Health Yourself

STRESS

2007-04-23T01:15:00.000-07:00

Here is a useful artical on stress

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6574757.stm

All stress can be tackled. Now I work on line with people to help them reduce their stress.

Silent Addiction

2007-02-15T00:07:00.000-08:00

The silent addiction to everyday painkillers
By ISLA WHITCROFT - Last updated at 10:30am on 13th February 2007 Daily Mail

How easy just to ‘pop a pill’ to resolve life’s problems. It’s almost demanded of us by our loved ones, our family, our bosses. What is your survival tipple? Painkillers, alcohol, coffee, chocolate, cigarettes, or is it illegal drugs?

When it is just now and then, or it in small amounts, it is in your control. However, when you find that your taking more; or you cannot stop; or its everyday, then you will need help.

What help is there? In most cases, it is very important to get to the cause and resolve it. Without doing this the sufferer will return to addictive behaviour, often in another form.

Counselling, hypnotherapy, CBT, NLP all work well. Here is two new set of initials to note, TFT and EFT. These are based on acupuncture yet needs no needles. Also, it is you who apply the solution. I use these as well as the others.

Suffer Little Children!

2007-02-14T23:35:00.000-08:00

A very brutal apprenticeship
By MICHELLE DEWBERRY - More by this author » Last updated at 00:11am on 15th February 2007 Daily Mail

In the article Michelle tells of the brutality of her father against herself and her mother. How this blighted her life yet made her strong.

Some might see the story as how adversity can lead to a strong self. This may be true for some however for most it never gives anything but pain, fear and suffering. Brutalising of a child often leads to problems in adult life being unable to form relationships. The mother being beaten can lead to the child believing that it is normal. After all, humans only know what they learn and childhood is the most influential time for learning who we are.

Michelle does not mention any form of therapy. However her mother showed great strength in breaking away from the father. Now some again will say that For those who are still traumatised by the events of their childhood, therapy is there to help.

For this kind of trauma, hypnotherapy, with NLP and counselling is a successful combination and has lead to many gaining control of their lives.

Hypochrondia is not a joke

2007-02-14T23:09:00.000-08:00

I thought I was dying for six years so don't tell me hypochrondia is a joke
By NATASHA COURTENAY-SMITH - Last updated at 23:41pm on 12th February 2007 Daily Mail

Many people suffer from anxiety disorders, about 10% of the population. It can range from just checking symptoms against … to debilitating beliefs that the contact with anyone and any thing will kill. It is worthwhile reading the above article because it gives much of the horrors a suffer goes through.

It is also worth reading the comments because, although most are sympathetic or even empathetic, there are those who cannot understand. They have the ‘curtains’ solution to the problem. I.E. ‘Pull yourself together!’ The problem with that solution is – if the person could – they would because being in this state is so destructive.

Another solution is drugs, both prescribed and illegal. They can only hold you where you are and in the case of illegal drugs, make things much worse. That is not to say the short term relief of the drugs.

The woman in the article was given CBT. This is a powerful psychotherapy solution which can be made even more powerful with hypnotherapy and NLP.

I have worked with many people suffering from illness anxiety and helped them to a happier life. The three tools I mention help any form of anxiety.

Stress, Health and Weight control

2007-02-02T03:46:00.000-08:00

"Thousands are claiming incapacity benefits for stress in sicknote Britain"
Last updated at 22:00pm on 31st January 2007 (Daily Mail)

My Reply to this article:

As a Hypnotherapist, NLP practitioner and Stress Manager I have indeed seen my work load increase over the years. Most comes from the workplace and spreads into relationships, spending, addictions and anti social behaviour. The one problem I am coming across even more is that of prolonged duress stress disorder.

As for being spongers and scroungers; my clients pay for all their treatment and are often higher management including MDs. I therefore come to the conclusion that it is very real.

It is so a pity that my services are not available on the NHS because I would want to help all despite ability to pay.

More…
Many of the replies to the article gave person experiences of stress and related problems. Most talked about how devastating stress had been. There was also mush about how he NHS could not cope with their particular problem.

Some hark on about how it’s all a con and they should just pull themselves together. “My question to you is: Is it the stress – anxiety – illness real to you?” If the problem is real, then there is so many way that help you. For instance, if the problem is bulling at work then developing assertiveness plus an ability to remain calm is so useful and well within most hypnotherapist and NLP practitioners skills.

‘My quest for size zero'
by DAWN PORTER - Last updated at 08:59am on 1st February 2007 Daily Mail

pressure – pressure – pressure

Why all this pressure to be thin? It is good to be within a certain weight for height ratio, however to be below is as dangerous as being over weight. And as I have said before, the quest alone can be very damaging to your body and the attempts to remain slim.

The most useful method is to listen to your body, it knows best, it will return you to happy and safe weight levels. This is the method that Paul McKenna uses and he gets very high success rates. A key element in such a programme is to work on body image and how you feel.

Phobias and Holidays

2007-01-18T23:15:00.000-08:00

I have just been watching today’s edition of ‘Doctors’ (BBC1 2.05). It was called ‘Wings and Needles’. Part of the synopsis = “two newlyweds suffer from secret phobias.” The newlyweds were going to visit the family of the wife. They live in India. Therefore they will fly and also need injections. However she is phobic of flying and he of needles. Both these are very common. The twist to the story is that nether have told the other of this problem.

How does the story pan out? Well the wife is having hypnotherapy for the phobia. And for once the process was reasonably accurate. (Thank you Tim Sanders (the writer)) The hypnotherapist used systematic desensitisation (SD) when she was in a gentle level trance. It was not instant; there was no swinging watches; and she didn’t go around after clucking like a chicken.

On the other hand the husband goes to have the injection. He tries to get out of it in every way he can; he is rude and aggressive; when he sees the needle he faints. All this is very common in a person suffering from a phobia. The practice nurse tries to use a phobia cure on him but he runs, again a very common behaviour. She claim 100% success rate with patients and needle phobia, this may well be true.

Anyway after some confusion and embarrassment, both wife and husband are cured and all turns out loving and lovely.

So - what about real life? Here I need to say a few things about phobias:

1 - Fear is the bodies’ preparation for you to ether put up a fight or run; it is called fight / flight. It is the base of all strong emotions. We learn most of what we are frightened of, little is genetic. This is why you have to put a fire guard around a fire and socket covers over electric plugs when children are around. They haven yet learnt to be frightened of them.

2 – We learn most fears. Sometimes we mis-learn and therefore something which is completely harmless gets linked to a fight/flight reaction. This is why some people get phobic to that which others cannot understand. Sometimes even telling the person to “just pull yourself together!” This is as useless a helping tool as a chocolate teapot. For the person suffering the reaction is every bit as powerful as if someone was holding a gun to their head. The fact that the reaction is out of proportion to the objects threat does not come into it. The learning of the fear is as deep as the learning that if you press a handle on a door down or turn it – the door opens.

3 – Being frightened of something that can harm you is not a phobia.
I was assisting Paul McKenna in one of his phobia workshops. A guy who had had all his phobias extinguished the day before remarked that there was still a problem. Paul asked what this was. The guy replied that the night before, at 11 o’clock at night, he had to walk to his hotel which was the other side of Hide Park and he was frightened.

Paul remarked that that’s not a phobia, it was his body telling him its dangerous and so it was preparing him for that possibility.

4 – A dislike in not a phobia.
Some people say to me that “Ooh I just don’t like the way spiders move.” My question to that is; “do you get very anxious or even panic?” if the answer is “No!” then its not a phobia is a dislike. This can also be cured. If however you get a fear reaction in the form of anxiety or panic then it is likely to be a phobia.

5 – Many people suffering from a phobia feel that it is incurable.
The most important point of this entry is – ALL PHOBIAS ARE CURABLE. By the very nature of a phobia being irrational in the sense of the object being non-harmful, using the right techniques, any and all phobias will go. Most hypnotherapist and NLP practitioners deal with phobias with ease. Most are based on the simple but effective technique of gradual exposure to the object whilst very relaxed or hypnotized. However NLP had at least seven fast phobia cures which work very well without direct exposure. This is particularly useful in some cases where the client cannot even bare to think of the object. Another, powerful technique is TFT. This is like acupuncture without the needles.

I have used all the above successfully with many clients. It is true now – no one need suffer with a phobia any more.

If you have a phobia please read more on my web site. Help is at hand and if you are in the Milton Keynes area, call me 01908 674 062, otherwise the two societies (SSM) (Hypnotherapy Association) will be pleased to guild you to a well trained and experienced therapist who will be please to help.

So how are the New Years Resolutions going…

2007-01-08T10:23:00.000-08:00

Was your resolution about success in sport, business, learning or just plain success? I expect it was in the back the English cricket team member’s mind.

Success in Sport
There is a saying in business – ‘work smarter not harder’. May be the reason for the teams low performance is that they are trying too hard. Just look at how many are suffering injuries.

So how can you become a success in sport without hours and hours of practice ‘in the nets’? Experiments have shown that visualization can be every effective. Teams who did about half of their practice as visualization did just as well as those who did it all as a practical. So what’s the payoff? Less injuries and fresher performance.

Another advantage of visualization is that the player can understand much more about the opponents’ game thus model the counter play effectively.

Success in Business
Is NLP and hypnotherapy as a coaching and success generator applicable to sport only? Well no! Business is one of the biggest users. It can apply it to negotiations, personnel handling, product development, career development etc.

When I trained to be a Master Practitioner in NLP (with Richard Bandler and Paul McKenna), many of my fellow learners were business people. This at first confused me because my understanding of NLP was as a therapeutic tool. However, when I discussed its applications to business with them it made sense. Success is as much about self belief and self understanding as about business skills. Within NLP and hypnosis are so many tools to develop yourself, to become a success.
Success in Education
Education is one of the most important foundations that any person can have.

In the latter part of the 20th century there were great advances in education. The works by Tony Buzan, Colin Rose and others, have shown that if the individuals learning styles and abilities are used it can help a student with gaining and retaining information far more effectively that traditional methods. I have personally used the tools of NLP, hypnosis and modern study skills to aide clients to excel.

I offer life coaching and study skills for success online. If you are interested please contact me.

Happy New Year

2007-01-01T11:25:00.000-08:00

What’s Your New Years Resolutions
What do you want to achieve or change this year? Stopping smoking; get slimmer; get fitter; get healthier; learn more; do more of this – more of that; get happy.

Barriers to change
Whatever your goal, for most the good intentions last until little more than January 7th. Why might this be? Below is listed some of the reasons why:

Lack of motivation
For some there is no real motivation to change because it is not they who want the change, it is their partner/parent/teacher/child or so. The driving person may use the label – lazy. There is no such thing as laziness, that is just a emotive word used to try and shock a person into change. You, the person who is meant to change cannot see why you need to. Therefore no change.

So how to get the motivation to change. Focus on what YOU will gain out of the results. These need to be tangible, i.e. you can SEE how it will make your life so much better. And what you see must mean a lot to you. It is no use having some vague notion that passing a GCSE in English will help you become a landscape gardener. It is also difficult for some, especially young, to equate money with success. So what is it that £100,000 will give you that £10,000 wont? All of this needs to be made visual. Get pictures and other visual reminders of reminders of your goals and make a wish board of them i.e. paste them to it. Then put the board where you will see it every day.

Remember- No motivation = no change

Wrong motivation
There are two basic kinds of resolution; to stop doing something or to start doing something. If it is to stop doing something then how do you sell yourself the wonderful way your life will be when it’s stopped? Lets take an example – smoking. I personally have now stopped hundreds of people to stop smoking. Most in one easy session although some might need a back up session (inclusive).

Smoking
With smokers there are a few (very few) who just cannot stop. Often it is because it is others who want them to stop or they just think it’s a good idea without any real desire. This I have looked at under lack of motivation.

For many people stopping smoking, the problem is willpower. Not the lack of it but misunderstanding it. Only 20% of people who want to stop using willpower alone succeed. The person who fails gets very embarrassed and usual start to think of themselves as inferior. This is not so. It is just the way our minds work. Tell it not to do something and it will do its utmost to make you do it. Some will proclaim loudly how they are ‘contrary’ – well it is the case that we all are, its just some of us use the pull – not the push. So what will you gain by stopping smoking.

You will also need to change the language you use. Stopping – Cessing – Quitting – Giving up – are all negative. So, how can you make the language positive? Well, when a person stops smoking they are indeed freeing themselves from a very addictive group of drugs (including nicotine), so why not use that? Therefore words like freedom, liberation, proud, and so on.

Just in time for resolutions there are a few articles in the newspapers to guide you.

Weight
We, over the Christmas do our best to eat and drink as many calories as we can. Well, this was the original purpose. There are two traditional methods for controlling weight; dieting and exercise.

Why is dieting one of the worse methods for controlling weight?
Often people who want to slim will often cut down on food drastically or just cut down. They often loose weight rapidly. This give them an ego boost and means they can look good for the summer.
Unfortunately this sends a message to the body telling it that you that there is a famine. The body responds by storing more fat as soon as you return to normal eating patterns.
Because of the nature of diets you have to come off and start to eat normally at sometime. This means returning to the patterns which put the weight on in the first place.
Dieting also gives a psychological message that YOU are FAT. The problem is not you but your behaviour. So it is important to tackle behaviour.
Eating problems are often triggered by a period of dieting or a stressful phase in which you have too many demands on your time and feel helpless.

The limits of exercise for controlling weight
Scientific evidence shows that exercise is one of the best methods for loosing weight. It stimulates the body to use up the unnecessary reserves of energy, it develops a good shape, it helps with self esteem and there are good health reasons for it too.
So why is it that people who use exercise as a method often fail to keep their weight under control. There are several reasons:
For some people exercise = eat
If you are doing exercise just to lose weight then you might have very negative feelings about it.
Exercise is often seen as chore
You will probably stop
Americans spend 33 billion dollars a year on products to help lose weight. Also a fortune on sport and gym facilities. YET the percentage of Americans considered overweight increases annually!!!

A helpful article:
Why the gym won't fix it
Rushing into exercise after festive overindulgence is the worst thing you can do, says Dr Simon Atkins

Thursday December 22, 2005
The Guardian

http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/experts/drsimonatkins/0,,1683248,00.html

Plenty of good suggestions for introducing exercise

There is another way:
New magic bullet - Pill that tricks you into losing weight
By JULIE WHELDON Last updated at 22:27pm on 26th December 2006, The Guardian

Interesting - however, people become fat not because of the lack of exercise or eating the wrong food or eating too much but because of the attitudes to each of them.

Happier solutions
Over the last few years I have been assisting Paul McKenna in his weight control programme (http://www.paulmckenna.com/ ). This is very effective and a load more fun. The basic principle is simply helping the body do its job. It knows what you need to weight and will correct itself when you listen to what it says. In his book, (I Can Make You Thin, (Bantam Press)£9.99) he outlines the 4 simple rules and give guidance on how to put them into practice. The rest of the book is all about making yourself happy. This is because most people over eat because they are unhappy.

Other Changes
There may be other changes, like more confidence, working harder, greater success that you want. Well do look up my web site for more information.

Terry Westwood website

Christmas is a Coming

2006-12-22T07:25:00.000-08:00

Christmas is a time of joy! Is it? For some, all Christmas does is throw into sharp relief just how many and how deep their problems are.

For some, constant pain – crippling debt – family problems – relationship problems – or it could be painful shyness that spoils the season of good will. And isn’t there always someone to remind you that it could be worse so cheer up.

I, for a moment would like to dispel the notion that it is all your own fault. If you could avoid the problem you would. And if you know how to stop the problem, you would. So therefore what is missing in the solutions to these problems?

Debt
After you have started the process of dealing with the owed money you need to deal with the reasons why you got into trouble in the first place. Was it emotional needs? Was it that you slipped into debt so gradually you did not notice? Was it that you earn so little it makes it hard to have enough to live on?

Each of the causes has a cure. Part of the debt solution will include some of what is needed. However you may need to develop even greater power over your money. Coaching, NLP and hypnosis can build such power, helping you to take control of your finances and make them work for you.

Family problems
For most, even with the high divorce rate, family is a rock. For some though their family is the cause of their problems not the resolution, just watch any of the TV
‘show’s of the Trisha type. Rows; ill feeling; misunderstandings; feuds, and the like can blight the jolly and festive season.

Often talking over the problems you are having with a trained person who will listen without judgement; with genuine respect and regard; and who will help you to see things more clearly, more focused. This is called counselling. And when counselling is linked to coaching or hypnotherapy – it becomes a very powerful tool to help you become more in control of your own future.

Relationship problems
The pressure of Christmas can force cracks in a otherwise loving and supportive relationship. Jealousy; distrusted; feelings of rejection; feeling undervalued, all of these can start a vicious spiral into breaking up. Taking steps early can revive and renew the relationship. Counselling with a couples counsellor is very helpful. Relate is probably the best, however there are many counsellors who have been trained by Relate. I personally do not do couples counselling as this is a particular skill.

If a relationship fails it takes time to overcome the links with the ex partner. Even if it was you who chose to stop, it still hurts. There are all the incriminations; ‘What could I have done to save it?’ All the ‘might have beens’; All the same places and people; and all that you shared.

Hypnotherapy, NLP and counselling are there to help lessen the blow and help you gain control for yourself.See my web site for more information.

Shyness
Shyness can be so debilitating. The lack of confidence and esteem that is shyness stops the shy person fulfilling that most basic of needs, to have friends and more so, that special relationship which gives so much. There can, and is often, a lack of social skills. Research shows that people who lack the ability to read body language also are more at risk from psychological illness. This is also true of people who do not form good friendships.

NLP with hypnosis can build for you, confidence and esteem. Also training in body language and rapport greatly changes your ability to form relationships. How different life will be.

For all the above – if you want more information please feel free to look at my web site.

Merry Christmas to you all.

Winter Solstice

2006-12-20T12:08:00.001-08:00

The 22nd of December is the Winter solstice (the shortest day of the year). Many of you will already be feeling the effects of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). This is when there is not enough light in the day. The happens in autumn and winter. Symptoms are lack of energy, headaches, sleepy, fatigued and wanting to eat more carbohydrates. For more information see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder

Often a solution offered is ‘pull yourself together,’ or ‘just do more exercise.’ Exercise is good for the reduction of depression, however it does not get to the root. Pills can also help, they again do not get to the root.

Probably the best method for reducing the effects of SAD is a light box. However, research shows (Cognitive Reactivity In Seasonal Affective Disorder) that therapy can help to. This is usually in the form of CBT (Cognitive Behavioural therapy). The idea behind CBT is that it’s our thinking which needs to change to help us out of depression. CBT is very good at enabling change in thinking. However, hypnotherapy and NLP are both excellent at dealing with this and other forms of depression.

The hypnotherapy-NLP solution is an enjoyable, safe therapy which helps get to the root as well as change the sufferers’ mood directly.

2006-12-19T22:21:00.000-08:00

Hi

2006-12-19T11:42:00.000-08:00

Hi - soon I shall be posting infromation about health matters that appear in the media.