Have you ever thought of having hypnotherapy? Curious? Scared? Fearful? So many people have had hypnotherapy to overcome lifelong unwanted habits and behaviours. What do you now want to change? When you going to really shine?
Is Hypnosis Real?
The answer of course is “Yes”.
Those people who say hypnosis is NOT real tend to think it’s just a placebo effect - Hypnosis wouldn’t work for them. They are too intelligent to be hypnotized, so hypnosis wouldn’t work for them, because people in hypnosis are faking it. These are pure myths.
Hypnosis IS real and asking whether it is real is really like asking whether “thoughts” are real. All hypnosis is self-hypnosis and it’s probably more accurate to think of a hypnotherapist as a coach or guide.
We know that our thoughts can affect us powerfully. Hypnosis taps into your internal dialogue – into your unique imagination and invites you to experience the world in a different and positive way.
RELAXING MENTAL EXERCISES FOR PEACE OF MIND
We all are familiar with the need for physical exercise, not only to relieve anxiety but also to ease tension.
What we may not realize is that it is necessary for mental relaxation through mental exercise to calm the mind.
The relaxing mental exercise is an experience. It becomes the means of learning a new pattern of response – the response of calming and easing the mind. The experience in the form of the exercise is repeated so that the response becomes fixed, and you become aware of the calm and ease in your life which was not there before.
Relaxing mental exercising is not difficult. Some people may find it difficult to accept the idea of it. We accept the connection of physical exercise for physical health, so let us try to accept the idea of mental exercise for mental health.
The relaxing mental exercise is not difficult. It merely requires the minimum amount of patience, which any new skill demands. If, when you first try it and you are tense, do not give up, instead bear in mind, that if you are a very tense person, you would get the greatest benefit in the shortest time. It takes a little time to learn however be patient with yourself.
Allow yourself to look forward to doing it, just as you look forward to any other pleasant experience.
The feeling of the relaxation of the mind, may at first be variable. It may come and go. There may be a momentary experience of calm of the mind, and then it is gone. This is to be expected in the first few attempts. Remember that people who can attain the relaxation of the body, can learn to attain relaxation of the mind. If you can capture just a moment of calm, it will not be long before you can achieve the full state.
Remember, too, that relaxation of the mind is greatly enhanced by physical relaxation which is attained in relatively uncomfortable circumstances. So, as we become more adapt at our physical relaxation, we do it in increasingly uncomfortable circumstances.
How To Do the Exercise
Sit in a chair or lie on a couch. Eyes comfortably closed. And think to yourself “It’s good to relax”
Take your time to relax each muscle in your body, allowing relaxation of the body by letting the tension go. Think of the body relaxing, muscle group by muscle group, working from the feet up through the body and into the face – really FEEL it.
You need to repeat this exercise several times, so that the feeling of relaxation becomes more and more a reality – there is no rush, no hurry, the whole things is easy and natural.
Let the body relax and feel the calm that goes with it. It can then be felt all the way through, in your body, in your mind.
Let go and drift, you can drift in the calm of it. The natural calm and ease that is all though you.
Practice this as frequently as possible, until you can do it quite easily and naturally.
Then you can do it in increasingly uncomfortable situations anywhere.
How does Anxiety Affect Us?
Anxiety can reduce our life style because it becomes easier to withdraw for the activities that make us anxious. This can be reflected in a created fear........which stops us from doing that thing that the fear is about...... this fear then builds up and the longer it is there, the deeper the fear becomes until that activity is no longer attempted ........and this fear can relate to ANYTHING. When it becomes noticeable, then that fear has developed over a time period possibly building up over years It can often then be reflected in physical symptoms that then tell you that there is something to be concerned about, It can start with loss of sleep, heart palpitations, sweaty hands, shaking, headaches or migraines............or in emotional behaviour, getting angry quickly, emotional overeating, drinking excessively etc. All of this can be resolved, so please do something about it before it gets so bad that it becomes debilitating.
Having a few sessions of hypnotherapy can often resolve the underlying anxiety.
Another View of Reality
To work with the power of our mind, we do not have to understand the laws of physics or how reality manifests itself. The science of mind power can quickly and successfully master the basics and effectively put them to work.
Creating visualizations in our mind is not just idle day dreaming, but it is a creative process which helps us direct the same energies that hold matter together, change water into steam or cause a seed to sprout and grow.
Understanding the nature of these energies assists us to understand the mind and show us why inspiration, prayers and intuition are not supernatural phenomenon at all, but follows patterns and laws which we can discover and use at will. Like everything else in the universe, they are governed by laws which, fobbed of their scientific jargon and broken down, can easily be understood by anyone.
Modern physics has changed our concept of the material world. Particles are no longer seen as consisting of basic “stuff” but bundles of energy. They may make sudden “quantum leaps” behaving at times like units yet being wavelike on other occasions. Reality is fluid. Nothing is fixed. All are patterns in constant motion, even a rock is a dance of energy. The universe is dynamic and alive and we are in it and of it, dynamic and alive.
How consciousness and the physical world interact is now less of a mystery: consciousness is but energy in its finest and most dynamic form. This help explains why events are affected by what we imagine, visualise, desire, want or fear and why and how as image held in the mind can be made real.
These discoveries about the nature of reality can be a major force for our continued change and growth. If we know and understand that we are a part of an open and dynamic universe and that our minds play a part in constructing reality, then we can choose to live more creatively and powerfully. We can no longer stand on the sidelines watching things happen to us, for with our new understanding, we now realise that there are no sidelines to stand on, not were there ever, Everything is affecting everything. Even our thoughts are creating our reality.
Consciousness
If you think of your thoughts as a reality existing side by side with what we call “the physical reality” we will be closer to understanding the unique relationship between the two.
We live simultaneously in two worlds, two realities: the inner reality of our thoughts, emotions and attitudes and the outer reality of people, places, things and events. Because we fail to separate these Inner and Outer worlds, we allow ourselves to become dominated by the Outer world of appearance and use the Inner world solely as a “mirror” for whatever happens to us. Our Inner world reacts constantly and because we spend all our time reacting, we never experience our power. Ironically, we begin creating our reality the day, the hour, the minute we cease constantly reacting to it.
Our inner consciousness is a powerful force whose influence is felt in every aspect of our lives. It is, in fact, the most important part of who we are and it is the main cause of our success or failure.
Everything at its purest and deepest essence is energy and whenever we think, we are working with an immense amount of this energy in the quick, light, mobile form of thought.
Although a single unaided thought hasn’t much power, just repeat this particular thought over and over again. Through repetition, the thought becomes concentrated and directed and its force is magnified many times. The more it is repeated, the more energy and power it generates and the more reality it is able to manifest.
Most of us go through our waking hours taking little notice of our thought processes: how the mind moves, what it fears, what it needs, what it says to itself, what it brushes aside. For the most part, we eat, work, converse, worry, hope, plan, make love, shop, play – all with minimal thought about how we think. You only have to pay attention to the flow of thoughts going on inside yourself and direct accordingly.
Your mind is like a garden which can be cultivated or neglected and you are the master gardener. You can cultivate your mind. Your mind creates your reality.
Eating disorders in older people are growing at a faster rate than in any other Australian demographic.
Dispelling the myth that eating disorders are reserved for the young, the Butterfly Foundation
reports that life changing events like divorce, infertility and even menopause can all play a part in triggering disordered eating later in life.
“People can suppress their habits and present like everything is just fine for decades” Dr. June Alexander, an eating disorders researcher said. “Older people may feel embarrassed to admit they have a problem. But there are usually signs. They may be counting calories and working out how to exercise it off later.”
Those suffering long in life may have had an eating disorder in the past and then relapse during a touch time, she said. Others may not have the illness in early life but ageing can weigh heavily on body image.
There is always an underlying reason or some negative thinking behind a behaviour that is disturbing or destructive. Resolving that underlying reason or negative thinking helps to put everything back into perspective again and life can return to a more balanced state. Hypnotherapy is able to help resolve those underlying issues and give back peace of mind.
Slow your Brain Activity to help you sleep.
Experience the Deep Relaxation of Hypnotherapy where solutions can be found and addressed allowing you to feel lighter and freer.
Electrical activity emanating from the brain is displayed in the form of brainwaves. There are 5 main brainwaves ranging from Gamma to Theta. Gamma, Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta arranged from fastest to slowest brain waves. Brainwave speed is measured in Hertz (cycles per second). The first brain waves ever detected were the Alpha Brain Waves which was discovered by Hans Berger on year 1929.
Gamma: Intense concentration and Learning
Beta: Problem solving and engaging – our normal waking state
Alpha: Relaxing and Recharging – light hypnotic state
Theta: Dreaming “Auto-Pilot States and Learning – deeper hypnotic state
Delta: Deep, Dreamless sleep – deep hypnotic state.
It is in the deepest state of relaxation, where the conscious mind is unable to analyse or judge that positive results can be achieved. Often problems that escalate in our adult years have been a result of unresolved situations that have been occurred in childhood, and it is childhood that we do not have the capacity to analyse a situation and recognise what the situation really is and anxiety can develop. Only as an adult, when the situation is presented to us years later, with the maturity of experience is the true meaning understood and resolved and the anxiety reduced or eliminated.
Get your body ready for the summer. Can you visualise how you would like to look and feel? Do you have the motivation and determination to make that look, happen? Hypnotherapy can help with changing the mindset around weight reduction. What are the reasons you are over eating? Is it because of the virus and the initial lock down we experienced? Is it anxiety, boredom or lack of motivation? is it that you just can’t stop eating for whatever reason?
There is always an underlying reason why this is happening and hypnotherapy can identify that underlying reason. Different to counselling where you talk about what’s happening, hypnotherapy goes to the basic cause whether you know what it is or not at a conscious level because it can access that subconscious part of your mind that talks to you and gives you either positive encouragement or negative talk.
I work face to face and with Zoom to help you start the changes to get your new body ready for summer. Stop the sabotage. Why not start today and get in touch to find out how. Tel 9747 1407 or 0417 471 40
Are You Stuck?
Can’t Move Forward?
Procrastinating? Lack of Motivation?
You are holding yourself back. Negative thinking can become stronger than positive thinking and will impact on your decisions.
Hypnotherapy can help you get back into the positive thinking and motivation you need to get your mojo back.
There are so many reasons and situations that happen that stops us in our tracks, but giving yourself permission to deal with them in a positive way, allows you to move forward and put those challenging situations in the past. It is all about how you view them and how you react to them.
Social Smoking "doubles death risk" An article by Mandy Squires in the Sunday Telegraph June 28th 2020, says that social smokers who light up only occasionally over a drink with friends risk doubling their chances of an early death. Startling new research shows smoking as few as 6 to 10 cigarettes a month can still cause serious harm. Strokes, heart attacks and a raft of other deadly diseases can result from light, social smoking the study shows.
Cancer Council Victoria's Dr Sarah White said the recent findings, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, had surprised even researchers. While it was known reducing cigarettes - or cutting down - in regular smokers did little to combat health harm, the hazards of long term " social smoking " had not been known until now, the Quit director said. "We've always said that every cigarette is doing damage but this actually qualifies that and shows quite clearly that a very small number of cigarettes is actually going to do that damage and I mean as few as six a month." Dr White said.
"So for people who occasionally go out and have a cigarette on a Friday or Saturday night, we know now the damage it can do - essentially raising your risk of "all-cause mortality" , so whether that's lung disease or heart attack or it's a stroke, it raises that risk up to almost double someone who's a non-smoker. Dr White said many social smokers did not identify as "smokers" and did not believe they were at any risk fro their occasional habit.
Asked by a doctor if they were a smoker, most would say " no ", she said. "Which means we have not even been reaching them with our campaigns" Dr White said. It comes as the Australian Government considers cracking down on vaping next year, with plans to make the importation of liquid nicotine for e-cigarettes illegal unless prescribed by a doctor. The planned ban, enforced by the Australian Border Force, would be in place for 12 months while the Therapeutic Goods Administration undertakes public consultation on regulating nicotine yaping products.
Sleeping Difficulties? Want to sleep like a baby?
Underlying tension can reduce our sleep quality.......
Teeth grinding. Jaw clenching, mind overload and restless nights means the sleep isn’t relaxed and allowing normal circadian rhythms.
How many people do you know or have heard of, that need to wear mouthguards to bed, because they grind their teeth? Their dentists can see the wear and tear on their teeth and I’m sure their sleeping companion is well aware of the sound of grinding at night and sometimes , during the day
The grinding or clenching of the teeth can throw the TMJ, otherwise known as the jaw joints, out of equilibrium. It can lead to muscle spasms, and headaches,. Other structures within the facial complex can also be affected from the grinding habit.
If you're suspicious that you are grinding or clenching, you may have symptoms such as, in the morning, a feeling that your mouth and muscles are tired. That underlying tension can be removed by a few sessions of hypnotherapy and the quality of sleep can be improved.
Who hasn’t woken through the night thinking about a problem from the day or a problem facing them in the morning?
Worrying certainly doesn’t help with getting a good night’s sleep. It is a good idea to keep some paper and a pen beside the bed because often you can problem solve through the night and writing it down takes it out of your mind, if however the thought continues and you remain awake, there is underlying tension which can helped with a few session of hypnotherapy.
As our means of communication increases with the ongoing use of internet platforms, Webex, Skype, Zoom etc, - we now have the opportunity to connect in a way we may not have considered before.
With personal face to face contact restrictions, we need to be able to verbalise our thoughts and verbalise our concerns in a different way. Body language communication is no longer being able to interpret our meaning by physical body expression because we are unable to see the way the body is responding to our thoughts and feelings when we connect with people outside the family unit.
Now we must rely more on facial expressions when connecting online or verbal and voice tonality when on the phone to get our message across.
It is challenging for many of us who haven’t the daily contact with friends or colleagues. Being restricted to isolation at home and with continual contact with immediate family members can become challenging for some. It is perhaps time to engage in a positive way, to find experiences to expand different ways of interacting, expressing and engaging in activities in a creative way.
People communicate differently and we need to be more mindful of the changes needed, of what we need to do at this time, to recognise the differences in personalities in the family and work with that to keep harmony and well being. Never has it been more challenging as we are literally thrown together.
I am now moving online for those people who cannot make the face to face contact and come into the office. Please feel free to get in touch if you wish assistance and we can work out a way we can have some sessions.
How to Re-Learn How to Be Happier
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Our self image and our habits tend to go together. Change one and you automatically change the other. The word “habit” originally meant a piece of clothing. Our habits are literally garments worn by our personality. We have them because they fit us. They are consistent with our self image and our personality pattern.
Habits are reactions and responses that we have learnt to perform automatically without having to “think” or “decide”. About 95% of our behavour, feelings and responses is habitual. In much the same way, our attitude, emotions and beliefs tend to become habitual. In the past we “learned” that certain attitudes, ways of feelings and thinking were “appropriate” to certain situations. Now, we tend to think, feel and act the same way whenever we encounter what we interpret as “the same sort of situation”
What we need to understand is that these habits can be modified, changed or reversed, simply by taking the trouble to make a conscious decision- and then by practicing or “acting out ” the new response or behavour. It does require constant watchfulness and practice until the new behavior pattern is thoroughly learned.
Now, consciously decide that for 21 days you are going to form a new habit by doing something different. To increase your self- image each day start the day by saying to yourself “ I am beginning the new day in a new and better way” then, consciously decide that throughout the day:
Each of the above ways of acting, feeling and thinking does have a beneficial and constructive influence on your self-image. Act them out for 21 days. Experience them and see if you are feeling better.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Long term problems with Irritable Bowel Disease ( IBS ) have been helped with hypnosis.
A randomised clinical trial was conducted by the Department of Gastroenterology, Central Clinical School, Monash University and the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne and published in 2016 effectively demonstrated how gut directed hypnotherapy is similar to the results of the low FODMAP diet for the treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
It was stated that in contrast to the low FODMAP diet, gut directed hypnotherapy provided a additional sustained benefit of improving psychological indices concerning anxiety and depression.
I believe that 2020 will be a year of change. As we move into a decade it is like starting fresh and perhaps it’s time to take a fresh look at what hypnotherapy can do to help with people with chronic illnesses that never really seem to get relief.
Time to change your beliefs about effective weight loss?
We have all tried reducing calories, after all, how many diets have been tried? Yes, they work for a time, if we are dedicated, weight comes off but over time the weight comes back again and some extra added as that the initial weight has now gained with a few kilos extra.
Then there is the exercise, a great way to get fit however it in itself doesn’t allow for permanent weight reduction. You can experience a change of body shape, the body becomes more toned and there in increase in muscle mass and your shape improves.
Everyone will tell you, the way for weight loss is the above two ways, calories in + calories out or Eat Less/Move More, but, really how true is it? Particularly if you are a diabetic or insulin resistant. Having just read a book called “The Obesity Code” by Jason Fung he documents scientific articles of research from the last 100 years that disputes the beliefs that we now take for granted. After all, everyone tells you the same thing and the diet and gym industry has boomed.
When I worked at the Ryde Institute of TAFE back in the 1990’s the Dietary Guidelines for Healthy Eating was shown as a pyramid with the base of carbohydrates and the top of the pyramid was meat, as we were encourages to have 6-8 serves of carbohydrates being the main components of our meals a day. That has been turns around and the thinking is now, meats and proteins at the bottom and carbohydrates at the top.
As time and research shows, and it is only after many decades of watching the incidence of obesity increase, changes in dietary guidelines keep changing along with the introduction of new diets.
Fung suggests that weight gain is due to a hormone imbalance, that insulin, in particular, plays an enormous part in weight gain. We now tend to eat through the day, and some people eat through the night, which keeps the insulin levels up as it tries to deal with the constant amount of glucose in the blood. When there is extra blood sugar it is stored for future use which, when there is a constant and ever increasing supply is stored in fat cells. In insulin resistant people, the insulin is unable to do its job properly.
He advocates to increase insulin’s ability to work as the body is meant to, to go back to eating 3 meals a day and no in-between snacking, giving time for the food to digest and the insulin to work and then there is a short period of fasting until the next meal.
Even better, is to increase the fasting time, from dinner the night before until lunch time the next day, making sure you are well hydrated with water, black coffee or green or black tea. To gain really good results in weight reduction, to only eat pure whole food, no processed foods, particularly carbohydrates, bread, cakes, sugar, or if you are really keen, to increase the fasting time.
Give it a try, especially if you have tried the old suggestions and they haven’t worked. What have you go to lose? J Again, every change means a change of thinking and behavior. If you have been disciplined enough to diet, you can be disciplined enough to try fasting, what you will gain is a reduction in weight, more energy and more time for yourself.
Release the stress
Release the stress, feel calm and relaxed and have good memory recall..Does this sound like you? Exam time is such a stressful time for all the family. The anxiety builds and tension flairs as the expectation one has for oneself builds, compounded by the expectation of others.
Hypnotherapy can release the anxiety around exams, after all its been building since the very first time you were expected to perform so to help you on the day.
Have a good night”s sleep
Arrive at the exam room early
Take some nice deep breaths
Avoid noisy students, avoid discussing what you don’t know with others
When the exam paper is placed before you, read it slowly and carefully and breath easily and deeply.
Take your time
MEDIA RELEASE 17 June 2019 from painaustralia
At last – A national plan for better pain management. Painaustralia has today launched the new National Strategic Action Plan for Pain Management.
Millions of Australians live with ongoing persistent pain. Chronic pain can have a devastating impact on individuals, their families, workplaces and the community, often contributing to problems including; opioid dependency, depression, loss of income and increased risk of suicide.
Painaustralia CEO, Carol Bennett, said “The Australian Government and Minister Greg Hunt funded and supported the development of the first ever National Strategic Action Plan for Pain Management (NSAPPM) in May 2018. The year of exhaustive consultation and development that followed have now culminated with the final release of the NSAPPM that sets out the key priority actions to improve access to, and knowledge of best practice pain management, in the next three years,”
The NSAPPM comes at a critical time: pain management finds itself at the intersection of key global public health challenges of the 21st century including the safe and effective use of medications (particularly opioids) and the urgent need to stem the rise of chronic conditions. Consultations with the pain management sector and stakeholders have confirmed the need for greater awareness of pain and pain management, more timely access to consumer-centered interdisciplinary services and research to underpin greater knowledge of pain.
The NSAPPM builds on the strong foundation and advocacy of Australia’s pain sector which developed the first National Pain Strategy in 2010 to provide a blueprint for best practice pain management. “This Action Plan provides us with a clear pathway to meet the challenges that chronic pain poses to all Australians.
The Deloitte Access Economics Cost of Pain report released by Minister Hunt in April this year has highlighted the seriousness of the pain burden in Australia and makes a clear case for investment and support to prevent and manage chronic pain conditions,” Ms Bennett said. The number of Australians living with chronic pain is set to rise from 3.24 million to 5.23 million by 2050. Inaction will see the chronic pain price tag remain in the $billions: Last year alone, Australians paid $2.7 billion in out of pocket expenses to manage their pain. As a nation, the annual cost will rise from $139.3 billion in 2018 to an estimated $215.6 billion by 2050. “
Dr Bruce Lipton explains how we are programmed from birth – a fascinating account of why we do what we do and why we are who we are .........and how we can change if we wish to do so.
Dr. Bruce Lipton Explains HOW WE ARE PROGRAMMED ... - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TivZYFlbX8
Sep 20, 2018 - Uploaded by Be Inspired
This is one of the most eye opening speeches by Dr. Bruce Lipton. ▻RICH DAD, POOR DAD book.
Anxiety Levels in Children are Increasing
It has been reported in the media that there has been a large increase in anxious children. This is reflected in their attitudes and behaviours which is a source of concern to parents. Is this because the parents themselves are anxious, possibly sleep deprived or stressed from their work load, whether it is in the office or child rearing or just sheer overload?
Anxious parents reflect this to their children and the children then start modelling the parent’s behaviour, beliefs and attitude. Today, we are so engaged with everything around us and try to involve ourselves in so much more than our parents and especially our grandparents. Start giving yourself permission to reduce what you do. Take some time for yourself. Children do not have to be involved with a range of activities after school and at weekends it takes family time away. I hear of parents who do not have a minute to themselves as they are always driving children to activities, becoming involved with those activities and burning out. Find the activity you enjoy for yourself and your child and reduce the other activities. A calm, stress free parent will be reflected in a child who is happy and engaging.
How does Anxiety Affect Us?
Anxiety can reduce our life style because it becomes easier to withdraw for the activities that make us anxious. This can be reflected in a created fear........which stops us from doing that thing that the fear is about...... this fear then builds up and the longer it is there, the deeper the fear becomes until that activity is no longer attempted ........and this fear can relate to ANYTHING. When it becomes noticeable, then that fear has developed over a time period possibly building up over years It can often then be reflected in physical symptoms that then tell you that there is something to be concerned about, It can start with loss of sleep, heart palpitations, sweaty hands, shaking, headaches or migraines............or in emotional behaviour, getting angry quickly, emotional overeating, drinking excessively etc. All of this can be resolved, so please do something about it before it gets so bad that it becomes debilitating.
Why Do Non Smokers Start Smoking Again?
When a smoker has stopped smoking for some time there can be a number of reasons why they have that one cigarette that then starts them smoking again.
In psychology there is a principle caller spontaneous recovery where a learned behavior or response to a stimuli will unexpectedly resurface. The body continues to retain memories and subtle triggers, such as certain smell or level of lighting or even a soft touch, which can reignite old associations that incite past behaviors.
How Easy is it to Stop Smoking?
Imaging the amount of money you will have 1 year after stopping smoking. It could be as much as $5237.. Imagine the health benefits, no more coughing in the morning and more energy, no longer out of breath running or climbing stairs.
If you are considering having hypnotherapy to stop smoking, the main thing is that, for whatever reason, you WANT to stop. Hypnotherapy cannot change your mind, it can enhance and build your resistance and need to smoking,. It will allow you to be FREE of any cravings, FREE from any withdrawal symptoms and you will be able to be around people who smoke without wanting to yourself.. Two sessions. Most people stop after 1 session, the second will reinforce the first. If however, you are still smoking, there is an underlying reason why a part of you wants you to keep smoking. In that case we need to explore what that is and why and this will take further sessions.
ThoughtCasters is a website with stories of why people started a career in hypnotherapy. Below is the story of Ron Cox, 44 years as a hypnotherapist and member of the Professional Clinical Hypnotherapists of Australia ( PCHA )
http://www.thoughtcasters.com.au/blog/tips/thoughtcasters-episode-5-ron-cox/
There is now a national peak body for Clinical Hypnotherapists in Australia and that peak body is called the Hypnotherapy Council of Australia
Its mission is to provide a cohesive identity for the diversity of hypnotherapy methodologies and promotes their professional and ethical practice for the benefit of the community.
In Australia hypnotherapy is considered a profession in its own right, with individual hypnotherapists represented by different associations across the country. These associations have differed in standards, membership requirements and in the way they interacted with and supported their members.
To bring these associations together enabling the profession to speak with one voice on key issues concerning hypnotherapists, educational institutions and the broader public, representatives of the profession met in Sydney in July 2010
This meeting resulted in an agreement made by most of the hypnotherapy associations and educational organisations in Australia to become self regulating through the formation of a National Peak Body, the Hypnotherapy Council of Australia, This meeting was the culmination of 3 years of work by many individuals and organisations. Over the following 11 months, the hypnotherapy associations and most educational organisations from around Australia put their support behind the HCA, and joined as Foundation Members.
On 18th June 2011, at a national meeting hosted in Brisbane, the profession installed the inaugural National Board. The board will continue to assist the development of hypnotherapy as a profession in Australia ensuring that hypnotherapy is recognised at Government and Community levels as a valuable and important profession. The HCA will also develop national standards for hypnotherapy practice and training and develop a minimum standard for a Code of Ethics for the profession.
Over the years there has been consultation with the different associations which has resulted in a minimum educational standard for Clinical Hypnotherapists and a Code of Ethics which has been accepted by the associations. Currently there are 5 Associations and 15 Training Schools supporting the HCA. The Board is made up of representatives of each of the associations and some schools, with the associations having the larger vote on decisions.
The HCA is in the process of compiling, with the help of the associations, a National Register of Clinical Hypnotherapists which will enable the public to find qualified therapists. This National Register will feature qualified therapists who belong to associations which have a minimum standard of education for membership.
It is therefore recommended that reference to the National Register will be encouraged when sourcing a hypnotherapist.
Each association requires their members to have Public Liability Insurance, a current first aid certificate, as some health funds allow claims and either a police check or a Working with Children Certificate. Each member is also required to attend minimum 20 hours of continuous education each year and undergo ongoing supervision.
The Hypnotherapy Council will therefore be working as the peak body to educate the public into the benefits and scope of work using reperable therapists, rather than ones who cannot join an association because of lack of education and experience.
The HCA has also received agreement from the majority of the associations at its AGM in Melbourne last year, to amalgamate to form one main association - in a time frame of 5 years to further bring solidarity within the profession – Having the peak body and the consolidation of associations will in the future, be able to more successfully promote the benefits and successes hypnotherapy can achieve.
Unlike the usually accepted talk therapies like counselling and psychology, hypnotherapy is able to quickly bring about changes in resolving unwanted behaviours, limiting perceptions of self, fears and phobias and also used in a medical capacity.
Hypnotherapy was accepted by both the British Medical Association and the American medical Association in the 1950’s as a viable tool and in the 1990’s clinical hypnotherapy was approved for use in two of Sydney’s major private hospitals in the areas of pain and pre and post operative trauma treatment.
The formation of the Hypnotherapy Council of Australia and the ongoing support of the hypnotherapy community in the future with help to replace the mystique surrounding hypnosis and replace it with scientific and medical recognition of its many benefits and allow hypnotherapy to be added to the list of accectable alternative and complimentary practices.
This is a fantastic time for hypnotherapists. Almost daily, research in neuroscience is confirming and verifying the things we have been doing for years. Now that it’s possible to look inside the brain in action, we see the effects of hypnosis, visualization, mental rehearsal, anchoring and many other techniques we use in practice. Research in priming and embodies cognition is proving that unconscious bias, filters and heuristics influence every single aspect of perception, belief, behavior and decision making. The growing field of Epigenetics gives us a glimpse of how some of our hypnotic interventions have been actually turning on or off genetic expression.
It’s almost common knowledge that we can rewire our brain more easily and quickly than we ever imagined. That, because, “neurons that fire together wire together” we have been helping our clients to change their brain long before we could prove it. By diving a little deeper into the science of synaptic interventions and pruning, we can create even more strategic interventions to help those processes along. What’s really exciting about this research is not only can we teach our clients to rewire almost any habituated pattern and create alternative pathways, we can actually recode implicit emotional memories.
Memory reconsolidation is being studied in labs all over the world, breathing new life into some old hypnotic standards while allowing us the flexibility to improve. What we are only now beginning to understand, neurologically speaking, is that memories are not only active and malleable, but with the right circumstances, they are actually re-writable.
Unlimited Human Fall 2018. Melissa Tiers. Right Place, Right Time.
ThoughtCasters. – Interviews with Hypnotherapists
About the Podcast
The ThoughtCasters podcast is an explanation of all things Hypnotherapy. By speaking with a wide range of Hypnotherapists who work in a number of modalities and areas we explore the potential and remarkable processes that make Hypnosis a unique technique for assisting people in all works of life with many different problems or challenges.
By revealing the inside story of many of the remarkable Hypnotherapists from around the world we discover how they got into practice and the kinds of things that interest and motivates them in the incredibly interesting mode of therapy. In this podcast we are introduced to Margaret OBrien, a Sydney based hypnotherapist, recently featured in an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, dated August 15th, 2018 titled The Crime Whisperer.
http://www.thoughtcasters.com.au/blog/hypnosis/thoughtcasters-episode-1/
What a month for news stories in regard to hypnotherapy.
In June and then again in August 2018 - A Current Affair has aired a story regarding a teenager with chronic pain where even the touch of a feather causes distress - hypnotherapist Mark Stevens offered help and here is the result.
https://www.9now.com.au/a-current-affair/2018/extras/clips/clip-cjkxsyobz002c0sodg34wtb8q
The Crime Whisperer
In the Daily Telegraph on Saturday 25th August, page 40 an article titled the Crime Whisperer gave an account of Margaret O'Brien, who has been assisting police with forensic hypnotherapy to help solve cases.
Margaret has hypnotised victims of crime including Joanne Lees and Peter Baldwin to obtain information which the police could follow up to assist in prosecution. It used to be thought that hypnosis was confined to TV shows and movies, but this is real life and hypnotherapy is being used to help solve real crimes, to delve into the subconscious - and for 40 years Margaret O'Brien has been at the forefront of some of Australia's highest profile cases.
"There are many times when nothing comes out of that but even if there is one little thing it can give them (police) a lead" O'Brien says of her long career working with the police forces in Australia. "That lead can be validated, Just because something is said under hypnosis this is what reality is, they still have to follow the lead to prove it - but bits and pieces of extra information that could come up in hypnosis could make a difference between what has been said previously to further leads they could have."
Why are we so fearful of exams?
We learn very early about being fearful of tests - the judgement and scrutiny of our ability to perform. It can start even before school, football, swimming lessons, music lessons, all requiring assessments and performances!. Being watched ! then the critique, how well you did, how you could have done better, did you get a GOLD STAR!! All this sets an examination of ourselves, our abilities and then, the want or the need to do well for our parents or ourselves to get the praise and the compliments. A level of anxiety start and then gets compounded over the years as the more tests we do - the more anxious we get as the level of expectation on ourselves elevates. Most anxiety starts in early childhood and is where hypnotherapy works so well as it allows you to go back to the beginning of the thought and realise that pressure is no longer needed. Once that is done, everything changes and the anxiety around exams and testing can be released.
Experience Exam Calm After the Anxiety has Gone
How good would it be to be able to sit for any exam or test and have total recall. Once the pressure is off, thoughts will flow - of course you will need to study , to know the content of what you need to learn. Being able to articulate or write freely without nerves will give you a much better result. The absence of nerves allows the body to relax and therefore physical performance improves, dancing, playing an instrument, running. When the mind and body is relaxed, the memory of notes or steps become automatic, in muscle memory. After all how often do you consciously need to spend time tying shoe laces. Something that may have taken some time when you were little, remember the laces making rabbit ears? but comes so naturally to you now.
Experience Being Able to have a Good Nights Sleep before an exam.
Impossible you say, your mind going round and round because you haven't learnt enough, not any longer.
You can learn techniques that will allow your mind to quieten and allow sleep to come quickly. After all, we have all experienced those nights when you just can't seem to switch off and the mind is racing, the body cannot relax and you lie in bed for hours wondering when sleep will come. Your body and mind may need to relearn how to relax and switch off to allow you to sleep and wake up refreshed and renewed in the morning. That way you will be able to think clearer and make better decision, better choices. Come and have a few sessions.
Why Hypnotherapy?
My experience of using hypnotherapy came when I was midway through my training and my son was unable to find the sold raffle tickets he so carefully put away. With notice of having to find them that evening, I consulted my text book and during dinner preparations conducted my first hypnotherapy session. About to serve dinner, I brought him out of trance and imagine my surprise and his, when he went straight to his bedroom and returned with the tickets and money. How could I not continue the training with this incredible result and I continue to be amazed at the results some people achieve. I rarely hear follow up from clients however when I do hear wonderful results. I am in awe of the process and the outcome.
I am therefore grateful when the old fashioned mystique surrounding hypnosis is increasingly being replaced by scientific and medical recognition of many of its benefits: and hypnotherapy has been added to the growing list of accepted alternative and complementary practices.
In the 1950’s both the British Medical Association and the American Medical Association recognised hypnosis as a viable tool. In the late 1990’s clinical hypnotherapy was approved for use in two of Sydney’s major hospitals in the area of pai and in pre- and post-operative trauma management.
What is Hypnosis?
Most people do not recognise being in the state of hypnosis. Hypnosis occurs when the body and mind is relaxed and in a trance or daydream state. It is neither dangerous nor hazardous to your health. This daydream state happens naturally many times a day, as our thoughts drift away from what we are doing. Often we can drive a car and not be aware of every street or detail, the car seems to go “automatically” until something brings us back to the awareness of driving. It is is that "trance" state where a hypnotherapist works.
What is Hypnotherapy?
Hypnotherapy is the use of therapy while in a hypnotic or trance state. Different techniques produce light to deep levels of trance where positive suggestions can allow changes to happen. It is a very safe way of altering behavioural problems, unwanted habits and emotional situations that cause ongoing problems in our everyday lives.
When do you make the decision to stop smoking?
Is it when there is a tax increase, is it when your children start pestering you to stop or is it when you realise how much you cough in the morning, bring up phlegm, the breathlessness. Fewer people are smoking and so that feeling of being different now persists, having to look for that smoking area away from others where you can comfortable, legally have your cigarette. Hypnotherapy allows you to stop smoking even if it is something you like but don't want to do anymore. It's your decision. You need to make that choice and a couple of sessions can remove the urge to smoke and reduce or remove the craving and withdrawal symptoms. Can you afford to keep smoking?
Still biting your nails?
Haven't been able to remove that underlying stress which automatically has your fingers in your mouth and biting your nails? It may be a habit that you have been doing since school perhaps, but you've never been able to get out of the habit. I wonder if it is time for you to de-stress and grow those nails . Imagine how your hands will look, able to paint your nails, show off your jewellery, that special ring perhaps. 3 sessions only needed to start those nails growing and remove that stress.
Has eczema been a problem for you?
Unable to find the right cream, diet, food and nothing seems to stop the eczema and the itching? Hypnotherapy is often thought of as a last resort, especially with skin conditions after everything else has been explored. Sometimes there is an underlying subconscious reason for the eczema and if nothing has worked, why not have a few sessions?
Eating Disorders: Turn Your Life Around
It can be annoying, then distressing, the way that someone chooses to eat or not eat, however when it progresses into a way of life that changes someone’s life and a family’s life to the detriment of healthy living then something needs to change. If left unchecked – then those conditions anorexia, bulimia and the variations of these becomes ingrained in behaviour and thinking and can become difficult to address. Force feeding and hospitalisation becomes options, but what needs to change first is the underlying reason why this is happening. The underlying beliefs and perceptions need to be investigated because unless the subconscious reason why this is happening is not address then a battle ensures and lives are at risk.
If you want help and are willing to explore the underlying reasons why this is happening, give hypnotherapy a go and get your health back.
Virtual Lap Banding® instead of surgery? Do I have your attention?
Over eating is a state of mind. Yes I know we all enjoy food however when the amount of food eaten and the type of food eaten interferes with our well being then something needs to change. How often have you tried to do that? How many diets have you been on? Why do they only seem to work for a while and any weight lost is slowly but surely put back on.
Virtual Lap Banding® is a hypnotic 6 week programme which convinces the mind to change the way it thinks and feel about food. Once that mindset is in place, then a virtual walk through the gastric band surgery convinces the mind that a restrictive band has been placed around the stomach to create the feeling of being full therefore reducing food intake. How much better to give a non surgical approach before having the surgery?
Pain Relief: Want to reduce those pain levels by 10%, possibly more?
Pain is a signal that something is wrong, and needs attention, when it becomes constant, then it causes great stress and sometimes debilitation. Sleep is affected and the quality of life changes not only for the person involved but throughout the family, friends and community. The body is continually tense and it is this tension that continues to exacerbate the attention to the pain.
Have you noticed when you have a headache how the body tenses, the blood supply is blocked and the headache continues until you take a tablet to de-stress and then the pain reduces or even disappears. If constant headaches or migraines are a continuing problem for you and there is no obvious medical reason for it, give hypnotherapy a go to find out the reason why this is happening and hopefully relieve them for good.
Otherwise medication increases and life style reduces. What if a few sessions of hypnotherapy could give some relief? What relief could you find if the emotional pain and physical pain was addressed? Would you be prepared to give it a go?
I come from a science background so what enticed me to become a hypnotherapist?
My journey into hypnotherapy started 20 years ago, when suffering from lower back pain, the chiropractor I was seeing suggested hypnotherapy would help. I wonder “ What on earth was this person talking about”. How could hypnotherapy help?
I never had any hypnotherapy, but the suggestion planted a seed and I went on to study a basis hypnotherapy certificate course. It hooked me, what I saw and what I experienced and so I went on and did an Advanced Hypnotherapy Diploma and then a Medical Hypnotherapy Diploma. After the final exam, our teacher said to the class,” Now got out there and do it” I knew I couldn’t not work with it and so in 2000, I started my business.
I am constantly amazed by the life changing experiences that so many of my clients make and how that happens automatically and naturally.
Change Your Mind, Change Your Thinking.
We all think we know our own mind – but do we? We’re aware how our conscious thinking mind, analyses and makes judgments on everyday situations. Sometimes our thinking creates situations that causes us to become stressed and tense. How we perceive a situation can have an impact on us emotionally and physically.
Recently a friend said how she was worried about talking to her son, about what she wanted to say to him and how her son would respond. My friend said she was so worked up, she had created all the arguments and his responses to the situation. When the time came, she sat down with her son and said “ now that you are working, I want to stop your allowance” Her son said “Ok”, my friend said “ and I want you to start paying $100 board a week” and her son said “OK”. My friend said she was so shocked she was unable to say anything and walked away. She had worked herself up to face some conflict and it didn’t happen.
We often anticipate and worry about things that never happen. What are you worrying about at this moment?
Our subconscious Mind – Friend or Foe?
Our subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between real and imagined. If we think something often enough then our mind and body will attract that situation.
Without thinking, our subconscious mind automatically allows our body to function at its peak, it’s our thoughts that stimulate the brain to send signals to part of the body for it to react. What we think affects us on all levels – possibly that is why it is difficult to do hypnotherapy research projects – how do you test individuals thinking to any situation? Hypnotherapy allows you to change the way you think in a positive and beneficial way.
Over the New Year’s Resolutions Already
Those first few days into a new year are always a time of reflection, on how we look, on how we feel and what we want to change to feel good about ourselves and slowly or quickly we fall back into the same old habits as it all seems too difficult.
The sign-up numbers for gym membership increase by about 15% in the first month of the year, so your local gym will have be jumping for joy in January in order to sell the idea of people being able to obtain the body they have always wanted.
If you wish to maintain your intensions of continuing your New Year Resolutions whatever they may be and you are feeling stuck, I’m offering a 20% off a top up session in February and March.
For those who have experienced hypnotherapy, it is a wonderful relaxation of both body and mind where changes can happen automatically, unthinkingly. Perhaps it is time again to review what you want to change and how to do it and then do it, successfully, this time.
Whose advice do you take?
As I watch the new show 'Married at First Sight" I am reminded how fragile our emotions are and how we can be influenced by others. We all have our own opinions, developed from our perceptions and beliefs as we grow and mature, and so do the people who we turn to for advice. When we listen to those closest to us, remember they are looking at it from their perspective and giving advice from their thoughts and interpretations. Advice from friends and family have an enormous influence on us, but it is from their way of thinking and may or may not really be the advice you want.
How Sweet Are You?
Sugar cane has been grown for centuries, so why are we so addicted now?
It is thought that cane sugar was first used by man in Polynesia from there it spread by traders and traveller to India and then through to the middle east where it has been known to grow way back before the birth of Christ.
Sugar was only discovered by western Europeans as a result of the Crusades in the 11th Century AD bringing it back and the first sugar was recorded in England in 1099.
Sugar’s not just something sweet: over the centuries it’s been a medicine, a spice, a symbol of royalty, and an instrument of disease, addiction, and oppression.
In 1966 Medical professionals recommend a decrease in sugar intake, noting new studies that correlate sugar consumption with diabetes and other diseases. These studies, and the increasing rates of diabetes and obesity, spark an interest in sugar substitutes.
After that artificial sweeteners became more popular. Saccharine was isolated 50 years prior but didn’t come into commercial use until after WW1 when there was a shortage of sugar. But then people are moving away from those artificial additives as health concern for consuming those rose.
Sugar is in nearly every processed food we eat and we have our natural sugars in fruits and milk. Consider our breakfast, Weetbix 3%, milk 4%, bread 3% and what do we put on our toast? In my refrigerator, the Cottee’s Breakfast Marmalade is 65%. When you look at food labels, under carbohydrates, a can of baked beans can have anywhere between 6 – 10 % sugar added, depending on the sauce.
Cigarettes have roughly 20%, our drinks, sport drinks, beer, wine, 16 teaspoon in some soft drinks Coca Cola, Mountain Dew, Sprite.
We now know there are so many health conditions that can be helped with the reduction or even elimination of sugar from the diet. Obesity diabetes, cancer, quite apart from the decrease in tooth decay.
So to stay healthy, it’s good to be more aware of the amount of sugar we are eating, and if you find that the addiction is too great to do alone, give me a ring and come for a few of appointments, after all..................
How sweet are you?
How does Anxiety Affect Us?
Anxiety can reduce our life style because it becomes easier to withdraw for the activities that make us anxious. This can be reflected in a created fear........which stops us from doing that thing that the fear is about...... this fear then builds up and the longer it is there, the deeper the fear becomes until that activity is no longer attempted ........and this fear can relate to ANYTHING. When it becomes noticeable, then that fear has developed over a time period possibly building up over years It can often then be reflected in physical symptoms that then tell you that there is something to be concerned about, It can start with loss of sleep, heart palpitations, sweaty hands, shaking, headaches or migraines............or in emotional behaviour, getting angry quickly, emotional overeating, drinking excessively etc. All of this can be resolved, so please do something about it before it gets so bad that it becomes debilitating.
Having a few sessions of hypnotherapy can often resolve the underlying anxiety.