I am continually amazed at how much healers, therapists, and personal development gurus attribute to beliefs. It is as if they have found that the act of belief literally shapes the universe, and if your universe isn't shaped right, then you need to change your beliefs and everything will be fine. I keep reading about..
Read moreStaying sane in insane places
I noticed something recently. A while ago, I found myself stuck in the company of a "friend" who particularly aggravates me. I find her behaviour controlling and contradictory, while her endless negative rhetorical remarks seem to demand constant agreement. Family loyalty and civility demand that I entertain her. "She's driving me nuts," I found myself..
Read moreLiver Failure
I found a disturbing story on the BBC news website this morning: A critically ill teenager being treated for liver failure after binge drinking left his hospital bed and went to the pub for a drink, it has been confirmed.The father of Gareth Anderson, 19, is fighting to overturn NHS rules, which means his son..
Read moreOver-rated sense of self-importance
A pattern I have long since noticed with therapists is a generally over-rated sense of self-importance. Too many therapists seem to proclaim how they are busy changing the world, making the world better, and so forth. Some might be actually doing this, of course, but most are not. In the world of the hypnotherapy and..
Read moreProblem Drinkers
A few years ago, at a workshop in Leeds with Frank Farrelly, Farrelly was asked what advice he'd give to therapists. One suggestion was to "Grow a thicker skin!" I like this. Frank also talked about "therapist eaters", clients or patients who consume therapists, exhausting their resources and encouraging professional and emotional burnout. It was..
Read moreI want you to help me lose weight
I turned another client down this week, the fourth prospective client this year that I have declined to give an appointment to. It surprises many people that I turn down clients, but ethically it is important that therapists don't try to fix a problem that either: 1. cannot be fixed by NLP or hypnotherapy and..
Read moreHot weather affects the brain
I am sure that the increase in temperature that accompanies summer creates changes in brain chemistry. In the past week, I have declined more client appointments than in the past year alone. People are often surprised when I decline an appointment with a prospective client; it is as though they expect the right to have..
Read moreEpilepsy and Hypnosis/Hypnotherapy
I have noticed that hypnotherapists tend to worry a lot about epilepsy, and a question that gets raised quite often on forums takes the form of, “I have a client coming with problem X who also has epilepsy. Is it safe to work with them?” Not an unreasonable question. Now, I've seen rather a lot..
Read moreFetish Treatment
It appears that some "members" of the "fetish community" (I'm assuming there is such a thing) have taken a bit of an exception to my work in treating sexual fetishes and unwanted sexual attraction. Here's one comment: 'Fetish does not need to be "treated". It is healthy and wonderful. I am completely against what you..
Read moreA Note on Anxiety
I recently came across this interesting video on YouTube. This dog appears to be either suffering from a very specific and unusual form of brain damage or suffering from a very specific and fixed perceptual position. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvJ-uEEtFaQ&rel=0 It reminds me of the situation faced by so many anxiety sufferers. Anxiety sufferers invariably experience anxiety as..
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