Hypnotherapy is a therapeutic tool which uses hypnosis to facilitate change. Many people have misconceptions about hypnotherapy that they have picked up from stage shows and television. When you are in a state of hypnosis you will not be sleeping nor will you be ‘in my power’. You will be in a state of relaxation but aware of what is happening to you the whole time.

Hypnotherapy can be used on its own to break habits such as smoking or nail biting or it can be used in conjunction with psychotherapy to analyse emotions and thought patterns and their connection with past events, providing help with problems such as weight loss, infertility, phobias, panic attacks and exam nerves.

Psychotherapy is the treatment of psychological and emotional problems using psychological principles. Psychotherapy includes the two elements of psychoanalysis and dynamic therapy. Psychoanalysis involves exploring the subconscious mind to find the origin of particular thought patterns and emotions. Dynamic therapy allows a person to understand their underlying feelings and cope with them more effectively.

Counselling is a process involving the skills of caring, listening and prompting. It helps a person to find and use their strengths so that they can cope more effectively with their life by making appropriate decisions or taking relevant action. Counselling might help a person through bereavement, to cope with depression or stress, or simply help to build confidence.

Some conditions that can benefit from hypnotherapy, psychotherapy and counselling are:

• Anxiety and panic attacks
• Phobias
• Insomnia
• Emotional issues
• Bereavement
• Lack of confidence, stress and depression
• Addictive behaviours and habits (eg. help to stop smoking)
• Weight problems

Hypnotherapy for Birthing

Have you ever thought about how to deal with the stresses leading up to and during birth? I have and I also believe that every woman deserves the chance of a ‘Good Birth’. Whether they are planning a home or hospital delivery, it is their right to feel safe and relaxed. Many women, although excited with the prospect of becoming a mother, feel nervous and fearful when thinking of childbirth. The joy and excitement is often marred with fears and negative thoughts. How many times do we hear that childbirth is “so painful” and other women telling us that an epidural is their pre-selected choice to dull the guaranteed pain, rather than using it as a helping hand if need be? We are very rarely told that birthing a baby into the world is an enjoyable and empowering experience.

As a hypnotherapist and a Grandmother –to-be, I decided that there must be an easier way and my natural progression introduced me to the world of Hypnosis during birthing. It’s simple really, the key to a comfortable birth is to stay relaxed and to keep your levels of anxiety and adrenalin to a minimum. By keeping relaxed, focused and breathing steadily and rhythmically, your body will have the best chance of producing the right combination of birthing hormones to enable you to give birth the way nature intended. If you are full of fear and adrenalin, your body will become tense and divert blood away from your uterus to the arms and legs, commonly known as the “fight or flight” syndrome, unfortunately making the contractions more painful and less effective and so consequently causing a longer labour. However, it follows that if you feel relaxed, all your energy can be channelled towards the uterus and your birthing body will be able to work more effectively.

Hypnosis is a powerful, effective and natural means of achieving this focused feeling of relaxation. It can help you to overcome the fear of birth and can also pre-program you with positive suggestions which can hand you the tools you will need to achieve the experience you desire. By preparing yourself during pregnancy, hypnosis can help you approach birth feeling calm and confident, so that when the birthing actually begins, all the positive suggestions that you’ve put in place start to kick in. Women using hypnosis for childbirth find they are able to manage the sensations of birth more effectively and medical research shows that use of hypnosis for childbirth results in reduced surgical intervention, reduced use of pain medication and therefore a faster postnatal recovery. Using relaxation/self hypnosis techniques allows you to take control – after all it is Your body and Your baby.

This is not just theory, just ask my daughter. She and her husband used this technique for a planned homebirth and although she eventually delivered in hospital, the hypnosis during birth allowed for a controlled, stress free environment during a long labour. Through practice, they were able to fully enjoy the birthing of their daughter without the screams and shrieks of pain that really are just so unnecessary.