Anxiety, Fears & Phobias
Hypnosis for Anxiety
Kingston Hypnotherapy offers hypnosis combined with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
I worked in an NHS IAPT service using CBT effectively with hundreds of clients with anxiety disorders. In my private practice I have the added bonus of hypnotherapy which definitely speeds up the process.
Anxiety can be experienced at different levels, and although most people experience some anxiety when facing particularly stressful situations (such as a speech or presentation), anxiety disorders are severe and can have a massive impact on a person's life. Anxiety can be brought on by a fear of something that happened, or what we think may happen and dread happening. It is often accompanied with racing thoughts.
Hypnosis for Phobias
"Between the stimulus and the response there is a pause, and in that pause lies our power and our freedom" Viktor Frankl
Kingston Hypnotherapy's treatment for phobias is one of the most requested interventions. The most common phobias are fear of spiders and fear of flying and hypnotherapy can be very effective in reprogramming the subconscious automatic fear response.
Phobias often start with a childhood misunderstanding when the child overestimates the danger associated with a particular situation eg. their mother screaming at a daddy longlegs. They are likely to conclude that the insect is dangerous.
Phobias such as agoraphobia or social phobia may need a deeper look at underlying issues to resolve them.
Testimonial: DENTAL PHOBIA: “All through my life (from 4 years old – I am now 75) I had an unreasonable but very real feeling of the fear of dentists. I used to shake and perspire; wet palms and a wet shirt were the orders of the day. Sleepless nights prior to the visits were quite usual. I saw Nicola and the fear subsided and now I am in the middle of dental treatment which is involving extractions and implants. It is a great therapy that Nicola offers and what is important…it works. I only wish I had had the opportunity to experience it sooner; it would have saved me years of unhappiness and apprehension. It is now wonderful... I have no more fear of the needles and all the contraptions that dentists use and I can talk and write about it!! What a relief not to have that black, fearful cloud hanging around.” Brian J
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Chronic Pain and IBS
Hypnosis for Chronic Pain
There is a difference between acute pain and chronic pain. Acute pain alerts you to a new problem that needs attention immediately such as a broken arm. Acute pain is a message telling you to concentrate on fixing the problem. The greater the damage the greater the pain level to ensure you do all that is necessary.
Chronic pain is sometimes a message that has carried on going long after it needs to, for instance phantom limb pain. Once something has been done about the problem the pain should go. If it doesn't then something else is going on. Arthiritic pain is useful to alert you to the fact that you have arthritis but once you have got the message it does not need to tell you every day.
The subconscious needs to know that the pain is causing a problem and it can be persuaded to check if the pain message still needs to be there. Then it can either turn the old pain message off or turn it down to an acceptable level.
Take a look at this link: OldPain2Go
"I've had chronic pain in my lower spine for thirty years which has often been debilitating and greatly affected my life. No treatment of any sort has ever helped even a tiny bit. But after just one session of hypnotherapy with Nicola it was gone. It's still hard to believe, but it has.
It would appear that the pain signals were being sent long after my body had recovered from the incident(s) which first caused them - they were no longer necessary and Nicola was able to work with my subconscious to switch them off. I would absolutely recommend Nicola to anyone with a similar seemingly untreatable pain - the change was instant and total." Tim G
Hypnosis for IBS
Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a "functional disorder" which means the symptoms have no physiological or anatomical cause which can be identified. It is not a disease and although the symptoms are very distressing there is no physical damage being done which causes the symptoms.
People suffering from IBS often have an increase in negative moods. These psychological factors may be a cause of symptoms or a result of years of disrupted life activities and frequent periods of painful symptoms.
Anxiety may be related to specific events and sensations such as meals, abdominal pain, or diarrhea. This can result in increased worry about the sensations, hyper-vigilance of symptoms and avoidance of any situation that they associate with the symptoms. As a result life becomes more limited as they stick to safe places and activities which can result in increasing and prolonging the anxiety.
Hypnotherapy uses relaxation techniques and suggestion to help reduce symptoms and create helpful coping strategies.
Fix a Broken Heart
Hypnosis for A Broken Heart
This is a protocol combining hypnosis and NLP that will help you to:
- Accept your situation.
- Forgive yourself and others for any wrongdoing where appropriate.
- Release and let go of the shock, anger, guilt, grief, disbelief, depression and self torture.
- Cut the emotional and physical cords that used to bind you to the other person.
- Elevate and restore self confidence and self esteem.
- Move on and find love again.
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Hypnosis 4 Actors
"We're frightened little animals. It's all about fear. And wanting approval. Wanting validation. And also it's about an environment where you can face what you're most afraid of – scrutiny. It's all about that, about overcoming fear – and overcoming is what makes heroes out of people, when you say – "I can't do it, I can't do it", and then "No – I'm going to do this!" Rhys Ifans, actor, The Sunday Times 16.10.2001
Hypnosis for Actors
I was a professional actress/musician for over 15 years before becoming a hypnotherapist and psychotherapist. Whilst on tour, I discovered a self-hypnosis book that enabled me to choose my optimum state before going on stage. I was so impressed that I enrolled on a hypnotherapy course and developed techniques for stage fright, memory and other psychological problems affecting performers. I have a BA Hons in Drama and Music and a Masters Degree in Psychotherapy and regularly work with actors, singers and musicians.
Hypnosis for Stage Fright and Performance Anxiety
Hypnosis can be used to anchor your optimum state whenever it's needed at an audition or for a performance.
Creating Characters and Accessing Emotions
Hypnosis for actors can help you get in touch with your creativity and imagination. You can float above your character's timeline and drop down into important events in their lives and see them through the character's eyes.
Hypnosis for Learning Lines
Learn how to get into the optimum state for learning, remove any self-limiting beliefs and home in on the key words in the script.
Taming the Inner Critic
Learn how to tame your inner critic and allow your creative part to take centre stage.
Hypnosis for Depression
I can help you lift your depression using modern strategies from NLP, hypnosis and Bi lateral stimulation.
Over the years I have used various methods from NLP, hypnotherapy, bi lateral stimulation and an understanding of unmet needs to help those with depression begin to move forward with their lives.
I can teach you how to change the strategy that you are currently using to try and solve your depression, release
stuck emotions such as regret, remorse, guilt and shame which are often the major issues with depression.
I can help you direct your focus from the past and start planning for a successful future.
You will discover why unmet needs are often at the heart of depression.
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Hypnosis for Habits
Hypnotherapy can be very effective in reprogramming unwanted habits.
Hypnosis for Drinking Less
• Help you become very aware of the circumstances where you are drinking.
• Make you consciously aware of your drinking habits.
• Help you take responsibility for your drinking, and easily follow a plan for reduction.
Hypnosis to Stop Smoking
Hypnosis has been recognised by many studies as the most effective way of stopping. (New Scientist, issue 1845, 31October 1992, p6).
Kingston Hypnotherapy's technique is interactive and beyond pure suggestion, combining a hypnotic trance, NLP and parts therapy. When you began smoking, all the parts of your mind were working together but now it is as if some of them have realised the harm smoking is doing to you but other parts have not caught up yet! The subconscious is persuaded to reprogram these "parts" because smoking is no longer beneficial.
It is a two session protocol.
(Hypnotherapy more effective that nicotine replacement http://www.complementarytherapiesinmedicine.com/article/S0965-2299(13)00210-0/abstract?showall=true=)
Testimonials:
"Nicola, a short note 6 months after my session. Am still not smoking and feeling GREAT! I knew I wanted to stop and I needed to break some mechanism that held me down. Well, hypnosis has been the key to my success. Thank you very much." Antonio R
"I have to say since I saw you I have been doing brilliantly. I am now on a complete health kick, have been exercising regularly and not drinking. I could not have done this without the initial kick start I needed from your session. Thank you so much." Leah
PTSD/Trauma
Hypnosis for PTSD/Trauma
Traumatic events can be very difficult to come to terms with, but confronting your feelings and seeking professional help is often the only way of effectively treating PTSD. It is possible for PTSD to be successfully treated many years after the traumatic event occurred, which means it is never too late to seek help.
The aim of hypnotherapy is to unlock stored emotion using the trance state so that the trauma can be revisited and processed while exploring it from a different perspective.
EMDR for PTSD/Trauma
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a relatively new treatment that has been found to be very effective in reducing the symptoms of PTSD. EMDR involves making side-to-side eye movements, usually by following the movement of my finger, while recalling the traumatic incident.
It is not clear exactly how EMDR works, but it may help the malfunctioning part of the brain (the hippocampus) to process distressing memories and flashbacks so that their influence over your mind is reduced. I have found it to be very successful in treating clients who have experienced serious assaults, traumatic births, car accidents and even earthquakes:
“Since our last session and the unbelievable thing you did with the EMDR I cannot believe how different I feel, it's truly amazing, for a few days after I questioned HOW it can work, in terms of the power of the mind etc, but then just started to relax about it and see I had achieved what I wanted to achieve which was to feel like ME again, relaxed, peaceful, happy yet strong enough to deal with life and its tests!!
I feel like me again…THANK YOU. You are clearly gifted to be a therapist in this field and I have done nothing but talk about how AMAZING you were/are your calm and kindness radiates from you and made me feel instantly comfortable in your company, considering my then condition and being complete strangers about an unknown science I think that’s pretty amazing. ” Rachael Beeton, victim of New Zealand earthquake." (2 sessions)
Sleep Problems
Hypnosis for Sleep Problems
Sleep problems can include trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or receiving adequate sleep.
How can you control sleep?
Sleep is involuntary.
Sleeping should be natural, easy and effortless. And yet for you, it isn’t. Why? The more you try to think about sleeping, the more you try to force it, the worse the problem seems to get because for some reason your subconscious doesn’t want you to sleep.
To overcome this sometimes avoiding certain “triggers” to prevent the sleep problem occurring (e.g., no caffeine or alcohol) may work or using direct hypnosis suggestion to override the response, or pattern interupt techniques.
If it is more persistent then there may be an underlying cause that needs to be addressed. If there is no longer any cause, there can be no effect.
Hypnotherapy can help to resolve and correct the true cause of your sleep problem - along with any expectation that you won’t be able to sleep.
"Having struggled with chronic sleep problems for many years, as a result of unsociable and erratic work patterns, I consulted Nicola on the advice of a colleague, who had had similar issues. By following the methods she gave me, which were clearly and very precisely set out, the problem completely alleviated itself within days. I was soon to realise that the other issues I had were probably sleep-deficit related and so, because of her treatment, could cease to be the major ones I perceived them being. I'm also convinced that the rest that I'm getting is somewhat due to the comfort of knowing that I have a empathetic professional to consult when necessary." Adrian S
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