I am often asked “What can hypnotherapy help?”, so in this blog I have listed some of the issues that I’ve helped clients with over the years. This list is by no means exhaustive as hypnotherapy can help with so many aspects of our health and wellbeing, both mental health and physical health.
Anxiety and Stress
I have found anxiety and stress to be the most common reason why clients seek help through hypnotherapy. This often concerns relationship or health issues, or worries relating to work, or it may be general anxiety about anything and everything. In the last year I have been helping clients struggling with uncertainty and stress relating to the impact of Covid-19.
Alcohol Control
Clients seeking help relating to alcohol are not necessarily wanting to stop drinking all together, but want to gain more control over the amount and frequency that they drink. For some clients their goal was to have alcohol-free days in the week, for example, or to drink more moderately on the weekend.
Chronic Health Conditions
Hypnotherapy can help with stress arising through illness, from coping with the diagnosis of a chronic condition to helping to manage symptoms such as pain or anxiety. Over the years I have helped clients experiencing high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), migraines and anxiety associated with Parkinson’s Disease, to name a few.
Emetophobia
Emetophobia is a fear of nausea and vomiting or seeing others vomit, including animals. Many of the clients I have helped to overcome emetophobia were very fearful of their children being sick rather than a fear for themselves, although this can of course be the case. More often than not clients seeking help for emetophobia are experiencing a high level of general anxiety and panic. OCD behaviour and a depressed mood are also common place with this phobia.
Food Phobia
A person with a fear of food (cibophobia) often has a very restricted diet. Of the clients that I have seen with this issue the most common foods avoided before starting hypnotherapy were fruit and vegetables and in some cases diets were limited to little more than chips and jam sandwiches.
Needle Phobia
Needle phobia is one of the phobias that I have helped clients with the most. This is partly because it’s a common fear and also because I worked for several years at the University Hospital of Wales helping patients (receiving treatment for cancer) with anxiety related issues. This included anxieties surrounding blood tests, injections and the intravenous cannulation procedure.
Rumination Syndrome
Rumination syndrome is a condition that involves repetitive, unintentional regurgitation of undigested or partially digested food. Some clients that I have helped with this condition were bringing food back up after every meal before starting hypnotherapy. People of any age can be affected.
Self-Esteem
I have worked with many clients on issues relating to self-esteem. Sometimes it is concerns over body image which may also include how a person feels about their weight. Sometimes clients want to work on being more assertive or trusting their own judgement. In all cases we work on challenging the inner critic and building self-worth.
Sleep
Many of the clients that I see are experiencing some trouble with sleep at the time of their initial consultation, regardless of the issue that they are seeking help with. This may be difficulty getting off to sleep, waking in the night or not feeling refreshed from sleep. Some clients have been struggling with insomnia for many months or years before having hypnotherapy.
Tinnitus
Living with tinnitus can cause anxiety and stress which in turn can make the tinnitus seem more noticeable and intrusive. Clients that I have seen with tinnitus were also struggling with sleep. By working on relaxation techniques and reducing the negative emotional reaction to the tinnitus, hypnotherapy helps a person to manage the perception of the sound in their head, so that they are not bothered by it.
The above are examples of health issues that can be effectively helped through hypnotherapy. To discuss any other issues or enquire about an appointment please call 07514 931 096 or email me using the contact form.