Back to Face to Face from 12th April 2021

I can now see clients in person

 

Following Boris’s announcement, I am delighted to say that from the 12th April 2021, it has been confirmed that I can resume seeing clients in person again at my practice in Bagshot as well as online.

I will be following the Government guidance for close contact services on working safely and together with the high regulatory standards of my governing bodies, (NCH, AfSFH, CNHC and NCP), all the necessary precautions are still in place.

My place of work has undergone a full risk assessment and all hygiene measure are in place.

Whether face to face or online, I look forward to helping you achieve your goals.

The Power of Love

 

There’s no question that the mind impacts the body. A feeling of embarrassment flushes the cheeks, a thought of biting a lemon causes salivation.  These things occur because thoughts, feelings, ideas, imagination in a person’s mind produce a series of chemical and biological changes that result in a physical effect.

And there can be many ways the mind can impact the body. Feeling stressed produces stress hormones and increases blood pressure, constricts arteries, and can cause changes in body temperature. Yet feelings associated with love, kindness or compassion produce a hormone that reduces blood pressure and dilates arteries – entirely the opposite effect.

And so, in this regard there is something that has the power to heal both body and mind and that’s LOVE.

 

 “Where there is great love, there are always miracles” – Willa Cather
Love shifts our perception of things. That’s where the miracle occurs – inside us. Love reaches inside us all and stirs something, the soul perhaps. It makes life seem different, lighter, brighter.

During my work as a Solution Focused Hypnotherapist together with my research into the mind-body connection, I am convinced that emotional pain can play a role in many illnesses and may even be at the root of them. Whereas love, compassion and self- love can play a role in healing.

The most obvious place to experience love is in relationships. Relationships are the food for the soul. They’re the foundation for our experience of life. Without them, life would have less meaning.

But of course, although we tend to think this refers only to romantic relationships, we can love in all sorts of relationships.

Parents love their children, friends love each other, family members love each other, people love the animals in their lives. All that’s different is the style of love and the way it’s experienced.

Many people, in their final days, reflect on what was most important in their lives. Most say that it was the quality of their relationships – the time they spent with their loved ones. Everything else was just detail.

Self love hearts
When stress, which accelerates disease of mind and body is replaced with love, self-love and compassion, it fades and is replaced with gratitude and a reverence for life.

As we experience love, we also experience a healing of the mind and body through our emotions.  Which can result in a better frame of mind to take any practical actions to facilitate any physical healing. We find we have more energy, vibrancy and motivation than before.

Love enhances us, it makes us so much more. It stretches us so we become more. We become the person we were always meant to be. Sometimes, it’s our loved ones who see this ’more’ in us and they help us to become ‘more’ and we in turn help them.

flower love inside us
We don’t need to wait to be in a romantic relationship to experience love. It’s all around us. In fact, it’s inside us. It’s how we choose to experience the moments in life, whichever form they come in, that allows us to experience love.

In hypnotherapy when deeply relaxed in trance you learn to recognise these experiences and bring them to the surface in your relationships. Because embedded in the silent mind are all the highest values in life. This is the level of our true selves. The self that generates love and light, creativity, discovery and self-acceptance, and in your silent awareness everything you want in a relationship is yours to give.

Love grows out of experiencing inner peace and joy.

Man inner peace calm
When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you.

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk
Tel: 07765 692 072
  
 
I do hope you found this information of interest. If you know someone who may benefit from it, then please feel free to pass on my details or share this post with them.  

Open for business and here to help

Open for business and here to help.

I have had a lot of enquiries whether I can still see my clients face to face or online. The good news is I can offer both.

The governing bodies I work under have sought legal advice on whether complementary healthcare practitioners such as myself as a Solution Focused Hypnotherapists are included in the businesses permitted to remain open during national restrictions in England introduced by the Government on 5th November.

Based on the advice I have received, I am letting you know that I meet the definition of “other…health services, including services relating to mental health” contained in Section 47, Part 3 of the schedule:

I can therefore continue to practise face to face as well as online via Zoom, as I meet all the necessary requirements that need to be in place.

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020

Uncertainty during these times doesn’t have to result in fear.
It can also represent freedom from what has been inhibiting our lives and perhaps provide opportunities for growth.

Helping you to overcome the obstacles in your life…

 

When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you.

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

The Importance of Self-Care

Sunflowers mental energy

 

You might be wondering what self-care has to do with hypnotherapy. When I trained as a therapist it wasn’t one of the modules we learnt about. And yet over the years it has become an important part of the work I do with my clients.

I always highlight how important it is that we remember to look after ourselves as a priority!

Because as Dr David Hamilton mentions in his book ‘The Little Book of Kindness’, being kind to ourselves is part of valuing ourselves and it also gives us more energy to look after others.

 

Relaxing in hammock

 

Looking after others doesn’t mean we must always:

  • Put others before ourselves
  • Care for yourself instead of others
  • Or even care for yourself once you’ve finished caring for others

 

It’s just about self-care. We complicate things too much in our own minds. It’s simply about respecting your own needs and desires.

 

Waterfall recharge

 

Self-care might sometimes mean saying “no”, or at least, “not yet”, or “maybe later”.

 

 

 

We’re not being unkind here, but simply recognising that we sometimes need to refuel, and re-energise ourselves, so that we are better able to live our lives and take care of our responsibilities.

Self-care allows us to recharge so we have more energy for others.

Saying “no” from time to time can help increase mental and emotional energy so that we are able to say “yes” on many other occasions.

When we want to!

If we don’t look after our own needs and therefore our own energy levels, we become drained or burned out through over giving. Just like a battery drains if overused. Ultimately, while we might feel like we’re helping in the short-term, in the long term we are wearing ourselves out.

Looking after ourselves can also mean leaving an abusive or controlling relationship, or quitting a job because of stress, bullying or simply because it doesn’t inspire us, and we know we deserve to do work that lights us up.

It can mean removing ourselves from a set of circumstances that drain us.

Gift bags

 

Looking after ourselves can also mean treating ourselves because we deserve it. We needn’t justify it. Whether it’s through the purchase of something we want or giving ourselves a special day, an experience or even a holiday.

Looking after ourselves reminds us that we’re worth it!

What can I do for myself simply because I’m worth it?
  • Schedule some time for yourself
  • Say “no”
  • Go for a walk
  • Take a nice long luxurious bath
  • Treat yourself to something you’ve wanted for a while
  • Spend time with people you like!
  • Turn your phone off for a few hours not minutes!
  • Have a deep relaxing ‘Mind Massage’ hypnotherapy session with me!

Balanced stones

Deep relaxation is a lot more than just taking a few minutes out. It is a method of putting the body into a complete and encompassing state of relaxation that allows the mind to follow into a gently and peaceful state. Leaving a marvellous sense of lightness and tranquility that lingers for hours and even days.

Sometimes, we don’t take the opportunity to relax properly for months or even years and that’s why Hypnotherapy Relaxation can be so useful. It allows you to let go and drop away all of the built-up tension and stresses that we hold onto.

Part of looking after ourselves is self-compassion, which is the feeling of being sympathetic and understanding toward ourselves. Of being patient with ourselves.

  • Self-compassion understands that we can’t be perfect, that we can’t win or succeed all the time.
  • With self-compassion, we understand that having a bad day isn’t a failure but a normal part of being human.
  • Self-compassion says, “I am good enough, just as I am”.
  • Self-compassion silences the self-critical voice that many of us have learned to listen to and replaces it with a softer, wiser voice, a voice whose main message is, “You’re doing great. Everything will be fine”.
  • Self-compassion boosts our self-esteem.

 

Woman with black umberella

 

Like kindness to others, self-compassion can be an antidote to depression, especially if depression is fuelled by thoughts of failure, not being good enough or even self-loathing.

Self-compassion understands that it’s perfectly fine to be exactly as you are, with your history as it is, with the qualifications and experience you have, with the way you look, your weight, your shape and any other attributes you tend to criticize.

 

Studies on self-compassion find that even the inner voices of the best self-critics can be silenced and replaced by understanding, acceptance and patience.

It can even help us find a little more happiness!

As self-criticism is replaced with self-compassion, emotional blocks to happiness are often dissolved. And we discover a fountain of well-being, elation and a sense of positivity that’s always been there…

Ready to face the sunshine!

Sunshine

 

When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you.

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk
Tel: 07765 692 072
 

Back to Face to Face Sessions

 

COVID-19 has had a huge impact in the UK and all across the world and this has affected how I work as a Solution Focused Hypnotherapist.

Since March of this year, like many, I moved my practice online which went well and proved successful. But now and in keeping with key Government/NHS/PSE regulations and the high regulatory standards of my governing bodies, (NCH, AfSFH, CNHC, NCP) I’ve taken the precautions to start seeing my clients face to face again as well as online.

You can be assured that I  have completed a risk assessment of my place of work and all hygiene measures are in place.

For face to face sessions:

  • Please arrive at scheduled time only.
  • On arrival please phone or text me from outside and I will come out to meet you.
  • I will be using a face shield – client to wear a mask until inside the therapy room.
  • A waiting area will not be available.
  • A non- contact infrared thermometer will be used to take your temperature before entering the therapy room.
  •  There will be a 2m distancing measure in place in the therapy room.
  • Hand sanitiser will be provided, please use on entering the therapy room.
  • The client chair will be sanitised between sessions.
  • Please bring your own water and blanket and pen and paper if required.
  • Toilets have hand washing facilities.

Even though there may be ‘extra steps’ to be taken to see my clients face to face, they can be assured that they will always receive a professional welcome so that the next steps of my client’s hypnotherapy journey are inspired.

 

When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you.

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

Be free to fly wave

How To Thrive Under Pressure and Stress

 

As the England cricketing team are determined to continue to be successful in the current Test Series ( correct at the time of writing this!), and the competitive build up will soon start for the next football season, all attention is on the high performance of the players.

But being match fit won’t be all that matters. Athletes in all denominations from football and rugby to Formula One know that when it comes to getting the best out of their performance  under extreme pressure it’s all about going to the ‘mental gym’ and being mentally fit as well as physically fit.

And we can all adopt this same method in our everyday lives.

 

 

The key to better psychological performance is to understand what happens in the brain when we are faced with a stressful situation that makes us feel uncomfortable or threatened.

In these situations, it’s the Primitive Emotional part of our brain that is activated first, and in that area lies our Amygdala which is activated. This helps us to escape from a growling bear or it’s modern equivalent. This is part of our evolution and survival instinct that’s known as our ‘fight or flight’.

For us that might be fearful, aggressive, defensive behaviour to enable us to escape from the moment. Or the more passive’ freeze’ response where we get overloaded, our minds shut down and we can’t think clearly.

If we’re to perform well under stress we need to call on our Intelligent Sensible Mind, the logical and analytical part of our brain situated in the front area of the lobe known as the Left Prefrontal Cortex.

 

 

It’s not that the Primitive Emotional Mind is bad and the Intelligent Sensible Mind is good, it’s about getting the two minds working together in balance.

When we hold onto memories and repeat behavioural patterns that can hinder our everyday lives, we are reacting from our Primitive Emotional Mind. So, we need to be able to put any negative thinking into perspective so we can lead from the Intelligent Sensible Mind.

That way we can adopt a different mindset so we see the threat as a challenge or a positive opportunity for change. Sometimes when we find ourselves trapped in the same old primitive mental response we end up sabotaging our performance or lives.

 

 

Using trance in hypnotherapy allows us to access the areas in our Primitive Emotional Mind through deep relaxation, which is very similar to when we daydream.

Our flight or fight is not alerted and is kept at bay and then we are able to reduce the anxiety and stress that triggers our negative behavioural patterns.

We are typically happy to go to the gym or take up exercise to make our bodies stronger, but we can sometimes be reluctant to exercise our minds. We can’t meet every challenge immediately but as long as you are staying in the moment and setting your intentions positively, then you’ll be having a good mental workout.

 

 

When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you.

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk
Tel: 07765 692 072

 

Be free to fly wave

Weathering the Storm of Change

Rainbow in storm clouds

 

Weathering the Storm of Change

Learn to stay positive and keep your spirits high with these tips for tough times. 

With all the news that is happening in the UK and the world, from gloomy media reports as well as comments left on websites, social media platforms and forums, it can be heart wrenching to see the confidence and faith of people being torn apart helplessly.

But uncertainty does not have to result in fear. It can also represent freedom from what has been inhibiting our lives and perhaps provide opportunities for growth.

By consciously connecting to your mind and mental state you can achieve a new level of self- awareness and learn to build resilience, find healing and create a new version of your life in a shared world.

If you are going through tough times, remember that you always have a choice no matter what the circumstance may be. And the choice is this:

You can either choose to let panic feed on your mind and body, and let it grow stronger at the expense of your health and wellbeing…

Or, you can choose to see your situation in perspective, stay positive, and end the panic there and then.

But how do you withstand the huge waves of a crisis and disruption in our society, let alone being positive about it, especially as it can seem that it’s coming at you from all directions. Here are a few ways to consider taking control.

 

Pebbles on beach

 

Don’t be a victim. 

It can be easy to assume the role of a victim during tough times and sometimes we ask, “why me?” or “what about me?” The longer we stay in this mindset the longer the suffering continues, and we may also put up a barrier to those who can help us.

When we let go of the victim label it helps to let go of resentment and bitterness which can hinder the positive and creative energy we need to get out of the mess.
Take stock of the situation. 

Put into perspective what is really happening and your response to the crisis. Learn to see the crisis for what it really is. Begin by practicing understanding and compassion, how to relax and bring the anxiety levels down. Be able to ask yourself:

“What is being reported in the news and how is it affecting me? Are my fears and worries real or imaginary? If they are real, what can I do about them?”

 

Wild flowers

 

Focus on the positives. 

No matter how dire a situation may be, there are always some positives you can find in it: –

  •  Savour the small moments. The feel of the sunshine on your skin. The smell of coffee, the sound of the birds, the colours of the flowers, the laughter of a child
  •  Realise who you do have in your life, your family and real friends. Reach out to them and talk to them and appreciate them.

 

Give thanks.

Having listed the positives you can think of, give thanks for the things that you do have. It won’t be easy to be thankful in the face of harsh challenges, but focusing on what you do have, instead of what you have lost, will put you in a better position to solve the problems on hand.

 

Candle

 

Reach out to others. 

Who do you know that has been severely affected by the crisis? Some may have lost their jobs because their companies were put out of business, or their own businesses have suffered, while others may have suffered huge loss in the way of losing family or friends.

Talk to them, listen, and if it is within your means, offer your help, however small it may be. Helping others who are less fortunate than you also helps you to put things in perspective. And who knows, they may be the ones who can lend you a helping hand when you need it?

Get enough sleep. 

During stressful times, we’re likely to skip on sleep, either voluntarily or not. But in reality, we need more quality sleep during stressful times to ensure we can recharge our batteries and remain relaxed clear-headed and focused.

 

Limit bad news intake. 

Being constantly fed with gloomy news is enough to make even the most calm person panic for no reason. Hearing bad news once is enough, not ten times a day, of the same news, in different versions, from every gadget that you own!

 

Ripples in water

 

Join forces with others. 

When bad things happen, it’s easy to become close-minded. But chances are, you are not alone during difficult times. There are likely to be many people who feel the same way as you do even though they may not voice it out loud.

For instance, if you are worried about job security, recruit the help of your boss or an HR person by discussing the implications and how it affects your job and what positive measures you can take. Your boss will appreciate your proactive approach and may even be glad that there is someone who shares the same sentiment.

If you are unemployed or self- employed, besides making trips to recruitment and government agencies, connect with others who are in the same boat as you. Take this lull period to expand your network and re-evaluate your skills.

The many talented friends that you will make during hard times could become lifetime friendships, and even turn into unexpected help in the future. And if you are an employer, this is a great time to boost your business with skilful and experienced people to help you ride out the crisis.

 

trees in forest

 

Get close to nature. 

Research has found that spending time in your favourite outdoor area and woodlands are more relaxing and restorative than time spent in your favourite urban settings. Taking a mindful walk through the woods is also a great way to clear the mind and regain mental balance.

Re-evaluate the priorities in your life. 

Tough times can present difficult but valuable lessons offering the opportunity to re-evaluate what’s important in our lives. You may ask yourself:

“Are the goals I’ve been striving for before the crisis really worthwhile? Through these times what are the things that I’ve found to be really important?

 

Heart shaped cloud

 

The way we think influences the way we feel.

I help my clients to boost their positive emotions which helps to increase serotonin levels – the feel-good neurotransmitter that helps to elevate your mood and make you feel calm and relaxed. Helping cognitive flexibility to solve problems, make decisions and increase creativity.

Every dark cloud has a silver lining, take this opportunity to strengthen that lining to improve your mental health and come out of this storm stronger than before.
Be free to fly wave

When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you.

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072
 
  
I do hope you found this information of interest. If you know someone who may benefit from it, then please feel free to pass on my details or share this information with them.  

Help with Sleep?

Snuggle sleeping dog

 

This is a crazy time, but you don’t need me to tell you that. Like the rest of the world, we are doing our best to stay positive.

This moment presents a tremendous challenge, and can affect us all in different ways, anxieties related to loss of control and uncertainty are understandable, but it’s also been an incredible reminder to how much support is out there for us.

Instead of spending time and energy worrying, why not channel that energy into what you can control — self-care.

Finding something you can positively focus on, that you can control, can be helpful and sleep is a natural fit for working on self-care, as we know that getting enough sleep can benefit your immune system.

 

Asleep at desk

Sleep is one of the most undervalued components of health in today’s society. It’s come to be regarded as optional. If we don’t put an importance on our sleep it can have consequences on our health.
Short term sleep deprivation causes

  •  Increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol
  •  Raised blood pressure
  • ·Impairs the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar
  •  Activates the nervous sympathetic system – our flight or fight response
  •  Makes us feel anxious in situations causing nervousness
  •  Increases the levels of inflammation in the body and in our skin
  • ·Affects our immune system.

 

healthy eating choices

 

If you have a good night’s sleep, your goals for rest and relaxation, exercise and better eating choices becomes easier. Because sleep plays a role in our metabolic pathways i.e. our body functions.

However, in the current climate it’s little wonder that our sleep quality has become difficult to initiate or maintain or just not as good as it could be.

Everywhere we turn the news can be all consuming to our thoughts especially for the people we love, our work and our social situation. It’s certainly no invitation for beckoning the calm brain waves of sleep. Our overactive sympathetic system – our amygdala – our flight or fight switch is being left on!

 

open working laptop

Imagine a laptop, you may close the lid at the end of the evening, but if it’s not properly switched off, the fans, programmes and routines will still be running, still be active. And so, it is for our minds.

 

In order for sleep to be initiated our overactive mind needs to calm down. We need  our para-sympathetic nervous system (sometimes called the rest and digest system), to be triggered. It conserves energy as it slows the heart rate and relaxes our body.

 

Calm beach

 

It’s the system that takes the Amygdala off high alert. And to do this we need to relax. Relaxation is the strongest most powerful treatment for symptoms created by anxiety and stress, and hypnotherapy can help to invoke a deep relaxed state by mirroring REM.

At night when we sleep our brain enters a specific state called REM or Rapid Eye Movement. In this state we are able to empty our ‘stress bucket’.

We all have a metaphorical stress bucket that can easily fill. The more stress and worry we have in our lives and on our minds the bigger the load we carry. Which in turn has a negative impact on our ability to sleep properly. Sometimes you may even find yourself waking up at 3 or 4.00am and not being able to go back to sleep.

Because we have limited REM during the night, about 20% of our overall sleep, we are unable to deal with all the anxiety, negativity and worry created during the day and this can create a backlog and raise stress levels generally.

 

 

dandelion heart

 

In Solution Focused Hypnotherapy the aim is to reduce anxiety levels by promoting positive thoughts and feelings and thereby regularise sleep patterns.

The REM state is a trance like state similar to daydreaming and is a deep form of relaxation. When we fully relax, we can take control of our emotions, calming the nervous system and triggering the para-sympathetic system, which takes the Amygdala off high alert.

In a typical session whether in person or conducted online, clinical hypnosis encourages REM to occur which reduces stress and over a period, sleep patterns improve.

I always provide a relaxation audio either in the form of a CD or MP3 download which can recreate the trance state outside of the sessions and can be very helpful to listen to before going to sleep to relax and reduce tension before bedtime.

 

Help on hand

These are strange and unsettling times but there is a lot of help available to get us through. We may be isolated, but we’re not alone. I am confident that we can lift each other up and come out of this stronger, wiser, and better than when we went into it. We just have to keep pushing forward and look after ourselves and one another.

Stay safe, stay well.

 

Online sessions available

 

When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you.

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

 

 

 

Online Hypnotherapy

Help on hand

We are currently living in challenging and changing times.  We are all being asked to change our lives and withdraw from our normal social interaction and this can have a profound effect on our mental health and wellbeing.

Hypnotherapy can help with these social anxieties, but to keep ourselves safe and within the recommended guidelines, I can offer online sessions to help get through these difficult days.

So, I want to tell you a little bit of what an online session involves.

I will still answer your enquires by phone or email and if you would like to go ahead and book an Initial Consultation, we can book a date in the diary.

For the online session, it’s nice and easy and can be done from the comfort of your own home, I will send you a simple link that you just click onto to use on the day.

You don’t have to ‘sign up’ or ‘subscribe’ to join the session.

You can access it on your laptop, phone or tablet.

You just need to find a quiet area in your home, where you won’t be disturbed and where you can relax in a chair, on the sofa or bed.

If you have any difficulty using it, then don’t worry, that’s what I’m here for. On the day we’ll work through it together.

If you want any further help with anxiety or any other mental health related matter, then just get in touch.

Keep safe and well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corono Virus Covid -19 Information

In light of the recent news that has taken over all of our lives in these last few days, I wanted to send this message out to all my clients past and present with positivity and gratitude.  

We are in uncharted territory. Fear and uncertainty have a way of making us forget what’s important.

Instead of giving in to fear, we should use moments like this to give us clarity on what really matters – family, friends, loved ones, growth, mental health, and all those small things we seem to take for granted every day

Whilst I strive to keep running my practice as normal, your health and safety are my top priorities and at the heart of every decision I make. I believe it’s critical to do our part to help reduce the transmission of COVID-19. Here are some of the steps I’m  taking to protect everyone in this ever-evolving situation:

 

I’m following the latest UK Government information, including countries of risk and travel advice: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

Latest advice from the NHS, including hand-washing advice, contact numbers and self-isolation procedures: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

  • If you have recently returned from overseas or from any of the high-risk areas listed on the website within the last 14 days you are advised to self-isolate. This may mean that you will need to postpone your face to face appointment with me or arrange an online session which I will be happy to explain the process to you in detail.

 

  • Similarly, the Government advises that anyone that is showing symptoms of fever, a cough or shortness of breath, the individual should self-isolate, even if symptoms are mild.

 

  • If you identify in one of the high-risk groups, it is better to have online sessions until further notice to protect yourself.

 

  • I will ensure that my equipment and surroundings in my clinic are kept clean and disinfected to minimise any risks, but please feel free to decline any part of usual therapy that you are not comfortable with.

 

  • As an extra layer of protection during this time I will not be shaking hands, and will clean the GSR monitor that I use on the fingers, the credit card reader and the mouse for submitting your progress outcomes, between each client.

 

For online sessions. This can be done from the comfort of your own home using Zoom Video conferencing. It’s simple to use. I send you a link that you just click onto to use. You don’t have to ‘sign up’ or ‘subscribe’ to join the meeting.  You can access it on your laptop, phone or tablet. You just need to find a quiet area in your home where you won’t be disturbed and where you can relax in a chair or on a bed for our usual 1 hour session.

 The Government advice about COVID-19 is constantly evolving, so it would be a good idea to keep up to date by following the links, for all our safety.

My thoughts are with those who have been affected by COVID-19. Remember that even if you are not showing symptoms, you can still spread it. So, let’s not take this lightly and practice the appropriate safety guidelines and social distancing. It’s up to all of us to protect the most vulnerable.

We’ll get through this together.

The Twelve Ways of Christmas

Twelve Ways of Christmas

In the run up to the festive season life can be stressful. So, make sure you give yourself some self-care in the run up to the big day.

Compassion is one of the most powerful and healing gifts we can give to ourselves as well as others and self- compassion allows us to have a balanced approach to our thoughts.

In hypnotherapy we do that when we are in a relaxed and peaceful state of mind.  It helps us to treat ourselves with understanding and kindness.

It’s a comfort to know that suffering and feelings of personal inadequacy are part of the human experience. So, it’s common to feel resistance to receiving compassion…but it’s also important that we understand it.

There is no link between self-compassion and selfishness! When you are kind to yourself, you’re then able to be much more open to show kindness and understanding for others.

So, to help you through this festive season here are my ‘Twelve Ways of Christmas’…

 

First Way of Christmas

Stop All Criticism – Criticism never changes a thing. Refuse to criticise yourself and others. Accept yourself exactly as you are. Everybody changes, but when you criticise yourself your changes are negative. But when you realise your strengths and achievements and approve of yourself, your changes are positive.

 

Second Way of Christmas

Forgive Yourself – Let the past go. You did the best you could at the time with the understanding, awareness and knowledge that you had. Now with more information to hand you can grow and change and live life differently.

 

Third Way of Christmas

Don’t Scare Yourself – Stop terrorising yourself with your own thoughts. It’s a dreadful way to live. Find a mental image that gives you pleasure and immediately switch your scary thought to a pleasant thought.

 

Fourth Way of Christmas

Be Gentle, Kind and Patient with Yourself – Treat yourself as someone you really love like a baby, a child or a pet.

Fifth Way of Christmas

Be Kind to Your Mind – Self hatred is only your own thoughts. Don’t hate yourself for having the thought. Gently change your thoughts. It’s only a thought and thoughts can be changed.

 

Sixth Way of Christmas

Praise Yourself – Criticism breaks down the inner spirit. Praise builds it up. Praise yourself as much as you can. Tell yourself how well you are doing with every little thing.

 

Seventh Way of Christmas

Support Yourself – Find ways to support yourself. Reach out to friends and loved ones. Allow them to help you. It is a sign of strength to ask for help when you need it.

 

Eight Way of Christmas

Be Loving to your Negatives – Acknowledge that you created them to fill a need and now you are finding new positive ways to fill those needs. So, lovingly release the old negative patterns.

 

Ninth Way of Christmas

Undo Negative Learning – Let go of the story of who we THINK we are, so we can have an experience of who we really are. Forgive our past and let go of everything we thought we believed about ourselves.

 

Tenth Way of Christmas

Take Care of your Body – Learn about nutrition. What kind of fuel does your body need to have optimum vitality and energy?  Learn about exercise. What kind of exercise do you enjoy? Cherish the body you live in.

 

Eleventh Way of Christmas

Love Yourself – Do it now! Don’t wait until you lose the weight, or get the new job, or feel well. Do it now!

 

Twelfth Way of Christmas

Remember the Things That Gave You Joy as a Child – Incorporate them into your life now. Find a way to have fun in everything you do. Let yourself express the joy of living. Smile, laugh, rejoice and the world rejoices with you.

Don’t forget, these ‘Twelve Ways’ don’t have to be just for Christmas…but for life!

Wishing you Peace and Joy this Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

 

What To Do For Your Memory

Keep Calm and Nope...Lost It

Don’t worry if your memory is not what it used to be, sometimes forgetfulness is essential for a healthy brain.

When a name, face, appointment or memory escapes us, it can cause embarrassment and frustration. But understand these lapses are completely normal.  In fact, they are often a sign that our brain is in perfect working order.

Modern life and mobile phones mean that we are exposed to a barrage of information throughout the day. Not only is it normal for our brain to discard most of it, it’s also desirable.

If it didn’t our system would be overloaded. Not holding onto all the information is the brain’s way of tidying up and working functionally.

 

Our memories are formed by the action of neurotransmitters and the connections of neurons in our brain. When we pay attention to an emotional experience, the neurons fire together and then, wire together and store the memory into our hippocampus. The area of our brain that stores our memories, emotions and behavioural patterns.

Our hippocampus chooses what is deemed important to us and the rest of the information is lost. It’s like a screening service.

So, if you can’t remember where you’ve put your keys, don’t be too cross with yourself. Putting our keys down is a mundane activity which doesn’t require concentration. If you’re not aware of what you’re doing the information can’t enter your long- term memory.

Our memory holds onto events that frighten us to avoid us repeating them and our emotion can work as a glue. It glues the experience into our brain so that we may learn from them. That’s why we remember dramatic and negative stuff so well.

 

The real risk to memory can be an unhealthy lifestyle and worrying is one of the enemies of memory. We fill up our working memory with negative thoughts about the future or past and then our stress levels remain high.

Also, poor sleep has a negative effect. A lot of memory consolidation goes on while we sleep. Memories are being laid down, rearranged and put into the right place or in perspective. Therefore, a lack of a good night’s sleep can cause memory problems.

Evolution does not strive to make our memory the perfect hard drive, it’s not the functional way of adapting to the environment.

Rest relax girl on bed

 

So, what can we do to help our memory?

Hypnotherapy can help by accessing the memories in our hippocampus to help process them and move them into perspective. By using pieces of information from the past we can construct simulations of our preferred future. We can use our memories to guide us and help us to plan.

Hypnotherapy can also help to get a good night’s sleep as it helps the mind to relax and let go of the anxieties that are triggering our flight or fight survival responses. Allowing our parasympathetic system to rest and relax our bodies. Allowing our mind to empty our stress bucket.

So, if you have to use Google to look things up when in the past you could remember it, don’t despair, it’s just your brain cleverly adapting to the aids at its disposal.

If you feel your memory is deteriorating more rapidly than it should be, or your loved ones or friends are becoming concerned, then it’s always advisable to see your GP.

Google Look up

 

When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you.
 
Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

 

 

Brain Strain!

What Stress is doing to your brain and what you can do about it.
 

Spare a thought for our poor brains, every waking minute it’s besieged by the pressures of modern-day life.

Stress in the 21st century can cause our brains to shrink physically from our thirties onwards and affect our memories.

The culprit is the stress hormone cortisol, which can toxically affect crucial brain regions such as our hippocampus which holds all our memories, emotions and learning habits.

Research has found that people with higher levels of cortisol than average had smaller brain volume than those with lower levels of the stress hormone. And brain shrinkage is not the only danger caused by cortisol. Chronic stress and elevated levels of cortisol causes us to be less efficient and more prone to confusion.

The good news is that there are a lot of things we can do to help to protect our brains against the negative impacts of stress.

Healthy Food

DIET

The first important action to take is managing our diets.

Cortisol from chronic stress doesn’t only damage our brains, it also drives our appetites into “urgent” mode, which drives us to fast food fixes. Typically, this involves highly processed convenience foods (due to cortisol driving us instinctively to gobble calories in case we need to take flight or fight). And our brains suffer.

Processed foods and drink products are not modified foods, but formulations mostly of cheap industrial sources of dietary energy and nutrients plus additives using a series of processes.

To keep a brain healthy, research shows that healthy diets have a powerful influence.

No faddy regimen is required, simply a diet of good fresh food.

Walking in forest

 

EXERCISE

Next on the list is exercise. Feeling stressed can easily deter people from taking exercise. Numerous studies have shown how exercise can protect our brains against age-related decline.

We don’t need to run marathons or become gym bunnies.

Brain scanning studies have shown that by just walking 4,000 steps, about 3km a day, helps to keep the memory related area of the brain in robust health.  Because regular moderate exercise helps to pump blood more effectively to our brains and promotes the growth of new brain cells.

Last April neuroscientists at UCLA warned that habitual sitting in our everyday lives causes cells to die off in the area of our brain vital to learning and memory.

Bed

SLEEP

Sleep is one of the most undervalued components of health in today’s society. It’s come to be regarded as optional! If we don’t put an importance on our sleep it can have consequences on our health.
Short term sleep deprivation causes:

  • Increased levels of the stress hormone – cortisol
  • Raised blood pressure
  • Impairs the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar
  • Activates the nervous (sympathetic) system
  • Makes us feel anxy in situations
  • Increases levels of inflammation in the body and skin.

So, ignore your stressed brains urging you to check your emails and social media just one more time at night. Switch everything off an hour before bedtime and relax into some vital soothing sleep.

Relax Feet hammock

REDUCE STRESS

Just as important as diet, exercise and sleep is relaxation.

Relaxation is the strongest and most powerful treatment for all symptoms we feel when we are tired, stressed, lacking motivation and are down.

Hypnotherapy is a recognised form of relaxation therapy.

It can reduce the stress chemical cortisol and bring the body back to balance. With regular sessions it can ease built up pressure and tension, helping you to feel calmer, more in control and in a better frame of mind to look after yourself.

The hypnotic trance is the induction of a deeply relaxed state. The mind is guided away from the troubles of everyday life and into a place of tranquillity and peace. During this process, therapeutic suggestions are offered to encourage changes in attitude and behaviour, or relief from stress-related symptoms. This relaxation therapy is comfortable, safe and beneficial for both the mind and body.

The key benefits that can arise from this type of deep relaxation are:

  • helping to restore and strengthen the immune system
  • reduce cortisol levels
  • lowering of blood pressure
  • stress relief and the lessening of chronic pain, tension headaches, back pain and migraines
  • diminishing any emotional upsets and unlocking emotional blockages that can contribute to stress
  • aiding concentration and motivation
  • improving energy levels
  • aiding sleep.

Hypnotherapy provides a confidential and comfortable setting in which your mind and body can be safely filtered of tension and stress, easing you into a relaxing state of mind.

By taking some of these steps now, in decades to come your brain will thank you for it.

Happy Old Couple

When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you. 

Email:

info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072
 

If you’re happy and you know it……

 

The summer months are flying by all too quickly (as they always tend to do!), and it’s a shame as it’s generally associated with feelings of wellbeing and happiness.

So what is happiness and how do you know if you’re happy?

It seems like an easy question, but did you know that there is a school of thought that says there are three definitions of happiness?

  • Emotional happiness – this type of happiness is an emotional feeling, an experience.
  • Moral happiness – if you feel you lead a good and proper life, you might feel deeply satisfied and content.
  • Judgemental happiness – it involves making a judgement about the world as a source of potentially pleasurable feelings past, present and future. For example, you could be happy that you have a new home or happy you’ve been invited to party!

 

Happiness List

 

It has been reported that apart from satisfying relationships, other behaviours that predict happiness are

  • A steady dose of unselfish acts
  • Listing things that make you grateful which generate feelings of happiness
  • Cultivating a general attitude of gratitude
  • Being able to forgive

Interestingly money doesn’t appear on the list. The reason being that it only affects happiness when people are experiencing poverty. Research has shown that generally, increases in salary or a small windfall are short term and don’t make people happier.

 

 

For years psychology looked at problems and the root causes of unhappiness. Until a researcher named Martin Seligman, who was originally researching helplessness, slowly realised that studying optimism and the aspects of positive thinking was more beneficial than focusing on the negative emotions.

So, what does this mean for my clients?

Everyone wants to be happy, but those that come to see me usually do so because they have been unhappy for some time. Sometimes my clients come to see me as a ‘last resort’.  If we are unhappy, then we may suffer from aspects of anxiety, depression or anger.  So, understanding about our brain and its role in creating happiness is important.

During an Initial Consultation I always take some time to explain how our minds work so we can understand how we can change the way we think and feel.

 

Brain

 

The primitive mind/limbic system – this is where our ‘flight or fight’ survival responses sit. This part of our brain was developed a couple of million years ago and still operates as it did then, it’s never had an update. It’s responsible for our inappropriate behavioural patterns or habits.

The intellectual mind – this is the area where stuff gets done and when we’re operating from here, we generally feel positive.

Having the ability to recognise the connection between the primitive mind and stress and anxiety, helps us then to regulate it. We know that our primitive mind can ‘step in’ if our anxiety levels are high. When this occurs, we don’t have access to the intelligent part of our brain that can direct us to our future happiness.

 

Relaxation couch

 

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy is a natural technique that helps to reduce the anxiety and stress levels and returns the intellectual mind back to being in control. It allows you to become open to the positives again. This could mean doing some things differently, seeing friends more, taking more time to relax and do the things we enjoy, learning something new or giving our time to help others.

With some relaxing hypnotherapy sessions, the process of becoming happy is within our control. By focusing on the positives to set your goals, we can make some real and lasting changes.

 

Happy in yellow flower field

When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you.

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

Who’s Afraid of Butterflies – Phobias and Fear Responses

 

Fear is a natural and healthy response we all have to danger. It’s a survival instinct designed to help us avoid and escape threatening situations.

Phobias, however, are different. To start with, phobias are more intense than fears – they can lead to severe anxiety and panic attacks for some people.

To be fearful of a huge polar bear is rational, to be fearful of a butterfly is not. But to those who suffer from a phobia, the fear experienced is very real indeed and is almost impossible to overcome without professional help.

Movie star Nicole Kidman reportedly has a fear of butterflies.  This well known actress developed the terrifying phobia when she was a child in Australia. She reveals,

“Sometimes when I would come home from school the biggest butterfly or moth you’d ever seen would be just sitting on our front gate. I would climb over the fence, crawl around to the side of the house – anything to avoid having to go through the front gate”.

Birds

Phobias develop when someone has an exaggerated or unrealistic fear surrounding a certain situation or object. If this situation or object is common in day-to-day life, the phobia can restrict a person’s life, holding them back from doing what they want to do and causing a lot of distress.

The word ‘phobia’ originates from the ancient Greek god of fear – ‘Phobos’. There are countless definitions of phobia, the most apt defining it as a ‘fear of fear’. Perhaps, more accurately a phobia can be described as ‘an extreme reaction to fear triggered by a stimulus’.

 

Fear of heights ladder

Fear of water

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More than 10% of the population have a phobia of some sort, and there are more than 300 types. Here are the most common:

  • fear of heights (acrophobia)
  • fear of the outdoors or open spaces (agoraphobia)
  • fear of closed or confined spaces (claustrophobia)
  • fear of spiders (arachnophobia)
  • fear of dogs (cynophobia)
  • fear of cats (ailurophobia)
  • fear of birds (ornithophobia)
  • fear of wasps (spheksophobia)
  • fear of crowds (ochlophobia)
  • fear of flying (aerophobia)
  • fear of needles (belonephobia)
  • fear of snakes (ophidiophobia)
  • fear of strangers (xenophobia)
  • fear of water (hydrophobia)
  • fear of vomiting (emetophobia)
  • and fear of butterflies (lepidopterophobia)

 

Spider

 

Phobias are often learnt through ‘one-trial-learning’, which simply means that it takes only one experience of something to make us phobic. For example, as a child, you may have seen your mother extremely frightened at the sight of a spider. One experience of this could be enough to make you also phobic of spiders or anything else that your unconscious has associated with that memory.

 

Relaxation couch

 

People used to spend years in psychotherapy (and many still do!) trying to overcome their phobias.  In Solution Focused Hypnotherapy we use a technique called ‘Rewind’ which is  derived from Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). Now most phobias can be resolved in a few sessions using this technique.

Using the Rewind Technique means that we no longer have to waste hours trawling through your past looking for reasons as to why you have the phobia; it is not necessary to find the imprinting event because the brain always updates the memories with the most recent occurrence of the phobic reaction.

 

Calm

In Solution Focused Hypnotherapy when treating phobias and fear responses, the important ingredient for effective therapy is calmness.

In hypnosis, you will experience deep relaxation, and, in this state, your unconscious mind is more able to re-evaluate all stress, panic and phobic reactions with the realisation that the fear is unwarranted.

In effect, the pattern-matching that causes the inappropriate activation of the fight or flight response is turned off, removing and uncoupling the emotion from the situation. Meaning that you no longer react by panicking or having those fearful thoughts.

Using this technique in a deeply relaxed state enables you to re-programme neural pathways in the brain so that the amygdala no longer responds by causing panic. Enabling you to live your life to the full.

Chasing butterflies

When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you.

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

 

Stress Awareness

Relax stone orchid

 

APRIL IS STRESS AWARENESS MONTH

Most people will experience stress at some point in their life, but constant or extreme stress can negatively affect both the mind and body. To try and combat this, Stress Awareness Month in April aims to increase public awareness about both the causes of work-related stress and ways to spot the signs early on.

Manual worker

 

According to statistics published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), work-related stress has increased for the fourth consecutive year. The negative impact is substantial, with employees missing 15.4 million days in 2017/18 – an increase from 12.5 million days reported in 2016/17. Stress is now the most common form of work-related illness, which was previously musculoskeletal disorders.

Using Solution Focused Hypnotherapy, I help my clients to make positive lifestyle changes, including support and guidance to help with reducing work-related stress.  

Office break

 

In support of Stress Awareness Month here are a few tips to help minimise stress in the workplace:

  • don’t wait to tackle workplace stress, take action at the first signs
  • recognise your stress triggers and talk to your employer about them
  • take breaks throughout the day
  • try out different coping strategies to find what works for you – mindfulness, breathing techniques or stretching could be helpful
  • dedicate time to relaxing outside of work to ‘switch off’

If you are starting to feel the effects of stress in the workplace, take some time out now to reduce its impact. Stress is often referred to as the “silent killer” because its effects are not immediately apparent and can lead to many serious health problems such as high blood pressure and heart disease. There are a number of resources and useful links available on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website.

Stress Awareness Month aims to educate people about stress, with the ultimate goal of having a positive impact on public health.

Men yoga

 

When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you.

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk
Tel: 07765 692 072

Changing Our Habits

Time for change

We’d all like to change some of our ‘bad habits’, nobody plans to procrastinate, but somehow, it just keeps happening.

We may feel motivated one day, but then get into the routine of our lives and forget what we’d promised ourselves. Days, weeks, or even months go by and the results of our lives remain the same. We don’t do anything differently, so nothing changes.

There could be moments in life when we may sense that more is possible. To feel more confident, to stop worrying, to sleep better, to make healthier choices. Or it could be just taking some time out for a walk, experiencing a quiet moment at home, or driving home from work and catching a glimpse of a different kind of life for ourselves. We might even see ourselves being more, doing more, and experiencing more in life.

Negative emotions

The problem for some of us, is that we don’t know how to accomplish the very thing that’s calling to us. As good as our dreams feel, we can’t visualize the dream for very long without doubts creeping in.

We may have thoughts like: –

  • Can I have what I want?
  • Can I live the life I want to live?
  • How will I do it?
  • Do I deserve it?

Subconscious mind

These old habits, thoughts and templates sit in our primitive, emotional, subconscious mind. The subconscious mind which holds our emotions, memories and inappropriate behaviour patterns. It might block your natural and infinite strengths, resources and power and make you hesitate to take action and prevent you from reaching your dreams.

 

 

Difficult childhood

Our primitive, emotional mind holds the templates and old beliefs that you acquired while you were growing up. They’re the habits that protect the status quo, the mindsets that make positive changes feel unfamiliar and uncomfortable, and the fears that tell you that if you try, you will only fail.

Any negative thoughts we have create anxiety, which in turn triggers the Amygdala. Our flight or fight response, which is difficult to ignore. If it can’t stop you by distraction or dissuasion it will automatically stop you dead in your tracks or make you run for the hills!

 

We have to remember that stress, tiredness or high energy emotions can cause us to revert back to our inappropriate and unwanted behaviour patterns or habits.

These emotions could be negative ones like anxiety, anger or frustration. But also, positive emotions like excitement or anticipation. The stress and build-up of pressure leads us to our ‘old habits’.

Here are some examples of how the subconscious primitive mind can interfere with your journey to your ideal life:

  • You begin to feel closer to your partner, but then you start a fight over something silly because you’ve never experienced this level of connection before, and you don’t know how to handle it.
  • You set a goal to lose 5 pounds this month. You hit your goal, but then the following month you revert back to your old habits and regain the weight.
  • You apply for a better job than you currently have, but then you begin to think that you’re not qualified enough, so you sabotage the interview or the interviewing process.

Each of these examples shows how the primitive mind wants you to revert back to the familiar status quo. As soon as you begin to imagine a better version of your current life—when you begin to dream, and to make changes in your life—your primitive emotional mind will immediately kick in and do its best to prevent you from taking action and taking yourself outside of your comfort zone.

Your subconscious primitive mind can be very powerful, but with help, effort and awareness of what is possible, you CAN overcome it.

 

Hypnotherapy uses trance or deep relaxation to relax the body and mind.  While relaxed the subconscious is open to positive suggestions which can develop fresh neural pathways. The process calms down the nervous system and helps you to integrate the positive suggestions into your life.

The challenge is that your subconscious mind knows everything about you. It remembers all the times when you didn’t do what you said you were going to do. It has access to the whole filing cabinet of failed attempts, forgotten dreams, and unrealized goals.

Dandelion

To change the habits, we’re engaging both parts of our mind.  Solution Focused Hypnotherapy uses positive psychotherapy on the conscious mind to reset your goals and clinical hypnosis to access the subconscious mind when in trance. This allow both minds to work together in unison for the same successful result.

When you work to overcome the habits or obstacles in your life, it’s important to remember that there’s a part of you that wants to move forward, and a part that wants to maintain your current reality. Navigating change always involves a choice — you have that ability to make the choice of whether you will take the next step or not.

If you choose to go forward to live a freer life, then you must take the first step towards living that dream.

When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you.

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

Reflection and Renewal in 2019

Journey in 2019

 

When a year ends, we often use this time for reflection and renewal, a time to think about the new year that lies ahead.

Over the years my life has been complex and uncertain. Maybe yours has been as well? But I’ve learnt to make more effective choices in my life and hypnotherapy has allowed me to integrate a more relaxed and calmer sense of living.

All our goals in life are personal to us and it’s not for anyone else to determine what it should be. But it’s something which pushes and drives you. The question is, how are we able to achieve our goals?

Diet life success

Perhaps you’ve tried different approaches but have not been successful in finding success. Maybe you have all the material things in life you wanted, but still don’t seem fulfilled?

 

 

Alone manSometimes our lives can be affected by tiredness, anxiety, stress, feelings of being disconnected with yourself or lacking in confidence.

 

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can help to manage these situations and to stay calm and in control, allowing you the facility to achieve your true potential.  It’s a combination of Psychotherapy and Hypnosis.

The Psychotherapy in itself is extremely beneficial, and its effects are enhanced by the application of Hypnosis, which enables the subconscious mind to make beneficial changes.

Many people believe that Hypnotherapy is something that is “done” to them, that they explain their issue and then I simply hypnotise their problem away, as if by magic.

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy is a much more collaborative process and it is important to understand that change happens because you want it to and because you are prepared to take the necessary steps to allow it to happen.

Heart and flowers

 

Learning to enjoy life reduces anxiety and stress and helps towards healthy relationships.  To love and be kind to ourselves is also so important.

We all have the facility to make effective choices in our lives and to live the life we want to live.

So, what are your plans for 2019 and when are you going to take those initial steps to start your journey?

 

When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you.

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk
Tel: 07765 692 072

Who’s Your Super Hero?

Superhero films and stories are all about empowering us to be our best selves.

Happiful Magazine reports that a study from the BBC America,has confirmed the self-esteem boosting effects these roles are having on children.

In their survey of 2,431 participants (boys and girls),focusing on the age ranges of 5 – 19 years. Researchers found that the heroes made them feel strong, brave,motivated, confident, inspired and positive. And the Super Heroes also made them feel that they could achieve things in life “if they put their minds to it”.

What’s even better about the study is that they found that there were two groups of people that were most important to building up the children’s self- esteem and that was their parents and family members.

So if there’s  a special young person in your life, never forget that you have the power to install the confidence they need to take on the world!

Hypnotherapy can help you find your confidence and  self-esteem, as well as help with anxiety, depression, sleep disorders and phobias. 

info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

07765 692 072

www.carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

The Gift of ‘Peace of Mind’ This Christmas

Busy Christmas

I have lived through many Christmases. As a child, a teenager, a wife, a mother and now as a grandmother. I have spent them in this country and once overseas on holiday in the warm sunshine. Most were memorable for happy and joyful reasons and some were not so good.

Sometimes the festive season can be exhausting! Searching for that perfect gift or toy, either in the the overcrowded, hot shops or endlessly online. Time spent decorating, wrapping, food shopping, food preparation, marathon festive eating and drinking!

Christmas busy

For some the pressure of planning the ‘perfect Christmas’ on top of every-day life and work, can lead to high levels of stress – spending a lot of time running around other people may mean that less time is spent on taking care of yourself and your own needs at a time when you may need to the most.

Think about this metaphor. On an aircraft in an emergency, you are instructed to put on your own oxygen mask before you attend to your young children. Our natural instincts in those circumstances would be to make sure our children are always safe first! But of-course, you need to be alive to do so!

How often are we preoccupied and busy fixing everyone else’s oxygen masks that we forget that we need to breathe to stay alive too!

Christmas lonely

 

 

If you’re worried about Christmas this year, you’re not alone! Your reasons for not looking forward to Christmas are likely very personal to you; some find it to be a very lonely time of year – others may find that Christmas brings back painful memories, whilst others simply find the festive period a strain on finances and too stressful.

These are just a few of the reasons why some people find Christmas a source of stress or anxiety.

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy has been proven to help anxieties, stress and depression. It can help you to feel more relaxed in challenging situations. Helping you to unlock the potential you have to break free of negative thought patterns, and to react more positively and more confidently to situations in your life that may have previously made you anxious.

If you feel that you would benefit from this type of therapy, then book in for an initial consultation and give yourself the gift of ‘Peace of Mind’ this Christmas.
Hypnotherapy Relaxation Gift Vouchers are also available.
£30 for a 40 minute session.

Relaxation sessions are also a great introduction to explore the many benefits of hypnotherapy.

Email: carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

 

Hypnotherapy Relaxation Sessions A Massage for the Mind

Balanced stones

 

Deep relaxation is a lot more than just taking a few minutes out.  It is a method of putting the body into a complete and encompassing state of relaxation that allows the mind to follow into a gentle and peaceful state, leaving a marvellous sense of balance, lightness and tranquility that lingers for hours and even days.

Builder

Sometimes, we don’t take the opportunity to relax properly for months or even years and that’s why Hypnotherapy Relaxation can be so useful.  It allows you to let go and drop away all of the built-up tension and stresses that we hold onto.

A Hypnotherapy Relaxation session is a simple, relaxing and calm procedure. At my therapy room in Bagshot, Surrey, you will be invited to comfortably relax back on the couch in a very calm and peaceful environment.

I will then lead you through a guided step by step relaxation, leading your thoughts and mind away from the troubles of our busy lives into a place of peace and tranquility. No matter how hard you’ve found it to relax in the past, this practice and guidance will be invaluable in helping you to find deep relaxation.

Just some of the symptoms Hypnotherapy Relaxation can help you with:

  • Relieve stress and anxiety
  • Provide a measure of relief from chronic pain and tension
  • Calm the automatic flight-or-fight response

Relaxation is so important to our health and well-being. When we relax, we’re in control, when we relax, we see things clearly, when we relax, we can do the things that we want to do.

Whether you’re looking for a meaningful gift for someone…
Or, if it’s time to give yourself the gift of relaxation…..

Hypnotherapy Relaxation Gift Vouchers are now available.
£30 for a 40 minute session.

Relaxation sessions are also a great introduction to explore the many benefits of hypnotherapy.

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk
Tel: 07765 692 072

OCD – How Hypnotherapy Can Help

Washing Hands

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD.

Do you ever struggle with unwanted and intrusive negative thoughts? Do you sometimes find yourself engaged in small ‘rituals’ whereby you check your car door is definitely locked again and again and again?

 

 

Lined up pencils

 

Are you tired of this cycle of endless checking and obsessive behaviour? Are you looking for help to break away from it and so embrace a positive way of managing your life?

 

 

 

If the answer is “yes” then you may find Solution Focused Hypnotherapy may help to ease your mind away from thinking endless negative thoughts which can lead to, in extreme cases, people struggling to leave their own home.

 

I often see people who come to seek help with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD.  As our daily lives are increasingly stressful in the modern world so, sometimes, our brains struggle to adapt to the challenges we face.

As such, it tries to protect us by re-checking things again and again or introducing obsessive thinking into our lives. Negative thoughts then end up in something we term as a ‘stress bucket’ and people may find themselves re-checking things as part of an unwanted habit.

By using Solution Focused Hypnotherapy, I work together with my clients to help them empty the stress bucket so allowing them to have a more relaxed and confident outlook to their life which, in turn, helps them to stop worrying and focus on the positive aspects of life as a whole. 

At our Initial Consultation I explain in full how the brain works and how Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can be beneficial to overcome the problem. I also provide a relaxation CD or MP3 download for my clients during the course of the meeting.

Each session is designed to focus the mind into a mode of positive thinking prior to entering the trance state which is designed to be relaxing and soothing for the individual.

The number of sessions used by people who have obsessive feelings can vary and, obviously, as with any medical issue then it is important to remember that your GP is also there to help.

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can also be used to help improve sleep, aid in self-esteem and confidence, reduce phobias and fears and help people with anxiety, stress and depression.

 

When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you.

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

Summer Holidays and Stress Free Living

Seashells

During this holiday period, it’s wonderful to be able to spend time away or just relaxing at home. A change away from the normal routine makes us feel better.

Sun hat by the poolWhile on holiday we may have slept eight plus hours a night, exercised daily, maybe walking or swimming and probably didn’t sit behind a desk or laboured for the best part of a day.  You may have answered a few emails and messages while off, but overall were not too worried about ‘work’.

Before our holiday period, we may not have thought we had a lot of stress in our lives. And if somebody asked you if you were stressed, the answer may have been “no”.

 

But once the holidays are over and we get back to our day to day routines, we may realise we have more stress than we previously thought.

Work mode

As we all slip back into ‘work mode’, we may notice the reappearance of certain symptoms. If for example, you suffer with tense muscles in your neck and shoulders, headaches, teeth grinding, sleep problems, you may have noticed that these seemed to have disappeared while you were off.

So, when our holidays come to an end and we all gear up to go back to work and the school runs, just remind yourself to try and reduce the stress in your life as much possible, even if you think you’re fine!

 

Take time to relax and develop some positive habits.

 

Exercise running walkingHealthy FoodHappy people

  • Keep a positive attitude and accept there are events that you cannot control
  • Be active in a positive way, your body can fight stress better when it is fit
  • Be interactive in a positive way and spend time with the people in your life that you enjoy and who make you happy.
  • Eat healthy, well balanced meals
  • Get enough rest and sleep, your body needs time to recover from stressful events.

 

SOLUTION FOCUSED HYPNOTHERAPY – Is another way to reduce the stress in your life!

During our sessions we spend time focusing on positive outcomes and the goals you would like to achieve. This is followed by clinical hypnosis as part of the session and is a simple technique allowing you to enter a state of relaxation which provides an opportunity to let go of stress and tension. During our sessions you are also provided with a free relaxation CD or MP3 download, so you can experience the same comforting, relaxing sensations in the comfort of your own home.

Research shows that a reduction in stress and anxiety contributes majorly to a healthy and happier life. I can tell you from personal experience…..they’re right!

When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you.

Emai: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

Woman and lake

Exercise and Hypnotherapy

Exercise running walking

 

Being active is great for your physical health and fitness, and evidence shows that it can also improve your mental well-being. Which means feeling good, both about yourself and about the world around you. It means being able to get on with life in the way you want. Evidence shows that there is a link between being physically active and good mental well-being.

Brain neurons

Our brains can develop and grow thanks to a family of proteins that are specifically designed to build and maintain cell circuitry. This factor is known as BDNF (brain derived neurotropic factor). Think of it as being ‘Miracle Grow’ for the brain!

 

 

Man on bycycle

 

When we exercise, changes occur in the brain that allow an increase in BDNF, which in turn can ‘crank up’ the molecular machinery of learning.

Being active doesn’t mean you need to spend hours in the gym, if that doesn’t appeal to you. Find physical activities that you enjoy and think about how to fit more of them into your daily life.

The link between exercise and the creation of new neurons makes sense from an evolutionary point of view as our ancestors’ learning and memory evolved together with the functions required to track down food.  Research has found there’s improved cognitive functioning and learning ability following exercise, which correlates with higher levels of BDNF.

Tug of war

Also, BDNF protects the neurons in our brain from the negative impact of cortisol which is a hormone that is produced when we are stressed.  BDNF is the rope in a tug of war between chronic stress and adaptability. Being active can improve well-being because it brings about a sense of greater self-esteem, self-control and the ability to rise to a challenge.

Exercise is not prescribed to clients during a Solution Focused Hypnotherapy session, but it can help with your motivation. You may have trouble getting started, or keep putting it off, or give up after a few days. You may even find your goal too daunting, so give up completely.

 

 

Man in kayack

Hypnotherapy uses a trance state which is a natural way to achieve deep relaxation. You feel relaxed and calm with all worries out of the picture. It’s similar to being deeply engrossed in a film or book. While in trance you can focus entirely on a specific goal and are more willing to embrace positive suggestions that can be integrated into your life. Providing the motivation to not only exercise but enjoy doing it!

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy uses proven brain-based research to achieve excellent results for clients seeking to ease stress or improve their performance in sport, the office or in their day to day lives.

When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you. You will also receive a Complimentary Relaxation CD or MP3 download.

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

Girl jumping on beach

 

Stress, Disease and Solution Focused Hypnotherapy

Good morning let the stress begin

 

We’ve all experienced stress and anxiety in our time. But where does illness fit in and how can Solution Focused Hypnotherapy help?

All kinds of situations or things can cause stress in our lives, but it’s how we cope as individuals to the stressor and the meaning we give to it that makes the difference. For example, not all events stress all people in the same way.  It’s not the actual event in our lives that causes us to feel stressed, anxious, depressed or angry it’s the way we think about them. We can’t control the events in our lives, but we can control how we respond to them.  Learning to change our thinking habits can make a huge difference to our lives.

Headaches    Digestive issues    Blood pressure monitor

Physical Symptoms of Stress

  • Headaches
  • Tense neck and shoulders
  • Digestive problems
  • Sleep disorders
  • Lack of energy
  • High blood pressure
  • Nervousness
  • Teeth grinding
  • Nervous tics and twitches

 

Woman with black umberella

 

Emotional Symptoms of Stress

  • Anxiety
  • Anger
  • Depression
  • Irritability
  • Frustration
  • Memory Loss

 

Fear of heights   Flying in an aircraft  Weight managment

 

Psychological Symptoms of Stress

  • Phobias
  • Withdrawal from society
  • Compulsive behaviours
  • Eating disorders

When a threat or a stressful situation arises, the body’s fight or flight response kicks in with the production of adrenalines. If the stressor continues, the body tries to cope with it but gradually the resources are used up. Once the body’s resources are used up,it can lead to illness as the immune system can be low. In simple terms, stress can suppress the immune’s system or not let it function as effectively as it should.

Dandelion

So How Can Solution Focused Hypnotherapy Help?

Relaxation has been proven to unsuppress the immune system and a key part of Solution Focused Hypnotherapy is the safe use of a trance state which is a natural way to achieve deep relaxation. When we are in this relaxed state the amygdala that triggers the flight or fight response is turned off and stress hormones such as adrenalin are inhibited. Being relaxed is opposite to being stressed. Relaxation through clinical hypnosis is a highly effective tool in giving the body a chance to heal itself.

Using a Solution Focused approach, we can work to focus on the goals in life and what we want to achieve. When we focus on what we want, we start to find those previously elusive solutions, because we change our view from a problem focus to a solution focus. When we change our thoughts in a positive way we start to see things differently. When we are positive, we cope better with setbacks and are able to remove obstacles.

Studies have found that when people receive treatment for illness, those that have a positive attitude get well sooner than those that don’t. It’s a proven fact that a positive attitude increases the antibodies in the body. Whereas emotional stress decreases the antibodies.

Being relaxed and in a positive state of mind allows you to make the choice of how stressful and event can be and helps restore intellectual control. Helping a person to relax and focus on the positives is one of the things Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can do to help a person with illness start to “fire on all cylinders” again and get on the road to recovery.

Content woman

 

When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you. You will also receive a Complimentary Relaxation CD or MP3 download.

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

 

 

 

 

 

Are you a Morning Lark or a Night Owl?

 

The normal pattern of sleep that most of us adhere to is to sleep at night and wake up in the morning.  However, our sleep peak and trough points can be quite different from one person to another.

Morning lark

Morning Larks – have their peak of wakefulness early in the day and their sleepiness trough arrives early at night. Preferring to wake around dawn, they can happily function well at this time of day.

Night owl

 

Night Owls – prefer going to bed late at night and subsequently wake up late in the morning, or even afternoon. They can find it difficult to fall asleep early at night and often only drift off in the early hours of the morning. Of course because of this they don’t like to wake up early and can find it difficult to function at this time of day.

We don’t choose our owlness or larkness, it’s strongly determined by our genetics. So how and why did the two types evolve?

As a social species it was likely that humans evolved to co-sleep as families or even whole tribes. The night owls in the group would not go to sleep until 1 or 2 a.m. and not wake until 9 or 10 a.m. The morning larks, would go to bed for the night at 9 p.m. and wake around 5 a.m. Therefore, the whole group would only be vulnerable to predators for 4 hours instead of 8 hours a night, as everybody was not asleep at the same time. That’s potentially a 50% increase in survival chances. Mother Nature’s very own security system!

However, whatever our sleep patterns, it’s so important that when we do go to bed, we have a good sleep.

All of us have a metaphorical ‘Stress Bucket’ that can easily fill. The more stress and anxiety we experience, the bigger the load we carry, which can have a negative impact on our emotional wellbeing and our ability to sleep properly.

When you start to sleep, your brain enters a specific state of Rapid Eye Movement, which is often referred to as REM. In very simple terms, this state often allows us to empty our ‘stress buckets’, but, if there is too much in your ‘bucket’, you may find yourself waking up and being unable to go back to sleep!

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy works by encouraging more positive thinking, so reducing the stress levels someone may be experiencing through problems at work, home, or relationship based issues. It can help to relax and let go of tension and in turn, improve sleep patterns and other aspects of our lives.

When you book an Initial Consultation, I provide a full explanation on how hypnotherapy works and how it may help you. You will also receive a Complimentary Relaxation CD or MP3 to listen to before you go to sleep.

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

 

Procrastination

Avoid and Desire signs

 

I was asked recently, if Hypnotherapy can help with procrastination.

I thought, how could I explain this without reeling off a list of top tips? Let’s face it, procrastination isn’t a conscious choice, and it can be very frustrating, demotivating, debilitating and miserable.

So WHAT is procrastination?

It’s about avoiding something we don’t really want to do. The ‘pain of the moment’.  If we feel negatively about the task at hand our anxiety rises, so to ease the discomfort we put it off for later.

If you have a ‘to do’ list, how often do you do the easy, quick jobs first and put off the more involved or painful ones until later?

When going through your emails, how often do you do the ones that involve a quick reply and the ones you don’t want to do, you mark as unread and save for later?

Sometimes the tasks are related to our work place and sometimes they’re goals we’ve set for ourselves, that we never seem to make time for. Have you ever wanted to learn an instrument or another language? To take up a sport that you would love to try or join a pottery class? To obtain that qualification to take you further up the career ladder?

We have desires to live much greater than we currently do, but procrastination robs us of the thing that we truly possess, the present moment.

Hang gliding

We love to put things off, so we can have instant gratification now. But unfortunately, this can lead to problems, as the more we put something off, the more our anxiety around the situation gradually increases.

“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow, by evading it today” – Abraham Lincoln.

So WHY do we procrastinate?

Let’s be clear, laziness is not the main reason behind procrastination. There are a variety of different reasons:

  • Fear of failure
  • Fear of looking foolish
  • Fear of success
  • Fear of taking risks
  • Fear of the unknown

We all have motivation to do things. Our inner hopes and fears are what guides that motivation. So, what makes us put off certain tasks?

It’s not our fault! Our brains have two minds!

One brain two minds

 

The intelligent sensible mind – When we operate from this part of our mind we are positive, motivated, rational and wise. We get answers by making a proper assessment of a situation. We are solution focused.

The primitive emotional mind – Is instinctive. It performs around 88% (based on neuroscience research), of all the activities we do throughout the day, on automatic! Such as walking, breathing, driving etc. But it also includes how we think and it’s very negative. It’s all about basic survival and is where our flight, fight and freeze responses come from. These are all subconscious actions.

If the primitive mind feels you are in some sort of crisis, if a situation appears like a threat, if it feels that you are going to be uncomfortable in any way, then it will take over from the intelligent sensible mind and all logical, rational reasoning will go out of the window. This is because the primitive mind has bypassed the intellectual mind and is getting you ready to fight, flight or freeze. It thinks you are in a dangerous situation.

The anxiety we feel in a ‘dangerous’ situation is caused by our own negative thinking. Negative thoughts and behaviours around the task you need to get done. We also often negatively think about money, love, ourselves, the future, the past. We are creatures of habit and if we have destructive habits in place that have developed over a lifetime, this could cause a negative momentum about all the ways we could fail, how hard a task could be, how we’re not good enough.

So how can we get our thinking back into the intelligent sensible mind?

HOW can hypnotherapy help?

Using Solution Focused Hypnotherapy, we are able to utilize a person’s subconscious to enable them to create new habits and change their perspective on life and get them back in their intelligent mind. By focusing on your strengths and creating a positive new view of yourself, you can change your behaviours to line up with your new perspective and goals.

How you view yourself is an automatic process controlled by the subconscious mind. When we change those negative thoughts to positive thoughts then creating new habits becomes much easier.

  • Thinking, interacting and being active in a positive way
  • Being kind to yourself
  • Helping you to feel motivated and focus on your goals
  • Helping you to get a good night’s sleep. Sometimes procrastination can be from lack of energy caused from lack of sleep

Hypnotherapy isn’t a magic wand, but if you have the desire to change, then it can help to motivate you to create new habits.

So in answer to the question, “can hypnotherapy help with procrastination?” The answer is “yes it can!”

Procrastination wastes not only money and energy, but also the one currency you can never get more of: TIME!

If you would like to book an initial consultation, then please contact me through my website or on

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

Frogs beautiful dayFocus on goalsSleeping women

Working Parent Stress

Working parent

Working parents spend a lot of time juggling between their personal life and business life. While we all know how stressful this can be, what we may not consider is how that stress can have real health consequences.

  • How often are you constantly trying to catch up?
  • Do you worry that you will burn out?
  • Do you suffer from at least one stress-related health problem since becoming a working parent?
  • Do you have problems with anxiety and depression?

Once the health effects of stress are felt, everything gets that much harder to manage.

Work stress

Do you find that whether or not you have flexible working hours, can work from home, or work part-time, or have on-site child care, that it’s still not enough to keep stress at bay?

Even though we wish for more help with our kids or housework or better part-time options, it’s important to remember that most jobs are made for people who have no care-giving responsibilities. By taking on all those responsibilities, it can have a detrimental effect on our health.

Of course, it must be understood that not everyone is profoundly stressed. Some people balance things really well. It just seems that we all have too much to do and this can create all sorts of problems. When there’s lack of time we don’t often factor in time to care of ourselves.

Since you’ve become a working parent, have you experienced any of these health problems?

  • Unhealthy weight gain/loss
  • Extreme fatigue
  • Sleep disorders
  • Migraines
  • Mood swings
  • Lack of time/enthusiasm to excercise
  • Anger
  • Back and neck problems/pain
  • Getting sick more often

Guilt can be a contributing factor to parenting stress too. Does this sound familiar?

“I feel like I don’t measure up in every aspect of my life. If I get caught late at work, I miss precious ‘me’ time with my kids. When I work from home, I can’t give undivided attention”

You basically feel like you’re not doing a good job of anything. The house is always untidy, there’s a never ending pile of laundry. When the kids get ill………the guilt, tension and strain can be overwhelming.

So what would make it better? And how can you let go of the stress and find more fulfillment and joy in your life as a working parent?

Understand that your health is so important. If you are unable to function, then you’re not going to be in the best position to look after those you love, or be able to perform to your optimal level at work. Caring for yourself is the selfless thing to do. Be kind to yourself, reward yourself regularly.

  • Set aside half an hour a day to read by yourself
  • Having a coffee or lunch with a friend every week
  • Book a massage

Having something to look forward to helps to focus the attention away from stress.

If you are still struggling to deal with your stress, then you should contact your GP or an alternative therapy such as Solution Focused Hypnotherapy. Stress is an extremely common condition and you can be helped to deal with all the different levels of stress that can be encountered.

Understanding stress and how Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can help

Stress is a response to specific external circumstances. Having a moderate amount of stress can be good because it can be motivating. If you see or experience danger you are driven to deal with the situation.

Anxiety, however is persistent and sometimes we are unaware that we are anxious until we start experiencing health problems. It’s a feeling of worry, unease or nervousness about something with an uncertain outcome.

In the ‘primitive’ part of the brain, the Amygdala alerts us to possible danger and manages our flight, fight or freeze response. We’ve evolved with this system as it works on instincts and habits that keep us safe from predators and to find food and survive. We automatically respond to threat using these responses rather than making rational decisions using our pre-frontal cortex or ‘intelligent’ part of our brain.

The system works well when protecting us from predators but unfortunately in modern life the primitive brain can perceive threats everywhere as it misinterprets our negative thoughts. It cannot tell the difference between imagination and reality.

With every negative thought a person experiences, it goes into what we could term as our metaphorical ‘stress bucket’. As the level increases then you struggle to cope with the everyday triggers faced by being a working parent.

Calmness

This is where Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can help. By emptying the stress bucket, we allow the brain a greater degree for flexibility in being able to think positively, be motivated, and remain calm and in control.

A key part of the therapy is the safe use of a trance state, which is a natural way to aid in the reduction of stress, so that after several sessions, a client can start to feel better placed to cope with life.

Some clients have also found that it helps to improve their thinking ability, productivity and confidence – both in and out of the workplace.

As a working parent you know you can’t keep living this way. Not having the time to do anything differently is not an option as this will only lead to continued suffering. You can’t remain in survival mode all the time. Help change your reality with practical solutions and make your working parent journey a more enjoyable one.

To book an initial consultation please contact me through my website or

Email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

Hypnotherapy – A New Year and a New You

Time for change

It’s that time of year when we all start looking at how we can make the year before us really count. Do you finally want to quit smoking or perhaps lose weight by eating in a healthy and balanced way? Is 2018 the year when you finally overcome your fear of flying and head off to a hot and sunny part of the world? Maybe you want to change things that affect your life detrimentally, like anxiousness, stress or depression.

If the answer to any of these questions is “yes”, you may find Solution Focused Hypnotherapy to be a very useful tool in your transformation to a new you! Unlike other forms of therapy, it harnesses the power of positive thinking to create change.

The reason many of us can find it difficult to stick to our New Year’s resolutions is because we utilise our conscious mind to focus on and achieve a goal. However, really ingrained negative practices are formed and saved in the subconscious part of the mind, which is the part of the mind that hypnotherapy can reach without difficulty. So, even though we are telling ourselves that we need to stop smoking, eat more healthily or reduce our stress, our subconscious mind still holds on to the old behaviours that it has done for years.

As a fully qualified and insured Solution Focused Hypnotherapy practitioner, I explain at our Initial Consultation, how I can help you in achieving your aims successfully. By working together, we can see what small steps you can take to achieve the goals you’re aiming to achieve in you life. In other words, what you can do to change your future for the better.

If one of your New Year’s goal’s is to stop smoking, and you have the drive to quit, I can help you achieve that aim in a single session which lasts for around 2 hours.

If you are looking for help with weight management, we tend to work with a client for several sessions, so they can gain control over their eating and so look forward to a healthier future.

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can help in a variety of areas including sleeping, reducing stress and anxiety, helping with depression and improving someone’s self esteem and confidence. It can literally transform people’s lives and help them become calmer, more relaxed and confident in their personal and professional lives.

So if you’re planning on making some self-improvements this New Year, then please get in touch and give yourself the best chance of being successful.

2018 goals list

You can use the contact page on the website or

email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

 

The Gift of Peace This Christmas

Busy Christmas

I have lived through many Christmases. As a child, a teenager, a wife, a mother and now as a grandmother. I have spent them in this country and once or twice overseas on holiday in the warm sunshine. Most were memorable for happy and joyful reasons and some were not so good.

Sometimes the festive season can be exhausting! Searching for that perfect gift or toy, either in the the overcrowded, hot shops or endlessly online. Time spent decorating, wrapping, food shopping, food preparation, marathon festive eating and drinking!

For some the pressure of planning the ‘perfect Christmas’ on top of every-day life and work, can lead to high levels of stress – spending a lot of time running around other people may mean that less time is spent on taking care of yourself and your own needs at a time when you may need to the most.

Think about this metaphor. On an aircraft in an emergency, you are instructed to put on your own oxygen mask before you attend to your young children. Our natural instincts in those circumstances would be to make sure our children are always safe first! But of-course, you need to be alive to do so!

How often are we preoccupied and busy fixing everyone else’s oxygen masks that we forget that we need to breathe to stay alive too!

If you’re worried about Christmas this year, you’re not alone! Your reasons for not looking forward to Christmas are likely very personal to you; some find it to be a very lonely time of year – others may find that Christmas brings back painful memories, whilst others simply find the festive period a strain on finances and too stressful.

These are just a few of the reasons why some people find Christmas a source of stress or anxiety.

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy has been proven to help anxieties, stress and depression. It can help you to feel more relaxed in challenging situations. Helping you to unlock the potential you have to break free of negative thought patterns, and to react more positively and more confidently to situations in your life that may have previously made you anxious.

If you feel that you would benefit from this type of therapy, then book in for an initial consultation and give yourself the ‘Gift of Peace’ this Christmas.

Hypnotherapy Relaxation Gift Vouchers are also available.
£30 for a 40 minute session.

Relaxation sessions are also a great introduction to explore the many benefits of hypnotherapy.

Email: carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

 

Hypnotherapy Relaxation Sessions

Balanced stonesDeep relaxation is a lot more than just taking a few minutes out.  It is a method of putting the body into a complete and encompassing state of relaxation that allows the mind to follow into a gentle and peaceful state, leaving a marvellous sense of lightness and tranquility that lingers for hours and even days.

Sometimes, we don’t take the opportunity to relax properly for months or even years and that’s why Hypnotherapy Relaxation can be so useful.  It allows you to let go and drop away all of the built-up tension and stresses that we hold onto.

A Hypnotherapy Relaxation session is a simple procedure. At my therapy rooms in either Bagshot or Frimley, you will be invited to lie down and relax on the couch. I will then lead you through a guided step by step relaxation, leading your thoughts and mind away from the troubles of our busy lives into a place of peace and tranquility. No matter how hard you have found it to relax in the past, this practice and guidance will be invaluable in helping you to find deep relaxation.

Just some of the symptoms Hypnotherapy Relaxation can help you with:

  • Relieve stress and anxiety
  • Provide a measure of relief from chronic pain and tension
  • Calm the automatic flight-or-fight response

Why not get in touch with me to book your relaxation session and explore what hypnotherapy can offer you?

You can get in touch with me via my website contact page or  email me on

info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk or call me on 07765 692072

 

Gain Confidence in Public Speaking

Public speaking manFor a lot of people feeling anxious when speaking in front of a crowd is a very natural fear that can cause a degree of anticipation and stress – especially when it’s for something important, like a work related presentation or a wedding speech.

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can help to unlock that confidence that can feel illusive for some people. It can can help in both your personal life and in business. By achieving a crucial change in thinking it can make a real difference when it comes down to job interviews or presentations.

By taking small regular steps towards achieving your aims we soon see a set of positive changes that allow you to focus on real attainable goals in many areas of life – from the boardroom to the football pitch and from the workplace to home life.

Public speaking woman

By working to help you reduce your stress levels you get to a point where you can feel calm, confident and relaxed and take life in your stride.

 

 

 

info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

Help Reduce Pain With Solution Focused Hypnotherapy

Pain imageAs we head towards a darker, colder and wetter autumn, it can be a time of the year when dull aches and niggles can bring our mood down.

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy, may be able to help if you are experiencing certain types of discomfort or chronic pain.

When we experience pain, it can be a real drag and things we normally take in our stride can become overwhelming.

Our ability to cope diminishes as our stress levels rise and our focus on the pain itself increases.

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy is designed to reduce our stress levels and help us to focus on the aspects of our lives that we enjoy and in turn, increase our ability to cope with the discomfort.

The brain produces its own natural feel good chemical, serotonin, which helps us to cope with life and it can help us when we are dealing with pain.

The therapy increases serotonin production by focusing on the positive areas of our lives from positive thinking to positive action and positive interaction.

By focusing on these three key areas, your mood can lift, which in turn, can help ease the discomfort.

I can provide a full, comprehensive, initial consultation, which explains how Solution Focused Hypnotherapy works in the management of some types of physical pain.

If you are concerned about a physical condition, it is important to remember to consult your doctor.

 

You can contact me from my contacts page on the website or

email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

 

Helping to relax with Solution Focused Hypnotherapy

With your constantly busy and hectic 24/7 life-style, it’s sometimes easy to forget the importance of simply being able to stop and relax. You may struggle with stress and feel it manifesting itself in a variety of ways – from insomnia through to being cranky!

My training in Solution Focused Hypnotherapy, can help you focus on positive outcomes over the course of a number of sessions and together we can reduce your stress levels.

Hypnosis is used as part of the session and is a simple technique allowing you to enter a state of relaxation which provides an opportunity to let go of stress and tension. You are also provided with a free relaxation CD/download so you are able to experience the same comforting, relaxing sensations in the comfort of your own home.

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy uses proven brain-based research to achieve excellent results for anyone seeking to ease stress, improve their performance in the office or in their day to day life.

Relaxing in a field

 

info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072

 

Struggling With Sleep?

 

Do you find yourself waking up in the middle of the night at 3.00 or 4.00am? Thoughts and worries going around and around in your mind? Do you struggle to go back to sleep? Do you wake up feeling exhausted?

If you answered “yes” to any of these then Solution Focused Hypnotherapy may be helpful for you!

A course of sessions, each lasting approximately an hour, is designed to help ease insomnia and can help you have a more restful night’s sleep.

All of us have a metaphorical stress bucket that can easily fill. The more stress we experience, the bigger the load we carry, which can have a negative impact on our emotional well-being and our ability to sleep properly.

When we go to bed and start to sleep, our brain enters a specific state of Rapid Eye Movement, which is often referred to as REM. In very simple terms, this state often allows us to empty our ‘stress bucket’, but, if there’s too much in your ‘bucket’, you may find yourself waking up and being unable to go back to sleep!

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy works by encouraging more positive thinking so reducing the stress levels you may be experiencing through problems at work, sheer exhaustion from childcare or relationship-based issues.

The sessions I provide last for an hour and contains around 20 minutes of hypnosis which encourages Rapid Eye Movement to occur – so allowing your ‘stress bucket’ levels to drop. Over a period of time, you will start to see your sleep patterns improve.

At the initial consultation, I will provide you with a free Relaxation CD, which can make a real difference if you listen to it before going to sleep. It can help you to let go of tension and relax.

Sleeping woman

During my  initial consultation, I provide a full explanation of how the therapy works and how it can improve our sleep patterns as well as improve other aspects of our lives.

Do contact me if you feel this could be beneficial to you. You can use the contacts page on the website or

email: info@carolineevanshypnotherapy.co.uk

Tel: 07765 692 072