Welcome Friends

Welcome to my funny little world. Sometimes it's a bit sad, sometimes it's a bit mad, but I try to give you some uplifting words every day. And in amongst them I'll give you a little philosophy and celebrate just being. If you like a good bedtime story or you are just curious about your life or mine or you want to be encouraged, then come on in, the water's lovely!

Friday 26 November 2010

New openings

Yes, HQ has a lot going on. I heard this week that I have been accepted as a Faculty member of the Institute of Clinical Hypnosis (ICH). I will be running a course next year instructing other therapists in hypnotherapy for fertility.

It's a huge and growing market, rater sadly. 1 in 6 couples in UK has trouble conceiving and 1 in 10 couples has fertility treatment. There are thousands of IVF treatments carried out in UK every year and 1.5% of babies are born as a result of IVF conceptions.

Hypnotherapy has a huge part to play in helping people overcome psychological barriers to conception and also to provide positive emotional support whilst a couple is goingthrough IVF. Even if the therapy does not result in a pregnancy, the benefit of hypnotherapy during the treatment is to help a couple cope far more easily with its stresses and strains.

So, not only am I going through surgery myself, developing courses and marketing material for hypnotherapists, I am also putting the final touches to my next commercial CD. The one for pregnancy relaxation is already available on Amazon and should be joined by the IVF Companion prior to Christmas. How can I ever fit my clients in?!

Busy time but resting!

All sorts going on at HQ HMcH. That's Headquarters Helen McPherson Hypnotherapy if you need it in full :-)

I am half enjoying an enforced rest period as I recover from a little operation on my knee. The anaesthetist was very interested in how hypnosis can be used for pain relief and for anaesthetics. I will admit that I went for the chemical versions this time! Actually I almost always do; it is hard to provide the necessary pain relief on your own, you normally need a therapist with you and have had plenty of practise.

Self-hypnosis does come into its own during dental work and other minor medical procedures. I usually drop myself into a trance and float off for a while. I believe I have fallen asleep during a root canal treatment. I should have warned the dentist on that occasion however - he suddenly got all worried about me.

Monday 8 November 2010

Sports Psychology

I met someone on Friday who was very interested in sports psychology and how hypnotherapy can help. Let me give you a bit of a blunt introduction.

On Thursday evening I was watching Rugby Club on Sky Sports. It's a magazine type programme that rounds up all the news, views and features in rugby union. There was of course a long feature and discussion about the forthcoming England vs New Zealand game on Saturday. From the commentary and the profiles presented, it looked like it would be an exciting game and England had every chance of winning.

Every chance that is until the head coach, Martin Johnson spoke. He said, "Yes, we'll give it a good try." A good try! A good TRY???!!! At that moment I knew that England were going to lose.

It wouldn't matter what they tried to do on the pitch. If their coach is seeing the game in terms of trying to win, then the players will pick that up and will also play to try when they should be playing to win.

It's quite a simple thing to learn and put into practice. Tell your team, your employees, your managers exactly what you want them to do and their brains will process exactly what you have told them. If Martin Johnson had told his team that they were a stronger team (and they probably were) and that he expected them to go out there and play their best rugby in order to see a score in the twenties whilst defending hard in order to stop the opposition from scoring, then I suspect strongly that we would have seen a win. Perhaps Johnson did say that to the team that afternoon, but by then it was too late. He had beenon national TV telling the nation that his team were going to try hard. Players are not immune to that talk and that attitude.

This is not a criticism of Martin Johnson, I am just using the situation as an example. Use positive language, the language of winning, in order to influence your team and it will pay off. Use it on yourself too in your "self-talk," that dialogue that runs through your head and see the dividends.