Category: <span>Hypnotherapy</span>

Hypnotherapy discount for emergency service and care workers

A picture showing a Metropolitan police officer, an ambulance worker and a fireman depicting that emergency service staff get a discount for my therapy.

In the fast-paced and high-stakes world of emergency services, the mental and emotional well-being of personnel is often overlooked. It is because of this that I give hypnotherapy discount to emergency service and care workers. The daily challenges faced by those on the front lines can take a toll on their mental health, leading to stress, anxiety, and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

I’d like to shed light on the potential benefits of hypnotherapy for emergency service staff and advocate for the importance of offering them discounts to make this valuable resource more accessible.

The Demands of Emergency Service Work:

Emergency service professionals, including firefighters, paramedics, police officers, and dispatchers, encounter intense and often traumatic situations regularly. The nature of their work exposes them to high levels of stress, leading to potential long-term mental health challenges. It’s crucial to recognize the emotional toll these experiences can have and provide effective avenues for coping and healing.

Hypnotherapy is a valuable tool for mental health:

Hypnotherapy is a therapeutic technique that utilises guided relaxation, intense concentration, and focused attention to achieve a heightened state of awareness. Contrary to common misconceptions, hypnotherapy is not about losing control but rather gaining better control over one’s thoughts and emotions. For emergency service staff, this modality can be particularly beneficial in addressing various mental health concerns, including:

  1. Stress Reduction: Hypnotherapy can help individuals manage stress more effectively, providing techniques to induce a state of deep relaxation and mental calmness.
  2. Trauma Processing: Emergency service personnel often witness traumatic events. Hypnotherapy can aid in processing and reprogramming the emotional responses associated with these experiences.
  3. Improved Sleep: Sleep disturbances are common among those in high-stress professions. Hypnotherapy can promote better sleep patterns, contributing to overall mental well-being.
  4. Anxiety Management: Emergency service work can trigger anxiety, and hypnotherapy offers tools to manage and alleviate these feelings through guided relaxation and visualisation.

This is why I believe it is important for emergency services staff to have access to hypnotherapy.

Emergency service staff discounts:

Offering discounts on hypnotherapy services for emergency service staff and carers is a tangible way to show appreciation for their dedication and acknowledge the unique challenges they face. Here’s why I believe this is essential:

  1. Financial Accessibility: Emergency service professionals often operate on tight budgets. Discounts make mental health support more financially feasible, encouraging individuals to seek help without the burden of excessive costs.
  2. Recognition of Sacrifice: Emergency service staff sacrifice their well-being for the safety and security of the community. Offering discounts is a gesture that recognises and honors their commitment.
  3. Breaking Stigma: By providing discounts, we contribute to breaking down the stigma surrounding mental health care. It sends a powerful message that seeking help is not only encouraged but also supported.

Without the NHS I would not be here now and it is important to me to appreciate the heroes working in emergency services and the care industry. Recognising the importance of their mental health and advocating for accessible resources like hypnotherapy is a small yet impactful step toward creating a healthier and more resilient emergency service community.

As well as hypnotherapy I also offer other mental health services including BWRT (Brain Working Recursive Therapy), EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and EFT – Matrix RE-imprinting.

To book a free initial consultation contact me here.

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.

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.

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.

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

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