by The BST Foundation London.
A detailed case history is taken, utilising advanced assessment skills. Before any treatment can commence it is important to exclude any physical or psychiatric underlying causes and a practitioner may refer back to another healthcare specialist before treatment begins.
The A-Z of conditions listed here is by no means an exhaustive list, merely and indication of common presenting conditions and how brief and strategic clinical hypnotherapy is often utilised by practitioners.
I would like to emphasise that psychological interventions should not replace standard medication for biological illness. However, brief and strategic clinical hypnotherapy has been shown to be helpful in relieving symptoms when used in conjunction with the patient's usual medication.
AGORAPHOBIA: Agoraphobia is made from the Greek words that mean "open marketplace" and “fear”. Interestingly, “agora” is the welsh word for open! This anxiety disorder involves the fear of experiencing a panic attack in a place or situation from which escape may be difficult or embarrassing. It is most often associated with a fear of open spaces and can occur with various degrees of severity. In mild cases a person may have difficulty traveling away from home but can still manage to get to work and make familiar journeys, where as in sever cases the patient finds that he/she cannot leave their home environment even to go into the garden. Even within the home the sufferer may experience panic attacks.
Although it may appear that only one family member is suffering from agoraphobia, invariably one finds that other members of the family have also got emotional problems. Treatment can either be undertaken in a real life situation (In Vivo Desensitization) or alternatively in imagination using brief and strategic hypnotherapy. Agoraphobia is a complex disorder and there is a strict strategic hypnotherapeutic protocol.
ANGER: Anger may take many forms. The most obvious manifestations are shouting at other people, out bursts of rage (such as road rage), and in some cases open aggression and violence. Some people are unable to show their anger and it is then converted into other symptoms such as headaches, itching, irritable bowel syndrome, or ulcerative colitis. Un-expressed anger can cause a rise in the blood pressure. Some patients express the anger by turning it on themselves and this may take the form of self-harming.
Where the anger is converted into physical symptoms such as headache then it is helpful to use brief and strategic hypnotherapy. In addition, it may be helpful to combine this with counseling.
ANIMAL PHOBIA: Many people are frightened of animals. However, for a fear to be classified as a phobia the fear must be irrational, and cause the person so much distress that they avoid all contact with that particular thing. Brief and strategic hypnotherapy is very valuable in treating patients with animal phobia and over a period of time patients are capable of making a complete recovery from their phobia, particularly if they are well motivated and persevere with the treatment programme.
ANXIETY: When people suffer a high level of anxiety this may reach panic proportions. Individuals in a state of panic experience a variety of very unpleasant symptoms. It is essential that the cause of the anxiety is investigated and treated by a skilled therapist. This may be achieved either by individual brief and strategic hypnotherapy, by the use of counseling, or a combination of these two approaches.
ARACHNOPHOBIA: Arachnophobia refers to a fear of spiders which is sufficiently severe to interfere with the life of the patient. Brief & strategic hypnotherapy is an efficient way of reducing anxieties and feelings of pressure.
ARTHRITIS: Hypnotherapy is most useful to help with the control of the pain.
ASTHMA: The incidence of Asthma in Great Britain is rising rapidly and in a large number of asthmatics the problem is well controlled with regular medication. In the 1960s a large study was carried out to assess the relative effectiveness of bronco dilators, steroids and hypnosis. This showed that hypnosis was very helpful in the treatment of Asthma. Breathing and management techniques learned as part of a hypnotherapy programme can be beneficial.
I would emphasis that hypnotherapy should not replace standard medication. However, clinical hypnotherapy has been shown to be helpful in relieving symptoms when used in conjunction with the patient's usual medically prescribed drug regime. Some patients find that they need to use their inhalers less frequently when they use self hypnosis on a regular basis.
AQUAPHOBIA: Aquaphobia is a fear of water. Frequently patients suffering from Aquaphobia will have a history of some trauma involving water. The fear and avoidance are both addressed in the context of the treatment. Brief and strategic hypnotherapy is often accepted as the treatment of choice, but may be combined with counseling.
BED WETTING: See Nocturnal enuresis.
BINGE EATING: Binging is a habit and brief and strategic hypnotherapy can effectively control and change this, resulting in better control of eating patterns. “My binging behaviour, which was causing me extreme anxiety, stopped after just a single session.” JS (Pontypridd)
BREAVEMENT: Following the loss of a partner, close relative or friend it is normal to experience a period of extreme grief which may last for up to a year. However if the intensity of the grief shows no signs of decreasing after one year the individual should seek professional help from a suitably qualified therapist.
Psychotherapy or brief and strategic hypnotherapy can be of great help to these people in coming to terms with their loss. Sometimes it is useful to use a combination of both these approaches.
BLUSHING: See erthyrophobia.
BRUXISM: This is associated with forceful jaw movements, which results in a grinding, clenching, and rubbing of the teeth together, usually during sleep. The associated problems, both dental and psychological, can be severe. If the bruxing starts through anxiety or stress then brief and strategic hypnotherapy may be a very beneficial treatment.
BULEMIA NERVOSA: Repetitive, uncontrolled eating binges associated with weight and body image, where weight is maintained by vomiting. Bulemic patients often respond well to brief and strategic hypnotherapy. As with other conditions, the practitioner may work in collaboration with other healthcare professionals.
BUTTON PHOBIA: Button Phobia is a rare condition but extremely inconvenient. This condition responds well to brief and strategic hypnotherapy and patients suffering from Button Phobia are likely to make an excellent recovery.
CANCER & HYPNOTHERAPY: Cancer patients suffer from a variety of distressing symptoms including pain, breathlessness, vomiting, skin irritation, out bursts of anger, insomnia and depression. Where one or more of these symptoms fail to respond to medication it may be very helpful to use brief and strategic hypnotherapy to reduce their severity. Prior to chemotherapy patients often develop nausea and may even vomit, brief and strategic hypnotherapy has been shown to be an extremely effective way of counteracting these symptoms.
CHILDHOOD ANXIETY DISORDERS: There are several childhood anxiety disorders, with each one having a number of common predisposing factors and associated problems. Children generally make excellent patients for brief and strategic hypnotherapy. That said, practitioners are very aware of the need to maintain ethical and professional standards, often liaising with other health care professionals and pediatricians.
CIGARRETTE ADDITION: See smoking cessation
CLAUSTROPHOBIA: Patients suffering from Claustrophobia become panic stricken when they are in enclosed spaces. Claustrophobia can be treated successfully with brief and strategic hypnotherapy, psychotherapy or a combination of both.
CHILD BIRTH: Hypnotherapy is an effective way to prepare physically and psychologically for the best possible experience of childbirth. Hypnobirthing is increasing in popularity, and in some areas courses teaching hypnobirthing techniques for midwives have been launched and very well received.
CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROMME (CFS): Although studied since the 1930s, M.E. (myalgic encephalomyelitis) or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has only come into the spotlight in the past twenty years. Brief and strategic hypnotherapy and lifestyle management advice can be very effective for supporting patients with CFS.
DENTAL PHOBIA: People who are terrified to go to the dentist may live in pain and suffer anxiety about the state of their teeth. Hypnotherapy is very valuable in assisting these patients to counteract their fears and in enabling them to visit their dentist for treatment without anxiety. There are a number of dentists who use hypnotherapy routinely in their practice not only for allaying anxiety but also for pain control.
DEPRESSION: Depression is a complex area and practitioners follow professional and ethical guidelines when evaluating the suitability of incorporating clinical hypnotherapy into an individual’s treatment programme and may work in collaboration with other health care professionals.
DRIVING PHOBIA: The fear of driving can not only be extremely terrifying, but for people living in areas such as in remote towns and villages, where driving is a requirement of every day life, it can be incredibly inconvenient as well. It is a big step for any learner driver to take their vehicle onto the open road for the first time. For many drivers however, this fear stays with them long after the first lesson. Brief and strategic hypnotherapy is very valuable for treating driving phobia.
DYSTONIA: This condition is characterised by involuntary muscle spasms such as tics and twitches. For some individuals, the condition may be the result of nerve damage, however, there is often no pathology present and the condition is mainly psychological. Brief and strategic hypnotherapy may provide a rapid improvement in this condition.
ENURESIS: See nocturnal enuresis.
ERYTHROPHOBIA: Erythrophobia, or blushing, is a symptom of anxiety which usually involves the face but may also spread to the chest. It is a distressing symptom for the sufferer that interferes with social interaction. It may even prevent those who suffer from it from going out to events of any kind. Unfortunately, because the sufferer is embarrassed by their blushing this tends to make the blushing even worse. Erythrophobia responds particularly well to brief and strategic hypnotherapy.
EXHIBITIONISM: Individuals who expose themselves in public often do so to alarm and frighten the victims but rarely want to make any attempt to assault them sexually. These individuals often only seek treatment when they have come into contact with the law. It is possible to successfully treat this disorder using brief and strategic hypnotherapy
FLYING PHOBIA: Many people experience difficulty in traveling by air. Anxiety reduction in patients suffering from flying phobia can be achieved by brief and strategic hypnotherapy.
INFERTILITY: Some research (2004) has claimed that hypnotherapy can double the success of IVF treatment, however, the study utilised a very small sample number. That said, if it has been established that there is no medical reason that would make conceiving impossible then brief and strategic hypnotherapy can help with relaxation.
INJECTION PHOBIA: Many people who have injection phobia do not seek treatment until faced with the prospect of having to have an injection or blood tests. For patients who suffer from injection phobia just the thought of an injection or blood test is terrifying for them. Injection phobia can be treated effectively with brief and strategic hypnotherapy.
INSOMNIA: Interrupted sleeping patterns or lying awake at night is a distressing. Once it has been established that insomnia is not associated with any obvious physical or psychiatric illness brief and strategic hypnotherapy may prove an effective way of treating insomnia. Practitioners are very aware that there may be a number of reasons why an individual has difficulty in sleeping and any physical cause such as pain needs to be investigated in the first instance. In the same way insomnia is frequently a symptom of both depression and hypomania and in these cases the treatment should be directed towards the underlying condition.
IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROMME (IBS): Studies have shown that 1:5 people suffer from some degree of irritable bowel. The symptoms of IBS can vary but patients will often present with urgency and frequency of bowel action, abdominal pain and bloating. Often patients complain of diarrhoea, but some are troubled by constipation. Over 20 years of solid scientific research has demonstrated hypnotherapy as an effective, safe and inexpensive choice for IBS symptom alleviation. Hypnotherapy routinely produces positive results in over 80% of the people who use it as a treatment for IBS.
KLEPTOMANIA: A person suffering from Kleptomania has a compulsion to steal items which do not belong to them. The objects which they steal can range from the trivial to the expensive. Even though the person may not need the items they seem unable to stop themselves from taking them. Brief and strategic hypnotherapy, often combined with counseling, can be an effective treatment.
MIGRAINE: The headaches which migraine sufferers have are often recurrent, severe headaches that are accompanied by a range of symptoms including, nausea and sensitivity to light/sound/smell. It is calculated that 15% of the population suffer migraines at a £1b cost to UK productivity. It has been shown that hypnotherapy can be very helpful in the treatment of migraine. Of course, BST Foundation practitioners would first refer to the individual’s doctor so that any major pathology is investigated.
NAIL BITING: Patients who bite their fingernails may cause bleeding and pain. Brief and strategic hypnotherapy can be very helpful in treating this distressing problem.
NOCTURNAL ENURESIS: Nocturnal enuresis or bed wetting can affect children and adults. Medical treatment is rarely started before the age of six, but once the problem has been aired and other possible underlying causes, such as urine infection and diabetes, have been excluded, there are a number of things that a doctor, school nurse, nurse at an enuresis clinic, or brief and strategic hypnotherapist can help with.
OBESITY: After smoking, obesity is the biggest single cause of premature death in the UK, and much more besides. Overweight patients have lower self esteem and more psychological problems than any other single patient group, including cancer sufferers. There are a number of medical causes for being over weight. When these have been excluded, patients who are over weight tend fall into two main categories: those who need to lose a few kilograms and those who are grossly over weight.
Practitioners advocate the use of a multi-disciplinary approach and often work in co-ordination with nutritionalists, and health and exercise professionals.
OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER (OCD): OCD is often regarded as one of the most vexing and frustrating of the major anxiety disorders. It is placed in the anxiety class of mental illness and is listed amongst the top 10 most debilitating illnesses by the World Health Organisation in terms of loss of income and decreased quality of life. People with OCD may also be diagnosed with other conditions and diagnosis must be performed by a mental health professional. Many patients who suffer from OCD may not tolerate hypnotherapy well. However, practitioners may compliment the support and supervision being given to an OCD sufferer by another healthcare professional with specific brief and strategic hypnotherapeutic protocol.
PAIN RELIEF: Pain is the body’s way of informing an individual that there is something wrong. It is therefore important that the cause of the pain is thoroughly investigated and the appropriate treatment given. When hypnotherapy is used, it can help to relieve pain even when standard treatments have proved to be ineffective. This is particularly evident in the severe pain associated with cancer and childbirth. In addition, hypnotherapy is widely used in dentistry both for the relief of anxiety and the control of pain and is now widely accepted as a complimentary approach, if not alternative, to anaesthesia for surgery.
PANIC ATTACKS: A panic attack is a severe attack of anxiety and fear which occurs suddenly, often without warning, and for no apparent reason. In addition to the anxiety, various other symptoms may also occur during a panic attack. At least 1 in 10 people have an occasional panic attack. No treatment is needed if an individual just has an occasional panic attack, but it may help to understand about panic attacks and to know how to deal with a panic attack. However, treatment can help in the case of recurring attacks. Practitioners are skilled in the ethical and professional application of hypnotherapy in either context.
PANIC DISORDER: Panic disorder with and without agoraphobia is a debilitating condition that will afflict at least 1 out of every 75 people in this country and worldwide during their lifetime. About 1 in 3 people with panic disorder also develop agoraphobia. Some diagnostic criteria need to be satisfied for the diagnosis of panic disorder, which must be differentiated from other disorders that may share similar clinical features. Practitioners are skilled in the ethical and professional application of brief and strategic hypnotherapy in the support of individuals who suffer from organic disorder.
PERFORMANCE ANXIETY: The anxiety of performing in front of other people may produce a variety of symptoms which are often so distressing that the individual may be forced to give up performing in public altogether. Hypnotherapy as a treatment approach has extremely good results for all forms of performance anxiety.
PHOBIAS: The term phobia is used when a person is terrified of an object or a situation which other people would regard as harmless. This leads to avoidance of the feared situation or object which in turn increases the severity of the phobia. Practitioners are skilled in the ethical and professional application of hypnotherapy in the support of individuals who suffer from phobias.
POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD): After a traumatic incident of some magnitude some people develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). There are guidelines relating to the diagnosis and appropriateness of time-related intervention regarding PTSD. Specific brief and strategic hypnotherapeutic skills that practitioners have that allow for effective support of individuals with PTSD and in so doing, practitioners may work in collaboration with other mental health professionals.
Some practitioners have a particular interest in this area and have been referred to be the emergency services as support for officers and staff.
RESTLESS LEG SYNDROME: The term Restless Leg Syndrome refers to a feeling of agitation in the lower limbs. Although this is considered to be a sleep disorder and usually occurs when attempting to go to sleep or during the course of the night causing the patient to wake up there are people who develop this symptom in other situations such as when sitting or lying still. A diagnosis should be made by a doctor as it is important to ensure that the symptoms are not a side effect of taking a particular medication or caused by vascular disease of the lower limbs. This condition responds well to hypnotherapy.
SLEEP WALKING: Sleep walking can be corrected by the use of hypnotherapy.
SMOKING CESSATION: The new laws on smoking make it a good time to give up smoking. Hypnotherapy offers a No Butts! 1 session approach.
SOCIAL ANXIETY: People who suffer from social anxiety are intimidated by all social interactions to a greater or lesser degree. This condition responds well to brief and strategic hypnotherapy.
SPORTS PERFORMANCE: The greatest of champions and athletes have also learned to think successfully. There has been a long history of hypnosis in sport (at 1956 Melbourne Olympics, the Russian team took 11 hypnotists; at the 1967 Olympics the Swiss Ski Team, utilised a hypnotist; at the 2006 World Cup the Mexican Soccer team prepared with a hypnotist). Clearly, hypnotherapy will not teach basic skills of the sport, however, it is useful for those who are already proficient in the sport and wish to improve their performance to a point of excellence. It’s not just on-field problems that affect athletes and their performances. Typically non-sport issues such as insomnia, stress, phobias and traumas can all hinder an athlete’s best efforts, and these can equally be effectively dealt with using hypnotherapy.
Many hypnotherapists simply offer relaxation techniques. This is often not appropriate and can be to the detriment of performance at the elite level. Clinical Hypnotherapy Wales has practitioners who have a sporting background and are able to correctly utilise brief and strategic hypnotherapy with regard to sports performance and work with international standard athletes.
STROKE: A stroke is a “brain attack”. The aftermath can include a complex range of physical, psychological, behavioual and social difficulties. Clinical hypnotherapy can benefit the patient and carer(s) with coping strategies, relaxation, confidence, motivation, pain relief and others.
SWEATING: Excessive sweating can be a troublesome symptom. In mild cases it involves sweating in social situations, and this is extremely embarrassing to the sufferer. Hypnotherapy is effective for dealing with social anxiety and this in turn can reduce the sweating response.
THUMB SUCKING: This condition can be present from birth upwards and many young children suck their thumbs which has a soothing effect. However if this persists into later childhood and adolescence it may become very distressing both for the individual and their family. It may have become such a habit that the individual is unaware that the thumb is going into the mouth. Hypnotherapy can be very helpful in treating this distressing problem.
WEIGHT CONTROL: There are a number of medical causes for being over weight. When these have been excluded, patients who are over weight tend fall into two main categories: those who need to lose a few kilograms and those who are grossly over weight. Practitioners advocate the use of a multi-disciplinary approach and often work in co-ordination with nutritionalists, and health and exercise professionals.
