Today I want to share something a bit different with you...
... An insight into a completely different area, hypnotherapy, which I’ve recently become interested in. It all started when I was talking to a friend of mine, Charlotte Phipps, about her work as a hypnotherapist. She told me that recently, she was approached by the CEO of a large company who was concerned that her life was falling apart.
Before COVID, this lady was the epitome of a high-flyer. But during lockdown, she’d spent most of her time obsessively watching the news, scrolling through social media and isolated from her friends with the exception of zoom wine nights which were plentiful.
Now, her confidence was shattered. She couldn’t handle Zoom meetings. She avoided doing any presentations at work. She no longer felt like she could lead her people. She also noticed that wine O’clock was becoming an everyday occurrence.
Her husband said he didn’t recognise her anymore and not only was her career in danger, so was her marriage.
Charlotte identified in the initial consultation that her client was not sleeping properly. So first of all, she taught her some relaxation techniques so she could get more rest and start to set Goals, she also explained how the alcohol was increasing the feelings of anxiety. The CEO was confused…. “But I thought the alcohol was the only thing that was helping me”! she cried.
Then she helped the CEO picture the kind of life she wanted to lead - socialising with friends again, getting some exercise and improving her work performance.
Using hypnotherapy techniques, they rehearsed these behaviours again and again - essentially imagining them until they felt real.
“Within a few weeks, she was smashing it in real life,” Charlotte told me. “She no longer wants to quit her job, she meets friends for coffee and she’s even training for a half-marathon. Her confidence is back.” She’s also returned to having an occasional glass of wine.
I know that there is a lot of scepticism around hypnotherapy, because people associate it with entertainers and stage performing Hypnotists.
What Charlotte does is completely different. She uses a technique called Solution Focused Brief Therapy, which is based on neuroscientific principles and requires extensive training and practice.
It’s not about making people do things against their will, nor is it like traditional therapy, which involves dwelling on your past. It’s about breaking negative cycles and establishing new, healthy ones.
“Sometimes you get stuck with unhealthy habits and fears, which literally affect the structures of your brain,” Charlotte explained.
When we operate from our intellectual brain rather than our primitive brain, amazing results can happen. It takes practice but once we start, the changes happen quickly.
“With SFBT, we build up a picture of how you want your life to look, going forward. For example, if you had less anxiety what would life look like? How would you be acting, dressing, speaking, sounding, behaving differently than you are today.
“Then we rehearse that scenario repeatedly, until the picture becomes really vivid - it’s like a virtual reality simulator in your brain! This creates new neural pathways, and it’s easier to act out in real life.” Because, and here is the key. The brain doesn’t know the difference between reality and imagination. So if we imagine how we want our life to be and go through the finer details, and start making small almost imperceptible changes, our brain actually forms new neural pathways. We then re- tread these repeatedly until the new habit is formed. The old habits that don’t serve us eventually just disappear.
This technique can be used to help people with physical problems like IBS or insomnia, addictions like smoking, drugs or over-eating, as well as people with social anxiety who are afraid to interact with other people in certain scenarios, or who are afraid of public speaking.
The impact is quick; most clients don’t need more than 6-8 sessions.
And “the wonderful thing,” Charlotte tells me, “is that when people’s confidence shoots up, their whole life changes. For example, many of the people who come to see me end up adopting much healthier eating habits because they’re less stressed - even if we’ve never discussed that.” So weight loss can be a pleasant side effect.
...Creating a chain-reaction of positivity.
If what Charlotte does sounds interesting to you, I invite you to book a free consultation to find out more.