How is it that many long-term and challenging mental health issues are turned around, and relatively quickly? After years of therapy and counselling, many clients report feeling that progress seems slow at best, or that there's no hope of change.
While there's a lot we don't know about the subconscious, what we do know, is that our mind is incredibly adaptable. And we know that once our mind has a clear understanding, of how, why, where and when issues began, it also has the power to change.
There's a huge diversity of emerging neuroscience and supporting scientific research that underpins current developments in clinical hypnotherapy. For more information, there are many published & reviewed articles at Oxford Academic and links specifically on hypnosis research papers. I'll come back to some of these, including a personal favourite that lists the benefits and 'Long Term Dynamics of Mind Wandering'!
Guided hypnotherapy is a process of relaxation, visualisation and self-suggestion, taking your mind on a journey towards understanding the deeply held beliefs and assumptions that drive your daily actions and reactions.
The hypnotherapy process allows a wider perspective, and new insights into the connections between old beliefs and current day issues. A refined, guided process can explain why certain behaviors have been occurring and re-occurring over many years.
Guided hypnotherapy is designed to focus your extraordinary subconscious mind on finding the answers that will shift your habits to a new level, and allow you to see the beliefs and programs are no longer relevant, helpful or necessary.
The most important thing I've discovered through hypnotherapy, is that this deep process of resetting the mind, and the understanding gained, is radically life-changing and opens up relationships, creative pursuits and enjoyment of life.
Understanding is Power! Once you uncover these programs, you can then reset and recharge your system. If you open yourself up to experiencing the process AND follow through with the simple actions that will permanently reset these changes, you can experience exciting transformations. Essentially a full system upgrade!
If you have health challenges or physical/emotional pain, it's worth giving yourself the experience of hypnotherapy. Put aside the silly antics of stage-show hypno, or any fears you may have of being 'out of control'. You are fully in control and aware the entire process.
The challenge occurs where a habit or behaviour has negative consequences (eg nail infections, bald patches, skin scarring, reduced self-confidence, limitations on relationships and experiences). It then needs to be changed to something more positive, and this is where the unconscious nature of habitual response is one of the keys to change.
Hypnotherapy can help you replace the old, unwanted behaviour with a new, positive response that still meets the original need. For example, instead of pulling, picking or biting to relieve anxiety or boredom, you change the habit content to something incompatible with pulling, picking or biting that is more beneficial (eg using a fiddle toy, crocheting, knitting, focussing on your breathing in very short relaxation sessions throughout the day). This habit reversal/substitution would be developed in conjunction with a focus on important related issues such as managing stress and anxiety better, and improving your self-esteem and confidence.
In the deeply relaxed hypnotic state, the subconscious becomes accessible and receptive to suggestions for change. And because habits have their origin, creation and location in the subconscious, hypnotherapy's ability to access and influence the subconscious makes it a very effective way to change habits or behaviour into responses that are more beneficial and healthy.
We specialise in hypnotherapy for Body Focused Repetitive Behaviours (BFRBs) like hair pulling (trichotillomania), skin picking (dermatillomania), nail biting (onychophagia) and thumb sucking. Sian is a Professional Member of The TLC Foundation for Body Focused Repetitive Behaviours, and has completed their professional training for treatment of BFRBs. For more about how hypnotherapy can help you change specific behaviours, see the links below:
...I can honestly say my sessions with Sian have changed my life. I have not rubbed my eyebrow at all since my first session (it has now grown back) and we progressed to addressing other habits, particularly picking my skin...
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...when I booked my first hypnotherapy session I was sceptical that I could break many years of habit in just a few sessions, as other forms of therapy had failed before. Sian seemed to really listen and understand my concerns. I was able to benefit very quickly from our sessions which addressed my hair pulling and nail biting habits by providing practical solutions. I feel a lot more hopeful about the future...
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...just a quick note to say thanks - the hypnotherapy has worked. Since I saw you, I have managed not to bite my nails, and have had two manicures. Keeping my nails nice has really helped stop the urge to bite...
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...since the session, I've noticed a really dramatic change, especially with the tendency to pick & scratch my arms when I get anxious or nervous. It's like my hands just don't want to do it any more, instead they just glide over. It's a really amazing change!
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The benefits of hypnotherapy are that it allows clients to enter into a mental space where they can uncover deep beliefs, understand where they originated, and rewrite those that no longer serve their growth and happiness.
Objective: Impaired quality of life and psychological distress are common in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and may be associated with unhelpful cognitions. Hypnotherapy (HT) is effective in improving both symptoms and quality of life in patients with IBS, and this study was designed to determine whether this improvement is reflected in cognitive change using a validated scale recently developed for use in such patients.
Conclusion: This study shows that symptom improvement in IBS with HT is associated with cognitive change. It also represents an initial step in unravelling the many possible mechanisms by which treatments such as HT might bring about improvement.
As much as we make an effort to keep our vibes on the positive side, it is not out of place to state that certain beliefs can also impact our lives negatively if kept unchecked. Our feelings and our behaviour can take a hit with certain beliefs and this where hypnosis seeks to concentrate its efforts. You can see your beliefs effectively change for your own benefit through hypnotherapy and we shall examine the underlying mechanisms and intricacies of the remedy that hypnosis offers.
Biodun Ogunyemi is the founder of Optimind, one of the leading hypnotherapy practices within the UK. He has practised on Harley Street and is an experienced hypnotherapist, trained to the highest level in advanced hypnotherapy and NLP and is the author of over 180 hypnosis products.
A fundamental principle of hypnotherapy is that each individual has everything they need within them to deal with their issues and change their behaviour. We each possess an incredible and powerful imagination and this is the key to visualising and creating change.
If you are an extreme introvert, you are probably more inclined to avoid public speaking whereas as an extreme extrovert you might crave the limelight. So can you change? Back to the original question. The answer partially lies in what your fear. We tend to stay inside our comfort zones. Stepping out of the comfort zone can feel alien and scary.
We are creatures of habit and change for change's sake can create fear and result in stress. The key is to overcome the fear and your self-limiting beliefs as these hold us back. Luckily this is something hypnotherapy is good at helping with.
This powerfully effective hypnosis for positive change is perfectly designed for changing bad habits, such as nail biting, chronic tardiness, excessive TV watching, smoking and mindless eating, and instead provides a powerful boost for creating healthy habits, such as establishing a regular exercise program, healthier diet and regular sleep habits.
This powerfully effective hypnosis for positive change is perfectly designed for changing bad habits, such as nail biting, chronic tardiness, excessive TV watching, smoking and mindless eating, and instead provides a powerful boost for creating healthy habits, such as establishing a regular exercise program, healthier diet and regular sleep habits. It combines skillfully crafted hypnotic suggestions with guided imagery, to be played while awake or asleep, and can be applied to any behavior patterns you want to change. The track list is as follows:
This exceptional program of hypnosis to break bad habits is written and narrated by noted psychologist and behavioral health expert Traci Stein, whose superb voice and expert content delivers some of the most powerful and effective tools for personal change in production today. It is scored to the soothing music of Steven Mark Kohn and produced by the Cleveland Orchestra's impeccable sound engineer, Bruce Gigax.
The Awake Track encourages positive change through profound relaxation, visualization of completed goals, and a heartfelt sense of well-being, while the Sleep Track works towards creating healthy habits during deep, restorative sleep. A third bonus track delivers potent affirmations to further solidify the shift to creating good habits. Listen to a sample of this hypnosis CD for positive change and see for yourself why this program for changing bad habits is recommended by family and friends word of mouth, and by health and mental health professionals nationwide.(74 min.)
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