Beyond The Swinging Watch - Hypnosis and Psychology in Everyday Life

  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...

  Ever wondered why one person develops an anxiety condition and another doesn’t? Some people have phobias while other’s don’t. One person may suffer terribly from depression, and the next person never has to fight against the same emotional numbness. In years gone by, we might have described this as having trouble with their nerves or being highly strung, but that's a description of how they are, not WHY they are so. A description of symptoms is not an explanation. If you were to ask the person suffering from anxiety WHY they had that problem, they might shrug their shoulders and say: “That’s just the way I am.” Others might explain: “I know where it all began. I was trapped in the cupboard under the stairs as a child and I was terrified." If you were to ask why they think that caused the claustrophobia, they might look puzzled as if you hadn’t understood their explanation. Lots of people get stuck in cupboards or enclosed spaces when they are playing as children, do they all...

While there are many things a workplace can do to promote emotional wellbeing and productivity, we have to deal with the personal side too. We can work in the most supportive environment possible but our well-being would still be affected by what is going on in our personal lives. Aim to make both aspects of our day to day experience more emotionally healthy and you are pre-armed to deal with stresses far better. Putting our stresses and emotions in context is very important. Left unchecked we can get caught in a situation where we catastrophise the situation and it appears much more difficult to deal with. Ask yourself what would you expect to feel from the current circumstances. Wouldn’t it be reasonable to feel under pressure right now? Is this pressure likely to continue indefinitely? Is that helpful to be worrying about that particular thing right now? Does it need dealing with… right now? An example:  You have an important meeting with a client at work but you are stuck in tr...

  Preparing Yourself For Your  Stop Smoking Session Times have changed, but as a Hypnotherapist, I used to be asked: What's your success rate at stopping people smoking?  Several years ago I surveyed all the people who had consulted me to stop smoking over twelve months and had gone on to take part in the treatment session itself. The results indicated that a little over 98% of people were now natural non-smoker. Those who didn't stop smoking admitted that their heart had not been in it. The results confirm common sense, correct? A person cannot be compelled to do anything they do not want to do, and that taking part in any treatment designed to help them is not a passive process. The benefits from the treatment are as much to do with the person wanting to change their behaviour as any therapist, support worker or well-meaning friend. Stopping smoking is one of the behaviours a person can change with ease when they are in the right frame of mind. I know that sounds like a...

  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...

  Take a moment to list all the things you associate with being happy. Now compare them to someone else's list. You will most probably find that while some are similar, others are unique to you. What makes me happy, you may well be indifferent to; this is the problem of applying a one-size-fits-all to psychological wellbeing. Think of wellbeing as being at ease given the current circumstances alongside a view to the future. Our circumstances change our feelings of contentment associated with that change. Our emotions and reactions unfixed; they interact with each other. It is entirely possible to feel content with one aspect of our lives without having an overall positive effect on everything we do. If we think of wellbeing as a fixed state, we are likely to become frustrated when we reach obstacles. Our goals and desires for the future form part of what makes us feel a strong sense of wellbeing; we have a sense of purpose and feel that something is happening. It gives us a sense o...