I am a Cognitive Hypnotherapist and Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)

Addiction, anxiety, confidence issues, eating disorders, fears and phobias, IBS and other nervous disorders, PTSD, relationship issues and social problems - these are some of the conditions which I have successfully treated over the years. I work with both English and Russian clients as I am fluent in both languages.

I use hypnosis together with the latest advances in the field of Brief Psychotherapy, drawing on techniques from NLP, Cognitive Therapy, Gestalt, Transactional Analysis and the latest research from Evolutionary Psychology and Neuroscience.

This approach achieves results in the shortest possible time.

I am also a volunteer Clinical Hypnotherapist working, as part of a medical team, with patients at the North London MARIE CURIE Hospice. Here I use a range of techniques proven to help with needle phobia, anxiety, depression, post operative PTSD, pain management and the particular relationship problems which can result from the change in dynamics following cancer diagnosis and treatment – all with the aim of empowering patients to take control and lead as fulfilling a life as possible

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WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY?  WHY DO WE GET SICK?  HOW CAN WE HEAL?

Well, the root cause of our troubles is usually inner conflict - between the conscious and the unconscious mind.

Neuroscience has demonstrated that 90 percent of our life is run by our unconscious mind. This unconscious is programmed largely in childhood, by what we see and experience as the way to be in the world in which we find ourselves.  Shockingly, this means that our conscious mind, our thinking, with which we tackle life choices and future planning, is very much a “minor shareholder” struggling to gain control!  This is why we often find ourselves behaving against our wishes in a way that “makes no sense”.

When life events trigger our unconscious it acts as programmed – the button is pressed – but when these programmes conflict with what we think we want the result is often stress, anxiety, anger or frustration. These damaging emotions drain power from our immune system, weakening its ability to fight off mutant cells and infections;   the result can be one or more of a range of illnesses from minor to life threatening, such as cancer.

Cognitive Hypnotherapy is derived from the latest research into how the mind works. During therapy sessions an active, cooperative relationship is formed between therapist and client to identify the underlying causes of the client`s problems and then to work on re-programming the unconscious so that the problems can vanish.  This then frees the unconscious from conflict, so that it`s power can be directed to heal and help the client to live the life that they want and choose to live.

WHY DO WE GET DISEASES SUCH AS CANCER?

Recent research has shown that only 2 to 5 percent of diseases are caused by defective genes or heredity. (Strohman 2003; Willet 2002; Silverman 2004). The majority of diseases are caused by environmental  factors affecting the genes.  This makes sense, as genes cannot turn themselves on or off. So what does? The brain does, reacting to the environment it functions in. Our immune system is controlled by the brain both indirectly, through hormones in the blood stream and directly through nerves and neurochemicals.

The “surveillance theory”, accepted widely as an explanation for cancer, states that cancer cells develop in our body all the time but are destroyed by white blood cells before they become tumours. A healthy immune system thus not only fights germs but is also a thorough, effective repair system that can seek out and destroy a tumour completely; it can, in fact, remove most illnesses. However if the immune system is overwhelmed by conflict, depression,  suppressed anger, fear, negativity and other stresses it is then powerless to halt the body`s breakdown.

For example: A study of identical twins, one of which in each pair had leukaemia, showed that the twin with the disease had been severely depressed or had suffered emotional loss beforehand, whilst the healthy twin had not.

Psychiatrist George Valliant followed 200 Harvard Graduates for 30 years, correlating psychological tests with health surveys each year. Those who were extremely satisfied with their lives had ONE TENTH the rate of serious illnesses and death suffered by their dissatisfied peers.

Stress can literally become a killer. Hans Selye first described the chronic stress syndrome (1936). Here what happens is that under threat, the adrenal glands release hormones as part of the “fight or flight” response which suppress the immune system.  This worked perfectly for our ancestors - faced with occasional threats from a wild beast they needed all their power to run!  However today the  tensions and anxiety of modern life  are not “occasional”, so they can keep the stress response switched “on” all the time, meaning that the hormones constantly released lower our resistance to disease alarmingly.  Therefore cancer and many other serious illnesses are not primary diseases, they are largely a reaction to circumstances that weaken and drain the body`s defences.  This explains why doctors report that if they cure cancer or some other serious disease without treatment addressing the patient`s entire life, a new illness may appear.    Here is where Cognitive Hypnotherapy is so helpful in working in complement to mainstream medicine.

(for more information read “Love Medicine and Miracles” by Bernie Siegel.)

DOES HYPNOTHERAPY WORK?

Healing  by trance is one of the oldest arts in all cultures. Ignoring the mind/body link is a recent aberration – influenced no doubt by the medical profession`s access to and reliance on drugs. Until the 19th Century medical writers stressed the influence of grief, despair and discouragement on the onset and outcome of illness.

In the Chinese Nei Ching, the 3,000 years old Yellow Emperor`s Classic of Internal Medicine, it states “the highest form of doctor uses no medicines but treats disease solely through the agency of the mind.”

Here are some examples of the power of the mind over the body:

In the middle of the 19th Century Dr. John Elliotson carried out hundreds of necessary amputations using only hypnosis to anaesthetise.

A BBC documentary (1982) reported a study of 200 haemophiliacs who underwent dental treatment. Some had hypnosis to stop bleeding and others (a control group) did not. The control group needed up to 35 blood transfusions per patient whilst those who had had hypnosis needed 2 or 3.

After lower back surgery many patients need catheters to urinate because of lower back spasms. One group of researchers suggested (hypnotically) to patients on the operating table that they would be able to relax the crucial muscles after surgery. None needed catheters!

Professor Daniel L. Araoz (1983) testified in the Journal of Psychological Oncology that hypnosis in oncology reduced the side effects of treatment, the control of symptoms and of negative psychological effects in cancer.

It works the other way too – you get what you expect!  In a UK study a group of men were told that they were being given chemotherapy when, in fact, they were given a harmless saline solution. 30 percent of them lost their hair!

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HOW ARE WE PROGRAMMED?

As a child, between the ages of 2 and 6 yrs old, we spend a large amount of time in a theta (4-8Hz) level of EEG activity – higher than a baby but lower than an adult.  At this frequency the brain downloads a massive amount of information needed to survive and grow in our environment. Thus our parents`/carers` fundamental beliefs, behaviours and attitudes become “hard-wired”  in our unconscious.  Our unconscious then acts as a database to read environmental signals and operate the hardwired programmed responses - once programmed they control our biology for the rest of our lives. When a stimulus is received it will automatically engage the response that was learned when the signal was first experienced in childhood – just like pushing a button.

This is why our psychological expectations  and attitudes can override any messages coming from the body.

In hypnotherapy the client is relaxed into a theta level of activity, which enables access to the unconscious mind`s programming and the opportunity to modify or remove it.

(For more information read Bruce Lipton`s “Biology of Belief”.)       

Finally - Carl Jung, the father of Analytical Psychology, said “when we destroyed Olympus we changed our Gods into symptoms”.  Today, in the absence of the Ancients`  traditions, rituals and mythologies we need therapy to heal and to direct our lives.

 

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