Peaceful Minds » hyonotherapy

I need a therapist in Newcastle ? How do I go about it? What do I need to Know ?

Sian — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 09:34:13 +0000

If you are looking for therapy in Newcastle the information below might help.

I am still doing some face-to-face as well as Zoom and Skype sessions

Types of Therapy

Therapy covers a vast array of treatments. The psychological based therapies for mental health problems can be confusing to even those in the profession.

The lines are now blurred, however, traditionally :

Counsellors and counselling was shorter term for things like bereavement and short term issues. Again things are changing but counsellors didn’t always have as extensive training as psychotherapists. Sessions tend not to have structure and are based on what the individual brings to the session.

Psychotherapists, traditionally are trained up to Masters level and specialize in a particular type of psychotherapy:

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
Psychodynamic
Systemic/Family

There are many many more. Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com is a great resource for finding information about therapy.

Clinical Psychologists cover an array of psycho-therapeutic techniques but may specialize, they are educated up to doctorate level.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy or CBT

You might consider therapy for long term mental health issues like anxiety and depression which I would say CBT is one of the most efficient, hence its ubiquity within the NHS. CBT identifies the thoughts that cause distress and gives the client specific tools to change those thoughts and helps identify the behaviours. It is therefore great for behaviour related problems like worrying, overthinking, procrastination, ruminating, addictions, OCD. As a therapist I am also trained in Rational Emotive Behaviour therapy that identifies deep rigid beliefs that lead to all your painful emotions. Anger, guilt shame jealousy and hurt. It also supports unconditional acceptance, which is about responsibility not blame.

Psychodynamic Therapy

Is more “global” as opposed to CBT that is problem specific and is about rewiring the persons life narrative. It places emphasis on the significance of childhood experiences. Psycho-dynamic looks at the patterns of emotions and thoughts and how they interact, placing a lot of emphasis on the internal dynamics of these. It also aims to helps the client rewire their internal narratives to give them a positive sense of self.

Family Therapy

Systemic /Family is an approach helping people understand the dynamics of their family relationships to communicate better by reducing the distress of dysfunctional systems. It can be used for instance when a child or teenager is anorexic or violent. Or even and adult child living away from home but still distressed by the family dynamics. It can also be useful if one of the parents is struggling.

Hypnotherapy

There are other alternative therapies such as hypnotherapy which isn’t as regulated as the traditional therapies. I’m a member of the British Society of Clinical Hypnosis, having trained at the London College of Clinical Hypnosis, there is also the GHR. Hypnotherapy borrows from many traditional psychotherapies and tailors sessions to the individual needs. It is nothing like you see on films and TV. Hypnotists that do it for entertainment are just that, showman. It works in therapy because when you are deeply relaxed you can take in information quicker and it is accepted easier. You cant make anyone do anything against their will and just about everyone I meet who can relax and fall asleep can be hypnotized.

What To Expect From my Therapy ?

Depending on the issue I can see clients for two sessions for something like quit smoking or teeth grinding, the average tends to be around the six sessions for phobias, social anxiety, worry or confidence, milder anxiety. When a client comes in with a cluster of issues like panic, depression, disorder PTSD, OCD therapy can take longer. Comfort eating, eating disorders I can see them longer term but the sessions are spread out. It various quite a lot. I work with a big variety of symptoms and problems, there isnt much I haven’t dealt with these days.

Sessions tend to be face to face in my office in Regents Centre, Gosforth, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

Hypnosis can work over the internet if the client can guarantee no interruption. Alternatively, we do half an hour hypnosis work and I can record an MP3 separately.

Sessions are completely confidential and I would only break confidence if I thought my client was a suicide risk or going to harm someone else.

What to Expect from Your first sessions?

You would normally come to Dobson House and tell reception you are here or during COVID times people text and I come and greet them at the main doors. Masks are expected to be worn where 2m is not possible so I ask on stairwells and corridors. My office is large enough for there to be 2m distance and well ventilated. However, this is always subject to the government advice and rule changes. There is also 3 cafes near by for you friend or family members to grab a coffee. Cosentinos just next to Dobson House main entrance, there is Marks & Spencer’s and Asda just 200yrds away.

The first session is about setting a goal for the outcome of therapy and discussing how it will work. There’s no point in just rambling aimlessly through session after session and not knowing what is being resolved and what is not. I gain an understanding of the issue or issues and then feed back my understanding so we all know what we are focusing on. This sometimes can be the first time a client has seen their issues in an organized format. More times than not, it is the first step in healing and things don’t look as bleak as they first thought.. Also it is the first step on the path towards a solution. Whether I’m doing hypnotherapy or CBT or a combination we don’t always have time for hypnosis.

How do I Book a session?

The easiest way to book a session is to call me on 07737491728. My hours vary but generally I work Monday to Friday till 8.00 pm at night and can see clients for emergencies on a weekend.

Its important to feel comfortable when booking a session so a telephone conversation or video call is offered to answer any questions you may have.

New and Heightened Anxiety In Lockdown

Sian — Tue, 14 Jul 2020 09:37:12 +0000

Anxiety is an emotion that tells us we are under threat or in danger. Its part of our survival system and it is meant to be uncomfortable to spur us into action for self-preservation. (That’s why one of our biggest behaviours we demonstrate when we feel anxious is avoidance or to run)

In the past we would have been more scared of predators and our enemies. Today our anxieties are usually about our predictions, thoughts, fear of being judged and anticipation about possible futures. We really don’t like uncertainty and that makes us catastrophize which is a way of focusing on the worst possible outcome believing it to be the most likely outcome when it’s not. The churning of these awful outcomes along with the phrases that begin with “what if …” is called worry. Or I call it whatifery.

How many ways can we feel anxious at the moment, here are some common ones?

Existing anxieties (financial, OCD, social, health, phobias) are experienced with more intensity
Worrying about your future job and the effect a depressed economy could have on your earning potential
Anxiety about losing touch with people, they may not be your friends anymore
Anxiety about catching the virus or a loved one catching it
Anxiety about your civil liberties being taken away
You may feel you can’t live with the people you are locked down with
You may now just feel you’ve been in the house too long and that outside is generally scary or that interacting with people is too overwhelming
Worried about what happens after lockdown

Whichever one you are experiencing there are some general principles you can follow.

Put things into perspective. Exaggerating possible, but not likely, outcomes does not prevent them from happening, it doesn’t stop or solve anything. How likely is the virus to kill you? If we go back to March the government had us so scared, we were frightened to set foot outside the door. It depends on your age and underlying health conditions. If you are a healthy child, teenager, young adult it’s not likely to affect you anymore than flu or you may even have mild to no symptoms. The older you get the more chance (but not a guarantee) that you may have it more severely. 50- and 60-year olds can also experience no symptoms. Its worth noting that the average age of death from COVID-19 is 82 years of age. The life expectancy in the UK is 81.

If you are in an at-risk group and take all the precautions necessary if you have to go out. Therefore, by using masks, visors, distancing, taking vitamin D and keeping as much of a fit mind and body as possible you are reducing your risks significantly. Don’t mix often with those that mix a lot. Even then if you get it is not a guaranteed death sentence, though you might be very poorly.

If you ask yourself questions that have no answer but that trigger your internal survival alarm like “what if we are locked down forever and the economy crashes and there is anarchy?”. Or “what if I lose my job?” then you will continually feel anxious as there is no answer to something that might not happen in the future from the present point in time such a now. Whatifery whatifery what a load of piffery – this is a silly but useful saying to alert you to your over thinking

Don’t try to control things out of your control. Ask yourself “what can I do something about and what can’t I? The economy, government, people who don’t adhere to rules. Remember no matter how loud you shout at the telly they won’t hear you.

Do the things that bring you happiness. It may be limited but identify them and engage in them. A soak in the bath, a movie, a walk , face-time or call friends. Remember when you’re feeling low talking and thinking about someone else is a good way of putting things in perspective as well as shifting your focus outwards away from thoughts about you.

Don’t watch the news! On TV or online. They present you with a doom and gloom world that you can’t do anything about. The headlines are designed to grab your attention by stimulating your fear and emotional centre. They are rarely absolute truths in and of themselves.

What you fear is diminished by facing it. You can do it all at once or in bite size chunks. This can be relevant for leaving the house, shopping or going back to work. This is because the amygdala, the organ in your brain responsible for anxiety and fear, can only learn not to be fearful of something by re-experiencing it and seeing that you didn’t come to harm. It learns. It changes its programming through emotion and experience. For example, that old story about getting back on the horse immediately after a fall. The fall may trigger a trauma, (an unresolved terror that repeats itself in a time-loop like it was happening in the present moment). You can’t tell the person to get over it as the loop doesn’t understand English. By getting back up on the horse ( which will be terrifying) the amygdala learns again that riding is more or less safe. To definitely cancel out any trauma by going out on the horse every day after the fall would make sure a new loop was written over any possible trauma ones.

If you need support seek it! Whether it’s with friends, family or a professional. Being alone in an anxious head without any help to get out of it can be hellish. Don’t let toxic thoughts be your only companion.

Be aware of your bodily sensations that occur during anxiety so you aren’t afraid of them. There will be a set of feelings that occur here are some common ones. Having these in an intense flash is known as a panic attack also known as full fight-or-flight.

Heart racing/chest pain
Shortness of breath and struggle to get breath
Shoulder, neck and limb pain
Nausea, acid re-flux, heart burn, diarrhea, constipation
Sweating, shaking
Brain fog/not feeling real or spaced out
Insomnia
Racing thoughts

Health anxiety can develop when the above symptoms are be mistaken for something life threatening due to the symptom being accompanied by the anxious/terror feeling. The brain puts two and two together and gets five. A lot of people end up in A&E believing they are having a heart attack. Or have repeated trips to the doctor believing they may have cancer. Checking the internet to self-diagnose is the absolutely worst thing to do for increasing anxiety

Mindful meditation in particular is pretty good for accepting and dealing with anxiety. When you fight a thought or try and control one you just feed them more energy and they get stronger. Mindful meditation accepts they are there and then gently ignores them. They lose their potency and you can begin to feel calm. Similarly, if you fight anxiety you also fuel it.

Hypnosis is a great technique for putting the body into rest-and-digest, the opposite to fight-or-flight. Hypnosis helps the body to repair damaged cells, the immune system is boosted, digestion and absorption of nutrients is optimized. This is what happens when we re asleep too. The heart rate slows down as does breathing and blood pressure. We are truly relaxed.

There is, of course, a lot more to anxiety than this. For specific help contact me directly. Each person will have individual anxieties or combinations of anxieties. The above tips might help you stop exacerbating them.

Watch out for my next article on what happens when low mood sets in.