Welcome to EKTherapies Blog

Welcome to EKTherapies blog, I hope you enjoy looking around and reading about the benefits of Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP.

I am currently on maternity leave but I am taking bookings for my return. I am also still available on email and over the phone although it may take me a little longer to get back to you than normal.

Happy reading and I look forward to hearing from you soon

Tips for Beating Blushing

It is not surprising that in today's "got to look good" society, facial blushing can cause people a lot of stress and worry. At its extremes, the embarrassment from blushing can become so acute that the sufferer avoids social contact as a last resort to avoid the problem.

So what can you and Hypnotherapy do to help yourself to control your blushing?

Acceptance
The first thing to understand is that blushing is a perfectly natural human response. Everybody blushes, of course some people blush more than others but it is a reassuring fact that blushing is a matter of degree, not whether you do or don’t blush. It is a natural occurrence. When you blush, the blood vessels in your face widen allowing more blood to pass through to the skin. The tiny muscles in your blood vessels usually keep the vessels slightly squeezed, but during a blushing episode, nerves in your body send signals to relax these muscles. Because this action is an automatic response, it is nearly impossible to stop once the action has begun. In fact, the harder you try to stop blushing, the redder you will usually get. Acceptance is the first step to controlling your blushing.

Relax
Blushing tends to increase as people start to get embarrassed about their embarrassment, creating a sort of vicious circle. The tenser you get as you start to blush, the more the blood is forced to the face. One trick is, when you feel it coming on is to deliberately drop your shoulders and relax your body. Breathe through your stomach, pushing it out as you breathe deeply and calmly, focusing on calmness or what is happening around you rather than not blushing. This can take a bit of practice to become second nature, so practice deep breathing and focusing on other things on a daily basis. You can learn all of this and more with a Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP session with Erika.

Accept it, don't Fight it
You need to shift your relationship to the blushing. At the moment you are trying to hide it because you are embarrassed about it. If you can work on relaxing about it, it will get better. This will be helped by you accepting it as a current part of yourself. You can try saying to yourself "At the moment, I am a blusher". It sounds strange, but if you can bring yourself to like that part of you more, it is more likely to go away.

Hypnotherapy can introduce you to some techniques that you can employ and keep working with on your own in the future.

Other peoples' opinions
Part of the embarrassment about blushing is caused by the thought that others will see you as weak or silly. However, everyone has had the experience of being embarrassed, it shows in people in different ways. Even people who appear as very confident have their moments of self-consciousness. Remember too that often it can seem a lot worse to you then it appears to be. People are so self-absorbed that they probably haven’t noticed you blushing; in fact it is often only your own change in behaviour that draws attention to it. Does this sound like your experience?


People tease you
If people tease you and point out your blushing they tend to do this because of your reaction to them. If when they tease you, you are able to smile with them, it will usually lessen the impact of their joke and make it less likely that they will push that button in the future. This can be done in a healthy way that does not internalise your anguish, but instead shares it!


Retrain your mind
Hypnotherapy can help greatly as you can train your mind and body to relax as you feel the blushing coming on, or have the thought that you might blush. Hypnotherapy can help you to feel more confident and at ease with the situations that make tend to make you blush.

Your Standards
Remember, you are an unique individual. Like everyone else you have different factors that contribute to make you the person you are. Accept yourself for all that you are, blushing is just one of those things that make you you. The more you accept it the more you won’t mind if it happens. The more you don’t mind the less it will happen as you refind that inner confidence in you.

Ring Erika for a no obligation chat and see how along with your commitment hypnotherapy, CBT and NLP can help you achieve your goals.

© EKTherapies

Smoking Ages You

We all know smoking is bad for our health; there is no hiding from the fact any more with cigarette packets carrying shocking images and smoking being banned from advertising. But the fact that smoking ages you will be a lurking demon in many people’s minds.The beauty industry is worth billions of pounds, but the most effective product available to help your skin remain youthful is stopping smoking.

“For smokers, middle age starts in the early 30′s as the tell tale wrinkles around the mouth and eyes begin to appear. Young female smokers are likely to be wasting their money on anti-ageing face creams if they continue to smoke,” says Amanda Sandford from Action on Smoking Health.

Smoking ages women more than men, a fact supported by many years of research by reputable medical bodies. The ageing effects of smoking on the skin are worse for women, who are much more likely to develop“smoker’s face” than male smokers. For women smoking and ageing are inextricably linked. Smoking is also linked to early onset of menopause.

Remember, when you look at your skin some of the damage caused by smoking won’t appear until ten to twenty years after you began to smoke. So if you haven’t been smoking that long and you don’t see much damage yet – don’t assume it won’t happen.

“Smoking exerts such a noticeable effect on the skin that it’s often possible to detect whether or not a person is a smoker simply by looking at his or her face. Smokers have more wrinkles and their skin tends to have a greyish pallor compared to non-smokers,”says Professor Young, Head of Dermatology at Guy’s School of Medicine, London.

So just how does smoking affect the skin in both men and women?

• Smoking restricts blood flow through the capillaries (tiny veins near the skin’ssurface) preventing oxygen and nutrients getting to the skin
• Smoking increases production of an enzyme which breaks down the supply of collagen to the skin’sstructure. Collagen supply is vital to the skin’s elasticity; it decreases with age but smoking cigarettes accelerates this process
• Smoking reduces the body’s store of vitamin A which provides protection from skin damage
• Smoking gets in the way of absorption of vitamin C – a vital antioxidant for skin protection and health
• Smokers’continual puckering from drawing on a cigarette and squinting in reaction to the cigarette smoke results in deeply wrinkled skin around the eyes and mouth –classic signs of ‘smoker’s face’

Smoking statistics will clearly tell you the risk of death and disease from your smoking habit. This is frightening enough but the fact that it ages us too is something we should be aware of.

This is what you might expect your skin to look like if you continue to smoke:

• Dull appearance to the skin – loss of skin glow and vitality
• Discolored skin (an ashy look on white skins)
• Deeper wrinkles around the mouth and eyes
• Loss of tone and elasticity above and beyond the normal ageing process

The damage done from smoking cannot be completely reversed, but the sooner you stop and begin to look after your skin and diet then you can begin to get back your youthful skin and body.

Take the first steps today to becoming a non-smoker in a positive and focused way. Your commitment and a one-off Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP session is all it takes. Hypnosis makes it 10 times more likely that you will quit smoking for good. During the session we will look at all your smoking triggers and make sure you have the coping mechanisms, motivation and determination to become and remain a non-smoker. Why wait until the damage of smoking is showing on your skin and in your body. Take control today, call Erika see how you can take the first steps to becoming smoke-free today.

“I haven't touched a cigarette!! Today is my 16th day as a non-smoker - I'm so proud of myself but don't want to get complacent. The first few days were really tough, but since then it has got easier and I think about it less and less. I've even been out with people at work or pub and have just stood with them whilst they smoke and it’s actually been fine . I'm starting to feel better in myself, have a bit more energy and plan to start jogging next week. So thank you very much! I'm still taking it one day at a time but those days are getting easier.” Lisa, London who had a one-off Stop Smoking treatment with Erika at EKTherapies.

© EKTherapies

Blue Monday

Apparently today 14th January is Blue Monday. It is considered the most depressing day of the year.

How can one predict the most depressing day of the year? Who knows what is going to happen on this day and the next and the one after that?

Tomorrow will be here sooner than we think, and it can be a better day. We are too good at focusing on what is missing or wrong in our life, but we can change and look at what we do have. We can start to focus on the 70% (or more) that is right in our life rather than the small amount that needs improving.

It is good to have stuff to strive for; we need goals, dreams, targets and aspirations. But it is also important to stop and appreciate where we have got to and enjoy the life that we have created for ourselves.

The world continues turning and life goes on day by day.It is up to us to make our own lives as good as we can. You can learn to work with the positive and to see what we do have in life – a Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP session can help you to have this outlook.


Today can be whatever you want it to be. Yes it may be cold outside, the evenings may be dark, but we have passed the shortest day of the year. Summer is on the way. We can either get there with a smile on our faces or allow ourselves to be dragged down into a negative spiral.


Take control of how you feel today. You can learn a different way of dealing with stress and let go of the anxiety in your life. Today can be the best day of your year as it is the start of working with the power of your mind, focusing on the positive and realising that we choose where we put the energy. You can choose to put it towards positive thinking; you will be amazed at how you can change your perspective and realise that life is quite an amazing thing to be involved in.

© EKTherapies

Did You Watch The Plane Crash On Channel 4?

Just in case you haven’t managed to watch The Plane Crash on Channel 4 here is their description of it:

“This dramatic new documentary follows an international team of scientists, experts and elite pilots as they deliberately crash land a 170-seat Boeing 727 passenger jet to provide a once-in-a-generation chance to study the mechanics of a plane crash in real time.
The documentary recreates a common type of crash - a serious, but survivable 'forced landing' - in order to study the crashworthiness of the aircraft's airframe and cabin, examine the impact of crashes on the human body, and look for possible means of increasing passenger survivability.
By crashing the plane, the programme also aims to answer key questions - such as whether sitting at the front or the rear of the aircraft, wearing a seat belt, and whether you use the brace position - can make the difference between life and death.
Fed Ex captain James 'JimBob' Slocum, who has previously survived three plane crashes, pilots the passenger jet, nick-named 'Big Flo' (after crew member Leland 'Chip' Shanle's grandmother, Florence) on her last flight. Putting their lives on the line, JimBob and the rest of the crew aim to parachute from the plane just minutes before impact, after setting it on a crash course.
The plane will then be flown remotely until impact from a chase plane by former US Navy pilot Leland 'Chip' Shanle - making it the world's biggest remote controlled aircraft. Flying at 140 mph, and descending at 1500 feet per minute, the aircraft will crash land nose down in a remote and uninhabited area of Mexican desert.
Rather than carrying passengers, the plane is packed with state-of-the-art research equipment, including three crash test dummies worth $150,000 each (plus a number of simpler sand bag dummies) and accelerometers to measure the G forces on passengers.
Dozens of cameras record the crash from inside the aircraft, on the ground, in chase planes and even on the pilot's helmet.” http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-plane-crash/episode-guide/series-1/episode-1

Many people have a fear of flying and may think I am crazy to suggest watching this program, but it is a fascinating program about airplane safety. Air travel remains statistically safer than crossing the road and flying has been proven to be twenty five times safer than driving your own car.

• 21,000 people (on average) die on the road in the USA in a 6-month period. This is approximately the same amount of all commercial air travel fatalities worldwide in 40 years
• More than 3million people fly every day
• A Boeing aircraft takes off or lands every 2 seconds somewhere in the world – all day, every day
• 1 plane in 5 million crashes. Even then people still survive plane crashes, going on to fly again

Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP will help you to understand why you have this fear and where it comes from, and help you to feel relaxed and safe when flying. Hypnotherapy can help you to learn a new pattern of behavior, helping you to simply relax and start to enjoy the freedom of flying and all the wonderful places you can visit.

© EKTherapies

15 Days into Stoptober - How Are You Doing?

We are 15 days into Stoptober. How are you doing? Have you taken up the challenge? If you have you should be well on your way to being a non-smoker for good. The Nicotine is now well out of your system and your body has started to repair itself. Well done and keep going!

If you haven't taken then plunge then it's time to Stop Smoking in a positive and focused way !

Are you ready to kick the habit for good and stop being a slave to the cigarette ?

So what is the trick to giving up smoking?

The biggest thing is your own commitment and feeling that you want to become a non-smoker. Have you reached that point of being tired of being a slave to a cigarette and all the restrictions it brings with it? If yes then you are ready to become a non-smoker. You don’t have to know how you are going to do it, just simply that you want to do it. It is important to remind yourself that you are giving up nothing of value to you but gaining so much. Think of all the reasons to become smoke free, as you know there are plenty; health, smelling good, enjoying the taste of food, seeing your children or nieces & nephews get married, meeting your grandchildren, being around to a ripe old age with lungs that aren’t full of Emphysema, the money you will save. The list of the benefits you would get from being a non-smoker is endless and also personal to you and your motivation to succeed.

How can Hypnotherapy help you become smoke free?

This is the bit of great news! Using Hypnotherapy you are 10 times more likely to remain a non-smoker. Although Hypnotherapy isn’t a magic wand and still requires your commitment, it is a very powerful tool that makes sure that you have the inner focus and determination to become a non-smoker in a positive way. There is no need for Nicotine patches or gum all you need is a one-off Hypnotherapy session along with your commitment and motivation to want to become a non-smoker. I work with a combination of Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP helping you to really understand what cigarettes mean to you on an emotional and psychological level and how you can take control of them and choose whether to have them in your life or not.

“Thanks for the session, it has really helped and I haven’t smoked since!” Jehan, London

How about if you have tried to stop before?

There are many reasons why stopping smoking may not have worked for you before. The main reason, I tend to find with the clients who come to see me, is because they didn't deal with the psychological addiction of smoking (rather than just the physical addiction). In fact, they probably put cigarettes up on some kind of a pedestal. Maybe they weren’t truly motivated to give up and didn’t really want to stop. Maybe their partner was pushing them to do it or it wasn’t the right time for them to give up. Perhaps their motivation was weak in certain situations or associations. For whatever reason they didn’t have the drive that they needed to start looking after their future health, to be able to breathe easier, taste food, not be out of breath when they climbed the stairs and so much more. If you start to focus on what you are gaining rather than the fear of what you may lose then all of a sudden cigarettes don’t seem that powerful any more.

“It has been a month since I saw you and smoking hasn’t even crossed my mind, which is amazing. Thank you!” Ben, Surrey

Feeling motivated to take control of your life and make that change?

The next step is completely in your hands. When you are ready to take control of the power cigarettes have over you, then give me a call 07952 619939 and we can talk further about helping you have the tools to become a non-smoker and remain one.

I look forward to speaking to you soon and helping you take the first exciting steps to becoming a non-smoker in a positive and focused way.

"It has been 4 weeks since my last cigarette! The first few days were a bit tricky, I think because of the nicotine leaving my system rather than missing smoking, but it has been much easier than times I have tried to stop in the past. This time I haven’t felt stressed about it, I actually feel pretty good now to be honest, and am glad I have stopped. So far the feeling to smoke again hasn’t arisen strongly at all, but if it ever does I feel strong going forward without smoking as I have all the information and memories from my session and subsequent experience of being smoke free reminding me every day why my life is so much better without it! Thanks once again for the successful session, and the follow up support phone call. I am very pleased I came to see you! "  Hannah, London

© EKTherapies

Can A Good Cry Be The Answer?

As a British woman I have grown up with the British stigma that still seems to be around about the stiff upper lip. Whilst there is a time to show emotions, not just sadness but also happiness, sometimes all we need is a good cry and then we can start to laugh about life again.       

In Japan, crying is expected and there is even a “crying boom”. Instead of karaoke bars after work to wind down, business people watch weepy films called “tear films” in crying clubs, to help them let go of the day.

Whilst I am not suggesting that we all join crying clubs, it may be time realise that it is ok to cry, sometimes you just need to let it out. It is not a sign of weakness, quite the opposite. Many things in life do need to be mourned over and you often need time to heal. Whilst I believe in the power of laughter and positive thoughts I also believe in forgiving yourself and allowing yourself the time to heal. Life is a roller coaster and the “downs” help you to learn and appreciate the “ups”. You can have a good cry, let it all out, clear away the cobwebs and then laugh away with a new energy having let goof the old sadness.

'When you're upset and stressed, you have an imbalance and build-up of chemicals in the body and crying helps to reduce that,' says Dr Abigael San, chartered clinical psychologist.

New research is showing that tears could actually be a way of flushing out negative chemical from our bodies. So why is it good to allow yourself to cry?
Research has found three types of tears:

Basal Tears

Basal tears contain Lysozyme, a powerful and fast acing antibacterial and antiviral agent. This is the layer of protective fluid that covers our eyeballs. This fluid is secreted by the lachrymal glands, which sit above each eye. Without this basal fluid our eyes would be in danger of drying out and become susceptible to bacterial attack.

Eye Watering

One of the most important functions crying can have is to protect our eyes from irritants and foreign bodies, such as dust or getting rid of the acidic fumes when cutting onions. These tears are known as reflex tears. When our eyes come under attack from irritants, the lachrymal glands in our eyes start stimulating more fluid to wash away the irritant and drain it from the eye.

Emotional/stress-related tears

A study by Dr William H.Frey II, a biochemist at the St Paul-Ramsey Medical Centre in Minnesota, found that there is an important chemical difference between emotional or stress-related tears and those simply caused by physical irritants – such as when cutting onions. They found that emotional tears contained more of the protein-based hormones prolactin, adrenocorticotropic hormone, and Leucine Enkephalin (a natural painkiller), all of which are produced by our body when under stress.

'Crying can help release tension and stress, as well as expressing emotions,' says Dr Abigael San,chartered clinical psychologist.

Crying is a natural part of us, just as is laughing. If you are crying all the time and feel like you can never find that high point, then you might need help to realise a feeling or help cope with stress. But it is ok to have a cry every now and then, to allow your body that emotional release. You will be surprised how much better you feel after it.

Sometimes we need to allow the tears out to make way for the laughter and those positive thoughts.


Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP can help you to deal with any stressors you have or grievances that you feel you need to “let go” of or “deal” with, so that you can laugh more and cry through tears of laughter instead of sadness.

© EKTherapies

Stoptober is Here – It’s Time to Stop Smoking in a Positive and Focused way !

It's time to Stop Smoking in a positive and focused way !

Are you ready to kick the habit for good and stop being a slave to the cigarette ?

Smokers are being encouraged to kick the habit in Stoptober. During October thousands of people across England are taking part in a new 28 day challenge to stop smoking – if you stop smoking for 28 days, you are five times more likely to stay smokefree. With winter around the corner, it couldn’t be a better time to stop smoking.

So what is the trick to giving up smoking?

The biggest thing is your own commitment and feeling that you want to become a non-smoker. Have you reached that point of being tired of being a slave to a cigarette and all the restrictions it brings with it? If yes then you are ready to become a non-smoker. You don’t have to know how you are going to do it, just simply that you want to do it. It is important to remind yourself that you are giving up nothing of value to you but gaining so much. Think of all the reasons to become smoke free, as you know there are plenty; health, smelling good, enjoying the taste of food, seeing your children or nieces & nephews get married, meeting your grandchildren, being around to a ripe old age with lungs that aren’t full of Emphysema, the money you will save. The list of the benefits you would get from being a non-smoker is endless and also personal to you and your motivation to succeed.

How can Hypnotherapy help you become smoke free?

This is the bit of great news! Using Hypnotherapy you are 10 times more likely to remain a non-smoker. Although Hypnotherapy isn’t a magic wand and still requires your commitment, it is a very powerful tool that makes sure that you have the inner focus and determination to become a non-smoker in a positive way. There is no need for Nicotine patches or gum all you need is a one-off Hypnotherapy session along with your commitment and motivation to want to become a non-smoker. I work with a combination of Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP helping you to really understand what cigarettes mean to you on an emotional and psychological level and how you can take control of them and choose whether to have them in your life or not.

“Thanks for the session, it has really helped and I haven’t smoked since!” Jehan, London

How about if you have tried to stop before?

There are many reasons why stopping smoking may not have worked for you before. The main reason, I tend to find with the clients who come to see me, is because they didn't deal with the psychological addiction of smoking (rather than just the physical addiction). In fact, they probably put cigarettes up on some kind of a pedestal. Maybe they weren’t truly motivated to give up and didn’t really want to stop. Maybe their partner was pushing them to do it or it wasn’t the right time for them to give up. Perhaps their motivation was weak in certain situations or associations. For whatever reason they didn’t have the drive that they needed to start looking after their future health, to be able to breathe easier, taste food, not be out of breath when they climbed the stairs and so much more. If you start to focus on what you are gaining rather than the fear of what you may lose then all of a sudden cigarettes don’t seem that powerful any more.

“It has been a month since I saw you and smoking hasn’t even crossed my mind, which is amazing. Thank you!” Ben, Surrey

Feeling motivated to take control of your life and make that change?

The next step is completely in your hands. When you are ready to take control of the power cigarettes have over you, then give me a call 07952 619939 and we can talk further about helping you have the tools to become a non-smoker and remain one.

I look forward to speaking to you soon and helping you take the first exciting steps to becoming a non-smoker in a positive and focused way.

© EKTherapies

Stoptober is Nearly Here – It’s Time to Stop Smoking in a Positive and Focused way

Smokers are being encouraged to kick the habit in Stoptober. During October thousands of people across England are taking part in a new 28 day challenge to stop smoking – if you stop smoking for 28 days, you are five times more likely to stay smokefree. With winter around the corner, it couldn’t be a better time to stop smoking.

So what is the trick to giving up smoking?

The biggest thing is your own commitment and feeling that you want to become a non-smoker. Have you reached that point of being tired of being a slave to a cigarette and all the restrictions it brings with it? If yes then you are ready to become a non-smoker. You don’t have to know how you are going to do it, just simply that you want to do it. It is important to remind yourself that you are giving up nothing of value to you but gaining so much. Think of all the reasons to become smoke free, as you know there are plenty; health, smelling good, enjoying the taste of food, seeing your children or nieces & nephews get married, meeting your grandchildren, being around to a ripe old age with lungs that aren’t full of Emphysema, the money you will save. The list of the benefits you would get from being a non-smoker is endless and also personal to you and your motivation to succeed.

How can Hypnotherapy help you become smoke free?

This is the bit of great news! Using Hypnotherapy you are 10 times more likely to remain a non-smoker. Although Hypnotherapy isn’t a magic wand and still requires your commitment, it is a very powerful tool that makes sure that you have the inner focus and determination to become a non-smoker in a positive way. There is no need for Nicotine patches or gum all you need is a one-off Hypnotherapy session along with your commitment and motivation to want to become a non-smoker. I work with a combination of Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP helping you to really understand what cigarettes mean to you on an emotional and psychological level and how you can take control of them and choose whether to have them in your life or not.

“Thanks for the session, it has really helped and I haven’t smoked since!” Jehan, London

How about if you have tried to stop before?

There are many reasons why stopping smoking may not have worked for you before. The main reason, I tend to find with the clients who come to see me, is because they didn't deal with the psychological addiction of smoking (rather than just the physical addiction). In fact, they probably put cigarettes up on some kind of a pedestal. Maybe they weren’t truly motivated to give up and didn’t really want to stop. Maybe their partner was pushing them to do it or it wasn’t the right time for them to give up. Perhaps their motivation was weak in certain situations or associations. For whatever reason they didn’t have the drive that they needed to start looking after their future health, to be able to breathe easier, taste food, not be out of breath when they climbed the stairs and so much more. If you start to focus on what you are gaining rather than the fear of what you may lose then all of a sudden cigarettes don’t seem that powerful any more.

“It has been a month since I saw you and smoking hasn’t even crossed my mind, which is amazing. Thank you!” Ben, Surrey

Feeling motivated to take control of your life and make that change?

The next step is completely in your hands. When you are ready to take control of the power cigarettes have over you, then give me a call 07952 619939 and we can talk further about helping you have the tools to become a non-smoker and remain one.

I look forward to speaking to you soon and helping you take the first exciting steps to becoming a non-smoker in a positive and focused way.

© EKTherapies

How to work with the Power of the Mind

Our thoughts, what we say and what we hear all have a powerful effect on our everyday experiences and beliefs.

Henry Ford said it perfectly:

Whether you think you can or think you can’t you’re right.

Changing our internal dialogue to positive statements makes our life better and assists us in moving forward, giving us the confidence to achieve our goals. Instead of thinking “I am not good enough”, think “I can do this”; or instead of saying “I will never be able to do that so why try”, say “I know that if I trust in myself and prepare properly I can achieve anything”. Not only will you achieve your goals but you will feel happier and healthier. Positive self-talk gives you a permanent cheerleader in your corner, one that carries positive messages to all areas of your life and helps you to move forward. Once you have this positivity nobody can take it away from you, as it comes from within you, from your own thought processes.

Replace your negative thoughts with positive ones. This can be hard at first but start by talking positively. When you have a negative thought, or catch yourself about to say something negative, stop yourself and see if you can spin it on its head by turning it into a positive one. Challenge that negative thought and question whether you are right to think that way. Soon this will become second nature and you will find yourself thinking more positively from the outset.

Begin working with these simple tools in mind:

• Expect positive results. When you set a goal expect that not only will you achieve it but you will be better than you thought.
• Actually visualize the success you want. Picture it in your mind, picture what you DO want, rather than having a list of what you DON’T want. Have an image of what you DO want, and see yourself achieving your goal.
• Surround yourself with people who have the same positive view as you. When you are with a negative person then allow their views to wash over you and focus on why you want to achieve your goal. 

Think of it like:

Suggestions/Words/Thoughts

+

Feelings

+

Beliefs

+

Behaviour

=

Success or Failure

These are just a few simple steps you can begin to work with to understand the power of your mind and to start working with it rather than against it. To understand more and learn more techniques come for a Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP session and see how you can achieve your goals in a positive and focused way.

© EKTherapies

Bye Bye Paralympics

It has been another amazing two weeks of sport and I have been lucky enough to go along to see some the athletics in the Olympic Park.

I found the whole event inspiring. From the incredible organisation to get so many people to and from Stratford safely, quickly and easily; the volunteers who were full of so much cheer; the amazing buildings themselves regenerating an area; to the incredible athletes many of whom had overcome life-changing events or illness, finding themselves being cheered on by an 80,000 strong crowd.

The energy was electric - the nearer we got to Stratfordt he more people you could see holding their countries' flags and eagerly awaiting the night's competition ahead of them. I don’t think they were disappointed.

Life doesn’t always go the way we plan or expect. It can deliver people some unfair blows but seeing what some people have done to respond to that is incredible. The commentators spoke to some athletes who said that if they had the chance to have their legs back they would choose not to because life has been so enhanced for them now. It reminds me that sometimes we can look at people and think “poor them” when actually we are the ones who are poor for judging others.

Life is ours for living! It always amazes me just what we can achieve if we go for it. We can choose to change our perspective on life and see just how wonderful it really can be.

Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP can help you to achieve your goals and become the person you want to be.

Thank you to the Olympics and the Paralympics and to everyone who was involved in them for an amazing summer. It is one I will never forget and I hope the pride and Olympic buzz stays in the area for a long time to come.

© EKTherapies

Teeth Grinding

Teeth grinding or Bruxism to give it its medical name, is a completely natural occurrence in the body. It happens when the bite is not right, if there is an imbalance - a missing tooth for example or when children’s teeth develop. It is something we do subconsciously and a lot of people will teeth-grind during their sleep. It is the body’s natural way of making your teeth fit your mouth.

So if it is natural, why is it such a problem? If you are teeth grinding because your bite is not right then working with the dentist you can correct this and the teeth grinding will stop. However, it is also increasingly common that teeth grinding is linked to stress/anxiety.

In most instances you don’t even realise you are doing it. You may wake up with a sore, aching jaw or even a headache. Anyone who has slept next to someone who grinds their teeth will know that the noise can be unbearable.

It is important to tell the dentist if you are teeth grinding so that they can monitor the wear and tare of your teeth and make sure you are not doing any lasting damage. You can get gum-shields from the dentist to help to keep your teeth apart but this doesn’t deal with the reason you are doing it.

Is it time to look at your stress levels? Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP can help you to understand your stressors and learn a new way to manage your life so that the stress levels rarely bubble over. Stress is a part of life and we need both the ups and downs to learn and help us grow. However, we don't have to let it affect our health.

You don’t have to expect teeth grinding to be part of your life. To find out how you can take the steps today to helping your jaw stay relaxed and allowing the rest of your body time to destress, freeing time to enjoy the life that you have created, please contact Erika.

© EKTherapies

How Does Stress Affect Your Body?

Stress is a word that is commonly used today but how much do we really know about how it affects our body and our moods?

One simple description of stress is as a state when a person has insufficient resources to meet his or her demands.

•  Too many demands + too few resources = stress, distress
• Too few demands + too many resources = boredom, apathy
• Demands match resources (or match resources at a stretch) = coping, interest

Each person deals with stress differently, depending on the resources available to them and the way they approach the situation. You can put two people in the same situation and they can produce different reactions. One may cope well with the situation where the other might struggle or even collapse emotionally.

A certain level of stress or challenging yourself is needed in life to keep you on your toes. Think how actors get butterflies before they go on stage, the adrenaline in their body begins to pump and they get the buzz for doing their job. This adrenaline helps to keep their performance fresh and exciting. Once the performance has finished the adrenaline levels go back to normal in their body as they relax after the show. This is a normal/healthy level of stress, keeping you driven and motivated to do the task at hand.

The effects on your body can be :

• Pupils dilate
• Mouth goes dry
• Neck and should muscles tense
• Heart pumps faster
• Chest pains
• Palpitations
• Sweating
• Leg and arm muscles tense for action
• Breathing faster and shallow
• Hyperventilation

It also has hidden effects too:  

• Brain gets body ready for action
• Adrenalin released for flight or flight
• Blood pressure rises
• Liver releases glucose to produce energy for muscles
• Digestion slows or ceases completely
• Sphincters closes or relaxes to empty bowls
• Cortisol released, this depresses the immune system

These effects are all part of the fight or flight mode. They are helpful in daily life, helping us to be ready to deal with situations. Like when you’re in the car and you hear the screams of an ambulance siren warning you to get out of the way. You start to look for a way to move your car and you realize you are bumper to bumper. You enter the stress zone, inside your body the alert goes out. “Attention all parasympathetic forces, urgent! Adrenalin is beginning to pump through your body, the chemical cortisol has just been released mobilising all internal defences.

Your body is full of adrenaline ready to tackle any situation that comes your way, your senses are heightened, you're“running on adrenaline”. This is the stage that people get in when they perform “superhuman” acts of strength, like a mother lifting a car off of her child.

When the danger finally passes or the perceived threat is over, your brain starts a reverse course of action attempting to bring your body and mind back into balance. This is when you tend to feel your heart pumping and you feel "wow that was an adrenaline rush".

Our bodies are built to deal with this level of stress, it is a vital part of our survival.

The problem comes when we continue to keep our bodies in the heightened state, stress state. Our body/mind can’t differentiate between a real threat and a perceived threat. You can get the same chemical reactions just by thinking about a stressful situation, for example, a bill needing to be paid, going over a situation you experienced – reliving it in your mind or worrying about an upcoming situation; then when it happens it was so much better/easier than you thought, but all that energy you spent worrying about it has had a harmful effect on your body. Our body tries to rebalance but the hormones are still flying around, gradually they begin to have a permanent effect on our health, long term health problems start to develop.

The wonderful thing to read is that you can control this; you can learn what your stressors are and how you can de-stress yourself.  A hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP session can help you by working out a range of mechanisms with Erika which will equip you to deal with stress better for the rest of your life.

Here are a few ways you can start to do this:

• Write down your personal strengths and support network· Things you are good at and people respect you for; your areas of good experience, etc
• Family, friends, networks; powerful contacts; resources you can draw on – assets, your standing etc
• Next, list your personal weaknesses and limitations in your life· Areas where you’re aware that you are not strong, or things that people fairly criticise you for;
• Lack of resources – where others at your level have access to these resources, or where the absence of resources impacts on your situation
• Bad situations – where you experience problems with your job or relationships, or where you have a poor living or working environment

Then brainstorm the opportunities available to you:

• Work through strengths you’ve identified. Ask yourself how you can draw on them to manage stress
• Work through the weaknesses you’ve identified. These are opportunities for positive change and for development of new skills

Finally, consider real-world practical opportunities open to you if you took advantage of those opportunities, to improve your stress management

• Look at managing your time and your expectations for the day - are they realistic?
• For threats, consider consequences of leaving your weaknesses uncovered· Consider damage to relationships, career and happiness that would come from failing to manage stress
• Use this consideration of the downside as a spur to ensure that you take stress management seriously

These are just a few things you can start doing today. To find out more about how you can manage your stress levels further, finding time in your day and coping mechanisms that you never knew you had, contact Erika and find out how Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP can help you to take the steps to a more relaxed happy you.

© EKTherapies

Could Laughter be the Key to Happiness?

Laughter is infectious; we all know the amazing feeling of losing yourself in the energy of laughter. But could laughter be the key to happiness? People have started to harness this and create laughter workshops, where you go to laugh, even if it starts out as a forced laugh, the endorphins and benefits still affect your body and mood.

Research has shown the health benefits of laughter are far-reaching, studies have shown that laughter can help pain relief through the releasing of endorphins, increase the immune system, decrease stress, change the “negative” chemicals in the mind, ease conflict, lighten burdens, inspire hope, connect you to others and generally just make you feel better, more energetic and happier, bringing your body and mind back into balance.

“Your sense of humour is one of the most powerful tools you have to make certain that your daily mood and emotional state support good health.” Paul E. McGhee, Ph.D.

This may all seem a bit far-fetched, can laughing really help you to feel better ? We know the benefits of exercise and how that helps us to reduce stress hormones. It helps our bodies to feel more energetic, it clears our minds and allows us to have clear focus again. So can laughter do the same thing? If we build laughter into our day just as we do with exercise we can increase our happiness. Laughter is an incredibly strong medicine for mind and body – it is free, convenient and beneficial in so many ways.

So how do you get more laughter in your life?

We can find laughter in so many ways, maybe for you it is laughing at films or the TV, laughing with friends, comedy clubs, funny clips on line, joining a laughter workshop, the list is endless. Or if all else fails you could just fake it. Just smile and start to laugh – as with listening to a song and how it change your mood, so can laughter. Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP can also help. This combination can help you to look at the world with a different perspective, to see the funny side in life. It is too easy to allow life to feel like a weight on our shoulders, but you can learn the tools to see life in a different way. To allow yourself the freedom to let go and just laugh and enjoy the world for what it is.

Try it now - smile, laugh or giggle and feel better about your day.

© EKTherapies

Bye, Bye Olympics

It is the end of two amazing weeks; not only did Great Britain finish third on the medal table we also managed to host an amazing event that will be remembered for years to come, for all the right reasons. It has been wonderful to see all the countries supporting their teams with such pride and passion.

It has been inspiring to watch the athletes pushing themselves to their limits and achieving amazing things. It has also helped me to realise that we don’t have to be perfect. Perfection doesn’t exist. So many of us are striving to be “perfect,” but what is perfection? I watched in awe these athletes who spent their whole life dedicated to one sport and have been focusing on the Olympics for the last four years or sometimes longer, yet they still make “mistakes.” It makes me realise that we can forgive ourselves; we can do the best we can do and be happy with that. We can learn from our mistakes and grow. If we let go of the fear of failure and trust in ourselves and our ability we can achieve the most incredible things.

We are all always growing and striving to be better versions of ourselves, the day we stop doing that is the day we stop learning.

I hope the wonderful energy of the Olympics stays with us for a long time, helping us to unite and to realise that we can achieve anything we put our hearts to.

Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP can help you to have that same pride and self-worth, helping you to achieve your goals in a positive and focused way.

Personally I feel very proud to be British and to have been privileged enough to live in the host city of the London 2012 Olympics, I have some wonderful memories that will stay with me for a long time. I hope you do too and that the buzz and energy of the Olympics stays with you.

Looking forward to the start of the Paralympics, and watching more amazing, awe inspiring things.

© EKTherapies

What is Fight or Flight Response?

Fight or flight is a natural healthy response within our body to a perceived threat or danger. Thousands of years ago we led very different lives, much more physically challenging and dangerous lives. We didn’t have sharp claws or teeth to protect us from the world around us, and we had to be able to react very quickly to threats around us. In those days there were two simple choices, we could either fight or we could run (flight).

The fight or flight response is one of the most important parts of our make-up and a highly efficient survival response for dangerous times. When we are in fight or flight mode hormones like adrenaline and cortisol are released; these speed up the heart rate, slow down digestion, and shift the blood flow to major muscle groups, giving the body a burst of energy and strength so we can react to the situation at hand. In the times of cavemen the threats were simple and straight forward - a wild animal or a member from an enemy tribe for example - these were very serious and dangerous threats requiring a quick reaction.

Nowadays we still have our fight or flight response; the dangerous situations have changed, but the biggest difference is that we now don’t always release that pent up stress.

Our bodies are built to deal with short times of heightened awareness and stress, it is a vital part of our survival, but the problem comes when we continue to keep our bodies in the heightened state, the stress state.

Our body/mind can’t differentiate between a real threat and a perceived threat. You can get the same chemical reactions just by thinking about a stressful situation, for example, a bill needing to be paid,  going over a situation you experienced – reliving it in your mind, or worrying about an upcoming situation; then when it happens it was so much better/easier than you thought, but all that energy you spent worrying about it has had a harmful effect on your body.

Our body tries to re balance but the hormones are still flying around; gradually they begin to have a permanent effect on our health, long-term health problems start to develop.

The wonderful thing is that you can control this; you can learn what your stressors are and how you can de-stress yourself. A hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP session can help you by working out a range of mechanisms with Erika which will equip you to deal with stress better for the rest of your life.


© EKTherapies

Pride

The Olympics are here. Love it or hate it, the 2012 Olympics have arrived in the UK. As with any event which has had such a build-up, there was a lot of scepticism amid fears of how the event would represent the country and affect the people living alongside it.

If you managed to watch the opening ceremony I am sure you will agree that Danny Boyle’s celebration of Britain, and interpretation of what it means to be British, was absolutely fantastic. A great combination of eccentricity, inventiveness, talent and of course humour, with Mr Bean, James Bond and even The Queen making an appearance. How many countries have a Queen that in her Diamond Jubilee year, who has carried herself through her whole carrier with dignity and pride always representing Britain to the best she can, would join in the celebrations by acting alongside Daniel Craig and “jumping out of a plane”. What a lady !

Even before Friday the buzz in London and the rest of Great Britain has been electric. People are proudly supporting their country and willing their athletes to perform and win gold. It’s fantastic that yet again this year, people of all backgrounds come together in unity and share that same sense of pride.

Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP can help you to have that same pride and self-worth helping you to achieve your goals in a positive and focused way.

Personally I feel very proud to be British and to cheer on such superb athletes from all around the world. Enjoy the wonderful Olympic buzz that is in the air as Great Britain shows just what an amazing show it can put on when we all pull together.

© EKTherapies

Common Misconceptions about Hypnotherapy

There are lots of misconceptions people have when they think about Hypnotherapy. Here are just a few that I have come across whilst working with Hypnotherapy.

You lose control under hypnosis and say things you don’t want to say

Most people know about hypnotherapy through stage hypnosis and are nervous that if they went to see a hypnotherapist they would end up clucking like a chicken every time someone said potato. It is important to remember that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis and you remain in complete control the whole time. Take stage hypnosis, the stage hypnotherapist always chooses a willing participant from the audience. The participant goes onto stage expecting to act like a fool so when the hypnotherapist puts them into a trance and tells them to cluck like a chicken every time they say potato they react accordingly. However, if the hypnotherapist tried to tell them to stop smoking for example they would probably turn around and say no, as this was not what they were expecting to have to do on stage.

In the same way when you go and see a Hypnotherapist you are expecting to deal with certain things. By booking the appointment you are subconsciously and consciously agreeing to let the therapist speak to your subconscious about the thing you have come to see them about. If for example the therapist then asked you a question you weren’t willing to give the answer to you just wouldn’t.

Hypnotherapy is a magic wand

Lots of people think that hypnotherapy is a magic wand that can change the way their mind thinks without any effort from them at all. Whilst hypnotherapy is a very powerful tool as it speaks to your subconscious mind, it still requires strength and determination from the person to want to change. Just as under hypnosis the therapist can’t make you do something you don’t want to do, if for example you don’t want to give up smoking but your partner wants you to and sends you to a hypnotist the chances are that it won’t work long term as you didn’t want to make the change in the first place. If on the other hand you want to but just don’t know how, then hypnotherapy is the simple yet powerful tool you are looking for.

Only highly suggestible people can be hypnotised

Whilst people who find it easy to trust may find it easier to go into a deep hypnotic trance it is not a fact that only they can be hypnotised. Anyone can be hypnotised, the hypnotherapist will just use a different technique for a highly suggestible person than they would for a very analytical person. It may surprise you to know that we all enter a trance like state on a daily basis, when watching TV, waking, singing, etc. Take driving, when you do a journey you do every day it is common to “zone out”. You are still safe it is just that your subconscious brain has taken over the controls; the journey is so second nature to you that you just drive, sometimes arriving at your destination with no recollection of the journey. You know you were safe as you are still happily sitting in your car. If during that journey when you were on autopilot someone had stepped out in front of you that would be the time that you shocked yourself into action. This is all hypnotherapy is in its simplest form, quieting down the conscious mind so that the subconscious mind is listening.

As you can see Hypnotherapy is not something to be scared of, you remain in complete control the whole time. It is important to trust the Hypnotherapist just as it is important that you trust your doctor or your dentist’s professional capability. Recommendations are a good way to find a trustworthy Hypnotherapist, and when you have found them ring them up and ask them questions until you are happy. Listen to your gut reaction about them and you will find a therapist that can help you overcome most things, helping you to become the person you want to be.

Click here to see what things Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP can help with.

© EKTherapies

Overcoming a Fear of Flying

Do you dream of visiting Australia but settle for Bournemouth? If so you are not alone, fear of flying is a surprisingly common phobia that can limit your horizons both in business and pleasure. Using the powerful combination of Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP you can understand the fear of flying psychology. In a positive, quick and easy way you can overcome your fear and plan your dream holiday instead of talking yourself out of taking it.

Fear of flying is also known as aerophobia or aviphobia, it is caused by the unconscious part of your mind warning you that it is dangerous to get on a plane. This is an important part of our brain that helps to keep us safe and out of harm’s way. This part of your brain is developing all the time form the day you are born and on. Remember when you were growing up and an adult tells you “HOT” to stop you touching the stove. Your unconscious brain learns that when you're told “HOT” that you should be careful. However in the case of flying phobia that protection mechanism has become over sensitive, often from misinformation and is now a casing you to associate flying with danger.

Some people who are afraid of flying they have never even stepped foot on a plane yet they still have this fear. This fear would be appropriate if the plane was missing a wing or was obviously not in a condition to fly, but statistics show that flying is in fact one of the safest things you can do. Air travel remains statistically safer than crossing the road and flying has been proven to be twenty five times safer than driving your own car.

• 21,000 people (on average) die on the road in the USA in a 6-month period. This is approximately the same amount of all commercial air travel fatalities worldwide in 40 years
• More than 3million people fly every day
• A Boeing aircraft takes off or lands every 2 seconds somewhere in the world – all day, every day
• 1 plane in 5 million crashes. Even then people still survive plane crashes, going on to fly again

Hypnotherapy, CBT and NLP will help you to understand why you have this fear, where it comes from and help you to feel relaxed and safe when flying. In your tailor made session you will learn relaxation skills that can become automatic when practiced and perfected. Hypnotherapy can help you to learn a new pattern of behaviour, helping you to simply relax and start to enjoy the freedom of flying and all the wonderful places you can visit.

Remember that during a session you remain in complete control, learning the skills you need to take them out of the session and put them into practice. You will leave the session feeling positive, motivated, confident and in control. All you need to do is bring you commitment and determination to become someone who can fly without fear.

© EKTherapies

Does the Past Form Our future

Does the past form our future? Just because we are used to acting a certain way or something happened to us in the past, does that mean that that is how we are going to be for the rest of our lives?

The past does form who we are, it helps us to learn and to get a better understanding of what we do or don’t want out of life, but it doesn’t have to control our future.

In my work I work in a positive direction, looking at where you want to get to, how you want to feel and what you would like to achieve. Although we may look into what contributed to you feeling the way you do, to me it is more important to focus on what you DO want rather than what you DON'T want. We can expect that the past is always part of us but we can choose whether or not to allow it to rule our future. It sounds so simple but we can choose whether to give a thought energy and momentum, be it a positive one or a negative one. We are the ones in control of our own minds - this in itself can be one of the most powerful thoughts. Look how powerful it can be if we start on a negative spiral for example. We can imagine things so vividly even though the chance of them happening is less than .001%, but we still feel the physical and physiological responses as if it had already happened. Or there are the psychosomatic cases when you tell your brain you are ill and it starts to give you the symptoms as if you really were.

It is also important to accept that even when you work with the positive, it doesn’t mean that you won’t have the odd "down" day - life is after all a wonderful rollercoaster - and we need the “down” days to appreciate the good ones, but the “down” days should be few and far between.

Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP can help you to realise any emotions/blockages from the past, and maybe not forgive, but overcome the power of the past so that you can focus on how you want to be.

There is no doubt that there are some things that may have happened in the past that form you and are hard to let go of, but if we accept that they are there, then we can either let them rule us or we can learn from them and allow ourselves the space to continue to grow.

In both my professional life and my personal life, I find great strength from my grandmother who was an Auschwitz survivor ( German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp 1940–1945, her story is told in her book, From Thessaloniki to Auschwitz and Back ). Undoubtedly Auschwitz left her with her demons, haunting her throughout her life, but nevertheless she was the most positive person I have ever met; she found the strength within herself to forgive what had happened and used that strength to create the most amazing life. Her positive energy is always with me when I work, helping me to stay strong and be the best therapist I can be.

There are countless examples of people who have changed their destiny, let go of the past and focussed on what they do want rather than what they can’t change.

Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP are amazing tools in helping you understand what drives you, helping you to become a more positive person. So many of my clients turn their lives around even though nothing has physically changed; they still have the same car, job, house etc, but simply their perspective has changed. Rather than allowing themselves to focus on the few tiny things in life that aren’t quite right they start to focus on all the things that are right, giving them the strength to challenge themselves and take on tasks they never thought possible.

© EKTherapies