hypnotherapy

Hypnosis has boosted my confidence

Alison, aged 38 yrs, sought confidence hypnotherapy to help her cope with work nerves, which she felt were hampering her chances of progressing her career.

Before the hypnotherapy:

'I would often avoid putting myself forward for work presentations or going away on work trips. I compare myself to other colleagues which makes me feel inadequate. I often put myself down with repetitive negative conversation about how rubbish I am. I avoid anything that takes me out of my comfort zone. The worse day I remember was when some clients flew in from abroad. I just froze in front of them during my presentation. I wanted the floor to swallow me up. I remember as a teenager I had a few minor embarrassing moments speaking in front of the class at school but as I have got older the feelings have got worse. I also feel self-conscious when out socially with people who I don't know well. At some functions, I have avoided dancing unless I have had a lot to drink. Using alcohol to cope with nerves has been a way of coping. But having recently curbed my drinking I decided it was time to tackle my nerves. I had read about hypnosis helping people with confidence issues. My life is full on with kids, work, and a husband. There is quite a lot of stress at home with general bickering. This makes it harder to focus on work so often I go to work feeling unprepared for things. I particularly hate unexpected work situations sprung on me, like a change of plan for a meeting or to the day's schedule. ' Alison said.

After the hypnotherapy:

'Since listening to the hypnosis tracks I have found my sleep has improved greatly. I get up in the morning ready to take on what the day throws at me. I seem to be handling the children better, I am aware now that they have been ruling the roost for too long. I have had a calmer approach when speaking to the children and a new confidence to claw back my power instead of giving in to their demands. At work, I have better eye contact as I feel more comfortable looking directly at people. I also noticed I feel more confident in the company of the staff who I manage. As I am friends with them it can be difficult to tell them what needs to be done but now I feel more at ease telling them. The other day I volunteered to chair a meeting, it was weird as I said I would do it, which felt kind of strange as before I would be slipping to the back of the room to avoid being asked. Several colleagues congratulated me on a great meeting. At home, I stood up for myself over some arrangements with my in-laws. My husband and I are getting along better. Generally, life is calmer. The changes happened gradually after listening to the hypnosis over several weeks. I intend to keep listening to the downloads to improve my life further.'

Boosting your confidence on an inner level can set you free to reach your true potential. Hypnotherapy is a great tool to change your old thinking habits to create a new more confident you.

For more information about hypnotherapy for confidence and self-esteem issues click here or to buy my Build Confidence and Self Esteem hypnosis download priced £14.99 click here

My book "Cut The Crap and Feel AMAZING" by Hay House will teach you how to get into the AMAZING zone and rise above the negative.

Parents - are you a good role model for your kids or are you programming them to drink?

Alcohol is part of the British culture but with home drinking becoming so popular is it time to reevaluate what affects it could be having on children who are seeing parents drunk.

Busy lifestyles make it easy to slip into the habit of having a glass of wine or beer after a hard day but recent reports by Drinkaware suggest that 46% of 10-14-year-olds have seen at least one of their parents drunk. It is indicated that children who see their parents drunk are twice as likely to get drunk themselves.  It is also estimated that one in three children live with an adult binge drinker.

Wine O'clock

I  have found over the years that many of my clients drink alcohol when they’re getting the kids ready for bed or at bath time.  For some, it is easy to pour a glass of wine to unwind after a days work or to reward yourself for looking after the children. However, it is important to remember that everything a child experiences becomes part of who they are. A young person's subconscious mind absorbs information around them forming their core belief system. We are being hypnotised by the world around us.

Whatever is normal to a child will feel normal to them as an adult so parents who drink could be programming children to drink themselves. Even if you don’t drink in front your children they will still pick up on alcohol habits by seeing the bottles of alcohol in the supermarket trolley or the empties the morning after in the recycling bin. Everything has an imprint on your child's mind so be careful as to what you are surrounding them with.

I have treated hundreds of clients for reducing alcohol with hypnosis and many of them do drink in front of their children. I have also helped many teenagers with all sorts of issues from exam results and sports improvement to releasing stress and worries. My teenage clients often tell me that it can be upsetting or stressful to see their parents drunk.

Regular drinking

Alcohol is a drug but it is accepted as legally part of our society which gives people the green light to drink too much. Pubs and clubs are social hubs which should be there for occasional drinks but often lure people into a culture of drinking regularly. As it is cheap and easily available to drink at home over recent years it has become a daily ritual rather than something for the weekend.

In everyday life, if someone doesn’t drink they are considered a bit of a “fuddy-duddy”. If you say you don't drink then people may think you are a recovering alcoholic. For this reason, many people can't imagine life without a drink as they want to be socially accepted by friends and family. Many peoples activities and lives may revolve around drinking. I tend to work with clients to help them reduce down although those who do want to stop altogether do so successfully. Here are some client stories to help you assess whether drinking in front of your children is a good thing or not?

Hugos story (age 14)

"My Mum thinks she is handling the drink really well but I notice she sways, slurs her words and is quite irrational when she has had a drink. In the morning she is more grumpy if she has had a lot of alcohol the night before. I hope I won't be like this with my children when I grow up. I am sure our Dad left us because of Mums drinking. It is hard to get any sense out of a parent who has had a few glasses of wine. I can see it in her eyes that she just switches off as she stops caring. She slumps on the couch with a glass of wine in her hand with the bottle on the coffee table. She tops up her glass until she finishes the bottle. I usually go to my bedroom before she starts saying silly things. Sometimes she wakes me up to tell me something because she doesn't realise it is late as she loses all sense of reality. One time she broke something I had made for a project at school. In the morning she didn't remember because she asked me why my model was broken which really irritated me. She thinks I am a typical moody teenager but actually it is her behaviour that makes me slam doors from frustration. She has no respect for herself or for me. How can I respect her if she is drunk?"

Susans story (age 48)

"I used to drink in my 20’s and 30’s, as a busy professional, it was just part of the job, everyone drank. My parents both drank so it felt perfectly normal that I would drink in front of my children. Although I never liked my parents when they were drinking as it made me feel on edge not sure which way to take them. I remember my son, aged about 5 at the time, saw me throwing up after I had mixed my cocktails. I was recently in a relationship with an alcoholic, and my son, now an impressionable 17-year-old, was witness to this mans extreme and drunken behaviour. When I later saw my son having spells of getting drunk, it was difficult for me to reprimand him as I was seen to have double standards.  It was much harder for me to assert ground rules. Teenagers have enormous peer pressure to drink neat spirits, it is seen as the norm. My son’s response was “Well Mum, you did it when you were my age.” what could I say to that? I would however in hindsight wished I had seen the damage I was doing by drinking in front of him when he was young. As a parent, I want to protect my son. If I could turn the clock back I would have drunk more sensibly and perhaps I would have a better relationship with my son.”

Carolyn's story (age 42)

"My drinking has caused a lot of tension between me and my husband which filters out to the whole family. It was only when I reduced my drinking, by listening to the "Take Control of Alcohol" hypnosis recording, that I realised my drinking was having a bad effect on my daughter's behaviour. She has been excluded from school before now which I suppose made me drink more. It became a vicious cycle of my drinking and her behaviour issues. I suppose I am not a very good role model for her when I crash out drunk because I finish a whole bottle of wine on a weekday. As I reined back my drinking with the hypnosis I found I was seeing the problems more clearly with my daughter. Once I was sober she began to listen to me as she had more respect for me. Taking back control of my drinking has enhanced not only my own well being, sleep, clarity but my families quality of life has improved too. The thought of wanting to stop drinking alcohol hung over me like a big black cloud for so long. Do I miss drinking? The answer is no way, I actually feel as if I have been handed a second chance and I have my life back. I don't miss drinking one bit. I just wish I had found the hypnosis downloads earlier. I don't want my children to see their parents drunk ever again."

Chloe's story (age 18)

"I just want to say my Dad reeks of booze sitting watching TV. He becomes really annoying when he tells us what to do. His head hangs down and sometimes he dribbles, it is disgusting. Mum and dad argue over his drinking which upsets me and my sister. I find it hard to take authority from someone who I have little respect for. He 's not an alcoholic, he goes to work and only drinks in the evenings but I don't think he should drink on a work night. I don't think it is fair to see your parents drunk. I worry about his health as he may get ill from drinking too much alcohol. I do drink as everybody does."

Interested to curb your drinking?

If you are interested to take back control of your drinking try my hypnosis downloads ‘Take control of alcohol’ recording to break daily drinking habits OR 'Stop binge drinking' for bouts of excessive alcohol drinking.  By reprogramming the mind the recordings will help break the bad habit of drinking and restore healthy sleep. It is easy to listen as with short tracks they can fit into your busy schedule either after work or at bedtime.  Just put the volume down low and let the messages wash over you whilst you sleep.  You will begin to see differences in your drinking such as pouring the dregs of wine away, leaving wine in the bottle for another day, having alcohol free nights, feeling like a herbal tea instead. You will find your mind makes different choices putting you back in control.

Take Control of Alcohol - Click here
Stop Binge Drinking for Women - Click here
Stop Binge Drinking for Men - Click here

Chapter 13 of my book "Cut The Crap and Feel AMAZING" by Hay House covers addictions and obsessions and will help you get back in control of your drinking

Help! Why am I drinking too much?  

You have probably spent your whole life surrounded by alcohol which normalises it in your mind.  Most people know family, friends or work colleagues who drink regularly. TV commercials for alcoholic drinks are regularly on television. Whilst advertisers use alcohol to promote other products such as sofa and kitchens which sometimes show someone with a glass of wine or a bottle of wine as a prop designed to sell you a lifestyle. British TV programs such as Eastenders, Emmerdale, and Coronation Street are based on people drinking in the pub. This is all building subliminal messages to your subconscious mind so it actually feels weirder not to drink alcohol than drink excessively. This is why hypnotherapy is a real solution to combat alcohol habits.

Your drinking habits build up like layers of an onion, every time your drink you are reinforcing the behaviour which builds habits around the alcohol and the emotions you feel at the time. The drinking layers include the emotions you feel at those times;

• Stress
• Boredom
• Worries
• Concern
• Social pressure to drink
• Drinking for the sake of it
• Happiness having fun
• Celebration
• Switching off from daily life
• To help you get to sleep
• Cope with financial worries

Drinking alcohol also may have masked confidence issues which usually begin at an earlier age. Hypnotherapy helps build your confidence as you let go of excess drinking.

Just as someone learns to drive a car or tie their shoelaces, once you have learned to do something it is hard to forget it. In the same way, once you have learned to drink alcohol in a certain way it is hard to change the habit. On top of this, you have the cravings to deal with as most people like the taste. You may be rewarding yourself with alcohol after a hard day and you may look forward to a drink for social enjoyment.  All of these feelings make it harder to stop drinking. This is why without re-setting your subconscious mind using hypnotherapy it can be difficult to take back control of alcohol.

The best time to start taking back control is right now. Remember, anyone who drinks regularly can become an alcoholic. For those people who become alcoholics, it creeps up on them as they begin to rely on alcohol more and more. No alcoholic would imagine it could happen to them. It only takes a few life events to push you further to increase your drinking to out of control levels. An unexpected redundancy, a financial stress, family illness or bereavement can all play a part in increased alcohol consumption.

My system of alcohol reduction will help you take back control, I recommend ‘Take control of alcohol’ for everyday drinkers who want to break the habit and ‘Stop binge drinking for Women’ or ‘ Stop binge drinking for Men’ for those who drink bouts of excess alcohol. Or if you want one to one hypnotherapy phone appointments contact me through the website.

Chapter 13 of my book "Cut The Crap and Feel AMAZING" covers addictions and obsessions and will help to break alcohol habits.

Try my 4 tips to break addictive alcohol habits

Firstly, Identify the stresses and emotions that fuel your alcohol addiction. Then you can begin to deal with those issues and change your relationship with alcohol to set yourself free from the old drinking behaviour. 

Why am I drinking too much?

You need to focus on making changes that will break the repetitive habit of routinely reaching for alcohol. Regularly drinking alcohol creates a pattern in your subconscious in the same way we learn anything from repeating the behaviour.  The first time you do something, it can be difficult but over time what you have learnt becomes second nature. Your drinking habits have become second nature which is why it can be difficult to break out of the routine. You have to remember there is an addictive side to alcohol which creates positive brain chemicals which make you feel good. But gradually the enjoyment of alcohol is marred by the side effects, but by then you could be hooked.

Why does hypnotherapy work?

Hypnotherapy is a treatment which gives you the opportunity to release alcohol addiction from the subconscious mind, which is done by breaking habits and releasing cravings, so you lose the interest in drinking. But hypnosis can be used to take you into a relaxed state of mind which can then be used to shift your thought patterns around alcohol and create a new relationship with drinking. The hypnotherapy achieves this by forming new alcohol beliefs in the subconscious. Do the following experiment to prove to yourself that it is possible to adapt to something new.

Understanding your behaviour

Try moving the rubbish or garbage bin in your kitchen. For a while, you will keep going back to the old place, but before long you will get used to the bin being somewhere else and will go to it automatically, without having to think about it. It’s the same thing with an alcohol addiction or bad habit that you want to change: you need to change the behaviour and do it over and over again until you get used to the new way of being. It works because you store the habit in your subconscious mind and, once you have reprogrammed yourself, it will become natural for you to behave in a new way. The same will happen when you change your alcohol habits, and eventually, you will get used to the changes which will override the old ones forming a new alcohol habit. Hypnosis for changing alcohol habits fast tracks the process.

You invested time in learning your addictive alcohol behaviour. You the, therefore,d to spend time breaking the alcohol habit too.

4 Tips to break bad alcohol habits

4 tips to break addictive alcohol habits

1) Saying: "I won't drink alcohol this week" and then as soon as the week starts you have a drink and decide to stop another day.

How to break the habit of drinking alcohol:

Make as many small changes in your day so that you break some of the familiar habits which contribute to you alcohol drinking. For example, drive a different route home, get home at a slightly different time, change the evening routine, go straight for a shower after work, have sparkling water in a wine glass instead of alcohol. Self-talk positively "I can be in control, I am in control, I am sober". Visualise yourself without an alcoholic drink, visualise yourself having a herbal tea, brushing your teeth and getting into bed totally sober, see yourself waking in the morning refreshed.

2) Saying: "I won't get stressed" but then finding yourself do just that which leads to an alcoholic drink later that evening.

How to break the stress fuelling your drinking:

Speak positively to yourself throughout the day "I can get this done really easily, I am getting more done in less time, I am finding ways to be relaxed." When you feel yourself rushing, feeling stressed or hear the tension in your voice, consciously pull back to avoid getting caught up in the drama and say to yourself "It's all working out fine, it is all resolving AMAZINGLY well, what if this is AMAZING."  Imagine your stresses passing like clouds in the sky, let them pass. Imagine everything has worked out well. The less stressed you are, the more in control of your alcohol habits you will be.

3) Saying: "I won't spend money" and then allowing yourself to buy alcohol.

How to break the habit of spending money on alcohol:

Imagine all the people who have less than you and instantly you will feel more wealthy. Say to yourself "I am happy with what I have, my life is AMAZING and AMAZING things happen to me".  Visualise yourself going through your week without spending money on alcohol such as avoiding the alcohol section in the shop. Imagine having more money saved each week from not buying alcohol.  Set up a savings account specifically for the money you would have spent on alcohol, with monthly payments to build up your funds. Even if you think you can't afford to save start saving you need to begin saving now. When people stop or reduce their alcohol drinking, they find they have a lot more spare money. Set a goal of something healthy you would like to do such as a spa day, a flying lesson, a Ferrari track day..., build your alcohol fund to pay for it at some point in the future.

4) Saying: "I will eat healthy foods" which you manage all day but then you get home and snack on foods which you associate with drinking alcohol.

How to break the habit of eating junk food when drinking alcohol:

Change your routine when you get home such as having a shower then change into a comfortable tracksuit, sit in a different chair to eat your dinner and sitting on a different seat in front of the TV.  Also, move the snacks in the kitchen to another cupboard so your mind doesn't slip into old comfortable habits which may trigger alcohol habits.  Do yoga stretches whilst you watch TV also try drinking herbal tea.  The more healthy a routine you create the least likely you will be to want an alcoholic drink. Visualise a red triangle in your mind imagine putting the cravings into the triangle and shrinking it down until they are gone.  Visualise your healthy routine without alcohol in your mind the last thing at night and first thing in the morning.

Hypnotherapy sessions or hypnosis recordings allow you to make alcohol habit breaking changes on a subconscious level. You can read more on each of the product pages of my hypnosis downloads:

"Take Control of Alcohol"

"Stop Binge Drinking for Women"

"Stop Binge Drinking for Men"

One-to-one hypnotherapy appointments Click for more information

Also, read my addictions chapter in my book Cut the Crap and Feel Amazing published by Hay House (available as a paperback, ebook, kindle, and audio).