How Can I Help You?
Can you imagine living your best life? A life where you achieve your goals, meeting each new day with the confidence and joy that comes from fully realising all that you are. A life where the positive changes you desire become your reality.
Whether you want to overcome old habits, manage your anxiety, adopt a healthier lifestyle or bring some other positive change into your life I can help you achieve these goals.
I am totally committed to your new life, the life that you deserve.
I will work with you to identify your goals.
I will create an individual, personalised plan to support you in moving towards their achievement.
We will work together, using the potential and power of your subconscious mind, to begin to make change happen for you.
Everyone experiences anxiety at times but when it starts to interfere with daily life it may be time to seek support.
I can help you to manage your anxiety effectively. I take a two level approach. At a conscious level I will teach you strategies and techniques to instil feelings of calm. At a subconscious level, working within hypnosis, I will help you to change the way that your body and mind respond to the triggers that previously caused you to experience anxiety so that you are able to respond from a position of confidence and calm.
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a natural response when we feel frightened, threatened or under pressure. It is an early warning system that helps us to be more careful and aware in situations where we need to be more vigilant. Within the right context, (e.g. sitting an exam), a certain level of anxiety is helpful.
However, when anxiety becomes prolonged or heightened and begins to interfere with your wellbeing and your quality of life then it is time to take action.
The Anxiety Continuum
We can consider anxiety as a continuum with four different levels.
Mild Anxiety
Mild anxiety tends to relate to a specific stressor (e.g. moving house, a work deadline or driving test). If you have mild anxiety you may be able to continue functioning as normal on a day to day basis. When the anxiety provoking situation passes, the anxiety passes too.
Moderate Anxiety
At this level your anxiety will be affecting your daily life. You may be experiencing physical symptoms (e.g. headaches, nausea, sweating, muscle tension, digestive problems and shortness of breath). Your thinking will also be affected. You may experience brain fog, intrusive thoughts, and difficulties in concentrating and making decisions.
Severe Anxiety
People experiencing severe anxiety find that they are unable to stop or control their anxious feelings. They may find themselves catastrophizing potential future situations and/or find that they are locked in a cycle of rumination where they engage in repetitive negative thinking without ever reaching a positive conclusion. In addition to the physical and cognitive symptoms listed above, people with severe anxiety may also experience panic attacks.
Panic-level Anxiety
This level of anxiety is marked by frequent panic attacks coupled with the fear of having a further attack. Symptoms of a panic attack include nausea, heart palpitations, shaking, sweating, dizziness and hyperventilation.
Hypnotherapy can help you manage your anxiety at every level.
How can hypnotherapy help anxiety?
Hypnotherapy can help you to learn effective strategies to manage your anxiety and to change the way you respond and perceive (previously) anxiety provoking situations. By effectively changing your mindset about these situations, you are then able to respond with calmness, clarity and control.
To find out how hypnotherapy can help you manage your anxiety please contact me to book a free discovery call or initial consultation.
Our own belief system; our beliefs about ourselves and our abilities, has a huge impact upon our lives, our achievements, and our overall wellbeing. Low confidence or low self-esteem leads to limiting self-beliefs which hold you back from living your best life. Hypnotherapy can help you replace these limiting beliefs with healthy levels of self-belief and self-worth that will enable you to move forward to enjoy greater levels of achievement and fulfilment.
What is self-esteem?
Self-esteem is your sense of your own value and worth as an individual.
What are the signs of low self-esteem?
Avoidance
A major sign of low self-esteem is the avoidance of situations, opportunities and new challenges. This behaviour is underpinned by an inherent belief of “not being good enough” and that in engaging with these opportunities there will be a high chance of personal failure. Unfortunately, this avoidance behaviour can reinforce the feelings of low-self esteem further.
Negative Self-talk
Negative self-talk is when our inner voice tells us that we are not capable or not as capable as others. We might say to ourselves, “ I won’t be able to learn this… I’m no good at picking things up” or “ I won’t be able to keep up with everyone else”. These statements can often repeat in our minds which has the effect of making them feel less like opinions and more as if they are true facts.
People Pleasing
If you have low self-esteem it is easy to become trapped in a cycle of people pleasing where you find yourself saying “yes” when you really want to say “no”. This can also impact on your ability to set healthy boundaries because if you are feeling vulnerable and “less worthy” than others you will find it difficult to assert your needs and safeguard your personal time and space.
Anxiety
Worrying about your ability to manage forthcoming situations can result in feelings of anticipatory anxiety which may then extend to the situation itself. Working within a situation where you are experiencing anxiety reduces your cognitive capacity which can then lead to you feeling less able to manage/perform to the best of your ability which reinforces your original feelings of low self-esteem.
What is self-confidence?
Self-confidence is your belief in your own abilities and judgement.
What are the signs of low self-confidence?
Difficulty in making decisions
This difficulty stems from a lack of belief in the quality of your own judgement. It is underpinned by a fear of making the wrong choice. If you have difficulty in making decisions you may find that you are constantly seeking more information before you come to the point of deciding or that you try to avoid making decisions altogether.
Seeking reassurance
Feelings of anxiety and self-doubt can lead to you constantly seeking reassurance. You may not know the source of these feelings or it may be that you are aware of having made mistakes in the past and are trying to avoid making mistakes again.
Social Withdrawal
Social withdrawal and self-confidence are inextricably linked. A lack of self-confidence can lead to you reducing your social interactions through feelings of inadequacy about your ability to manage these situations with ease. The impact of these choices is a heightened sense of social isolation which can lead to feelings of low mood, anxiety and depression which further increases your feelings of low self-confidence.
How can hypnotherapy help low self-confidence and low self-esteem?
All our experiences, both positive and negative, create sets of beliefs about ourselves and our own abilities. These beliefs are stored in your subconscious and influence how you respond to the situations that you meet in your daily life.
Through hypnotherapy I can replace the limiting beliefs and thoughts that have been holding you back, enabling you to move forward with a new mindset that is focused on positivity and empowerment.
To book your free initial consultation or discovery call please contact me.
Hypnotherapy for insomnia works on two levels.
Do you have trouble getting to sleep at night or staying asleep? Or perhaps you lie awake at night or wake extra early and have difficulty in falling asleep again?
Help is at hand. Through hypnotherapy we can identify the causes of your insomnia then work together to alleviate these, and in the process, enable you to return to consistent, restful nights of sleep.
What is insomnia?
Insomnia is a sleep disorder that can affect you in a variety of ways. You may have difficulty in falling asleep or it may be that once you wake during the night you experience problems getting back to sleep again. Alternatively, you may be an “early waker”, waking up in the mornings earlier than you would like to and finding real difficulty in falling back asleep once more.
What is the impact of insomnia?
During the day you may experience a lack of energy or motivation, concentration difficulties, low mood or increased irritability. Decision making may prove more challenging than usual.
In the longer term, insomnia can impact your physical health e.g. an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease or high blood pressure.
On an emotional level, ongoing sleep deprivation may result in heightened emotional reactivity, difficulties with decision making, and in increased likelihood of developing anxiety or depression.
Are there different types of insomnia?
There are two main types: acute insomnia and chronic insomnia.
Acute insomnia lasts for up to two months and is caused by a single life event that has caused stress e.g. moving house, changing employment, a recent loss or bereavement or a relationship breakdown. As the stress eases over time the insomnia improves correspondingly.
Alternatively, if your insomnia affects you for three nights or more each week and lasts for three months or beyond then you have chronic insomnia. Causes include ongoing stress, medical conditions, anxiety and depression.
How can hypnotherapy help me overcome my insomnia?
Hypnotherapy can help you to resolve the underlying issues that have been causing your insomnia and also help you to replace any negative beliefs that you are currently holding in relation to sleep to beliefs that are positive and helpful.
If you would like to explore how I can help you return to a consistent and restful sleep pattern then please contact me.
Are you menopausal or perimenopausal? Are you struggling to manage your symptoms? You are not alone.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) reports that over 75% of women experience menopausal symptoms and 25% of women would describe these as severe.
Hypnotherapy offers a natural way of managing your menopause. It utilises the strength of the mind/body connection and the power of your subconscious mind to help you to regain control and move forward in your life. What types of menopause symptoms are there?
Menopause symptoms can be classified as physical or psychological.
Physical symptoms include joint pain, sleep difficulties, vasomotor symptoms, fatigue and palpitations.
Psychological symptoms include brain fog, anxiety, low mood, mood swings and loss of confidence.
What symptoms can hypnotherapy help me with?
Vasomotor Issues
Hypnotherapy can reduce the frequency and severity of hot flushes and night sweats. Research shows that hypnotherapy can reduce hot flushes by 74%. This is achieved by a combination of deep relaxation, cooling imagery and guided focused attention.
Disturbed Sleep
Disturbed sleep during menopause and perimenopause can be due to a number of factors including fluctuating hormone levels, stress, emotional symptoms, and anxiety.
Hypnotherapy has been shown to help restore restful sleep by tackling the underlying causes e.g. emotional stress, anxiety or feelings of imbalance due to hormonal changes.
Anxiety and Mood Swings
Hypnotherapy can reduce anxiety and restore feelings of emotional balance through guided imagery, positive suggestions, deep relaxation and practical strategies.
Self-confidence
Physical symptoms and/or feelings of not quite being the woman you were can all contribute to a loss of confidence and self-efficacy. Through hypnotherapy you can learn to replace these negative thoughts and feelings with new, positive and empowering thoughts that will lead you forward. You will also find that as you become more adept at managing your responses to your physical symptoms your levels of confidence will rise.
Why is hypnotherapy helpful for menopause symptoms?
Hypnotherapy provides a natural, drug-free and holistic approach.
By utilising the mind-body connection, your responses to your menopause symptoms can be changed sustainably at a subconscious level to ones that are positive and helpful. As you change the way you think about and respond to your symptoms you will find that your symptomatic experience will improve.
Through hypnotherapy you will experience powerful relaxation which can help to calm and soothe your nervous system leading to you experiencing a reduction in stress and anxiety levels.
Old negative thought patterns and beliefs can be transformed through hypnotherapy to ones that are empowering and solution focused, leading you to move forward with increased confidence and resilience.
A Unique Journey
Your menopause is a unique journey, as unique as you are. That’s why before starting any work together I take time to learn from you all about your menopause experience and the areas that you would like support with.
Contact me to book your free discovery call and free initial consultation.
Are you struggling with pain just now? I was. I came to hypnotherapy under the control of chronic pain in the form of migraines that reduced the quality of my life significantly. Through hypnotherapy I learnt how to manage my pain and so reduce its impact upon my life. In the process I found that I had taken back control. The difference was life changing.
Hypnotherapy helped me to alter my perception of pain and the way in which I responded to it both cognitively and emotionally, resulting in my experiencing a reduced level of pain overall.
How can hypnotherapy help you to manage your pain?
As you engage with hypnotherapy you enter a state of narrow focused attention and deep relaxation. Within this “trance” state your subconscious mind becomes more open to suggestions about how you may respond differently to sensations of pain in the future.
Your emotional responses to pain can cause you to feel your pain more acutely. Hypnotherapy can help you to manage these emotional responses (e.g. fear, anger or anxiety) more effectively which has a correspondingly positive impact on the way in which you experience your pain.
Your brain is neuroplastic, i.e. it can create new neural pathways. Through hypnotherapy your brain learns to step aside from the old unhelpful neural pathways e.g. pain – fear of more pain – panic and instead journey down the new more positive neural pathways e.g. pain – management strategies – positive outcome.
If you would like to discuss how hypnotherapy can help you manage your pain effectively please contact me to book your free discovery call or initial consultation.
Receiving a diagnosis of Parkinson’s is life changing. Hypnotherapy can help you to come to terms with the emotional impact of living with Parkinson’s. It can help you to reframe your perceptions and responses, positively impacting upon your levels of wellbeing, confidence and self-efficacy. You may also find that hypnotherapy positively impacts upon your symptomatic experience.
Do you have a phobia that is getting in your way? A phobia is more than just a fear. A phobia is a severe anxiety or fear reaction to a specific object or situation. Often, you know deep inside that your response is excessive and irrational but you are unable to overcome these feelings. Phobias elicit such extreme reactions that many people will go to great lengths to avoid meeting their fear face to face. These avoidance behaviours, however, can often be counterproductive, resulting in an increased sense of danger, heightened anxiety and the risk of becoming trapped in a cycle of avoidance.
Hypnotherapy can help you to overcome your phobia by helping to break the unhelpful pattern of thoughts and physical responses that you associate with your fear and enabling you to break free from the pattern of avoidance behaviours as you learn to view the source of your old fear from a fresh, more positive perspective.
What are simple and complex phobias?
Simple phobias relate to one specific object or situation (e.g. dogs, blood, going to hospital). These fears often begin in childhood or adolescence. They may originate from a traumatic situation, (e.g. having been bitten by a dog), or they may be learnt or inherited from other family members who themselves had that specific phobia.
Complex phobias, in contrast, usually develop later in life, in adulthood, and tend to have a more significant impact on daily life. These phobias focus on one particular situation or set of circumstances. The two most prevalent complex phobias are agoraphobia (the fear of being in a situation where help, if needed would not be available and there would be no escape route), and social phobia (the fear of being judged by other people).
How can hypnotherapy help you overcome your phobia?
Your experience of your phobia is unique to you and so your treatment will be unique also. Hypnotherapy can help you to overcome your feelings of fear and panic relating to your phobia and help you to make new, positive associations with the source of your phobia, now associating it with feelings of calm and safety instead.
Are you ready to give up cigarettes for good and step into a new, healthier lifestyle?
Hypnotherapy can make this change a reality by changing the relationship that your mind and your body has with cigarettes. Your smoking addiction is maintained by the way you think about cigarettes and the behaviours that your addiction supports. A change of mindset is needed to break this toxic relationship. When your thinking changes your behaviours will change too.
How can hypnotherapy help me to stop smoking ?
Hypnotherapy is effective because it tackles your smoking addiction at a subconscious level. This is where the powerful urge to reach for a cigarette originates from which explains why it is so difficult to stop smoking with willpower alone. Even when you want to stop, your subconscious will keep repeating the same patterns of behaviour that keep you locked into the cycle of cigarette dependency.
Through hypnotherapy you are able to break free from these patterns of dependency by breaking the old associations that a cigarette will bring you relief from stress, reward for a task completed or a relaxing distraction when you are feeling bored or uncomfortable.
Why choose hypnotherapy to stop smoking?
Hypnotherapy is a wholly natural approach.
Through hypnotherapy your mind is reprogrammed which frees you from the desire to smoke.
As this change in mindset happens at a subconscious level it is sustainable.
You will find that you will be able to manage any physical cravings with greater ease.
You will learn new healthier ways of responding to the old situations that used to result in you reaching for a cigarette.
Your identity is changed. You now identify as a non-smoker.
How many sessions are needed?
I provide one single 90-120 minute session for stopping smoking with a free follow-up session if required.
If you are ready to stop smoking, please contact me to book your initial consultation.
If you are looking for hypnotherapy to help with another issue not mentioned specifically here, please contact me directly to discuss your options informally.
I can work with you in person at the Garden Room, Linlithgow, Craigsfarm Community Hub, Livingston, the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Centre, West Edinburgh, and the Salisbury Centre, South Edinburgh. I also provide online hypnotherapy worldwide or can visit you at home within West Lothian, Edinburgh and Falkirk regions.
Following the start of our work together, you will receive a complementary relaxation recording for daily use to maintain momentum between sessions.