Are you saying this pain is all in my mind?

When I first trained to be a clinical hypnotherapist I was determined I wasn’t going to go anywhere near pain issues. Nothing shouts snake-oil charlatan to me more than non-medical professionals claiming to ‘cure’ or ‘heal’ physical issues. I needed to pass the whole course so I attended those units with a plan. Keep quiet, learn the content, never use it.

So it amuses me that dealing with chronic pain issues is some of my favourite work. It doesn’t work for everyone, I work on the basis that 80% of people can reduce or address their pain through mind management work. That’s why my first pain session is a short one; we need to determine if you’re in the 80% before committing to a full session.

Pain is often there to tell us to get professional help. This acute pain shouldn’t be ignored, and no hypnotherapist should remove it. But the chronic pain that the doctors can no longer help with - fibromyalgia, arthritis, plantar fasciitis among others may very well be managed with hypnosis.

One of the biggest barriers to this work is the inner dialogue that a client has. The suggestion that mind management can be used to address physical pain often leads them to ask “do you think this is all in my head then?” or worse, “are you saying I’m making this up?” My answer is simple. No-one would suggest that child birth is ‘all in the head’ or ‘made up’. But hypnobirthing has been used for years to manage the pain experienced in delivery. With chronic pain, brain scans have shown that hypnotic suggestions are able to change activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (which handles the emotional unpleasantness of pain) and the somatosensory cortices (which process pain intensity). Hypnosis can also interrupt how the mind interprets pain signals.

So no, it’s not all in your head. But if the doctors have said you’ll just have to learn to live with a chronic pain, it may be time to find out if you’re in the 80% who can manage pain a different way.

Change can come so fast, if we let it

I received a review on my Google listing today from a parent who had brought her teenage daughter to see me earlier in the year. A fantastic girl, but with low confidence after having ‘failed all her mocks’ (her words, not mine.) She was brilliantly capable but had a block on getting her work down on paper. After one session both her confidence and the output were much improved, and so the update today was a joy to see. She had aced her GCSEs, and achieved what she needed for her next step. Just one session was all it took to put behind her what was holding her back, and to look to the future with confidence.

There is an irony in me receiving this review today, as it’s the day that I have marked as my final day as a school teacher after a 30 year career that I have loved. It feels like the crossover review, bringing together my worlds of schools, learning and hypnotherapy. This is how it all began for me; in 2015 as I finished my masters degree at Cambridge in this field, I was left wondering whether CAMHS (the adolescent mental health service in the UK) was using the best protocols for school based issues. It struck me then that long waiting lists for lengthy talking therapies were not necessary for a great number of issues, and that brief therapies (like hypnotherapy, mind management, EMIT and EMDR) were better suited. The waiting lists have only got longer in the past decade, and the need for brief therapies seems greater than ever.

I have been absolutely blessed that I have been able to build my hypnotherapy expertise and practice over the past decade while still teaching. Staying connected to schools and learning, while being secure in a job I love and will miss, has felt like a treat. More recently I have stepped into the tutor role at the ICCHP, the hypnotherapy college where I trained. So I am still teaching, but my focus is now on hypnotherapy, and developing the next generation of practitioners.

So, now it’s my turn to look to the future with absolute confidence. Reviews like today’s only serve to confirm that change can come so fast, if we let it.

Free hypnotherapy download for health anxiety

Increasingly I’m taking enquiries from people asking if I can help with their fears around infectious diseases, and concern for the health of themselves and family. Some are asking if I can work over Skype- the answer to both questions is yes.
But fear seems to be spreading faster than the virus, and I suspect that social media isn’t helping. Panic is not just confined to buying, and people are starting to really struggle with their emotional health. It shouldn’t only be those that can afford to book a session with me that get some help.
I have recorded a free* download, a self hypnosis recording that can be listened to in the comfort of your home.
It of course makes no claims to keep you safe from the virus itself, but it will help you to stay calm and in control while the storyline unfolds. Don’t use it in place of medical advice, or hand washing, but do enjoy the calming relief it brings to your mind. Feel free to share with others that might benefit from it too, I’m quite happy for love and kindness to go viral.

*when I say ‘free’ I mean it. You will be asked for your email address and contact details, but if you tick the ‘no thanks’ box you’ll not hear from me again

Still Stammer-free

When I chose this image for my website I really deliberated. I was trying to convey stammer, stutter, and other speech issues, but couldn’t decide if the child looked angry or not. Frustrated, maybe? Or perhaps singing at the top of his voice. 

I have worked with a few people on finding their voice, most recently a 10 year old boy with a pronounced stammer, and confidence issues. He came for a free 15 minute chat (it went on longer but not because of the stammer, we just got nattering) and then booked in for a session in half term. 

He left that session speaking fluently to me in English and to his Mum in his first language. Mum called this morning, and told me that two weeks on he still hadn’t stammered, and was full of confidence. 

What an absolute dream, to be able to do a job where you’re a part of the change that people want to see in their life. Of course he did the hard work, the biggest step being to find the confidence to come and see me.