mind what their “new stomachs” were like. He also convinced them that foods like deep-fried battered fish and chips would taste absolutely disgusting.

Amy explained, “Even though you are aware that the surgery didn’t actually happen, you believe that your stomach is smaller. “ She adds that she hasn’t touched crisps, garlic bread or chocolate since she started her hypnotherapy for weight loss. In fact, she hasn’t even craved them, she says! “It’s given me a new outlook on food,” she tells The Mirror.  They now eat meals off saucer-sized plates and feel full. They eat complete meals like chicken, vegetables and potatoes, but their portions are appropriately sized now.

As they say, “the proof is in the pudding.” So how did the ladies do with their £425 hypnosis course? Since March, Kerry dropped 34 pounds and Amy lost 38 pounds so far – and counting! Compared to expensive gastric bypass surgery, a bypass by clinical hypnosis is quite a steal!

Would you like to try hypnotherapy for weight loss? Call me today for more information!

Hypnosis techniques may not be as popular as going to the doctor’s for a routine checkup, but it can help you in just as many ways! Whether you want to prevent the psychological pain of childbirth or take care of a longstanding phobia, meeting with a hypnotherapist can be even more transformative than meeting with a conventional psychotherapist.

Here are some of the top 10 uses for hypnotherapy…

1. Hypnosis Stop Smoking Treatment – Uncover the real reasons that compel you to smoke and learn to break free from the cycle of self-sabotaging thought patterns.
2. Hypnosis For Weight Loss — Find out what subconscious triggers make you want to eat and learn how to cultivate a healthier mentality and better self esteem.
3. Hypnotherapy To Eradicate A Phobia – Do you have a fear of crowds, spiders, water, heights, dogs, driving, failure, intimacy, rejection, commitment, flying or death?
4. Hypnosis For Relationship Issues – Understand where you’ve been and where you’re going with the help of a hypnosis therapist. Learn to love and be loved.
5. Stress Relief Self Hypnosis – Whether you are a college student or a high-powered business professional, stress relief hypnosis helps you manage your day to day life.
6. Pain Management Hypnosis Techniques – If you’ve been diagnosed with a terminal illness or chronic disease, no time is more crucial to develop mental fortitude.
7. Self Hypnosis To Improve Self Esteem – You may have had self esteem issues your whole life or you may be battling a new foe. Don’t let it undermine your life!
8. Boost Focus With Hypnosis Techniques – Athletes and students have been able to improve their mental focus ten-fold using hypnosis techniques to envision the win.
9. Hypnobirthing Therapy – Many women, including actress Jessica Alba, are touting the benefits of using self hypnosis to limit pain during the difficult birthing process.
10. Reduce Public Speaking Anxiety With Hypnosis – Public speaking is one of the biggest fears, world-wide. Overcome the crippling terror to be a more successful you.

Why wait? Improve your life with a modest investment in hypnotherapy today! Call me for a free consultation.

David Harding, an accountant and father-of-three from Greenwich knew he had a problem. The thought of not having McWhinney’s Irish pork sausages for dinner was enough to send him into a mad rage. He demanded not just one or two of these bangers – but thirteen – each day. A day without pork sausages was a day not worth living, Mr. Harding imagined.

He told The Metro, “Drug addicts crave their medicine of choice, and it’s the same for me – except that my drug is a banger.” He reckons he’s had at least one sausage every day since he was five years old. These days, it costs him around £700 a year to keep the Irish pork sausages coming down his gullet.

Though he doesn’t see anything wrong with loving sausages, he knows he needs to get a handle on his uncontrollable cravings. So he began using hypnotherapy to cure his mental addiction. All told, it cost him about £2,000 for his therapy sessions, but it’s worth it (in saved food expenses and saved medical expenses) if he can curb his compulsions once and for all.

Hypnotherapy works to curb food addictions by helping people with impulse control and the emotional factors that go into eating. People learn to reduce stress and fight insomnia that may contribute to overeating. Through Neuro-Linguistic Programming, patients find alternative sources of internal happiness that are not contingent on a particular food. When patients are in a state of deep relaxation, they become more suggestible to adopting healthy eating habits, too.

Is food controlling your life?

Let me put my 10+ years of hypnotherapy expertise to work for you! Contact me today to get started.

Members of the armed forces often come home to a whole new world. Adjustment to everyday life can be surprisingly difficult to individuals who have literally been through the hell of war and back. While their bodies have become fine-tuned instruments through grueling exercise and rigorous physical demands, their minds sometimes suffer with post-traumatic stress. This is where the work of a licensed hypnosis therapist begins.

What Does Hypnotherapy Feel Like?

The state of mind you reach with a hypnosis therapist is just like that naturally occurring state right before you fall asleep and right as you’re waking up. This realm is more open to suggestion, less inhibited by stress and better able to accommodate changes to the internal script of the mind. Perhaps that’s why people who have tried conventional psychotherapy and left dissatisfied say hypnosis therapist sessions are more productive.

How Can Hypnosis Techniques Help Returning Soldiers?

Hypnotherapy reached its peak popularity following World War II, when it was used not just as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, but as an anesthetic too.  A hypnosis therapist can help returning soldiers deal with loss, leave haunting memories behind and combat post-traumatic stress. Since the suicide rate is so high for veterans, special care should be taken even if individuals “feel fine.” Sometimes triggers can surface much later, causing deep-rooted phobias to emerge or sending soldiers into the dregs of depression. Service members can also use hypnotherapy sessions to quit smoking, deal with anxiety and insomnia, overcome addiction to prescription painkillers and lose weight. While in a trance-like state, patients learn how to cope with troubling experiences, reprogram their thought processes and see alternate perspectives. They can also learn to identify stress triggers and make better choices when put into stressful situations.

What IS hypnobirthing?

“It’s not like the clock in front of your face and you go out and you wake up and you got a baby,” American Actress Jessica Alba explains. “Basically my husband takes me through sort of a meditation. He’ll say, ‘You’re relaxed, and you’re floating on clouds while you’re going through labor and your contractions. I’m just concentrating on breathing and staying relaxed because it’s when you get tense that makes the whole labor worse and more painful. That’s all it is. It’s not like a weird thing.”

UK Studies Hypnotherapy To Ease Pain of Childbirth

A number of studies conducted by the NHS have confirmed that self hypnosis is the key to a pain-free birthing process. Not only that, but hypnotherapy can reduce the duration of labor, thus leading to babies eating and sleeping better after birth too. Studies of women in north-west England are looking into whether hypnosis techniques can not only reduce anxiety, but also decrease the incidence of post-partum depression. Many women would like to reduce the need for pain relief drugs. The UK study of hypnobirthing goes back to the 1930s when researchers noticed that women who were calmer during childbirth tended to have less pain. Mental relaxation techniques are currently being tested on hundreds of women across the north west of England in the largest study of its kind.

Watch a BBC video about hypnobirthing here.

Hypnosis Techniques Empower Women To Have Better Labor Experience

The idea behind hypnotherapy for childbirth is that mothers-to-be must understand how the muscles function during labor and how they must work with their bodies, not against them, to enable the birth to take place. Most methods are not about distracting women from the pain, but rather, about understanding the body, tapping into a state of deeper relaxation and become empowered on how to control one’s own pain management centers.

Are you expecting a baby soon? Let me introduce hypnosis techniques that will help you cope.

We are creatures of habit. If changing our lives were easy, there would be no discontent in the world. As you know, this is not so. We never seek help Iin our most desperate moments. We wallow in self-pity, yet, at the same time, we feel we’re unworthy of being saved. It’s difficult to enjoy anything. Overcoming fear, pain, grief, anxiety, depression, addiction and despair does not come natural, but it can be easily taught by a hypnotherapist who has years of experience.

A hypnotherapist will teach you to think deeply and explore the different relationships you’ve had in your life. You learn to view emotionally-charged events from varying perspectives. You learn to let go of those negative feelings that are holding you back from reaching your full potential. You understand how to get past crippling fears of failure, abandonment and loneliness.

Our toxic thoughts and negative self-beliefs are not hard-wired, as you might imagine. These patterns of thought and behavior are learned when we are young and carried our whole lives long – unless, of course, we dare to make a bold change. Sometimes you make these inferences on your own. Sometimes you need the help of a hypnotherapist to confirm what you already know and illuminate a pathway to recovery.

There are many hypnotherapist practices you can bring into your everyday life that will help you rediscover joy. They are not costly and they do not take much time. Spend 10 seconds a day reading a couple quotes that inspire you. Think happy thoughts. When negativity or worry rear their ugly heads, get up… move about… take a walk… go to a scenic spot outdoors and think. Find clean space. Each day, think about what you’re good at. Validate yourself. Learn how to build your own strength by thinking back to times when you were truly happy. Get rid of toxic people in your life. Be kind to yourself. Work through your concerns one a time. You’ll see that using hypnotherapy for depression is one of the best gifts you can give yourself because honestly, you really are worth it.

Have you ever witnessed stage hypnotism before? If not, you are in for a real treat! Stage hypnotism is a form of entertainment where unsuspecting volunteers come out from the audience to be hypnotized in front of an audience.

Stage hypnotism is intended for entertainment purposes only and is very different from hypnotherapy like I practice. A stage hypnotism performer is often self-trained or has no formal training in the art whatsoever. By contrast, a person must be licensed and certified to practice hypnotherapy. In both forms of hypnosis, the individual is placed into the same state of deep relaxation and suggestibility, but what happens next is completely different.

After several minutes of stage hypnotism, the mesmerized volunteers begin to speak and act based on the hypnotist’s commands. Sometimes they’ll bark, sing, pretend they’re madly in love with another subject or believe their hand is talking every time they hear a certain trigger word. X-rated hypnotists might have guests act drunk and aroused or interact with blow up dolls and other props.

In a standard hypnotherapy setting, you will not do anything embarrassing like that. Instead, you will just relax in your comfortable chair as I ask you very serious questions about your life, your emotions and your beliefs. By the end of the session, you will make substantial progress in whichever area you choose – be it dealing with grief, overcoming a nicotine addiction or getting past a debilitating phobia.

People who are interested in learning how to perform stage hypnotism would benefit from reading the works of Ormond McGill, the “Dean of American Hypnotists.” He even offers a home study course, which has led many stage hypnotists to successful careers. On the other hand, if you would like to learn more about how hypnotherapy can help you live a more satisfying life, I’d be happy to meet with you. I’m a qualified hypnotherapist in the sw19 area.