When people first enquire about my services, one question I am asked more than any other is, ‘how long will this all take?’ It’s a difficult question to answer given that, at that point, I know next to nothing about you or what you want help with. It’s true that CBT and hypnotherapy are both known as brief therapies, but what does that mean exactly? Read more
A recent article in the Metro newspaper on the ever-expanding weight loss market (click here) – to be worth an estimated £220billion globally by 2017 – highlights a significant problem with diets – they just don’t work. Never have and never will. Only five per cent of those who go on them keep off the weight they lose. So A: what’s the point of them and B: What’s the solution? Read more
Yes, it’s that time of year again. People will be wishing you a ‘happy new year’ for the next two or three weeks and a fair few of you will be talking about (if not exactly making) their New Year’s resolutions. But, a resolution can be made at any time of the year, not just the beginning. Making one is easy; it’s sticking to it that’s the hard part. Hard, but not impossible, if you know what to do . . . Read more
A recent survey by health charity Mind has found that only one in five (22%) of employees felt that their employer took active steps to help them manage their stress. That’s leaving a lot of unhappy and unsupported workers. If you want to know what can be done about it, read on. Read more
A video has been doing the rounds on the Internet recently, one that depicts a women going into total meltdown when she can’t get her Chicken McNuggets (click here). A warning though, if you do click on the link, whilst the video is hysterical, it’s also shocking and contains more than its fair share of foul language. Although perfect car crash TV (and leaving aside the possibility that the woman in it might be on PCP or crack), it’s also a perfect display of someone with anger management issues. Read more
A recent study has found that UK businesses could be losing more than £1 billion a year due to stressed-out staff taking time off (click here). The report found that about one in five workers (19.6 per cent) have taken time off because of stress, whilst more than a quarter (28.8 per cent), said they felt stressed at work all or most of the time. But, what can be done about it? Read more
Oscar Wilde once famously wrote that life was far too important to be taken seriously, whilst one of the most often used sayings ever is that laughter is the best medicine. And while the therapy room might be the last place in which you expect to experience laughter, it is as good a place as any for it. Read more
Recently, as part of research for his role in the hypnosis-led thriller Trance, actor James McAvoy spent time with a hypnotherapist, but failed to achieve a state of hypnosis [click here]. “I was very keen to be suggested,” he said, “to have somebody tell me to run naked or cluck like a chicken or whatever, but it didn’t work for me.” And, therein lies the rub. I would argue that hypnosis failed due to his expectations. Read more
Okay, so the title of this article may have been purloined from the inaugural address of the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, but it also serves as an excellent introduction to that aspect of anxiety known as panic disorder, a condition that can be borne of just one or even several panic attacks. A panic attack is several things at once, none of them fun. Read more
Jealousy is a complicated emotion and one you experience when you feel your relationship is under threat. It’s an age-old concept and was even mentioned in the bible where (depending on which version you’re reading) it either compared to a cancer or you’re warned that it will rot your bones. But, is jealousy a beast and can it be tamed? Read more