More happy customers

It's Friday afteroon and I have just opened my emails to find the following: "Dear Helen, I just wanted to say thank you. I am 39 and had been trying to conceive a second child for 2.5 years, including 1 failed iui and 1 failed ivf and was at the point of throwing in the towel when I read about your ivf belief cd. Over the years I have tried everything (reflexology, acupuncture, yoga) but nothing seemed to help. I bought your cd and decided to give it one last chance and I can honestly say that it transformed my ivf experience. This time I remained calm, kept occupied with other things and stayed off the fertility forums which I found hugely stressful yet addictive. It has been a much more successful cycle resulting in 5 5-day blastocysts and I am delighted to say that I finally tested positive. I cannot recommend the ivf belief cd enough. Thank you." How lovely to have "transformed" someone's experience into something positive. I feel really humble.

Hypnosis Lowers Blood Pressure and Assists Surgery Success

Yet another reminder of how hypnosis helps with surgery AND with lowering blood pressure, but very close to home this time.

My husband had major abdominal surgery in November last year and unfortunately had to have the same operation again a week ago. Knowing how poorly he had been and how hard the recovery was, this time he decided to invest some time in preparing himself for the surgery, something he had not done last time.

The first challenge was to get through the pre-op assessment. He was sent home from it after his blood pressure was found to be too high, rendering him unsuitable for surgery! He spent the weekend trying to lower it to no avail. Admitting defeat, he lay back in my chair as I spoke to him for 14 minutes. His blood pressure reduced by 20 points systolic and over 20 points diastolic. This reading prevailed, meaning that he WAS able to go for his operation.

We also did some pre-op hypnosis, getting his body and mind into the right shape for recovery, no bleeding, increased comfort post-op etc. He came out of the surgery in far better shape than the previous operation, with considerably reduced pain. Everything has been far easier for him than the last time and he was able to return home quickly. One major improvement has been his ability to eat, which has also progressed a lot quicker than last time. He is up and about, feeling a lot better than he was expecting and able to eat more solid food, which is aiding his recovery.

I have the same hypnotherapy sessions on CD that I used for my husband - lowering blood pressure and pre- and post- op. Contact me if you'd like them via my website http://www.northamptonhypnosis.co.uk

Hypnosis helps surgery

One of the oldest uses of hypnosis is for the preparation of patients prior to and during surgery. James Esdaille, working in Calcutta in the mid 19th century used hypnosis where he had no anaesthetics to remarkable good effect. Patients had less bleeding, less post-surgery complications, better managed blood pressure and recovered more quickly.

This is from an email I received this week:

"The hypnotherapy sessions I had with you really helped me to deal with the whole process of being in hospital and having the operation. I saved the recordings on to my MP3 player and listened to them a couple of times in the week before being admitted and played them in hospital too. I found them deeply relaxing and comforting. Apart from being nervous on the morning of the op I was generally quite calm and accepting that I was in good hands. After the operation I had no further bleeding, the swelling and bruising have largely gone and I have been able to manage any pain with normal pain killers."

This lady received just 2 sessions with me and we recorded both sessions to CD for her to take away. The operation went even better than was expected and she is making a fabulous recovery.

Things you didn't know!

New IVF CD in Production

My new IVF CD is currently being produced. With eye-catching design by Create a Brand again, it is going to look as wonderful on your shelf as it is effective. But it won't be on your shelf! It will be playing on your CD player, computer or mp3 player.

I have some excellent reviews from the pre-production version and it contains tracks that I have been using in my practice for several years. If you want an easier, calmer IVF treatment cycle and you can't get to a therapist directly, this CD is a must-buy.

Look out for it on my site and on Amazon within the next week.

Lose weight in Northampton

One of my weight loss clients in Northampton once grumbled to me at her first appointment that her weight problem was hopeless and that she needed Paul McKenna. Well, I took this as a bit of an insult if truth be told! I did however calmly tell her that she certainly did not need Paul McKenna as she had me sitting right with her and charging her far less than a celebrity hypnotist!

If you want to ditch the excess pounds and you live near Northampton, Daventry or Rugby, then you can use hypnotherapy to lose weight. It's far easier, simpler and more effective than you ever knew. Phone me at my practice at any time - Helen McPherson Hypnotherapy 07771 822602

Radio Gaga

Well my heavens, what a busy week I am having. Not only have I finished my tax return report for my accountant way ahead of Christmas, let alone ahead of January, AND achieved one of my stated goals for the year... Phew! Sorry I am going to have to draw breath here.....

I was so proud of the tax return. It hangs over me from before its even the beginning of the new tax year! During my goal setting exercise in January, I stated that I wanted to submit my information by the end of May. Well I did in fact achieve most of it by then but then I left the remainder, and left it and left it. Until Now! What a massive relief.

And what else? Well... this afternoon I have had my Pregnancy CD accepted by a local retailer, which I am totally chuffed about. If you are in the know, it is Pink & Blue Baby World online and in Daventry, Northants.

And... I was on local radio today, talking about hypnosis for fertility. It started with an interview with the Chair of the Gamete Donation Trust as she has come out today saying that sperm donors should be paid more than women who donate their eggs. I was then asked to comment on her position. I did of course remain neutral but was able to plug my business a little. Thinking about it now in the cold light of day I don't think men should be paid more. It is less risky to them and despite the fact that this LauraVitjens thinks it takes 30 visits to a fertility clinic to donate sperm, actually it doesn't take anywhere near that many visits. And there are no risks to a man's health from doing it either.

So there you go, I am "off the fence"

And don't think that feritility issues affect "other people" either. It is a growing and silent epidemic. 1 in 6 couples has difficulty in conceiving and 1 in 10 couples has treatment for it. Everyone knows someone that has had IVF treatment or other fertility treatments, even if you think you don't.

Hypnotherapy or not?

Prospective clients who are enquiring about hypnotherapy sometimes need to be educated. Followeres and readers of this blog and my Facebook page may sometimes be amazed at what we can achieve to help our clients live happier lives. And it feels great for me too, let's be honest!

But we are not ubiquitous miracle workers and it is good to remember this sometimes. I had an enquiry this week from a lady looking for help for her daughter who was in a hospital psychiatric ward, possibly suffering from borderline personality disorder and was apparently "emotionally unstable" as described by mental health nurses. Hypnotherapists are not often trained to deal with psychiatric diseases/pathology and I gently explained this to the enquirer.

I don't like turning people away but occasionally I have to. Possibly I could have helped the young lady in question but there is a big risk involved. We have to remember our code of ethics and not take on cases that we are not qualified to deal with.

What upset me about the incident was that the lady was desperately disappointed. That was to be expected but I was shocked that she said I was the first person she had contacted who said they couldn't help. She had spoken to some NLP practitioners who had told her that her daughter needed NLP. This course of action is dangerous. NLP and hypnotherapy are not cure-alls and practitioners must remember this. Yes we are all in business to make a buck but not at the expense of vulnerable clients and their parents.

I am an empathetic and understanding person. I really hope this lady can find some appropriate help for her daughter. I also hope it is not with unscrupulous and unethical practitioners.

Surfing the wave

I have written this on my Facebook page but my head is BUZZING with ideas since my detox. I feel I'm on fire with things to do. Completely enthused about what I do and how to reach out to more people.

My re-branding has started, which is very exciting. My wonderful marketing helpers Archie, Louise and Simon at create-a-brand have done some amazing design for me. You can see it on my Facebook page, it hasn't migrated to the blog or the website yet.

I have also launched "Belief. Bump. Baby" which is a totally new service dedicated to family creation from pre-conception through to parenthood. "Belief.Bump.Baby" is going to take off and it's almost a case of reining it in! There is so much to be achieved in this area - pre-conception counselling, fertility counselling and advice, support to IVF and assisted conception treatment, emotional support through pregnancy and pregnancy loss, and the courses in "hypnobirthing", a practice that is gathering pace thank heaven.

I am so excited by what I am doing right now. Charles gave me a fantastic phrase - "Surfing the wave." I love it and I'm surfing!

What a lovely job

I have had such a good day today. So good that I feel the need to tell everyone about it.

My first client today has made huge leaps and bounds in an incredibly short time. I just loved seeing her so happy and positive again.

My next client was someone who had booked in late for a single issue in a single session. What a wonderfully lovely man! One of the perks of my job is meeting so many interesting and truly "nice" people. This man however was truly something special. He works at a job at the moment but is looking to find a different path in life that reflects his true personaility. He is NLP and EFT trained and I feel sure that he would make a sensitive, nurturing and successful therapist. The work we carried out, although brief was good and effective and my client phoned me later to tell me all about his successful afternoon.

There's a lesson to us all here - sometimes we have to make a leap of faith. And sometimes we have to be employed to fund what we really enjoy in life whatever it is. And if we remain open to opportunity and instinct then we can also sometimes be fortunate enough to do what we love in return for money.

My last client of the day is proper special. He is autistic and I have blogged about him before. He has also made such enormous strides and I felt so proud of him today for the progress he had made.

And, and, and... one of my clients phoned me this weekend and everything in her life is sounding VERY promising too.

I fitted in more today, but I just had to write these parts of it down. It has been an extra special day in many ways. What's that word? Ah yes - gratitude.

Detox

I haven't blogged about my detox yet although I have bored my friends face to face and on Facebook.

In the past I have detoxed by eating fruit and vegetables for a week and I once did a 3-day juice detox. This time I really went for it in a totally different way. A couple of weeks ago I went on what you might call an "Aloe" Detox programme.

It took a little bravery to try because it was not easy in the slightest. I bought a pack from a company called Forever Living, which some of you may have heard about. It was a 9 day plan, the worst of which was easily Day 2, although the morning of Day 1 was no picnic!

It involves drinking copious quantities of inner leaf Aloe Vera gel. And I cannot lie, it tastes pretty foul. The first 2 or 3 drinks were bearable but by the end of Day 2 I had given in and added fruit juice! Tough girl that I am, there are some things that I don't really want to do. Getting back to the plan, on Day 1 and 2, all you actually "eat" is one meal replacement shake at lunchtime! Yes! The rest of the day is filled with drinking aloe juice and water and taking supplements of bee pollen and a herb called Garcinia with Chromuim.

So, honestly Days 1 and 2 weren't funny. Day 3 however was so much nicer as you start the day with, wait for it.... a meal replacement shake! Hooraaaay! So in addition to the aloe juice and supplements you have a shake for breakfast and lunch and then a real dinner! My God, how much was I looking forward to it! And yet, I couldn't finish. My husband laughed. I felt like crying.

And the next 7 days followed the same pattern. I ate small evening meals and felt perfectly full up and not hungry at all. On the morning of Day 3 I really did wake up feeling more energetic and the increase of energy continued throughout the week. It was completely amazing!

By the end of 9 days I had lost 7.5 lb in weight, 4cm off my waist, 3cm off my hips and 2cm off my thighs. HOW???? It's quite incredible.

So apart from that, I achieved what I wanted, which was to feel more energetic, wake up feeling awake, lose my sluggish mind and digestion and end my sugar and carb cravings. The 9 day plan achieved the whole lot and I remain surprised, but it honestly did it for me. A couple of weeks later, my weight has stayed off and I don't feel like over-eating or snacking. My energy levels stay up throughout the day and I am waking earlier and feeling like getting up immediately rather than struggling out of bed. My meals remain small and I am eating very few carbs and no bread.

I feel so great and am so glad I did it. I recommend it to anyone who feels like I did. In fact I am condidering telling my weight loss clients all about it as a great way of kick-starting their weight loss. I'm still suprised at the fantastic effects it has had.

Ok, I'll stop gushing now, but it's hard not to!

New Venture

Since I was at university I have had so many ideas for business ventures. Many of them I have seen taken up successfully by others and it's a bit galling. At the moment I am on a creative streak. I have so many ideas bubbling away that I hardly think my life will be long enough to ever achieve all of them. Perhaps it's all about that period of growth that happens in the spring time.

The idea that I am acting upon though is concerning overcoming trauma. I seem to have been doing a lot of this work recently, for social services, for motor insurance companies as well as individuals.

My vision is to run a retreat for members of the Armed Forces who are getting over time spent on operational duty. In the First World War we called it shell-shock. In the second it was termed a "Lack of Moral Fibre." Instead of being shot for cowardice men were discharged with the acronym LMF written upon their records. We now call difficulties arising as a result of operational tours Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.

PTSD gets quite a bit of publicity in relation to servicemen. No doubt the most seriously affected are being treated by the defence medical services. But not everyone who is struggling is getting the help they need. Sometimes PTSD comes on insidiously. The previously ambitious family man in his early thirties who is now listless and having too many arguments with his wife may be suffering. So too the young single soldier who is drinking too much, far too much and has taken to going out on his own at times rather than with his mates.

My retreat is aimed at these sort of people, for whom life is ok but not quite what is used to be before they returned from an operational tour. Who know that something may be wrong but can't quite put their finger on it. I am planning to run a week where guests have time to be themselves, to have some physical and emotional therapy, enjoy a few low key activities. In essence to start to recover a sense of who they are.

There is a lot of work to be done yet. I have to find a location and a house or hotel for the accommodation; the costings need to be done; I need to plan the therapies and activities; conduct some more market research. I have one colleague on board already and I think between us we can make it work.

It is a very exciting project for me and although I may have missed out on some ideas over the years, this is one that I want to make work.

EFT or CBT?

Heard of these?

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). EFT is the tapping technique where you tap on points of the body in order to release emotional disturbance and upset. I have made one or two blog posts about it.

CBT is based on changing the way we think in order to change the way we feel. Very simply, you recognise a negative thought, decide why it is negative and then place a positive spin on it. Practised diligently, over time and with persistence it should help by lietrally changing your mind.

There is a fundamental difference between EFT and CBT, which a client recently pointed out to me. She has worked with CBT before and is therefore used to changing negatives into positives. EFT on the other hand focuses on all the negative thoughts, brings them into consciousness and uses the tapping system to discharge them. This bothered my client, who felt that EFT is a very negative therapy.

If you compare it to CBT, then in this respect you could say that EFT does feel rather negative. But I promise you that it works because with EFT we focus on all the negative aspects of a situation until they are dealt with, processed and the negative sting has been taken away. Some parts of life ARE negative, and may not be what we would like to deal with but if we are not overwhelmed with emotion then we are able to deal with them in a positive manner.

There is an EFT method called "Choices" which I also employ, which has a far more positive feel to it. It adds in the positive frame of mind that we want to cultivate, after we have dealt with the negative feeling. For those who enjoy CBT, this application of EFT is sure to be a winner.

Want to try EFT and feel free? There's more on my website: http://www.northamptonhypnosis.co.uk/EFT.html

Can you Stop Smoking in one Hour?

Well can you? Is it possible? Of course it is; you can stop smoking in an instant if you want to, it doesn't take a full hour for a magic transformation to take place!

Stopping smoking or quitting smoking is one of the standard treatments that Hypnotherapists offer. Almost all of them offer a one session treatment to be free of cigarettes. I don't do this. I think I may be alone in offering a 2 session program. But my program works!

What I do is to get to know the person properly first. We explore the reasons why someone smokes and why they think they smoke, what the cigarettes do for them. Then I bust all the myths about smoking - it helps me to relax, it helps me concentrate etc. After that we take a good look at what the person thinks they are going to find difficult and what things or situations might trip them up and cause them to smoke again.

You see, unless you really address all these issues, you have left too much to chance. If someone truly believes that he needs cigarettes to get through difficult work situations, if you take them away, how is he then going to cope with the difficult meetings? You can't remove something and leave a vacuum. "Nature abhors a vacuum" remember. If you are not careful, something else destructive might worm its way in, like overeating.

So, after I have found all the barriers to a person's success, I go about giving them strategies to overcome these barriers. I may use hypnosis or NLP. What I always do, is give them homework for the following week. This is in the form of Emotional Freedom Technique, to remove negatives, to blast barriers and zap obstacles.

My clients go away feeling motivated, uplifted and ready to set about the task of quitting. Occasionally they don't! And for these clients, they just go home and decide to carry on smoking or maybe come back at another time. You can't force these things, everyone has their own timetable and if someone is still unsure after a session with me then the time is not right for them. The chance of success is low so in order not to experience failure, it's better to wait until they are ready. And that's fine.

So my clients go away for a week and when they come back they have destroyed all their smoking paraphernalia. That pot outside the back door is gone, the lighters thrown away, ashtrays cleaned and given to charity. Clean fresh clothes on. One client even washed her curtains before her appointment.

So my client returns, absolutely ready to be a non-smoker, champing at the bit, raring to go. We do a bit more EFT and then I perform the hypnosis session. This is the hour long session that so many hypnotherapists give their clients. And the person walks out of the door as a non-smoker - every time.

The 2 session program works. I have seen it time and again. I have amended it twice for clients who were desperate to do it in one go and I won't do that again, because both of them ran into difficulties which they should not have done. I don't like to see that.

Let me give you some case studies. One lady came to see me, who identified in her first session that cigarettes helped her cope with stress and that if anything was going to stop her from successfully quitting it was her mother. So I was able to see that her problem was stress with her mother, not cigarettes at all. SO I worked first with her for 3 sessions on resolving that stress and how she could manage her relationship better. When she had that under control, she was then ready to become a non-smoker. If we had gone ahead and attempted the one stop smoking hypnosis session, I predict that it would not have worked for her in the long-term.

Another gentleman came to see me for stress, over-drinking and smoking. He revealed that he drank between 70 and 100 units of alcohol per week, he was generally mildly unhappy, had recently retired and couldn't seem to control his drinking. He said he wanted to get that under control first and then deal with the smoking. We worked together for 4 or 5 sessions, while he gained control of his drinking and became more optimistic and motivated. At that point he said he wanted to consolidate and wasn't ready to quit smoking just yet because he was so happy his drinking was now at manageable levels. He had achieved what he wanted to achieve at that point, it really wasn't necessary to push a stop smoking hypnosis session at him too.

So to answer my question I first posed; yes I do believe it is possible to stop smoking with hypnosis in one hour BUT this approach will not be successful with everyone. Hypnosis to stop smoking will be successful for nearly everyone when a longer, slower approach is employed that takes into account the individual's circumstances and beliefs and works to set the stage for success before the "one hour" session is employed.

There's more on my website http://www.northamptonhypnosis.co.uk/quit_smoking.htm

Emotional Freedom Technique

Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT will be the "next big thing" in my humble opinion. It is a system of tapping on acupuncture points on the body which brings about emotional and physical relief from all kinds of negative emotions and physical symptoms.

Try this article:

Surgeon Uses New Acupressure Technique to Lower Surgery Risk

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) -- Almost everyone who’s scheduled for surgery experiences at least a few symptoms of anxiety. But while some stress is normal, patients who experience severe anxiety actually increase their need for sedating drugs and subsequent complications such as severe pain, slower wound healing, and increased risk of infection, adverse drug reactions, cognitive impairment, and longer hospital stays.

According to Los Angeles surgeon Eric Robins, MD, there’s a simple way to reduce these risks by reducing the anxiety that causes them. His prescription is EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), a simple do-it-yourself procedure that combines gentle fingertip tapping on key acupuncture points with focused thought.

“Stress is a real problem in health and healing,” says Dr. Robins. “but it doesn’t just complicate surgery, it actually contributes to disease. Most of the problems that send people to surgeons are themselves linked to stress, anxiety, or past traumas. I like EFT because it’s easy to demonstrate, easy to learn, works fast, and addresses an illness’s underlying factors. In some cases, it works so well that we have to cancel the operation.”

One of Dr. Robins’ patients was scheduled for surgery because she wasn’t able to void urine after a knee replacement. During her pre-op exam, Dr. Robins wondered whether emotional factors might be interfering with the function of her bladder.She answered that stress from her husband’s recent illness might be a factor. “Even though we were talking in a busy medical clinic with many distractions,” says Dr. Robins, “I taught her EFT and guided her through 10 minutes of tapping. After we filled the patient’s bladder with water and removed her catheter, she voided just fine. Five days later she was still doing well, making the surgery unnecessary. Her symptoms never returned.

”When surgery is needed, he says, EFT can reduce or eliminate pre-op nerves, reduce the patient’s need for anesthetics, speed recovery, and improve the procedure’s outcome.

Reducing a patient’s need for sedating drugs is important not only to those with drug sensitivities but to America’s aging population. According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists, over half of patients age 60 and older experience confusion and other symptoms of cognitive impairment when discharged after surgery, and three months later, over a third continue to be adversely affected. Patients undergoing heart surgery, joint replacement, or fracture repair are at greatest risk of anesthesia-related mental decline.

Gary Craig, the Stanford-trained engineer who developed EFT, has collected thousands of reports from EFT practitioners around the world. “Several describe how by reducing their anxiety, patients reduced and in some cases eliminated their need for epidurals and other drugs or procedures,” he says. “Others demonstrate how EFT speeds recovery and helps patients regain their full range of motion and resume their normal activities.”

“EFT is one of my favorite healing tools,” says Dr. Robins. “It’s the perfect complement to conventional medicine, and I strongly recommend it for anyone getting ready for surgery.”

This article cites Eric Robins, a well-respected medical doctor and author of many self-help books in the USA.

EFT is an amazing therapy, it can be used on anything and everything. I use it frequently in my practice and teach it to most of my clients, in whom I have seen several miraculous results. Hypnotherapy is excellent for adding in the positive, to encourage new ways of behaving. For deleting old unhelpful ways of living, negative self-defeating thoughts and the negative self-talk that we use, you simply can't beat EFT.

Followers

So there are one or two followers out there hmm? Well show yourselves won't you? Write a comment or two. Where are you coming from? What do you think? Tell me a little.

Let me tell you a bit more about my days.

Today I helped a lady to stop smoking. Happily I helped her to bond with her unborn baby too. She went away very happy. In just 2 hours I have helped 5 lives. The first two are the woman and the baby. The others are her other 3 children. That family is now healthier and have more money. That baby is potentially healthier than it would have been had the mother kept on smoking. And those benefits last through all their lives - more money, better health. You can't argue with that.

My client yesterday told me how she could just see in me that I loved what I do. So it shows on the outside as well. Even though at that point I had told her nothing about myself she could sense the contentment. How many of us are really doing what makes us truly happy? Doing what makes us happy is following our true path in life, following our higher purpose. Using our real skills to make our way in life is following our higher purpose, what our soul set out to achieve. When we follow our soul's path, we are happy inside, our soul is nourished.

I love my clients. Every one of them is so different, with such differing backgrounds and histories and outlooks. They are such wonderful, unique people. And so interesting. One of them was in the film industry. Ooh, how glamorous! No, not really as I found out! And all the glamorous jobs are just like that too - not so fantastic at all.

So follow your heart, follow your soul. Whatever it is that you do well is a good place to start. And if that thing isn't a money-spinner then do it when you are not working for money. You will be surprised at how things work out. And if you keep following your instincts you are following your soul's path. And that way leads to contentment.

It's still changing

You see change is not just in the air, it is everywhere. It is in us and around us, it permeates our cells.

There is a huge shift going on in the universe at the moment. And we have to shift within it. Can't you feel it? Don't you perceive it? Don't dig in your heels and try to resist it - that will hurt. Think you can stop a tidal wave? Go right ahead and try but it won't be pretty.

I can feel the change. I can feel it inside me. My own small world is also changing within the wider shift. And it's pointless to resist it. Is your life shifting? If you sit still for a moment can you feel the winds? Where are they taking us?

I have to mention that I am surprised but people are actually reading my ramblings. The blog tells me that there are no followers but one or two of you are sneakily out there. I hope you are enjoying it so far. Such pressure on me to write something interesting all the time!

Let me tell you about my job today. A client asked how long I had been doing this. She said she could see I loved it. And how? All we had done was to talk about her. I hadn't even put in any huge effort at this stage. Yes I do love it. I miss the Army too, missing it more the further it goes away from me. But how could I not love hypnotherapy? I help people to enjoy their lives.

The people who come to see me are in pain, mental pain. And that pain is preventing them from enjoying their life. Imagine walking a mile with a stone in your shoe. Ouch! The pain in your foot leads to the source of the pain - the stone. Remove the stone and you can enjoy walking again, free from pain. I help you to remove the stone. I help you to enjoy your life.

For those who are wondering, and those who have asked, my dog is improving every day thanks! She is a bouncing bundle of fun again Perhaps she will never be completely well but she is good and happy. And so are we!

Weight Loss with Hypnosis

I am conscious that this Blog has not explored Hypnotherapy as much as it should so far.

I don't have much time this evening but I will go into more depth later on. But today was a fab day frankly. A client who I am seeing for weight loss came in. She was bemoaning the way she had eaten too much over Christmas and been slobbing in front of the telly. She felt fat and guilty and had put weight on.

But she had cut her alcohol intake, she was following my weight loss rules (it's not a diet, it's a way of living) and her activity level had increased dramatically. And all without her even noticing. She was feeling cheerful and energetic.

And when I probed further, she had lost weight - 12lb in the 5 weeks since she first came to see me. How good is that?! It's not so hard this job, but the rewards, the rewards are pure gold!

Smoke Free Forever

Sometimes I see clients in my Daventry hypnosis practice who I am not convinced will be successful at stopping smoking. Perhaps they don't give me enough of a conviction that they want to do it. I usually tell them that they may find it more difficult than others might do. If they then launch an attack and tell me that they CAN do it, then I treat them.

Sometimes a client will come who is just "finding out" and sometimes I refuse to treat them. It's not as bad as it sounds. They just don't give me any clues at all that they really WANT to stop. So we have a nice chat and I tell them tactfully that I don't think they are ready for it yet. These people always look relieved at this point and they go away happy.

Last week a mother and daughter passed by the shop who I had treated 6 months ago. They came in for a chat - both were completely smoke free and very happy and enjoying it. They hadn't found it difficult at all. I was ecstatic. I had thought that they both might have trouble. I was so overjoyed for them. And think of the extra money they will have for Christmas - how brilliant is that?!

I've only ever had one person who didn't manage to give up. I was disappointed but I had given her all the treatment I could, and some more. She however was not disappointed, she had enjoyed the reatment and knew that she would have the resources available to her when she did feel ready to quit.

We never know, do we what is going to happen. We might have a good idea but we can't totally predict.

It's TOUGH out there!

It's a tough world out there. Economic recession, high prices, companies folding already. All meaning that people don't have money remaining for complementary health. WHY? Isn't health your most important asset? It is mine - emotional and physical health is vital. Without that you are in a world of pain.

And that's how we see most of our clients - they are in pain.

Take one of mine who called in on the off chance for some hypnotherapy. He just wanted one single session - he lived in London, he wasn't going to be a regular client. This poor chap was loooking for something - he was stressed, unhappy, depressed, on medications, having mood swings. He was certainly in a world of pain.

We had a lovely session, where he calmed his mind and body, probably for the first time in years. We went through some visualisations aimed to give him peace, a better perspective on life, hope and to calm the mind and spirit. He felt so much better afterwards. And so did I. He took a couple of my hypnosis CDs too. I hope he is using them.

I love this job