Tag: <span>Anxiety</span>

Choosing the right therapist for you Hypno-analysis Hypnotherapy Uncategorized • • • • By Brad Mace 0 Comments

Harnessing the Power of Hypnotherapy for Men’s Mental Health: A Path to Healing

In today’s fast-paced world, mental health has become a critical concern for people of all genders. However, men often face unique challenges when it comes to addressing their mental well-being. The traditional societal expectations of stoicism and emotional restraint can make it difficult for men to seek help. In this blog, we explore an effective and often overlooked avenue for men’s mental health: hypnotherapy. We’ll delve into how hypnotherapy works, its benefits for men’s mental health, and how it can be a transformative tool in the pursuit of emotional well-being.

Understanding Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy, a therapeutic technique that involves inducing a deep state of relaxation and heightened suggestibility, has gained prominence in recent years for its effectiveness in addressing various mental health concerns. Contrary to common misconceptions, hypnotherapy is not about mind control or manipulation; it is a collaborative process between the client and the therapist. During a hypnotherapy session, the client enters a trance-like state, where they are more receptive to positive suggestions and can explore and address deep-seated issues.

Breaking Down the Stigma

One of the major barriers to men seeking help for their mental health is the stigma surrounding it. Men are often discouraged from expressing vulnerability or seeking therapy, which can lead to the suppression of emotions and unresolved issues. Hypnotherapy offers a unique solution by providing a safe and non-threatening environment for men to explore their thoughts and feelings without judgment. It encourages them to break down the walls of silence and stigma, paving the way for healthier emotional expression.

Benefits of Hypnotherapy for Men’s Mental Health

  1. Stress and Anxiety Management: Hypnotherapy is highly effective in reducing stress and anxiety levels. Men facing workplace pressures, relationship challenges, or other stressors can benefit from learning relaxation techniques and coping strategies through hypnosis.
  2. Overcoming Trauma: Men who have experienced trauma, whether it be from combat, accidents, or childhood experiences, often struggle with PTSD and related mental health issues. Hypnotherapy can help them process and heal from these traumatic experiences, providing relief and a path toward recovery.
  3. Anger Management: Traditional gender expectations can lead to suppressed anger, which can have negative consequences for mental health. Hypnotherapy can help men explore the root causes of their anger and develop healthier ways to manage and express it.
  4. Boosting Self-Esteem: Many men grapple with self-esteem issues but may find it difficult to address them openly. Hypnotherapy can uncover the underlying beliefs and insecurities that contribute to low self-esteem, empowering individuals to build a healthier self-image.
  5. Addiction Recovery: Substance abuse and addiction can take a severe toll on men’s mental health. Hypnotherapy can be a valuable complement to addiction treatment by addressing the underlying emotional and psychological triggers driving addictive behaviours.

Case Studies and Success Stories

To illustrate the effectiveness of hypnotherapy in improving men’s mental health, let’s explore a few real-life examples. John, a combat veteran, struggled with PTSD and anger issues. Through hypnotherapy, he learned to manage his emotions and find peace. Mark, battling addiction for years, found hypnotherapy invaluable in addressing the root causes of his addiction and maintaining sobriety.

A client I had, Jason, saw me for quit smoking and was so impressed he came back to give up alcohol altogether. Every year on the anniversaries he likes to send a text to remind me and himself how well he has done. He is now in his seventh year.

Another client, Ian, had been suffering from erectile dysfunction, something that many men really struggle to talk about. Working here, in a safe and confidential environment we were able to break down his anxieties and get his sex life back on track.

These success stories emphasize the transformative potential of hypnotherapy for men seeking mental wellness.

*Names changed to maintain confidentiality

The Role of Professional Hypnotherapists

It’s important to emphasize that hypnotherapy should be conducted by trained and certified professionals. These experts are skilled in creating a safe and supportive environment for clients to explore their subconscious minds and work through their mental health challenges. It is also a good idea to look at the experience of the individual therapist and how long they have been in practice. There are many new therapists qualifying and claiming, straightaway, that they can work with all manner of symptoms although many of these areas need specialised additional training. Make sure they are a member of a Professional governing body and CNHC registered.

Furthermore it is important to choose the right therapist for you.

In a society that often expects men to be emotionally resilient, hypnotherapy offers a unique and effective approach to addressing men’s mental health concerns. It empowers men to break free from stigma, heal from trauma, manage stress, and achieve emotional well-being. Through the guidance of trained professionals, men can harness the power of hypnotherapy on their path to healing.

Anxiety Choosing the right therapist for you Hypno-analysis Hypnosis Hypnotherapy Matrix Matrix Reimprinting positivity Post traumatic stress disorder Self-improvement Stress Therapy • • • • • • • • • • • By Brad Mace 0 Comments

How to use your trauma to heal yourself

A picture of man holding up his arms in victory, standing in a cornfield with the sun beating down on him with the words "Your recovery can actually begin at that darkest moment" Brad Mace then the website www.positivelycalm.com

For eighteen years now I have been working with clients, mostly on a one to one basis, and the majority of this work has been trauma work using  hypno-analysis. Many of the clients that enter my consulting room have a pre conceived idea about hypnotherapy or hypnosis.  I tend to call this the ‘magic wand’ syndrome. That’s to say that they think that I can hypnotise them and take away their worries or fears and everything will just go away in one session like ‘waving a magic wand.’ It would be truly wonderful if therapy was that simple. It tends to be stage hypnosis that gives people this misconception. The clue is in the title ‘stage’ I am afraid. Hypnotherapy is a completely different ball game. I use clinical hypnosis alongside Psychotherapy. So let me explain further, when we suffer trauma the emotions related to that trauma can get repressed and this repression happens within the subconscious part of our mind.

Hypno-analysis is a form of therapy that can allow us to access moments that have caused trauma and this helps release the trauma from our subconscious. There are also other therapeutic tools which I use, apart from hypno-analysis, which can help to do this. I believe in having different tools to support what works for each personality type, and am aware that what may not work for one just might work for anothe.  What I have found is that what all the most successful tools have in common is that they involve revisiting and working with the event that has caused the trauma in the first place!
So, when that client walks into my consulting room expecting me to wave that magic wand the last thing that they usually want to hear is that I am possibly going to take them back to face up to the trauma that caused their symptom. I say ‘possibly’ because this isn’t always the case. Suggestion therapy will work on some things, for example quit smoking. I do know though, for most problems related to a neurosis, the cream of therapies is weeding out that root cause through analysis.
The fact that a client doesn’t want to face up to that trauma is the exact reason that they should even though this is quite understandable. Have you ever heard the phrase ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’? We don’t want to ‘go there’, of course we don’t , because it means reliving the moment. Most of our problems end up going back to something in childhood and that was a time when we couldn’t understand or rationalise how we were feeling hence repression. Revisiting that event and accessing the feeling is a way of reprocessing it and letting it go. Sometimes there needs to be some re-framing of that memory. Other therapeutic interventions such as EFT and EFTMR can also help with this and they are similar to hypnotherapy in that we are putting the clients mind into the theta state. This relaxed state makes us able to access the subconscious and it is also much easier for the client to talk about traumatic experiences and for me to work with them.

It’s not just a case of jumping into a memory and working with it straightaway. It would very often take much more than one session to be able to access traumatic memories, of which there would usually be more than one, and the right therapist would guide you very gently through the experience. Yes, emotion will be released but that release is a huge weight off the shoulders leading you towards freedom from your symptoms. I, myself was healed of my tourettes symptoms by revisiting an early traumatic moment that caused them. You can see my article about how this was achieved here.


These are great interventions to help with the relief of anxiety, depression, PTSD, phobias and so much more. So if you ever find yourself in front of a therapist who you were hoping was going to wave a magic wand but instead wants to help you confront and release those trauma then my advice would be FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAY! Remember, always go with a professional accredited registered therapist to help you achieve that freedom from fear and anxiety and know you are working hand in hand with the clinical professional. To book a free 30 minute consultation contact me here.

A diagram of a side on view of a head showing that we use 10% of the conscious mind for analysisng, thinking and plans and short term memory then showing we us 90% of the subconcious mind and this is used for long term memory, emotions and feelings, habits, relationship patterns, addictions, involuntary body functions, creativity, developmental stages, spiritual connection and intuition.
Hypnotherapy Uncategorized • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • By Brad Mace 0 Comments

Positive Affirmations v Subconscious Programming

A diagram of a side on view of a head showing that we use 10% of the conscious mind for analysisng, thinking and plans and short term memory then showing we us 90% of the subconcious mind and this is used for long term memory, emotions and feelings, habits, relationship patterns, addictions, involuntary body functions, creativity, developmental stages, spiritual connection and intuition.

 

Positive affirmations v subconscious Programming.  One question that I have been asked before as a hypnotherapist/Psychotherapist is about the difference between Positive affirmations and positive suggestion used during the hypnotherapy process. Positive affirmations have for a long time been very popular. Although positive affirmations are a good way to direct our thoughts away from negative thoughts what a lot of people don’t understand is that the conscious and subconscious parts of our mind are interdependent. The conscious mind is creative and can conjure up positive thoughts and the subconscious is a repository of ‘tapes’ brought together by instincts and experiences. The subconscious mind is strictly habitual and will play the same behavioural responses to life’s signals over and over again often to our annoyance. How many times have you found yourself getting ‘wound up’ over something trivial like what way round the toilet paper should hang? You have been trained since childhood that maybe the toilet roll should hang over the front. Your partner, however, may have been trained that it should hang from the back. When you find the roll hanging on the wrong side then you can automatically get annoyed as your buttons have been pushed. What you are actually experiencing is a stimulus response to a behaviour program stored in your subconscious mind.

When it comes to neurological processing abilities the subconscious mind is millions of times more powerful than the conscious mind so, if you use positive affirmations with the conscious mind and it conflicts with the programs of the subconscious mind which of the minds do you think will win? You can repeat a positive affirmation, for example, that you are loveable, to try and boost your confidence but if, as a child, you were told over and over that you were useless and would amount to nothing those messages that have been programmed into your subconscious mind will undermine your positive affirmations and best conscious efforts to change your life. Just think about how quickly your last new year’s resolution lasted? Whatever habit or addiction that you may have tried to break consciously soon gets over ridden by subconscious programming. The subconscious will always ‘jump in’ before the conscious mind. ‘ So, consciously you may have every intention of losing weight throughout January but before you know it you can find yourself reaching for the leftover Christmas cake before you really start thinking it because of that subconscious ‘urge’ running in the background.

But, all is not lost. There are ways of accessing the subconscious mind and reprogramming positively. Hypnotherapy, Emotional Freedom technique and EFT Matrix Re-imprinting are all ways of strengthening your will power. Sometimes when negative patterns are so deeply ingrained within the subconscious mind hypno-analysis can be used to access these negative experiences clearing negative feelings and re-framing positively before backing this up with positive suggestion.

So, although I have no problem with positive affirmations, after all, the more positive we can put ‘out there’ the better as far as I am concerned, the real winning solution for positive thinking and positive change is to work with the subconscious.

Please contact me to book a free initial consultation.

 

 

 

 

 

Anxiety bad day coping mechanisms Depression EFT fear of flying Fears Insomnia Matrix Matrix Reimprinting Money Motivation positivity Positve thinking Post traumatic stress disorder Relationships Self-improvement Sleep disorder Stress Therapy Uncategorized • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • By Brad Mace 6 Comments

The Power Of Matrix Reimprinting

A picture of some DNA with a outer space background and the words Matrix Reimprinting

 

Anyone who knows me socially knows that for the past 27 years I have been suffering from Tourette’s syndrome. Or, as the doctors preferred to say, Tourette’s like symptoms. This is because it is only recognised that Tourette’s sufferers usually start getting their symptoms in their formative years. It is not recognised that, as in my case, you can start getting Tourette’s symptoms at the age of 19. Before this time I had no history of tics. When I was 19 I was involved in a serious hit and run accident. Being hit at between 60 and 70 mph and being left for dead in the road I was completely unconscious and my femur had been shattered and I had a severe head injury. Although I recovered well and learnt to walk again I was left with some vocal and physical tics. I used to make some strange guttural sounds, my left arm used to fling out of its own accord and I was also known to bark! My accident and recovery had a lot to do with what lead me towards a healing profession and using the power of the mind to heal ourselves.

Although my Tourette’s symptoms were quite mild compared to many Tourette’s sufferers it has been very hard at times living with tics that were out of my control. Although I developed many coping mechanisms over the years it did still at times, knock my confidence. After brain scans and neurologists looking into my problem the only treatment they could come up with were prescribed drugs to soften the symptoms due to their diagnosis of a ‘chemical imbalance’ in the brain. I took these for about two weeks,(very many years ago) and never took them again as they seemed to also soften all my senses. Psychoanalyst Sandor Ferenczi once described a tic as “An over-strong memory fixation on the attitude of the body at the moment of……trauma”. Tics are believed to be old memories from a trauma that was not resolved. The roots of traumatisation can be described as a threat to survival in the face of helplessness which leads to the fight/flight/freeze response. I’ve always believed there was a ‘part’ of me still stuck in that fight/flight/freeze response.

I have been a fully qualified hypnotherapist and psychotherapist for the past 16 years and a member of the association for professional hypnosis and psychotherapy which is my governing body for which I have to follow a code of ethics, one of these being updating my skills and knowledge every year. Over the years I have learnt some great techniques to teach my clients, as well as to use on my own Tourette’s symptoms. Luckily I was able to overcome any tics whilst working with clients. I believe this was mainly due to being so focussed on said client.  Several years ago I qualified in EFT (emotional freedom technique otherwise known as tapping) and it was very good for helping to relieve some of my Tourette’s symptoms. I could use EFT to somewhat lessen my public display of Tourette’s, however the urges to tic were still there and most of the time still not controllable, requiring a lot of effort and concentration. Having gone as high as level 3 with EFT I had been toying with the idea for a few years of attending a course on EFT Matrix reimprinting. I had read a lot about this evolutionary technique developed by Karl Dawson who is one of only 29 EFT masters worldwide and author of Matrix Reimprinting using EFT and Transform your beliefs, transform your life. My symptoms earlier this year had seemed to be getting worse and I was finding it was taking much more energy to focus. Anyone who has suffered from tics will tell you that it is very tiring concentrating all the time on trying not to do something! So in June this year I took the plunge and got myself booked on a matrix reimprinting course in Brighton which Karl Dawson himself was teaching. Little was I to know that the days spent on this course was about to change my life.

Matrix Reimprinting is a powerful technique that uses EFT to resolve traumas from our past focussing on core beliefs, so that practitioners can guide clients to a lasting change in their lives. This magnificent technique can help with everything from anxiety, grief, phobias and pain management to parenting, self-image and weight loss. In fact you can use Matrix Reimprinting to help clients change what they believe about themselves and the world around them. If we can change our thoughts we can change anything.

Matrix reimprinting is based around the theory that everything is energy. To work with Matrix Reimprinting there are four concepts that you need to understand:

1.Everything is energy.

2.Energy is organised into fields of information (morphic fields).

3.Our subconscious mind is located in our personal field.

4.We can tune into those fields of information.

When we experience trauma then that trauma gets stored in the subconscious as an ECHO. Echos are Energetic Conscious Holograms. Using matrix reimprinting we can follow a clients energy or ‘feelings’ to guide them towards echos that are sitting in the energy field disrupting our natural flow of energy therefore causing symptoms. By finding these echos we can then guide the client to tap away the trauma using EFT and reframe the memory positively.

I hadn’t previously remembered anything about my accident. When we suffer from extreme trauma our subconscious often blocks things out as it believes that is the best way to protect us. I had always believed that if I was able to remember my accident it would be a good way of accessing and working with the trauma and I would be able to relieve some of my symptoms. I had tried this many times through using hypnosis but to no avail. So I knew this echo was sitting there, somewhere, constantly reliving that trauma and causing my symptoms. Luckily for me, much of the course was practical work where learners were able to work on each other. I had previously discussed with Karl Dawson about my accident and Tourettes symptoms and he had assured me he would do his upmost to try and work with me. The day before I was to be worked on, we had been learning about how and when we experience trauma, and that trauma can get stuck in our energy field and I had always believed I had the symptoms of trapped trauma. For example it was only ever my left arm that flung out. Was this because I was hit on my left hand side and that arm would have flown up into the air or even I may have thrown my arm up as a form of protection? The strange whimpering sounds I made…. Could that have been me lying on the road in pain? Ok I couldn’t explain the barking which had come along later but all I can think of is that a bark can be a dogs cry for help. Please don’t throw me a stick!

So we had spoken on the course about big trauma and little trauma and how it can get stuck in the body and how trauma can sometimes distort our belief systems and now Karl, along with my training partner Neil, was going to see if we could access my accident trauma to release the trauma from my body and reimprint positively.

Photograph of Hypnotherapist Brad Mace with Karl Dawson the creator of Matrix reimprinting

Brad Mace (me)  with Karl Dawson the creator of Matrix Reimprinting

Karl started off the proceedings by tapping on some of my EFT points and working with my energy using Matrix reimprinting techniques we had learnt. He didn’t take me directly to my accident straightaway, but cautiously guided me there indirectly. Exploring my feelings from my tourettes I was taken back to some previous trauma from my childhood that was also connected in the matrix as it was also an event that gave me the belief that the world was an unsafe place.  Then we followed the energy from there after Karl handed over the reigns to Neil and I was able to be taken not only to my accident but to the point of impact, and Neil worked with me to discharge the trauma from my body. Not only was the trauma discharged but Neil used matrix reimprinting techniques to reimprint this memory in a much more positive memory and change my belief around this memory that the world was not a safe place. I believe that this trauma in my body had been sitting there constantly in my energy field, reliving the event over and over again This session had been extremely powerful for me. I was dazed and drained for quite a while afterwards, but I also felt strangely at peace and liberated. This session took place on the last day of the course and I was to drive home afterwards. So after I had said my goodbyes and heartfelt thanks I started my drive home. I was feeling some sensation in my left arm like it was wanting to fling out but I was able to over ride it. I had no urges to make a noise but I did notice that my teeth were extremely clenched and I had a pain down the side of my face. I do believe that was trauma energy working itself out of my body.

It is now 10 weeks later and I can honestly report that I have hardly any symptoms at all and as time is going on they are getting less and less. From what I have learnt from this course I now realise that this is because the morphic field is getting weaker now that the trauma is released and I am no longer ticking. The less I practice this old habit the weaker that field will get and the habit will eventually completely disappear. My arm would fling out several times a day. It did it once last week and that came as quite a surprise as it hadn’t done it for ages. It also hasn’t done it since. There are no vocal tics. This is also without any further work. I should really be working on myself and I haven’t. If I was one of my clients I would be giving me a ticcing off! (pardon the pun). But to be honest I really haven’t felt a need to. Matrix reimprinting for me has been life changing. After 27 years living with a trapped trauma that was coming out in tics that were beyond my control I only wish that I had invested in this wonderful revolutionary technique earlier. I am now a fully qualified matrix reimprinting practitioner and already using this fantastic way of working with many of my clients and looking forward to using it much more in the future.

I do believe that my Tourette’s has been almost eradicated and is improving by the day, so who is to say that Matrix reimprinting couldn’t help others with Tourette’s? In fact I am now a firm believer that Matrix reimprinting could help with practically any negative symptoms.

When we change our energy field it also has an effect on everyone who comes into contact with us. We all know the difference of being around an energy field of someone who makes us feel positive and someone who makes us feel negative therefore draining us of our energy. We all owe it to ourselves to clear negative energy and trauma so that we can be able to live consciously without fear.

 

 

 

 

Anxiety EFT fear of flying Fears Hypnosis Hypnotherapy positivity Positve thinking Self-improvement Stress Therapy • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • By Brad Mace 0 Comments

Free yourself from Fear!

A picture of a tree with a pale blue background with the words "The fears we don't face become our limits"

It could be argued that people’s greatest enemy is fear. Fear is often the very thing behind failure, sickness, stress and poor human relations. Millions of people are afraid of so many things including fears of the past, the future, old age, dementia, death and illness. Many fears can become a phobia such as fear of flying, spiders and water to name but a few. But fear is just a thought in your own mind which means that all you are actually afraid of are your own thoughts! It’s never too late to free yourself from fear.

If you imagine a small child can be fearful of a monster living under the bed because a playmate has told them that the monster would grab them in the night. But when a parent turns on the light and shows them that there is no monster under the bed then he is freed from that fear. The fear in the  mind of that child was every bit as real as if there was really a monster there. When he was made to realise that the thing that he feared did not exist then he was healed of a false thought in his mind. In the same way, most of your fears have no reality.

The great nineteenth-century philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once said “Do the thing you are afraid to do, and the death of fear is certain.”

I remember when I was 19 being asked to be best man at a wedding. In fact it was a very big wedding. I was filled with unutterable fear at the thought of standing before an audience and speaking. I believe that if I had given way to this fear, as terrible as it was, I am sure you would not now be reading this blog. I would never have been able to share with others what I have learned about the workings of the subconscious mind. The way I overcame this fear was to follow Emersons advice. Quaking inside I went before the audience and spoke. It was tough at first but as the speech went on I gained a little confidence and by the end I was almost enjoying it. Admittedly it was quite a while until I spoke in front of an audience again but I used this experience as a benchmark and in my line of work now I have to engage in public speaking all the time and I actually enjoy it. I did the thing I was afraid to do and the death of fear was certain.

When you affirm positively that you are going to master your fears, and you come to a definite decision in your conscious mind, you release the power of the subconscious, which in return flows in response to the nature of your thought.

Try this technique for overcoming fear. Suppose you were afraid of swimming. You can retrain your mind with this simple technique. Try and sit still for at least two to three times a day for five or ten minutes. Now imagine that you are swimming. Mentally project yourself into the water. You feel the coolness of the water and the movement of your arms and legs. It is all a very real and vivid and joyful activity in your mind. What you are experiencing in your imagination will then be developed in your subconscious mind. When you next swim it is the joyful action that will surface as this is the law of the subconscious.

The same technique can be applied to other fears. A hypnotherapist can induce an even deeper state to instill positive suggestion and sometimes may work with regression to find a root cause for the particular fear and release the negative emotion that has been buried within the subconscious mind. Emotional Freedom Technique is also another good way of clearing those negative feelings.

Remember to give your focus to what you want to happen not what you are afraid might happen instead. For example If you are fearing failure then focus on success!

For further help and support in overcoming your fears please do not hesitate in contacting me.

 

 

Hypnotherapy discount for emergency service and care workers

In the fast-paced and high-stakes world of emergency services, the mental and emotional well-being of personnel is often …

Revolutionising Mental Health: BWRT – The Therapy World’s Storming Solution

  In recent years, the world of therapy and mental health has witnessed a paradigm shift in the way we approach and …

Breaking the Silence: The Celebrity Shield in Sexual Abuse Cases

In recent years, the world has witnessed a growing wave of movements and campaigns aimed at raising awareness about sexual …