Tales from the chair, confessions of a hypnotherapist

So I'm sitting having a good chat with the famous Suze StMaur and she says to me "have you ever thought about having a specific blog where you can share your confessions as a hypnotherapist?"

You see, I'd been recalling some of the funny and unusual experiences I'd had when working with people that she thought might entertain and amuse others and it got me thinking

Would people be really interested in my tales?

Would they like to know what happened when a psychopathic killer sits in front of me and my only escape from my office is behind where he's sitting?

I wondered whether they'd be interested in the story of the man with sleep problems who when I arrived back from lunch one day was fast asleep on my couch in the reception area?

And would they really be interested in hearing about my swinging watch experience and how by just looking at one client she said "I'm going" and duly slipped into a very deep trance

Or I wondered what would happen if I told the story about my experience with a group of Royal Marines and the SBS at a judo training camp where they thought I was a w**ker and a puff for thinking I could take over their minds (this all being said in the close confines of a gymnasium changing room)

And finally I wondered whether there would still be interest in the story about the chef who had a panic attack just before lunch and I was very hungry and wasn't going to let their anxiety come between a plate of delicious food

If you or a friend or two would be interested just let me know and I'll bring the above stories and a whole lot more to life in "Tales from the chair ... Confessions of a hypnotherapist"

Of course all steps to retain privacy and confidentiality will be taken

I await your replies ...

Cheers,

Gary

Stress wasn't invented when I was demobbed

This morning on BBC Breakfast News was interesting.

I was just making my way out of the door, to enjoy the 7 minute journey to the office when two former Paras, from the 2nd World War, were about to be interviewed about their daring raid that saved the D-Day plans

Geoff and Fred sat there, very proudly dressed in their blazers and red berets, the coveted ones that the Paras wear with pride ... Both chests full of medals and that sitting posture of two men who felt comfortable in themselves

You've got the picture?

These two are in a group that is dwindling fast because of time and age, yet their story about their mission was peppered with the hard facts that 80% of their comrades never made it back. And of the 20% that did, many were injured or put out of action ... However for these two that wasn't the case

When they spoke about their time in the airborne you could see their pride grow, however it was more than just puffing out of chests

Fred said it was important to believe in yourself, your leaders, your command and your orders and the last thing they were always told was 'failure is not an option'

These two definitely believed in that ... They were still alive and sitting on the famous BBC red couches

However there was more

Geoff was asked how did he cope when he returned from the front and was demobbed in 1947

His answer?

I got married and then got on with things. There was no time to sit and worry about things. We had to get on with it ... 'Stress? It wasn't invented then!'

Interesting.

Many would say they were possibly in denial or did have problems but wouldn't talk about them, however not so true

It's been recognised that people can go through the most horrendous and awful things in their lives and come out the other side stronger than when they started due to a high level of resilience, where others just crumble

This resilience is definitely belief based and these two gentlemen had heaps of it

You see when they served they felt they were part of something bigger than themselves that would serve others. They believed in what they were doing. They translated that belief into their reality

The question to ask yourself is 'what beliefs do I have that are getting me where to be and which ones are holding me back?'

Once you know the answer to the question decide to do this

Take the ones that serve you and spend more time on them. The beliefs that don't support you make this decision either change them or dump them, then move on

The thrive programme can definitely help to put beliefs in their right perspective

I pimped up my 'let me tell you a story' video

The above video was uploaded to vimeo, 'cos I thought it would be a good idea to test two of the best hosting platforms for videos rather than rely on one

You see, just the other day someone contacted me to say 'your video is showing private' on your home-page

Arghhhh!

Back to Thriving for positivity me thinks, then I thought "There's Vimeo, I'll go there" so I did - oh before that I did visit YouTube and reset the viewing preference for anybody to view - Why would I want to make my intro private, unless it had something to do with my story and sitting on the toilet?

So, I'm going to treat this as a 1/2 a blog rather than a full one because I've set myself the grand task of at least one or more a day, based on my observations, life and what pops into my inbox as well as the funny stories I read about on FaceBook, especially where my friends are concerned - there's so much material out there it can be challenging to choose, however ...

If you have something you'd like me to discuss or go through just drop me a line

The comments box below is open for anyone to reply - good, bad or ugly, I really don't mind so long as you keep it family friendly and clean :)

Oh and as always feel free to share

Until next time - have a thriving day

Are your habits holding you back?

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I've been reading a great book called 'The Power of Habit' by Charles Duhigg who's an investigative reporter for The New York Times

Why is it great?

Because for the past 24 years I've been working as a hypnotherapist I've never read, in such clear detail, how our habits are really formed and more importantly how to recognise the key components to change limiting habits to life enhancing ones

The first blinding flash of the obvious (BFO) was what he calls the habit loop which has 3 initial components to it:

The cue or trigger
The routine and ...
The reward

Just by recognising these 3 steps can you begin to change habits that have been controlling you for years

For example, if you know a specific trigger for having a cigarette is smelling the coffee in a freshly made mug you can interrupt that specific trigger by changing your choice of hot drink to say lemon tea ... Now it is just a very basic example, however by doing so you're also changing your routine, so the reward you receive with your lemon tea will be different, especially as you realise in your conscious mind what's really happening

Now I do go into more details during my Thrive sessions on limiting beliefs and patterns of behaviour and how they are supported by our habits if we allow them to be ... The key is 'allow'

The more you realise you can have new powerful habits the quicker your life will change for good

Another area to consider, when habits are formed are the 'craving feelings' associated with the above 3 components and the belief or beliefs surrounding the habit

The more you challenge and change your limiting beliefs the more you'll notice a positive change in your limiting habits

I'd love to hear your feedback and maybe a selection of habits you'd like to change, do let me know

Should prozac be so widely available?

Gary Foster - Thrive Consultant

Yes, my first thoughts when I watched the news on TV last night was ...

'What?'

There was a lady being interviewed who'd been on Prozac for 25 years and couldn't consider not having it in her life

Talk about becoming dependent and giving away her responsibility of getting herself back into tip-top mental condition rather than flooding her brain with chemicals to 'make her feel better'

Of course the medical fraternity along with their band of brothers, the pharmaceutical companies are really to blame for allowing this culture to become the norm

You see, there is evidence to say that talking therapies, especially CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) and now The Thrive Programme are far more successful in helping people release themselves, once and for all from their depression and anxiety (yes, it's their depression and anxiety, no one elses!)

So why isn't more being done to help people with a non-drug and now a non-therapy approach?

Dare I say ... 'economics?'

Can you imagine what would happen to the bottom line of the Pharmas' if Prozac was no longer required in the quantities they're supplying them at, at the moment?

There'd be uproar in Parliament with MP's lobbying for quackery to be banned - goodness, to think that just by understanding your thinking style and being able to boost your self esteem and lower your social anxiety, whilst at the same time build a more internal locus of control - you'd be able to banish depression and anxiety from your life, once and for all

Well, imagine no more because it's a reality

have a look at www.ThriveWithGary.co.uk and also check out the video testimonials from delighted people who've overcome anxieties of their minds without Prozac at: http://www.northantshypnosis.co.uk/testimonials.shtml

Would love to hear your feedback, so fire away ...

Gary