Hypnotherapy London Blog

A relaxed new year ?

2011-12-26T14:19:00.000-08:00

Hypnosis for relaxation .

Many people wonder if hypnosis and meditation are related. Certainly the feelings experienced are very close.
For one thing the sense of clarity of mind - even though many thoughts may be buzzing about in the " monkey mind" to begin with.

The other common sensation is bodily relaxation, sometimes referred to as a " felt sense " of deep inner comfort and ease.

Then comes the resolution of inner issues - and the great thing is that this can happen without anything seeming to have happened during the session.

An intriguing case perhaps of less is more ?

Treating infertility with hypnosis

2011-09-21T15:46:00.000-07:00

When a woman has unexplained infertility, she may start to develop infertility anxiety and this is understandable. She may not realize that treating infertility with hypnosis might work for her. Some women rely on what the doctor tells them only to find they will never get pregnant. Don't give up on having a baby, without trying hypnosis in order to treat your infertility.

The truth is that the infertility may possibly be caused by anxiety. Plus, when you conceive, you need to avoid stress at all costs as this is not good for your body, especially during pregnancy.

Hypnosis is a non-invasive way to help the couple get rid of the stress from their life so that they can prepare to be parents. This technique will not require any medication, needles, supplements or special herbs. Studies in Israel have shown that hypnosis can radically increase the chances of IVF succeeding

Getting rid of the stress and washing the negative feelings from your life may well increase your chances of conceiving naturally.

As more and more women find out about treating infertility with hypnosis, more are starting to use it. With this method, there is nothing to be afraid of, but a lot to look forward to. For some this could be the pain free way to get exactly what they want.

Interview nerves ?

2011-09-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

Hypnosis and interview nerves

"Oh no, here comes another interview. What am I going to do? What am I going to say? What am I …" stop right there. It sounds like you have a horrible case of interview anxiety! Don't worry, you are not alone. There are hundreds and thousands of people out there just like you - they all have this type of anxiety. You need something that is going to boost your self-confidence and help settle your nerves so that you can show your true colors at that interview. What you need is hypnosis treatment. Yes, I just said "hypnosis" .

Hypnosis is a pain free method that will help you with your self-confidence problem. Once you are done with the treatment, you can kiss that interview anxiety goodbye, finally.

Imagine yourself walking in the office for an interview, without worrying. When a person's self-confidence shows through, so will their skills to do the job. The employer sees many individuals who are twitchy and nervous. So, if you want to stand out from the crowd, you need to learn how to increase your interview performance.

It's a known fact, hypnosis and interview performance are linked. I am not trying to sell you anything, I just want to help you get the next job you get interviewed for, because we both know how the economy is today. All you need is a little hypnosis and this could help you go a long way.

Hypnotherapy - does it really work ?

2011-08-10T06:29:00.000-07:00

Does Hypnotherapy Work – The Answer Might Shock You

People have this skewed view of the practice of hypnosis. When looking to answer the question that lingers in the minds of many, does hypnotherapy work, the answer is simple; yes. In fact, there are a thousands and thousands of studies that have been published to reveal that those that want to fight stress, manage pain, or lose weight can in fact do so with a little push of the mind. Even as long ago as the 1890s the British Medical Association approved of clinical hypnosis.

It’s important to understand that when a person asks the question, does hypnotherapy work, they are often ridiculed as if hypnotherapy could not be thought of as a very serious business. That’s the downside of things, because the answer does shock most. Hypnotherapists are not quacks, and do not just come out of caves or roam the countryside selling snake oil; they go to school and train very hard to understand the complexities of the mind. They also have research to back them.

If you or someone you know is looking through search engines for a London Hypnotherapist, you’re going to find that there are only a few that have great reviews and testimonials. That’s because the old adage is correct when it comes to hypnotherapists, “the cream rises to the top”. The best in the field cannot only relieve a great deal of problems, it can help motivate some, and create an all-new life for others. It needs to be stressed that this type of therapy is modern, revolutionary and full of life. If you’re skeptical, try it once, and even you will change your opinion.

Hypnotherapy for anxiety

2011-08-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

Hypnotherapy For Anxiety – Will It Work For You?

There are a lot of different ways to deal with ailments of the mind, but none of them seem to be quite as good as hypnotherapy. The process of evaluating the problems and then slowly manipulating the mind to move away from the anxiety and stress that many people carry is something that a professional can do with relative ease. If you’re looking for help in this area, you should at least consider the notion that help is not found in pills, and regular psychiatric visits where you’re laying on a couch hoping to have someone listen. You can take action today and be free and clear in no time.

The first thing people think about in terms of hypnotherapy for anxiety is a pocket watch that waves back and forth and makes a person tired and sleepy. That is not how this process works, and hypnosis is far more complicated than the rudimentary caricatures that most people think of when they consider the practice. In order to be an accomplished therapist in this field a lot of studying and practice is required. Without the constant study and practice, it is impossible to be good at this very delicate art form.

Whether you’re looking at hypnotherapy for anxiety or hypnosis for stress, you will be amazed at how it can help you. You will simply feel a weight lifted off of you, and never look back. Even the most hardcore of skeptics can appreciate that this process works, and works so well that true believers are made daily within a few sessions.

How not to use hypnosis

2011-07-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

Hypnosis works - but not for everything

Every so often someone asks me a question like this : " Could you hypnotise me so I forget all about my ex-girlfriend ?" or " I got drunk over the weekend , can you hypnotise me into remembering what happened ?" or even " I was given a phone number but I lost it - can I be hypnotised to remember it ?"

These are things that in my view cannot be adressed with hypnosis. For instance how can mere suggestion wipe out complete memories or recall lost ones ? That's the stuff of movies and fiction. The reality is that memories are there and will stay - what hypnosis can do is help how you react and respond to those memories. So there is value in using hypnosis to help you feel stronger and more indepedent after a bad break-up, for example.

As one of the busiest London Hypnotherapists I have to turn many such requests down and feel it would be unethical to suggest that hypnotherapy would be of any help. There are so many conditions hypnosis can help that are often overlooked, ie pain management, anxiety reduction. My hope is that more clients come forward for these issues.

Get a Healthy Body Image

2011-07-02T08:06:00.001-07:00

A Lean and Healthy Body Image through Hypnotherapy

With hypnotherapy, a healthy body image is now possible. How? The brain is a very powerful organ in the body that has the ability to affect all your actions and decisions. Under hypnotherapy, your hypnotherapist will place you in a trance state giving you suggestion on how to achieve a lean and healthy body image safe and fast. This technique informs your brain about what you must consider in order to achieve your goal and get rid of any unwanted habits that prevent you from achieving a lean and healthy body image.

In a couple of minutes hypnotherapy allows you to imagine yourself with a lean and healthy body image and helps you examine your future in a positive perspective. Next, they take advantage of access to your unconscious mind, and install all healthy suggestions you need in order to lose weight fast, welcome the idea of exercise, and encourage you to make right food choices automatically. Aside from these benefits, hypnotherapy provides you relaxation and revitalization.

Being overweight increases your risk to get heart problems, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Other weight loss techniques promise you a lean and healthy body image but continuously fail you each time you try their programs. Your time is very essential and not even a second of it should be put to waste. All you need is hypnotherapy to push you keep that heavy weight off. So if you want to accelerate both your health and fitness condition, achieve a vibrant healthy body image today by visiting a hypnotherapist near you.

How to overcome shyness

2011-07-01T13:15:00.000-07:00

Overcome Shyness through Hypnotherapy

Using hypnotherapy, you can overcome shyness. How? Hypnotherapy uses the power of hypnosis in order to re-educate your unconscious mind and allow it to let go of your old, very unhelpful socializing ways. It helps you learn to adopt new socializing patterns that will help you create a fruitful, enjoyable, and rewarding social life you have not yet experienced in your entire life. Each time you attend your hypnotherapy session, it guarantees you a more relaxed feeling every time you are encountered with any social situation, you’ll find yourself starting to enjoy socializing, then you will be surprised how spontaneous you turned out to be! Yes! Hypnotherapy works to overcome shyness.

All you need to do is to accept the fact that you need others to be happy. You do not need to be alone forever. Though shyness is a part of growing up, it should not be a long-staying part of your identity. Through hypnotherapy you will be able to experience social ease and respond to social situations easily. You will learn how to avoid being tongue-tied and feeling awkward in front of someone. You will also get rid of the feeling that no one will like you or get interested in you. Of course you are likeable, you just need to overcome your shyness and start creating a social relationship afterwards.

So, stop getting frustrated while seeing people around you socializing and enjoying themselves talking to friends and laughing with each other. Now is the time to overcome your shyness. Look for a hypnotherapist or visit a hypnotherapy clinic near you to help you overcome shyness - starting today!

London Hypnotherapists - how to choose the right one for you

2011-06-15T15:35:00.000-07:00

How do you choose from all these hypnotherapists in London ?

It seems like stating the obvious - but perhaps the single most important factor for successful therapy is being with the right therapist for you. There's a multitude of therapies to choose from so let's say you have settled on hynotherapy. This might be from personal recommendation. It might be from reading published research. Maybe from searching the web.

Now with all these London hypnotherapists in a convenient location for you , just how do you choose? One way I have found to be client centred and useful is to offer clients a free initial consultation. This is not unusual , lawyers, consultants and accountants often use them.

If you find from meeting a prospective therapist that you do not trust, like or feel comfortable with him/her then go with your gut feeling. No matter how experienced, qualified or skilled the practitioner if you are not at ease then the therapy cannot work.

In all my years of practice as a London hypnotherapist I have found that successful outcomes are more likely to happen when we get that winning combination. The right client with the right therapist - at the right time !

End Dental Phobia

2011-05-29T06:58:00.000-07:00

Hypnotherapy: A Treatment of Dentist Phobia

Dentist phobia can be treated with hypnotherapy easily. Usually those people who have dentist phobia suffered from dental pain or fear of dentists when they were still young, and carried the same fear even when they grow up. In recent surveys, despite today’s advances in dental technology, a large number of population still has a fear of dentists just like you. Aside from the pain associated with tooth decay or infected gums, such fear may pose consequences that may affect your overall personality as well. How?

1. Lack of self-confidence
With tooth decay or other dental-related problems, you start to feel unsure of your smile and your breath.
2. Limitations in business and social environments
You feel insecure and start to limit your socializing patterns that soon affect both your business and social relationships.

You can deal with dentist phobia through hypnotherapy. It will help you relieve dental anxiety. It allows you to be relaxed and get your mind focused on positive images that allow you to accept dental services quickly. It creates numbness and promotes fast healing. It allows you to enter a trance state wherein strong gag reflex is easily controlled, chronic facial pain is treated, and other unwanted dental habits like teeth grinding are eliminated.

So, if you are suffering from dentist phobia, you definitely need to do something about it. Do not let your fear hinder all great opportunities out there from coming to you. Visit the nearest hypnotherapy clinic today and experience advanced hypnotherapy that can help you permanently remove and effectively alleviate your dentist phobia.

Overcome Exam Nerves & Stress

2011-05-27T03:10:00.000-07:00

Relief from Exam Stress through HypnotherapyHypnotherapy is found to be effective not only in enhancing your memory but also in providing you exam stress relief. A student needs motivation and different ways on how to deal with the pressures of being a student, and hypnotherapy is one of the best tools to help you in your studies. How? Hypnotherapy provides you the following benefits:

1. Through hypnotherapy you can recall things easily.
2. It affects your exam performance.
3. It trains your brain to respond to questions easily.
4. It promotes calmness and relaxation.
5. Develops study motivation and goal-setting.

Yes, hypnotherapy works! If you continuously get frustrated from failing your exams or seeing your classmates excelling every academic year, now is the time to get up and learn how hypnotherapy works. It usually appears that overcoming exam stress starts from assessing how your mind filters information. Since enormous amounts of pressure get into your nerves during examination, you’ll need hypnotherapy to assist you on how to create a positive state on how to pass your exams.

If your body gets tensed, no matter how much time you spent studying, you will still end up failing. Many students who are now consistently enjoying success in their exams have tried hypnotherapy. They were able to gain an optimum internal state that helped them achieve what they are truly capable of—passing their exams. Yes, you can overcome exam nerves. Visit your hypnotherapist today and learn more on how hypnotherapy can help you deal with exam stress.

Easy weight loss hypnosis

2011-05-18T13:34:00.000-07:00

Hypnotherapy For Weight Loss Helps Keep The Pounds Off

Losing and keeping the pounds off is not easy. With hypnotherapy, a dieter can use hypnotherapy for weight loss in combination with other tools. Hypnotherapy or hypnosis is a practice of providing suggestions to the subconscious mind. Under hypnosis, the mind is relaxed and more readily susceptible to suggestions.

Hypnosis is a popular service with many practitioners. Someone seeking a hypnotherapist can find help through different avenues. The traditional way is to meet with a hypnotherapist in an office setting and receive suggestions in a one on one setting. Others join groups with group sessions to help lose pounds.

Numerous websites offer products such as books, audio books, guided meditations and structured programs using hypnosis to aid in shedding pounds. Weight loss centers provide hypnosis as part of the treatment. Some use a life coach with hypnosis for added support in adhering to a weight reduction program.

Hypnosis is behavior modification. Hypnotic suggestions are given to change the mind's attitudes about food and eating, self image and will power. Specific areas that hypnotherapists address are reducing stress, increasing physical exercise, reducing food binges and cravings, and sticking to a specific chosen program or diet.

Hypnosis alone will probably not help shed one pound but it reinforces decisions to lose weight and live a healthier life. Studies show that using the aid of hypnotherapy with other weight loss programs keeps the pounds off longer.

Hypnotherapy for weight loss is recognized by medical professionals as an effective aid in losing and keeping off pounds. As a profession, it is not always viewed as a legitimate enterprise. Regulating hypnosis schools of learning, licensing schools to teach hypnotherapy and strengthening the requirements for certification as a hypnotherapist are recent measures taken to add legitimacy to this ancient practice.

I must stop biting my nails

2011-05-13T11:03:00.000-07:00

How to finally stop nailbiting with the power of hypnosis

If you struggle with finding a way to finally stop nailbiting once and for good, you may want to consider the power of hypnosis. Nailbiting is a habit, and it runs deep in the subconscious mind. Breaking a habit can be extremely difficult and come with many failures and frustrations. The effective power of hypnosis helps uncover the subconscious links to nailbiting and remove them in a quick and effective way.

To stop nailbiting, the deep habits and positive associations you have inside your mind have to be changed into something more positive. It takes more than willpower alone to change such a powerful habit. Many people aren’t aware of just how much they bite their nails, and every time they do the habit is reinforced deep within the unconscious mind. Hypnosis provides a gentle, all-natural, and highly effective way of retraining the subconscious mind not to encourage nailbiting.

Hypnosis can help stop nailbiting because it goes directly to the root of the problem- the subconscious mind. Within the subconscious mind, you are being encouraged to bite your nails because of a pattern. This pattern runs all the time, and no matter how hard you think about it with your conscious mind, stopping biting your nails in the subconscious mind may not come easily. Hypnosis allows an effective, quick, and easy way to fix the patterns in your subconscious mind so that the program of nailbiting isn’t running all the time.

Hypnosis works great on children and adults, and can be effective even if you’ve been nail biting for a very long time!

Build self confidence

2011-05-06T04:20:00.000-07:00

Many times a client will present a problem that could be described in many different ways, but often at the root it's to do with confidence, or better put, the lack of it!

Nowadays so many people seem to be in the grip of various anxieties and fears, large or small. The one secret weapon that can wear down these troubles is to build self confidence.

One of the most evident ways in which clients notice a lack of confidence in their lives is the quality of what they say to themselves. Too often so many of us are telling ourselves that I can't do this, I can't do that. I'll never succeed .I ame going to fail . Nothing ever goes right . What's the point? Why bother? . On and on, over and over it feels like being overwhelmed by a wave of negativity.

Then our bodies start to respond to this self talk - physical sluggishness, laziness, lackof vitality go in tandem with the mental torpor.

With hypnotherapy it becomes easier to change both the quality of thoughts and their baneful influence by the power of suggestion. This is not just positive thinking or repeating affirmationsone might not really believe. It is using more than just words. Imagery, visualising and metaphors have the amazing capacity to genuinely change mindsets from negative to more open and optimistic. Consider how from childhood we are moved, amazed,entranced by stories - they can remain with us, often for life.

I like to employ metaphor and imagery within hypnosis to gently guide clients to a more helpful way of thinking about themselves - i.e. to be more self-confident

Hypnosis - what's it like ?

2011-04-28T11:25:00.000-07:00

A reason people often give when they choose not to have hypnotherapy is apprehension. They feel they could lose control, get lost in trance, reveal embarrassing secrets or endure serious side-effects afterwards.

As a professional hypnotherapist for over 20 years and having undergone hypnosis myself many times, I would like to allay these fears. The actual state of hypnosis is close to how you feel just before you go to sleep or just after you wake up. In other words an aware but dreamlike state in which your conscious thoughts are quieter than usual. Some say it's like daydreaming.

In a clinical setting the therapist will guide the client into this state, perhaps using soft relaxing music in the background and through the use of voice and evocative imagery. The quality , pace and tone of a voice can it itself lead others into deeper and deeper comfort. Together with the description of imagery ( nature is a good example ), clients may find this language reminding them of times and places where they themselves have felt a profound sense of comfort and ease.

Then the activity of the mind , thoughts and feelings, slows down - as it does in meditation. The major difference being that in hypnosis you are being guided into this sensation by another.

Most clients report a calm, comfortable experience - some may even feel they have not been hypnotised because they were expecting something really deep. This can happen of course but usually after 3 or more sessions - and the depth of the hypnotic state is not an indicator of success anyway. Most clients receive and accept hypnotic suggestion even in a light state of hypnosis - no being stuck in a trance or being dominated by a Svengali. That is, surely, good news for any prospective client.

The Method and Hypnosis

2011-04-26T04:36:00.000-07:00

Between 1976 and 1979 I was a student at Drama Centre London Ltd - a full-time 3 year course in acting,speech,movement and improvisation. We were taught the " method ",that system of acting which originated in Russia with Stanislavski and then was developed in the USA by teachers such as Lee Strasberg, directors like Elia Kazan and actors such as Marlon Brando.

In essence you use what you can find from your own emotional and physical life to create a living,breathing character. Not just this but you take action in each scene, with each line to achieve your objectives. Rather than being , the Method encourages doing . How often our teachers would demand of us " Yes, but what are you DOING ? " It is so easy to just be angry or be sad, for an audience that is so dull - great acting is always about overcoming obstacles to whatever it is you WANT.

In hypnotherapy the aim is also to create action, usually in behavioural changes,ie the action of becoming a non-smoker or overcoming the fear of flying or to stop nailbiting.

Also to motivate clients by asking them to use something like an emotional memory exercise to go back to a great moment in their past and re-feel the power,confidence etc as it it were happening again. They can then move into a vision of a compelling future , a vision which can act like a compass to guide them.

My Hypnotherapy London practice often works with actors and they find it so easy to go into and benefit from hypnosis. Finding meanings and encouragement from their past experiences seem natural to performers. It's as if ( " as if" was a favourite technique of Stanislavski ) they know the subconscious is a storehouse full of stuff they can use.

It is for all of us.

Positive Thinking - not all the time please.

2011-04-20T05:22:00.000-07:00

There are days when I just cannot be bothered with positive thinking.

I get daily emails from various sources, usually in the USA, pounding home the positive message and I look at them with a mixture of delight or sheer disbelief sometimes.

As a hypnotherapist with many years experience I do feel we need to take a more human approach to therapy, positive thinking, success coaching etc etc.

For a start if we were to look more closely at the lives of many of the big names in this broad field we would probably be very disappointed . Anthony Storr's book about gurus and their ilk was called " Feet of Clay " and it is a most apposite title.

How many scandals have evangelists and faith healers been involved in ? They are a bit like our politicians and the expenses racket - they don't live up to expectations.

And these pundits of positive thinking all seem to keep saying the same things over and over and it's easy to wonder if the message just isn't getting through or maybe is not true in the first place.

Of course positive thought is helpful, healing and inspiring. But don't let it become the be all and end all of your life. And don't believe anything I say either, test it , try it and discover your truths and realities. That's what Buddha insisted and it's pretty good advice for any seekers on this path to personal change.

Now if anyone is looking for a brilliant book about the alternative to positive thinkers then " Smile or Die " by Barbara Ehrenreich is the one to read. She has suffered cancer and investigated the horrors of low wages and poverty in America,she knows real life and expresses her thoughts vividly. She is no Pollyanna for sure.

I still believe in what I do and I know the Law of Attraction works. Today I feel the need to sit back from hype and spend time reflecting about what works and what's baloney.

What do you find hypnotic ?

2011-04-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a conversation with a graphic designer and we were talking about what people might find hypnotic.

We talked about colours, textures,sounds ,shapes and smells - any of which can fascinate people and absorb their attention. When you get a combination of these it can lead to a deep, meditative, trance-like state.

If you have ever been captivated by a landscape or felt awestruck by a starlit sky, or been mesmerised by music or the fragrance of incense then you will know what we were discussing.

So the state of hypnosis is perhaps not so strange and unfamiliar after all. One of the main barriers to people trying hypnotherapy is a misperception of what hypnosis is like. It is not being brainwashed nor is it like a drug-induced reverie.

It is a natural state of mind in which we become more open and receptive to suggestions, ideas and images - for our wellbeing.

Guarantees

2011-04-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

I wonder how many of my fellow hypnotherapists have a client who rings them and asks for a guarantee that hypnosis will work ?

My answer always is that nothing is guaranteed to work because a 100% gurantee is unethical as well as impossible. What I do is give 100% attention and intention to being of help.

Do people ask the same of doctors, dentists and lawyers ? or is this something that a few people expect of hypnosis? Hypnosis is a long-established and powerful technique and even the term " hypnosis " was coined by a British doctor, James Braid in the 19th century.

But magic it is not - and magical thinking alone will not solve problems.

Driving Test and Hypnotherapy

2011-04-09T15:54:00.001-07:00

Click on the link above and you can see another aspect of hypnotherapy which is not as well known as it should be. The application of hypnosis to exam and test nerves can lead to surprising successes - largely due to the innate ability of clients to relax and become more calm and confident when faced with these situations.

What we tell ourselves is so important and a daily diet of negative messages in our own thoughts can lead to physical anxiety. So when we sit in the driving seat or in the exam hall we can feel the racing heartbeat and/or other uncomfortable symptoms.

By the same token more helpful and positive self-talk can lead to more appropriate feelings and symptoms. Hypnosis is a way of encouraging this kinder and gentler inner monologue.

Is the Law of Attraction really a " law " ?

2011-04-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

I've been wondering about this for a while now - is the Law of Attraction a law like that of gravity or physics ?
Some advocates say it is but this just doesn't reflect my reality at all.

I would say the LOA is more of a tendency and still very effective for being so. But in this world good things happen to bad people and vice versa despite what some LOA fans might have us believe.

However, if by using the LOA you become more open, enthusiastic, passionate and inspired then it is more likely that you will receive good results in your life. You are also more likely to look after yourself in terms of nutrition and exercise which in turn will improve your life.

Hypnosis meets the Law of Attraction

2011-03-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

If you have read or seen The Secret you will know about the Law of Attraction.

The idea is that we have the power to attract what we desire in our lives if we go about it the right way. However, for many people it just doesn't work. Does this mean it simply isn't true ?

Or is it rather that some ingredient is missing ?

I believe hypnosis can significantly improve your chances of success with the Law of Attraction.

It can help you focus more, be more creative with your desires and really enhance your imagination to help you create your new reality.

Hypnosis makes the Law of Attraction even more exciting and successful. Give it a try.

Public Speaking Fear

2011-02-10T11:41:00.000-08:00

Fear Of Public Speaking

Public speaking is an art and it needs to be mastered with practice but for some it becomes a highly impossible task despite putting in several hours of effort. One of the underlying reasons for this could be fear of public speaking. Thousands of people suffer from fear of public speaking.

Public speaking need not always mean standing on a stage in front of hundreds or thousands of people giving an hour long speech. It could be talking in someone’s farewell or saying a few words at someone’s wedding or sharing your ideas at work or giving a presentation to your clients. For many of us all these simple everyday situations turn out to be an insurmountable public speaking situation.

Fear of public speaking can make one shiver at the thought of standing before a crowd for that matter even a known crowd, experience high palpitation and sweat profusely. If this sounds like you and you think that you are one of the victims of fear of public speaking, don’t worry, we are here to help you.
There is nothing to be embarrassed about your fear of public speaking, but at the same time it is important that you overcome this fear because it can be holding you down from realizing your fullest potential at work as well as in your personal life situations. One of the problems with fear of public speaking is that the fears experienced are irrational fears though real. So no amount of reasoning will help you in overcoming that fear. There are plenty of books on overcoming fear of public speaking but unfortunately, they do not change things much.

We will be able to help you overcome your fear of public speaking through hypnotherapy. We have helped hundreds of people through our public speaking hypnosis. You need not have to look for help outside you anymore. You will be able to overcome your fear of public speaking using the power of your own subconscious mind and our public speaking hypnosis will help you tap into the potential of your subconscious mind. In most cases it will just take a single public speaking hypnosis session to get rid of your fears.

Using a highly experienced hypnotherapist and NLP practitioner is one of the fastest and the easiest ways of working with your fear of public speaking. Use our public speaking hypnosis, you will never again shy away from the crowd. You can become that centre of attraction that you have always wanted to be, sharing your brilliant ideas taking the centre stage. You will not have to be weighed down by your fear of public speaking anymore. Our public speaking hypnosis will help you face all kinds of public speaking situations without getting into cold feet. Contact us today to work with all your fears on public speaking and we have the right solution. It does not matter for how long you have been suffering from your fear of public speaking, our public speaking hypnosis will free you completely within a short time.

Updated site

2011-02-08T04:19:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I have added fresh content to my site so please visit and enjoy.
There is a video about a client view of hypnotherapy on the weight loss page.

Keith

Better Sex with Hypnosis

2010-03-31T06:25:00.000-07:00

One of the most common problems I treat in my busy practice is erectile dysfunction - ie the inability of a man to either get or to maintain an erection during sexual intercourse. Now it has to be said that often this problem is successfully treated as a medical one and there are many times that a doctor's prescription can help.

But what if the cause is psychological - all in the mind ? This is where a treatment like hypnotherapy can be very effective. We do not have to go down the road of analysis for hypnosis to work - we can use the power of suggestion and imagery to effect changes in the way the body functions.

Many clients are subconsciously afraid of sex and fear they cannot perform or satisfy their partner so to avoid the situation altogether the subconscious protects the client by creating the very thing that will stop any more sexual activity - almost as if to say you cannot fail if you don't want to even try. So to avoid being a failure don't do it at all.

Confidence is a mental attribute so suggestion and creative imagining can help to build more self-confidence and this may be reflected in the workings of the body. If you doubt this then remember a man has only to think of something sexy and immediately the body responds as if sex is about to happen there and then. This link between mind and body can be addressed and stimulated by hypnotic suggestion.

Keith Chopping - Hypnosis London www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

Hypnosis London - professional hypnotherapist Keith Chopping is based in London's famous Fleet St and has been a practitioner since 1991.

Hypnosis and pain control

2009-12-01T01:34:00.000-08:00

Hypnosis as a treatment of chronic widespread pain in general practice: A randomized controlled pilot trial
AUTHOR(S): Sharma R.L.
DATE: October 2009
DESIGN: Randomised controlled trial
SUBJECTS: 16
OBJECTIVE: Hypnosis treatment in general practice is a rather new concept. This pilot study was performed to evaluate the effect of a standardized hypnosis treatment used in general practice for patients with chronic widespread pain (CWP).
INTERVENTIONS: The study was designed as a randomized control group-controlled study. Sixteen patients were randomized into a treatment group or a control group, each constituting eight patients. Seven patients in the treatment group completed the schedule. After the control period, five of the patients in the control group also received treatment, making a total of 12 patients having completed the treatment sessions. The intervention group went through a standardized hypnosis treatment with ten consecutive therapeutic sessions once a week, each lasting for about 30 minutes, focusing on ego-strengthening, relaxation, releasing muscular tension and increasing self-efficacy. A questionnaire was developed in order to calibrate the symptoms before and after the 10 weeks period, and the results were interpolated into a scale from 0 to 100, increasing numbers representing increasing suffering. Data was analyzed by means of T-tests.
RESULTS: The treatment group improved from their symptoms, (change from 62.5 to 55.4), while the control group deteriorated, (change from 37.2 to 45.1), (p = 0,045). The 12 patients who completed the treatment showed a mean improvement from 51.5 to 41.6. (p = 0,046). One year later the corresponding result was 41.3, indicating a persisting improvement.
CONCLUSIONS: The study indicates that hypnosis treatment may have a positive effect on pain and quality of life for patients with chronic muscular pain. Considering the limited number of patients, more studies should be conducted to confirm the results.

SOURCE: British Medical Journal: Vol.337, Issue 7674

Hypnotherapists Directory

2009-07-07T05:53:00.000-07:00

Recognising the need for help is often one of the biggest steps on the road to recovery. But once the initial decision has been made there are numerous issues to consider - practical and otherwise. What about, for example, location, money, professionalism?

This is where Hypnotherapy Directory comes in. It was set up to provide a simple, easy, and most importantly un-daunting way of connecting people that need help with the people that provide it. A comprehensive searching tool, the site allows postcode, town and country searches of the whole of the UK, and produces a list of hypnotherapists registered in this area. Each hypnotherapist has a profile, listing a bit about themselves, their approaches, what areas they deal with, and all their training, qualification and experience and fees.

The site shows which hypnotherapists are registered/accredited with a professional body, and full profiles are only displayed after insurance and qualification documents are checked or membership with a professional body has been verified.

Hypnotherapy Directory has also become a huge information bank - there are articles written by hypnotherapists, as well as comprehensive information on all kinds of distress - from depression to eating disorders to phobias, to help people identify their problems and become informed, not scared.

www.hypnotherapy-directory.org.uk

Hypnotherapy in the news

2009-06-09T01:23:00.001-07:00

“Professor David Spiegel, of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, wants the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) to sanction sweeping changes.

He will tell the Royal Society of Medicine on Monday that Nice should add hypnotherapy to its list of approved therapeutic techniques for the treatment of conditions ranging from allergies and high blood pressure to the pain associated with cancer treatment and bone marrow transplantation.”

Please follow this link to the article :
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/5468518/British-surgeons-should-hypnotise-patients-for-some-operations-says-academic.html

New Stop Smoking research

2008-10-02T14:54:00.000-07:00

Source: Medscape Medical News

Hypnotherapy Outperforms Other Treatment Approaches for Smoking Cessation CME

October 23, 2007 (Chicago) - Of hospitalized smokers who receive hypnotherapy, 50% show sustained quit rates 6 months after discharge, investigators reported here at CHEST 2007, the American College of Chest Physicians 73rd Annual Scientific Assembly.

This is twice the success rate of smokers who quit "cold turkey," which is even higher than the sustained quit rate with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), principal investigator Faysal M. Hasan, MD, of North Shore Medical Center in Salem, Massachusetts, reported yesterday during a news briefing.

Dr. Hasan and colleagues studied 67 patients admitted to their institution with a cardiopulmonary diagnosis and a willingness to stop smoking. Patients were divided into 4 groups. The control group quit smoking without any supportive treatment, a second group underwent hypnotherapy, a third group received NRT, and the fourth group received both hypnotherapy and NRT.

Patients selected their own treatment approach, which Dr. Hasan explained was strongly influenced by their previous experiences with smoking cessation, with most patients choosing a different method.

Women were more likely to choose hypnotherapy, whereas men were more likely to choose a patch or go cold turkey. The men were looking for the "quick fix," news panel moderator Frank T. Leone, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Pittsburgh, commented.

At 26 weeks postdischarge from the hospital, 25% of the control group, 15.78% of the NRT group, and 50% of both the hypnotherapy and hypnotherapy-plus-NRT groups remained smoking free.

"Adding NRT did not help" improve efficacy of hypnotherapy, Dr. Hasan said.

Dr. Hasan told Medscape Pulmonary Medicine that motivation is the key to success in any treatment approach: "Patients made their own [treatment] choice - this is important," he said. "Smoking cessation is only going to work if the patient is motivated."

Hypnosis and bowel inflammation

2008-07-08T06:56:00.000-07:00

Hypnosis therapy may help ease some of the bowel inflammation seen in ulcerative colitis, a small study suggests.

Ulcerative colitis is a disease that causes chronic inflammation in the lining of the colon and rectum, leading to symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhea. There a number of medications for the disorder, but there is some research to suggest that hypnosis could serve as an additional therapy.

For example, "hypnotherapy" has been shown to aid irritable bowel syndrome and ulcers -- conditions that, like colitis, involve inflammation and can be worsened by psychological stress.

For the current study, UK researchers had 17 patients with active ulcerative colitis undergo a 50-minute session of "gut-focused" hypnotherapy aimed at relaxation and relief of inflammation. Another eight patients, who acted as a "control" group, listened to their choice of music for 50 minutes.

Afterward, the researchers found, blood levels of IL-6 -- a marker of inflammation in the body -- fell by 53 percent in the hypnosis group, whereas music listeners showed no substantial change.

Similarly, certain other chemical markers of inflammation declined in the hypnosis group, but not in the control group, the investigators report in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

"This work shows that a single short session of hypnosis can return some of the chemical changes in the bowel associated with inflammation back towards normal in patients with ulcerative colitis," senior researcher Dr. David S. Rampton, of Barts and the London, Queen Mary School of Medicine and Dentistry, told Reuters Health.

Exactly why hypnosis might ease inflammation is not clear. According to Rampton's team, the therapy might have direct effects on colon activity or it might affect people's pain tolerance or perceptions of their symptoms.

The current findings, Rampton said, provide "a scientific basis for a properly designed clinical trial" to see whether hypnotherapy, given over weeks or months, might benefit people with ulcerative colitis.

He noted that it could also be worthwhile to study hypnosis for people with Crohn's disease, another form of inflammatory bowel disease.

SOURCE: American Journal of Gastroenterology, June 2008

More good news on smoking cessation

2008-03-26T14:15:00.000-07:00

Hypnotherapy as an aid to smoking cessation of hospitalized patients: preliminary results

AUTHOR(S): Hasan FM, Pischke, K, Saiyed S, Macys D and McCleary

NDATE: Oct 2007

DESIGN: Self-selected trial

SUBJECTS: 67 patients admitted with a cardiopulmonary diagnosis

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of hypnosis in smoking cessation in hospitalised patients.

INTERVENTIONS: Subjects contemplating quitting were recruited into 4 groups: Control subjects who preferred to quit "cold turkey" (C), hypnotherapy alone (H), Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and both hypnotherapy and NRT (NRTH). Subjects were allowed to self select their group. All subjects received self-help brochures. Control subjects received brief counselling, but other groups received intensive counselling, free supply of NRT and/or a free hypnotherapy session within 7 days of discharge. These groups also had follow up telephone calls at 1, 2, 4, 8, 12 and 26 weeks after discharge. Point prevalence rates for smoking were compared among the four groups at 26 weeks.

RESULTS: At 26 weeks after discharge, 4/12 of control subjects (25.0%), 7/14 in H (50.0%), 3/19 in NRT (15.78%) and 9/18 in NRTH (50%.0) groups were non-smokers. Patients admitted with a cardiac diagnosis were more like to quit at 26 weeks (45.5%) than patients admitted with a pulmonary diagnosis (15.63%).

CONCLUSIONS: Hypnotherapy after hospital discharge can be an effective mode of smoking cessation, comparing favourably with NRT alone.

SOURCE: Chest 2007 132: 52

New website

2008-02-08T16:49:00.000-08:00

I have created a new website concentrating on my main areas of work.

Please visit it here http://www.squidoo.com/hypnosis-london

One Session ?

2008-01-26T03:23:00.000-08:00

Many people believe that it has to take a long time to solve a problem - not me !

Over the years I have found that real changes can happen in only a single session of hypnosis - witness the exraordinary success of single session hypnotherapy to stop smoking, for example.

The power of expectation has been written about by all walks of therapists and I know that if you want and truly expect to change and if the therapist shares this belief too the wonderful things can and will happen.

In 2008 I expect to see many more clients who are ready and primed for change - hypnosis is merely the catalyst helping to make that happen.

A London Hypnotherapist's review of 2007

2007-12-27T05:16:00.000-08:00

Looking back over 2007 one thing I have noticed is how hypnosis for weight loss has been less in demand than ever before.

Stop smoking has been stable despite a fall in demand when the UK smoking ban came to offices, pubs etc . I assume many people have just stopped of their own accord simply because it is now so hard to find somewhere to smoke - it's even banned in the home sometimes !

One thing that has increased is the amount of people wanting to overcome fears and build confidence - I wonder if this trend will continue in 2008 ?

Research on hypnosis and weight loss

2007-12-06T01:37:00.000-08:00

2 Years Later Hypnosis Subjects Continued To Lose Significant Weight

109 people completed a behavioral treatment for weight management either with or without the addition of hypnosis. At the end of the 9-week program, both interventions resulted in significant weight reduction. At 8-month and 2-year follow-ups, the hypnosis subjects were found to have continued to lose significant weight, while those in the behavioral-treatment-only group showed little further change.

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (1985)

More research on IBS

2007-12-06T01:19:00.000-08:00

DESIGN: Systematic review of literature

OBJECTIVE: To review the literature evaluating hypnotherapy in the management of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

INTERVENTIONS: Electronic databases were searched, bibliographic references scanned and main authors contacted, with no restrictions on language or publication year. Studies which were eligible for the review involved adults with IBS using single-component hypnotherapy.

RESULTS: 299 references were identified, 20 studies and two case series were eligible, including four randomised, two controlled and 12 uncontrolled studies, which demonstrated that hypnotherapy is effective in IBS management, but the numbers of subjects in each study were small. Only one trial scored more than four out of eight on internal validity.

CONCLUSIONS: The published evidence suggests that hypnotherapy is effective in the management of IBS, with 10 of 18 trials indicating a significant benefit. A good quality randomized placebo-controlled trial is required, suggesting that at present, treatment with hypnosis should be restricted to specialist centres caring for the more severe forms of the disorder

SOURCE: Alimentary Pharmacology Therapeutics. 2006 Sep 1;24(5):769-80

Hypnosis and post-operative pain

2007-09-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

A new study has been released which has been studying women both before and after breast cancer surgery. The researchers were particularly trying to discover the effect of hypnosis on easing pain and what they found was that the women who received hypnosis prior to cancer surgery required less anesthesia while under going the operation.
The normal side affects of cancer surgery are fatigue, pain and nausea; and hypnosis helped to deal with these symptoms. 200 women took part in the study, and each woman received 15 minutes of hypnosis, either individually or in a group. In these 15 minute periods, the women were given suggestions on how to relax, shown pleasing imagery, instructed how to hypnotise themselves and given advice on how to reduce fatigue, nausea and pain.
From New York City's Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Guy Montgomery, associate professor in the department of oncological sciences who is also the report's lead author, said "This helps women at a time when they could use help, and it has no side effects. It really only has side benefits,"
Additional side benefits to having hypnosis prior to surgery was that the patients spent 11 minutes less undergoing surgery and also their costs were reduced by £370 as they spent less time in hospital and under doctors care.
"This is something that empowers patients," said Dr David Spiegel header led a similar study and explained. "If you're fighting, you think you're protecting yourself, but, actually, you're losing control, because you're getting into a struggle with your own body. You can teach people to float instead of fighting. You get the body comfortable and think more clearly. The weird thing is it actually works. If thoughts can make the body worse, it follows that thoughts could actually make the body feel better."

Hypnosis and IVF treatment - 2004 research

2007-06-16T04:29:00.000-07:00

If Israeli professor Eliahu Levitas has his way, women undergoing IVF treatment will all have the benefit of a hypnotist at their bedside.
According to Levitas’s team from Soroka Hospital in Beersheva, hypnosis can double the success of IVF treatment. Levitas’s study of 185 women found that 28% of women in the group who were hypnotized became pregnant, compared with 14% of those who were not.
6.1 million American women and their partners experience infertility, according to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. Of those about 5% choose in-vitro fertilization treatment.
IVF is a method of assisted reproduction in which the man’s sperm and the woman’s egg (oocyte) are combined in a laboratory dish, where fertilization occurs. The resulting embryo is then transferred to the uterus to develop naturally. Usually, two to four embryos are transferred with each cycle.
According to the latest statistics, the success rate for IVF is similar to the 20% chance that a healthy, reproductively normal couple has of achieving a pregnancy that results in a live born baby in any given month. IVF was successfully used for the first time in the United States in 1981. Since then, more than 114,000 babies in the US have been born as a result of the technique.
The Israeli study - the first of its kind - was presented last month by Levitas to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Berlin. According to Levitas, the findings will be published shortly in an American medical journal.
The Israeli researchers were looking to see if hypnosis could make the embryo transfer stage of IVF more successful.
“We gave hypnosis to a group of our patients during the most stressful part of IVF treatment - the transferring of embryos into the uterus,” Levitas told ISRAEL21c. “It’s a crucial point of the treatment, and the point in which the embryos comes in contact with the womb of the woman. It all builds up to that special moment, which is not very painful but is very stressful.”
According to Levitas, that stress can cause complications during the transfer that can put the procedure at risk.
“Studies have been done before which claim that during this short period, there’s so much stress in the woman’s body that it may induce contractions, albeit tiny ones, which may interrupt or even expel the embryos from the uterus at the same moment we’re introducing them,” he said.
“Other techniques have been employed like relaxants and tranquilizers, but nothing has worked well. On the other hand, hypnosis has been known for many years for producing central relaxation, and has even been used before surgical interventions to calm patients,” said Levitas.
Women undergoing IVF were assessed to see if they were suitable to be hypnotized.
“Those women that were interested signed a consent form and underwent hypnosis by Soroka’s Dr. Aldo Parmet, a gyncelogist who’s licensed to perform hypnosis. All the patients were interviewed prior and Dr. Parmet established which patients where more likely to be hypnotized,” said Levitas.
Eighty-nine women were then given hypnosis while their embryos were implanted. Some underwent more than one cycle of IVF treatment. Ninety-six other women underwent embryo transfers without hypnosis. All received one cycle each.
The results showed that the hypnotized women resulted in double the amount of pregnancies of those that weren’t hypnotized.
“Performing embryo transfer under hypnosis may significantly contribute to an increased clinical pregnancy rate,” Levitas told the conference in Berlin.
Given logistical and financial constraints, Levitas sees no reason why hypnotism shouldn’t be an option for all woman undergoing IVF treatment, and he hopes the publication of the Soroka study will raise enough interest to spark continued investigations of the approach.
“The bottom line is I think it’s a good thing, it will work. Patients should be given the option if the facilities are available.”

Hypnosis and IBS - more news

2007-06-04T03:56:00.000-07:00

The British Medical Journal recently published findings from a team of experts from Kings College London who have been investigating irritable bowel syndrome. What they discovered is that there is increasing evidence to show that irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has psychological causes as well as physiological ones and these can be alleviated with hypnosis.
This led to the recommendation that doctors would be wise to suggest psychological treatments such as hypnosis and antidepressants to patients with IBS. This is particularly in light of the observation that the regular medicines provided to IBS sufferers do not work fully and sometimes even not at all.
IBS has several symptoms such as constipation, diarrhea and regular abdominal pain to name a few. Scientists are now thinking that the drugs being administered are not really effective because in the majority of IBS cases the causes are a combination of physical and mental factors.
Consultant Dr Ian Forgacs, gastroenterologist at Kings College said: "Patients with irritable bowel syndrome should be made aware of the existence of these treatments so that they can make informed choices," and "specifically, they should be made aware that using a psychological treatment does not mean that the disease is 'all in the mind'." Dr Forgacs discovered that "talking-therapies" like cognitive behavioral therapy produced the best results especially in the more distressed patients.
When hypnosis was used the therapist would focus on relaxation and get the patient to imagine a river flowing rapidly and then get them to imagine it flowing smooth and slow.
Dr Forgacs added that despite the success achieved by using hypnosis and other therapeutic practices there were a shortage of skilled therapists available so not all IBS sufferers would be able to avail of this method.

More Research into hypnosis

2006-12-05T17:02:00.000-08:00

Enhancing thought suppression with hypnosis

AUTHOR(S): Bryant, R., Wimalaweera, S.DATE: October 2006
SUBJECTS: 39 high- and 40 low-hypnotisable participants

OBJECTIVE: On the premise that hypnosis may permit more effective management of cognitive load, it was hypothesized that hypnosis may enhance more effective thought suppression. The research examined whether the obstacle of cognitive load could be bypassed using hypnosis to facilitate successful thought suppression.

INTERVENTIONS: Participants were hypnotized and received either a suppression instruction or no instruction for a memory of an embarrassing experience and subsequently completed a sentence-unscrambling task that indexed accessibility of embarrassing thoughts.

RESULTS: Low hypnotisables instructed to suppress displayed a delayed increase in suppressed thoughts, whereas highly hypnotisables did not.

CONCLUSIONS: Hypnosis facilitates thought suppression.

SOURCE: The International Journal Of Clinical And Experimental Hypnosis 54 (4): 488-499

Taking time out

2006-12-05T05:45:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long delay in keeping this blog up to date - things have been so busy.

However I want to say something about how hypnosis can be used to lessen the day to day stress we all seem to suffer from - especially as it gets closer to Christmas!

Many people think of trying meditation as a way of helping them relax - but give up as they find it too difficult to achieve the " right" state of mind. Perhaps they should consider self-hypnosis - you can even learn it from Cds and , in my own experience , it is a lot easier to learn and do than meditation.

Give it a try!

More research

2006-07-19T15:20:00.000-07:00

Brain Imaging in Neurosciences - An Interdisciplinary Approach

AUTHOR(S): Halsband, U.DATE: June 2006
DESIGN: Experiment
SUBJECTS: Seven right-handed volunteers with high-hypnotic susceptibility
OBJECTIVE: This study examined a fundamental question: Is verbal memory processing in hypnosis and in the waking state mediated by a common neural system or by distinct cortical areas?

INTERVENTIONS: Subjects were PET-scanned while encoding/retrieving word associations either in hypnosis or in the waking state. Word-pairs were visually presented and highly imaginable, but not semantically related (e.g. monkey-street). The presentation of pseudo-words served as a reference condition. An emission scan was recorded after each intravenous administration of O-15 water. (Result 1.) In order to further analyze the effect of hypnosis on imagery-mediated learning, sets of high-imagery word-pairs and sets of abstract words were administered. In the first experimental condition word-pair associations were presented visually. (Result 2.) RESULT - 1: Encoding under hypnosis was associated with more pronounced bilateral activations in the occipital cortex and the prefrontal areas as compared to learning in the waking state. During memory retrieval of word-pairs which had been previously learned under hypnosis, activations were found in the occipital lobe and the cerebellum. Under both experimental conditions precuneus and prefrontal cortex showed a consistent bilateral activation which was most distinct when the learning had taken place under hypnosis.

RESULT - 2: In the second condition it was found that highly hypnotisable persons recalled significantly more high-imagery words under hypnosis as compared to low-hypnotisables both in the visual and auditory modality. Furthermore, high-imagery words were also better recalled by the highly hypnotisable subjects during the non-hypnotic condition. The memory effect was consistently present under both, immediate and delayed recall conditions.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings advance the understanding of the neural representation that underlies hypnosis and the neuropsychological correlates of hypnotic susceptibility.
SOURCE: Journal of Physiology-Paris. 99 (4-6): 470-482

Weight Loss Hypnosis

2006-06-09T13:31:00.000-07:00

Weight Loss is , next to smoking cessation one of the most demanded and demanding of hypnotherapy treatments.

Hypnosis is intended to fundamentally change the way one thinks and feels about food and eating.

It can also help motivate one to exercise and become more active.

Hypnosis and fertility

2006-05-16T17:31:00.000-07:00

Impact of hypnosis during embryo transfer on the outcome of in vitro fertilization – embryo transfer: a case-control study
AUTHOR(S): Levitas, E., Parmet, A., Lunenfeld, E., Bentov, Y., Burstein, E., Friger, M., Potashnik, G. DATE: April, 2006 DESIGN: Case-control clinical study SUBJECTS: Infertile couples undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF)
OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether hypnosis during embryo transfer (ET) contributes to successful IVF/ET outcome.

INTERVENTIONS: 98 IVF/ET cycles with hypnosis during the ET procedure were matched with 96 regular IVF/ET cycles.

RESULTS: 52 clinical pregnancies were obtained out of 98 cycles (53.1%) with an implantation rate of 28% among hypnosis IVF/ET cycles, and 29 out of 96 (30.2%) clinical pregnancies and an implantation rate of 14.4% in the control cycles. The overall IVF program pregnancy rate for the same period was 32.1%. Logistic regression analysis emphasised the positive contribution of hypnosis to the IVF/ET conception rates.

CONCLUSIONS: Use of hypnosis during ET may significantly improve the IVF/ET cycle outcome in terms of increased implantation and clinical pregnancy rates. Furthermore, patients' attitude to the treatment was more favourable. SOURCE: Fertility and Sterility. At time of publication, article in press.

Indirect Hypnosis

2006-05-04T16:38:00.000-07:00

One of the great debates between hypnotherapists of different traditions concerns the efficacy of direct and indirect hypnosis.

I was trained in the latter by Stephen Brooks and you can find out more about him and this method by visiting www.indirect-hypnosis.com

Nowadays I tend to use a mixture of direct and indirect methods as clients may not always respond to one approach - but I will say that indirect hypnosis is much more challenging for the therapist - please have a look at the site !

Hypnosis and pain control

2006-04-21T15:28:00.000-07:00

As a recent UK documentary , Hypnosurgery, has shown , hypnosis has much to offer patients in hospital and medical settings.

In the days before reliable anaesthetics hypnosis was often used as a means of pain control - Dr James Esdaille , for example, performed hundreds of operations in India using hypnosis to virtually anaesthetise patients.

Even the British Medical Association realised the power of hypnosis to manage pain in a report published in the late 19th century.

Self help with hypnosis

2006-04-05T17:40:00.000-07:00

For sufferers from bulimia and binge eating I believe a combination of hypnosis and self-help is a very effective way of recovery.

For details of the self-help programmes have a look at www.myselfhelp.com

More research on hypnosis

2006-03-18T14:00:00.000-08:00

Hypnotic suggestion reduces conflict in the human brain

AUTHOR(S): Raz A., Fan J., Posner M. DATE: July 12, 2005
DESIGN: Experiment
SUBJECTS: 16 neurologically healthy volunteers with normal colour vision: 8 highly hypnotisable and 8 with poor hypnotisability.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether involuntary conflict reduction through specific hypnotic suggestions can also be associated with decreased anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activation.

INTERVENTIONS: Combined neuroimaging methods to provide high temporal and spatial resolution and studied strong and weak hypnotic subjects both with and without a suggestion to interpret visual words as nonsense strings.

RESULTS: Functional MRI data revealed that under posthypnotic suggestion, both ACC and visual areas presented reduced activity in highly hypnotizable persons compared with either no-suggestion or less-hypnotizable controls. Scalp electrode recordings in highly hypnotizable subjects also showed reductions in posterior activation under suggestion, indicating visual system alterations.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings illuminate how suggestions affect cognitive control by modulating activity in specific brain areas, including early visual modules. They also provide a more scientific account relating the neural effects of suggestion to placebo.

SOURCE: Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 102 (28): 9978-9983

More on IBS

2006-02-25T15:36:00.000-08:00

From the Intl Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis Jan 2006:

Hypnosis treatment often improves irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but the costs and reliance on specialized therapists limit its availability. A 3-month home-treatment version of a scripted hypnosis protocol previously shown to improve all central IBS symptoms was completed by 19 IBS patients. Outcomes were compared to those of 57 matched IBS patients from a separate study receiving only standard medical care. Ten of the hypnosis subjects (53%) responded to treatment by 3-month follow-up (response defined as more than 50% reduction in IBS severity) vs. 15 (26%) of controls. Hypnosis subjects improved more in quality of life scores compared to controls. Anxiety predicted poor treatment response. Hypnosis responders remained improved at 6-month follow-up. Although response rate was lower than previously observed in therapist-delivered treatment, hypnosis home treatment may double the proportion of IBS patients improving significantly across 6 months.

More on Smoking cessation

2006-02-03T04:45:00.000-08:00

Stop smoking hypnosis is very popular at this time of year and clients often wonder what is the main way in which hypnosis creates behavioural change.

Well different hypnotherapists will give different answers - ie some will advocate NLP techniques , others visualisation.

One rather old-fashioned one I like using is repetition - or the compounding if suggestions. We do respond to repetition don't we? Isn't it one of the best ways to learn the times tables for example? Similarly it can work for creating changes in habits.

Please contact me for more information

Get Confident 2006

2006-01-25T03:18:00.000-08:00

There is a free online course in Confidence from the BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/confidence/learn/

http://www.hypnosis-london.co.uk for more details about how hypnosis could also help you become a more confident person

More research findings

2006-01-12T16:01:00.000-08:00

Hypnosis, with its long history in medicine and entertainment, is receiving some new respect from neuroscientists.

Recent brain studies of people who are susceptible to suggestion indicate that when they act on the suggestions their brains showprofound changes in how they process information.

The suggestions, researchers report, literally change what people see, hear, feel and believe to be true.

www.hypnosislondon.co.uk

Hypnosis and childbirth

2006-01-02T15:48:00.000-08:00

Here is where you can find some interesting research

American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis Volume 46 April 2004 pp 299-312

It details a study of 520 women and shows how those who had pre-natal hypnosis to reduce stress, anxiety and fears had significantly better outcomes than women who did not. Hypnosis seems to work by reducing negative emotional factors that might otherwise lead to complicated birth outcomes.

www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

Depression and hypnosis

2005-12-22T14:31:00.000-08:00

Many hypnotherapists are uncomfortable using hypnosis with clinically depressed clients.

This may be because it is generally considered to be too passive a treatment and unlikely to help the client get out of depression. The preference seeems to be for a more active type of therapy like cognitive or behavioural therapies.

Perhaps the best use of hypnosis is to use it in conjunction with these therapies?

A good author to check out in regard to hypnosis and depression is Dr Michael Yapko who has written " Hypnosis in the treatment of depressions " and other titles on this matter.

www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

Fear of Public Speaking

2005-12-08T02:09:00.000-08:00

This really has to be one of the commonest fears and in my practice is treated more often than fear of flying.

In fact it is the next most popular request after smoking cessation.

Results can often be achieved in 1 to 3 sessions and clients can gain recovery from all those worrying symptoms like:

Dry Mouth
Throat Constriction
Pounding heart rate
Sweating
Blushing
Nausea

For more information about hypnosis visit:

www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

Buyers Beware !

2005-11-27T15:40:00.000-08:00

There is , as yet, no UK legislation restricting the use of the title Hypnotherapist.

Anyone can call themselves a hypnotherapist with or without any training whatsoever!

If you are considering hypnotherapy please make enquiries about the training and experience of the hypnotherapist you contact. If in any doubt move on to someone else.

For more information please visit:

www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

Dr Yapko

2005-11-19T14:52:00.000-08:00

Another big name in the field of clinical hypnosis is Dr Michael Yapko , also visiting the Uk in 2006.

He has pioneered the use of hypnosis in treating depression. This is contrary to may practitioners who maintain that hypnosis is not a suitable treatment and may even be contraindicated.

To find out more about his work have a look at www.yapko.com

For more information about hypnosis visit:

www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

Ernest Rossi

2005-11-07T14:21:00.000-08:00

One of the great names in modern hypnosis is visiting London in 2006 - there is a one day workshop and a 3 day course.

He is the real heir , in my view, to Erickson's legacy in hypnotherapy today. Some may accuse his methods to be minimalist in the extreme , but I find them fascinating.

For more information call CSCT Ltd on 0870 163 6900

For more information about hypnosis visit:
www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

Keith Chopping MNCH

Preoperative Hypnosis Research

2005-10-31T01:47:00.000-08:00

Preoperative hypnosis: acontrolled study to assess theeffects on anxiety and pain inthe postoperative period

AUTHORS: Massarini, M., Rovetto,F., Tagliaferri,

C.SOURCE: European Journal ofClinical Hypnosis. 6 (1): 8-15
DATE: April, 2005
DESIGN: Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT)

SUBJECTS: 42 patients from the Surgery and Orthopaedicswards, who were to undergo surgery

OBJECTIVE: To establish whether a single sitting of hypnosisduring the preoperative period would reduce postoperativeanxiety levels (both state and trait anxiety) and to reduce theperception of postoperative pain (both its sensory andaffective components).

INTERVENTIONS: (1) Experimental group: preoperativehypnotic treatment during the 24 hours preceding theoperation; (2) control group: no particular preoperativetreatment.

RESULTS: Lower levels of anxiety (both state and trait) andlower pain perception in the first two days after the operation(both in the sensory and affective components) inExperimental group compared to control group. No differencebetween two groups for the other variables examined:depressive problems, physiological parameters.

CONCLUSIONS: Brief hypnotic treatment carried out in thepreoperative period leads to good results with surgerypatients in terms of reducing anxiety levels and painperception.

For more information about hypnosis see

www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

Suggestions

2005-10-21T16:18:00.000-07:00

Sceptics often doubt the effectiveness of hypnosis because they believe that not everyone is open to suggestion.

I wonder - if the majority of us were impervious to suggestion then why are billions of ponds and dollars spent on advertising?

Suggestion comes in two main forms - direct and indirect. Direct suggestions are often commands , eg " you will stop smoking". Indirect suggestions include images, visualisations and metaphors and can take the form of ideas and questions , eg " I wonder how soon you may enjoy the idea of being a non-smoker?"

For more about hypnosis see www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

Driving phobia

2005-10-12T16:19:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting one from Contemporary Hypnosis journal ;

AUTHOR(S): Hill, R., Bannon-Ryder, G. DATE: June, 2005
DESIGN: Case report
SUBJECTS: A 37-year-old married mother and community psychiatric nurse who requested assistance with driving difficulties following a number of accidents, and subsequent avoidance behaviour.
INTERVENTIONS: 4 hypnotherapy treatments
RESULTS: Although the patient retained some anxiety after the treatment, sufficient progress was established for her to make a long distance trip that she has been avoiding for a number of years. Reviewing progress a year later, she reported that residual anxiety had diminished and that progress had continued. CONCLUSIONS: Hypnotherapy is effective in treating driving phobia SOURCE: Contemporary Hypnosis, 22 (2): 99-103

for more information about the treatment of phobias contact www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

Quitting smoking and its obstacles

2005-10-06T04:13:00.000-07:00

There are many obstacles to stopping smoking - for men there is the social aspect of drinking with friends and cigarettes seem to be so much a part of this.

For women the main obstacle seems to be the fear of eating more and gaining weight as a result of getting rid of one bad habit.

The good news is that both of these problems can be successfully addressed with hypnosis - helping to make it one of the world's best methods of stopping smoking.

www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

Can hypnosis make me forget?

2005-09-17T03:25:00.000-07:00

One of the most frequent requests I do not feel able to help with is on these lines:

" I am trying desperately to get over a broken relationship - can you make me forget my former partner so he/she is no longer on my mind all the time ? "

Hypnosis cannot, in my opinion, remove a memory! What it can do is help you get stronger and perhaps more confident over time. Time is the great healer and if hypnosis can help the process along then it is of value here.

Hypnosis can alter the effects of memories so they no longer bother you in the same way but the memories will still be there - somewhere.

www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

Smoking again

2005-09-08T16:18:00.000-07:00

One question I am often asked is can one carry on smoking cannabis after quitting cigarettes?

My answer is " No" - because tobacco is usually mixed into the joint and it is still smoking .

To carry on smoking cannabis and then hope to be a non-smoker with cigarettes is tempting fate and usually fails.

www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

More about Stopping smoking with Hypnosis

2005-09-05T06:40:00.000-07:00

I would say that the big advantage of hypnosis over other methods is this - it can really help to break the associations and links that make it such a hard habit to break.

So if you are finding it difficult to even imagine how you are going to have a cup of coffee, a work break, a drink with friends etc without a cigarette then hypnosis could be the answer you've been looking for.

www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

Stop Smoking with Hypnosis

2005-09-02T14:06:00.000-07:00

Despite all the things hypnosis can help with it is still the number one enquiry in my practice - stopping smoking with hypnosis!

The anecdotal evidence of clients who come for treatment because they know someone who it worked for is borne out by research. Professor Schmidt's study in the early 1990s put hypnosis as the top treatment for smoking cessation and this was the subject of an article in New Scientist.

My own preference is a single session treatment with support from a Cd and the reassurance of a back up session if needed within 6 months.

For more details have a look at

www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

Recognition of hypnosis

2005-08-31T15:12:00.000-07:00

It is a little known fact that hypnosis was recognised as long ago as the 1890s by the British Medical Association - especially as a means of pain management.

In the 20th century both the British and American Medical Associations have endorsed the use of hypnosis - yet too often it is thought of as " alternative" .

Thousands of reports and studies in medical and psychological journals support hypnosis as a safe and effective means of help .

www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

Hypnotherapy associations

2005-08-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

People often ask for hypnotherapy associations and here are two UK based ones you can contact for advice on training or finding a therapist.

National Council for Hypnotherapy

www.hypnotherapists.org.uk

Associational for Professional Hypnosis and Psychotherapy

www.aphp.co.uk

Keith Chopping
www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

Hypnotherapy and IBS

2005-08-29T17:26:00.000-07:00

Regular hypnosis can markedly ease discomfort and improve the quality of life for most people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). These were the findings of a 2002 audit carried out at a British hypnotherapy unit devoted solely to the treatment of IBS

In all, 232 participants continued hypnotherapy and filled out a final set of questionnaires at the end of three months.
The researchers found that bowel habit (such as stool frequency and consistency) improved in 78% of patients. (It did not change in 13%, and it deteriorated slightly in 9%.) Many indicated that their sense of overall well-being soared. Anxiety and depression eased considerably.

This large-scale review confirms the wisdom of treating IBS with hypnotherapy. In just three months, symptoms such as pain and bloating, as well as the level of so-called "disease interference" with life, changed profoundly for most participants.

The findings show that relief from this difficult-to-treat condition can be long-lasting.

Source: Gonsalkorale WM, Houghton LA, Whorwell PJ. Hypnotherapy in irritable bowel syndrome: a large-scale audit of a clinical service with examination of factors influencing responsiveness. Am J Gastroenterol, 2002;97:954-961.

For more information about hypnotherapy visit:

www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

History of Hypnotherapy

2005-08-28T16:00:00.000-07:00

I am often asked if there are books about Hypnotherapy that I would recommend.

Two books that give a good history about hypnosis are:

The Story of Hypnotism - by Derek Forrest which gives much detail about the days of Mesmerism and thereafter.

Hidden Depths - by Robin Waterfield - history and information about the applications of hypnosis in medicine and psychology

Secrets of Hypnotherapy - by Janet Fricker and John Butler - a pocket book which helps to dispel the myths about hypnosis and shows just how many different conditions it can successfully treat.

For more information about the practical use of hypnosis in therapy please visit me at:

www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

Good reasons for hypnotherapy

2005-08-27T05:44:00.000-07:00

Good reasons for hypnotherapy ( as advised by the National Council for Hypnotherapy)

Today, people take more responsibility for their own well-being. They look around and see a huge choice of practitioners, especially here in London. Why should they turn to hypnosis ?

Broad Scope Hypnosis can help with anything in which the mind has an influence. So its range is far wider than is sometimes thought. While it works very well for phobias, smoking and weight control, it can also relieve nausea in chemotherapy patients, prepare people for surgery and faster recovery, relieve insomnia, improve sport performance - and much more.

Scientific Backing
"Hypnosis is supported by more scientific research than any other complementary therapy". (The Which? Guide to Complementary Therapies, 2002). Hypnosis has been recognised as valid by the British Medical Association since 1955.

Fast Results
Using a very light state of trance, similar to day-dreaming, or absorption in a book or tv programme, means that change can take place more quickly than simply through talking. This means treatment is often surprisingly brief.

Partnership
Modern, well-trained hypnotherapists nowadays use gentle, non-authoritarian approaches, in a spirit of partnership and cooperation with you. Their aim is to guide you to create better choices for yourself.

To Update Your Mind
If you are stuck with a habit, a behaviour, feelings or a condition that you cannot sort out yourself, a hypnotherapist can be your mind mechanic, to help you on the right road again. For example, if any raised voice reduces you to a jelly and now you want to work in a pressured environment, where raised voices are the norm, you can "unlearn" the jelly response and feel more confident.

Tailor-Made
Because each client's perceptions and experience are different, well-trained hypnotherapists will give you designer service, as opposed to off-the-peg. They will listen carefully to what is currently going on for you and what you'd like to change, then tailor the techniques they use.

Use the Mind-Body Connection
Today's hypnotherapists work from an understanding of the mind and of the mind-body connection that is based on modern neuroscience. This enables them to work successfully with problems such as pain control, IBS, and the stress/anxiety response.

Value for Money
The therapy effect of hypnosis continues to multiply long after the sessions have ended. It is like teaching someone to fish instead of handing them a piece of cod.
For more information about hypnosis :
www.hypnosis-london.co.uk

Why hypnotherapy?

2005-08-26T15:20:00.000-07:00

Many people think about hypnosis but for various reasons do not take their interest any further. Here is some information about hypnosis that may help you.

Far removed from its somewhat sinister or trivial media images, hypnosis involves the therapeutic use of "trance" to help clients overcome a range of personal problems.

Hypnotic trance is a state of highly focused awareness whilst being deeply relaxed in both body and mind. It is similar to how you would feel whilst daydreaming, meditating or perhaps whilst "switched off" on a long car journey. Hypnosis is certainly not about you losing control or being under someone else's "power" - it only happens with your permission.

In the trance state you will be more receptive to positive suggestions from the hypnotherapist. These suggestions are framed for your benefit and can help free you from any negative restrictions that have been accepted unconsciously.

Suggestions can take many forms including the traditional affirmations and direct commands. Creative imagery and visualisation along with NLP techniques are being increasingly used nowadays within hypnosis.

The "conscious" mind is just a small part of the personality - the "unconscious" holds far more resources than we are usually aware of. However, in my style of hypnosis in London we rarely go searching the unconscious to find past causes and reasons - the emphasis is very much on the present and the potential.

Please be assured that you will not get stuck in a trance , nor will you blurt out any secrets or be made to do anything against your will.

For more information visit www.hypnosis-london.co.uk