Are you one of the sceptics on hypnotherapy?

One of the main challenges and also best reward I find in my job as a hypnotherapist is when a client comes in who is incredibly sceptical about hypnotherapy. I would estimate about 10% of clients initially are very sceptical yet despite this they have still booked a session on something they are doubtful and maybe scared of because they are so desperate to get rid of a bad habit, stress, insomnia or some other symptom and everything else has failed.
I totally understand the initial scepticism, after all stage hypnotists have a lot to answer for and many people still seem to think that hypnotherapy is the same. It is not! Yes hypnotherapy is an altered state of awareness but we all go off into a trance like state at various points throughout the day ( while driving, watching a film, reading a book or maybe just daydreaming!), for hypnotherapy to be effective the client will experience a similar daydreamy type state but it will be a time that is focused on visualising their problem in a new and positive way which very quickly becomes effective in the subconscious mind. While the client will be deeply relaxed they are in control and if they really wanted to could stop themselves going deep enough for hypnosis to be effective.
I find that those clients who are the most sceptical very quickly wish they had tried hypnotherapy earlier instead of battling against their problem with some less effective solution.
Quite often these clients are sceptical because of what they have heard and what their friends think– and there are many people I meet out on a day to day basis who are also cynical initially of hypnotherapy yet despite the fact they may be bright individuals they take this view from an uninformed perspective. In contrast there are also just as many people I meet who have tried it and absolutely endorse hypnotherapy thankful to it for helping them change their life.
So why the extremes? For those people who are happy with everything in their lives and have no need for hypnotherapy then that is great, however, I also think it would be great if they could be more open minded about the fact that there are many people out there who genuinely need help and hypnotherapy is in my opinion one of the most positive therapies around. Hypnotherapy is scientifically proven to show how it reduces stress and subsequent problems, it is one of the most effective ways to change habits and is also increasingly supported by television programmes, the Medical profession and now the government who are all realising the benefits it can quickly have. Thankfully this is really helping to change the out dated view and people are becoming much more open about their experiences and knowledge with hypnotherapy which should hopefully help more people have a fully informed view before judging what can be a life saver for some people.

How Hypnotherapy can help Insomnia indirectly - recent testimonal I have received.

I am 50 years old and over the last 15 years a number of personal problems led me to develop depression, anxiety and an aversion to eating healthy food in favour of constantly snacking on junk foods. Various medications and alternative therapies proved ineffective and I was not cynical but very downhearted when I first met Cheryl, my approach was 'more in hope than expectation'. The first 1 hour session with Cheryl proved far more effective than I could have dreamed. I immediately threw out every piece of junk food in the house and replaced it with healthy alternatives. The second session was even more effective and after 6 years of struggling with increasingly severe insomnia, I started to sleep well again, now that problem wasn't even on the agenda! All I can say is I wish I'd met Cheryl years ago and I would have no hesitation in recommending her services to anyone.

Recent Testimonal recieved from client who had low confidence and self esteem

I have recently attended a course of hypnotherapy at Mindful Hypnotherapy in Wilmslow, in an attempt to combat feelings of low confidence self esteem. I was somewhat sceptical to begin with, but after a few sessions I felt better in myself and, having finished the course of treatment, I can honestly say that I feel much more confident and self assured than I did before. Cheryl is extremely professional and personable. If you are thinking of trying hynotherapy I can recommend this organisation.

Is fear of flying making you dread your summer holiday?
Facts:

Millions of flights depart and arrive safely across the world every day.

Back up systems are in place for virtually every system on the plane.

Commercial aircraft have approx 12 hours maintenance on the ground for every 1 hour in the air.

Air traffic controllers and pilots have had extensive and rigorous training.

Planes fly down their own private highway in the sky.

Yet still many many people are scared of flying. All the safety facts and logic in the world cant override the powerfulsubconscious mind which is causing the fear.

So why for people who fear flying is it so easy to ignore all the facts on how aeroplanes are the safest mode of transport and instead concentrate on the minute chance of "something going wrong".

Fear is good if it is logical - it is your minds way of essentially protecting you from a situation that could be of harm to you. Fear though of aeroplanes is illogical because of how safe it is. However, specific events, learned behaviour, multimedia reports, bad turbulence, claustrophobia and so many more reasons can cause the subconscious brain to believe that flying is something to genuinely fear.

Fear of flying takes away the enjoyment of going on a holiday as the whole build up can be spent worrying about the flight and what will happen, and whether you will even get there. It can even cause some people to never step foot on a plane at all.

Hypnotherapy can greatly assist with this fear - it can help you to establish why you have the unfound fear and can train your brain to have new positive fresh realistic images next time you go on a plane meaning you can enjoy the journey for once!

Interesting article on how Hypnosis can help hayfever

According to a Swiss research team at Basle University, hypnotherapy can be used to alleviate symptoms of hay fever, reported BBC News.

The volunteers were split into two groups for the study which lasted two years and two hay fever seasons.

The first group with hay fever were taught and asked to regularly practice hypnosis as well as taking their normal allergy medicine.

The second group were monitored on the same basis as the first but without the hypnotherapy aspect of treatment.

After a year the researchers found that the volunteers who had been using self hypnosis had reported fewer hay fever symptoms than those volunteers who had only been taking regular allergy medication without the additional hypnosis.

During the second year, group two were taught how to use hypnosis and they were asked to implement the technique on a frequent basis as well as taking their allergy medication. At the end of the second year, these volunteers had also reported an improvement in their hay fever symptoms.

Special offer at Holistic Rooms - Wednesdays and Thursdays until July

I have special discounted rates at the holistic rooms until July on Wednesday and Thursday appointments - £35 for each weight loss session and £125 for 2 sessions of smoking cessation. Please phone 07525 807940 for more information or drop me an email to cheryl@mindfulhypontherapy.co.uk

How does hypnosis help with IBS?

Hypnotherapy is hugely effective for IBS - the mind and the body are so interlinked that your stress relief can start to improve IBS when other conventional methods may not have worked.

Hypnotherapy has in fact been proven successful at reducing or even eliminating all Irritable Bowel Syndrome symptoms. Over 15 years of solid scientific research has demonstrated hypnosis to be an effective, safe and inexpensive choice for IBS alleviation.

If you're struggling with IBS, the tension, anxiety, and depression that comes from this can start to affect your immune system which further affects your health.

Hypnosis reduces this stress and you will start to re-educate your mind away from negative thoughts to more positive thoughts. As well as reducing stress hypnotherapy works further as can also help to significantly allievate the pain.

Is fear of flying making you dread your summer holiday?

Facts:

Millions of flights depart and arrive safely across the world every day.

Back up systems are in place for virtually every system on the plane.

Commercial aircraft have approx 12 hours maintenance on the ground for every 1 hour in the air.

Air traffic controllers and pilots have had extensive and rigorous training.

Planes fly down their own private highway in the sky.

Yet still many many people are scared of flying. All the safety facts and logic in the world cant override the powerfulsubconscious mind which is causing the fear.

So why for people who fear flying is it so easy to ignore all the facts on how aeroplanes are the safest mode of transport and instead concentrate on the minute chance of "something going wrong".

Fear is good if it is logical - it is your minds way of essentially protecting you from a situation that could be of harm to you. Fear though of aeroplanes is illogical because of how safe it is. However, specific events, learned behaviour, multimedia reports, bad turbulence, claustrophobia and so many more reasons can cause the subconscious brain to believe that flying is something to genuinely fear.

Fear of flying takes away the enjoyment of going on a holiday as the whole build up can be spent worrying about the flight and what will happen, and whether you will even get there. It can even cause some people to never step foot on a plane at all.

Hypnotherapy can greatly assist with this fear - it can help you to establish why you have that deeprooted fear and using advanced visualisation and relaxation techniques you can genuinely start to actually look forward to your next ( or first) flight.

How can hypnotherapy boost your confidence when returning to work?

The decision to return to work after having children or after being a full time carer is rarely an easy one. The decision for some is fraught with fear of returning to a changed work place, even if returning to the same company many can still feel like the new person after time away, this is combined with guilt of “should I be going back” and the complete change of structure to your life all makes it a very difficult decision. Today’s workplaces are constantly evolving and you may find you have to adapt to these cultural changes or maybe learn new skills. Sometimes all this combined can result in a lack of confidence of the unknown . Simple hypnotherapy techniques can be hugely effective for increasing self confidence and self esteem and can give very rewarding and satisfying results.
Through hypnotherapy you'll uncover the roots of your lack of confidence, then learn powerful confidence-boosting techniques, such as visualisation and anchoring, that will help you banish negative self-talk, access your positive resources and allow the confident you to shine through.

Weight Loss...

In the last few months I seem to have been particularly busy with weight loss clients and it is so rewarding seeing how people can change a life time of habits so quickly.  I have worked with some clients that have been sceptical of hypnotherapy at the beginning and I completely understand that - I remember those doubtful feelings of how hypnotherapy could help me from when I first went to Hypnotherapy years ago.  However, many people come to hypnotherapy when they have tried many other methods and are almost at the end of their tether with a problem - when they see the results of hypnotherapy they often comment how they wish they had tried this method first.  With weight loss it can take between 3 - 6 sessions for permanent change but rarely more,  compare this with the cost of slimming clubs, fad diets etc and the fact that you genuinely can look at food in a fresh new way permanently and its no wonder that people wish they had found hypnotherapy earlier. 
Hypnotherapy is very powerful as it can retrain your subconscious brain by providing new visualisations and triggers to old situations, for example, boredom and comfort eating is a very common problem and people almost mindlessely eat just for the sake of it.  Through different techniques hypnotherapy will provide new visualisations which will train your brain to simply not associate food with these emotions and very very quickly you find that you simply dont think about food as much.  The most common reaction I find after just one session is " I got to the end of the evening and realised I hadnt snacked all day", each subsequent session then builds on this and by session 3 - 4 most people have changed habits of a lifetime and are looking at food in a completely fresh way.

GHR Membership

 I am really happy to be a member of the General Hypnotherapy Register.  The link is:  http://www.general-hypnotherapy-register.com/Therapists/England/Grt.%20Manchester.htm and you will find my details under Didsbury - however, I am currently working in central Manchester and Wilmslow.  I am in the process of getting my website changed to incoporate the Wilmslow Hoilstic rooms where I will be working so this blog will have all my uptodate news on until that is finished ( and afterwards!) - I can be contacted on 07525 807940.

What is hypnotherapy used to treat?

Below are just some of the areas covered by hypnotherapy treatments:

Anxiety         Fertility Treatments                Stress            IBS       Panic attacks

Phobias            Public Speaking    Smoking Cessation       Self Confidence

Weight loss             Pain    Nail Biting       Post Traumatic Stress     Exam Nerves                  

Hypnotherapy is not magic but the effects for many people can certainly feel that way. It can be hugely effective in treating addictions, habits, phobias, anxiety, pain and so much more. People often discover hypnotherapy after many other methods have failed and are amazed at how quickly it can resolve an issue which they may have had all their life.

I use a combination of advanced hypnotherapy and neuro-linguistic programming to help clients experience rapid and long lasting change.   So whether your wish is to eradicate an unwanted habit or behaviour, to gain relief from a specific emotional issue, or to simply have more self-confidence to make those all important changes in your life, I really can help.

What does hypnotherapy actually feel like?!

This is by far the most common question that I am asked by clients and friends who have never had hypnotherapy before.  Hypnotherapy seems to be surrounded by mystery still and so many people have the idea that they wont have a clue what happens during the session and that it will be similar to stage hypnotism.  This is so far from the reality so there really is no need to worry!

Below is a testimonial from a client I worked with last year which shows how the experience of hypnotherapy was from her point of view - hopefully by reading this you will get to understand what hypnotherapy feels like from a clients perspective and that it is actually a very relaxing and stress free way of working through an issue in your life: 

“I didn’t really know what to expect when it came to hypnotherapy but it was always something I had wanted to try to see if I could change my thinking around eating.

When it came to weight loss I had tried everything but even though things worked in the short term the weight never stayed off and I always got back into my old eating habits.

I suppose I was a bit sceptical to start with. I had tried every other diet and managed to lose weight only to put it all back on again when I got back into my old eating habits.

After my first weight loss hypno I was surprised by some of my behaviour. I wouldn’t force myself to finish all the food on the plate, I wouldn’t pick up food just because it was offered to me but never felt I was depriving myself of anything. I was conscious I was picking up the healthy food in the supermarket and even walked past the confectionary aisle thinking ‘I don’t need anything from down there’. I got quite emotional about the idea that I could actually think differently about food. That I didn’t have to be an emotional eater but I didn’t have to deprive myself of the food I liked either.

By the end of the first week I had lost five pounds but felt like I hadn’t even been on a diet. I was just eating what I needed and I worried that maybe it was too easy.  

However, I continued into session two and three and my changed emotion and behaviour became more natural. I would no longer pick up a chocolate bar when I went to get petrol. I would use a smaller plate when making my dinner. None of these things felt like conscious decisions, just the right thing to do. I felt that hypno had set me free of all my crooked thinking about eating. That if I ate a desert on a meal out it didn’t mean I was a bad person and would put on a stone. I could eat sensibly and enjoy the odd treat without feeling guilty about it.

After the fourth session I had lost a stone and couldn’t quite believe I was doing it all by myself. This wasn’t some revolutionary diet. This was just me eating what my body needed. I had more energy and slept better and was already able to fit into the pair of trousers that had been hanging unworn in my wardrobe for six months.

I remained a little cynical that it couldn’t possibly be this easy but once I had stopped my sessions with Cheryl, my changed eating habits continued and my weight continued to drop. I can visualise myself not long into the future being the size I want and being happy about it. Although saying that, I’m actually happy now. I never feel guilty anymore about what I eat and have a much better attitude towards most things related to my health and wellbeing. I feel well and smile a lot more because of it.

It sounds dramatic but I feel hyponotherapy has been my saviour. After thirty years of emotional eating and yo-yo dieting I am finally doing the right thing and my body is adjusting to my healthier attitude towards food. I never feel like I’m on a diet but feel confident about making the right choices and looking after myself.

What is Hypnotherapy?

It is a natural state of awareness whereby through deep relaxation you enter a trance like state.  It is a time for you to enter both a physical and mental relaxation and become inwardly focused.  The word “trance” can conjour up different images for people and is inevitably the first question most people ask about.  However, it is completely natural and you would have experienced trance in many ways, it is essentially similar to a daydream.  There are many other instances when you would have been in light hypnosis for example when you have driven for hours in a car and can’t recall the whole journey, or when watching a film or reading a book and the hours have gone–  it is when your attention is focused on something else the outside world just passes by. 
Hypnotherapy works by your powerful subconscious mind responding to the power of suggestion and visual imagery to allow you to look at something specific in a beneficial way.  Your conscious mind relaxes allowing your subconscious mind to open up to positive suggestions, with my guidance this will be focused on providing a solution to the specific problem you have come for assistance with.  
People experience hypnosis in many different ways.  Most people feel very deeply relaxed during hypnotherapy with a heaviness to their body others feel lighter sensations. Many people find it very easy to visualise the images suggested, others may find occasionally their mind wanders off at times.  All are entirely natural.  The suggestions will all be going in at a deeper subconscious level however you experience it.
Hypnotherapy can be so much quicker at finding a solution to your problem than many other known treatments, quite often the problem you are experiencing is an effect of a deeper underlying cause which has had a ripple effect into other areas of your life.  Through hypnotherapy I aim to resolve this problem as quickly safely and efficiently as possible.

I am a qualified Hypnotherapist holding a Master Practioner Diploma in Advanced Clinical Hypnotherapy along with Diplomas in Hypnotherapy and Stress Management and Practical NLP.  I work with clients across  Manchester, working from a therapy room in Wilmslow and Central Manchester.  I am incredibly passionate about Hypnotherapy and take a genuine interest in each of my clients.

The human mind is a fascinating and hugely  powerful tool and it is the way that we apply this tool that determines the quality of the life that we lead.  Through a combination of hypnotherapy and NLP techniques I will work with you to ensure that we get the best possible outcome in the most effective way for you.