Cardiff Therapy:Useful advice when deciding on a suitable course of therapy.
Cardiff Therapy: Accepting help
Some anxiety and stress is only natural in modern day to day living. When these issues accumulate, it can begin to affect your personal health, relationships and work. There may come a point when you decide that enough is enough and want some external help to deal with your issues. You may have talked with your family and friends and discussed matters with your doctor.For many people, the first hurdle is overcoming personal feelings of failure before being ready to receive help. Naturally, you want to resolve these issues by yourself, but your own beliefs from traumatic life experiences can be self-limiting. You can hear what people are telling you but their help isn’t going deep enough to influence a change. By accepting help, you are taking the courageous step to open up to the possibilities of change. With the right help, it can release you from the chains of self-doubt, helplessness and rumination.
Cardiff Therapy: What conditions can be treated?
There are a wide range of conditions that can be treated with Cardiff therapy. You could be suffering with panic attacks or you are struggling to make a change in your life. Quite often there have been some traumatic experiences in your past and you are trying to understand yourself better. You may classify your issue as something specific and want that treated as your therapeutic goal.Medically these issues can be classified as stress, anxiety and depression and tend to fall into the following categories:
Negative thought patterns, such as “I can’t do anything”, “What’s the point?”, “nobody likes me” etc. These thought patterns limit your beliefs that you can change and block any attempt to resolve your situation.
Overwhelming emotions, such as anger, guilt, denial and blame. These emotions can trigger internal feeling of tension that include a racing heart beat and shortness of breath due to associated tension.
Dysfunctional behaviour patterns, such as insomnia, comfort eating, habits and addictions, like smoking and drinking alcohol above the recommended amount. These patterns can have further effects on your health, work and relationships when they become excessive.Cardiff Therapy: Therapy can be used to treat a number of conditions
Cardiff Therapy: Which Therapy?
Talking therapies rarely offer a quick fix to your problem, although some may focus on a short-termgoal that you wish to deal with. There are numerous therapies that can be used for a variety of conditions. Although they may have a slightly different theoretical background or approach, many styles will overlap.
Some approaches look back at your life as the origin of your problem like psychodynamic and psychoanalytical therapy.
Some therapies look at your life now with the self-limiting thoughts and feelings you are using to manage your issue. Mutually agreed goals are formed to work though the problem with your therapist. These include counselling and cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT).
Some approaches focus on the present and future in view of the goal that you present. This can include solution-focused brief therapy.
Whereas some therapies have been researched to treat your condition, it doesn’t always mean that it will be successful with you and your condition. What you believe about the merits of an approach can be a good starting place for seeking a particular type of therapy.
Cardiff Therapy: Which Therapist?
Some therapists will stay within the boundaries of their treatment protocol and treat your condition according to a set programme (number of treatment sessions). However, some therapists have a very flexible approach to how they treat you and your condition. They will estimate the course of treatment but they will design the course of therapy according to the feedback you present. Using this approach, the therapy is paced to your individual needs and other commitments.
Cardiff Therapy: Ask questions about your therapy
There are some useful questions that you can ask a therapist prior to starting a course of therapy. This will help you find out if you can collaborate within a therapeutic relationship. It is advisable to find out as much as you can about your therapy before starting a course of treatment. Questions can cover the following issues:
How they will approach your issue.
Any previous experience of treating your condition.
When you are likely to benefit from the therapy.
The training and registered associations to which the therapist is a member.
The terms of confidentiality.
Cardiff Therapy: The cost of treatment and type of venue
Establish the cost of each treatment, the length of each consultation and expected length of the therapy course if it hasn’t been made clear in the advertising literature. You can then establish if the treatment is affordable. Asking a few therapists these questions can give you a guide to the local Cardiff therapy prices. Some Cardiff therapy practitioners may offer concessions and will adjust prices according to your ability to pay. Cardiff therapy can be made available through the NHS or registered charities.Cost per session is not always an indication of quality. Just because you are paying five times as much for a treatment, it doesn’t mean you are getting Cardiff therapy that is five times more effective. Admittedly, there is an unconscious expectation that something is better when you pay more for it. Being emotionally open to being helped is one of the biggest dynamics in the therapy process. The exchange between you and the therapist can facilitate this process, amongst many other issues.You may also want to ask questions about other terms and conditions in your Cardiff therapy. Some therapists will have a cancellation period which you can give notice to cancel without paying a cancellation fee. Some therapists have different payment methods.Cardiff therapy can be conducted at an established practice with a number of different healthcare professionals. It can also be conducted in the therapist’s private practice or even as a home visit. The quality of the Cardiff therapy treatment should normally be the same regardless of the venue. Your expectations however can be different depending on the venue type. For example being treated at a therapy practice can help you to think that you are benefiting from a more professional service. What is important is that you feel relaxed in the venue where your treatment takes place. The venue may affect the treatment fee because of overhead costs for the therapist.
Cardiff Therapy: Hypnotherapy Cardiff
Hypnotherapy still suffers from outdated images of swinging watches, stage shows and very high expectations from the public. Hypnotherapy is growing in its professionalism however with various hypnotherapists being registered with Hypnotherapy Associations that require a strict professional code of conduct and ethics e.g. The Hypnotherapy Association and General Hypnotherapy Register. Some conditions like IBS can now be treated through the NHS.Hypnotherapy Cardiff can offer a rapid solution to many conditions because the treatment aims to reduce your anxiety and stress levels as part of the hypnotic induction. Whilst in a relaxed state, your mind is more receptive to suggestions and visualisation techniques used by the hypnotherapist. Your therapeutic goals are discussed and the therapeutic suggestions are then incorporated into the hypnotherapy treatment. Hypnotherapy courses are usually shorter in duration than most of the other talking therapies but this can still vary from patient to patient.
For further information on treating your condition with hypnotherapy, contact Hypnotherapy Cardiff
Anger is a basic and normal human emotion that you can feel on a daily basis. Anger is not problematic in its milder form of irritability; feeling angry is nature’s way of telling you that you have perceived a threat, a wrong-doing or an injustice. Uncontrolled and persistent anger however can be harmful. It can be detrimental to the individual’s health, and damage family, social and working relationships. When anger is unrestrained, it can show itself in situations where innocent people can be hurt or even killed. Examples can include road rage, domestic abuse, and individual and gang violence. With anger, property can be damaged with complete disregard.
What happens when you are angry?
Anger can show your animal instinctsAnger is a heightened state of arousal that prepares you to deal with perceived threats. When you are angry, stress hormones are released to alter the functioning of your mind. Your mind is alerted to the perceived threat in a distorted way. The rational intelligence normally used to handle situations is swallowed up by a primitive “caveman” logic to either attack or be defeated.Your body also responds to the stress hormones. Adrenaline and cortisol are released into the body, increasing your heart rate and causing your breathing to become more rapid and shallow. Non-essential functions like digestion are de-prioritised. Blood flow is diverted to voluntary muscles as if preparing you to go into battle and strike out. With higher levels of anger you are a machine poised to deal with the perceived threat with very basic “animal” instincts.Not all anger is primitive however. You can get angry and then rationally evaluate the most appropriate response. Even when anger is moderate or calculated, these same physical reactions can still take place. But there is more interpretation and analysis of how the situation is affecting you and how you externally want to deal with it.Cognitive processes help you to assess the injustice of the situation. Behavioural processes consider how you express the anger. It can include changes in your facial expressions and posture. Physical expressions involve acts of aggression towards people and property e.g. slamming doors. Your verbal expression of anger can include speaking more forcefully and quickly, with a raised tone.
Where does anger come from?
Anger is a basic human emotion. How angry you are, how you process your anger and how long anger persists after a experiencing a threat can vary between individuals. Your anger level is also influenced by a number of internal, social/cultural and situational variables.Internal factors: Most studies consider anger to be a secondary emotion and a response to pain and fear. Thus it is generally believed that anger is learned rather than something you are born with. However, there is some evidence that pregnant mothers exposed to stress can affect the developing foetus’ own stress response system and influence the child’s own temperament. This would support the view that you can be born predisposed to certain emotions like anger, as if setting up a template of emotion. What you learn after birth will then reinforce this template.Early developmental issues in the young child affect communication skills and can create a general disposition to be angry throughout your life. Being able to verbally express your anger in a calm way becomes a frustrating experience and is replaced by aggression.Social/Cultural factors: Your emotional template is mainly developed from your parents and family culture. How your family deal with anger can teach you what is an appropriate way to express your own anger. This continuous transfer of anger culture would suggest that it can remain in families through generations.Cultural factors can also affect gender differences with expressing anger within the family and in wider social groups. Stereotypically, men are encouraged to express their aggression to assert their masculinity particularly in youth culture, whereas women are discouraged from displaying their aggression to appear more feminine. Women tend to talk about their feeling of anger and stay angry for longer. Hormonal differences may explain some of these gender variations.Situational factors: The specific situation can trigger different levels of anger in different people. Take for example being stuck in a traffic jam. The level of anger you experience can depend on
The reason for the traffic jamAnger: Road rage during a traffic jam
The importance of the journey
Your relationship with the other people at your destination
Your ability to communicate to those people the reason for your delay
The disposition and needs of your passengers etc.
But there are also wider issues that affect your handling of the situation. Consider your general emotional history with anger and with previous traffic jams. Then take into account irritations that day and those bigger stressful events that are affecting you. You can appreciate the complexity of these variables that may be dealt with calmly or with rage.
What affects the intensity of your anger?
When classifying anger, a scale of 1 to 10 is commonly applied to rate the degree of anger felt or expressed. At the lower levels there is irritation and aggravation, at the upper levels hostility, aggression and rage. Revenge (as a form of anger) can be used at all levels.The intensity of your anger is dependent on the history, internal, external and situational factors:
Your history of anger and history of the event
Your general disposition and current stress levels
Background cultural factors
How much you rate the severity of the perceived threat
The relationship with the perpetrator and their apparent intentions
Your analysis of the circumstances surround the event
What can cause you to get angry?
Modern living rarely needs the primitive “fight or flight” anger response that our ancestors once used for survival. The threat of survival has evolved into the threat of losing one’s self-esteem.How you define your esteem can mean different things to different people. But modern anger is usually stimulated when there is a perceived threat to:
Your physical well-being - The aftermath of an attack can create a deep feeling of anger to get your revenge on your attacker and level the score.
Your self-image and social status - This can be defined as how you see yourself and how you believe others see you. A nasty comment that defames you can cause anger particularly when it is untrue. It can have an impact on your reputation.
Anger is also common when a threat affects your social position. A negative life change like a demotion or redundancy at work can create anger particularly when you believed that you were performing well in your job.
Your family - When your child is being bullied at school, anger can be a response to your own feeling of helplessness. Naturally, you would want to protect them from harm, but you are not able to be present in every situation.
Your social group - A criticism given to the football team you support or pop group that you like can spark a verbal or physical argument. Youth culture is known for having a strong social group identity that links with one’s self image.
Your property - Your possessions can act as extensions of your identity. The sentimental or monetary value of possessions often defines people. The modern car is an example of how some people like to present their image. Damage the car and you damage the owner’s ego.
Your boundaries - You like to know the rules that govern what you can and can’t do. When you know where you stand in life, you feel safe even if you don’t agree with the rule in principal. When a change takes place, you can feel angry. A teenager who has a curfew set by their parents can feel angry about the rule change if it does not equate with his/her offence. “It’s not fair” is a common angered response.
Your privileges - Losing something that helps you to feel special or that gives you some advantage can invoke an angered response. Cuts made in work organisations create “hot” air in the staffroom. The mistake that generates the anger may be caused by taking the privilege for granted in the first place.
The anger felt in the above situations can be stimulated prior to the event, during the event and for some time after the perceived threat has been dealt with. Some anger persists for years after an event. Long-term suppressed anger can act as a trigger for unexplained outbursts of emotion in the present. When you know that situations trigger your anger, you can avoid situations in the future as way of trying to cope.
Types of anger
Anger can take various forms. Some types are overt, but the more hidden forms of passive anger are not always recognised so easily.
Behavioural anger: This type of anger is used to describe someone who is physically expressive with their anger regardless of the trigger. It includes acts of physical violence and abuse.
Verbal anger: This type of anger is used to describe someone who is verbally expressivewith their anger regardless of the trigger. When this anger is used maliciously, this type of person can be insulting and critical of others, destroying their self esteem. Facial and postural gestures accompany verbal anger.There are different types of anger
Persistent anger: This describes people who tend to be angry with life in general. There is no apparent trigger, just a continuous exhibition of anger. The expression can be verbal or behavioural, intense or mild. You know where you stand with this person.
Explosive anger: This person would be defined as volatile. They can explode with rage for no apparent reason and then be calm. They are unpredictable and may choose innocent victims. Their anger can be verbal or behavioural.
Critical anger: This verbal anger aims to judge and others and point out their mistakes. The comments make others feel ashamed and embarrassed about themselves or their abilities. Other people’s self-esteems are destroyed in an attempt to repair their own scarred self-esteem.
Passive anger: This subversive form of anger uses sarcasm to hide suppressed anger e.g. saying “now what type of brain were you born with?” The angry person tries to disguise sarcasm by saying that the offended person is just being sensitive. Passive anger can also take the form of avoidance to get back at someone e.g. not attending an invitation to a party at the very last moment. Someone who favours passive anger likes to avoid confrontation. Or passive anger can be “expressed” by giving the silent treatment e.g. after a row with your partner. Saying nothing may be the better option than saying something that is offensive. But it is still an indication that you are angry.
Distressed anger: This anger is a reaction to overwhelming distress in this person’s life. They are not coping with some of the bigger life changes like a new job or a break up in a relationship. They are constantly tense and lash out at people when any extra demands are placed upon them. The anger is a general reflection of high stress levels.
Vindictive anger: This is probably the most common form of anger. The “injured” party seeks to get “even” after a perceived threat. It can take the form of direct “tit-for-tat” behaviour or by indirect forms of revenge where you withhold something that they may need.
Self-directed anger: This form of anger accompanies self-blame, self-harm and low self-esteem. A person who uses this anger struggles to be assertive and handle situations confidently. They see view most situations as major conflict. So the only way to turn is inwards directing the anger at oneself. Examples of punishment include eating disorders and cutting oneself.
Calculated Anger: When someone isn’t getting their way, they use anger as a way to over-power the other people in the situation. They may be defined as “control-freaks” who expect people to comply with their orders. When someone protests about their plans, it intensifies their anger.
Suspicious anger: This person feels angry because they are jealous of others and are paranoid that other people will take what “belongs” to them. This jealous anger typically surfaces in relationships. The angry person has trust issues and tries to possess their partner. When their partner is seen innocently talking to other people, they are accused of flirting and face accusations of infidelity.
Constructive anger: On a personal level, this type of anger is about being assertive. It considers the needs of all parties in the situation. Constructive anger emphasises communication and negotiation to resolve situations and reduce any future disharmony. On a group and organisational level, it aims to make positive change from situations, decisions or actions that have been mismanaged. Examples include the formation of movements, unions and associations.
Unresolved anger can create long-term health issues similar to high stress levels. It includes heart problems, hypertension, depression, anxiety, low immunity-related conditions like flu and IBS.
Treatment for anger using hypnotherapy
For many people, anger can seem like an internal eruption that is out of control. Any habitual response develops that way, particularly when you have been subjected to abusive anger as a child. Changing the way you express your anger can help protect your relationships, your career and your health. Hypnotherapy can help you deal with your anger at different levels. Hypnotherapy is more than just a way of relaxing.There are a number of steps that can help you to change your expression of anger:Understand the nature of your anger: There are very few situations where anger is just about anger. When it is related to the present situation, it is dealt with in a controlled manner. Most of the time, anger is a response to suppressed underlying issues that you are not ready to deal with or may not want to want to deal with. Your anger acts as a front to a deeper pain. Fear of rejection, worthlessness, embarrassment, shame, and jealousy are some of emotions that can fuel anger. These issues can relate back to childhood. Without understanding the background, your attempt to control it will seem as if you are swimming against the tide. When a small wave comes along, it’s enough to knock you back without the energy to control it.There are many situations that can signal that your anger is about something else. One situation is when you struggle to admit that you are wrong and will aggressively defend your viewpoint. You fail to compromise because you fear that you will be judged as inadequate. When anger is your way of life this can also indicate that there is something else that is sustaining your anger.Identify your anger warning signs and triggers: Deep-rooted negative beliefs and can act as catalysts to your anger. They can rapidly take you from being in control to out of control. When you over-generalise, you will consider one threatening situation to mean this happens to you all day, every day. The angry person exaggerates by saying “this always happens to me!”Narrowing your internal choices by using modal verbs (have to, should, must) can also cause anger. You can probably recall situations when you have said “I’ve got to complete this by today.” You have then built up anger when you haven’t met these demands.Anger can be triggered when you convince yourself about a negative event without getting all of the evidence. Typical situations include mis-reading an expression on somebody’s face and then thinking catastrophic consequences.Who is responsible of your emotions? You are responsible. And when you take ownership of your emotions, you are in a better position to control and change them. But a blame culture has mistakenly encouraged placing the responsibility for your feelings on someone else. This can easily trigger your anger when you share this view. It’s a common phrase when people say that “you made me angry, it’s your fault!” Only they can reset your emotions when you feel angry or anything else. It’s a disempowering outlook to have in life and is likely to short-fuse your anger when someone else makes a mistake.Some of these anger triggers can be physical stress responses that take you over your body. Feeling the tightness in your abdomen and chest, your heart racing and rapid breathing can transform a calm temperament into an angry one. By recognising some of these signs that your anger is building, you can take active steps to make changes before the anger escalates.You may already know certain people, places or situations that can trigger your anger. But rather than blaming them, identifying how they affect you can help you choose how you interact. You may avoid certain topics of conversation with aggressive people because it generates anger. Avoidance can be a useful short-term fix for many situations, but it can help you manage your emotions during times of general stress.Learn ways to keep calm: When you understand the nature of your anger and can identify the signs and triggers, you can then learn ways to deal with your anger before it hits the upper limits. There are certain methods that are helpful at in the heat of the moment. They include deep breathing exercises and developing the courage to walk away from the scene.Anger that persists after the event can benefit by evaluating the importance of the situation and the way it is impacting on your emotions. What else can I do about the situation? Can I communicate my anger in a more constructive way? What outcome do I really want? These questions can help you divert your mind away from unnecessary aggression.An ongoing situation that angers you requires constant anger and stress management. Breathing techniques and progressive relaxation can help reduce physical tension. Frequent exercise is another way of venting these symptoms.Develop constructive ways to express your anger: When you recognise that your anger is worthy of the situation and that there is a way to resolve it, you can then direct your anger in a more constructive and assertive way. Focusing on the immediate situation prevents you from bringing up past irrelevant issues. It also minimises blame.If the situation allows for you to reflect on it, walk away and explore all of the possibilities. Consider if there are any ways to create a win-win situation. This will help to preserve long-term relationships. The other person will be grateful that you are valuing their needs.If you are particularly angry and intend to confront this situation head on, evaluate whether it is worth the emotional intensity. Being selective with your conflicts will help others note your seriousness rather than it being “yet another tantrum!”By being selective, it can also help you to appreciate when it’s better to let something go. Courageously walking away from anger can be considered as a “win”, particularly when you have evaluated how much a situation can draw on your long-term resources.When you have walked away from the situation, it can give you (and the other party) an opportunity to assess the value of the relationship. An apology can restore broken relationships when it is genuine. Forgiveness can then be considered where an on-going workable partnership is in both the party’s interests.
Hypnotherapy: When is professional help needed to treat your anger?
Anger can affect relationshipsHypnotherapy can be an effective way to treat your anger, although it is unlikely that you willseek hypnotherapy for occasional irritability. Some of the warning signs that your anger is out of control include:· Anger is affecting your relationships. Aggressive (verbal and physical) behaviour canbe detrimental to close family relationships and friendships. Self esteems can be destroyed when you are taking out your frustration on people close to you. It can shatter the confidence and feeling of security of those who witness your anger.
· Anger is affecting your job
Competitive work situations and unnecessary change can create anger in your workplace. When you are an angry boss, it may scare your staff into completing their tasks, but it can harm relationships, affect job satisfaction cause unnecessary health issues.
· Your anger is creating constant physical tension
Suppressed anger or unresolved anger from long-term issues can cause insomnia, high blood pressure and depression. There are numerous other health issues that can develop when it left unchecked.
· Your anger is causing you to physically strike out at people.
Physical violence that stems from rage is a clear indicator that some professional help is required. It may help you from being arrested.
· You avoid too many situations because of your anger
Some tactical avoidance may help you to manage your anger in situations where there is a strong trigger. Avoiding too many situations in fear of an outburst however means that anger is still dominating your life.
How can Hypnotherapy help your anger?
Much of the anger that is expressed at a particular moment has an unconscious association. If it was conscious, you would control easily by yourself. Hypnotherapy can treat your anger in the following ways:
· Hypnotherapy can help you understand the nature of your anger
Hypnotherapy can be used to identify relevant past traumas that are surfacing when you are angry. By re-framing the emotion behind your past traumas, hypnotherapy allows you to be more focused on and in control of the current situation. You can then feel released to deal with the situation constructively and express your anger calmly. Suppressed criticism and feelings of worthlessness can be an example of a typical past trauma treated with hypnotherapy. With hypnotherapy, your mind can make the important link to what generates your anger.
· Hypnotherapy can help you identify your anger warning signs and triggers
Hypnotherapy can help you to identify your internal and external signs and triggers. Anger can seem like an “either or reaction”. One moment you are dealing with the situation and then the next moment you are boiling over with rage. When it happens unconsciously, trying to analyse it afterwards can seem a little too late. With hypnotherapy, the intense visualisation allows your mind to revisit the situations as if being there in slow motion. Depending on the hypnotherapy techniques used, the hypnotherapy consultation can ensure that you are detached enough to learn from the experience without feeling re-traumatised. Hypnotherapy can also employ symptom reversal techniques to alter the physical reactions that can generate your anger.
· Hypnotherapy can help you to stay calm
Hypnotherapy has the advantage over other therapies because the relaxation techniques are part of the hypnotherapy induction. When stress levels are high, you are generally more irritable and your potential to learn is inhibited. But more importantly, hypnotherapy can plant effective calming techniques into your anger ritual, positively disrupting the negative chain-reaction. Hypnotherapy also incorporates breathing techniques into the anger programme which is suggested by most anger management therapists.
· Hypnotherapy can help you develop constructive ways to express your anger
Hypnotherapy can help you to react more calmly and bring your anger under control. You can then learn to appreciate the demands of the situation and the people involved. Hypnotherapy can help you to walk away from the situation or help you to focus intensely on solutions for both parties. Being assertive ensures that the needs of each person are taken into account.Use hypnotherapy as your preferred choice of treatment for your anger issues. Each hypnotherapy programme is individualised for your emotional and behavioural transformation. Benefit from hypnotherapy to treat your anger.
For further information on treating anger in Cardiff using hypnotherapy, contact Hypnotherapy Cardiff
These practical ‘coping with anxiety tips’ are a starting point to lift you out of your ceaseless cycle of worry and place you into somewhere brighter, ready to embrace life. They have been written using experience from my hypnotherapy practice in Cardiff. The majority of my hypnotherapy patients have anxiety-related issues. Quite often it is the main focus of their therapeutic goal.Anxiety is the apprehension about something that is you think is going to happen. It is usually based on something that has gone wrong before. That past situation is now buried in the depths of your mind, yet it feeds into your irrational prediction that the outcome is going to all go wrong again. Let’s face it; in reality, it hardly ever happens that way. But the past event lies there to protect you from danger (fight or flight response) with such force, that it disables you with inaction. Your mind is stuck in worry mode and it needs help coping with anxiety. So, what can you do? Here are my practical ‘coping with anxiety tips.’
Coping with anxiety tip #1: Learn to breathe
This is a fundamental ‘coping with anxiety tip’. It’s something that you just “do” and you have heard people say it in passing, “take a deep breath.” But breathing properly to reduce anxiety is something that few can master with effect. When someone around you is anxious, pay attention to where they are breathing from. It’s likely to be high in the chest. Then consider how quickly they are breathing. They will be ventilating with short, rapid breaths. This can prolong the feelings of anxiety and make your symptoms worse. Learning to breathe for relaxation has the effect of calming the nervous system and lowering the stress responses. Read this article on breathing techniques to reduce anxiety for more details.Once you have begun to use breathing techniques, you can learn to centre your mind. In a more relaxed state, it’s easier to access other resourceful ‘mind’ techniques that can help you when coping with anxiety. In a hypnotherapy course, this is a core technique that is incorporated into the early part of the hypnotherapy treatment. View it as life-skill beyond hypnotherapy. It is useful for coping with anxiety and many more emotional states.
Coping with anxiety tip #2: Do some physical activity
Coping with anxiety: Going for a walk is a great way to release tension
Did I say the ‘E’ word? No, that’s because exercise (oops, I said it!) doesn’t have to be a regimented activity in the gym. If it is and you enjoy it, then go ahead and do some. You may be someone who likes your exercise to be self-directed. So you go on each exercise station problem solving or exorcising (pun intended!) your worries whilst doing something repetitive. Have you noticed how some people sit at an exercise station, daydreaming until someone walks past and “wakes” them into their next set of repetitions? This happens with any activity that has a repeated movement like running or swimming. For those with muscular tension, any activity that has an increased level of effort involved like using weights or circuit training can release physical tension associated with anxiety. Combining these elements with something competitive can help your mind to be absorbed in something else. This can be by playing a racquet sport with a friend. You may even employ a personal trainer who helps to personalise the “no pain, no gain” process.If “exercise for exercise sake” just seems pointless, then physical activity can be disguised as something more sociable and fun. Try dancing, swimming, brisk walking and chatting with a friend, or try something as part of a hobby like light gardening. What is important with the physical activity is that you place extra physical demand on your cardiovascular system. This in turn will trigger more forceful breathing so that the diaphragm muscle is brought into play. This breathing response links with ‘coping with anxiety tip #1’. You are again breathing abdominally, but the exercise is initiating the relaxation response rather than it being a conscious process.In my hypnotherapy consultations, my hypnotherapy patients who exercise say that it helps them when coping with anxiety and releasing physical tension. They feel much better after having done some physical activity. Coming from a health, fitness and coaching background, I would recommend exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle. It’s more than just a ‘coping with anxiety tip’.
Coping with anxiety tip #3: Have some useful distractions
This ‘coping with anxiety tip’ is useful when you are worrying about a problem that can’t be resolved right away and you can get stuck in worry ‘mode’. This situation can be made worse when there is nothing else to focus on. The aim is to centre your attention on something that can absorb your mind just enough to leave anxiety where it is. This does not mean fill every moment with activity however. Coping with anxiety directly is something quite different. This is just another way to temporarily manage your anxiety by ‘stepping out’ of it, aware that it will be dealt with at a different time. Call it strategic avoidance. It’s useful when you a dreading making a phone call to someone who is absent. You have planned the conversation but you don’t know how they will respond. So you keep worrying about this, filling every quiet moment with ‘what if’s’. The call just needs to be made, but unfortunately they are not available.When using a valid distraction, it’s crucial to consider:
The level of concentration required in an activity and
The level of importance of the activity.
Both of these issues can overlap. Consider when you come home from work and have finished with the evening’s essentials. Anxiety could easily take over the remaining evening, so how will you fill that time? Having a number of projects can offer you options. It’s for you to decide if the crossword puzzle, night class, DVD, reading book, DIY or any other pastime/hobby fills the criteria. If the activity is routine and trivial, like watching (but not really watching) television, your mind will switch out rather than switch in to the television programme. (This is not always a bad thing, but it is a different process to strategic avoidance). So anxiety and boredom can run alongside each other well. Counter boredom and it will help you when coping with anxiety.
Coping with anxiety Tips #4: Get talking
Is there any substance in the saying “a problem shared is a problem halved”? If you have a good social circle, it can be a very natural ‘coping with anxiety tip’. Talking to people can help to lift your mood and release your anxiety. You don’t have to be given an action plan of solutions that you take with you and tick off as you deal with each one. It can just be about being placed in a situation where you are talking to someone and they are there listening to you. It can be (ideally) in person, on Skype or even on the telephone, as long as you are connecting in some way with the listener.When you can have a good “natter”, you can offload and unburden your worries and then feel free of them. It’s the emotional attachment to your worries that make them more of an issue than the issues per se. Remember that worries are perceived and only exist in your mind. When the emotion has changed, the problem can be repositioned in your mind. Talking is like unloading your heavy burdens onto someone else who has space in their worry trailer.The listener doesn’t have to be a professional therapist. As long as they are patient with you and seek to understand the nature of your issue, you can benefit from the interaction. And if you feel guilty about taking up their valuable time or “borrowing” from them, you can always return the favour on another occasion. Coping with anxiety can be a two-way exchange.Hypnotherapy consultations involve a hypnotic induction. When exploring the patient’s issues, the early part of the session is a useful opportunity for you to offload and discuss the problems related to your goal. When the situation demands it, I let this cathartic function continue, being aware that it is therapeutic in your overall treatment. It helps to build report and this helps you to be more receptive to my hypnotic suggestions.
Coping with anxiety Tips #5: Get writing
Coping with anxiety: Write a letter to your own mind
Writing a letter, but not sending it, is a particularly useful way of coping with your anxiety if you have a more reserved personality. There is evidence to suggest that it is a good platform to actively process and express your feelings but in a passive way. In certain situations, processing them is all that is needed to feel better about them. Writing a (disposable) letter is typically useful for emotions likesuppressed anger, when venting it directly at the person would not be wholly appropriate. When writing a letter, no one needs to be involved in the process unless you choose them to be. So the disposable letter acts as the cathartic release of your raw emotion. You can “get it off your chest” without needing to rant at the other person and then regret it afterwards.With the emotion of anxiety however, the letter does not have to be aimed at anyone in particular. You can address it to your own mind! You recognise that your mind is generating these worries and it is getting you nowhere. So rather than being possessed by it, the letter gives you the opportunity to step outside of the worry and communicate with the anxiety. Consider that in your mind, you can go through internal discussions several times a day. Call it the process of deliberating. When there is a dominant part of you, it is that “voice” that will make the loudest noise. When you are struggling coping with anxiety, anxiety is the most dominant part of your mind. And when you can’t bargain with it, the act of writing the letter strengthens other parts of your mind, giving the writing process more power to discharge your anxiety.There’s a huge difference between dealing with something and suppressing it. By writing a letter in this style, you are acknowledging that your mind’s anxiety is doing the job that it is designed to do (if only a little too well). You are opening the lid on the anxiety box and releasing it, rather than shutting the lid on it where it usually builds up and returns with a vengeance. When suppressed, the anxiety comes to the surface when you try to relax or it plays through your dreams creating restless sleep.The way you structure the letter further facilitates the cathartic process. Avoid a letter in which you are just expanding your worries. It can drown you in anxiety and be counter-productive. Write the letter in two stages.
Acknowledge the negative state. In this case it is anxiety. State the worries and fears you have. Detail them just enough to be able to vent them. State what they are doing to you and how you are reacting to them. Detail some of the symptoms.
Reject the negative state and embrace its positive-opposite (antonym). State how you are taking a huge step over to the positive side and succeeding in a more favourable place. With anxiety the opposite could be relaxation, calmness, peacefulness, confidence, contentment or assurance. State what the positive side is doing for you, how it is empowering you to act and how you are making significant changes to your life.
What you write is down to your own imagination. Before starting, just give your mind a few moments to meditate, letting the negative energy of the emotion surface before you spill the beans and then modify the emotion.Here’s an example:“Dear Anxiety, (Stage 1) thank you for informing me about (the worry) in this very fictitious way. I am aware of your role in my mind and of the importance of this (worry). I appreciate how I have previously suffered with (the worry) and how it is feeding your presence. But waiting until I am desperate is a low tactic. (Stage 2) You see, I have had enough of (the symptoms) and being deceived by your ‘what-ifs’. They don’t materialise anyway. It’s time to let you go. I’m moving in with (confidence) and it is inspiring me to take action. I am already feeling calmer. My breathing has slowed and today I am going to (intentions). I am in control and have realised that my choices are now running the show.”This is just a short example of the letter format. Be as open and expressive as you want. Remember that it is not being sent to anyone unless you choose it to be. I suggest that the next day, shred it as a final virtuous act.I would consider the process of letter writing as a good precursor to a hypnotherapy consultation. In many ways it is a visualised rehearsal for something that you would like to take place, but it may not be appropriate at that particular time. I would value it as a practical self-hypnosis activity. In my hypnotherapy consultations, I have used this letter writing activity as a visualised therapeutic exercise when my patient struggling when coping with anxiety.
Coping with anxiety tips: Hypnotherapy summary
These practical ‘coping with anxiety tips’ are active ways in which you can release your mind from anxiety and the associated physical tension that is generated from it. When you can incorporate these activities into your lifestyle, they will reduce your awareness of anxiety. You can feel more relaxed and feel fitter. Coping with anxiety is an on-going process.As you would expect, a hypnotherapy course would have a much deeper impact on certain types of anxiety. A hypnotherapy course can help you to relax whilst being in a highly suggestible state. It can help plant techniques that have a lasting impression on your thinking. Hypnotherapy can also help you to reframe sensitising events that are influencing your anxiety.
For further information on coping with anxiety in Cardiff using hypnotherapy, contact Hypnotherapy Cardiff
Anxiety is a common term used to describe general feelings of nervousness or apprehension. It can vary from a simple fleeting worry or temporary uneasy mood, to a chronic incapacitating condition with distressing physical symptoms.Anxiety can affect your thinking, feelings and behavior when dealing with change or coping with demanding situations like exams. Anxiety becomes problematic when expectations become irrational and unrealistic, where even minor situations are met with a feeling of dread. Your general handling of life becomes overwhelming, affecting basic functioning like sleeping and eating patterns.
Anxiety: What causes it?
There are various causes of anxiety. They can be attributed to environmental and biological issues:Environmental: Lifestyle and lifestyle changes Certain lifestyles are considered to generate higher levels of anxiety. These include when using or withdrawing from addictive substances, being in a long-term job that you dislike or being in an abusive relationship.There are recognized lifestyle changes that are considered to be stressful. These can include developing certain medical conditions (e.g. heart conditions), moving house, changing jobs, getting a divorce, suffering abuse and grieving the death of a loved one. The recency and number of lifestyle changes that you are dealing with at one time would increase your anxiety levels.Environmental: Life experiencesThere are many experiences that can shape your anxious thinking such as suffering traumas, abuse and neglect. These experiences can create a template of anxiety that is re-triggered when suffering similar situations later in life.In addition to this, learning to cope from anxious parents is likely to influence your own anxious disposition. When you are younger, authority figures can act as role models for creating your own anxious belief system.Biological: Genetics A family history of anxiety will increase your likelihood that you will suffer anxiety. This considers the view that you are born a ‘worrier’ with catastrophic thinking.Biological: Brain chemistryAn imbalance in the brain’s neurotransmitters (chemicals that transmit messages between the brain cells) can cause anxiety and affect brain functioning. It’s unclear whether anxious traumas cause this dysfunction or it is something that you inherit.In my hypnotherapy consultation, I may seek to identify events that have “caused” you to deal with events in a self-limiting way. This can help reduce your internal conflict or “why” your mind has adopted this negative approach to handle problems.
Anxiety: What are the common symptoms?
Each person is individual in the way you experience anxiety. Some symptoms are more prominent than others and in some cases, symptoms can be the reverse e.g. bladder shyness (difficulty urinating) instead of frequent urination when feeling anxious.Anxiety sufferers find that their condition can exaggerate other natural symptoms. This is because of the “anxious” way you tend to tune into your symptoms. For example, sweating is a common anxiety symptom and a natural response when you are hot. Socially anxious people become more nervous and self-conscious when you show common anxiety symptoms in public. In the summer, sweating in public can be made worse by sufferers of social anxiety.Many of the anxiety symptoms are common to other more serious health conditions. It is important to have these symptoms checked by your doctor just to be certain that your symptom is anxiety-related.Symptoms tend to fall into two categories: emotional and physical symptoms:Emotional symptoms
Constant state of worry and irritability
Feeling detached and ‘spaced out’
Being forgetful and accident-prone
Over-reacting to a hint of danger, predicting negative outcomes
Difficulty relaxing and falling asleep/persistent waking
Irritable and moody
Problems concentrating
Physical symptoms
Tension headaches is a common anxiety-related symptom
Anxiety is diagnosed in consultation with your GP. You doctor will also want to establish that there are no underlying medical problems that are being masked by your anxiety. Personal questions are asked about the nature of your worries and fears, family history and any recent lifestyle changes. Your doctor will also enquire about how you are coping with your anxiety, your sleeping and eating patterns and any excessive habits which have developed.Your doctor may prescribe some medication or refer you to a psychiatrist or psychologist. Further assessment tools will be used to help diagnose the severity of your condition. A diagnosis can then be made if you have a particular type of anxiety disorder. General anxiety disorder is diagnosed when you have persistently struggled with your symptoms for about six months.
Anxiety: Living with anxiety
Just admitting that you have anxiety can be a problem for those suffering with the condition. Many people wrongly see anxiety as a condition for the weak-willed. The phrase that you are unable to “pull yourself together” assumes that you can just “snap” out of it. Although this is a rational recourse, it barely connects with the emotions felt when you are suffering with anxiety. There is an amount of helplessness within anxiety and it can take time for family and friends to accept this.Even if the diagnosis of anxiety is accepted by the sufferer, it can be met with denial. You may not want to take the medication because it can also be used to treat depression. Symptoms that can accompany anxiety are also easily rejected. The sufferer wants to believe that tension headaches or anxiety related IBS must have an organic cause. You endlessly pursue tests and further tests, rejecting the negative result as an error. A relative who has had an organic condition diagnosed e.g. heart problems might generate a further medical anxiety (hypochondria). In this state, you panic about your own anxiety symptoms, making the symptoms worse (panic about panic).
Anxiety: Approaches to treatment
MedicationDepending on how your anxiety affects you, your GP will prescribe suitable medication. It is usually in the form of benzodiazepines for short-term severe anxiety, antidepressants for chronic anxiety or beta blockers for physical anxiety symptoms.Self-helpSelf-help methods can include making changes to your lifestyle to moderate your feelings of anxiety. This can include exercise, changes to your diet and talking to people in self-help groups for further support.CBT and CounsellingYour doctor can refer you to a therapist to help you cope with your anxiety. There can be a waiting list for treatment depending on your location.
Anxiety: Treating anxiety with hypnotherapy
There is evidence-based research to show that “hypnosis is an efficacious treatment for state anxiety...and anxiety related disorders”. In my hypnotherapy practice, the majority of my patients will be suffering with some form of anxiety. Quite often it is the main therapeutic goal.Hypnotherapy can: Teach you how to relaxA key benefit of hypnotherapy is that each consultation involves deep relaxation, reducing immediate levels of stress and anxiety. In this relaxed state, you are more receptive to suggestions that I will use for your treatment. Hypnotherapy can then be used to enhance your learning of new approaches to problems that are causing you anxiety.Hypnotherapy also teaches you to how to relax for yourself. Self hypnosis involves using breathing techniques to lower your anxiety levels and gain more control over your own anxious thinking processes.Hypnotherapy can: Identify and reframe sensitising eventsHypnotherapy can be used to uncover and reframe sensitising events that have taught you to think in an anxious way. The effect of these past traumas can create negative fixed ideas that continue to fuel your anxiety.Here is an example of how it can be used:A patient who had a recent promotion was experiencing extreme anxiety during meetings. She was becoming progressively more self-conscious and dreaded the self-introduction usually required at the start of each meeting. Formal presentations however did not generate the same intensity of anxiety, nor did they create the same anticipatory anxiety. The treatment started with helping her to control her anxiety-response. Since some of the symptoms remained however, her past experiences were investigated further. Using regression, a suppressed past experience was identified when, as a teenager, she chose to give a talk to her class about a very personal issue. The delicate subject-matter caused her to feel exposed however and the risk was met by her peers taunting her. Her suppressed embarrassment was surfacing during her present meetings when she was sometimes asked to “speak from the heart.” Her colleagues were oblivious to her sensitivity. The anxiety had diminished once this causal link had been made and reframed into peer group trust. She unconsciously believed that her present work colleagues were going to taunt her in the same way the teenagers did. The treatment was complete by helping her to portray a confident character even though she was speaking about herself.
Nail biting is a common unwanted habit when feeling anxious
Hypnotherapy can: Dissociate anxiety-related symptomsNegative habits or anxiety-related symptoms can be deeply associated with higher levels of anxiety. For example nail biting can be an unwanted learnt response to comfort anxiety and stammering can triggered when the patient feels extremely anxious. Hypnotherapy can help dissociate these behavioural responses from the patient’s anxious coping strategies using direct suggestion and reframing techniques.Hypnotherapy can: Replace self-doubts with self-confidenceHypnotherapy can build a perspective of confidence into the coping of new situations. Positive and realistic thought processes can be suggested during hypnosis to strengthen your handling of lifestyle issues.
For further information on treating anxiety in Cardiff with hypnotherapy, contact Hypnotherapy Cardiff
IBS (Irritable bowel syndrome) is a common functional gut disorder. It is diagnosed after doctors have excluded other serious organic diseases. More common amongst women, IBS can develop from young teenage and adulthood.IBS: stomach cramps are common symptoms of IBS
What causes it?
The exact causes of IBS are unknown. Following a food-related illness, the sensitivity of the gut canbe increased. This can affect your body’s ability to digest food and can increase your awareness of pain in the digestive tract. Stress and anxiety create chemical (adrenaline) changes that interfere with digestive functioning increasing some of the symptoms.
What are the common symptoms?
Irritable bowel syndrome is characterised by bloating, constipation, diarrhoea, flatulence and pain/cramps. Some of these symptoms can be made worse after eating food or eating certain foods that the IBS sufferer believes is exacerbating the condition.
IBS: Living with IBS symptoms
Having treated many Irritable bowel syndrome patients using hypnotherapy, IBS sufferers have a lifestyle that is preoccupied with the need to go to the toilet. It can undermine their self-confidence.At home:In the home, Irritable bowel syndrome sufferers can feel more relaxed because you have access to your own toilet and your family are (usually) sympathetic to your condition. The number of flare-ups can be greatly reduced because there is general acceptance in the home. However, you can still be preoccupied with the urgent need to go to the toilet during “peak times” especially if the house has guests.Having gone to the toilet, you constantly feel that your bowels are not completely empty and that you have to go to the toilet again. You can also pass mucus when emptying your bowels.In your desperation, you can mistakenly blame the food as a cause of your IBS symptoms particularly when under stress. The IBS diet can then be severely restricted, depriving you of essential nutrients. This may cause other health issues when dealt with subjectively.Leaving the house:Stress and anxiety can make the IBS symptoms worse particularly when leaving the house. The proximity of the toilet is a constant worry, “toilet watching” for reassurance. Certain modes of transport e.g. public transport are usually avoided if possible. Suitable toilets are landmarked on a known journey, in case the toilet is needed. Unknown journeys or journeys where stopping the vehicle when required can be problematic e.g. motorways. There can be a feeling of claustrophobia.Having arrived at a destination, social anxiety can add to the agony. “What will they think?” is a question that you would rather not consider. If visiting somebody’s house there is the embarrassment of “messing up” their toilet. The time that you might be absent and smell of the faeces (with nervous diarrhoea) further adds to IBS sufferer’s predicament. An air freshener is an essential item when flying.Some Irritable bowel syndrome sufferers prefer to meet in a public place to disguise these issues. There is some relief from being able to hide in larger public toilets. It’s no wonder that IBS sufferers can feel housebound (agoraphobic) in an attempt to control your feeling of embarrassment associated with your condition.Formal situations:The constant preoccupation with one’s bowel movements can make certain formal situations unbearable to manage. Even a family occasion with a fixed schedule can be a worry e.g. a wedding, not wanting to disturb the procession.Work meetings can keep the IBS sufferer distracted about when the meeting will finish in case the toilet is needed. Claustrophobia can develop in these situations, feeling trapped within your own anxiety. Interviews and exams tend to be stressful events in themselves. Anticipatory anxiety can keep the Irritable bowel syndrome sufferer “toilet bound” leading up to the big events.Claustrophobia is again an issue in venues with formal seating e.g. cinema. An aisle seat is needed in case of the need to leave the cinema. When the cinema is full and a centre seat allocated, it can be difficult to concentrate on the film.IBS: If you're not on the toilet, you're worrying about needing to go!Accidents and near-misses:Some IBS sufferers have had an “accident” whilst away from home and fear repeating the situation. It can be traumatising, effecting how you handle future events to prevent a reoccurrence. Even if you have had a “near-miss”, you can develop a series of coping rituals similar to that encountered by OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) sufferers. You become preoccupied with prevention and “control”. Inevitably, depression can be linked to long-term IBS.Toilet phobia:Some IBS patients have OCD issues with “contamination” when using public toilets. This may have been the initial trigger for the Irritable bowel syndrome. These anxiety conflicts can mean that the sufferer rarely leaves the house. Not surprisingly, when I have treated hypnotherapy patients with these anxieties, I have treated them at their home.
IBS: Approaches to treatment
Most Irritable bowel syndrome patients will have explored a number of treatment options with various health professionals. These can include the use of prescribed medication to counter your type of IBS symptoms. Antispasmodics and antidepressants are used to alleviate cramping or pain, laxatives for constipation or anti-diarrhoeal medication is used for diarrhoea.Dietary changes can involve an objective assessment of your diet to ease related symptoms. This can mean eliminating certain problem foods where there is intolerance. Or it can involve increasing or reducing the amount of fibre in the diet. Eating habits are also reviewed to ensure you are eating at regular intervals.Lifestyle issues can also be explored where a change can influence a benefit. Light cardio-vascular exercise for example is considered helpful for the digestive system.
IBS: Research shows that Hypnotherapy can help to treat IBS symptoms
Hypnotherapy has been used to treat Irritable bowel syndrome within the National Health Service. Professor Peter Whorwell, a consultant gastroenterologist from Manchester has been researching the use of hypnotherapy in the treatment of IBS for over 20 years. In his research using 12 sessions of Skype hypnotherapy, 40% fewer subjects had severe IBS symptoms following their Skype hypnotherapy treatment. Skype hypnotherapy was used instead of face to face hypnotherapy where travelling to the hospital was deemed as traumatic for the IBS sufferer.In other research in the use of hypnosis in the treatment of IBS, MJ Ford and A Dobbin conclude that “Hypnotherapy reduces patient anxiety and improves symptom control in the majority of patients with refractory IBS...Benefits extend well beyond symptom control and include improvements in quality of life and reduction in emotional distress.” (p. 297)In February 2008, the National Institute of Clinical Excellence, who advise the NHS on effective treatments suggested to doctors that "Referral for psychological interventions (cognitive behavioural therapy [CBT], hypnotherapy and/or psychological therapy) should be considered for people with IBS who do not respond to pharmacological treatments after 12 months" (See 1.2.3.1).
IBS: How can hypnotherapy treat IBS?
The causes of Irritable bowel syndrome remain unknown. However, stress and anxiety are considered to exacerbate symptoms of IBS. Following your doctor or consultant’s diagnosis of stress-related IBS symptoms, hypnotherapy can then be used to treat your IBS symptoms.
Reduction of stress
When under stress, adrenaline is released and effects the functioning of the gut. Blood is diverted away from the digestive system to essential “fight or flight” responses. By combining relaxation breathing techniques that you can use for yourself, the stress responses can be reduced, allowing the gut to function in a relaxed state.Some of your lifestyle issues will also be explored to help you manage your stress in a more effective way.
Reduction of anxiety
Living with Irritable bowel syndrome symptoms (see above) can create an anxious lifestyle dominated by “toilet” worry and panic behaviour. Hypnotherapy helps you to be more receptive to suggestions. It can be used to reframe past anxious experiences that are creating your avoidance. Hypnotherapy can also help you to visualise dealing with new situations with confidence.
Reduction of pain, discomfort and bloating
The reduction of pain, discomfort and bloating symptoms can be related to your levels of stress and anxiety. Hypnotherapy can also use specific pain management techniques to lower your awareness of pain and cramping.Bloating and distension can be eased by relaxing muscles of the digestive tract, making it easier to expel excess gas.
IBS: IBS gut-directed hypnotherapy
Gut-directed hypnotherapy or gut focused hypnosis is a treatment that is incorporated into the general hypnotherapy treatment. Gut-directed hypnotherapy focuses specifically on visualisation techniques targeted at the gut’s own nervous system (Enteric nervous system). Suggestions are aimed specifically at this neural pathway which can become disrupted or overactive following acute IBS. The aim is to positively influence communication between the brain to the gut and from the gut back to the brain. In Professor Whorwell’s words, with gut directed hypnotherapy “you are controlling your gut, rather than your gut controlling you.”I have been trained to use gut-directed hypnotherapy techniques.
For further information on treating IBS with hypnotherapy and gut-directed hypnotherapy, contact Hypnotherapy Cardiff
If you are unable to travel to The Therapy Centre in Roath, Cardiff, then enquire about Hypnotherapy home visits in Cardiff and the surrounding districts.There are certain situations that can prevent you from visiting the hypnotherapy practice:Physical mobility issues – Any physiological conditions that make travelling a problem for you e.g. arthritis, M.E. or pain issues.Treatment conditions – Any treatment conditions that cause anxiety or stress when you leave yourHypnotherapy home visits: If you can't travel to me, I may be able to travel to you home e.g. certain phobias or panic attacks.Preference – Maybe you would prefer to be treated at home for a number of different reasons.My therapy room at The Therapy Centre is on the 1st floor and so your ability to climb stairs is required. (If you wish to visit the practice and find stairs difficult, a ground floor treatment can be arranged in advance).
Hypnotherapy home visits: Costs
There are additional charges for hypnotherapy home visits. These are estimated according to the journey times:
£10 minimum journey fee is for a journey up to 10 minutes away.
£40 can be charged for a journey up to 45 minutes away for the surrounding districts.
An estimate is usually made prior to the first consultation and the travelling fee is then set for follow-up consultations.Please note that whilst travelling includes petrol costs, the majority of the travelling fee takes into account the total travelling time i.e. for the outward and return journey back to the clinic. Thus a 20 minute outward journey requires an extra hour being allocated in my diary to allow for potential traffic delays.
Hypnotherapy home visits: Payment
Payment is by cash/cheque. PayPal payment can also be made via my website in advance.Since hypnotherapy home visits require extra time being allocated in my diary, I require a deposit in advance of the next consultation.
Hypnotherapy home visits: Arrangements for the home treatment
Ideally a quiet, private area in your home would be suitable, but is not essential. As with the Therapy Centre, there are traffic noises and other noises within the building. Your home will have its own house sounds e.g. home telephone. If these sounds are anticipated, they don’t normally cause too much of a distraction to the consultation.Your comfort: At the hypnotherapy practice, I use a reclining chair. This isn’t always necessary. You being able to sit in a comfortable chair with your head supported would be preferable. This is obviously dependent on the furniture that you have at home. Some patients like to lie down on their settee.My comfort: I prefer to use an upright chair e.g. kitchen or dining room chair, positioned fairly close to you and facing you to conduct the consultation.
For further information on hypnotherapy home visits, contact Hypnotherapy Cardiff
Panic attacks are episodes of intense, almost paralysing fear where, as a result of the “fight or flight” response, the body is flooded with the stress hormone adrenaline. Panic attacks can be triggered suddenly and unconsciously. Before the sufferer has been able to identify the symptoms as a panic attack, the sufferer can feel as if they are having a heart attack or even think that they are dying.
During the early development of panic attacks, the sufferer can perceive their external situation to be quite “normal” making the panic attacks appear unpredictable and unavoidable. Having had one panic attack, the sufferer then becomes sensitised to the symptoms. Without have any coping strategies, the mildest trigger can set off a panic attack.
Panic attacks: how long can they last?
They can last anything from a few seconds to several minutes, sometimes developing in waves if the sufferer believes they are unable to alter the course of the panic attack e.g. remove themselves from a “closed” situation or relieve some of the symptoms when turbulence is causing panic when flying.
Sometimes the panic relates to internal or medical fears e.g. fear of having a heart attack. In this situation, panic attack sufferer is unable to distinguish between the symptoms as either anxiety or an actual heart attack. This may be have been triggered by someone they know who has suffered a panic attack. A similar situation can be created by an asthma sufferer whose asthma symptoms are anxiety-induced.
Panic attacks: What causes them?
Physical or medical causes:
Some panic attacks can have physical or medical causes. A doctor should always be consulted to dismiss the following conditions: certain heart conditions, overactive thyroid, low blood sugar, medication withdrawal and stimulant overuse.
Panic attacks: Lifestyle changes can be a major reason to hit the panic button
Major lifestyle changes:
Stress caused by some of the big lifestyle changes include getting married, changing jobs, moving house, divorce, having a baby and suffering a bereavement. Due to the amount of change in these events, these lifestyle changes place an increased demand on your physical and emotional coping abilities. These symptoms are made worse when several of these events occur in close succession.
A family trait:
Panic attacks can run in families, although the specific nature of the link is unknown. This could be a genetic or a learned response. Young children are vulnerable to learning coping behaviour displayed by their parents. The parents may suffer from extreme anxiety (catastrophic thinking) or have specific phobias. The child can learn this way of dealing with anxiety.
Phobias and anxious/stressful situations:
Panic attacks are closely associated with phobias. The common coping response with a phobia is avoidance to protect you from the feeling of panic. Not all situations can be avoided however. A panic attack can be generated as a shock response when the phobic person is brought into contact with the cause of the phobia without warning. An example is when someone who has an arachnophobia panics when they see a spider in a friend’s bathroom.
Anxious and stressful situations can create also panic attacks. When someone is aware of the situation that can create a panic attack, avoidance can again be used as a common coping strategy. There are situations where the sufferer feels obliged to confront their panic e.g. someone who fears public speaking has to give a presentation at work. In the absence of any helpful resources, a panic attack can be experienced whilst giving the presentation.
The panic attack may also happen through anticipation. This is when the presentation is planned say next week and the sufferer accumulates an increasing amount of anxiety as the presentation nears. Your anxiety then “takes” you to your panic attack, near to or during the presentation.
Left unmanaged, these situations can accumulate more fear of panic attacks (fear of fear). An example is when the spider phobic feels increasingly embarrassed about having a panic attack around people. A social phobia develops until they enter a state of helplessness. The sufferer then believes that by staying at home, they can prevent a panic attack. The situation accumulates into agoraphobia.
Panic attacks: What are the common symptoms?
The symptoms of a panic attack are similar to general anxiety but are usually higher up the intensity scale. They can include one or more of the following:
Intense sweating (armpits, hands, forehead or complete cold sweat)
Shaking, trembling or feeling petrified
Chest pain or tightness, heart pounding, beating faster, palpitations
Mind going 'blank', dreamlike sensations or perceptual distortions
Ringing ears
Muscle tension
Weakness, fatigue, feeling of powerlessness
Tummy upset or nervous diarrhoea
Heightened alertness to danger, constantly feeling on edge
Without knowledge of these panic attack symptoms, the sufferer can become highly anxious about them, inducing further panic attacks.
Panic attacks: Can they happen spontaneously?
During the early stages of panic attacks, the sufferer may not understand them or be able to attribute any situational cause and so is left “waiting” for the next one to happen. Some panic attacks can appear to happen spontaneously but have an undiagnosed medical cause. When diagnosed and appropriately treated, the panic attacks subside. Panic attacks can happen in the middle of the night causing the sufferer to wake from their sleep. There may not be a recognised cause at the moment of happening, but nocturnal awakening can be stress-related.
Panic attacks: When hyperventilating, breathing techniques can be a better alternative to using a paper bag
Panic attacks: what is panic disorder?
Whereas panic attacks can occur during bouts of stress, panic disorder is a condition where the person suffers recurrent panic attacks. They live in fear of their panic attacks which exacerbates their condition (fear of fear). Panic disorder is a type of anxiety disorder which is characterised by persistent worry.
Panic attacks: How can hypnotherapy treat them?
Hypnotherapy can teach relaxation techniques
Breathing techniques can be taught to alleviate some of the anxiety symptoms. When used correctly, you can slow down the pace of your breathing thereby reducing the potential to hyperventilate. During a hypnotherapy induction, you are in a deeply relaxed state that helps you to be more receptive to suggestions used. The learning ability is enhanced in hypnosis, which means you take away a more profound experience of the relaxation achieved with the breathing techniques used.
Hypnotherapy can release negative beliefs (triggers) that cause the panic attacks
With panic attacks, the sufferer may not be aware that there is a deep internal conflict between unconsciously (and consciously) acquired beliefs. You can be torn between two or more opposing belief patterns, or the opposing consequences of taking a certain course of action e.g. trying to please too many people at once. When they conflict, it creates the surge of adrenalin and the sudden awareness of the panic symptoms (the “fight or flight”). You may inadvertently try harder to resolve or control the situation, sometimes exacerbating the panic attack. Hypnotherapy can identify which negative beliefs are in conflict and causing the adrenaline responses.
An example of a conflicting situation is when an employee is desperate for promotion to help pay off a loan. They have an opportunity for promotion but the method includes an interview and a presentation. The employee suffers with presentation anxiety and finds it hard to speak when anxious. They suffer anticipatory anxiety leading up the day of the presentation and then realise they have made a gross error in their preparation during the interview. This realisation sets off a panic attack. There are conflicts between the need for promotion and the need to perform well during a presentation.
Everybody is likely to react differently in that situation. The individual who does not have an internal “vent” or way or coping is likely to find their adrenaline pushing some of the above symptoms to the upper limits. Hypnotherapy can be used to control the build up of these symptoms.
Hypnotherapy can help identify the nature of unconscious panic responses
Deep-rooted unconscious issues can sensitise you to a particular situation as a child. They can remain dormant and then resurface when the situation is encountered again as an adult. For example childhood bullying which re-surfaces as panic attacks when the adult is confronting an aggressive boss at work. Hypnotherapy can help re-frame the emotion from your childhood helping you to cope as an adult.
Hypnotherapy can help de-sensitise the sufferer from panic-causing situations
As the sufferer has more control over their panic attacks, they can begin to challenge the situations that they have avoided. Progressively dealing with that situation can alter the panic responses and break the anxiety-response habit. Hypnotherapy helps you to rehearse your coping in each stage of your progress as if the event as actually happened.
Panic attacks summary
Panic attacks are extremely distressing episodes of intense anxiety. In the absence of any conflicting medical conditions however, panic attacks don’t cause death. Once you can identify them for what they are, hypnotherapy can help you cope with them and change the meaning of them. As you have more control over your panic attacks and change your beliefs towards them, they usually subside.
For further information on treating panic attacks in Cardiff with hypnotherapy, contact Hypnotherapy Cardiff
Hypno Band Hypnotherapy – Just another visualisation technique!
Are you thinking of trying a Hypno band hypnotherapy course to lose weight? Before you decide to book a course, read on...How many times have you seen something that is already well-established, being re-moulded with an attempt to attract a new market? At the heart of hypnotherapy is the use of visualisation techniques to create change. As a practising registered hypnotherapist, I have been a witness to several rehashed hypnotherapy treatments claiming to be the new miracle-cure on the block. Hypno band hypnotherapy is attempting to do the same thing. It is based on the principles of Gastric band surgery; an operation that restricts the amount of food you can eat by reducing the size of your stomach. Instead of the actual surgery, you can visualize the process for a fraction of the cost. You can then live your life as if your stomach has been shrunk, imagining that you have had a gastric band fitted. This is what is being promoted anyway!How does Hypno band hypnotherapy compare to a course of weight loss hypnotherapy that has been personalised by an experienced hypnotherapist? In my view, you will benefit much more because it takes into account your individual needs. All that Hypno band hypnotherapy does is offer you a costly programme of regurgitated methods, promoted under a new title.What are the problems of Hypno band hypnotherapy?
Hypno band hypnotherapy: Is there any research?
When you see something in a newspaper or hear that a friend has benefitted from something, can this be used as factual research? No, it’s nothing more than a dramatised case study. It’s only when Hypno band hypnotherapy research is published in reputable journals e.g. European Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, can any of its “long-lasting” claims be taken seriously. Until then, questions about placebo controls and randomised samples asked to any reported Hypno band hypnotherapy research are likely to be missing. There is no evidence that Hypno band hypnotherapy is any more successful than individualised weight loss hypnotherapy. So unless any recent research has surfaced, any percentage claims of success should be viewed with scepticism.
Hypno band hypnotherapy: If the Hypno band hypnotherapy treatment is so effective, why haven’t they abandoned the gastric band surgery?
If Hypno band hypnotherapy was so successful, would there be any need for the surgery?When there is a safe, effective and cheaper alternative available to something, most people will chose that option. Gastric band surgery costs at least £5000. Since the arrival of Hypno band hypnotherapy, I’m not aware of any reduction in gastric band operations. If Hypno band hypnotherapy was so effective, the NHS would reduce their surgery bill and opt for something cheaper: Hypno band hypnotherapy.Consider also that patients who qualify for gastric band surgery must have attempted and failed with other weight loss treatments. The surgery would be in decline if Hypno band hypnotherapy was proving to be an effective treatment. Is there a decline in these operations? I’m not aware of any decline.
Hypno band hypnotherapy: Does one success story mean that everyone can rely on it?
It’s so easy for your beliefs to be swayed to buy something when you hear a success story. How often have you bought something when you are desperate, and a friend tells you that it’s a success, only to find out that it hasn’t quite worked for you in the same way? When Hypno band hypnotherapy appears in the press, it’s easy to over-generalise that everyone can benefit by this. If only Hypno band hypnotherapy was like this. One reported incident of success can hide some essential reasons why these changes have or haven’t happened. Maybe these issues weren’t reported or they just didn’t materialise in the therapy process.Inflated expectations can be damaging. In my hypnotherapy practice, “word-of-mouth” referrals are fantastic for business. Having realistic expectations and recognising that every patient is different is also important. When a patient has made a dramatic therapeutic change and they emphasise this to their friends, the friends will enter hypnotherapy with the same inflated expectations. They demand the same outcome as their referrer and usually leave disappointed because they haven’t matched their success.
Hypno band hypnotherapy: Regardless of visualisation, are you just being told to eat fewer calories?
When you see a newspaper headline saying that hypnosis caused a patient to lose 8 stone in weight, you would think that is was the Hypno band hypnotherapy suggestions that did this. Is it like a stage hypnosis show where participants are hypnotised and are told to imagine that they are wearing a Hypno band and from that consultation, they live their lives like a gastric band surgery patient? In a newspaper article, it reported that the patient had to follow the same intense diet as that adopted by a gastric band surgery patient. It consisted of an all-liquid diet followed by pureed foods and then solids. What was the calorific content of the liquid diet? The article failed to mention this. It’s common understanding that if you eat fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight. When you are told that you must follow this diet for the Hypno band hypnotherapy to work, you will think that it must be because of the Hypno band hypnotherapy doing the job. It may just be because you have paid for two consultations and now feel committed to following a prescribed diet.
Hypno band hypnotherapy: The article doesn’t emphasise that the Hypno band hypnotherapy was a small part of the treatment
In the newspaper article, the Hypno band hypnotherapy patient had a course of ten hypnotherapy consultations. The Hypno band hypnotherapy programme consisted of just three consultations. This suggests that there were a number of other issues that were being treated using other techniques, but this wasn’t mentioned in the article. It could be considered that Hypno band hypnotherapy was not the main focus of the treatment.Having lost eight stone during the course of hypnotherapy treatment was a fantastic achievement. Both patient and therapist deserve praise for their success. The patient will have paid between £700 and £900 pounds for the hypnotherapy course. This is still cheaper than the gastric band surgery, but was it because of the three Hypno band hypnotherapy sessions or the other personalised hypnotherapy sessions? It’s difficult to really know.
Hypno band hypnotherapy: Do you need to visualise that you have had a Hypno band fitted?
Do you need to visualise that you have had a Hypno band fitted?There are numerous hypnotherapy weight loss scripts. Try Google searching them and you will findsome are written for novice hypnotherapists and some for patient’s self-hypnosis purposes. Visualising that “your stomach feels smaller and you feel satisfied and fuller on less food” is a common weight loss suggestion. It is a basic building block that helps to focus your mind towards your weight loss goal. Added to this could be suggestions about your eating style – “slowly andconsciously” or that your “stomach has shrunk in size”. If you can visualise this then it will have the same benefit as a Hypno band hypnotherapy treatment. Putting yourself through an imagined surgeryjust isn’t necessary to create this change.
Hypno band hypnotherapy: A good reason to doubt its effectiveness
When you have been trying to lose weight and desperation kicks-in, it’s easy to be swayed by catchy marketing phrases. It’s important to enter any therapy with a realistic expectation that requires some lifestyle changes on your part. This is the case with gastric band surgery; you must still be prepared to change your eating habits or there could be associated problems.Hypno band hypnotherapy is part of a current trend in using a medical procedure and making something “new” for the receptive public. Hypno band hypnotherapy is not being shown to be any more effective than personalised hypnotherapy courses. When it’s advertised that a condition can be treated in a specified number of consultations, it doesn’t mean that it can be treated successfully. There is not a “one treatment fits all” out there, otherwise the NHS would have adopted this method by now. When you have a personalised course of weight loss hypnotherapy it is more likely to take into account your historical relationship with food, your general emotions, current stress and habits that link with your eating patterns. It has the best opportunity to direct you to your personalised weight loss success. Abandon Hypno band hypnotherapy and lose weight with a personalised hypnotherapy course.
For further information on choosing personalised weight loss programmes over Hypno band hypnotherapy in Cardiff, contact Hypnotherapy Cardiff
In my first article on ‘how to stop smoking tips 1’, I discussed three of the essential background stop smoking issues that focus your mind on the big day. Firstly, recognise that the nicotine cycle is just cravings fooling your mind. Over time, as the addiction takes over, you will make up any justification to keep the addiction going. Secondly, by appreciating how anxiety and stress are connected with smoking, you can find new ways to cope with your anxious and stressful issues. Without this, you will feel like an “ex-smoker” who is still vulnerable to smoking again. Thirdly, recognise how breathing (inhaling) is part of your smoking habit. Relaxed breathing is a way of controlling anxiety and stress. When you see these connections for what they are, life without a cigarette becomes a realistic achievement.In my hypnotherapy consultations, I aim to identify other important issues that individualise your smoking habit and match them with an appropriate stop smoking hypnotherapy treatment. Converting to being a non-smoker requires an understanding of your personal smoking triggers and then rehearsing alternative ways to cope without a cigarette. This way you can be ready for your stop smoking transformation.If you want professional help to stop smoking: Stop Smoking Cardiff
Stop Smoking Tips #1:
If you’ve previously stopped smoking, identify what caused you to re-start smoking
Stop smoking tips: Identify why you have previously re-started smokingIdentifying the reason for your smoking lapses can help you to establish your vulnerability when you want to stop smoking again. Stopping smoking is one achievement; staying stopped is the ultimate goal. When you know why you have re-started smoking, you can prepare different coping strategies that take you through past failings. This is particularly significant if you have stopped smoking for more than 3 days. After 3 days, research has shown that the majority of the nicotine has left your body. After 7 days, cotinine (the main nicotine metabolite) is absent from the blood. Physiologically, you have done the necessary work; you are an “ex-smoker.” What draws you back into smoking cigarettes after this period of stopping is what you psychologically and emotionally associate with your smoking habit. If you lapsed in a social situation, then it can explain that you are socially anxious, you give-in to peer-pressure or seek acceptance through social rewards. Armed with this knowledge, you can then prepare for a different way of coping in social situations.Ironically, the first lapse is usually an issue of over-confidence. You have stopped for a few weeks and haven’t fully understood the nature of your psychological smoking habit. You believe that you can stop-and-start whenever you feel like it. You then find yourself in a situation where you feel that something is missing. You think that “just one” cigarette won’t matter. You may not even enjoy restarting, but the one cigarette is enough to draw you back into your addiction as a smoker. For the rest of the day and the following days, you succumb to the power of the nicotine cravings. You have now learned how addictive nicotine can be and that you are not in as much control as you once thought.Stress can be a reason for re-starting smoking. As discussed in the “how to stop smoking tips 1”, if you underestimated the impact of stress, it may have drawn you back into smoking when going through a crisis. Psychologically, at higher a level of stress, your mind goes back to what it knows. If you have previously convinced yourself that smoking cigarettes helps you to cope with stress, the smoking trigger will overcome you. So you start smoking to get you through the stress, but after the stress has eased, the nicotine addiction will have you hooked again.Hypnotherapy can help you identify the nature of your stress and offer you alternative ways of coping. When you can see yourself coping with stress as a non-smoker, your confidence will grow. You can change from the mind-set of the “ex-smoker” to the “non-smoker.”Another reason for re-starting smoking is because when you have stopped, you put on weight. There is evidence that nicotine can act as an appetite suppressant but taking this issue into account, there are ways to ensure that the weight gain is temporary. Where smoking has been used to comfort your stress, food will tend to be the next accessible crutch. “Skinny smokers” who have become non-smokers, have included exercise and healthier eating in their transformation. When this issue is identified in a course of stop smoking hypnotherapy, weight loss suggestions are used to ensure a smoother transition through these health changes.Other reasons for re-starting smoking are varied and personal. Some stop smoking hypnotherapy patients are unsure why they have restarted smoking. When the reason is unconscious, hypnotherapy can be a useful tool to uncover and treat past negative learning. When your mind can connect with “why” you have done something, you can develop the necessary tools needed to fix the situation.If you have smoked continuously for years, then this issue of “re-starting” won’t directly apply to you. But your smoking habit will have integrated a number of other issues. By identifying situations when you have smoked more cigarettes, you can establish when you will be hit by the physiological and psychological cravings (see stop smoking tips #2, below).
Stop Smoking Tips #2:
If you’ve never tried to stop smoking, identify when you smoke more cigarettes and what influenced you to start in the first place
If you’ve never stopped smoking for more than 3 days then you are dependent on identifying your smoking triggers “inside” the nicotine addiction. Those with a heavier addiction may not be aware of those differences because there’s very little time when you are not smoking. Those with moderate addictions are likely to recognise these subtleties. Maybe it’s stress, anxiety or boredom. Once you have identified the link with your increased dependency on cigarettes, you can find alternative ways of coping once you have stopped.The reason that you first started smoking may have been several years ago, but don’t dismiss it as being irrelevant. Teenage traits can still direct adult behaviour. Many of you may have succumbed to peer-pressure back then. Do you find that you still smoke more cigarettes socially? If so then, social reinforcement is still part of your adult life.When you are stuck in a negative habit and are struggling to change it, hypnotherapy can be an effective technique to uncover the cause of the habit. Hypnotherapy can then be used to release the emotion behind the habit. For example, some of you may have started smoking to defy controlling parents. As an adult, the defiance is no longer required but is still blocking your progress. Taking a “U-turn” with your belief system can be difficult on your own. Many adult patients recognise that the reason for continuing smoking is pointless. But transforming defiance into something positive would mean changing a deeper part of your belief system. Regression hypnotherapy is used in this situation to help change emotional blocks.
Stop Smoking Tips #3:
Consider if you “miss” smoking in situations where you can’t smoke
This issue is something that smokers have had to deal with more since the ban on smoking in public places. When the ban was first announced, there was a moderate rebellion followed by general compliance. It may have hardened the defiant smokers attitudes to smoke “by right” when they ‘can’ smoke. For others, it was a breath of fresh air; (pun intended!) you just went outside!What is so helpful for the aspiring non-smoker is to consider if they “miss” smoking when they are not allowed to smoke. Many of my stop smoking hypnotherapy patients say that they just accept the situation and focus on other things. They don’t feel deprived. They flick the “internal smoking switch” off when entering their workplace, but switch “it” on again the moment they have left work. Can you see this positive “mind-mechanism” as a decision of choice? If you can, then it’s a choice that is transferable into other situations where you “can” smoke but chose not to smoke.
How to stop smoking tips: summary
Stop smoking tips to help you kick your smoking habitIn this article, these 3 stop smoking tips consider the fluctuations in your smoking behaviour. It considers the beliefs and emotions when you first started smoking, re-started smoking after temporary stops and increases and decreases in the number of cigarettes smoked in certain situations.When you have an understanding of these issues, you can prepare your stop smoking programme to match these changes in your smoking habit.Hypnotherapy helps to create a state of deep relaxation. In this state, your mind is more receptive to the suggestions used by the hypnotherapist to stop smoking. In my stop smoking hypnotherapy courses, the techniques are personalised to treat your stop smoking blocks quickly to help convert you from a smoker to a non-smoker.For professional help to stop smoking: Stop Smoking Cardiff
For further information on stop smoking tips, and stop smoking Cardiff hypnotherapy courses contact Hypnotherapy Cardiff
Overeating: Do you ever wonder why you find it had to stick to a diet? When overeating causes you to stray from your diet, then weight gain is unlikely to be just about the food types. Do you find yourself raiding the fridge or the snack cupboard after a bad day at work? If you do, then it can mean that something in your mind is much bigger than the motive you had when you first started your diet. Ignore this ‘something in your mind’ and it will gradually erode the best dietary intentions and cause you to put on weight.
This article focuses on overeating and considers how hypnotherapy can be used as an effective method to treat it.
What is overeating?
Overeating and comfort eating are terms used to describe an increase in your consumption of food. This increase is usually (but, not always) motivated by negative changes in your emotions and feelings. Emotional eating describes either an increase or a decrease in the consumption of food, affected by a change in emotion or feeling. In many ways, these terms overlap but in essence, they describe how a normal eating routine can be altered by a change in emotion or situation. It’s as if the person is temporarily possessed by a mind-state that replaces the original eating intention. After the excessive snack or meal, the person is left questioning “why did I do that?”
Why do you start overeating?
Overeating can be emotionally-linkedThe reason can be a simple one: you are eating too quickly and so you are not able to recognise afeeling of fullness. Slowing down your pace, chewing your food more and drinking water with your meal can help. When you are made aware of this issue during a hypnotherapy consultation, you are likely to make a change to your eating style.Emotional changes can be more difficult to change. Emotions and feelings are the driving force in so many of your actions or behaviour. When faced with a decision to solve a problem, you will have a surge of emotion that could direct you to act in one way or the other. You are heavily oriented to pursue what is beneficial and keep away from what is harmful.But these choices are complicated by who will benefit and when will I (or they) benefit. There could be a number of other conflicting questions (or beliefs and values) that intrude on a feeling of choice. Sometimes in despair, you seek an immediate fix or way out from that problem just to feel better.Food is something within easy reach and has a history of gratification pinned to your memories throughout childhood. You have learned that food can momentarily distance you from the problems in your world and replace it with a sweet sugariness (or a creamy chocolaty treat). It’s no wonder that overeating is so common.
Why does overeating continue?
A surge of emotion can create tension, disguising the usual internal awareness of fullness. You have already learned that food gives you momentary escape and thus a habit has been formed. So you keep overeating with the hope that it will ease the feeling of tension when a new problem surfaces. But some situations appear to have no way out. The overeating is ineffective at shifting the abdominal tension but you repeat the habit nevertheless, believing that it will still help you. You have become locked into a cycle of food being used to solve emotional problems by association. Now, your overeating is causing you to put on weight.
Who does overeating affect?
Eating excessively can affect anyone; there is an element of over-indulgence in all of us. It can be something that starts unnoticed until you jump on the scales, change a clothing size or hear a polite mention from someone you know (and then despise!) This triggers an awareness of the issue and you will attempt to be more careful. If it’s controlled then it usually fades into the background. When these situations accumulate and the attempts to change it fail, then it is classified as a problem. Hypnotherapy can be a useful solution at this stage.
Would a diet help you to deal with overeating?
Diets are less effective with emotional overeatingDiets work best when someone is motivated to eatdifferent foods within a new routine. They also work best when there is a strong desire to integrate theroutine into your lifestyle. All emotions are pointing in the direction of the new diet. With overeating in the background however, the diet will start and then will soon buckle under emotional strain. One or more emotions will expose your weaknesses until the diet collapses. Unless these emotional issues are dealt with, you will find that diets only work for a short period.Use hypnotherapy to change the emotional associations you have with food and any lifestyle eating habits. A diet will then seem like a more natural change.
Can overeating be the same as binge eating?
Overeating involves eating in excess, but doesn’t fall into the same severity as binge eating. Binge eating can be classified as an eating disorder. It involves frequent episodes of prolonged uncontrollable eating patterns that go way beyond any feelings of fullness. As a disorder, binge eating can be placed in the same category as anorexia and bulimia; there are a number of complex issues affecting these conditions. Even with hypnotherapy, binge eating is rarely dealt with in a short period of time.
What situations and emotions cause overeating?
Any negative (and some positive) emotions can cause overeating. Generally, overeating can be used to comfort an emotion or divert the arrival of a worse emotion or situation.Positive emotions can include social situations or where food is used as a reward.Here are some examples of emotional situations where overeating is common:Anger: A row with your partner about something you both strongly disagree about can trigger a pattern of overeating.Anxiety: Worrying about and preparing for an exam can be a situation where overeating is used to divert your anxiety.Apathy: A persistent situation like a court battle can leave you feeling numb. Food might be used to lift the spirits during spells of frustration.Boredom: Overeating is a common response to a life of routine and drudgery. Even when work has become this way, the emotion carries through into your social life where overeating has become the activity of interest.Blame: A culture where the outcome of a situation must have a cause can be turned inwardly when you can only point the finger of fault at yourself. A mistake that has caused a row in a relationship may influence overeating to comfort this blame.Denial: Ironically, overeating can be a behavioural response when someone is putting on weight, but they’re not quite ready to admit that there is a weight problem.Depression: A change in your job description that now has pointless objectives can create a state of meaninglessness where overeating is a temporary escape.Despair: Overeating can comfort a situation that appears to have no way out. The arrival of a long-term medical condition is an example.Disappointment: Food can be used to comfort you when something you expect to happen just didn’t go your way e.g. not getting the grade you wanted in an exam.Guilt: Overeating can be used to block feelings of guilt in a relationship after you have done something wrong and have been denied the opportunity to apologise or put the situation right.Hopelessness: An accumulation of stressful events may provoke an overeating response as way of coping with the feelings of resignation.Loneliness: Feeling isolated because your peer group have not invited you to a social arrangement can trigger an overeating reaction.Loss of self-confidence: Doubting your abilities may be reinforced when a project at work has not achieved the objective. Overeating is used to negatively reinforce this self-doubt dialogue saying “I can’t do this!”Procrastination: Food can be a tactical way of delaying dealing with stressful issues.Resentment: Being constantly excluded from your work colleagues for no apparent reason could provoke an overeating response to counter feelings of loneliness.Responsibility: A recent job promotion and taking care of a large family can leave you feeling overburdened with responsibility. Overeating can become a ritual that “gives you some space” when things are going wrong and you making risky decisions that are affecting people’s lives.Sadness: When a relationship has suddenly ended, the emptiness in your life can spark a desire to fill that space with food. Overeating can be something that is used to fill the emotional gap.Self-hatred: Maliciously lashing out at a loved one to get their attention, but finding that they suffer fatal consequences as a result can cause you to hate yourself. Overeating can be used to conceal your powerlessness to remedy the situation.Self-pity: When something has gone wrong, overeating can be a way of medicating yourself when others have seen through your attempts to seek attention.Shame: When a sensitive subject-matter has been exposed and ridiculed by your peer group, overeating can seem like an escape from your feelings of shame.Shock: The news of an unexpected bereavement can trigger overeating patterns to hide your feelings of grief.Stress: Overeating can be used as a way of coping with the pressure of having intense work deadlines.Tension: Physical tension can be generated from any negative emotion or situation. Parts of your body feel tight and you can feel generally irritable. You may not be able to identify the situation but overeating can somehow shift the uneasiness in your abdomen.Worthlessness: Overeating can be a reaction to numerous criticisms that cause you to question your own abilities. So when you do something wrong again, you reach for food to divert your feelings.
How can hypnotherapy help with overeating?
Each hypnotherapy treatment is individualised to your issues. Hypnotherapy is used to treat overeating in the following ways:
Hypnotherapy can help identify the emotions or situations that are causing the overeating.
Hypnotherapy can be used to access unconscious experiences that are provoking your overeating responses.
Hypnotherapy can help dissociate the overeating behaviour from the emotion or situation.
Hypnotherapy can help create new beliefs and attitudes towards your eating habits.
Hypnotherapy can help you to recognise your internal feelings of fullness.
Hypnotherapy can teach youbreathing techniquesthat reduce your stress levels and so be less dependent on food as your comfort.
For further information on how to control overeating, comfort eating and emotional eating in Cardiff contact Hypnotherapy Cardiff
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