It’s the start of Mental Health Awareness Week - an opportunity to raise awareness of issues surrounding mental health and advocate change. You are likely to know a few people in your life who are struggling with mental health issues - they may include you. But how do we need when we need more support than ourselves, and our closest family and friends, to start feeling better? Firstly, going to a therapist or a counsellor isn’t a sign of weakness - I would argue, instead, th

As a parent it can feel like walking through a minefield navigating your teen or young adult’s emotions. We know that a young person is more susceptible to stress and anxiety as their brain is still developing, but how do we know when our child may need professional support to manage their anxiety? Lack of early support The first line of support for most parents is typically an appointment with their child’s GP. The GP provides the vital referral mechanism to specialist ment

If you find the winter months really difficult, you are not alone. Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD for short, can leave you feeling lethargic, tired, in a low mood or depressed, craving stodgy or sweet food, and suffering from poor sleep. All of these symptoms can vary in severity, and can make you feel like everything is simply really hard work and unenjoyable. SAD is not a new phenomenon. The Royal College of Psychiatrists suggests that people have noticed that the sea

Your heart starts pumping rapidly, you find it hard to catch your breath, and you feel an intense sense of fear. Dizziness, feeling sick, chest pains, hot flushes, sweating, and fear of losing control or dying are other symptoms. The onset of these psychological and physical symptoms is called a panic attack. Whilst there may be no real danger around, your body is responding to ensure your survival, triggering a rush of adrenaline which causes various changes throughout the b

Many mid to older age clients come to me with the aim of sleeping better. When I ask what their best hopes are, they often reply “to have continuous sleep”. This kind of sleep is the sleep they remember pre-children, pre-work or before reaching their middle ages. It’s almost magical in their memories - the ability to go straight to sleep and then wake up in the morning feeling refreshed. Setting realistic expectations at this stage about what they hope to get out of hypnother

It's a fact that more of my clients are women tha n men. They come with a variety of symptoms, but many speak about a desire to reduce or eliminate anxiety in their life. So why is what I offer - hypnotherapy - appealing more with women? Well the statistics show that women are twice as likely to suffer from anxiety, or develop anxiety disorders, then men, and this is more prevalent amongst Western populations. More research is needed to understand why this is the case, but s

I have a personal story about phobia. Five years ago, a zip wiring adventure high over the jungle treetops triggered a terrifying fear of heights. A few months later, and the same symptoms of sweaty palms, churning stomach and fast heart rate were back with me when driving my car over bridges and up heights. I had two options - avoid driving - or get the problem sorted. Avoidance is the number 1 tactic that most people use when dealing with phobias. For some this works, but

Why everyone needs a good amount of REM each night. Until I started studying hypnotherapy, I had little idea of why REM, or rapid eye movement, was so important for us. It accounts for around 20% of our total sleep each night and is when oubrain literally problem solves the events from the day before. During REM your body is in paralysis but your mind is 4 times as active as during the day processing all your thoughts. Think of it like a filing cabinet sorting through your st