Effective Hypnotherapy for Surrey and South London

How qualified is your therapist?

April 2010 I am not a cat - I am a Hypnotherapist: now stick with me on this!  It is a fact I feel I need to point out to you, not because of an extreme case of mistaken identity, but for the sake of clarity. You see George is a cat, and he is a Hypnotherapist; and I mean he’s a real cat, a proper 9 out of 10 who expressed a preference type of cat, a full on ‘Felis Catus’ (no, that is not a made up name!)

Chris Jackson is a BBC reporter who hosts a program called Inside Out in the North East, and he has a cat called George. To my great amusement, Mr Jackson has managed to register George with several industry bodies using a certificate from the non-existent Society of Certified Advanced Mind Therapists. Even thought Hypnosis is recognised by the British Medical Association (since the 1950’s) there is no legal requirement for a therapist to belong to a professional association or to have completed a specified course of training. Today a parking warden in Huddersfield can chuck in his job, buy a set of DVDs from the Internet and next week set up shop as a Hypnotherapist. A fact that is scary and makes me extremely mad.

But not for long. Today a whole range of associations and societies regulates Hypnotherapists.  You could choose someone who is part of the HA, the GHR, the BSMDH or the BSCH or even the HS.  A little while ago The Princes Trust (yes, that is HRH Charlie to you and me) started to pull all branches of complimentary medicine together and bring them to the point where they can join the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council. The CNHC are the only government recognised regulatory body for the complementary health industry, funded by the Dept of Health.  They will even be issuing their own ‘kite mark’ of quality.

Alas, it will only be voluntary for Hypnotherapists to join. Instead, we have our own set of letters to look after us: the UKCHO and the WGHR (the UK Confederation of Hypnotherapy Organisations and the Working Group for Hypnotherapy Regulation). They are almost in agreement on standards and ethics. Their most recent move is to accept funding from the Princes Trust for a lay Chair, Dr Jenny Gordon of the Royal College of Nursing to sort out the differences.

In my view of the world, we do need a strong regulating body; we also need a licensing process and a minimum set of training standards.  One day soon…

I am a proud member of the Hypnotherapy Association and registered with the UKCHO. -

Richard

So, what does make the difference?

March 2010 Last week was National No Smoking Day, a good and laudable event based on sound principles of better public health, inventive marketing and the need to reduce NHS funding. Now, this started me wondering, do events like this - or any other such exhortations - really make a difference to the typical smoker? Would another message of ‘its bad for you’ honestly be the final straw that tipped a 20 a day smoker over the edge in to self-righteous, clean-lunged living?

… Judging by how much more my phone did not ring: NO, it does not.

So what makes a Smoker quit, a Worry Wart take hold of a big beamy smile or a chocoholic forsake the creamy, milky stuff for a stick of celery - and keep the change? The honest answer is not much really, there is practically nothing in normal everyday life that will externally MAKE a person consistently do one thing or another from which they do not gain a benefit from at some level or another. It is rare that an external influence moves a person so much as to forsake an ingrained behaviour. The name for such an external influence is Trauma, and I do not wish that upon anyone.

So, are we talking Carrots and Sticks here? The boss from hell can make you get out of bed, on time, every day or get fired, but without the boss, the daily battle with the duvet would have a very different outcome. No more would you award yourself a £3 latte to go, with a muffin on the side for valour and bravery in the face of cold winter platforms and overcrowded trains. It would be snuggling all the way until the bed rejected you.

What does make all the difference is a change in internal states, a new realisation, and a dreamy hoped for happiness acted upon… yes, this can come as the result of a big incident. Cancer certainly is known to stop smoking, just like a heart attack is a great wake up call about body size issues. Often though it is none of these big things, so often it is a combination of smaller little events, thoughts, feelings, ideas not even consciously known to the person themselves; they just add up until one day, the person realises, it time to do something about this….

And what is the one thing that most people try to do first? They try to change the past. Only Dr Who can change the past, us mere mortals can only “wish I had not done that" as we try to change the future by changing the past.  Here comes the unsolicited advice... leave the past alone and work on today and tomorrow instead - Go and see a hypnotist (as if you did not expect a plug in here somewhere!) and follow through on your good intentions, make a good change permanent.
Richard