How Medical Hypnosis Is Giving Hope

By David Faratian

woman-under-hypnosis

For many people hypnosis and hypnotherapy belong in the realm of voodoo and hocus-pocus. As more studies are conducted on brainwaves and how altered states can be induced through guided suggestions, there is more and more agreement within the scientific community that positive physiological benefits can be experienced through carefully structured hypnotherapy sessions. More interestingly, studies have found that children and animals who naturally exhibit the brainwave frequencies typically associated with Hypnosis are more prone to Hypnotherapy treatment and are more likely to deal with problems experienced during childhood such as bedwetting and nightmares and lack of self confidence through bullying etc the most exciting area, yet to be explored in depth, is the area of learning and the brains ability to accelerate memory. It is now generally agreed that Hypnosis and self-diagnosis induce the natural states of learning associated with alpha and theta brainwave frequencies. Once these states can be conditioned and triggered at will the ability to retain information long term is dramatically increased.

But studies have gone further and proven that through carefully guided imagery people suffering from pain and in particular burn victims have greatly increased their speed of recovery by visualising cooling images around any affected areas. This would indicate that Hypnosis has a neuro psychoneuroimmunological effect on the individual and is a very versatile alternative therapy which has a scope far beyond simple habit management like losing weight and stopping smoking. This has very exciting implications indeed. As there is a greater understanding of consciousness and in particular the innate intelligence we all understand as the subconscious, Hypnosis opens the gateway to self-healing on a much larger scale than we may at first have appreciated.



BBC Documentary Exposes How Diets Make you Fat!

Over the past few weeks the BBC have been running a documentary series called ‘The Men Who Made Us Thin’ which explores the history and origins of our modern day obsession with dieting, counting calories, exercise, slimming pills and weight loss. In the programme journalist Jacques Peretti traces why so many people have found themselves seduced by years of dieting propaganda despite the fact that the problem never really existed up until the mid 50s when, as a result of misinformed statistics which the American government commissioned, over half of America’s population were reclassified as overweight even though they weren’t at all. As Peretti explains “At the stroke of a pen normal healthy Americans had a weight problem” This redefinition of what might be termed ‘overweight’ was adopted by the medical establishments and even the government as a result the opportunity to ‘fix’ this problem developed, and of course, the result was that the dieting industry was born.

People who for no reason whatsoever were now ashamed of their bodies were turning in their millions toward solutions for this ‘problem’. People of all ages were now neurotic about their weight and wanted to do anything and everything to lose that weight as quickly as possible.

The promotion of shakes and systems which allowed you to monitor each and every calorie gave people the illusion that they had control over how much their bodies gained or lost weight. Very quickly these quick fix shakes which claimed to promote rapid weight loss were encouraging all kind of imitation brands to spring up for this invented weight problem.

Big business was about to cash in on the misery and depression and unhappiness of people, who up until that point in history, had been able to deal with their self image more realistically. In effect, the weight problems that even influences us today was invented, and the dieting industries were more than ready to offer the solution.

What followed however was shocking to say the least. Scientific studies began to show that there was an inverse relationship between dieting and weight loss. People who dramatically lost weight in the short term, actually caused the bodies natural metabolism to take action and protect it from any harm by conserving as much energy as possible, or in other words the metabolic rate of dieters slows down if starved or put into famine which causes it to actually gain weight.

The fact that Diets fail however was good news for the dieting industries, because they realised that as long as people were guaranteed to fail they would keep coming back to them time and time again for the solution and big business relies on repeat business.

Whether Slim Fast, Lipotrim, Rosemary Connoly, Weight Watchers, The Mars Bar Diet or Atkins, they all rely on the shame, depression and misery the overweight already feel about themselves, to stay in business. The pattern of behaviour this reliance on dieting products promotes is not only harmful but also dangerous. Through continuous dieting people are stressing the natural metabolic balance of the body and therefore long term negative health implications, through so called yo-yo dieting, are increased.

Surely the point with a diet is that you are trying to achieve a significant amount of weight loss, and more importantly, keep it off. The evidence however is that diets long term simply do not work. This evidence is borne out by the fact that statistically over a 5 year period only 18% of an original Weight Watchers control group had achieved any sustained weight loss the other 84% had not only regained any weight lost but also increased their weight. On average, therefore more people regain and gain weight following a diet than if they had adopted other outlooks.

Why am I even writing about this programme, why do I care so passionately about this? The reason is simple. I don’t like or agree with the fact that concerns about weight loss exist only because of an invention of data which suddenly shifted all future benchmarks of what is acceptable or unacceptable weight. This in turn created the fertile ground for greed and big business who never really cared about the misery and unhappiness of the people they were claiming to help. Essentially the dieting industry should have died years ago leaving people to heal and recognise that actually they are fine as they are. Unfortunately things have come too far now and thanks to the internet and media and fashion, the genie is well and truly out of the bottle and unlikely to ever be put back where it belongs. As long as people are constantly comparing themselves with unrealistic ideals, in magazines, in films, on TV, then diets and the unreachable dream weight are here to stay.

So what’s the alternative. To my mind it’s all about balance and moderation. For that you need a change in attitude and perception. Learning to be relaxed around food and have neither guilt or resistance toward our everyday fuel intake is what ultimately leads to a healthy balanced body. Dealing with our addictive thoughts around food without feeling stressed all the time reduces the perception of need . Once we can reconnect with the part of ourselves that knows intuitively what we need, no more, no less, then I believe that’s the most natural way to live. Let your body and mind guide you. This approach is possible for 85% of people. Once you unlock the sensible balanced subconscious which you have trusted to look after you so far then genuine, not invented weight loss is possible.



The Alternative Doctor

When people have problems where is the first place they turn? In most instances, if it can’t be dealt with through talking, it is either toward their doctor, their counsellor or their priest. With today’s technology most people will even ignore all the above and head straight for Dr.Google, that font of all knowledge and solutions. The internet can certainly provide many answers as can conventional medicine but these solutions usually involve medication, chemicals and sticking with what makes scientific sense, which may explain why alternative therapies rarely get a look in. How often do we type ‘how can I treat weight problems’ or ‘what helps with smoking addiction’ and get back a list of solutions which tend to leave out the many successful alternatives which have a proven track record but for some reason people don’t really know about, like homeopathy, reflexology, aromatherapy, nlp and of course hypnotherapy and hypnosis.

How many people really know that hypnotherapy can offer treatment for, and help with a full range of niche conditions including
Irritable Bowel Syndrome, migraines, sexual problems like impotence, premature ejaculation, vaginismus, insomnia, pain control, fears and phobias for flying, needles, heights, dentists, fear of horse riding, fear of childbirth to name but a few; general anxiety, addictions and habits like gambling, alcohol and sex, habit control for losing weight and smoking, solutions for relationship problems, anger management, improved self confidence, children’s problems like bed wetting, nightmares, bullying, and even relief from menopause symptoms, and developing better sports performance. The list is actually extensive and yet the fact that these complimentary remedies are ranked so low in search engines says a great deal about how narrow minded and conditioned we are as a society to be skeptical about anything that doesn’t always have a logical basis.

The truth is though, that alternative therapies like hypnotherapy are gaining more and more credibility from medical organisations like the British Medical Association even though the NHS (National Health Service), still appears to relegate hypnosis to the same category as trivial showmanship and voodoo. Fortunately though more and more general practitioners are welcoming alternatives for conditions like hypertension and
sleeping disorders because often the Doctor can only treat symptoms with a medical cause and in the case of primary or essential high blood pressure, in 90% of cases there simply is no medical cause and so hypnotherapy, meditation and relaxation strategies are regarded as the most sensible route. Insomnia, like hypertension can often have no visible medical solution because the symptoms are driven by latent stress and therefore a psychological alternative is needed.

Most conditions, which have a medical diagnosis are undoubtedly aggravated, at least in some respect, by psychological roots and the causes are more often than not given the title ‘stress’, so it certainly stands to reason that neuro-linguistic therapies come into their own when dealing with the vast majority of medical conditions.

Certain phobias, which for years were treated with several sessions of psychiatric interventions, can now be dealt with through rapid phobia NLP in just a handful of sessions and more importantly, the cure is permanent. NLP is also particularly effective for habit control and although weight loss and smoking are a given, the efficacy of NLP to deal with habits as niche as addiction to
alcohol or gambling, is hard to disprove. The reason is also logical, because despite medicine being able to dull or numb certain emotional triggers, which lead to the compulsions and obsessions of the habits mentioned, they rarely offer enough of a change in attitude or behavior, which could be seen as sustainable and visible in the long run. Tranquillizers and anti-depressants cannot take away the emotional attachment a gambler has for the momentary win or the person who exercises an unhealthy interest in porn because of the perceived high. NLP and hypnosis can however recondition the patterns of behavior by firstly teaching the person how to disconnect emotionally from any ‘buzz’ associated with habit and then helping them to develop recognition strategies for neutralizing the first signs of the old pattern.
In fact the exciting realization that alternative therapies can not only be effective for standard habit control and phobias, but can more directly affect the human immune system is opening up the debate about complimentary therapy even more. The relatively new study of psychoneuroimmunology has shown scientifically that there is a relationship between the mind and the human immune system. Encouraging the client to think about their immune system, and focus on what it can do for them, does have a beneficial effect. Guided visualisation and positive affirmations, while either meditating through self-hypnosis products, or being treated more directly in real time by a professional hypnotherapist can give the psychological edge a patient needs to deal more productively with conditions even as serious as cancer.
This clinic offers treatment for all the areas discussed whether you live in Cumbria, Barrow-in-Furness, Dalton-in-Furness, Ulverston, Kendal, Windermere, Whitehaven or you are looking for more indirect supportive measures for self-hypnosis through our full range of audio relaxation
self- hypnosis CDs and mp3s



Fear of childbirth - A Growing Problem

According to the Association for Improvements in Maternity Services women are more concerned about giving birth than ever before. No one would argue that giving birth is a life-changing experience so it comes as no surprise that women are apprehensive about having their first baby. So why is the problem apparently getting worse.

Through research it has been agreed that there are a number of factors responsible, not least the growing number of images on television, which expose mothers to be, to dramatic and often harrowing scenes of real labour. Moreover, the change in social awareness and equality means more women than previously are pre-disposed to wanting to have greater control over their lives which leads to a rise in anxiety and opting more and more for Caesarean birth. In fact, according to one study, twice as many women are opting for this option than a decade ago.

Understandably, it is often first time mothers, who have yet to experience childbirth, who tend to suffer this anticipatory anxiety. Months and weeks before the event the strong associations with being out of control and the perceived pain which often arises through shared experiences from older relatives or friends who have may have gone through a less than positive labour tend to be transferred subconsciously to the part of the brain which conditions patterns of latent stress. Unlike other fears and phobias, fearing childbirth is not just a fear for the mother herself, but also her unborn child. The added responsibility of ensuring a safe delivery for the child simply adds to the exisiting layers of stress, which are a natural part of the pregnancy already.

There is no doubt that the unknown is one of the main factors in anxiety around childbirth. The mother who doesn’t know any better can effectively, but often incorrectly, rehearse the days leading up to labour, the arrival and the trauma associated with a painful delivery, so well that the mind and body work together to make the imagined experience a self fulfilling prophecy.



Strategies for relieving this unnecessary stress are not only desirable but also necessary. Relaxation techniques during childbirth have moved on from the traditional breathing exercises taught in the past and many expectant mothers can now turn to more natural alternatives like aromatherapy or even self-hypnosis.

Hypnosis and more specifically, hypnotherapy and NLP can be extremely effective in getting over the ‘mental block’ of childbirth because prior to labour the mother cannot only rehearse a more controlled and relaxed birth, but through self-hypnosis she can also learn to control any pain she might be anticipating.

For more information regarding this topic or if you wish to experience the power of hypnotherapy for a relaxed childbirth for yourself CLICK HERE for more information

David Faratian (Clinical Hypnotherapist)


AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD - SELF HYPNOSIS AUDIO RELAXATION THERAPY PROGRAMME












Are You An Angry Person?



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What truly annoys you? Maybe it’s your boss, maybe it’s your kids, maybe its the unfair way the government is giving with one hand and taking with the other or maybe it’s because the thought of another working day, travelling in a stuffy car and being cut up by some thoughtless driver; the one that totally ignores the fact that no indication was given and so you had to make an emergency manoeuvre to avoid collision. Whether it’s down to a thoughtless spouse or irritating neighbour, anger is an emotion which plagues us all and unfortunately all too often.

We can control it right? Well, that depends. If you have grown up knowing that you can express how you feel and have felt listened to then the chances are you have developed socially adept skills at dealing with your anger. But what if you didn’t have that opportunity and your frustration and feeling misunderstood wasn’t given its proper forum for expression? What happens then? Often, people will grow up with unresolved issues, around powerful and often unresolved memories and experiences, which left them unhappy in some way. This inevitably leads to frustrations and feelings of insecurity, which then have to manifest in some way. The subconscious mind is very good at recording a particular emotion and connecting with that emotion many years later through some very innocent trigger. Once triggered, then anger and rage can be unleashed. In times of great emotional stress, people can exhibit uncharacteristic and often extreme behaviours which can be fuelled by alcohol and accelerate uncontrollably with dire consequences.

As our roads get busier, road rage is now becoming a very serious problem for many commuters. Where does this problem come from? Again it originates from a feeling of not having control over a situation, in this case the actions of other self-serving drivers. The trigger is latent stress, which develops through our everyday experiences with negative occurrences. The husband, who has an argument with his wife or teenage daughter, leaves home without releasing any of the tension. He arrives at work and struggles with a project which needs to meet a deadline and he knows his reputation depends on it. In the afternoon the printer needed for the all important project deadline is malfunctioning and even though our imaginary man is able to resolve the problem he has layered even more tension until eventually he is driving home knowing that he has a further one hour commute stuck in traffic and the inevitable selfish driver behind is flashing his lights to get past and the cork finally pops!

Angry people are only human but this damaging emotion can destroy relationships, get people disciplined or sacked and if unchecked will eventually lead to all kinds of health issues including stress, low self esteem and even depression. So are there ways to deal with this problem. Clearly there are otherwise we would have all killed each other by now.

Learning to create a natural release valve, which you build in to your everyday routine, is the best way to keep the latent stress to a minimum and these practices can be as simple as fifteen minutes of dedicated relaxation time every day. In fact it is now generally accepted that with diligent meditation practices people live longer, are healthier and cope better especially with damaging emotions like anger. If you would like to find out about effective tools for dealing with anger then you can find information here http://www.mind-sync.co.uk