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NLP, Hypnotherapy, Metaphors of Movement, Integral Eye Movement Therapy
Andrew T. Austin is a therapist with a background in Neurosurgery and Clinical Neurology.
With a busy private practice in West Sussex, England, Andrew has a specialist interested in the “schizophrenias” and has been heavily influenced by the writings of notables such as R.D. Laing and Thomas Szasz.
Very early in his nurse training he began to first learn about hypnosis rather than attend lectures and soon joined a Qabalistic lodge in order to learn Ceremonial Magick and Qabalah.
“In the midst of a society tormented by war, racism, and social turmoil, therapy goes on with business as usual. In fact, therapists often look suspiciously at social change and label as ‘disturbed’ those who press towards it.
Therapy today has become a commodity, a means of social control. We reject such an approach to people`s distress. We reject the pleasant careers with which the system rewards its adherents. The social system must change, and we will be workers toward such change.”
“Bitter Melons”. Alliance for People’s Health.
“The problem with so much therapy is that it is not just banal and ineffective, but it is often condescending and patronising nonsense. Therapists have a habit of repackaging every day common sense and dressing it up with the illusion of great profundity and wisdom. Despite ignorance, they frequently position themselves as avant-garde heroes of ancient, rediscovered and sacred truths.”
Andrew T. Austin
Not really fitting into the academic way of teaching health care, he was often heard to say things like, “How the hell is the ability to write an 8000-word report on the government health reforms in any way related to developing skills as a healer?” and despaired at the academic leanings of the profession and the absence of any real skill-based teaching.
As a nursing student, Andrew rapidly earned himself a reputation as a bit of a trouble maker and it was several years before he discovered the importance of rapport when dealing with controversy. However, by the time he reached 40, he figured he’d stop trying to be nice about it and would just say it like it is.
It is this controversy that he still courts with his current work against what he calls the ‘alphabet therapies’ and the nonsense peddled by practitioners of these “therapies.”
During a local radio chat show, where he was interviewed with a psychiatrist and a mental health service user, he learned the maxim, “I stood up to be counted and the count was….one!” As time has passed, Andrew began to attract the attention of others who share similar views and his private work and campaign against psychiatric ethics continues to grow and develop.
With an interest in anything strange and unusual he avidly reads The Fortean Times, Robert Anton Wilson, Timothy Leary and such like. Extensively traveled in India and Nepal and a student of yoga and the Qabalah, Andrew enjoys lively conversation and hot curries. He has now abandoned his former hobby of brewing some quite undrinkable beers and production of a potent psychotropic wine, whose perfectly legal recipe is a closely guarded secret.
In the late 90s, following a brush with death that accompanied a nasty typhoid infection complete with several out of body experiences, Andrew began exploring deep inner spaces and joined a small group of ‘psychonauts’ who enjoy exploring profound altered states of consciousness. This is something he urges all practitioners of psychiatry to do. He deplores the current state of mental health care and the lack of a spirit of adventure in most people involved in psychiatry where the nurses and shrinks have rarely even tried for themselves the toxic drugs they pump into their patients.
Andrew doesn’t own a cat, can spend hours exploring rock pools, watches Pinky and The Brain and dreams of the beaches of Kerala.
One day he hopes to own a new pet rabbit. It will become an absolution of sorts. Twenty years ago his last rabbit was eaten by his next-door neighbour. Apparently this was an accident.
Presented here on this site a guide for NLP people and allied practitioners working in psychiatry who wish to know more about schizophrenia, neurology and an NLP way of working with it. Any queries, comments, contributions and pledges of cash are greatly welcomed and can be forwarded to freshnewbrain@gmail.com
Reviews
“Therapy means social, political and personal change, not adjustment.”
The Radical Therapy Collective.
In 2015, both Metaphors of Movement and Integral Eye Movement Therapy were included in The SAGE Encyclopedia of Theory in Counseling and Psychotherapy.
Clients have sought out my services for problems as diverse as:
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- Claustrophobia
- Bi-polar Disorder
- Pain control
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorders
- Phobia and Panic Attacks
- Dental Phobia
- Attention Deficit Disorder
- Passing their driving test
and interview nerves - Impotence and other sexual
dysfunction - Smoking Cessation
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorders
- Psychosomatic illness
- Addictions
- Binge Drinking and Alcoholism
- Nail biting | Onychophagia
- Neurological/psychiatric
rehabilitation - Adult incontinence/Bed wetting
- Phantom Limb Pain
- ADD/ADHD
- School Phobia
- Dental Phobia
- Wart charming
- Jealousy
- Low self esteem
- Irritible bowel syndrome
- Anger/Temper problems
- Blushing
- Bullying
- Vaginismus
- Agoraphobia
- Painful periods
- Hair Pulling (trichotillomania)
- Victims of Street Crime
- Nightmares
- Body Dysmorphia
- Sexual Fetish and Paraphilia