» Listings for 2014

1. Hypnotherapist Sarah Dales on the Apprentice

   Posted on 9:08am Wednesday 8th Oct 2014

   As we prepare for the arrival of Sir, I mean Lord Sugar, and another batch of candidates for this year's Apprentice on BBC1 I can't help noticing that one of them is Hypnotherapist Sarah Dales from Harley Street. What does this mean for hypnosis and hypnotherapy and is she what she seems?

   Often the press that appears before any TV series which is all about "reality" can be confusing. My eye was caught by a headline that said hypnotherapist Sarah Dales enters the Apprentice so of course i had to take a look. Then I saw the blurb that was put out as part of the press release and this is what it says...

   Sarah Dales, 32, London, Former PA and hypnotherapist

   Sarah works as an executive assistant for a top financial firm, and previously worked at Goldman Sachs, while also running her own hypnotherapy and match-making businesses. She describes herself as hard-working, positive and tenacious, though she can repeat herself if she feels she is not being listened to. Her proudest business achievement is setting up her hypnotherapy practice on Harley Street.

   She said: "I am the pioneer and the ground breaker, and I possess all the talents to succeed."

   So, that makes her an executive assistant and not a hypnotherapist? In fact according to her social media sites she is actually spending most of her time running a matchmaking and dating online in the city website Harley Introductions. At this point of course we can only imagine what her business for Lord Sugar to invest in would be but it's a pretty sure bet that it will involve around her dating agency and not her hypnotherapy business. This is a shame as it would be an excellent chance for her to help raise the profile of what she does with hypnosis to help her clients.

   I wonder how many jokes will be made about mind control and her getting people to do things that she wants because she can hypnotise them?

   Of course Hypnotherapy isn't like that at all and if you would like to listen to a FREE MP3 and find out how relaxing it can be for yourself just click here: http://www.markpowlett.co.uk/freerelaxationdownload.html

   If you are looking for help and advice to find out out if Hypnotherapy is right for you just take a look HERE

   I will keep my fingers crossed that she talks about how hypnotherapy can help you with stress and anxiety, to quit smoking and lose weight, to end fears and phobias and control chronic pain. Good luck Sarah Dales and remember you are on TV before you open your mouth !

   Frankly things are not looking good for Sarah Dales already if you take a look at the first episode... which begins next Tuesday on BBC One. Elected as the project manager Sarah Dales outrages the nine other female candiates when she tells them they need to wear “high heels, short skirts and lots of makeup” to help them sell items of stock during their first task.

   When fellow contestant Bianca Miller confesses that she’s brought no short skirts on the show with her, Sarah Dales replies: “Well, you’ll have to hitch it up or something then.”

   You can watch her audition here..

   Whatever my opinion you can bet I will be tuning in to BBC1 and watching The Apprentice for myself.

   Update following episode one: Well it seems that Sarah Dales the hypnotherapist is already making waves on social media. Her comments about hitching up short skirts did not go down well at all. Even the ex contestant and rent-an-opposing-opinion giver Kate Hopkins commented: "Sarah Dales is channelling her inner Maggie Thatcher - the dementia years #apprentice" in her typical rude way!

   Her luck was in because the boys did such a bad job on their team that one of them was for the chop instead. A lucky espcae I think, because it would have likely been her head on the block. Of course, having said that, the reality, is that she makes entertaining television so I expect to see her in for a few more weeks yet. In the meantime she has been promoting her lipstick and make up sales and her new dating club both of which are due to launch soon. I guess that perhaps the hypnotherapist part of her profile was just a red herring as she does seem to lack much empathy and a therapist with no empathy is unlikely to be very successful in helping their clients.

   Updated on 31st October 2014:

   After Sarah left the show when being fired by Lord Sugar he made some amusing comments as he let her go and you can now watch that here:

    

    

    

   It was interesting that despite the fact that he talked about her work on the task in a negative way he did manage to get in a mention of so many things that hypnotherapy can help people with ! Sarah Dales hypnotherapist will cetainly have a few more people calling her about weight loss hypnotherapy, quitting smoking with hypnosis although perhaps her confidence may be a little misplaced in apprentice tasks ! As a clinical hypnotherapist I see many clients for erectile dysfunction and as it is often caused by stress this can be very easy to help with although I am not sure that Sarah Dales would be the best person for many men to feel comfortable working with. I wish her all the best whatever she ends up doing. It seems like she is concentrating on her internet dating site Harley Introductions so all the best to her.

   The competition continues!

   

    

2. Gregg Wallace has Hypnotherapy for Strictly Come Dancing nerves

   Posted on 9:28am Friday 3rd Oct 2014

   Masterchef Star Gregg Wallace has been talking about his hypnotherapy sessions for nerves on Strictly Come Dancing. It's interesting to read about the experience that anyone in the public eye has as they are often able to explain the process to people who think that it is all about taking control of your mind when that's not how it works at all. It's all about learning to let go and relax....

   Here is what he has to say in his diary for the BBC show this week...

   "’I've been to see a hypnotherapist since making my Strictly debut. I had actually frozen with fright during my cha cha cha – at one point in the dance I thought “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be doing.” It was pretty awful.

   We didn’t do any hypnotherapy in the first session, just had a long chat about positive thinking. I’d also got a cold and was running a temperature last Saturday and was feeling so rough they had to get a medic out. But that in no way excuses my poor performance.

   Afterwards, my dancing partner Aliona [Vilani] said she’d suddenly realised I’d never performed before in front of a live audience, and that she might bring people in to cheer me on during practice, although she hasn’t yet. She said this week would be all about fun, and she’s been as good as her word. We’ve been smiling and laughing, which really isn’t like Aliona. Today I found myself with my arm around her shoulders giving her a hug; that’s never happened before.

   I wasn’t the only nervous one. I was off stage with Mark Wright before his dance and he got somebody to get him a beer before he went on, and it worked. Thom Evans and I had a beer one night and he told me which of the women he fancied, but I can’t tell you. The sense of camaraderie among the contestants is unbelievable."

   It's interesting that he says that he didn't do any hypnotherapy !  Perhaps hypnotherapy is also about what else happens in the sessions and you do not need to have your eyes closed to start to undertand things in a different way! The aim of his sessions is just to learn to calm down and control those feelings that he has. Neing nervous can happen in any situation to anyone and it isn't just about having those feelings when you are on television. All that Gregg Wallace is trying to do by learning about hypnosis is to find ways to teach himself to let go relax and enjoy his performance.

   All the best Gregg!!