Therapies

By using a combination of psychotherapeutic techniques, with or without hypnosis I can help you overcome fears, phobias, traumas and related anxieties. However research suggests using hypnosis with other forms of psychotherapies reduces the amount of sessions required for recovery. A brief description of these psychotherapeutic

techniques are as follows:-

Counselling (Talking therapies)

I offer counselling and psychotherapy from an integrative approach tailored to your needs. I provide a safe, confidential place to overcome difficult emotions. My approach is one of compassionate understanding where we can work together to identify past unhelpful beliefs and unconscious biases which may interfere with the chanllenges of everyday life. I specialise in treating depression and anxiety disorders which underpin many stress related conditions including any past or present trauma which may not have been fully understood or recovered from. Alternatively you may want to use the session to unravel and off-load confusing day to day conflicts or irritations where you feel stuck and frustrated with life.

Cognitive Behaviour Hypnotherapy (CBT):

This form of therapy is the combination of CBT and Hypnosis. Due to the wealth of empirical research CBT is recognised by the NHS as being the at the cutting edge of modern interventions to treat a variety of physical, emotional and psychsomatic conditions. Interestingly research carried out by Kirsch (1993) found that the average client receiving cognitive behaviour therapy had a higher recovery rate in fewer sessions than just receiving CBT alone. The feed back from CBT clients suggests that teaching us to recognise distorted thinking patterns and behaviours, with aim to challenge and correct them, it often does not allow the person to connect with any changes emotionally. In other words a person may know it will be in their best interest to think and behave differently but the change is difficult because it doesn't "feel right or natural" i.e.giving up smoking or controlling food for weight loss, even overcoming fears and phobias. Fortunately Hypnosis can bridge that gap helping to make the transistion more comfortable.


Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP):

The ability to override fear and stress by anchoring positive feelings by influencing brain behaviour through the use of guided imagery,  language and sub-conscious communication.

The Swish Technique:

The "Swish" is the sound of the word used by the therapist as a positive mental image replaces a negative one. This technique helps to control unwanted habits such as nail-biting, over-eating, and unwanted imagery due to trauma. It can further help in dealing with anxiety-provoking situations.

Behavioural Techniques:

Systematic Desensitisation: Learning to control the feared response starting from the least feared scenario and gradually working up to the most feared.

Cognitive behaviour Therapy (CBT):

Many similar strategies to NLP, CBT encourages the use of persuasive arguments and positive language patterns to overcome negative thinking responsible for most conditions including low self esteem.

Mindfulness:

A form of mediation without religious connotations. Studies show this simple yet effective meditation technique demonstrate changes in area's of the brain responsible for controlling emotional behaviour. This  simple form of meditation can consists of focusing on your breath as it flows in and out of the body. In as little as eight weeks 10 minutes practice a day can  overlay existing neurological pathways to support emotional coping.

Time Line Therapy:

Time Line Therapy is a collection of techniques developed in order to gain control over your live and make positive changes in regard to your perception of your own personal history. Consequently understanding that much of our behaviour is influenced by decisions we have made from our past which can effect our behaviour in the present (consciously or unconsciously) and future.

Eye movement Desensitisation reprocessing (EMDR):

The client is guided to carry out a set of eye movements or other sensory movement, such as tapping, which activates the memory networks where negative emotional experiences have been trapped. Shapiro (2001) who pioneered EMDR, suggests the effectiveness of this treatment is due to the increased hemispheric connections improving communication and allowing trapped memories to be adaptively processed between one hemisphere of the brain to the next.

Ego State Therapy:

Works with the dysfunctional "part" of the psyche responsible for psychological and somatic symptoms. It is recognised when we feel pulled in different directions and use terms such as "part" of me wants to do this but part of me thinks I should do "that". These conflicting "parts" are brought into harmony for a more balnaced approach to recovery.