Occasionally someone asks me, “does hypnotherapy really work?”   Well clinical research has shown that hypnosis is effective in dealing with a wide range of issues.  Like stop smoking, lose weight, reduce anxiety and pain, sleep better, reduce exam anxiety or compulsive behaviours.  A list of scientifically based research articles are cited in the Research section at this site.

Generally speaking, if people are able to go into a relaxed state – a trance state, then hypnotherapy will be effective for them.  Most of us go in and out of trance states during our normal,  waking life.  It happens quite naturally when we are focusing on something we enjoy, like a favourite book or tv program.  It can happen when you are driving home and because you know the way home so well you arrive and not remember how you did it because you were on automatic pilot.  You were in a relaxed, trance state and your brain waves are slowed down to  alpha level.

A relaxed state allows the unconscious mind to receive the powerful positive suggestions.  This enables people to easily make changes in their behaviour, like giving up smoking and forgetting about the urge to smoke or overeat etc.  This relaxed state also regulates and calms our emotions.  Many of us have strongly conditioned emotional memories and when we focus on them, or worry about those  issues it makes the neural bundles stronger.  The same applies when you learn a new language and you keep repeating the foreign words and phrases.  The repetition of focus make those neural bundles, the memories stronger.  This allows you to remember those new words and phrases and come easily to your mind.

And this is an important point to understand that when we focus on something, we make it stronger. The concepts of Mindfulness and the Law of Attraction are similar.  What you focus on, think, feel, tune into, becomes stronger.  People hypnotise themselves to perform well or poorly at a job interview for example.   They can rehearse their answers to the usual job interview questions and imagine they’re calm and relaxed and performing well.  All that thinking, focusing, worrying or rehearsing is making the neural bundles in your brain stronger.   So hypnotherapy is a technique that supports the mind to achieve your desired goals.

Emotional Freedom Techniques is one of the main modalities of Energy Psychology. EFT combines cognitive and exposure techniques with acupressure to reduce a range of issues like anxiety, depression, PTSD, phobias, sleep issues and addictions. Over 110 randomised control trials have been conducted, mostly in the last decade that demonstrate beneficial results (Feinstein, 2018, Published by Elsevier Inc.)

As a process, you focus on the situation or memory that causes the uncomfortable feelings, then tap on a dozen acupressure points on the upper body. This produces neurological and physical changes in the mind and body. Most people, most of the time experience a reduction of the uncomfortable feelings. In the past five years I’ve helped many people reduce cravings for chocolate, sugar, alcohol, methamphetamines and cannabis, reduce feelings of anxiety, stress, frustration, grief, anger, guilt, trauma, tiredness, bloatedness, cramps and pain. Most people notice a difference in their first session. I set my clients homework, to tap on their acupressure points for about 15 to 20 minutes per day.

Sessions available on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturdays at Fitzroy Consulting Rooms, 468 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, just north of Alexandra Parade. Plenty of parking available nearby.

Many people come to see me for alcohol, cannabis or nicotine dependence.  Sometimes they may be using methamphetamines, usually on weekends or for longer binges.  All of these substances change a persons neurochemistry.  And accept for LSD or cannabis, which are hallucinogenes, the rest of these substances fall into two different camps – sedatives or stimulants.  Methamphetamines, cocaine and nicotine are stimulants, they accelerate the heart rate and metabolism.  They can make people feel more confident and alert.  Alcohol, cannabis, benzodiazipines and heroin are sedatives.  They slow down the heart rate and the nervous system, they calm people down.   I think its interesting to understand why people choose to use substances from these different camps.  What feelings are they trying to change? Lack of confidence, stress and anxiety?

Counselling, hypnosis and EFT are very effective in helping people get to the bottom of their issues.  With a non-judgemental, client centered focus I help people find the relief they’re looking for from drug and alcohol dependence.  Sessions available on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturdays.

When summer comes around and we look in the wardrobe and try things on that we haven’t worn for several months we can be surprised about how some items don’t fit as well as they used to.  A favourite dress, skirt or shorts can reveal more bumps that we feel comfortable with.  Maybe your doctor has been encouraging you to lose weight to reduce gastric reflux, high blood pressure or diabetes.  So moving more and eating less is the standard model for losing weight.  People usually know which foods are high in calories that they can consume less of, to help them fit into those treasured clothes again.  Personally, I have not had any sugar for almost three weeks, in an effort to fit more comfortably into some summer clothes.  I had overindulged over the holiday season with alcohol, chocolate and cakes and decided to make a concerted effort to lose weight.

My clients are setting goals, exercising more and using my audios to help them stay on track to healthy weight loss.  EFT is very powerful in reducing cravings to specific foods, like chocolate or lollies, or alcohol.  As alcohol is high is sugar it can be quite an issue when it comes to weight management.    A combination of counselling, hypnosis and EFT is very effective in helping my clients work through their issues.  Sometimes the core issues to over eating can be laid down in childhood, growing up with family dysfunction, trauma and abuse can underlie a person’s motivation to reward themselves with unhealthy foods like sugar that increase dopamine levels in the brain.  Call now for a consultation to assist you with healthy weight loss. Appointments available on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturdays.

Over half of Australian adults are overweight. Most of it’s due to consuming too many refined carbohydrates found in processed foods like biscuits, cakes and takeaways.  They are high in calories, low in fibre, and it turns into fat!  Sometimes people are drinking too much alcohol, which is high in sugar, carbohydrates and it turns into fat.

I use a combination of counselling, CBT, hypnosis and Emotional Freedom Techniques to help people develop insight and change their unhealthy behaviours.  Sometimes people learn unhealthy eating patterns from their family, or use food to deal with uncomfortable emotions like anxiety or depression.  Most of them don’t eat enough fruit or vegetables.  The Mediterranean diet has proven to be the best in the world.

Now, it can be a simple issue or more complex. People have the best results when they commit to six or more sessions to lose weight.  These sessions can be stretched out to monthly attendance once you are on the right track.  You can listen to some of my audios between sessions to accelerate the positive changes.

Many clients come to see me to lose weight and stop unhealthy food cravings.  For some of them, it becomes clear in the first or second session that there was an issue from childhood that caused them to feel anxiety, and still has an impact on some aspects of their life.  They may have witnessed domestic violence, been mistreated by one of their parents or siblings, or witnessed bullying behaviour at school.  Often people don’t realise these challenging situations in their past can have long lasting effects on a range of health and social issues.  They may have consciously forgotten those challenging circumstances and tried to get on with their life as best they could.  Recently I saw someone who presented with food allergies and bloating.  They had cravings for unhealthy fast foods most days and were gaining weight.  After a couple of sessions of hypnosis, emotional freedom techniques and counselling, they stopped buying the fast food and caffeinated drinks.  The bloating and cravings dropped right down, and the allergy appeared to no longer cause them any concern.

A couple of months ago a client came to me wanting to lose weight.  They had some back pain and concerns their health would deteriorate in retirement.  We identified her cravings for sugary foods and after two hypnotherapy sessions, and listening to an audio between sessions, she lost half a stone.  She said she still had some small indulgences but wasn’t preoccupied with thoughts of cake and biscuits throughout her day.

Hypnosis works with your unconscious mind.  It has an intelligence that knows how you can be healthier in many different ways.  Call  0410 708 835 for an appointment

Many clients come to see me for weight loss.  Although everyone is different, there are

some typical reasons why people gain weight.  Recently, I saw a client who said they were overeating sugary foods.  They wanted something sweet after lunch and dinner, and biscuits with tea or coffee in between meals.  After one session they said they stopped most of their cravings, they hardly thought about it.  They were listening to my hypnotherapy audio for weight loss a couple of times during the week.

Another client gained 10 kilos in two years after retirement.    They started walking 30 to 60 minutes per day and lost their urge to overeat.   Sometimes people use food to manage their feelings because they are stressed or tired.  The body tries to gain more energy from food when what they really need is sleep.  Hypnotherapy helps people relax and sleep longer.

Some people overeat mostly at night.  They have double helpings, then go to sleep on a very full stomach. They wake in the morning and not feel hungry, as they may still have undigested food in their stomach.  This can lead to a cycle of not having breakfast.  Breakfast is supposed to be the meal that “breaks the fast”.  Not having breakfast slows down the metabolism, leading to weight gain.  Hypnosis can help people establish a healthy eating pattern and motivation to exercise to maximise weight loss.

Phone 0410 708 835 for appointment at Fitzroy Consulting Rooms

468 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, just north of Alexandra Parade.  Plenty of

parking nearby.   Clinic hours  Tuesday to Saturday

Hypnotherapy is a great way to reduce stress.  It taps into the power of your unconscious mind and allows more ways to relax, and soothe your nervous system.  Sometimes, people see a hypnotherapist as a kind of last resort.  They have experienced talking therapies, with a counsellor or psychologist.   Maybe they have been prescribed medication, which they have taken, or not.  Hypnotherapy is a natural method  of allowing a state of complete relaxation and surrender to the bodies own natural healing system.

Too often, we are busy worrying about how things have gone in the past, recycling old issues in our conscious mind, and project them out into an imagined negative future.  This causes us unnecessary worry and discomfort that can turn into major health issues if left unaddressed.  Many clients come to see me for relationship issues, either with people they work for, or issues from childhood.  Maybe they’ve used food, cigarettes, alcohol, cannabis or ice to change the way they feel about those relationships.   Most people now know the long term health consequences of using those substances.  A series of hypnotherapy sessions can significantly reduce the cravings to use unhealthy substances and resolve relationship issues.

I also use NLP and EFT techniques to support the effectiveness of hypnotherapy.  My clinics are located at 27 Sydney Road Coburg and 468 Brunswick Street Fitzroy.   Call 0410 708 835 to make an appointment between Tuesday and Saturday.

A study by Dawson Church et al. (2012) published in the Journal of Nervous Mental Disease showed that a single session of Emotional Freedom Techniques proved to be more successful in reducing cortisol levels in the blood compared to a psychotherapy  session, or no treatment.  The EFT subjects showed a 58% reduction of anxiety, 49% reduction of depression and a 50% reduction in their overall severity of symptoms.  The study showed a 24% reduction of cortisol level in the blood and an observed level of reduced psychological distress.

I’ve helped many clients reduce cravings to cigarettes, methamphetamine, cannabis and  high calorie foods.  Often people feel some kind of conflict or stress consuming these substances and a few sessions of EFT greatly reduces their cravings and stress. Some of them tap on their meridian points in between sessions when they are having cravings.  One woman had a decade long craving for chicken nuggets and she said she would do some tapping for a few minutes and the craving would go away.