Category: Self Help Page 1 of 2

Addictions

In Clinical Hypnotherapy, Self Help

“It’s just one more, I can handle it”

“I just need to get through this day”

Not being in control is hard, denial is even harder because the broken pieces left to be cleaned up afterwards can be overwhelming.

A habit is a learned and ingrained association between a stimulus (or incentive) and a response (or behavioral reaction) manifested consciously or subconsciously to achieve a goal.
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Addiction is more complex than habitual behavior. The disease of substance abuse manifests the physical symptoms of intense craving, loss of impulse control, and behavioral flexibility. Addictions are physiologically developed and reinforced in the brain each time a substance and/or behaviour is used with the underlying desire to numb, escape discomfort or endure emotional turmoil. Pleasure-seeking patterns such as drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes can create neural pathways in your brain connecting the relief of negative emotions such as stress, anxiety, and depression with craving and and impulsive desire. While harmless in moderation, any behavior that successfully, consistently, and physiologically numbs or “quiets” emotion, trauma or depression, can develop into an addiction.

  • Addictions involve physical and/or emotional dependency on a substance.
  • Is your behavior having a negative impact, directly or indirectly, on your life?
  • Are you repeatedly putting yourself in risky situations?
  • When you stop drinking or using for any length of time, do you experience withdrawal symptoms like anxiety or stress?
  • Have you taken steps to hide your behavior or have you repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, tried to stop drinking or using on your own?
  • Have you adopted new habits believing this will minimize the health impacts only to discover these have become secondary addictions with an even greater negative impact?

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If you answered yes to any of these questions, you likely suffer from addiction.
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Addictive substances are generally used to overcome what is perceived to be a physical, emotional or intellectual pain over which the addicted person perceives they have no control.
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An addict is someone who operates in an emotional survival mode; who believes that he/she simply cannot function physically and/or mentally without their addictive substance or that life would be unbearable without it.
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Alcohol and drug use are two of the most common addictions
The most common non-substance addictions are pornography, the Internet and gambling
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To be effective, treatment for substance addiction can require a multi-disciplinary approach, of which hypnosis can play an integral part; namely, to break the pattern of addiction by helping the subconscious mind to accept more positive strategies, form better choices and to identify and seek closure on the feelings behind the event(s) that first initiated the spiral into addiction.

Bereavement, Loss & Grief

In Clinical Hypnotherapy, Self Help

Each one of us will experience and express our grief uniquely and in our own time

Whenever we receive difficult news, we go through a psychological process to adjust to the change…

Whether it’s the loss or terminal sickness of a loved one or a forced change of life circumstances, adapting to the new normal can be incredibly difficult and even isolating.

Grief is the conflicting feelings caused by the end of or change in a familiar pattern of behavior.
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It is a normal and natural emotional reaction to loss or change of any kind.

Grief is neither a pathological condition nor a personality disorder, but when undergoing the various stages grief encompasses, you may feel as if you are not the same person you once were. You may find yourself bewildered with next steps or just barely coping with all of the various feelings grief produces.

SYMPTOMS OF GRIEF

​Shock & Denial

You may find yourself denying the new reality of this loss at some level, in order to avoid the pain. Shock provides emotional protection from being overwhelmed all at once. This can last for a few weeks.

Pain & Guilt

​As the shock wears off, it is replaced with suffering and unbelievable pain. Although excruciating and at times almost unbearable, hiding or avoidance of this pain can lease to escapism through other less desirable methods such as alcohol or drugs.

Feelings of regret and remorse may surface and life can feel chaotic and scary.​

Anger

Frustration gives way to anger, and you may lash out and lay unwarranted blame on someone else. It’s important to recognize that if not controlled, permanent damage to active relationships can occur. This is a stage for the release of bottled-up emotion.

You may rail against fate, questioning “Why me?” You may also try to bargain in vain with the powers that be for a way out of your despair (“I will never drink again if you just bring him back”)

Depression, reflection, loneliness

Just when everyone around you starts to tell you that you should be getting on with your life, you can experience a long period of sad reflection. This is a normal stage of grief, so allow yourself to work through the process. Encouragement from others, while well-meaning, can divert you from dealing with this stage and becoming stuck.

During this time, the true magnitude of your loss may impact you, and it can lead to depressive feelings. You may isolate yourself on purpose, reflecting on the things you once used to do and maintaining your focus on past memories. You may experience feelings of emptiness or despair.

Upward Turn

As you start to adjust to your new norm, life finally becomes a little calmer and more organized. Your physical symptoms lessen, and your “depression” begins to lift slightly.

Reconstructive Period

As you feel more functional, your mind starts working again, and you will find yourself focused more on the present and seeking realistic solutions to problems posed by your new life. You will start to work on practical and financial problems reconstructing yourself and your life as it now is.

Acceptance and Optimism

During this final stage, you learn to accept and deal with the reality of your situation. Acceptance does not necessarily mean happiness. Given the pain and turmoil you have experienced, you can never return to the carefree, untroubled person you were prior to this loss, but you will find a way forward.

Looking forward to and actually planning your new normal for the future comes easier. Eventually, you will be able to think about that chapter in your life without pain; sadness – yes, but the wrenching pain will be gone. You will once again anticipate some optimism for your future and rediscover the joy in living life.
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As you navigate through these various stages, it’s easy to become “stuck”.
If you find this happening to you, hypnosis can be a safe and natural alternative to assist you with overcoming these barriers.

Children & Teens

In Clinical Hypnotherapy, Self Help

Growing up is meant to be one of the very best times in anyone’s life, but it can also be tough. Our childhood has a profound effect on the adults we become.

Challenges Facing Children and Young People Today:

  • Bullying

  • Expectations and Peer Pressure

  • Fears and Trauma

  • Happiness is all the Rage

  • Natural Hierarchies are no longer there

  • Personal and Oral Hygiene

  • Underdeveloped Emotional Skills

  • Unhealthy Use of Technology

Hypnosis for children works in a very similar way to how it works with adults.
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When our body relaxes comfortably, and the mind is in a calm ‘day dreamy’ state, we enter a light state of hypnotic relaxation.
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Children experience this kind of state many times a day quite naturally; whether they are waking from sleep or falling asleep or just becoming absorbed in thought or imaginative play.
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In this kind of state, the inner part of our mind is really receptive to positive suggestion and can come up with creative solutions to problems.

COVID-19

In Clinical Hypnotherapy, Self Help

Over the last six months, we have seen drastic changes to the way we live and operate.
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What was imagined as previously impossible has all of a sudden became the “new normal”.

On an hourly and daily basis we saw and heard grim updates on the most recent data.

Many lost loved ones far sooner than they should have while others are still recuperating.

A new definition of hero emerged in the daily struggle to keep our necessary needs available and truck drivers and grocery store personnel were now considered “essential workers”.

  • Companies converted production to essential supplies and equipment
  • Doctors and medical professionals find themselves on the front lines
  • Our military care for the elderly

The world’s economy was “closed” and some saw their whole worlds changed due to sudden, unexpected and extreme financial burdens.

Our new best social contribution is to close ourselves inside our homes and not be the cause of further infections.

We are wary of our neighbour for they could be responsible for making us or our loved ones ill.

The forced isolation and “social distancing” has severed critical social ties and resulted in some having to making impossible choices:
risk to health or risk to livelihood?

Inequality was revealed within and across borders and we find ourselves realizing that it is not acceptable to let the most vulnerable among us pay the cost of our collective abandonment of care.

Those with digital connectivity are better equipped for the “tele-everything” to meet the requirements of social distancing: children can learn; and adults can work remotely. While their lives are disrupted, they are not decimated.

Our most acute concern should be that the pandemic will change very little or nothing at all, or that everything changes and will never be the same.

During these next few months, the world continues to remain fluid and malleable and we find ourselves facing decisions on countless new choices to be made:
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  • Back to school or home school?
  • Back to work or work from home?
  • Back to regular life or keep it on pause for a little while longer?

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If you or a loved one is finding it difficult to cope, let us help you navigate across this challenging hurdle that we are all currently facing.

The Family Unit

In Clinical Hypnotherapy, Self Help

The family unit has often been described as the cornerstone of every strong civilization.  As every great society declined, erosion of the family unit was identified as being one of the key reasons.

The family is the most important social unit of society.  This is a fact that everyone must learn.

The family is not only the basic societal unit.  It is also the basic sexual unit, the basic child-raising unit, the basic communication unit,
and the basic all-around fun and friendship unit.

It is okay if one is not in a family at this time, but it is important to understand that the family is the basic unit of society.

– Dr. Lawrence Wilson

Today, the family unit is heavily impacted by the changes we see happening all around us as a result of technological, political and geopolitical activities.
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How do we navigate these changes and preserve this fragile, most important and fundamental element of our society?

Fertility

In Clinical Hypnotherapy, Self Help

Every health issue, every dis-ease has an emotional connection. Once the emotional cause behind the dis-ease can be identified, self-work can begin to naturally heal the emotional cause.

For more evidenced-based data on the benefits that hypnosis can have in the area of fertility, see below:

Foundational BirthingTM Hypnosis

  • ​Addresses pre-conceived beliefs concerning fears around the process, the anticipation of pain during labour and parenting adequacy that many new families subconsciously may bring to the pregnancy and birthing process
  • Foundational BirthingTM hypnosis provides parents with an opportunity to identify and remove these subconscious barriers towards the pregnancy experience as well as becoming a new parent and eliminates any chance of passing these feelings onto the baby
  • Establishes proven and reliable parameters for mothers to manage pain during the birthing process enabling a positive birthing experience for both mom and baby
  • Provides parents with the long-term tools to carry forward into future birthing experiences
  • Reinforces the foundation towards a strong bonding process between mother and child as well as between baby, parents and the family unit both pre & post-partum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p336IIjZCl8&feature=emb_logo

For more evidenced-based data on the benefits that hypnosis can have in the area of pain management during labour and delivery, see below:

Healing

In Clinical Hypnotherapy, Self Help

What the mind does not heal, the body turns into dis-ease.
– Anonymous

Keep a grasp on your life by living in the present
The past is gone and the future has not yet arrived
By living your life one day at a time, you live your life to its fullest.
– Anonymous

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When it comes to physical health, the power of thought has always been regarded with skepticism. However, some scientists have started to reconsider the role of the mind when it comes to healing.

Many now accept and believe that not only does our mental health play a part in our overall level of health, but the way we think about our own physical activity can actually shape outcomes.
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In the recent past, an ingrained bias existed in the medical world that viewed physical matter as more ‘real’ than subjective emotions and beliefs. It was held that because thoughts aren’t ‘real’ they can’t influence the physical body. If you have ever known a nervous flier or someone with a fear of spiders, you will know all too well that the fears the mind can produce manifest themselves as very physical results – sweaty palms, fast breathing and a racing heart, and a very focused attention on the issue at hand.
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Such thoughts and perceptions also affect our physiology.
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Even sexual arousal produces key hormones that we need to boost fertility. So if stress kills, could the opposite also be true? Could positivity really help the body heal?​

“‘Mind over matter’ is not simply a catchphrase. It is a truth based on what we know to be fact: that the brain, given the right set of directions, the right environment and the proper stimuli, will always choose healing over disease.”

“Naturally, the ability to fend off illness and disease depends on several factors, some of which are beyond our control, but the way we react to stress and general health when it comes to our immune systems are things we can influence,”

“If we’re not able to change our response to stressors, we’ll find ourselves in a constant hormonal battle that will lead to serious health issues like hypertension, diabetes and heart disease. The brain and the immune system are in constant communication in this delicate balance that can be disrupted by any kind of physical or emotional stress.”

Dr. Andrew Goliszek, Ph.D.
North Carolina A&T State University

​The connection between how we think and how we feel continues to be the subject of many research papers and it is it is becoming more and more clear that a true mind-body link can be established.
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Imagining that the power of the mind can affect our physical well being is no longer a form of misguided thinking – it is a previously unexplored and important avenue now worthy of consideration in the quest to feel and get better.

As a complimentary therapy, hypnosis addresses the mind-body connection of personal trauma and physical illness.

Hypnosis is endorsed by the Canadian Cancer Society

Menopause

In Clinical Hypnotherapy, Self Help

The word “menopause” simply refers to the permanent end of menstruation and the fertility cycle in a woman’s life.

It is derived from the Greek words for ‘month’ (men) and ‘cessation’ (pausis).

Menopause is not an illness.  It is a natural transition in a woman’s life that results from a decrease in the ovarian production of sex hormones – estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. These hormones allow a woman to become pregnant, cause menstruation, and affect many other functions in the body, such as the circulatory system, urogenital system (urinary and vaginal) and the bones.

While some women have no menopausal symptoms, in others the symptoms may last several years, usually between the ages of 40 and 55. Most women can tell if they are approaching menopause when their menstrual periods start changing.
Menopause is confirmed when a woman has not had a menstrual period for 12 consecutive months. However, when menopause begins and how long it lasts vary from woman to woman.

Evidence-based research has demonstrated…

​”There’s growing evidence that you don’t need to take drugs, basically,”
– Professor Martha Hickey
Royal Women’s Hospital & University of Melbourne

A review of all the evidence on non-hormonal treatments for menopause has found Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and hypnosis to be effective treatments.

  • Hot flashes are the most common and the most problematic symptom of menopause. And while they are a physiological response, the evidence suggests the mind can help alleviate the experience for women.
  • It’s about the integration of mind and body.
  • Lifestyle changes such as exercise and relaxation can also improve general health.

“There is a lot of information on the internet about treatments for menopause, but many of these are not supported by high quality research”
– Professor Martha Hickey
Royal Women’s Hospital & University of Melbourne

Hormone therapy can be very effective for some but not all women who are experiencing menopause symptoms. Hypnosis is an effective and safe alternative for women who are experiencing menopause.

Andropause (Male Menopause)

In Clinical Hypnotherapy, Self Help

When you hear the word menopause, your thoughts most likely go to women. However, the reality is that men can be affected by their own type of menopause, or andropause, as well.

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Male menopause doesn’t cause the same symptoms as it does in women. Men affected by it won’t suffer from hot flashes or having their hormones plummet in a short period of time, and it obviously doesn’t signal the end of ovulation.
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The term “male menopause” actually characterizes the age-related hormonal changes that gradually take place in all men as they age. In particular this natural transition affects a man’s testosterone levels, which is why the medical community also refers to this stage as testosterone deficiency. Some men who experience more severe symptoms may experience them due to health issues—such as an existing health condition or certain medications taken for an unrelated condition, alcohol or drug abuse, poor diet, or a thyroid condition.
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Andropause may happen so gradually or subtly that some might not even notice the transition taking place at all. However, for other men, especially those with poor diets and activity levels, they may experience a more severe variety of male-specific symptoms—including a reduction in libido, sexual function, energy levels, and irrational mood swings.
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Andropause can begin as early as 40 and end as late as 70. Diet, lifestyle and genetics play a significant role in influencing its commencement and duration.
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Testosterone naturally declines with aging, but the decline can begin as early as age 30 with many not noticing the effects until their 40’s and 50’s.

Symptoms vary according to the individual and can include:
  • ​Hormonal decline can happen quickly for some while duration can last much longer for others.
  • Sexual function such as a lower sex drive, erectile dysfunction, loss of libido and infertility can occur.
  • Sleep patterns can be affected by way of insomnia, trouble falling or staying asleep or significant changes in sleep patterns.
  • Low energy and fatigue.
  • Emotional changes can be impacted by reduced hormones and can result in feelings of sadness, depression, anger, memory loss and a loss of self-confidence.
  • Physical appearance can be impacted by weight gain (thickening around the midsection), deterioration of muscle tissue and bone loss, shrinking testes, gynecomastia (swollen breasts) and loss of body hair.
It starts with a healthy mind set

Having optimism and establishing a mindset of believing in yourself are good first steps. Having a negative attitude will only result in you seeing things to complain about, no matter how perfect the day has been. Negative thinking is rampant, and depression tends to be higher in the older population. If you suffer from depression or you had negative events such as accidents or abuse in the past, it’s important to do some house cleaning. Don’t be hesitant about seeking professional help and counseling from a health professional to help you build up your self-esteem.​

Stress management

​As aging occurs, the need to be aware of stress in your life becomes more important. You may have been accustomed to having lots of energy when you were in your child rearing years or in your active professional career. Often we do not even notice that there may be stress in our lives. But your adrenal glands know. Hormones need to be in balance. But cortisol, which is produced in your adrenal glands, is different from the menopause/andropause hormones. Corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) from the hypothalamus and adrenocorticotrophin hormone (ACTH) from the pituitary gland are the rulers of the adrenal glands. And it is how you handle stress when you are in your 40’s, 50’s and 60’s which will determine whether you come down with adrenal fatigue, various degrees of adrenal insufficiency or not. Hypnosis and regular patterns of sleep are proven methods to overcome any stress related issues.

Sometimes more effort is needed to rebuild the adrenals. Hormone therapy can also be very effective for some but not all men who are experiencing andropause symptoms. Please note that these come with their own unique side-effects. Your medical health care provider can provide you with further information and support regarding this.​

Sleeping Habits

Sleep patterns can be affected by andropause. Self-hypnosis and hypnosis recordings can assist with facilitating better sleep habits.

​Hypnosis is a safe and effective alternative for men who are experiencing symptoms associated with andropause.

Pain Management

In Clinical Hypnotherapy, Self Help

As a complimentary therapy, hypnosis addresses the mind-body connection of chronic pain, personal trauma and physical illness.

When we feel better, we heal better

​- Dan Cleary

Hypnosis is endorsed by the Canadian Cancer Society

See also the following articles regarding the efficacy of pain management through the use of hypnosis:

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