Category: hypnotherapy for Fears and phobias

1. Episode 12: Tuesday 29th July PTSD and anxiety

   Posted on 10:07pm Tuesday 29th Jul 2014

   The Speakmans Episode 12: Tuesday 29th July

    

   Episode guide...

    

   Last year, Marion's sister, Pamela was murdered by her boyfriend who buried Pamela in shallow grave.  The police & sniffer dogs searched the area for two months and eventually found her body.  Marion feel's that her life has changed forever, not only has she lost her sister, but she's also lost part of herself.  Marion feels incredibly guilty as she was meant to go and visit Pamela the day she was murdered. Marion was very close to Pamela and they only lived 10 minutes apart. Marion is suffering from PTSD and claustrophobia.  She was once a confident woman but now she hates being in confined spaces.   If she goes into big shops then she'll need to know where all the exit signs are placed.  Her son is getting married at the end of June and he's paid for her flight to Turkey but she can't get on the plane.   Marion replays her sister's murder on a daily basis and she desperately wants to start enjoying life again.  

    

   Can The Speakmans help Marion accept her sisters murder?  Will Marion be able to face her demons? 
   
   

    

   This is a very emotional episode of the Speakmans and Marion wants to get over her symptoms for the sake of her family.
   

    

   When talking to the Speakmans she described how she had created a picture of the way that things happened after hearing about the court case and being in court. It is almost like a movie has been made in her mind. Nik Speakman kept talking about the movie in her mind and she agreed.

    

   PTSD or post traumatic stress disorder can be caused by a variety of incidents, and as in this case the incident did not even happen to the person affeccted. In order to help treat this problem there are a number of ways that it can be address. As with any talking therapy it is part of the process to talk through what happened. In any case of losing someone close it is important to go through the greiving process. This is perfectly normal and part of moving on. There is no set time scheme that this must take place in. For some it can happen sooner than others.

    

   It would seem from the way that the Speakmans are talking they would favour a technique that is sometimes known as the Rewind, or fast phobia technique. This involves using the idea of a film. Another intervention that I practice is called EMDR or eye movement desensitisiation and reprocessing. This is a very effective way to help deal with PTSD and has proven results including in the field of war.

    

   It is always important to look at a variety of approaches as what is good for one client may not be so good for another. The family therapy method that we see on the Speakmans every episode may not suit everyone. If you are not with a family or do not have that support you are in fact in the majority, as most therapists work with individuals and not in a family therapy setting.

    

   The device of getting all of the family to write letters may not work for you and your family. This is clearly part of the process of chosing who is on the show and so means that many people would have missed their chance because they were already alone.

    

   This show did depict a great deal of empathy from the Speakmans and this was appropriate to the case they were dealing with. It did seem that perhaps we missed some of the interventions that they used but this seems common in this television show and may be down to time constraints or some other reason.

   What we did see was their use of the rewind technique which has been adapted by many people and most therapists like myself are able to use this technique to help you to change the way that you think about an incident that has happened. The music in the background of this segment was quite sinister and would not have been playing when they used this technique. It also takes longer than we saw but of course in a TV show editing is needed.

    

   It was wonderful to see Marion able to overcome her concerns and let go in order to move forward.

    

   The phrase "I've never thought of it that way" is something that as therapists we hear often. Being able to talk to someone who can help you understand why you think a certain way and help you to move on is often invaluable.

    

    

    

   If you are looking for help with anxiety and stress, a fear or phobia or any other problem the there is a great deal of free advice and support here including FREE MP3 downloads for relaxation and "How to Stop a panic attack".

    

    

   Advice on chosing a therapist...

    

   If you are looking for a therapist to help you with any issue then do make enquiries and ask two ot three people about how they will help you. One of the most important things is picking the right person for you. This can give you confidence before you even begin, and the right therapist can guide you to exactly where you would like to be.

    

   You can email me on [email protected] or call me on 07980 233160 if you would like any help or advice.

   Asking for help can be very difficult, and once you have done that things can already start to get easier for you.

2. Episode 11 - Claustrophobia The Speakmans

   Posted on 8:45am Tuesday 29th Jul 2014

   This is the third week of the This Morning Therapists The Speakmans appearing in their own ITV television show. In this episode they worked with a 62 year old lady who was struggling with her overwhelming fear of enclosed spaces, otherwise known as claustrophobia. As even her own family have said "She is frightened of practically everything.

   Sandra Lloyd is 62 and has suffered from a fear of confined spaces for most of her life. The fear has now taken over so much that things have become very difficult for her.
    She has never been able to fly on an airplane and even find it difficult to go into a public toilet. Even getting into a car is difficult for her. This fear is not as unusual as you may first think. I have dealt with clients who also struggle to be inside cars as well as other spaces.

   Sandra was diagnosed with bowel cancel and her fear is making her treatment even harder and like a military operation. Having an MRI scan is very important to her treatment but the worry of taking part in this part of her treatment is causing her to be even more stressed.

   Her claustrophobia means that she has a fear of lifts and so even after an operation she would not go in the lift to go up one floor.

   In all of the episodes we have seen there have been some heartbreaking stories. This episode perhaps more than any of the others so far shows us the real story and the real importance of overcoming your fears. Many people have arachnophobia and their fear of spiders is something that they do not address, perhaps because it does not really affect them. In this case the claustrophobia being treated by the Speakmans is something that Sandra has a very good reason to address.

   When Sandra and her husband met the Speakmans at their home she explained how it affected her life to Nik and Eva Speakman. She stated that she has also never been on a train or a boat. Talking about how hard it is for her to have a scan was difficult. She explained that to her it felt like being in a coffin.

   When she became ill with cancer it really made things harder before her because she could no longer avoid the things that she was able to in the past. She cannot even go into the oncology department of the hospital and use a toilet in its own room. Things have really reached a point where she can no longer go on. After five years of living with cancer now is the time for her to make that change.

   In this tv show we have seen that the Speakmans are great advocates of family therapy and making sure that all the family have their say. This has worked well in this case, but of course you are also able to ask for help if your family would not want to take part in sessions. It is not something that is needed for everyone and every phobia. Of course some people would not have family support and if this is you then you can still ask for and get help.

   Sandra's daughter also took part in this family therapy session. Jo of course wants her mother to feel better about things and be able to get the support and help she needs with scans and tests.

   Her daughter Jo said that she has always been aware of her mother's claustrophobia, and now she really wants her to be able to do what needs to be done for her cancer treatment.

   We also learned that Sandra had been treated for IBS, irritable bowel syndrome. She threw away a letter from the doctor about this in the past and felt bad about this and what effect it had. IBS is something that is often caused by stress and anxiety and hypnotherapy has been proven to have a massive amount of success in taking back that control. Professor Peter Whorwell has conducted a great deal of study with patients in Manchester.

   We then watched as her family left so that she could continue her therapy with the Speakmans alone.

    After fifty years it was time for Sandra to take back control of the phobia.

   The treatment with The Speakmans

   We went back to the start of her fear with claustrophobia when she was about five years old and was a sleepwalker. Her mum and dad were worried about her so they added a hook and eye to her bedroom door and this meant that she was trapped inside and could not get out. Like most fears and phobias we see that there is an initial sensitising event which takes place and creates the first panic. If that event is allowed to grow then in can lead to the phobia being created and getting worse.

   By looking at the event and reframing it we can see that locking her in the room meant that she did not have a chance to fall down the stairs are this could have been a disaster for her.

   Whilst watching her therapy session it did seem that this was the first time she had been confronted by the idea of why things happend and how to see it differently. In common with their unusual treatment methods, and this is clearly something that is being done for the benefit of the cameras they then put her in a child's playpen...

    

   As a metaphor for her growing up they asked her to press the release button and get out. Do the Speakmans use hypnosis? Of course that depends on what you think hypnosis is. Using a metaphor like this is exactly the sort of "hypnotic language" that hypnotherapists such as myself would use, and you do not need to have your eyes closed to start to think about things in a different way. There are so many ways to deal with any fear or phobia and any good therapist will use a variety of techniques in order to help the client. A good therapist will not decide how they will treat a client's concern until they know what that is. Everyone is different, and deserves their own therapy based on their needs.

   If you have claustrophobia or any other fear or phobia then rest assured that you can overcome it. There is lots of free help and advice on this website about many different fears and phobias. If you are looking for help then speak to two or three hypnotherapists and pick the one who you feel the most comfortable with to work with. Then you can be confident that you can lose any fear or phobia. On average I see clients for issues like this for three to four sessions and most people would understand and see that they could let go of that phobia after a first session.

   You can email me on [email protected] or call me on 07980 233610