Contemporary College Blog

Hypnosis News! - IBS

2008-06-07T01:50:00.003+01:00

Hypnosis 'can ease bowel illness'

Hypnosis could ease symptoms.

Hypnotherapy could help people with severe irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), researchers say.
Doctors should consider using this and other "psychological" treatments such as antidepressants to help sufferers, King's College London experts say in the British Medical Journal.

However, a shortage of therapists could hinder this, they add.
Experts said there was growing evidence that IBS cases have psychological as well as biological elements.

Other therapies
IBS is a common and painful medical condition that has a wide range of symptoms, including regular abdominal pain, diarrhoea and constipation.
Conventional medicines prescribed for IBS often ease symptoms partially, or not at all.
Using a psychological treatment does not mean that the disease is 'all in the mind'
Dr Ian Forgacs, Kings College London

Many scientists now believe that the cause in many cases is a combination of mental and physical factors, and that the drugs commonly used to tackle it may be aiming at the wrong target.

Patients with IBS are more likely to be diagnosed with depression.

Dr Ian Forgacs, a consultant gastroenterologist from Kings College, says that doctors are often reluctant to prescribe anti-depressants, especially in patients who, apart from their IBS, show no outward signs of being depressed.

He urged them to consider other forms of psychological therapy, including hypnotherapy, as an alternative in some cases.
"Patients with irritable bowel syndrome should be made aware of the existence of these treatments so that they can make informed choices," he said.
"Specifically, they should be made aware that using a psychological treatment does not mean that the disease is 'all in the mind'."

He found that one of the most effective treatments for IBS in research studies were so-called "talking therapies", such as cognitive behavioural therapy, particularly for people whose symptoms were causing them the most distress.

And severe cases of IBS could be improved by using hypnotherapy to target the links between the brain and the gut.
Hypnosis sessions concentrated on encouraging relaxation, then visualising the gut as a fast flowing river which is then imagined to be flowing more slowly and smoothly.

Skill shortage
Dr Forgacs said that one obstacle to providing psychological therapies was a lack of the right specialists in some areas.
"Irritable bowel syndrome is undeniably very common, and many patients are probably denied help by lack of access to therapists with the appropriate psychological skills," he said.

Dr Nick Read, a psychologist and adviser to the IBS Network, said he felt that the majority of IBS patients had a psychologists element to their condition.
He said: "There's now a lot of evidence that psychological therapies can be effective, but a lot of doctors remain sceptical, and carry on treating with drugs which have side-effects, and which basically don't work.
"I work with patients with IBS trying to understand what, for each patient, lies behind the illness."

Now then ... a shortage of clients?!

Tom Barber - Sandra Westland - CCTS Team.

Hypnosis News! - Hayfever

2008-06-07T01:45:00.003+01:00

Hypnosis News!

Last Updated: Tuesday, 26 April, 2005, 23:50 GMT 00:50 UK

Hypnosis could banish hay-fever

Hay-fever symptoms can be severeHay fever sufferers could benefit from using self-hypnosis, researchers say.

A Swiss team at Basle University taught 66 people with hay-fever the art of hypnosis and found it helped them alleviate symptoms such as runny nose.

The volunteers also took their regular anti-hay-fever drugs, but the effect of hypnosis appeared to be additive and reduce the doses they needed to take.
The findings appear in the medical journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.

Self-hypnosis

The study took place over two years and included two hay fever seasons.
During the first year, some of the volunteers with hay-fever were taught and asked to regularly practise hypnosis as well as take their usual allergy medicine.
The hypnosis training consisted of one two-hour session with an experienced trainer.
The remaining volunteers had no other treatment apart from their normal allergy medication.
After a year, the researchers found the volunteers who had been using self-hypnosis had reported fewer symptoms related to hay-fever than their fellow volunteers.

Runny noses

During the second year, the researchers taught the remaining "untrained" volunteers how to use hypnosis. By the end of this year, these volunteers also reported improvement in their hay-fever symptoms.
Although the improvement in symptoms was not statistically significant and, therefore, could have been down to chance alone, the researchers also found that the volunteers had cut down on the amount of hay-fever medication they used after learning self-hypnosis.
While our findings are not a definite answer, this simple intervention is worth investigating further

Lead researcher Professor Wolf Langewitz

Professor Wolf Langewitz and his team also tested the volunteers in the laboratory to see what effect the hypnosis was having on the body.
Using a machine that measured how forcefully a person could exhale through their nose, the researchers found that the hypnosis was helping to improve nasal airflow, even when the volunteers were exposed to things that triggered their hay-fever, such as pollen and grass.
Professor Langewitz said: "While our findings are not a definite answer, this simple intervention is worth investigating further.
"It is cheap and only takes a couple of hours to teach."

How it might work

He suspects that hypnosis might work by altering blood flow and helping alleviate congestion in the nose that can occur with hay-fever.
Dr Peter Whorwell from Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester, who uses hypnotherapy to treat people suffering from irritable bowel syndrome, said some of his own patients who also had hay-fever had commented to him that their noses were less runny after hypnotherapy sessions.
He said: "It is known that you can alter blood flow with hypnosis.
"Hypnosis has been used for a variety of medical conditions, including asthma, eczema and migraines.
"It's definitely an area that is worth researching."

A spokeswoman from Allergy UK said they had heard anecdotal reports of hay-fever sufferers using hypnotherapy. However, they said they were unable to recommend any approaches that had not be extensively investigated and backed by strong scientific evidence.

Dr Adrian Morris, a GP in Surrey with a special interest in allergic disorders, said although hypnotherapy might be useful, what was far more helpful to lessen hay-fever symptoms was gradual, graded exposure to the trigger to increase tolerance.

June Book Review - BOOK Review

2008-06-07T01:37:00.001+01:00

Hi all,

We have added June's Book Review to the website at:

http://www.contemporarycollege.com/book_reviews.htm

We have also updated the display method for the book reviews so you can immediatly check price and contents of each book from now on.

Happy reading,

CCTS Team.

EMDR & EFT!

2008-06-07T01:24:00.001+01:00

Hi all,

We are soon to be publishing our EMDR & EFT Courses!

Stay tuned!

CCTS Team.

Why does it happen? ... How do I stop doing it?

2008-06-07T01:14:00.003+01:00

Why does it happen? ….What sets it off? ...How do I stop doing it? … What's going on?

These are just some of the questions you could be facing from the next client through your door.

With just over a million people in the UK suffering from anorexia and bulimia (although experts believe this figure is far higher), there is a need for therapists to have specific knowledge and a specialist understanding of Eating Disorders.

By now you are already an effective therapist and soon you can enjoy an even greater confidence when working with this diagnosis. Being more specifically informed about the mechanics and dynamics of eating disorder to enhance your client work and increase your client base.

Imagine working with real informed confidence and being relaxed and `sure' around a depth of knowledge with people who are `dying to be thin' or who are `fed up and weighed down' with life. Think about having even greater awareness of what to say and more importantly what not to say and know how you can really help.

Now we are giving you that chance ...

UK Research reported that more than 12 million adults and 1 million children will be obese by 2010 if nothing is done and we just want to give these people a chance to be different.
When I asked a compulsive eater what she needed from therapy she said that she need a therapist to be life experienced, treatment experienced, open minded, challenging and nurturing all at the same time.

Imagine adding "Knowledge of Working with Eating Disorders" to your areas of expertise. Well now you can … You have found a one day seminar that will give you a unique and extraordinary insight into the complex phenomenon and mechanics of Eating Disorders and information that will build on your already good practice and extensive knowledge.
Your 2 Unique Course Experts …

Your expert course, Richard Reid, a specialist in Eating Disorders having trained at the National Centre for Eating Disorders. He is also qualified in NLP, EMDR, Integrative Counselling, Clinical Hypnotherapy, Hypno-Psychotherapy, Critical Incident Stress Debriefing, Alternative Dispute Resolution and is a Stress Management Consultant.

Your expert ex-anorexic, who had an experience of a 4 month stay in an Eating Disorder Unit and knows the process of recovery to health and vitality first hand.
Wouldn't you love to know how it all really … I mean really works?

Imagine learning from real life and from
a well qualified and researched practitioner.
We don't believe that you can be more informed than this!

To Register for this course Click Here

Dont be left wanting for answers!

The Therapy Training DVD Collection

2008-05-07T02:17:00.003+01:00

The Therapy Training DVD Collection

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The Therapy DVD Collection - FULL 8 DVD Counselling Training Series! Special Offer - SAVE 20%

The Therapy DVD Collection are offering ALL 8 DVD's in our Counselling Training DVD Series with a massive 20% saving when you order this unique set!

"Thank you for sending me your DVD collection. They have made a real difference to the way I am working with my clients. I can now prepare so much better!" G.A. - Boston, U.S.A.

The Therapy DVD series includes Live sessions in:

Gestalt Therapy
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Find Out More or Order Here!

165,000 in the UK have an Eating Disorder ...

2008-04-30T02:14:00.004+01:00

165,000 in the UK have an Eating Disorder ...

Hard to believe isnt it! ...

Eating disorders are responsible for the highest number of deaths from psychiatric illness.

The Eating Disorders Association estimates that about 165,000 people in the UK have eating disorders with 10% dying as a result, but experts believe it could be higher.

Most sufferers are women, but one in 10 are now men.

The most common eating disorders are anorexia, bulimia and compulsive over-eating. But other disorders exist. For example, some people severely restrict the range of food they eat or several children have a psychological fear of food.

Anorexia, which involves depriving the body of food, is more common in young people. Children as young as three have been treated for it.

Bulimia, characterised by a cycle of starving and bingeing, is more likely in adults.

The emphasis on super-thin models has been blamed for the increase in eating disorders.
Experts say that these can have an effect on how people perceive themselves, but the causes of eating disorders are usually more complex and are linked to general feelings of self-worth.

Our help is needed!

To find out how you can be equiped to deal with this epidemic:

Click Here ...

http://www.contemporarycollege.com/eatingdisordersworkshop3.html

Best,

CCTS Team.

Hypnosis! The Business World has Woken Up!

2008-04-23T00:18:00.001+01:00

Some top ranking international companies have started to use hypnosis to discover how people really see their brands ... at last!

Instead of simply asking focus groups to regurgitate clichéd descriptions of corporate images, big business boardrooms are trying to delve deeper to discover hidden attitudes among the buying public.

But is this genuinely an effective method of marketing – and what are the ethical considerations of such techniques?

Well, the findings can sometimes be uncomfortable for big corporations according to a recent report in the US marketing magazine Brandweek.

This described how one such investigation looked at the Swedish car manufacturer Volvo. Asked to describe Volvo vehicles, most people respond with “safe.”

But when members of focus groups test-drove Volvo cars, were later hypnotised and then asked about their true feelings, answers were less complimentary.

The emotions which surfaced appeared to show some felt the esteemed Volvo brand was too staid, equating it to middle age and some even felt they were suffocating.

It all goes to show ... Its all in the mind!

Best wishes,

CCTS Team.

Hypnosis & Smoking Cessation

2008-04-23T00:12:00.002+01:00

Research in the United States has presented strong evidence that Hypnotherapy may be the best way to help hospital patients quit smoking.

We already know that Which magazine and The New Scientist have proven that Hypnotherapy is the most successful way of stopping smoking ... Thats some evidence! ...

A study conducted in Massachusetts found clinical hypnosis was more than three times more effective than nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).

The findings were present to the annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physisicians in 2007 which heard how a team from North Shore Medical Center, Salem and Massachusetts General Hospital provided smoking cessation for patients with heart and lung disease.

The outcome was that patients who smoked and took part in a single hypnotherapy session were – six months later – far more likely to still be non-smokers than other patients who had used nicotine replacement therapy alone or who had tried to quit "cold turkey".

If you need evidence for your clients ... here it is.

Best wishes,

CCTS Team.

Recent News about the Power of Hypnosis & Surgery

2008-04-23T00:07:00.002+01:00

When British hypnotherapist Alex Lenkei in April 2008 underwent bone surgery without conventional anaesthetics it made headlines and webcasts around the world.

Reports suggested doctors at Worthing Hospital in West Sussex were “amazed” or “stunned” – describing with awe how hammers, chisels and saws were used without the patient feeling any pain.

Undoubtedly it was a remarkable achievement. But what most news reports ignored was that this was the second time Alex Lenkei had experienced a major operation while in a hypnotic trance. Surgery using hypnosis is very far from being unique. Almost twelve years earlier Mr Lenkei underwent a hernia repair at Kingston Hospital while fully conscious. The main difference being the first time he was assisted into trance by a colleague while the second time he induced himself.

Oh, how we are relishing teaching you all about pain control using Hypnosis!

Best wishes,

CCTS Team.

Eating Disorders in the News ...

2008-04-22T23:16:00.001+01:00

FORMER British deputy prime minister John Prescott has confessed to having suffered from the binge eating disorder bulimia for over 20 years.

Mr Prescott, who stood down as deputy prime minister in June after a 10-year stint, said stress brought on the disorder when he was a shadow cabinet member in the 1980s, with the condition degenerating after the Labour Party came to power in 1997.

"I've never confessed it before,'' Prescott told the Sunday Times. "Out of shame, I suppose, or embarrassment or just because it's such a strange thing for someone like me to confess to.

For those suffering from eating disorders this type of news can be a double edged sword. On one hand the distress is a way of dealing with internal conflict silently, whilst a lot of sufferers are calling out to be heard.

Contemporary College is running the Eating Disorders event for just this reason. If you are working with clients bringing this type of concern to therapy then a real understanding of what they are going through is essential.

You can find out more about our special Eating Disorders course at the following link:

http://www.contemporarycollege.com/eatingdisordersworkshop.html

Best wishes,

CCTS Team.

Welcome to the Contemporary College Blog!

2008-04-22T22:46:00.001+01:00

CCTS offers a variety of courses that start at the 4 month foundation level, through to the advanced practitioner level. So, if you would like to have a taster of what our courses are like and at the same time learn many skills that will help you and those you know, then you can start right now.

Our Blog will keep you up date with all that is happening at the College at regular intervals.

So, check back soon!

CCTS Team.