Ask the Clinical hypnosis Expert
May 2012 Article
PANIC
Panic attacks typically occur spontaneously, with no apparent trigger. Attacks usually last a few minutes, but they are so distressing that they can feel like an eternity. People may fear that they are losing control, becoming psychotic, or having a heart attack. When a person has repeated panic attacks and feels severe anxiety about having another one, he or she has a panic disorder. Panic disorder tends to worsen over time if not effectively treated.
Since panic disorder symptoms mimic other conditions, it is important to undergo a physical examination by your doctor. It is wise to probe the emotional and environmental components that trigger the panic symptoms, as well. Attacks may occur within six months of stressful life events such as the death of a loved one, divorce, geographic relocation, childbirth, or surgery. Panic attacks can also be triggered by large doses of caffeine, some cold medicines, and certain street drugs.
Panic disorder can radically impair family, work, and social relationships. It has caused people to lose their job and independence. People may also suffer from clinical depression and a number of other problems. Sadly, only one in three people receives appropriate treatment. Sometimes this is due to fear, embarrassment, or skepticism.
If you or someone you care about suffers in this way, please know that panic and anxiety are highly treatable with clinical hypnosis–often more quickly and effectively than you ever imagined! Reach out for help today!
April 2012 Article
Insomnia
Sleep problems fall into two general categories. The first is simply not being able to fall asleep when you need to. The second involves waking up at an inconveniently early hour and not being able to fall asleep again. Learning effective self-hypnosis skills can help you to significantly improve your sleep patterns.
Many people experience a bad night’s sleep for various reasons, commonly because they have something on their mind. If your sleeping problems persist, it is a smart idea to see a doctor to check that your sleeplessness isn’t a more serious condition requiring medical treatment.
Hypnotherapy can help with getting to sleep by:
• Re-educating your mind to expect to enjoy a good night’s sleep
• Teaching new relaxation techniques to help your mind and body to slow down at the end of the day. Sleeping becomes much easier in this state.
• Helping you to learn techniques to remove some of the noise from a racing mind.
• Helping you to understand some of the causes of insomnia and sleeping problems.
Remember, clinical hypnosis is nothing like the hypnosis you’ve seen in movies or stage shows for entertainment. You are in control, and you do the hypnotizing yourself (self-hypnosis). The website clinicalhypnosis.ca can answer many of your questions, and I invite you to call me any time.
March 2012 Article
Stopping smoking – What can you do?
Would you like to know how to stop smoking in a positive and easy way?
Stopping smoking is one of the most common reasons people consult with me. Hypnotherapy for smoking cessation in a single session has enjoyed a high success rate in my office: 95%. When quitting smoking, it best not to dwell on negative aspects such as ill health, but instead to aim for positive outcomes such as good health, fitness, freedom and energy.
How about starting right now by making a list of all of the benefits you will enjoy as a non-smoker? Imagine yourself in the future. How good is it going to be when someone offers you a cigarette and you find yourself saying ‘no thanks’? Perhaps you can imagine how strong you are going to feel and how positive you will be about yourself.
Hypnosis is not the mind control technique that is often represented on TV and in the media. In fact, you cannot make people do anything using hypnosis. Quite the opposite, if someone doesn’t want to stop smoking, they will be even more definite about that in hypnosis. YOU are always the one in control.
The cost of a hypnotherapy session for stopping smoking will be minimal compared to the financial and health costs incurred during a lifetime of smoking. Quitting probably won’t be difficult, either. Please give me a call to make an appointment or pass this article along to someone you care about.
February 2012 Article
Hypnotherapy can cure many conditions from a smoking habit or fear of spiders to more complex ones like OCD. Hypnosis has been around since time immemorial but because of superstitious beliefs and misconceptions, it hasn’t yet received the fame and attraction it’s due. Hypnotherapy’s major advantage is that there are no side effects that may be caused by drugs. It is also time- and cost-effective when the client is motivated to change. It is a therapy that unleashes the power of the mind so you can take control of the way you want to live your life.
Perhaps you’ve heard of a misconception about hypnotherapy leading to it being termed as a means to control another person’s mind. However, the therapist will not attempt to take control of the mind. She just guides the process. The therapist poses questions and makes suggestions so that the mind discovers a way around the problem.
During hypnosis, the client is aware of the process. The hypnotherapist does not force the client to speak about anything uncomfortable and hence he shouldn’t have fears of revealing secret information. It is simply a method of initiating the process of self healing. Conflicts are resolved that occur between the mind, brain and body.
Anybody can be hypnotized provided they are willing to do so. Any form of treatment that is done without the full cooperation of the client is useless and hypnotherapy is no exception. People who are willing to cooperate well with the hypnotherapist generally see better results in a very short span of time.
I am here to help you with your personal problems. Decide today that you will take action about making change in your life!
January 2012 Article
All of us have trouble letting go of something from the past. It may be an unkind word by a loved one, a feud with a sibling, or an affair that your spouse had. Any time you hold on to the past, it will show up today: in your habits, your behavior, how you treat others, how you feel about yourself, and in your health. It has to come out in some form because it is energy.
Sometimes our struggle looks like this: Holding on to the past, while saying to yourself, “I should be trying to get over this and move forward”. Yet, you’re living in between the two. You can’t get over the past, but you can’t move forward either.
Decide if you can get over it and if so, then really get over it. If you can’t, it’s all right to talk to someone who is a specialist in relationships as I am. I will be able to help you. Don’t live in between the past and where you want to be.
December 2011 Article
It is painful to see people hurting. Usually, our first impulse is to want to take away the person’s troubles. Canadians are big on fixing things; there are countless books, TV shows, and websites devoted to fixing cars, homes, and appliances. Unfortunately, we can’t “fix” people. There are no magic words. Perhaps the advice you try to offer is met with defensiveness. Maybe it’s easiest for you to say nothing at all to them.
Christmas, more than any other time of the year, amplifies a person’s feelings of loss. Messages of family togetherness and memories of someone who was there in Christmases past who is no longer, either through death or divorce, can be unbearable. The pain of losing a loved one is like a wound that may need direct attention, in addition to time and self-healing. Too vigorous an attempt to help, however, may tear the wound even further. Very often, a person who is grieving becomes uncharacteristically unpleasant (moody, withdrawn, argumentative, bitter) because they have lost their self-esteem. A few quick words of reassurance followed by a hasty departure reverberate hollowly in even a mildly discouraged person. To be ignored completely–treated as though invisible–is the worst thing one can do. Caring is expressed in many different ways, but one essential quality is that it be sustained over time. Quiet and unobtrusive concern is sometimes all a hurting person needs. Effective encouragement is often a simple matter of listening empathetically. You can also make yourself available, helping the person to maintain and expand social ties, and diminishing a sense of loneliness. Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference.
November 2011 Article
Want to Help a Smoker Quit? Understanding How to Be Helpful
Do you want to help someone quit smoking? As my clients know, clinical hypnosis is the #1 easiest, fastest, most natural way to quit smoking. As powerful as clinical hypnosis is, however, it cannot make someone do anything they don’t want to do. As a therapist, the wishes of my client are always something I will respect, and similarly, as someone who cares about the smoker in your life, you will want to respect this, too. Deciding to quit is a decision that must be made by the smoker, in his or her own way and own time. Until that time comes, here are some ways you can help:
The tenacity of addiction leaves many helpers frustrated and confused about how to dismantle the power of the cigarette. This often leads to the idea that denial about addiction creates resistance, and resistance must be confronted. Have you tried giving a smoker a lecture or an ultimatum? The well-intended goal of separating the smoker from their cigarettes usually fails. Why? Everyone knows–intellectually–that smoking doesn’t make sense. Therefore, guilt trips or lectures about the health hazards won’t be helpful.
What if you are a smoker? You don’t have to quit to help your loved one quit. You can support them by asking how you can be most helpful. Don’t offer them cigarettes or do anything else to sabotage their efforts to quit. You might help by giving them this article…but don’t nag!
Clinical hypnosis works so well because it addresses the emotional and habitual factors of smoking. It will make being a non-smoker consistent with some of your values; modelling non-smoking behaviour for your grandchildren, for example. When the smoker you care about is ready to quit, suggest they give my office a call, and let them know you care about them whatever they decide!
September 2011 Article
You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be. [Dr. David Viscott]
Traditional diets do not work. On the contrary, I think many of them keep people focused on the negative, which reduces motivation. Several evidence-based studies indicate that dieting is actually a consistent predictor of future weight gain. I’ve seen that people experience much greater success when they work with their appetite rather than trying to fight against it.
Once you learn how to reprogram your mind and break some bad habits that have been causing your weight gain, you may expect to:
Eat less
Eat better foods
Stop eating when full
Experience increased energy
Feel better about yourself
Have a positive self-image
I will meet with you one-to-one in my office: A confidential, comfortable environment. No groups, no gimmicks.
I suggest that you to gather as many resources as you can. Talk also with others who can help you succeed: Family, friends, your doctor, etc. I’d like to help you with clinical hypnosis and counselling to achieve your goal.
August 2011 Article
Most of my readers know I am a therapist first (over 25 years) and that hypnosis is one branch of therapy in which I specialize (17 years). Although there is an overall acceptance of therapy in general, I hear from my clients that they were reluctant to come, either because they or someone they know had a negative experience. I assure you that these cardinal rules WILL be followed in my office:
- I will not do too much disclosure about myself in session with you, because it’s the client’s therapy, not the therapist’s.
- I will not use the computer or the telephone in the middle of our session. In a world that increasingly values inattention and multi-tasking, it’s nice to be free from such distractions in a therapist’s office.
- I will not seem so bound and determined to be your friend that I disregard the resolution of your problems;
- I will not presume a wildly speculative diagnosis in the first 15 minutes;
- I will not allow anyone in the room to abuse you in any way;
- I will not just sit and ask, “How do you feel about that?” and suggest you take more bubble baths. You came to a real therapist, so I will give you the professional feedback for which you came.
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