The first port of call for any sports person trying to raise their game would usually be a sports psychologist. But Tom, an American Football player and team captain was looking for a fresh approach. He knew what he needed was to find the motivation to keep on practicing, to be committed to his gym routine plus have more confidence in both himself and his game.

“I chose hypnotherapy because I like to consult a variety of sources to find solutions and I felt it could help me deal with any issues on a more conscious level.

“When I looked into it, I wasn’t necessarily set on it. I was actually quite sceptical that it would work.  But I decided it was worth an experiment, even for just the placebo effect.

“What hypnotherapy did for me was to make me more mindful of my own thoughts and give me the opportunity to look at the causes of the separate issues which were holding me back from my training regime.

“Hypnotherapy is a different learning style from sports psychology and allowed me to achieve small goals and make constructive changes in easy stages rather than be completely focused on the end goal.

“While it might be a bit early to say that hypnotherapy has dramatically transformed my life, I know that it has worked at some level and given me the power to think and feel more positively about my sport.

“The sessions start with a consultation to determine what specifically is affecting you, then Georgios will provide techniques to address these problems. This is so important as he gives you the tools to work on yourself which helps you understand how your mind thinks about things you hadn’t normally considered. After this, the therapist will make you feel very relaxed and affirm your goals and techniques with the spoken word.

“My advice is to give hypnotherapy a go, it has made me much more mindful of the things I used to do without thinking about. This has aided me in my goals and motivation.”

Recently we had te pleaseure of working with a client who has a severe anxiety when swimming in open water whcih was causing panic attacks. The client was stuck at this stage and could not get over it.

During our session we establish that the client was making huge pictures of them swiming whilst feeling panic and swimming in a gigantic lake which was making it very scary.

Fortunately this client was extremele repsonsive to our techniques and had resolved the problem from the very first session and we were both ever so happy.

Even more the client emailed us a couple of weeks later them swimming in open water and with a huge smile.

Just after her mum passed away Bryony began suffering panic attacks.  Although she had experienced an episode in the past, these new attacks began to occur more regularly and were more severe.

Eventually they became an ‘everyday state of mind’ and Bryony realised she had no control over her life so needed to take action.

Consulting her GP her only options were medication or counselling.  Not wishing to take pills, Bryony attended counselling but came to conclusion talking while someone passively listened was not the answer, especially when she had friends she could share with.

After some research Bryony decided hypnotherapy could offer a more dynamic solution.

“I am a pragmatic person so I wanted something straight-forward which I would be actively involved in to get the feelings of panic under control.

“When I first met Georgios he was very direct with me and it took me a while to be less guarded and more honest about how I felt when usually I would say I felt fine even though I wasn’t.

“He is quite a unique character and told me outright that I was responsible for making myself feel so anxious.  While this seemed quite harsh, he had read me well because I soon understood I also had the power to stop myself from feeling so bad.”

It took three sessions to work through the issues and pick up some self-help techniques to enable Bryony to stop her anxious feelings from getting hold of her and disrupting her life.  The effect on her life was transformative.

“It is such a relief to be free of the fear.  While I am not cured of panic attacks I am now able to manage them better.  This is because I haven’t changed my nature, just the way I think about things.

“The first test of my new state of mind was when I went flying off on holiday.  Usually this can be an ordeal for me but I didn’t even register any of the typical fears.  I was more able to focus on the good things such as the fact I was going on holiday, rather than the bad things which could happen, but in reality, were unlikely.

“I even confronted a panic attack by deliberately bringing on the feeling.  At that stage, because I knew what it would feel like and that it would pass, it really wasn’t that bad. I was so pleased that I had genuinely got my life back.

“I would advise anyone who wants to take positive action and get on top of anxiety that hypnotherapy is for you.”

Sleeping pills are effective in getting you off to sleep but as we know, it isn’t always the quantity of sleep that is important, but the quality.  The state of relaxation you can achieve during hypnosis enables a more natural sleep pattern to establish itself and for the body to experience the deep restorative phase of sleep which is vital to a good night’s sleep.  Because pills simply ‘knock you out’ and may produce other side effects, hypnotherapy can be the best long-term solution for sleep problems.

Hsiao Yu-ho, a Taiwanese hypnotherapist who went to Guangzhou in 2007 to expand her business, said that hypnotherapy is a form of psychological counseling and there is nothing mysterious about it. Hypnotherapy has gradually come to be accepted by Chinese consumers after the release of Inception, the 2010 Hollywood blockbuster that dealt with both hypnotism and dreams.

Hsiao's clients typically range between the ages of 20 and 40. Most of them are seeking psychological help for problems with work or with their love life.

"Most people have the misconception that hypnotherapy is a cure for insomnia, which is totally incorrect. Hypnotherapy can help a person relax, but it is different from sleeping. People also believe that it can erase memories, but this would be a serious violation of the ethics prescribed by the job. Every master of hypnotism warns their students never to erase people's memories," said Hsiao.

"Many female clients ask to erase their memories of their former boyfriends, which is very dangerous," Hsiao said.

When a hypnotherapist meets with a client, the first thing they have to do is to win their trust. Then they will attempt to discover the easiest way to hypnotize the client. When the client is in a state of hypnosis, the therapist will guide them in certain ways, including telling them to imagine a staircase with 10 steps, then telling them to walk down the steps one by one as the hypnotherapist counts from one to 10. Then when the client gets to the bottom, they are asked to open the door they see before them, open it and look into their subconscious. When the client wakes up, the hypnotherapist will analyze and "restructure" the mind of the clients, making them feel better.

A 20-something sought help from Hsiao because she was afraid of the dark and was too scared to do overtime in her office at night. Hsiao uncovered the memory that she had been locked in a dark room at the age of four. Another woman in her mid-thirties would shake with fear when she laid eyes on her female superiors. Hsiao found out that she had been frequently scolded by her mother from a very young age and associated her female supervisors with the image of her mother.



If you would like to find more about how Birmingham Hypnotherapy Clinic can help you for problems such as anxiety, confidence, low self esteem, hypnobirth, gastric band hypnosis, sports performance hypnosis, weight loss hypnosis, sexual problems contact Birmingham Hypnotherapy Clinic.

Pop star Ke$Ha loves to go back in time under hypnosis and check out her past lives.

The Die Young singer has been trying out past-life regressions in a bid to get to grips with her "issues" and she admits she looks forward to each session.

During an appearance on U.S. show Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday (14Oct13), Ke$ha said, "I actually do it frequently... I've been a warrior princess and I've also been a dude many times... really cool ones.

"I've had a lot of different, weird past life regressions because I have issues and so I try to go back and figure out why I've (got) problems... It's cool. I love it."

If you would like to find more about how Birmingham Hypnotherapy Clinic can help you for problems such as anxiety, confidence, low self esteem, hypnobirth, gastric band hypnosis, sports performance hypnosis, weight loss hypnosis, sexual problems contact Birmingham Hypnotherapy Clinic.

(ECNS) – An increasing number of urban white collar workers in Guangzhou are resorting to hypnosis to relieve pressure from work and life, according to xkb.com.cn.

The therapy can run from 600 yuan ($98) to 8,000 yuan ($1,311) per hour.

"As far as I know, the most expensive one in Guangzhou is 6,000 yuan ($983) per hour," said Xiao Yuhe, a hypnotist from Taiwan who runs a business in Guangzhou.

"Hypnosis is a kind of psychological counseling that helps people deal with stress."

On the Chinese mainland, psychological counseling and hypnotherapy have attracted attention in recent years, and most visitors are white collar workers aged between 20 to 40.

Xiao said the movie "Inception" has contributed to the trend: "Many people came to me after that movie was released."

Xiao added that many people have mistaken hypnosis for the treatment of insomnia, but "hypnosis is far different from normal sleep. Even though Hypnosis can help people relax and fall asleep, it can't be a special treatment for sleep problems."

Many girls have also come to Xiao, hoping to delete memories of their ex-boyfriends.

The original intention of hypnosis is to release a subject's subconscious, rather than hide rational awareness, Xiao explained.

If you would like to find more about how Birmingham Hypnotherapy Clinic can help you for problems such as anxiety, confidence, low self esteem, hypnobirth, gastric band hypnosis, sports performance hypnosis, weight loss hypnosis, sexual problems contact Birmingham Hypnotherapy Clinic.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Although some health care providers may overlook alternative therapies when treating functional bowel disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, University of Florida faculty members have found evidence that hypnosis and cognitive behavioral therapy may benefit patients suffering from these diseases.

Led by researchers Oliver Grundmann of the UF College of Pharmacy and Saunjoo “Sunny” Yoon of the UF College of Nursing, the study was published in the European Journal of Integrative Medicine, which highlighted it as the “Editors Choice” in its August issue.

“Our work being highlighted in this way indicates that we are able to raise awareness for the issue of a more integrative and holistic approach to medical care in the area of functional bowel disorders in the scientific community — a goal that both Dr. Yoon and I have been striving for in our professional endeavors for many years,” said Grundmann, a clinical assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy.

The researchers reviewed 19 recent clinical trials to examine the potential benefits of using four common mind-body therapies — yoga, hypnotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy and biofeedback — in the treatment of functional bowel disorders. In particular, the researchers found indications there were some benefits to hypnotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy.

“It is still very hard to replicate some of the studies or generalize the findings,” said Yoon, an associate professor in the College of Nursing, adding there is a need for more studies. “Some of the research methodologies are not consistent from one study to another and some of the studies have a small sample size or the designs do not provide the rigor or obvious protocol.”

Functional bowel disorders occur when the stomach and bowels aren’t working properly and are typically accompanied by stomach pain, bloating and other intestinal symptoms. Treatments typically target these symptoms.

For about five years, Yoon and Grundmann have been studying and publishing material on complementary and alternative medicine, which includes treatments with dietary supplements, acupuncture and yoga.

Because functional bowel disorders are chronic conditions that come and go over time, patients sometimes develop negative attitudes that can affect treatments. Cognitive behavioral therapy is used in an attempt to help patients feel more positive. In one study the researchers examined, cognitive behavioral therapy worked as well as antidepressant medications.

Hypnosis, on the other hand, is used in an attempt to reduce pain. Some of the studies the researchers reviewed showed that hypnotherapy worked as well as medication to reduce pain in patients.

But although the results were promising, they were not conclusive, Yoon said.

“A lot of times we get contradictory results from the clinical trials, so it can be confusing for the readers or the clinicians when they read it,” Yoon said. “Our article can give them a better picture or better view about currently available clinical trials and the results of the trials.”

Yoon said doctors should not exclude complementary therapies when treating functional bowel disorders.

“We just need to have an open mind to the therapies that are not familiar in Western countries,” Yoon said.

The open-access version of the article can be found athttp://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S1876382013000590.

If you would like to find more about how Birmingham Hypnotherapy Clinic can help you for problems such as anxiety, confidence, low self esteem, hypnobirth, gastric band hypnosis, sports performance hypnosis, weight loss hypnosis, sexual problems contact Birmingham Hypnotherapy Clinic.