Beyond The Swinging Watch - Hypnosis and Psychology in Everyday Life

  How many times have you heard the advice: ’Just think positive’? It’s the ‘just’ part that bothers me the most. If changing negative thinking was a simple as just thinking positively, wouldn’t everyone do that? The act of challenging negative thinking is tough because it requires an individual to reappraise how they believe things are. It means having to change position in the our mental argument. We become fixed on a way of thinking and it shapes our expectations. Giving up what we have spent time mentally building and then admitting acknowledging there are more useful ways to think about things, is not easy. Take one look at a social media post about politics and you will get all the evidence you need to support just how difficult it is for people to consider a different point of view! Positivity has to be grounded in reality if it is to begin to change negative thinking. No amount of me thinking positively is going help someone run a marathon this afternoon, but using it to su...

  “I know what happened and yet I still can’t get past it!” This one comment describes the purpose of analytical therapy and why it's important to address the emotional impact of trauma. True recovery from trauma, and the symptoms it creates, is only really achieved when two distinct types of understanding are achieved: Intellectual Understanding  Emotional Understanding  Intellectual Understanding refers to the knowledge of what happened and/or the events that led up to and are contained within the trauma. They are the facts of situation. what actually happened. The events are often describe in a narrative form. The events may be recent or from many years previously, but they are recounted as a description of what happened. Emotional Understanding refers to knowledge of what emotions the traumatic events created at the time. It includes the interpretations we gave to circumstances at the time. The emotion response to the events may be very different than compared to...

  With our increasingly busy lives, relaxation can often feel like a luxury. It becomes something that we aim to do when we have more time, but ironically it is the very thing that we should be planning for and including as a regular part of our everyday lives. Learning relaxation techniques and using them frequently can be effective in taking charge of many common stresses and worries we experience in everyday life. The more stressed we are the less able we are to cope and think positively. This can lead to being stuck in a cycle of negative thinking which prevents a person being able to achieve the things they would like. Hypnosis is an ideal way of benefiting from relaxation and encouraging a more positive attitude. Hypnosis is best described as focused relaxation. The deep relaxation, allows a person to be able to suggest a more positive way of thinking, encouraging a positive effect on their behaviour. Suggestion Therapy using Hypnosis is a way to re-programme the way we cope ...

  Anxiety is a common experience that affects millions of people worldwide. While it can serve a useful purpose by alerting us to potential dangers, chronic anxiety can lead to a range of long-term impacts that significantly affect an individual’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being. As a Hypnotherapist, I often work with clients struggling with anxiety. Mental Health Challenges Living with chronic anxiety can increase the risk of developing other mental health disorders. Anxiety often coexists with conditions such as depression, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The persistent worry and fear can lead to feelings of hopelessness, isolation, and sadness. Over time, this can result in a downward spiral of mental health, making it more challenging to manage anxiety and contributing to a complex interplay of symptoms that can be overwhelming. Physical Health Consequences The long-term effects of anxiety aren’t limited to mental health; they can also manif...

In my practice as a Hypnotherapist, I often emphasise the power of self-hypnosis and auto-suggestion. These techniques are not just tools for relaxation; they can significantly enhance your mental and emotional well-being. Understanding the benefits of learning self-hypnosis and auto-suggestion can help you take charge of your life and improve your overall quality of life. Stress Reduction and Relaxation One of the most immediate benefits of self-hypnosis is its ability to improve relaxation. In our fast-paced lives, stress can become overwhelming. Self-hypnosis allows you to relax in a focused way, helping to reduce stress and tension. This can lead to improved mental clarity and emotional stability, making it easier to handle daily challenges. Enhanced Focus and Concentration Learning self-hypnosis can improve your ability to concentrate. By training your mind to focus on specific suggestions or goals, you can enhance your productivity and attention span. This is particularly benefi...

  An individual’s mental health is experienced in the present but is influenced by the past, and informs future behaviour. Analytical approaches to psychotherapy view the symptoms as an outward expression of past behaviour. The symptoms are what is happening in the present, but are reflections of past experiences and the effect they had on the individual. When we approach understanding mental health in this way, we accept that symptoms are not the root cause of the problem. They are a response to difficulties that mirror their experience. It Works For Both Positive And Negative Causes and Effects The person who experienced disrupted caregiving during their early years may not have had the opportunity to learn what stable and consistent care/love looks and feels like. In later life, they may find it difficult to form long-lasting and meaningful relationships or develop anxiety in social settings. These symptoms are a reaction to those early years. Alternatively, imagine if a child'...

  Your heart is beating alarmingly quickly, and you become aware that you are breathing more rapidly. It’s like you are struggling for air. You can feel a tightness in the chest with hot or cold flushes; feeling rooted to the spot.  Sound familiar? These symptoms are what we commonly call an anxiety attack. Anxiety can appear in many different forms and situations, and in most cases, it is very difficult for the sufferer to explain. What's The Difference Between Stress and Anxiety Stress and anxiety are different. Stress is a response to external pressures. We feel agitated and unhappy and can attribute it to external things: work, relationships and financial issues. We know they cause stress (rather than anxiety) because when our external circumstances change, stress symptoms change also.  Anxiety creates the same symptoms, but the stress comes from within a person’s mind. They feel the same nervousness, anger and agitation, but it remains even when external circumstance...

  A problem shared is a problem halved, isn’t that how the saying goes?  When something is on your mind and you're struggling to figure out which direction to take, talking it through with someone often helps you find a way out of the dilemma. What appeared to be an obstacle shrinks when you have put it into words. Why? When we talk about something, we adapt our understanding of it. Talking about something out loud means we have to slow down and think about it differently rather than having thoughts racing around our mind. Speaking about something forces us to think things through so we understand things differently; we have processed them. Processing means understanding. We understand something about the circumstances and ourselves. Something happens, and we have to understand what happened and the effect it did or did not have on us. When a person has experienced a significant event, particularly a life change, they will have to process what happened or is still happening...

The demands of the situation are greater than our perceived ability to cope   What does this tell us? Stress is not simply about the demands of the circumstances it's about whether we believe we can cope with those demands. This helps to explain why one person may find it difficult to deal with stressful events while another copes with the same circumstances comparatively easy. They perceive their ability to cope differently. How we think about stressful events influences how we cope. The way we think about stress is influenced by several factors: 1: Our previous experience dealing with stress - If you are used to dealing with stress and have found it easy to manage the psychological and physical effects in the past, you are more likely to have a positive expectation of your ability to cope with current stress. 2: The stressful situation is predictable - If you expected that stressful events were imminent, you are more able to prepare both psychologically and practically to d...

  What’s the difference between feeling stressed and feeling anxious? It can be easy to confuse the two, especially when they become muddled together. Think of stress as a normal response to the pressures of the circumstances. It usually occurs when we perceive the demands of the situation are more significant than we are able to cope with. The important thing is stress is logical (while unpleasant) given the situation.  Ask yourself: is it logical that I should feel the pressure given these particular circumstances? Stress is usually short-term if we have the correct coping experience to know how to deal with the demand placed upon us. We adapt and reassess the situation and the stress response reduces because we have changed our perception of our ability to cope. Where our experience of coping is limited or our natural resilience has waned, the stress response can continue. If this is left unchecked, it can lead to burnout. Anxiety is a very similar physical and psychologica...

  Do you know the difference between feeling stressed and feeling anxious? It can be so easy to get the two confused, especially when they can become muddled together. Think of stress as a normal response to the pressures of the circumstances. It usually occurs when we perceive the demands of the situation are greater than we are able to cope with. The important thing is stress is logical (while unpleasant) given the circumstances. Ask yourself: is it logical that I should feel the pressure given these particular circumstances, right now? Stress is usually short-term if we have the correct coping experiencing to know how to deal with the demands of the circumstances. We adapt, reassess the situation and the stress response reduces because we have changed our perception of our ability to cope. Where our experience of coping is limited or our natural resilience has waned, the stress response can continue. If this is left unchecked, it can lead to burnout. Anxiety is a very similar...

  A type of Hypnotherapy that deals with the cause of anxiety and emotional problems rather than simply treating the symptoms Whenever people come to see me, with nervous twitches, stutters, depressions, anxieties, inferiority complexes, sexual problems, phobias and the like, I am never quite sure what treatment they expect, but I do know that the treatment they get is not what they expected. I think many people have a vague idea that the Hypnosis part of the therapy will be all-important and that they will somehow be induced into a trance like state where it will be put into their mind that they will…talk without a stutter…no longer be depressed…no longer be afraid of enclosed spaces…e.t.c. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.  Far from putting something in your mind, in fact, something is released from your mind, the subconscious something which had been at the root cause of the problem.  Now, I know you have probably seen stage shows, or heard of people wh...

  Did you find it hard to concentrate on anything during the lockdown? Perhaps you found your memory was worse, what has commonly been called brain fog? How many times have you felt exhausted after a day of online meetings? You were not alone. The good news is that as we come out of the restrictions we are likely to find the fog will clear, but researchers are interested in why this happened. I read an interesting article in the Guardian today, that explored some of the work that has been going on studying the behavioural and cognitive effects of a restricted lifestyle during the lockdown, and I wanted to share some of the points as a way of reassuring ourselves that it appears to be a normal psychological response. A Normal Response to Abnormal Circumstances Psychologists agree that cognitive impairment is an expected response to trauma. We remind ourselves that trauma is as much the change to our everyday routine as being directly affected by the pandemic itself. We remember th...

  What is your ‘go-to’ way to cope with stress? Perhaps you are someone who focuses on the problem itself. You might be someone who finds solace in focusing on the practical solutions to the situation. On the other hand, you may be someone who pays greater attention to dealing with the emotions created by stressful events. You might feel that dealing with emotions helps you see things in a clearer perspective. Perhaps you use both strategies? The research… Research (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984) has distinguished between two types of coping that we use when faced with stressful situations. We call then coping styles because each one has a particular focus on coping with stress. They are called problem-focused and emotion-focused coping.  Problem-Focused: Tackling the particular things that has been causing the stress. Often thought of as the practical solution. It asks the question: “What can be done practically to cope with the situation?” Emotion-Focused: Tackling the emotions...

It’s unsurprising that negative life changes cause stress, however research has acknowledged that even positive life changes produce stress. Why? Any life change requires extra mental effort. A life change needs extra processing of emotions (positive or negative) as well as adjusting to new beginnings. It is the change that is most important. The change requires extra mental effort as we adjust, and that’s what causes the stress. It is largely agreed that any event that was unexpected, unpredictable and uncontrollable has the potential to be stressful in an unhelpful way. The impact of COVID19 lockdown applies here easily. The lockdown was largely unexpected and unpredictable added to the fact that, in our lifetime, we have not experienced anything like this pandemic.  It feels uncontrollable and so we manage the stress by gaining control through seeking out information and following guidance. We take part in charity events online or help our friends and relatives with shopping ...

Job Strain: The workplace causes stress and illness in two ways: High workload (high job demand) and Low Job Control (low control of deadlines e.t.c.) The Research Marmot et. al.(1997) researched workplace stress and referred to job strain as being a toxic mixture of high workload, low job control and a lack of social support. The combination of these factors was most likely to produce destructive stress in an individual.  The study followed 10,000 civil servants who had worked in Whitehall since 1985. Some of them worked in high-grade jobs (such as accountants) and others worked in low-grade positions such as administration. It was suggested that those in high-grade jobs would have a greater level of workload and control in comparison to the lower grade positions who while having a lower workload they also had lower job control. The job strain model would suggest that they would both suffer from workplace stress for different reasons. The researchers began by assessing the level ...