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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 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.

 

 

 

 

Uncategorized • • • • • • • • • • • • • By Brad Mace 0 Comments

Take Control Of Your Life!

A picture of a person picking up a large control key from a keyboard and holding it over their head and walking away from the keyboard with the words 'taking control' at the top of the pictureDo you ever feel out of control of your life? Your all powerful subconscious mind that runs in the background and over rides all conscious thought is an amazing tool if used correctly and the key to taking control of your life. Your subconscious mind controls all the vital processes of your body and knows the answers to all problems. One way of proving this to yourself is to, before sleep, turn over a specific request to your subconscious mind. The more you practice this then the more your belief system will take this request on board as a truth and begin to make it a reality. This is why it is so important to carefully watch all ideas and thoughts entertained in the conscious mind. The law of action and reaction is universal. Your thought is action, and the reaction is the automatic response of your subconscious mind to your thoughts. Watch your thoughts!

When we feel frustration it is due to unfulfilled desires so if you dwell on obstacles, delays and difficulties your subconscious mind will respond accordingly and you are blocking your own good. Affirmations can be a really effective way of re-programming the subconscious mind to steer it towards more positive goals.

You already know that you can interfere with the normal rhythm on your heart, lungs and other organs by worry, anxiety and fear so if you feed your subconscious with thoughts of harmony, health, and peace all the functions of your body will become normal again.

Keep your conscious mind busy with the expectation of the best, and your subconscious will faithfully reproduce your habitual thinking.

IMAGINE the happy ending or solution to your problems, feel the thrill of accomplishments and what you imagine and feel will be accepted by your subconscious mind. Our imagination is such a powerful tool and by training it in a positive way it can bring so many positive attributes to our lives.

Another way of re-training our subconscious mind is through the power of hypnosis. Using hypnotherapy we can remove negative blocks that are getting in the way of our goals. Hypno-analysis is a very good tool for weeding out any negative thoughts by removing undesired emotional attachments to negative memories then by re-framing the mind and adding some positive suggestion to the subconscious through hypnosis this frees your mind to move towards your positive outcome.

Things to remember:

  • Get rid of the negative thinking – No longer think and believe that you can’t. Negative thoughts lead to negative beliefs, which create more misery. So get rid of these negative thoughts as quickly as possible. If you entertain more negative thoughts you’ll be directing your subconscious mind to create more negative situations. You’ll be using your mind power to bring you more pain.
  • Visualize – Picture yourself getting what you want and succeeding. Always believe that you can and will succeed. Mind power relies on your thoughts, beliefs and how you see yourself. Make them all positive and your subconscious mind will deliver.

 

  • Never give up – Most people give up on their goals just when they’re on the verge of succeeding. You’re closer to succeeding than you realize so keep striving to achieve the success you want and keep believing in yourself.

 

Your subconscious can work for you like MAGIC!  So use it wisely. For more information of mind related matters please contact me here.

 

 

Anxiety Avoiding arguments Christmas Christmas stress coping mechanisms Depression EFT positivity Positve thinking Self-improvement Stress • • • • • • • • • • • • • • By Brad Mace 0 Comments

A Christmas Stress Buster!

A picture of a woman with her mouth wide open like a scream wearing a santa hat surrounded by wrapped presents with the word help on the left

 

Even though tis the season to be jolly, for some people this puts on an added pressure to show an outward happiness that, for whatever reason, one does not feel inside. This can compound negative feelings and make a person feel even more isolated, especially if there has been increased stress, tragedy or bereavement in a persons life. Sometimes the stress can be simply having to welcome unwanted guests or unwanted demands on top of our normal everyday life such as extra shopping, baking, cleaning and entertaining to name just a few but this all adds to Christmas stress.

Using just a few practical tips these could help you enjoy the Christmas season more than you thought and minimize any stress. So here goes……

  1. Acknowledge and accept your feelings. If your loved ones are absent or if a loved one has recently died it’s OK to cry and let your feelings out. Don’t try and force yourself to be happy just because it is Christmas. This will just put unwanted pressure on yourself and make yourself feel worse.

 

  1. Contact that friend! If you are feeling lonely or isolated then try and reach out and speak to someone. If there isn’t anyone you know that you can speak to then try not to isolate yourself and seek out some community events. Volunteering is a good way to keep yourself occupied taking your mind of stressful thoughts and this is also a good way of meeting new people. This can generate some feel good positive thinking because you are giving something back to society. Just remember extra volunteers are always extra volunteers needed at Christmas time, especially in soup kitchens and homeless shelters.

 

 

  1. Forget Perfection! Be realistic with yourself. Christmas does not have to be the perfect day and does not have to be the same as last year and previous happy Christmases. Things do change, people move away, children may branch out with their own friends and their new families and therefore traditions can alter and change. People who previously made up your festival group festivities including children, friends and family circumstances may have changed so they may not be able to be with you over the Christmas period. You can find other ways of celebrating together. A phone call, skype or sharing videos and photos. No-one needs to be isolated with the way communication is these days.

 

  1. Forget your differences. Set aside any grievances or grudges until a more appropriate time for discussion to avoid any negativity on the day. Try to be understanding if others get disappointed or upset if things don’t quite go the way that they were planned. Remember as the year is drawing to an end instinctively we reflect on the past twelve months and there is a risk, especially with the festive alcohol that negative memories may come to the forefront of our minds.

 

 

  1. Don’t overspend. When you go shopping set a budget and stick to it. Don’t spend over your means as this just creates unwanted stress that could last throughout the year.

 

  1. Set a plan and stick to it! Try and schedule your days leading up to Christmas so that you know when you are shopping, baking , cleaning etc….. Plan your menus so that you know exactly how much food that you are buying and stick to the shopping list. Do not be tempted to over buy, you will only be throwing it away.

 

 

  1. Exercise. Try and get some exercise and fresh air. Even if it means just going for a walk to clear your head. If you already do regular exercise then don’t abandon your normal routine completely. Try and fit in as much exercise as you can to keep you tip top and this will also help you get a good quality nights sleep to help you recharge your batteries for the next day.

 

  1. Take time out. Don’t be afraid to go to a quiet room for a while and try a five minute meditation, you will find this may also help you to recharge and give clarity of mind. Emotional Freedom Technique is also very good for relieving stress and bringing down and taking control of anxious and overwhelming feelings. It’s also a good tool for letting negative feelings out, letting go of them and replacing them with positive ones. See a basic EFT instruction video here.

 

  1. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you are finding Christmas preparations too demanding then don’t be afraid to ask for help! Those involved in your Christmas preparation and festivities will also feel much happier that they are able to contribute to your celebrations. Trying to deliver the whole of Christmas by yourself may become too overwhelming and unmanageable.

 

  1. Help is out there! If you continue to have stressful feelings or your emotions are escalating to the point where you just cannot cope then you may seek professional help or if it is an acute emotional crisis a sympathetic ear is always available at the Samaritans.

 

 

I hope that these tips help you to get through the holiday period and relieves any possible Christmas stress and  you all have a fantastic time. Remember be positive, keep calm, and, most of all, HAVE FUN!!!!!

 

Anxiety Hypnosis Hypnotherapy Insomnia Sleep disorder • • • • • • • • • • • • • By Brad Mace 0 Comments

Insomnia – Is it all in your head?

A man looking at his alarm clock in despair at ten past two in the morning because he can't sleep.

Worrying about not getting enough sleep could be the very thing that is causing your insomnia. Although sometimes there could be factors preventing us sleeping such as our diet and health, in a large number of cases it could just be all in the mind. Many of us are actually sleeping much better than we think. What many people actually have is ‘paradoxical insomnia’ where they think they are sleeping much less than they actually are. This can especially be common in people that are a bit anxious or sleep lightly. They may not be getting as good a sleep as the average person but studies show that although they tend to wake up a lot they are still getting sleep in between looking at their clocks. Because the sleep is very light they get the feeling that they are not sleeping at all so accepting that they are actually getting some broken sleep is the first step to tackling insomnia.

Insomnia is often about fear. Fear of just lying awake, fear that they can’t sleep or fear that they will not be able to function at work properly if they do not sleep. This fear then becomes a cycle and then going to bed becomes a negative task and then the fear of sleeps sets in.

So insomnia can simply be as much of a problem as the individual decides to make it. The problem is in your head. So if you can think your way into a problem then surely you can think your way out of it. But how can you do this?

First of all don’t put pressure on yourself to sleep. Don’t think of yourself as going to sleep but think of it as going for a rest. Resting is very restorative. As soon as you put pressure on yourself to sleep it’s not going to happen. So, make rest your goal! Research shows that for some cognitive tasks the benefits of rest were indistinguishable from sleep.

Much of the time people have decided for themselves wether they are good or bad sleepers. Remember you get what you focus on so if you focus on being a bad sleeper then you are probably going to get a bad nights sleep. Maybe if you decide that you are a good sleeper then if you do get a bad night then it won’t be so much of a big deal. Good sleepers have a belief that they are going to be fine whatever happens in the night. People that get highly stressed about their sleep have more depression, tiredness and cognitive impairment than people with a more positive belief system about their sleeping habits.

Increase your confidence about falling asleep by determining what time you need to get up then set your alarm and count backwards five and a half hours and don’t let yourself go to bed before that time (so in this case it would be one am). Make sure that you get up with that alarm and that you do not allow yourself any little naps throughout the day. Once you have done this for a few days your body will try and satisfy it’s need for sleep by making those five and a half hours as efficient as possible. Your sleep will then become much more continuous and much deeper. Once you have developed the confidence that you will fall asleep you can start bringing your bedtime forwards until it feels right for you. People may try and tell you that you need eight or nine hours sleep but research shows that six or seven is enough for a lot of people.

Move away from defining yourself as an insomniac by taking your focus away from sleep. See if you can go a whole month without talking about it! If you are asked by anyone about it then just say you slept fine.

Sometimes if we haven’t slept well the night before we tend to go to bed early in order to make up for it. This is a common mistake. It’s far better to go to bed later rather than earlier so that you make your sleep more efficient and don’t lay there in bed putting yourself under pressure to sleep.

You can start your bedtime routine as early as in the morning. Pick a wake up time and STICK TO IT! The brain loves consistency so if the brain has routine then it knows what is coming. Exercise is also a great idea. Early in the morning and outside in the fresh air is even better.

Sometimes it can be a case of an overactive mind. If I find my mind racing when I go to bed I find it very useful to use Emotional Freedom Technique to shut down my thinking. Hypnotherapy can also be very useful either by finding the root cause of the problem or using suggestions to help you sleep and get back into a routine.

For more information about hypnotherapy and EFT in Essex please contact me.

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