So what IS hypnotherapy?

I suppose because I've been a hypnotherapist for over 14 years, using hypnotherapy to help thousands of people, I understand what hypnotherapy is and how it feels and what it can do.

I forget that even though I have loads of clients out there talking to their friends, colleagues and relatives who I could help, many people still only recognise hypnotherapy as something weird and magic - or maybe just weird and scary!

So what is hypnosis - what does it feel like? Hypnosis is like that feeling you go through just as you're falling asleep.  You're very relaxed.  You can still hear.  You could still move if you wanted to - but you don't want to.  You are totally in control.  You are very relaxed.  Not asleep but not awake.  Drifting and drowsy.

When you're in this very relaxed state we can communicate with your unconscious, or subconscious mind.   It's where your memories are kept, and your habits.  In this relaxed state you are very open to suggestion but importantly you cannot be influenced to do anything that you don't want to do. So hypnotherapy is therapy whilst you're in that relaxed state we call hypnosis. 


I spoke to a client yesterday who stopped smoking with me in 2008 and he was telling me that he talks about me and what I did for him with friends and they say they too want to stop smoking or lose weight or whatever.  They find what he tells them interesting - and yet they never contact me.

He is as flumoxed as I am (just love that word flumoxed!).

So what is happening?

Have you heard the saying "I'll believe it when I see it"?  Well seeing it - success - for someone else just maybe isn't enough.  We have to see success for ourselves.  But why should anyone try something they don't understand?

Particularly with stopping smoking everyone has been conditioned to fail.  Years ago people stopped smoking with pure willpower, maybe started again, stopped again, many times.  If you're over 50 like me you'll remember relatives and friends doing this - you may have done it yourself.   Then the pharmaceutical industry got involved.  "We'll help you stop smoking" they said "stick this patch on your arm/back/bottom!".   And some people stopped.  And some people didn't.  And some that stopped started again.  And then some tried the patches again.  And they failed again.  The patches failed but the smoker then saw themselves as the failure.  So the pharmaceutical industry invented nicotine gum.  Then a mouth spray.  Then the drug Zyban.  Then Champix.  And people tried to stop and some stopped. And some started again.  And felt like a failure. Again.  But it wasn't them that failed it was the patches and gum and spray and drugs.

The best success rate of any of the "aids" I've mentioned is 25%.  So no more than 25% of people who tried ever stopped.

And of course I could talk about failing at diets in the same way couldn't I?

But now you are conditioned to fail.  You need to see it to believe it if someone offers you an alternative way to stop smoking (or lose weight).

Hypnotherapy is, of course, a very alternative way!

It's not weird and it's not (I'm sorry to say) magic!

If you'd like to learn more about how your unconscious mind works - and how we can use hypnosis and hypnotherapy (therapy in hypnosis) to change your habits then give me a call.  I've got a really good CD for you to listen to so you can experience hypnosis at home.

Then you can decide you want to stop smoking or lose weight or get rid of a phobia or build your confidence.  Let me help you understand how hypnotherapy can work for you.  If you want it to.

Are you avoiding getting help?

Have you got a problem that really needs fixing?  Are you at the end of a painful dry January - or losing the will to live on your new year diet?

Maybe you're standing outside in the driving rain because a cigarette took control and said you just had to go!

You may be reading this because you found something about me that said - "hey! I can help you!"

Or did a friend send you a link?

So yes, you know you need help!  But are you avoiding getting help?

23% of the adult population in Leeds are smokers - that's about 3% above the national average.  So we know you're out there!

I've lost track of the latest figures about obesity, or pre-diabetes, or diabetes, or anxiety, or stress.....

So why are you avoiding getting help?

Do you think it'll be too hard to do without your cigarette/glass of wine/chocolate bar?  Are you still convincing yourself that you are addicted and it will be too painful to stop? Maybe you've already tried and failed - and can't face failure again.  Maybe you've even tried hypnotherapy before and failed.

Of course I know that you can stop smoking in one session with no pain at all!  No cravings! No withdrawal!

I know that you can cut down on your drinking or change your eating habits easily - no pain, no cravings...

I know because this is what I do, day in, day out.  I help people just like you to change. To get better.

And I will spend as long as it takes on the phone or in the office to explain all this to you.  That's my promise.

Maybe you're worried about spending money on something that won't work?

I often speak to people who think "it's too expensive" to get professional help.  But compared to what?  Your health? Your happiness?  Your family? Your longevity?  How can we put a price on those things?

Here's a question for you.  If you could meet your goal (stop smoking, reach your ideal weight, remove panic attacks or whatever your goal) tomorrow - how much would you pay?

You can work out how much you will save with things like stopping smoking, cutting alcohol or sugary foods.  Work it out over, say, a year.  How much?

You can try and put a price on your health or longevity.  How much?  How much do you already spend every year on looking and feeling good - haircuts, nail extensions (ladies!), gym membership, new hats!!!!

I would like to bet that all of the figures you calculate - or guess at - will be more than what professional help will cost.

So if it's time to stop making excuses.  If you're ready to get help.  Make the call.  Make the appointment.
Ask me the questions you really want answering. Call 0113 834 5424.

The best and worst diets

The British Dietetic Association (BDA) have again done their research on the worst diets for weight loss and health.

Well I think it's fair to say that any diet that removes a whole food group - carbs or fats - or has you being fed through a drip in your nose is probably going to be unhealthy!

The Dukan diet came third again for the BDA - an unhealthy diet that can cause constipation and wind at best and long term stomach problems at worst!

So have you been following my simple steps formula?

If you've kept up on steps 1, 2, 3 and 4 this week you are on your way to healthy weight loss and a healthier life.

Please remember that our bodies need protein, carbs and fats to be healthy and strong - and exercise (or let's call it moving more) will help us use up the calories we put in!

Eat less, move more.  The key to health and weight loss!

There's just time for a couple of hypnotherapy sessions before Christmas. If you need help to change what you eat, when you eat, why you eat and how much you eat then give me a call!

Help me here! Why would anyone think that being fed through a drip in your nose when you're perfectly healthy is a good thing?

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