I work with all kinds of conditions such as Anxiety, Weight Loss, Stop Smoking, IBS, Insomnia, Fears & Phobia's and Performance & Confidence Building
Anxiety
Weight Loss
The important thing to understand about anxiety is that as uncomfortable as it feels, it isn't life threatening and presents no danger. When experiencing an anxiety attack, it's difficult to understand this, as the symptoms feel so real. You might experience a dry mouth, heart palpitations, sweaty hands, nausea, dizziness all of which are unpleasant. Your mind can make you experience a number of symptoms and will do anything in its power to avoid you having an unpleasant experience. The great news is that Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy is an excellent treatment for anxiety. It can challenge and change your limiting self beliefs that in the past may have caused you to run from a perceived threat leading to frustration and disappointment in yourself.
To tackle your anxiety issue we will work together to uncover what causes your anxiety. Once identified I will teach you relaxation exercises. As any Zen master will tell you, its near on impossible to feel anxious when you are fully relaxed. Its a useful tool for you to use in any aspect of your life. We will also work on all your nasty negative self talk so you will change how you think, in turn will changing how you feel leading to positive changes in how you behave giving you the confidence to face anxiety provoking situations.
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Wanting to lose weight but feel stuck? Perhaps you have spent ages losing weight only to put it back on again. Do you eat to feel better? There are many reasons why we gain weight. Being overweight can take up so much of thinking it becomes exhausting and frustrating. Constantly having to avoid eating your favourite foods takes its toll. We all deserve to be in the best shape possible for our age, height and bone structure, the truth is its easier than you think. With hypnosis I can help you identify the emotional reasons for why you eat, build your self image so you feel good about yourself, increase your motivation to get fit and healthy and ultimately achieve your goal. All without having to give up your favourite foods and spending hours slaving a way in the gym. 3 Sessions is all that's normally needed with a booster session to keep you on track.
Confidence & Self Esteem
Is lack of confidence holding you back?
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Do you feel you have a lack of self confidence? Is lack of confidence holding you
back from living the life you want? Do you see other people doing things you wish
you could do if only you had the confidence.
So often the experiences we have in life form our belief structure, if we don’t
receive nurturing support and positive praise at a young age, it can have a
devastating impact on us as we grow. Perhaps you had an experience at school
when you were asked to speak in class, when you did the rest of the class laughed
at you. The experience may have left you feeling hurt and humiliated, so much so
that the next time you knew you had to speak in class you started to worry about
it, maybe you said to yourself I’m no good at this, I can’t do it. The closer it came to
you having to talk the worse you felt, so much so that by the time it came around for you to talk you felt your face go red and your voice start to stutter and stammer, maybe your hands started to shake, the class once again laughed which reinforced the negative belief you had about yourself. The unconscious mind is so powerful, all it wants to do is protect you, which is why so often we self sabotage, our unconscious mind doesn’t want us to experience hurt and humiliation so it will do all it can to stop us from being “in perceived danger”, it's a primal safety mechanism. A lack of confidence is part of such control. Confidence means you can give something a go without the fear of failing or being perceived as a failure. Confidence gives you courage to try knowing that if you fail it doesn’t matter, you can try again until you succeed, eventually you will succeed. If you don’t have self confidence you hinder yourself from learning and developing, from being the best you can be but to your mind it sees you as being safe, unhappy but safe, however much it doesn’t like you being unhappy it wants you to be safe first and foremost.
So how does hypnotherapy for confidence work?
The important thing to know is that however and whatever we currently think it’s not set in stone; our minds are malleable and can change which is why hypnotherapy is such a powerful tool. Together we will explore the thoughts, beliefs and behaviours you have about yourself that are holding you back, We will challenge them so you will see how untrue they are and through the use of hypnosis we will work on changing your mindset to something much more beneficial and positive for you. If there is a particular event that scares you such as a wedding speech, job interview or an exam, then we can work together to prepare you for it so you feel that all important inner confidence in yourself which will enable you to deliver an excellent performance.
Hypnotherapy for confidence building reprograms your unconscious mind at such a deep level, it can be fast and effective.
Fears & Phobias
Stop Smoking
What's your fear or phobia
Common phobias include animal phobias which covers the fear of spiders, cats,
dogs, mice, snakes and many others. There are also natural phobias such as fear
of water and thunder and lightning as well as situational phobias such as fear of
flying, heights or being confined to a small space, or being scared of the dark.
Often we know our phobia is irrational, but it's an irrational belief that's been held
onto for some time you feel it is part of who you are. Phobias are from the anxiety
family. A phobia can really hold you back; cognitive behaviour hypnotherapy could
be the key for you to release your fear factor
How hypnotherapy can help overcome your phobia
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There are a number of ways that we will tackle your phobia. Existing cognition and behaviour will be worked on in a safe and secure environment to facilitate change. You will learn how to control your Autonomic Arousal System, (it’s this system that's responsible for your flight or fight response, usually with a phobia the flight response is triggered). We will also work on desensitizing you to your phobia, this isn't as Clockwork Orange as it may sound, it simply means we will establish a hierarchy of fear provoking scenes. We will work through each one using hypnosis and CBT until you are confident you are able to face your phobia. We will also look at any secondary benefits your phobia may give you and tackle those. We will develop your confidence. The skills you will learn in the session can be used for numerous aspects of your life; you will be pleased that you have them.
Hypnotherapy to stop smoking is one of the most effective ways to kick the habit. Whilst it's important to stress it doesn't work for everyone, if you feel the time is now right for you to quit then smoking cessation could make it much easier for you.
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A stop smoking session usually lasts 2 hours during which we will explore why you first started to smoke and what causes you to continue. We will identify key stressors in your life which keep the habit rolling and explore your thoughts and beliefs about smoking. This ground work will form the basis for your hypnotherapy treatment. Its important because we need to see when, where and why you smoke, once we know this then your hypnotherapy treatment is tailored just for you. I will give you some very powerful coping techniques to help you manage with the stress factors in your life. You will learn how to manage a craving, so the thought and the urge don't rule you. Most importantly you will see yourself as a non-smoker fully embracing the benefits of smoke free life. Just think of all the things you will be able to do with the money you save.
Insomnia
We all need a good night’s sleep, the National Sleep Foundation recommend
7-9 hours for the average adult aged between 18 and 65. Sometimes sleep
proves elusive and you find yourself lying in bed willing the hours to pass. No
amount of counting sheep helps sleep come. The clock ticks by so painfully
slow, you wonder if morning will ever arrive. The next day you feel tired, cranky
and unable to concentrate. We've all experienced a sleepless night and on
occasion it's nothing to worry about but when suffered on a regular basis
it can be very problematic. Insomnia can lead to change in mood, lack of
motivation and energy and increased irritability. You also feel increasingly
tense and you find yourself worrying about your inability to sleep.
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Factors contributing to Insomnia:
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Stress and anxiety
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Change in your environment
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Changes to your work schedule
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Issues in your personal life
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Issues in your work life
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Poor sleep habits
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Medical conditions
What keeps you awake at night?
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Our "racing mind" is one of the biggest contributors to a sleepless night. Thoughts such as "What happened today" "What do I need to do tomorrow" "How long have I been asleep" run through our head making sleep impossible.
Physical factors such as bodily discomfort, noise, our partner, the room temperature and light levels can also keep us awake. It is also an unfortunate fact that as we get older our quality of sleep decreases.
The impact of a poor nights sleep:
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So how does a poor nights sleep effect us? According to the Sleepio 2012 sleep survey, poor sleepers are:
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7 times more likely to feel helpless
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5 times more likely to feel alone
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3 times more likely to struggle to concentrate
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Twice as likely to suffer from fatigue
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Twice as likely to suffer from relationship issues
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Twice as likely to struggle to be productive
What about sleeping pills?
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Incredibly 42% of those on sleeping pills have had sleep problems for over a decade, this indicates that sleeping pills are not an effective solution to sleep issues. Sleeping pills are also associated with poorer well being, feelings of helplessness, loneliness and being out of control.
How can hypnotherapy help?
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The Cognitive Behavioural approach to hypnotherapy uses multi tool approach to tackle the issue head on. Firstly you will need to keep a sleep diary for a week which we will review, we will uncover any issues that may be causing you anxiety and we will use Gestalt therapy to address those. You will be given relaxation training and you will be taught how to use self hypnosis to enable you to sleep more soundly. You will also learn about sleep hygiene so you can manage your environment to create serenity before sleep time.
IBS
IBS - What is it?
Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a disorder of the gut which causes muscles and nerves to stop working effectively, bowels also become super sensitive. IBS symptoms are very unpleasant and in some cases can be life limiting, some women even go so far to describe IBS pain to be as bad as childbirth. Symptoms include:
Abdominal pain and bloating
Constipation and diarrhea (often experienced at the same time)
Backache
Nausea
The urge and need to go to the loo without notice
The cause of IBS is not yet known, common factors for sufferers include chronic stress, anxiety and depression. If you suffer from IBS then it’s important that you seek medical advice. It’s a serious condition with no cure although there are a variety of treatment options available to help manage the condition, these include; medication, relaxation training, CBT and hypnotherapy.
If you suffer from IBS you know how debilitating and intrusive it is and the negative effects it as on your life from stopping you eating food you love to removing the spontaneity out of enjoying life’s little pleasures such as time spent with family and friends. Evenings out and events have to be planned with military precision to ensure you avoid the embarrassing problem of needing the loo and being unable to find one . Fear and anxiety experienced at the thought of an episode is enough to bring on an attack.
Hypnotherapy as a treatment
Hypnotherapy is an effective treatment for IBS, its use is even approved by The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Research shows that using hypnotherapy to treat IBS has a success rate of %70 with long lasting results and the great thing about hypnotherapy is that unlike taking medication there are no negative side effects to your health.
Hypnotherapy is used to create an altered state of mind whereby the unconscious mind is accessed and effectively reprogrammed so your mind's perception of how it experiences pain is changed to something more beneficial for you giving you a reassuring feeling of control. During treatment you will experience deep therapeutic relaxation, a powerful tool for dealing with emotional stress and anxiety that IBS causes. You will learn how to use self hypnosis and relaxation to manage your symptoms enabling you to live the life you want.
Louisa is a cognitive behavioural hypnotherapist based at London’s prestigious Harley Street. Through the use of hypnosis Louisa will help you manage your IBS problem, providing a safe, secure environment free of judgement. Louisa offers you a tailor made hypnosis program specific to your needs using tried and tested hypnosis techniques which are fast and effective in dealing with IBS.
The number of sessions needed depends very much on you as a individual, some require just a few whilst others need a little longer.