What can Solution Focused Hypnotherapy help with?
Scientific research has proven that Hypnotherapy is extremely effective in helping people to overcome a wide range of issues and disorders. Below is a list of the most common issues we can help with, however, there are many more.
Anxiety
Everyone at some point will experience anxiety (worry or fear), for example when going for a job interview or waiting for a medical test result or an operation, however for most, these fears and worries disappear once the stressful situation has ended.
However, for some, these worries take over and affect their lives (mentally and physically).
- panic disorders
- phobias – such as agoraphobia/claustrophobia
- post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- social anxiety disorders (social phobias)
Anxiety can also manifest itself in many physical illnesses such as:
- skin disorders (eczema/psoriasis)
- migraines
- aches and pains
Depression 
Most people can and often do have periods when they feel low and down due to situations in life they are facing and which will normally improve after a few days, which is perfectly normal.
However, depression is different in that these feelings last longer, often weeks, months and sometimes years. Symptoms of depression are varied and can affect people in different ways, such as having feelings of being without hope for the future, a loss of interest in doing the things that they used to enjoy, or feeling tearful all the time. At its worst, these thoughts may become suicidal, and where they may feel life is not worth living anymore.
Physical symptoms can include;
- poor sleep/extreme tiredness
- compulsive eating (over-eating or under-eating)
- diminished sex drive
- various aches and pains
Most people also experience feelings of stress and anxiety when suffering from depression.
Fears/Phobias
A fear is an emotional reaction to either a threat or a perceived threat, such as a dog or flying, that can be potentially dangerous and which may cause a physical response such as shaking or sweating.
A phobia is a persistent and excessive fear of an object, place or situation that is not an actual threat, but which causes the sufferer extreme distress. It can be a disabling condition, and coming into contact, or even the thought of coming into contact with the object of the phobia can make people panic.
If a phobia becomes very severe, then those affected may go to great lengths to avoid situations where they may face their fears/phobia and often change their lifestyle to manage them.
Phobias are a type of anxiety, often displaying physical symptoms such as:
- feeling unsteady, dizzy, light-headed of faint
- feeling like you are choking
- pounding heart, palpitations, or accelerated heart rate
- chest pains or tightness in the chest
- sweating
- hot of cold flushes
- shortness of breath or smothering sensation
- nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea
- numbness or tingling sensations
- trembling or shaking
Chronic Pain
Pain is in the body’s natural reaction to injury or illness, a warning that something is wrong. However chronic pain is a lot more severe and longstanding, persists well beyond the usual recovery of an injury, and takes its toll on your emotional and physical health.
People with chronic pain describe the pain in many different ways such as: aching, burning, shooting, squeezing, stiffness and throbbing, they may suffer tingling and numbness as well.
Stress and poor sleep can play a major role in chronic pain, so it is important to reduce your stress levels and get some quality sleep as much as possible.
Insomnia (sleep problems)
Insomnia is a general term for having problems sleeping. Some of the most common causes of poor sleep are:
- stress, anxiety or depression
- alcohol, caffeine or nicotine
- recreational drugs like cocaine or ecstasy
- shift work
Insomnia can be short-term (less than 3 months) or long-term, and if you regularly have the following problems, then you have insomnia:
- find it hard to go to sleep
- wake up several times during the night
- lie awake at night
- wake up early and cannot go back to sleep
- find it hard to nap during the day even though you are tired
- feel tired and irritable during the day
- find if difficult to concentrate during the day because you are tired
Eating Disorders
Eating Disorders are a mental health condition where you may control food to cope with feelings and other situations. Eating disorders may include eating too much or too little or spending a lot of time worrying about your weight or body shape.
Symptoms of eating disorders may also include:
- avoiding socialising when you think food will be involved
- making yourself sick or taking laxatives after you eat
- exercising too much
- having very strict habits or routines around food
- changes in your mood such as being withdrawn, anxious or depressed
Confidence and low self-esteem
Everybody has times when they may lack confidence, and not feel good about themselves, however when low self-esteem becomes a long-term condition, it can and often does begin to have a harmful effect with regards to our daily lives and our mental health.
When we have healthy self-esteem, we tend to feel positive about ourselves and about life in general, this enables us to deal with what life throws at us. However, when our self-esteem is low, we see ourselves and our lives in a more negative and critical light and are far less able to cope with life’s challenges. Low self-esteem often starts in childhood, when our teachers, friends, siblings, parents and even the media send us positive and negative messages about ourselves. Unfortunately, when we focus on the negative messages, these are the ones that stay with us and we believe that we are not good enough, and may feel that we don’t live up to our own expectations, or those of others around us.
Many of our life events that are difficult and cause us stress, such as serious illness or bereavement can have a negative effect on our self-esteem, and whereby we may hide away from social situations, or avoid trying new things or things that we find challenging.
Living with low self-esteem can and often does harm our mental health, which can lead to problems such as depression and anxiety. Sufferers of low self-esteem may also develop unhelpful habits, such as smoking and drinking too much as a way of coping.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (OCD)
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common mental health condition where a person has recurring obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours. OCD can effect men, women and children. Although some people start having symptoms in their younger years, most start around puberty and early adulthood.
If you have OCD, you will usually experience frequent obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours.
- An obsession is an unwanted and unpleasant thought, image or urge that repeatedly enters you mind, causing feelings of anxiety, disgust or unease.
- A compulsion is a repetitive behaviour or mental act that you feel you need to do to temporarily relieve the unpleasant feelings brought on by the obsessive thought.
Although OCD can be extremely distressing and significantly interfere with your life, the right treatment can help you keep it under control.
Panic Attacks
Although panic attacks are not physically dangerous, they are very frightening for whoever suffers from them. Panic attacks tend to last between 5 and 20 seconds, however sometimes longer, and the number of attacks will depend on how severe you condition is.
If you experience sudden intense anxiety, feelings of dread, or fear , it might be the symptoms of a panic attack.
Physical symptoms may include the following:
- faster, irregular, or more noticeable heartbeat
- feeling faint, (lightheaded of dizzy)
- headaches
- chest pain
- chills
- shortness of breath
- feeling hot or sweating
- Trembling/shaking limbs
- feelings of dread or fear
- numbness or pins and needles
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Sufferers of PTSD will often have nightmares and flashbacks, where they relieve past traumatic events, and will often experience feelings of isolation, irritability, guilt. This is often made worse due to problems with sleep, such as insomnia. They may also have issues with regard to concentration.
PTSD symptoms are often severe and persistent and can really impact a persons life. Additionally, any situation that a person finds disturbing or traumatic can develop into PTSD weeks, months or even years later.
General examples may include:
- serious road accidents
- violent personal assaults, such as sexual assault, mugging or robbery
- serious health problems
- childbirth experiences
As these disturbing events are personal to the individual, they may appear to others as not a big issue, however, they may also greatly affect a persons life. Additional causes may include:
- public speaking
- relationships
- sleep problems
- sports performance and fitness
- weight loss
Performance (sports, acting, exams, driving tests, public speaking etc)
Scientific research has now provided us with a better understanding of how psychological well-being and visualisation can greatly enhance and improve performance, whether in sports, acting, exams/tests or public speaking etc.
Hypnotherapy (trance) offers clients a reduction in stress whilst improving their concentration and visualisation that can ultimately improve and boost their performance.
Smoking
Smoking is one of the biggest causes or preventable death and illness in the UK.
Every year around 76,000 people in the UK die from smoking-related diseases such as cancer, with many more living with poor health and debilitating smoking-related illnesses, such as heart & circulation, or respiratory diseases.
On average, smoking reduces your life expectancy by 10 years, and after the age of 40, each additional year you smoke reduces your life expectancy by another three months.
This is due to tobacco products containing very hazardous substances, from acetone and tar to nicotine and carbon monoxide to name but a few, and which when inhaled seriously affect your lungs, heart and the other major organs in your body.