Episode 13: Wednesday 30th July - The Speakmans on ITV 2.00pm weekdays
Bryony is terrified of all dogs. Every day before she leaves the house she’s worried that she’ll bump into a dog. She works full time in a fancy dress shop but is also self employed as a children's entertainer and will refuse work if the family have a dog or if the event is at a park. Bryony gets the train to work every day, she lives a 5-10 minute walk from the train station but she refuses to walk as the route has dog walkers, so her mother drives her there every morning. She won't go to the beach, park or anywhere dogs might be. A dog has never bitten her but she remembers have a nightmare aged four and a dog had attacked her in the dream. Bryony hates living her life in fear and just wants to go outside and feel comfortable.
Can The Speakmans help Bryony overcome her fear of dogs? Will Bryony be able to stroke a dog after her treatment?
Charlotte has been plucking and picking at her body for seven years. Her 11 year old daughter started school around this time and she felt like she had nothing else to do. Charlotte has scarred her entire body and will pick at anything which results in bleeding and scars. Charlotte hates leaving her home as she feels people are looking at her. Charlotte and her fiance Martin have become more like friends and the family rarely have days out as Charlotte hates going out.
Can The Speakmans help Charlotte overcome her addiction to picking her skin?
In this episode we can see the way that when working to overcome a phobia it is always good to be solution focussed. In simple terms that means that starting to focus on what you want rather than what you don't want is an excellent first step. Too often we could find ourselves caught up in the idea of thinking about all the things that we do not want rather than the way we want thing to be. As an example if I was to speak to someone with a fear of dogs and ask them what they wanted they may often reply "I don't want to be scared of being around a dog any more" This is of course what they DO NOT want and not what they want! If you were to say.."I want to be able to walk in the park and enjoy the green grass and sunshine" then that would be starting to turn around what it is that you really want.
It was interesting to see that the Speakmans showed her photographs of dogs and she was not bothered. They stated to her that when they do this normally most people are scared of the photos. It does make me wonder if they would be better chosing someone who they thought had a more typical phobia then?!
In common with most Clinical Hypnotherapist I would not spend my time showing a client pictures of something they are scared of as a first way to deal with a phobia. Rest assured that when you arrange to get help for a fear of phobia then you will not have to be subjected to this rather old fashioned desensitisation method.
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".
Some 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. With the correct support for you it will be so much easier than you ever imagined to move forward. You can let go of worries, stress and anxiety and bad habits with help. You never need to do it alonse.
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.
This is the Blog of Registered Clinical Hypnotherapist Mark Powlett. I am a fully trained member of the National Council for Hypnotherapy and as well as a Diploma in Clinical Hypnotherapy I also hold a HPD with is a further qualification accredited by the government regulated Ncfe and held by only one in five hypnotherapists. As an independent therapist the information on this blog is for your help and advice in choosing the right person to help you. I am not connected to the Speakmans and the answers here are intended to help anyone searching for advice with any issue that is causing you concern.
Before you read on...
If you have trouble letting go of stress. anxiety, switching off and are really looking for help then try this 3 MInute Power Nap Youtube Video below...
It will really help you once you read on to take in all the advice and suggestions...
Great, once you have watched the video above you can really get even more out of all the advice and help that I can give you here.
Lots of people are contacting myself, and other therapists after seeing the transformation of the people the Speakmans are having on their ITV afternoon TV show. As a Qualified Hypnotherapist people contact me to ask about the help that is available. So, any talk and dicussion about how you can change your life is always a positive thing. Today they dealt with social anxiety. Questions have arisen on social media such as How much do the Speakmans charge and how does that compare to other therapists? What is schema conditioning psychotherapy which they say they use?
Personally, I am a member of the NCH and qualified Clinical Hypnotherapist. On average people see me for just three or four sessions. Usually they see a change and understand that they can let go of the past after a first session. I also record any hypnotherapy that we do so that you have something to listen to at home. Click HERE to read more.
Just imagine..how would it feel to let go of everything that was holding you back and ruling your life in just 3 or 4 hours? You really can change your life, end panic attacks and anxiety and enjoy living the life that you want...
So, leaving aside the way that I can help people..let's take a look at what the Speakmans did and how they work in this review of the programme.
Like all the other episodes that we have seen they involve the family working together. Rest assured that if you are alone you can still deal with your phobia or anxiety disorder. The group therapy that they show on TV is not the way that the vast majority of therapists work. Neither myself or any of the other therapists that are my peers would suggest that you have to have family therapy in order to deal with you concern. The fact that that they only work this way does not represent the real way that they or most people work. It just makes more interesting television even if it may not work for all people in the real world.
They talk about their use of schema conditioning psychotherapy which they say they created, although sadly they are not willing to share what they actually do with people.
Karen met her husband David 18 years ago and has three children. She has a generalised anxiety disorder that means she has a phobia of people. Her extreme social anxiety was shown to us in a video that saw her very upset at doing her job as a school cleaner.
Her anxiety is so bad that she is even missing out on watching her grandchildren grow up. Her son Shane wants to end the situation so that his children can have a relationship with her. She told us that she does not want to be judged by them for her actions so she stays away from them. We were told she had tried medication, books and counselling. Clearly she has not seen a Hypnotherapist before and this is a terrible shame because the techniques that I use as a Clinical Hypnotherapist for anxiety and stress are the same that The Speakmans use. You can see for yourself that change can happen quickly. We do not see everything on the TV show so we miss a lot of the therapy that takes place but the Speakmans actually use many of the same techniques as a hypnotherapist such as myself. All that really happens is that by teaching someone to let go and relax we can help to bring back the life that they really do want.
You can find FREE Downloads to help relax and learn to end panic attacks in my SHOP just click the link at the top of the page.
When she visited Speakman Hall where Nik and Eva Speakman live they talked about her panic attacks. She runs away from anything that may cause them. I see this all the time in clients and what they often find is that this just makes them worse.
In fact I have even created a "How to Stop a Panic Attack" MP3 download so that I can help more people to understand that panic attacks can be removed forever. Just click on the Shop link to get the download. It is FREE and there is no charge at all.
It was interesting to hear that she has never spoken to her children about the situation. Clearly she can have no real understanding on how they feel without talking to them about it. She made assumptions about how her family think about her. She had no evidence about this and it is quite common to think you know how people will react to something when you really have no idea.
Unlike some of the participants in the shows it was clear that she really does have a problem with social anxiety. What is not clear is how she managed to go through any counselling without any of these things coming out before. Sadly she must have chosen a counsellor without really picking the right one. Of course this is something that may well come from her anxiety as well.
The most important thing
It really is important to pick a therapist who is the right one for you. When someone contacts me asking for help I speak to them and also encourage them to talk to other hypnotherapists to make sure that I am the right fit for them. If you have the right therapist for you then you really can move forward. I spend more time helping people to deal with stress and anxiety than anything else. Hypnotherapy is not all about helping people to lose weight or give up smoking. These of course are important parts of what I do but not the main part by any means.
If you would like help with a social anxiety, stress or any fear or phobia then do feel free to drop me an email from the contact me page.
So How much do the Speakmans charge for a session? The Speakmans tend to keep their fees off their website but they charge around £4000 for you to have treatment with them. This often takes place in just one session,and would be for a day. That means in reality it would be many hours although such a high fee as the amount that Nik and Eva charge is beyond only a select few.
As I don't work with celebrities with large wallets I charge just a fraction of that cost and will help you over a number of sessions to make that change it is up to you to decide whether paying extra for the couple because they have celebrity therapist status even though they don't have any formal training is the right thing for you.
It is important to understand that you can overcome any stress and anxiety and it is better to learn those techniques over a number of sessions and not in an afternoon!
WHO ARE THE SPEAKMANS? They are the resident life coaches on This Morning helping viewers to face their fears What is Schema Conditioning Therapy?
Which celebrities have the Speakmans worked with?
Although the Speakmans do not work with members of the public they do have many celebrity clients. One of the first famous faces they worked with was Kerry Katona who at the time was trying to turn around financial and drug problems. Speaking at the time, Nik said: “We got her over all those issues and she’s still without medication and drugs today. It’s the Speakman magic.” They have also worked with Peter Andre, Liz McClarnon, Katie Price, Holly Willoughby, Vicky Pattison, Linda Robson, Jake Roche and Jeremy Kyle. Another celebrity client is Corrie actress Kym Marsh, who turned to the couple to overcome her anxiety of driving on a motorway. She appeared on their television show in a Delorean which they were using as part of their therapy.
While last year, This Morning host Holly Willoughby was helped by the pair after she admitted a fear of flying. Other notable celebrity patients have included Peter Andre, Katie Price, Vicky Pattison, Liz McLarnon and Linda Robson. They even helped talk show host Jeremy Kyle overcome his lifelong phobia of spiders.
Update April 2016:
The Speakmans live tour of the How to be Happy Show has now begun. You can read reviews and leave your own comments if you attended any of the venues where the show took place, as well as finding out what happened at the speakmans live event by clicking the link below....
