Clinical Hypnotherapy - Peter Sergio Allegretti - Symptoms
Peter Sergio Allegretti - Clinical Hypnotherapy - Clinical Hypnosis - London UK
 
Clinical hypnosis and hypnotherapy to make postive changes in your life

Symptoms and Desired States

Because of its successes, hypnotherapy is often associated with people wanting to stop smoking, lose weight, break habits, get rid of fears and phobias, reduce stress and anxiety, even improving sport performance. Many find the benefits of increasing self-esteem, building confidence, increasing motivation and creativity are most important to them. Or there may be a particular practical application you have in mind, like preparing yourself for an exam, passing your driving test, or getting through wedding day nerves (performance anxiety!). As well as all these important applications, hypnotherapy is more and more being integrated into medical care and dentistry (hypnodontics), from pain control and anaesthesia to psychogenic infertility and IBS.

As you can see, people choose hypnotherapy for a wide range of reasons. Below you’ll find information on some of the most common applications of hypnotherapy, though the list is by no means exhaustive. If your particular symptom is not detailed below and you are interested in knowing more, please use the contact page to get in touch and discuss if this therapy is right for you.

The information provided below is necessarily brief and offers only a short summary of each subject. I’ve used as little jargon as possible, but I’ve also provided links to other published articles and research papers should you wish to read more.

Important: If you suffer from a physical condition of any kind, you must see your doctor first to get a medical diagnosis before coming for hypnotherapy.

 

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Allergies
Anaesthesia
Anger Management
Anxiety
Assertiveness
Asthma
Bedwetting
Binge Eating
Blushing
Bruxism
Bulimia Nervosa
Cancer
Cardiovascular Conditions
Childbirth (HypnoBirthing®)
Confidence
Creativity
Dental phobia
Depression
Dermatology
Dieting
Dysphemia
Dystonia

Eczema
Eating disorders
Erectile Dysfunction
Erythrophobia
Exam Nerves
Habit Breaking
Headaches
Hypnodontics
IBS
Impotence
Infertility
Insomnia
Lose Weight
Memory Improvement
Migraine
Motivation
Nail-biting
OCD
Oncology
Pain Control
Panic Attacks
Past Life Regression

Performance Anxiety
Phobias
Psoriasis
PTSD
Regression
Relaxation
Self-Esteem
Self-Hypnosis
Sexual Difficulties
Skin Conditions
Smoking Cessation
Snoring
Sporting Performance
Stammering
Stress
Teeth grinding
Tension Headaches
Tinnitus
Trauma
Vaginismus
Weight control

Allergies - Allergies are so-called because of an over-reaction to particular “allergens,” such as dust, animals (fur) or flowers (pollen) which can result in sneezing, breathing difficulties, rashes, or in extreme cases, shock or loss of consciousness. In the case of allergy sufferers, when allergens enter the body, an immune system chain reaction creates antibodies and releases histamines which provoke the experience of allergic reactions. Interestingly, an allergic response can be induced simply by vividly imaging the allergen without it actually being present. It has been shown that stress increases one’s susceptibility to an allergic reaction, as stress has a direct effect on the proper functioning of the immune system. Hypnotherapy works both at helping to “turn down” the body’s histamine response as well as reducing stress, therefore allowing the immune system to function more appropriately and the allergic symptoms to be moderated. If you are taking medication, you can safely continue to take this whilst using hypnotherapy. You will also learn self-hypnosis to help manage your symptoms and reduce stress. See stress

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Anaesthesia - A common use for hypnosis is to achieve analgesia or anaesthesia - partial or total loss of sensation. This is generally used for pain control and as a replacement or supplement to chemical
anaesthesia. Hypnosis is being used more frequently in place of chemical anaesthetic for operations and other medical procedures. There are a number of articles about this in the research section which you may find of interest. If you are experiencing acute or chronic pain, please refer to the section on pain control.

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Anger Management - Perhaps you’ve started to notice that you’re flying into a rage at the smallest provocation, or you feel a continuing sense of anger simmering inside you which needs little invitation to turn into a boil. Anger can make you feel out-of-control and the accompanying tension can have detrimental effects on you and those around you, both psychologically and physically. Because it is adrenaline-based, your body reacts by increasing your heart rate, blood pressure and hormone levels and so increasing stress. Anger is actually a normal human emotion, an adaptive response to perceived threats, but its expression can be healthy or unhealthy. There are many facets to managing anger therapeutically, working with any specific triggers as well as the underlying beliefs which contribute to an unhealthy anger response. With anger we work cognitively as well as hypnotherapeutically accompanied by teaching practical tools which you can use in daily life to reduce anger responses and change the way you react to anger-provoking situations.

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Anxiety - If you've been worrying excessively about life events or too often thinking about the future in a negative way, you are most likely having feelings of anxiety. If the anxiety feelings are specific to a certain event, such as an upcoming exam, driving test, wedding, speech, please refer to the section on performance anxiety. Sometimes feelings of anxiety can be linked with other emotions, such as panic, OCD or depression. The result can be a living in an unpleasant state of constant worry and tension which can have knock-on detrimental physical consequences. Therapy can help put things back into perspective and readjust your perceptions and attitudes to more helpful ones. The approach is primarily cognitive to work with the underlying beliefs, and hypnosis to help boost confidence and enhance your positive inner resources.

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Assertiveness - Often connected with confidence and self-esteem, assertiveness is about expressing yourself appropriately – your desires, your needs, your opinions. You may feel as though you are not able to express yourself well, perhaps that others are taking advantage of you because of it. Possibly you have feelings of shyness or passivity that you would like to change. The therapeutic goal then is to bring about balanced assertive behaviour, being neither too aggressive nor too passive. In sessions we will use a wide range of cognitive, neuro-linguistic and hypnotherapeutic techniques to work on reaching your goal of healthy assertive expression.

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Asthma - The role of clinical hypnotherapy with regard to asthma is management of the symptoms. Some asthma sufferers have feelings of anxiety as they begin to focus on their symptoms. This anxiety only serves to exacerbate the symptoms. As well, some asthma sufferers can lose confidence, avoid situations and create unhealthy beliefs about themselves. Clinical hypnotherapy works on all of these, though positive direct suggestion, visualisation, reducing anxiety and strengthening self-esteem.

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Bedwetting - Bedwetting commonly occurs in young children and is considered quite normal when children are very young (1,2 years old). Generally at around age 3, bedwetting starts to diminish though it may continue for some years longer. It is thought to be a problem when it occurs after the age of 6. The hypnotherapeutic treatment is very effective, with a combination of practical advice and hypnotherapy, including positive suggestions of maintaining a ‘dry bed’ to the unconscious mind.

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Binge Eating - This is classified as an eating disorder characterised by episodes of uncontrolled eating (bingeing) in which large quantities of food are consumed (such as a whole large box of biscuits, an entire cake, etc). It is seen predominantly in women and in about 2-percent of the population. Your doctor will be able to make a correct diagnosis of any eating disorder. Excessive weight tends to lead to obesity if there are no compensatory actions taken to reduce weight. A variety of techniques are employed therapeutically to change behaviour and its consequential effects, both physically and psychologically. Both analytical and hypnotherapeutic suggestion are employed to find any underlying cause linked with the behaviour, and separately, to change the behaviour itself.

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Blushing - Blushing is a normal human response common to all cultures around the globe. But some people are uneasy with their blushing response or feel that they blush too easily, proving a sense of anxiety or embarrassment. Others have a real fear of blushing (Erythrophobia). Hypnotherapy is not about completely eliminating this natural response, rather it is about changing one’s perception and reaction to the triggers that cause blushing. In particular, hypnotherapy works to improve self-confidence and self-esteem which often suffer for those sensitive about blushing.

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Bruxism - This is the unconscious grinding or clenching of teeth when not eating. Often related to stress or anger, it can cause serious physical problems with the teeth and jaw if left untreated. Hypnotherapy works both at the level of reducing the stress or anger, and working specifically to take the clenching or grinding habit out of unconscious awareness and create a relaxation response for your teeth and jaws in its place.

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Bulimia Nervosa - Bulimia is an eating disorder characterised by episodes of uncontrolled eating (bingeing) in which large quantities of food are consumed (such as a whole large box of biscuits, an entire cake, etc) followed by extreme and inappropriate measures to control body weight, possibly forced vomiting, diuretic medication or fasting and excessive exercise. Your doctor will be able to make a correct diagnosis of any eating disorder. The key to treating Bulimia therapeutically is to stabilise the excessive behaviour and its consequential physical and psychological effects. Both analytical and hypnotherapeutic suggestion are employed to work with any underlying cause linked with the behaviour, and separately, to change the behaviour itself.

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Cancer - It is now recognised that the effective treatment of cancer bests involves a variety of therapies. It is clear that psychological factors can play an important part in the development of cancer, and also in its management and remission. Hypnotherapy is now widely employed as one of the therapies that patients choose, not only to work with the cancer itself, but also to help in coping with medical treatments, the management of the condition and the management of pain. If you are thinking of hypnotherapy as part of your strategy to treat cancer, please contact me to discuss the specifics of your case.

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Cardiovascular Conditions - Hypnotherapy can play an important role in maintaining a healthy heart as well as aiding recovery from a variety of cardiovascular diseases. If you think you have a cardiovascular difficulty, you must first see your medical doctor for a full diagnosis. If you have a diagnosed heart condition, your doctor may have referred you to hypnotherapy to help lower stress, increase relaxation responses and help make any lifestyle changes. As well, if you have cardiophobia, fearing for the state of your heart, you may have been referred for help in this area. In hypnosis, the parasympathetic nervous system, responsible for rest and relaxation, becomes dominant over the sympathetic nervous system. Thus hypnotherapy can be a very beneficial in conjunction with changes in lifestyle, if indicated. A full medical examination and diagnosis are required before considering hypnotherapy.

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Childbirth “HypnoBirthing®” - HypnoBirthing® is based on the philosophy that fear during childbirth causes tension which can lead to pain. By using self-hypnosis, visualisation and breathing techniques, the mother stays deeply relaxed and so tires less easily during labour. This helps her give birth in an easier, more comfortable and often pain-free manner. Hypnotherapy is highly effective in this area, and has become a specialty in its own right. I do not work with hypnobirthing, but I am happy to recommend fully qualified hypnobirthing practitioners. Please contact me for more information about this, or refer to the links on the contact page.

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Confidence - Many people feel a lack of confidence which prevents them from doing thing they would like to do, saying things they would like to say, or feeling the way they know they can feel. The consequences of low self-confidence over time can leave one feeling as though one is in a downward spiral: Not feeling confident means not doing/saying something which leads to further lack of confidence. This can also be related to low self-esteem. You may be surprised to hear that many people who project high-self confidence outwardly are the very people who have feelings of low self-confidence inside. Therapeutically there are many tools we can employ in therapy to boost feelings of confidence, from cognitive to neuro-linguistic techniques to hypnotherapy.

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Creativity - Because the state of hypnosis accesses the unconscious mind, people often gain insights into new ideas and creative solutions which they would not have otherwise thought of. If you are in an artistic profession or pastime, you may find that hypnosis and NLP used for this purpose brings fresh inspiration and perspective.

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Dental phobia - The thought of going to the dentist can be a very unpleasant experience for some, even for the simplest of procedures. Hypnosis has been used in dentistry for several decades, and more hypnotherapists have alliances with dental practices now than ever before. That’s because hypnosis helps both with the phobic part - fear of going to the dentist or of a specific part of a dental procedure as well as getting through the actual dental appointment - making it possible to go to the dentist and have the procedures carried out. More about dental procedures in hypnodontics.

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Depression - Everybody feels a bit down now and then, it’s a healthy and normal part of the human experience. Often things return to normal with a bit of time, other times it takes longer. But sometimes people feel they can’t pull themselves out, can’t snap out of it. It’s estimated that 1 in 6 of us experience depression during our lifetime. As well, depression is a leading cause of disease. Naturally, therapy is highly beneficial for depression, working at seeing situations in a new, healthier way, raising confidence and self-esteem, rebuilding a solid foundation for life on many levels so that you can see yourself in future doing that things you want to do and feeling how you want to feel. Note, if you have been feeling depressed very deeply or for some time, you should see your medical doctor and discuss the possibility of short-term prescription medication.

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Dermatology - See Skin Conditions

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Dieting - See Weight Control

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Dysphemia - See Stammering

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Dystonia - A condition characterised by muscular spasms which are involuntary and sustained which can have an organic or a psychological cause. If psychological in nature, we work with this condition through a range of hypnotherapeutic techniques centred on relaxation of the mind and body, searching for the cause of the dystonia, as well as control and confidence-boosting. You must see your doctor first for a full diagnosis before presenting for hypnotherapy, to evaluate any physiological factors.

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Eating Disorders - See Binge Eating, Bulimia Nervosa, Weight Control.

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Eczema - A skin condition characterised by peeling, inflammation and itching sensation. This is a common condition which can be helped through hypnotherapy, particularly where the symptoms worsen during times of stress. See Skin Conditions for more information.

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Erectile Dysfunction - See Sexual Difficulties

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Erythrophobia - See Blushing

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Exam Nerves - If you have an exam looming, chances are you are fretting about it and thinking the worst. The fact is that, providing you have actually studied and attended classes or lectures, the information is inside you already. Hypnotherapy helps in a number of ways. By having a relaxation response to exam instead of one of stress and tension, you unblock pathways and channels of information. Visualisation and “rehearsal” of the examination will put you in a more positive frame of mind. Finally, a range of highly effective memory techniques will help you lock in and retrieve information when you need it.

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Habit Breaking - You may have a habit that is unhelpful, embarrassing or indeed harmful to your health and self-esteem. Habit breaking is one of the most widely employed and most effective applications of clinical hypnotherapy, whether it be nail-biting, smoking, binge eating, hair-twirling, or skin-scratching just to name a few. The reason hypnotherapy is so effective is that is works with both the conscious and the unconscious mind. Behaviours, once they become habits, move under the control of the unconscious mind – that is why, even when you are conscious of doing something that you don’t want to do, you may find it hard to stop. Hypnotherapy is fast and very effective at breaking old unhealthy habits and replacing them with new healthy habits with visible and effective results.

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Headaches - A very common complaint with a multitude of variations and factors. Tension headaches are caused by the involuntary sustained contraction of the muscles surrounding the skull and face. Migraine headaches are suffered more by women than by men, but its exact causes are still being researched. Cluster headaches often affect those who smoke and drink in excess and can be quite painful. Your first stop should be to your doctor who will work with you to diagnose your headache. After receiving permission from your doctor, we can work on the various causes and symptoms of headaches, particularly any psychological factors that are exacerbating them, whilst promoting calm and relaxation techniques which are beneficial for headache sufferers.

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Hypnodontics - Hypnodontics is the use of hypnosis in relation to dental treatment. It’s estimated that anxiety strikes about half the people who need to visit the dentist. This can lead to avoiding going for needed check-ups, treatment, or surgery. Whether for just getting over a fear of going to the dentist, through to pain control controlling salivation or bleeding, hypnosis is proven highly effective. Because hypnosis is already widely used in this area, your dentist’s surgery may already offer hypnosis, or have links with a professional hypnotherapist.

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IBS - Irritable Bowel Syndrome is an intestinal disorder characterised by pain, cramps or bloating along the digestive system. These may be accompanied by an urgency to go to the toilet or nausea. It’s estimated that around 15-percent of the population suffer from IBS, but interestingly, the cause is not known. Because of the nature of the symptoms and feelings of embarrassment, many people do not seek help. Hypnotherapy is widely recommended in the treatment of IBS and can be very effective as it works at reducing stress and calming the intestinal tract. Cognitively, you will be asked various lifestyle and diet questions that may be affecting your digestion. Typically IBS is treated in just a few sessions. It is important to get a medical examination and diagnosis before coming for hypnotherapy.

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Impotence - see Sexual Difficulties

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Infertility - If you’ve been trying to conceive without success, there may be range of reasons why this is so. Often a very personal and emotional issue, various techniques may have been tried without success. The first stop should be your doctor who will be able to determine if there are any physical reasons for this. If not, we refer to “psychogenic infertility” – where there is no physical cause. Hypnosis and hypnotherapy are now being used more frequently to work with psychogenic infertility because it has been shown to be effective. There are several ways hypnotherapy helps: Counteracting the stress and tension created when “trying” to have a baby which is actually counterproductive to conception on a physical and hormonal level. Also, working with imagery and visualisation to create a positive environment for conception. This applies to both the male and female partner. If you are considering hypnotherapy for psychogenic infertility and would prefer to see a female therapist, please follow the appropriate links in the contacts page.

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Insomnia - Most everyone has had trouble sleeping at some point in our lives. Up to one-third of us complain about insomnia at any one time, and many of these complain that it is chronic. Some episodes of sleeplessness are transitory, owing to stress, jet-lag, or perhaps intrusive recurring thoughts. When these episodes become a pattern, the physical effects start to take hold and can affect other parts of your life. There are several types of insomnia. For example, you may have difficulty getting to sleep in the first place, or you may sleep for a short while and then wake up, or sleep for a few hours and wake up very early and unable to get back to sleep. Whichever type, hypnotherapy can be very effective in helping you get back to sleep. The therapy sessions will take into account your lifestyle habits and make suggestions for beneficial changes. The hypnotherapeutic strategy employs several practical tools to help you re-associate your bed with a good night’s sleep, and help deal with any causes of sleeplessness.

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Lose Weight - See Weight Control

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Memory Improvement - Ever feel as though your brain were like a sieve, or as though facts just slip through your fingers? It’s more than likely a matter of how you process, store and retrieve information. The fact is that everything you have every learned or experienced is still inside you, so it is a question either of retrieving the information or of finding new ways to “code” incoming information to make it memorable. There are a wide range of techniques which we use in conjunction with neuro-linguistic programming and hypnotherapy to improve memory. You will notice the differences after just one session.

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Migraine Headaches - See Headaches

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Motivation - Have you ever felt “stuck” or “uninspired” or unable to get motivated to get moving on something that you know needs getting done? The combination of neuro-linguistic programming techniques and hypnotherapy can give you an added boost. Both these approaches are effective at bringing the out and amplifying the motivation within you, and giving you tools to do this yourself at home or wherever you need it. The evidence will be in how good you feel after the session!

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Nail-biting - An embarrassing or annoying habit for some, nail-biting can be a totally unconscious habit which seems to have a life of its own. It can become worse in times of stress and result in unattractive nails and a accompanied by a sense of exasperation and low self-esteem. As with all such habitual actions, hypnotherapy works with the unconscious mind to bring control of the habit back into the conscious mind where it can be discarded and a replaced by a better habit. Nail-biting is seen as little more than the remnant of a childhood habit which has outlived its usefulness. Hypnotherapy is highly effective at curbing nail-biting and allowing nails to grow naturally unhindered once again.

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OCD - There has been much publicity recently about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, an anxiety disorder characterised by recurrent and persistent thoughts, ideas, images and feelings that are perceived as intrusive coupled with senseless behaviours which one feels compelled to carry out again and again. Examples of this are repeated and excessive washing and cleaning, excessive checking, ordering, etc. The effect of these behaviours can affect your quality of life and cause significant distress. It is often difficult or embarrassing for the person to talk about, and therefore often hidden from view. Hypnotherapy works effectively to combat OCD by working with the “part” of you which is responsible for the behaviour, and then treating the habit itself.

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Oncology - See Cancer

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Pain Control - One of the most effective uses of hypnotherapy, acknowledged by medical authorities as early as 1958, pain is a highly researched subject affecting a vast majority of us at some point in our lives. Physical pain can range from unpleasant to unbearable, but it is crucial to remember that the sensation of pain is a subjective experience. In other words, how you perceive pain determines how it is experienced. It can be short-term (acute) or chronic (long-term), it can have a clear or unclear physical origins, and it can be manageable or unmanageable by medication. Pain is a warning sign that something is out of order - the body’s way of calling urgent attention to something in your body or in your life. It is essential to have a thorough medical examination to see if there is an organic root for pain. Hypnotherapy works because it directly intervenes in the anterior cingulated cortex, the part of the brain that perceives pain. The effects of pain control in hypnosis can lead to partial (analgesic) or near-total (anaesthetic) loss of pain. You will learn techniques that you can continue to use at home, along with self-hypnosis, to bring your own pain under control. So effective is the use of hypnosis in this area that entire surgical operations are more and more being carried out using hypnosis instead of chemical anaesthesia.

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Panic Attacks - If you’ve experienced a panic attack, you know how frightening it can be. Sometimes they come out of the blue and then disappear just as quickly never to be seen again. Other times they may come repeatedly, and even the thought of having another panic attack sets off a chain reaction of anxiety. You should see your doctor who will diagnose your symptoms and determine if there is a physical element. Therapeutically, we work at reducing panic through alert interventions, cognitive beliefs and hypnotherapy, working through the psychological as well as physical components, and bring feelings of calm, control, and greater self-esteem.

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Past Life Regression - See Regression

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Performance Anxiety - Many people have experienced tinges of nervousness when giving a speech or taking a driving test for example, but when the nervousness turns to paralysing fear, it can feel quite frightening. Thoughts of drying up, doing something embarrassing or wrong, looking foolish all play a part in performance anxiety. Hypnotherapy is very effective at working with all kinds of performance anxiety, helping to keep the good part of the tension, the part that keeps you alert and “on,” while discarding the part that is unhelpful or paralysing. The therapy works to get you to draw on your resources and “rehearse” and “perform” the event in your mind, whilst giving you suggestions for appropriate levels of excitement and calm. If you know you are going to have to perform, it is ideal to come for hypnotherapy a bit of time in advance so you are confident and prepared on the day. And if you think your anxiety is about a problem particular to you, be assured that people have overcome all kinds of performance anxiety, everything from wedding-day nerves to public speaking, and from performance on the pitch to performance in the bedroom.

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Phobias - The effects of having a phobia can feel debilitating. Some of us fear things which we will rarely or never have to encounter. However, many of us eventually do have to face our fears, such as getting on an airplane or crossing bridges, seeing spiders, or crossing a busy road. You may be in a situation where you are about to encounter something which previously caused you fear, or you may simply be tired of having a phobia and wish to do something about it now. Either way, hypnotherapy helps to reduce or eliminate phobia and put it in the past so that you can get on with your life. There are a range of tool employed in eliminating phobia, one or more of them will be used to make the change that you want. There are no nasty surprises, and clinically, there is nothing that we haven’t dealt with before. Hypnotherapy is a highly effective approach to reduce or eliminate your phobias.

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Psoriasis - This skin condition usually produces red, scaly, easily bleeding skin often on the knees, elbows, trunk and back. Psoriasis appears to have a genetic factor, but the cause of this condition is unknown. We know as well that psoriatic cells build up much more quickly than normal skin and so results in the symptoms described above. Stress is thought to play a part in this and many other skin conditions, and it is here where hypnotherapy is indicated. By reducing stress and increasing relaxation, you affect the part of the nervous system which is connected to the skin on a cellular level. See Skin Conditions for more.

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PTSD - Post-traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD refers to the intense, prolonged, sometimes delayed and abnormal response to stressful and traumatic situations. It may have resulted from a trauma which you experienced or which you saw such as a natural disaster, an accident, war, or terrorist atrocity. As well, long periods of psychological stress can result in a PTSD symptoms. These include depression, hyperarousal, avoidance, flashback, recurring dreams. The therapeutic approach is very similar to working with trauma, in which we employ EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing) and hypnotherapy to allow you to process the trauma safely and put it into perspective, whilst rebuilding and redefining your sense of self and confidence. EMDR is a highly effective technique with trauma and has helped many thousands of people get on with their lives. See also Trauma

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Regression - This word often conjures up mystical and mysterious images of hypnotherapy, and is one of the things people most often ask about. Regression is simply one tool a hypnotherapist can use to go back in time to a memory, something that actually happened, or something that happened in your imagination. There are clinical reasons why regression would be employed in therapy. Primarily, it is relevant to the improving the presenting symptom or understand a current self-belief. You may wish to access a good feeling from your past, or you may feel that the key to helping your presenting symptom lies in something that happened in the past. It could be a specific time that you are conscious of, or just a vague sense that something in the past has had a bearing on your present. Regression carried out in a clinical setting by a qualified hypnotherapist is safe and can help shed light on situations in your present.

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Relaxation - This is one of the key benefits of hypnosis and one which hypnotherapy is the ideal vehicle to induce pleasant states of relaxation. Because hypnosis itself is a wonderfully relaxing state, you will be able to feel and capture the feelings of deep calm not only during the session but afterward. You will be taught various relaxation tools including self-hypnosis and anchoring to bring about a state of relaxation when you need it most. Naturally, a state of relaxation is the antidote to stress and all the problems stress brings with it. Relaxation techniques are a key component of hypnotherapy in general and brings benefits across the board - mind, body and spirit.

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Self-Esteem - This is about how you value yourself, how you feel about yourself, and what positive and negative views you hold about yourself. You may feel you have low self-esteem which in turn is having effects on your emotional or even physical health. Hypnotherapy, NLP, and cognitive techniques can help to find the positive resources in you and build a growing and positive sense of self-esteem and self-worth. You’ll also be taught self-help tools to bring back good feelings of raised self-esteem, including self-hypnosis.

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Self-Hypnosis - A powerful technique which is often taught in the therapy room and which you can take away and use at any time. Practicing and mastering self-hypnosis will give you a lifetime tool which you can apply in any number of ways. And when practiced in conjunction with the other techniques employed in therapy, you will notice more rapid and long-lasting change.

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Sexual Difficulties - Difficult to talk about, embarrassing for many to seek help for, but problems in the bedroom happen to both men and women from time to time. These difficulties can dent self-esteem and have a negative effect on life and relationships. Some sexual problems are physical, but many are psychological. You should always see your doctor first to ensure that everything is in order on a physical level. There may simply be a lack of sex drive or desire, or a very active one. Men can experience premature ejaculation, impotence or erectile dysfunction; Women can sometimes experience frigidity, vaginismus or lack of desire. There are a range of therapeutic tools to help return to a healthy and enjoyable sex life. The approaches chosen will entirely depend on the difficulty experienced, your personal history, and how open and honest your are prepared to be - hypnotherapy plays a key role in helping explore any fears or anxieties you may have and creating new positive thoughts and associations and enjoying sex once again!

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Skin Conditions - Certain skin conditions appear or get worse during stressful moments. You may already know that skin is the largest organ in the body. It develops from the ectoderm from which also developed our nerve tissue. That is why certain skin conditions are directly affected by the state of our nervous system. Indeed, the skin is often referred to as “the mirror of our emotions.” Hypnotherapy can be very effective at relieving certain skin conditions, especially those which are known to be stress-related. There are a range of skin conditions which your doctor or dermatologist will diagnose. Some of them are included in this page and can be relieved through hypnotherapy. See Eczema, Psoriasis.

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Smoking Cessation - The treatment for which hypnotherapy is best known, given its remarkable success rate - you can stop smoking after only one session. You arrive a smoker and you leave a non-smoker. However, there is one factor which must be present and that is your strong desire to become a non-smoker. Because hypnotherapy works with, and not against your own will, if you truly wish to put an end to this dangerous habit, you will succeed. If you really do enjoy smoking, you may not be ready for hypnotherapy. Every patient that I accept has an honest desire to consign their smoking habit to the past. Hypnotherapy is so effective because it works with both the conscious and the unconscious mind - and it is in the unconscious mind where habits such as smoking are maintained. The single stop-smoking session is longer than a normal hypnotherapy session - typically lasting usually two hours - during which we will work with all your inner resources to achieve a smoke-free life without cigarettes. Please contact me when you are truly ready to become a non-smoker.

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Snoring - You may be a snorer, or the person sharing a room, bed or house with a snorer. It is usually the latter for whom it is a problem, leading to irritation, insomnia, perhaps wondering how you are going to be able to carry on. There are of course physical reasons for which people snore, and things which make it worse. Alcohol, cigarettes, excess body weight all contribute to snoring, and these all need revision. Your doctor will be able to advise if there are any other physical reasons for the snoring. Hypnotherapy can work with both the snorer and the “snoree” through the use of appropriate hypnotic suggestions to change sleeping positions for the snorer, and for the “snoree” to incorporate such sounds into the sleep cycle.

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Sporting Performance - Sport is one of the key areas in which hypnosis has been used to great effect to strengthen and sharpen one’s mental attitude and performance. Because hypnotherapy is goal-oriented, it fits in perfectly with the achievement-focussed nature of sport. Specifically, hypnotherapy can help you through concentration, visualisation, and mental preparation. Another reason hypnotherapy is so effective with sport is that people who come are determined and motivated. The combination of these personal resources and the benefits of hypnotherapy create a powerful combination for amateur and professional sportsmen.

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Stammering - Also called stuttering and dysphemia, this condition affects about 1 out of 100 people. People experience it in different ways, either getting stuck on a certain word, or repeating sounds or sometimes experiencing long pauses in-between words. What causes stammering exactly is still unknown, although there are measureable differences in brain activity when one is stammering and one is not. The hypnotherapeutic approach works primarily at reducing the anxiety which is created when one is stammering. This helps break the anxiety/stammering cycle, and therefore reduces further stammering. As well, we work with getting the stammerer to focus outward, rather than to be self-conscious, thereby leading to greater fluency, confidence and self-esteem.

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Stress - Few of us can say we have never experienced stress - that feeling that there’s too much pressure, too much tension, a sensation of overload. When these feelings happen, the body’s stress response engages, also known as the “fight or flight” response. This response heighten our senses and physiological responses to put us on “high alert.” In times past, this response helped us to decide to fight – a hungry tiger for example – or fight – run away as fast as you can. The “threats” these days tend to be of a different variety and usually not so directly life-threatening, but the same stress response is still engaged. A continued heightened stress response can lead to any number of physical and psychological problems. The opposite to a stressed state is a relaxed state - and because hypnosis is about being in a pleasantly relaxed state, you cannot feel stressed at the same time. A great benefit of hypnotherapy is not only inducing a comfortable state of relaxation, but also working with the sources of stress and teaching a range of tools which can be employed at any time to reduce stress and invoke a state of relaxation.

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Teeth grinding - See Bruxism

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Tension Headaches - See Headaches

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Tinnitus - With this condition a person perceives a noise in the ears or the head in the absence of any external source. It can be perceived as any number of sounds, such as whistling or humming, a buzz or a hum. It might be constant or it may come and go. There may be several organic reasons for this condition, though the exact cause is not fully understood. You should see your doctor for a correct diagnosis and advice about how to work with any present physical causes. It is not a bothersome condition for many, but some have great difficulty concentrating and can focus on little else than the sound. Hypnotherapy helps to alter one’s perception of the sound, working with your unconscious mind to control, adapt or manipulate it and so change the focus.

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Trauma - If you have been a part of or witnessed something deeply disturbing which continues to affect you negatively, you may be experiencing trauma. Strictly speaking, trauma refers to an abrupt physical event which elicits a similar shift in mental experience. Often, over time, the emotional effect of the trauma lessens and you can get on with your life. But sometimes the trauma seems to remain “stuck” and continue to affect your life, sometimes resulting in panic attacks, insomnia, restlessness, nervousness, and a range of symptoms. One of the best tools we have to treat trauma is called EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing). This is a powerful and effective therapeutic technique which was first used with Vietnam War veterans, and since has been successfully used with many thousands people who used to suffer from a wide range of traumatic situations. See also PTSD

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Vaginismus - See Sexual Difficulties

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Weight Control - Hypnotherapy has such a favourable reputation with regard to weight issues because it works on both any psychological or unconscious reasons for overeating, as well as instilling positive suggestions to control what you eat. Diets rarely work, but a combination of changing your habits, your thinking, and exercise regime creates a powerful combination to bring your weight under control. If you are already on a weight control programme, hypnotherapy can help you stay with it, and work with your positive motivations for losing and keeping weight off. My therapeutic approach examines everything which could be contributing to excess weight, on a physical, psychological, and lifestyle level. When you are motivated and serious about losing weight, you are ready for hypnotherapy. Please consult your medical doctor before undertaking any dietary regime or starting any exercise programme.

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