Diets are restrictive…
Restrict the CALORIES you can consume Restrict the TYPES of foods you can consume Restrict the AMOUNT of food you can consume Restrict the HOURS in the day in which you should be consuming food Restrict the amount of “NAUGHTY FOODS” you can consume LABELLING certain foods as “naughty foods” in the first place! Certain foods being completely OFF LIMITS. Does this really sound like something you would choose to do for the rest of your life? These kind of restrictive fad diets, CAN work to help you reach a short term goal – the whole “Drop a dress size for summer” kinda thing, but they are not really sustainable for a long period of time and who wants to feel so restricted and limited in their eating anyway?! Hypnotherapy can make things so much easier. Your brain has the power to change the way you think and feel about certain foods. You can reduce your own appetite, so you feel fuller after consuming less calories. You can go from hating drinking water to actually craving and enjoying it. You can remove the desire for any unhealthy foods, so that you simply do not want them. Your subconscious is programmed to keep you safe, keep you healthy and keep you alive and I can help you connect directly with your subconscious mind, so that YOU can be in control of your eating and your body, once and for all.
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What thoughts come to mind when you think about “dieting”?
No more sweets, cake, biscuits? No more takeaways? Having to measure things or count points? Diets generally create feelings of restriction and deprivation and thoughts of “I’m not allowed”. As soon as anyone tells you “You can’t do that” or “You can’t have that”, what happens? We often want to do it or have it even more, just because we were told we can’t! For a lot of people, diets are about suffering and going without and feeling like you are missing out, all in order to lose some weight. The beauty of using hypnotherapy to address this matter is that we can reprogram your brain and remove the desire for all of those unhealthy foods that you’re “not allowed” and by doing that, you can follow a healthier eating plan, without feeling deprived because how can you feel deprived of something you don’t want?! If you want to find out more about this, I highly recommend you register for my free weight loss webinar that is happening live at noon on Monday! Did you know that when you become engrossed in something on the TV, or when you are mindlessly scrolling through Facebook, you do actually slip in and out of trance state?
When you are distracted by what’s on the screen and you aren’t actually focusing on what you are eating, it is far too easy to consume a far higher amount of calories that you would if you were paying attention to your food and your body. Another side effect of eating while in this sort of trance state, is that you often miss the “full” signals that your brain and stomach are trying to communicate to you because you aren’t paying attention and so inevitably, you will continue to eat until you feel bloated, or at the very least until you’ve polished off far more food than you needed, which can also lead to feelings of guilt. I would always recommend sitting at a table to eat, whenever possible and leave the telly and your phone off, so you can be more mindful about what you are eating and how much you are eating. Everyone has heard the news about antioxidants and their importance to good health and proper nutrition. It seems the more scientists learn about antioxidants, the more their value and potential increases.
Antioxidants have shown promise in everything from preventing heart disease to slowing the degeneration of the eyes and brain. Antioxidants work in a fairly straightforward way, what makes them so effective is their ability to neutralize a group of highly reactive, highly destructive compounds known as free radicals. The production of free radicals is a normal bodily process, and it's part of the process of breathing and living. Free radicals are normally neutralized by the body’s natural defense system, rendering them harmless. However, anything that weakens the body’s natural defenses weakens its ability to fight off these free radicals, those weakening agents include environmental pollution, excess UV radiation and even excessive consumption of alcohol. When free radicals are not properly neutralized, the body is left open to illness. Free radicals can damage the structure and function of cells in the body, and recent evidence suggest that free radicals contribute to the aging process and may play a role in a great many illnesses, including cancer and heart disease. While vitamin supplements containing antioxidants such as vitamin C can be important, there is no substitute for a healthy diet. It's estimated that foods contain more than 4,000 compounds that have antioxidant qualities so eating a healthy diet is the only way to take advantage of these antioxidant properties. In addition to the well known antioxidants like vitamin C and vitamin E, healthy foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains also contain a lot of lesser known antioxidants. Scientists are only now discovering the important role these lesser known antioxidants have in keeping the body healthy. Let’s take a look at some of the dietary sources for the major antioxidant vitamins. VITAMIN C Vitamin C is probably the most studied of all the antioxidant vitamins. Also known as ascorbic acid, vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin found in all bodily fluids, and it's thought to be one of body’s first lines of defense against infection and disease. Since vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin, it is not stored and must be consumed in adequate quantities every day. Good dietary sources of vitamin C include citrus fruits such as oranges and grapefruits, green peppers, broccoli and other green leafy vegetables, strawberries, cabbage and potatoes. VITAMIN E Vitamin E is a fat soluble vitamin that is stored in the liver and other tissues. Vitamin E has been studied for its effects on everything from delaying the aging process to healing a sunburn. While vitamin E is not a miracle worker, it is an important antioxidant, and it's important that the diet contain sufficient amounts of vitamin E. Good dietary sources of this important nutrient include wheat germ, nuts, seeds, whole grains, vegetable oil, fish liver oil and green leafy veggies. BETA-CAROTENE Beta-carotene is the nutrient that gives flamingos their distinctive pink color (they get it from the shrimp they eat). In the human world, beta-carotene is the most widely studied of over 600 carotenoids that have thus far been discovered. The role of beta-carotene in nature is to protect the skins of dark green, yellow and orange fruits from the damaging effects of solar radiation. Scientists believe that beta-carotene plays a similar protective role in the human body. Sources of beta-carotene in the diet include such foods as carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, broccoli, tomatoes, collard greens, kale, cantaloupe, peaches and apricots. SELENIUM Selenium is one of the most important minerals in a healthy diet, and it has been studied for its ability to prevent cell damage. Scientists see this ability to protect cells from damage as possibly important in the prevention of cancer, and selenium is being studied for possible cancer preventative properties. It is important to get the selenium you need from your diet, since large doses of selenium supplements can be toxic. Fortunately, selenium is easily found in a healthy diet. Good sources of dietary selenium include fish and shellfish, red meat, whole grains, poultry and eggs, and garlic. Vegetables grown in selenium rich soils are also good sources of dietary selenium. Hypnotherapy can be highly effective in removing unhealthy food desires and to replace them with healthier more nutritious ones. If you'd like to find out more about how hypnotherapy might be able to help you get your eating back on track, then get in touch for a chat. Are takeaways a regular feature in your household or are they an occasional treat?
Are you finding yourself ordering more fast food now due to not being able to get grocery shopping deliveries or not being able to actually go shopping? Are stress or depression mounting and you find that ordering food is the easier option right now? There is no judgment here. At this present time, we have to do whatever it takes to get by. However, if you are ordering regular takeaways because it’s a family tradition ie. Fish supper on a Friday or Pizza and a movie on a Saturday etc, or you are eating fast food just because it’s easier and you can’t be bothered to cook real food, is that a habit that you want to continue? If you are having fast food occasionally as a treat, or when you are ill and need a break, that’s fine but if you want to lose weight, then you may have to reconsider fish supper night or pizza night every week. Perhaps you could replace them with a healthier option? Maybe just order out once a month? How would you feel if your desire for those takeaways simply disappeared and instead, your desire was for healthy, nutritious food? With hypnotherapy, this IS possible! What are your thoughts on fast food and takeaways? Let’s start a discussion. Remember, no judgement here. This is a safe space. What level of success did you achieve with them?
Did you lose weight? Did you keep the weight off or put it back on? Did you enjoy following the plan or did you feel restricted and deprived? I'd love to hear about your experiences. Good or bad. Pills, supplements, shakes and juices are usually only a short term option. Let's face it, if you had to spend the rest of your life having a handful of pills for breakfast or just a drink at lunch time and then perhaps a very low calorie meal in the evening, I am pretty sure that it wouldn't take long for you to get bored of that idea, or for it to actually make you ill. We, as humans, need food. A little bit of everything, in moderation. So while these fad diet plans may help you to "Drop a dress size for summer", that is all they are ever designed to be - a quick fix, for short term use. If you want to find out more about healthy (long term) ways to lose weight safely (and keep it off) and how hypnotherapy can help you do this, then send me a message and let's chat! If 1 was not at all happy with my body and 10 was I absolutely accept and love my body, where would you put yourself?
When you look in the mirror, what do you say to yourself? "I look so old" "I look so tired" "OMG more grey hairs" "Look at all those wrinkles" "That belly fat is NOT gonna get me a partner" "That cellulite is nasty" "If only I was prettier" "I hate my teeth/smile" Do any of these things sound familiar? When was the last time you looked in a mirror and smiled and said something positive to yourself? When was the last time you showed yourself some love? We are always our own worst critics, whether its our own appearance or something else. The thing is, a lot of the things we say to ourselves, we would never dream of saying to our best friend, so why are we so harsh on ourselves? The more we say things to ourselves, the more we believe them - that works for both positive and negative statements. If you tell yourself each day that you will never be pretty enough to get the guy of your dreams.... you wont, because your brain is making that belief a reality. But if you tell yourself that you are beautiful and that you love yourself unconditionally and that any guy would be lucky to have you... your chances of making that a reality and meeting the man of your dreams, are much higher because you are thinking, feeling and behaving differently. If you want to find out how hypnotherapy can help you improve your body image, along with other healthy ways to lose weight, then get in touch. For some people, it's when the kettle goes on... "I'll just have a couple of biscuits with my brew". (Multiple times per day)
For others it's the middle of the afternoon, some time between lunch and dinner... "I'll just grab a sausage roll/pie/toastie to see me through until dinner, as I won't be eating until later". Perhaps you do a lot of driving for work and your cab is full of snacks for you to pick at throughout the day, so your snacking happens frequently, rather than at one specific time of day. For some it's during the evening, whilst watching telly... "I'll grab some munchies to eat while I watch the movie". (Several bags of crisps/a bowl of popcorn/a handful of biscuits and a bar of chocolate later...) For others it's late at night. You might have a snack before finally going to bed... you might take food to bed with you... or you might even get up through the night and go and have a rummage through the fridge in the early hours because you can't sleep. When you wake in the morning, you might even find wrappers or remains of a snack that you barely have any recollection of eating because you were half asleep when you consumed them. Believe it or not, ALL of these are common issues that I have heard from many clients over the last couple of years, but they are easily addressed using hypnotherapy. Imagine being able to reduce your own appetite, so that you feel fuller on smaller portions of food. Imagine no longer feeling the need to snack between or after meals. Imagine being able to trust yourself and your body to only eat when you are genuinely hungry. And as a bonus, imagine being able to get a better quality of sleep at night. How much of a difference would that make to you? How much easier do you think it would be to lose weight if you weren't snacking? I can absolutely help you achieve this. What is it that you go for when you are feeling peckish?
Biscuits? Chocolate? Crisps? Bread? Cheese? Crackers? **Answers in the comments below please!** Snacking in between meals is a common problem faced by many of my clients seeking help for weight loss. But what if you could just STOP snacking, just like that? What if your desire for these munchies, simply DISAPPEARED? How much of a difference would that make to your life and your weight loss? How much easier would it be to lose those excess pounds? This is absolutely possible with hypnotherapy and if you'd like to find out HOW and learn more about other common food related issues that hypnotherapy can quickly and easily address, then keep your eyes peeled for the sign up link that will soon be going up for my totally free, no obligation WEIGHT LOSS WEBINAR! In the webinar, we will be looking at 5 Healthy Ways to Lose Weight and Why Hypnotherapy is the Missing Ingredient! Sarah was 35, she had two children and led a very hectic life, trying to juggle a full-time job, motherhood and running her household. Her job was in an office and so she spent most of her day sat at a desk and tended to eat her lunch as she worked. On her way home from work, she picked up her two young children from the childminders, where they had already eaten their dinner. So when they got home she would spend time with the kids, playing games, doing homework, getting them bathed and ready for bed and then made a start on the housework and getting everything ready for the morning.
She didn’t get much time to herself in the evenings and felt she was always on the go. Often, she would find herself eating late at night once the kids were in bed. Sometimes she would cook herself something simple, sometimes she would just pick at whatever was in the fridge, sometimes she just didn’t have the energy to cook and she opted for a takeaway out of convenience. Sarah had felt unhappy with her weight for a long time. She never did lose all that baby weight after having her second child and having spent the last year or so sat at a desk all day, she was very aware that the pounds were steadily creeping on. At the office she worked in, there was always an abundance of cakes, biscuits, sweets etc laid out for everyone to help themselves to and it seemed like it was always somebody's birthday. At home, the cupboards were full of crisps, cereal bars and other yummy snacks and treats for the kids. She felt she was constantly surrounded by temptation and it was getting harder to resist. It may have started with just the odd biscuit or sweet here and there but it fairly quickly became a couple of biscuits with every cup of tea she had, or a handful of sweets to take back to her desk to see her through the last couple of hours of the day. Her eating habits were a mess. Sarah often skipped breakfast in the morning as she was too busy getting the children ready to leave, before dropping them at the childminders and heading straight in to work. Lunch was always a bit hit or miss and she often just ate at her desk. Sometimes Sarah would take food from home, sometimes she would nip out to the bakers that was just along the road from her office, sometimes she just wouldn't bother and would inevitably end up picking at the goodies that were available at the office. As for dinner, well the children had theirs before she picked them up and by the time they got home, it was almost time to start the bedtime routine, so Sarah felt she didn't have much choice but to wait until later to eat. She was growing more and more unhappy with her weight and it was really starting to get her down. Sarah had tried various slimming pills and shakes and for a while even joined a slimming club but none of them really got her the results she was wanting. Sure, she lost a few pounds but inevitably ended up putting them back on again. She couldn't understand why nothing she was trying was really making a difference. Then one day, she was talking to a friend of hers about her struggles and admitted just how much it was all bothering her and that's when her friend mentioned me. She told Sarah how she had been for a number of hypnotherapy sessions with me and how it had made a huge difference for her. She gave Sarah my number and told her to give me a call. So that is how I came to meet Sarah and learn about all of the struggles she was facing. Over three months we did hypnotherapy sessions that were specifically aimed at the issues she was facing. Sarah set herself an initial goal of losing two stone. By the end of the three months, she had lost nearer three. She began eating a small breakfast, she made a point of leaving her desk at lunch times and not visiting the bakery to fill up on pastry! She lost all desire for grazing on all of the sweet treats that lay bout the office. She even started batch cooking at the weekends when she had more time, so that she had healthy, nutritious meals in the freezer that she could simply reheat for dinner, at a more acceptable time of day, during the week. Takeaways went from being a weekly feature in her diet, to being a very occasional treat. Sarah learned to become more mindful when it came to eating and she quickly learned how to recognize whether she was actually genuinely hungry or not, and only eat when she needed to. It was an absolute pleasure to watch Sarah's transformation and an honour to be a part of her journey. If you can relate to Sarah and would like to find out more about how hypnotherapy may be able to help you, send me a message. When you think about the word "exercising", what images does that bring to mind? What feelings surface when you consider doing something active?
To a lot of people, the word "exercising" triggers mental images of sweaty people wearing lycra, working out in a gym, surrounded by weights and lots of scary looking equipment. To others, "exercising" brings to mind loud music with a bouncy beat, shortness of breath and a bunch of women trying to keep up with an over enthusiastic instructor at the front of an aerobics class. But exercise does NOT have to involve a busy, scary, expensive gym. It's not essential that your exercise has to involve sweating buckets. It's also not always necessary for you to end up out of breath. What feelings come up? Dread? Exhaustion? Self-consciousness? Self doubt? Or does the idea of moving your body actually give you a buzz and excite you? There are so many possibilities for you to explore but I would absolutely recommend WALKING in NATURE. It is free, you can set your own pace, you can choose to stay on flat ground, or work your way up to inclines and hills and the fresh air and natural surroundings will also help to boost your mental and emotional well being. If you have some green space local to you, then that would be a great place to start. Or perhaps you are fortunate enough to live near the beach. Being able to take a break from the hustle and bustle of busy life and just appreciate the peace and serenity and beauty of your surroundings, really can do you the world of good. I truly believe that exercise does not have to be painful to be beneficial! And I will be sharing other suggestions with you over the next few weeks. Considering the restrictions we currently have placed upon us, my outdoor daily exercise consists of taking my dog Bear (that's him in the photo) out for a good walk and enjoying the scenes of nature around us as we go. I also consider gardening and vigorous housework to be exercise too! You'd be surprised how many calories you can burn bouncing around the house with a hoover! But that's for another post ;) For today I say, whenever possible... "LET NATURE BE YOUR PLAYGROUND" How arrogant are you to believe that the world even gives you a second thought?!
You think the world is against you. You think that you are a junkie and everyone hates you. You feel judged, you feel criticised for your choices and your actions. I want to challenge the belief that the world is against you and that everyone hates you. Who is everyone? The majority of the world’s population don’t even know you exist, let alone have anything against you. So if they have no knowledge of your existence and your life choices, how could they possibly hate you? A large proportion of the population are against the idea of recreational drug use or substance misuse. They are against the idea of finding drug paraphernalia lying about in children’s play parks. They are against the drug and alcohol related costs to the NHS, the prison service and the taxpayer. They are against the idea of having to deal with the volatile and sporadic behaviours of those under the influence. They are against all of the dangers associated with substance misuse. They are against the idea of people driving under the influence and causing fatal accidents. They are not against you as a person. They do not agree with or understand your choices. Equally, it is the situation and the effects of the drugs that people hate. They do not hate you specifically. There may be a microscopic percentage of the population, that do actually know you personally, who completely disagree with your choices and they probably don’t have any problems with sharing their opinions with you. But they are not everyone. They are not the world. And it is highly unlikely they actually hate you. Hate is a very strong word and you would have had to have done something seriously bad, for someone to feel such an emotion towards you and even if you had, again, that is not everyone. I think a lot of people are very quick to come to their own conclusions and pass judgement on the actions and decisions of others. I know that drug and alcohol addicts are regularly given a bad press and so I totally understand why you may think that you are being judged and criticised. But it’s not your fault. A lot of people either aren’t aware or choose to ignore the fact that a large proportion of addicts are using to escape pain, to erase trauma, to try to forget. They don’t realise that you are struggling mentally, emotionally and physically; That your usage is a reflection of your desperation. They aren’t aware of the changes that can occur in the body and more specifically the brain, after long term drug use. They don’t get it. BUT I DO. The world is not against you, nor does everyone hate you. If they do attempt to judge you or criticise you, it is because they do not understand why you do what you do. If you are ready to make a change in your life and give drugs and alcohol the boot for good, send me a message to find out how I can help you make that transition easily, with the use of hypnotherapy and the Drugs to Dreams Programme. Crystal is 35 years of age and is no longer a poly-drug user. She is now a non-smoker and no longer drinks alcohol. She has a 6-year-old daughter, who she now has regular contact with and is in the process of putting plans in place for her to come home, with the support of her Mum.
The world is a much less painful and stressful place for Crystal now as she has learned techniques to control her stress and anxiety. She has also done a lot of trauma release work and has been able to start healing and moving on from her past. Crystal has made a couple of new friends from our facebook group, who she feels really understand her and as they are all on the journey together, they are able to support and motivate each other. She doesn’t feel alone anymore. She has cut contact with “the old crew”, so is no longer surrounded by the temptation to slip back into the old ways of living. Crystal now feels more in control of her life and is far better equipped to function on a day-to-day basis, without the need for drugs and drink. She simply doesn’t want them anymore. She knows there is more to life. Crystal no longer needs or wants to feel numb. She feels confident. She feels capable. She feels happy. Crystal accepts what has happened in the past and she accepts herself. She is excited at the prospect of her daughter coming home in the near future and wants to make up for lost time. She has done all this work for herself and her little girl. She is actually looking forward to the future now. I'd like to tell you about Crystal - before she signed up for the Drugs to Dreams Programme. This is a common story among many of my clients and if you can relate to it, even just parts of it, then I urge you to reach out and message me and we can discuss how I can help you change YOUR story.
Crystal is 34 years of age and is a poly-drug user, who also smokes and drinks alcohol. She has a 5-year-old daughter, who currently resides with Crystal’s parents as she is no longer able to take proper care of her at home. The world is a painful and stressful place for her, full of judgement, rejection and neglect. She feels like nobody sees her, and even if they do, they berate her for her habit, tell her its all self-inflicted and sometimes even wish death upon her. Crystal has one or two “friends” who she hangs about with, who also use and/or supply drugs. Most of the offers she is surrounded by on a daily basis are those of more drugs, more smokes, more pills, more alcohol, more ways to try and escape reality. Her usage is having a major impact on her life and she is now struggling to function on a day-to-day basis. Crystal feels scared, anxious, depressed, stressed and alone. She feels that life really has dealt her a shitty hand that she did not deserve. She feels torn between just wanting to feel numb and escape, to wanting to feel good and in control of her life again. Crystal really wants to try to Drugs to Dreams Programme but does have some feelings of apprehension. How does it work? What if it doesn’t work? But deep down in her heart, she wants to change, she needs to change. She desperately wants to stop abusing her body, she is just afraid of how her life will look and feel like without the drugs and alcohol. She is worried that she might not be able to cope. She says that although the drugs help to numb things, they are ruining her life. Crystals attitude is still one of hope, not yet defeated. She had her reasons for starting using but she also has very good reasons to stop. She is naturally apprehensive about the programme, curious as to how hypnotherapy works, but she is open to the possibility that it could work for her. She doesn’t really speak to anyone about her drug taking or any of her other issues and while in the beginning, she is very guarded when speaking to me, she soon views me as her safe place, where she can open up and talk freely about her life, without any fear of being judged. Crystal wants to get clean and sober. She wants to feel able to cope with life. She wants to be happy and confident. She wants to be able to deal with all the crap from her past, so that it doesn’t hurt her anymore. She wants to get her daughter back and create a loving and happy home for her. She wants to make something of her life. She might even consider going back to college part time, while her daughter is at school. CRYSTAL IS AN IDEAL CANDIDATE FOR THE DRUGS TO DREAMS PROGRAMME 💜 Can you relate to Crystal's story? Send me a message and let's talk. As a young child, I remember spending a lot of time with my dad and I don’t think that ever really changed. I formed a close bond with him.
He was a very talented carpenter by trade and worked as a bench joiner for a company on the local trading estate. I was amazed at his skills. I was in awe of his talents. This man, my father, could take a lump of wood and turn it into something magnificent. I remember watching him build a huge wooden workshop in our back garden. I remember seeing photographs of exhibition work that he had done. I remember watching him make pieces of furniture, wooden desk tidies, pencil boxes, toy boxes and so much more. These times taught me that transformation is a beautiful thing – in the right hands, that boring, ugly lump of wood, could be turned into something amazing, something functional, something beautiful. I think this shines through in the work that I do now. No matter how ugly or broken or useless you may feel, I can help you to transform into the wonderful person that you want to be, that you were born to be. .Zoe, 25, came to me as a cocaine and cannabis user. She also smoked cigarettes and drank quite heavily too.
During her teenage years, she was bullied at school and witness domestic violence at home, towards her mother. She frequently truanted from school, leaving at 16 with no real qualifications. She went from job to job, struggling to hold any of them down for any length of time. Her mental health was rapidly declining. She had terrible memories of her school years, constantly being picked on. She had even worse memories of her home life, seeing her mother experiencing violence at the hands of her partner. She felt helpless and dreadfully depressed and that’s when she started using. After years of abusing her body with drugs and alcohol, trying to erase the painful memories of her past, she came across an advert for my Drugs to Dreams Programme. She wanted everything that it offered, but she was afraid that if she stopped using and drinking, that she would no longer be able to keep all those traumatic memories at bay. They were too painful to think about… too terrible to face. Drugs and alcohol had become a way of life for Zoe, they were her coping mechanism. I listened to Zoe’s fears and concerns and told her that I completely understood. I explained to her that hypnotherapy can help to deal with those frightful things from her past; That I could help her accept, move on and start to heal from them and we could do it in such a way that she felt safe, in control and that she didn’t need to consciously relive them. She could decide what to do with those memories. She could make the choice to let go of the past and start working on carving out a new, positive future for herself. She didn’t need to be afraid. We could work at a pace that worked for her. Zoe started working with me soon after this and we did a lot of work on releasing that trauma. Here’s what Zoe had to say about the process: "Amy listened. She never judged me. She validated my experiences. Over a few sessions, Amy helped me to let go of so much stuff from the past that I had been trying to block out for so long. I was so scared in the beginning, but Amy really helped to put me at ease and even though some of it was quite hard, it has already made such a big difference. I want to live my life, not hide from it.” Zoe now has plans to go to college to get herself some basic qualifications and she has lots of ideas for things that she wants to achieve over the next couple of years. Rob, 30, came to me whilst still using cocaine and heroin. He used both on a daily basis; The cocaine to give him a high, make him feel confident and full of energy and the heroin to bring him back down and stop his physical and emotional pain.
He felt that the drugs had completely taken over his life and rather than him being in control, the drugs were controlling him. Rob had lost a lot of weight, had lost his job and spent most of his time just working out where his next fix was coming from. His family had done their best to support him in the past, but he found himself facing an ultimatum – get clean and sober or get out. He made his decision – he wanted to take back control of his life – but he was scared. Rob knew that withdrawal was going to be hell. He knew that just a few hours after he took his last fix, that he was going to feel very ill and he would have to endure days, maybe weeks of the horrible side effects of withdrawing. He wasn’t sure he could cope with that. I reassured Rob that he wouldn’t have to go through this on his own. Yes, he will feel ill but that I would support him through that and using hypnosis, would teach him techniques that he could use to relax, reduce anxiety, create pain relief, help him sleep etc. I would be available for him to talk to and do hypnotherapy sessions with several times over that first week. After a lengthy chat, Rob made up his mind, he was in and he wanted to sign up for my Drugs To Dreams programme, comforted by the fact that I would be there to help him for a whole year. So we completed his first session to help him to actually stop using, reaffirming his decision to get clean and sober. I then set aside time that week to check in with him regularly and to schedule skype calls that coincided with the withdrawal starting. Over the next few days Rob reported feeling anxious, feeling sick, having headaches, getting muscle spasms, difficulty sleeping and of course, cravings. So as these symptoms came up, we worked through them. I taught him anxiety relief techniques, headache relief techniques, general relaxation techniques and did another session to reduce his cravings and once again reinforce his decision to stop using. Using these tools and techniques, Rob reported the withdrawal process to be “Not as bad as I thought to be honest. I felt pretty rough, but the hypnotherapy really helped. I was amazed at the way I could reduce my pain, just using my brain and when we did the session to help me sleep, that was a God send! I’d never had hypnotherapy before, but I wish I had tried it a long time ago.” So despite Rob’s fear of how he would cope with withdrawal, he got through it and much more easily than he expected to. He knew it was never going to be easy, but it was something that he needed to do and with the support of hypnotherapy, it was so much more bearable. He was able to reduce his anxiety, control his pain and discomfort and actually get some sleep, allowing his body to start healing. Rob went on to reconcile with his family and hasn’t looked back. He is clean and sober and has plans to start his own gardening business – something that he had always wanted to do. What is it that's holding YOU back? Cocaine use in Kirkcaldy is at epidemic proportions and it is doing harm to our town. Recent data from the Scottish Drug Misuse Database found there had been a spike in cocaine use in Scotland, coinciding with a drop in the price of the drug. Researchers also found users in Glasgow can have cocaine delivered to their door, faster than a pizza! That’s scary! In January, there were reports of six pupils at a local high school, requiring emergency treatment, four of whom had been rushed to hospital, as a result of having taken pills outside the school grounds, during their lunch break! Fife recorded it’s highest number of drug related deaths in 2017. 66 people died as a result of drug misuse. Drug related hospital stays also increased by 144% in the 14 years up to 2016-17. There is a dramatic increase in the number of women dying because of drug use. While the issue still affects more men than women, deaths among females have risen by a startling 750% in the last decade. This compares to a 60% increase in men. These figures are so worrying. It is heart-breaking to read these statistics. This is a crisis across Scotland. So many people losing their lives. So many families losing loved ones. Just one bad hit... One bad pill....and it could be GAME OVER for you. Photographers capture those special moments… they help to create memories… or even capture events on camera that you may not otherwise have ever actually seen for yourself.
Cake decorators create edible works of art, that make a celebration extra special by producing an amazing cake for everyone to enjoy looking at and of course, eat! Doulas offer practical and emotional support before, during and after the birthing process. These are three examples of skilled and passionate people that tend to come into your life at certain points and help to create positive experiences for short periods of time – and of course, to create the positive memories that those times provided their client with. Hypnotherapists on the other hand, can actually assist their clients to strengthen neural-connections and create new neural pathways in the brain, that can cause great changes to their lives. Hypnotherapy can accelerate so many processes. For example, when it comes to quitting smoking, the NHS website states “By six weeks of NRT treatment, you should aim to have cut your usual cigarette consumption by half and have stopped smoking completely by six months.” – Six months to stop smoking?! I can help you stop smoking immediately, in under two hours! The brain has the power to do it, you just need a little help to give it the correct prompts, then hey presto, you’re a non-smoker! Using hypnotherapy, I can help clients to stop using highly addictive, lethal, class A drugs and help them get through withdrawal, deal with the issues that caused them to start using in the first place, as well as addressing a myriad of other issues and helping them to create a positive future. In doing what I do, I can save lives, by helping my clients to stop using, before the drugs quite literally kill them. This can all be done, in many cases, without the need for methadone. I certainly don't want to offend any photographers, cake decorators or doulas, as I have a lot of respect for the work they do.. I just want to explain from a different stand point, WHY I am so passionate about the work that I do. While all of these highly skilled people can help to change moments in a life, I can, in theory, help to change a whole life - to SAVE a life... and that is immense! I know the struggle is real when it comes to trying to lose weight - even more so when you are also battling food and drink related addictions and just cant seem to control your eating. Fear not though, for help is at hand! And it doesn't involve starving yourself or consuming copious amounts of cabbage soup - Yuck! I absolutely LOVE working when men and women to overcome these issues and help them to achieve the ideal weight and shape for the their height.
So I shall describe the kind of person that I feel so passionately about helping. Maybe you will recognise yourself in my writings. You are aged 35-45 and you want to lose at least a stone in weight. You tend to snack between meals, struggle with portion control, feel like you don’t have a “full button” and often opt for takeaways or ready meals over healthy, nutritious, home cooked food. You probably don’t drink enough water and may even rely heavily on caffeine to get you through the day. You lack the motivation and energy to exercise and tend to turn to food for comfort when you are feeling emotional. You probably also eat just for something to do when you are bored too. You then often feel guilty for eating junk, which makes you feel worse, so you eat some more and then feel even worse and you get trapped in this unhealthy cycle. You have tried loads of fad diets with little success and have maybe attended a slimming group that helped for a while. You find yourself able to stick to a healthy eating plan for a short time, but then you fall off the dieting wagon again as you feel deprived. Your longstanding weight issues have lowered your self-esteem and knocked your confidence. You have realised that your physical and mental health are suffering, and you are now ready to do something about it. That’s where I come in. Using hypnotherapy, I can help you to change the way that you think, feel and behave around food. I can also help you to overcome food and drink related addictions such as sugar, chocolate, caffeine etc. I have successfully helped many men and women to lose weight and change their eating habits, without them ever feeling like they are being deprived or going without... And as a bonus, their self-esteem and confidence also improved drastically! Doing what I do, I have the potential to help a lot of people, with a variety of issues, but I absolutely LOVE being able to help clients overcome drug and alcohol addiction as it is such powerful and transformational work. So, let me tell you a bit about the clients I feel most passionately about helping, and you never know, it might be YOU!
You are aged between 18-35 and you are a poly drug user, who drinks and smokes and probably has a traumatic or abusive past. You spend hundreds of pounds a week on your drug(s) of choice and you use to escape the pain, the past and reality, because it seems to hard to deal with. You use to numb yourself or to forget. You feel lost, hopeless and in despair and feel like there’s no way out or no way back. You desperately want to get clean and sober, because you hate your life right now, but you are scared. You are scared of how bad the withdrawal might be; Of having to delve in to the past and face the reasons you first started using; Of having to live in the real world again, with nothing to help you escape. You have hit rock bottom and your future is looking bleak. You are just one fix away from possible death. You want to turn things around and start again, you just don’t know how, or you don’t feel strong enough. That’s where I come in! Using hypnotherapy, more specifically, the Drugs to Dreams 12 month Transformation Programme, I can support you from the moment you decide to stop and throughout the first year of your recovery journey and life transformation and equip you with tools and techniques that you can use to make withdrawal less traumatic, to make the idea of addressing the root cause of the problem less daunting and painful and to make creating a brighter, more positive and healthy future, a reality for YOU! Imagine leading a life without having to rely on drugs, alcohol or food to bring you comfort or help you escape. Imagine being able to take control of your life, to heal and move on from your past. Imagine feeling really good about yourself and being able to finally overcome your addiction and start living the life you always wanted to live.
This is precisely what I help my clients to achieve. I specialise in Drug & Alcohol Addiction and Food Addiction & Weight Loss. I feel very passionately about the work that I do because, using hypnotherapy, I can not only help to TRANSFORM lives, but I can help to SAVE lives – and that is an amazing thing! I chose to work in the field of addiction as it is a subject that is close to my heart. In my teenage years, I saw first-hand, what drugs did to a good friend of mine. I saw him lose his job and how his addiction was ruining his life. Growing up, I witnessed my father’s many failed attempts to quit smoking, despite using a variety of NRT, as well as being prescribed Champix. I saw the difficulties he faced. As a young adult, I watched my mother constantly battling with her weight. She fought with these issues for many years and they, in part, contributed to her untimely death. Over the years, I have lost both of my parents, as well as other close friends and relatives and I wish I’d had the skills back then that I have today and that I could have helped them… that I could have saved them. Unfortunately, I couldn’t turn the clock back, but I used my painful experiences as inspiration for starting www.amygibbstherapies.com so that I could go on top help other families overcome addiction before it’s too late. I want to help reduce drug related crime and death rates. I want to help reduce food addiction and eating disorder related death rates. My name is Amy Gibbs. I may only be one person, but I want to SAVE LIVES. |
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December 2020
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