What’s your speciality?

If you are looking for a hypnotherapist – or, in fact, a therapist of any kind – it’s worth knowing what questions you want to ask in advance. After all, these folks are skilled persuaders and will often know just how to influence you to make the ‘right’ decision!

A question you might want to consider is: “What is your speciality?” After all, do you really want to settle for a Jack of all Trades? It is surely preferable to find a therapist who has the perfect match of skills to help you resolve your issue.

As a way of providing a quick and open answer to this question, Graham Old proudly wears the label “Well-being Coach”.

What is Well-being?

There has been a growing body of research into what contributes to the quality of people’s lives. This has enabled a new understanding of the factors that both influence and constitute well-being.

Well-being is most usefully thought of as the dynamic process that gives people a sense of how their lives are going, through the interaction between their circumstances, activities and mental or psychological resources or ‘mental. It has been briefly defined as ‘Doing Well and Feeling Good’, but might just as easily be defined as ‘Doing Good and Feeling Well.’

Well-being is essentially a subjective evaluation that your life is one of contented health and happiness.

The Public Health White Paper “No Health without Mental Health” (2011) says that mental wellbeing relates to “the ability to cope with life’s problems and make the most of life’s opportunities. It is about feeling good and functioning well, both as individuals and collectively.”

What is a Well-being Coach?

Well, it’s not the same thing as a Personal Trainer, a Management Coach, a Dietician, Nutritionist or Health Trainer. The best way to think of a Well Being Coach is to think about physical well-being and then consider all of the “mental” factors that go into that. Then think about psychological well-being and some of the associated physical issues. So we end up with things like:

Stress

Anxiety

Depression

Smoking

Weight-loss

Motivation

Drinking

and so on.

These aren’t necessarily things that you want to “cure”. You might not, for example, be an alcoholic so you have no desire to quit drinking. However, you might recognise that you would function more effectively at work in the morning if your alcohol intake was under control in the evenings. So, we could help you cut-down.

You might not have a phobia, or suffer panic attacks, but you might feel like you’re surrounded by a general sense of anxiety or un-ease. The trouble is that unless you have some kind of mental “problem”, many therapists or therapies may not apply to you. Even those that use hypnosis might not seem particularly appropriate. Unless you need to train for a Sporting event, or receive physio, you may not find many Physical Therapists who can help you either. You fall in that gap in the middle.

The irony is that most of us fall into that camp. Just as the difference between Healthy and Unhealthy is fluid (we are all healthy in some ways and unhealthy in others), Mental Health is a sliding scale. It may simply be that you want to feel better. You may look at your life and think, “This is not as good as it could be.” There may be a persistent sense of unhappiness, frustration or lack of motivation, or it may simply be that you fed up with your smoking, drinking, shyness or lack of direction.

If that’s you, then what you need is Well Being Coaching!

What does a Well-Being Coach actually do?

Coaching is a dynamic two-way process that helps you get greater satisfaction out of life. Coaching focuses on the here and now as a solution focused, goal oriented approach to self-fulfillment and personal development.

During the coaching process, through questioning, the coach engages in confidential and thought provoking dialogue with the client to help them expand.

The purpose of coaching is to help clients identify their own solutions to achieve their personal and professional goals by developing a comprehensive set of actions to achieve them. The process typically involves one to one sessions and usually includes a results-focused plan that helps the client clarify objectives, set goals, overcome obstacles and act on agreed milestones.

Wellbeing Coaching is designed to help people identify the wide range of options available to help them manage their own health and wellbeing more effectively. Wellbeing Coaching can also be particularly useful for people struggling to manage change, suffering from stress, feeling lonely or miserable or wanting to resolve a specific problem or situation.

What Qualifies Graham Old to work as a Well-being Coach?

You can read Graham’s profile, including information on his style and qualifications, at the Hypnotherapy Directory.

Briefly, he is a highly trained hypnotherapist, having been trained in both direct and indirect styles of hypnosis. He is certified in Solution-Focused therapy, Motivational Interviewing and Coaching. He is a Rapid Results Pain Control Consultant, a Licensed Hypnoband Practitioner (one of only 2 in Northampton!) and a Certified Stress Management Consultant.

Perhaps more importantly, he has successfully battled with stress and depression in his life and has seen hypnosis empower him to lose weight, where diet after diet failed.

Many therapists or Hypnotists are solely focused on helping you deal with your problems. At Hypnosis Northampton, we would much rather focus on your as a person. We are interested in not just getting rid of problems, but in enhancing lives. As a part of the multi-disciplinary team at The Abington Clinic, Graham is uniquely positioned to assist and advise you, working with you to create the solutions that will bring more happiness and satisfaction into your life.

How do I book-in for Well-being Coaching?

You don’t! We prefer not to offer well-being coaching as a standalone option. Instead, it permeates every aspect of what we do. Why not simply book a session to come in and deal with whatever issue is bothering you? Let us take care of the label given to the tools we will use to help you - whether that’s hypnosis, NLP, Mindfulness, Acceptance and Committment Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy or Coaching.

However, you can rest assured that whatever techniques or tools we use, it will come under the banner of Well-being Coaching – working with you, to lead you into a more satisfying future.

So I can’t come just for Coaching?

Sure. Some people still have hang-ups about Hypnosis or ‘therapy’ (even though our hypnosis is completely non-threatening and we do not do any “delve into the past” type of counselling). So, if you have particular feelings about a therapy that you would rather avoid, or especially want to experience, just say so.

On the whole, we do not separate the work that we do into hypnosis or coaching, as it is all used seamlessly. So, even if you choose to come just for Coaching, you may find the experience hypnotic!

Can you help me with this issue…?

The list of issues we can help with is on our Treatments page. So, if you want to come in to deal with nail-biting, or blushing, fear of flying, or sexual performance issues, Hypnosis can help. There’s no doubt about that. However, if you’re asking about our speciality, the area we focus on and are highly skilled-in is Well-being and all related physical, mental and social issues.

If you are trying to figure out whether your issue comes under this heading, ask yourself a simple question: Does this affect my satisfaction and happiness in life, or have a detrimental effect on my functioning? If the answers yes, contact Hypnosis Northampton without delay. Basically, breast enlargement, past-life regression and entertainment are out. Weight-loss, pain control and stress management are in!

Hypnosis is a natural and healthy way of helping you bring lasting change into your life.

Just imagine looking back on yourself in 6 months time and seeing how delighted you feel to swiftly change those unwanted behaviours, conquer your fears and turn your life around.

It’s time to discover the new you!

‘Autogenic’ means generated from within. The therapy is a form of deep relaxation, comparable to meditation, whereby a state of physical and mental rest is induced by autosuggestion.

Autogenic training is a relaxation technique developed by the German psychiatrist Johannes Schultz and first published in 1932. The technique involves the daily practice of sessions that last around 15 minutes, usually in the morning, at lunch time, and in the evening.

During each session, the practitioner will repeat a set of visualisations that induce a state of relaxation. Each session can be practiced in a position chosen amongst a set of recommended postures (e.g. lying down, sitting meditation, sitting like a rag doll, etc.).

The technique can be used to alleviate many stress-induced psychosomatic disorders. Schultz emphasized parallels to techniques in yoga and meditation. It is a method for influencing one’s autonomic nervous system. There are many parallels to progressive relaxation.

For information on accessing Autogenic Training in Northampton, click here. For more information on the benefits of autogenic training, visit the British Autogenic Society website.

In addition to being a general relaxation technique, autogenic therapy is used to help overcome psychological problems, as well as to control the symptoms of many physical disorders:

AIDS symptoms
Addictions
Aggression
Anxiety / panic attacks / phobias
Arthritis
Asthma
Bladder disorders
Cerebral palsy
Depression (mild/moderate)
Diabetes
Eating disorders
Eczema (atopic)
Epilepsy (frontal lobe)
Glaucoma
Headaches / migraines
Hypertension
Irritable bowel syndrome
Long term pain
Muscular pain
Sleep disorders / fatigue
Stress

In 2001, the Department of Psychology at the University of South Alabama studied 30 children between the ages of 7 and 18 years who suffered from migraines. The frequency of the migraines was reduced in all cases. In fact, six months after receiving autogenic training, 50% of them were completely free from symptoms.

In 1992, Dr Ann Bowden conducted a survey of 196 patients who had attended autogenic training at the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital. 144 said that their symptoms had improved, 49 said that they had stayed the same; 3 said they had got worse.

Autogenic training may not be recommended for those suffering from diabetes, hypoglycaemia or heart conditions; it is also not suitable for some people who have a history of psychiatric problems. You are advised to consult your GP first.

For more information, read our piece on learning meditation in Northampton, or simply contact us.

Why not start the new year, with a new you!

It’s well-known that hypnotherapy is a proven way to lose weight and quit smoking. So, what better way to treat yourself to a quick and effective treatment that could literally change your life?

A recent report, conducted at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California-San Francisco, found Hypnosis to be particularly helpful for would-be quitters who reported a history of depression. Statistics show that hypnotherapy is twice as powerful as other methods methods – like nicotine gum or patches – and 10 times more effective than trying to quit on your own!

Ben Affleck recently confessed that he had followed in Matt Damon’s shoes in seeking hypnotherapy to quit smoking. Affleck recalls, “You sit in, like, a Barker lounger (chair) and he (hypnotist) sips water and just talks to you for an hour, and explains how nicotine is poison.

“All of a sudden, you thought’ ‘This is asinine that I’ve been doing this to myself for all these years.’ “My last cigarette was on November 10th, 2005…I feel a huge difference in my health now that I don’t smoke. I feel like I’m in better shape than I was five years ago.”

Our Quit Smoking treatment takes from 1-3 sessions, with many clients conquering their habit in just 1 visit. So, what have you got to lose?

We offer a simple fee structure, as outlined below. If you believe that you would benefit from a treatment program not listed below, please contact us.

Hypnotherapy Northampton

Believe it or not, but you’re spoilt for choice! If you’re looking for hypnotherapy in Northampton, hypnosis in Northamptonshire, or simply exploring strategies to help you quit smoking, manage stress, cope with pain or learn pain control, improve relationships or lose weight, you’ve come to the right place.

If you are interested in hypnosis, Northampton can provide you with any number of options. A good place to search would be http://www.hypnotherapistregister.com, where you’ll find a list of hypnotherapists in Northampton and people offering their services to provide Northamptonshire hypnosis.

Solutions Therapy and Graham Old are, of course, listed on the Hypnotherapist Register.

• Hypnotherapy Northampton
• Hypnotherapy Northamptonshire
• Hypnotherapy Northampton
• Hypnotherapy Northamptonshire

Northants is practically flooded with hypnotists and hypnotherapists, meaning you’ll be able to experience hypnosis in Northampton, Ashby St Ledgers, Badby, Blisworth, Bozeat, Brackley, Braunston, Brigstock, Brixworth, Bugbrooke, Burton Latimer, Byfield, Caldecott, Castle Ashby, Chapel Brampton, Chipping Warden, Church Brampton, Church Stowe, Cogenhoe, Collingtree, Corby, Cosgrove, Cottingham, Crick, Dallington, Daventry, Desborough, Earls Barton, East Farndon, East Haddon, Ecton, Farthingstone, Finedon, Flore, Grendon, Guilsborough, Hackleton, Harlestone, Harpole, Higham Ferrers, Irchester, Irthlingborough, Isham, Islip, Kettering, Kilsby, Kings Heath, Kings Sutton, Kingsthorpe, Kislingbury, Lamport, Litchborough, Long Buckby, Milton, Moulton, Naseby, Northampton, Oundle, Overstone, Pattishall, Pitsford, Pytchley, Raunds, Roade, Rockingham, Rothersthorpe, Rothwell, Rushden, Slapton, Spratton, Stanford on Avon, Stanwick, Syresham, Sywell, Thrapston, Titchmarsh, Towcester, Walgrave, Watford, Weldon, Welford, Wellingborough, Welton, West Haddon, Weston, Weston Favell, Wilby, Wollaston, Woodford, Wootton, Yardley Hastings, or Yelvertoft.

However, to save you the trouble of having to search around for Northampton hypnotherapy, at Solutions Therapy we now offer a call-out service. There is a minimal additional call-out charge, but this service means that if you are unable to come to our hypnotherapy practice at the Abington Medical Centre, Northampton, you can benefit from hypnosis any where in Northants.

Our approach to hypnotherapy is solution-focused and client-centered . We offer a caring and confidential service, where you will feel respected and empowered to move forward in life.

You may be surprised to learn how many conditions hypnotherapy can help!

Anger Management
When someone is totally unable to control a basic human impulse such as anger it can be dangerous, and often the sufferer is unaware that the problem lies within him or her and believes it is whomever the anger is directed at that is the cause of the problem. Once you can come to terms with the problem, and analyse it using hypnosis, unresolved issues that usually stem from the formative years can be resolved.

Anxiety / Panic Attacks
It is a basic human instinct to feel anxious at some stage in our lives and millions of years ago our ancestors relied on this function to get through life safely. Even now we are all likely to feel tense when put under some sort of pressure. But it is when there is no conscious reason that we can see for feeling this way that it can become a problem.

Bed wetting
According to the NHS, bedwetting when asleep, also known as nocturnal enuresis, is very common in children, especially those under 7. About one child in 20 children aged 10 wet the bed, and it is more common in boys than girls. It can be caused by medical conditions such as cystitis or diabetes, or by some children’s inability to produce enough of the antidiuretic hormone, ADH, which controls the production of urine at night, or just by the fact that some children develop bladder control later than others. It may also have a psychological cause and it is often in these circumstances that Hypnotherapy is turned to as a solution, as seen in this piece from The Times Newspaper.

Blushing
Blushing comes about when there is an increase in heart rate, in much the same way as running a race makes your face red. This raises the temperature in the face and can make it feel redder than it actually is. Hypnosis can help to stop blushing in a number of different ways. One powerful approach is to re-train your mind to move away from the worrying thought that you are ‘going to blush’, towards a thought of being cool, calm, collected and resourceful instead. We won’t spend ages going over the past to find out why you blush, because no matter how the problem started, it is now just an automatic habit that can be unlearned and removed.

Confidence and Self Esteem
In hypnotherapy, the treatment given for low confidence is called “ego-strengthening” – and generally this is the first treatment every client receives. In addition almost everyone can benefit from learning how to relax, as when we know we can relax and calm down we build a sense of effectiveness, of confidence in our ability to manage our own emotions and thoughts. Clients are given powerful suggestions for feeling more confident, more in control and more effective in their lives. In addition clients learn how to remember and focus on previous experiences of success and confidence while learning how to view experiences of failure or low confidence as learning situations. In hypnosis clients rehearse situations where they want to feel more confident – and through this experience of mental rehearsal in hypnosis they develop a sense of self-mastery that influences performance in real life situations.

Depression
Most people who are overwhelmed, sad and hopeless need to change the way their subconscious mind is accessing thoughts and feelings, which creates the chemical state that leads to depression. When you change your thoughts, and release the emotional memories, your brain will begin to change the chemical state that it is creating in your body and you can begin to feel better.

Fears & Phobias
The success of treating phobias with hypnotherapy is well-known. In many cases, one session is all it takes to undo a phobia that someone has lived with for year! Come along and discover how easily hypnotherapy can resolve your fear of flying, Spiders, Agoraphobia, Claustrophobia, Heights and many more.

Grief
Unresolved grief can be treated successfully with hypnotherapy. Any unresolved issues associated with the lost loved one can be resolved easily. Hypnosis and hypnotherapy can help you complete the natural grief process, unblocking whatever thoughts or feelings are preventing this from happening naturally and allowing you to move forward into the future.

Habits & Addictions
Many people have found themselves in the grip of behaviors they feel unable to control. These might be something seemingly harmless like nail-biting, or more life-threatening addictions like drugs and alcohol. Hypnotherapy can help release you from the grip of unwanted behaviours, as well as helping you develop healthier alternatives.

Insomnia
Insomnia affects over 40 percent of adults worldwide on a frequent basis, although experts estimate that almost all of the adult population has suffered from it at some point in their life. If you are in the first group, you know how difficult it can be to lead a normal life when you are dealing with insomnia. While there are many treatments available for insomnia, from natural remedies to prescription pills, hypnotherapy is gaining popularity as a tool to deal with insomnia without invading your body and without the risk of secondary effects.

Migraines
Many migraine headaches are caused by stress triggers. Hypnosis, and other forms of alternative medicine, can help indirectly with any kind of pain that is triggered by stress. This is achieved by teaching deep and rhythmic breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation and visualisation or ‘guided imagery’.

Nail Biting
Along with weight management and quitting smoking, nail biting is the most common reason for people to visit hypnotists. Nail biting is often stress-related, so hypnotherapy and relaxation is a natural method to use as a solution. The biter can learn to apply several different methods to enhance both the relaxed state, as well as his/her overall feeling of relaxation and well-being. Through hypnotherapy, you will learn to relax, become aware when you are about to bite your nails and also eliminate the compulsion to bite altogether.

Pain relief
Hypnotherapy has proven very successful in relieving a variety of painful illnesses and conditions, such as Arthritis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Migraines, Fibromyalgia and Asthma. In treating pain, Hypnosis works directly with the subconscious mind and controls the instructions it would normally send to the brain’s pain receptors.

Please note, pain is your body’s warning system. You should never use hypnosis to control pain or take pain controlling medication without knowing why you are in pain. It is important to consult your doctor to find the cause of pain before attempting any type of pain relief.

Personal Development
Hypnotherapy can be effective in enhancing all kinds of areas in your life. People use it to develop more confidence in public speaking, improve their academic or sporting performance, sales results or any other type of personal performance. Hypnosis can also help you with interview nerves, exam nerves and even with memory improvement. Graham can personally advise on the latter, following his performance at the World Memory Championships in 2000.

Sexual Dysfunction
Impotence, premature ejaculation, anorgasmia and many other issues can cause unhelpful tension in a relationship. The sad truth is however that it is rarely talked about. Feeling tense, lonely, afraid and sometimes in denial, many people find it too embarrassing to talk about or to find solutions so they suffer in silence with no hope in sight. It doesn’t have to be this way, as Hypnotherapy for sexual dysfunction has been proven over and over again. Your mind is your most powerful sexual organ, so why not tap into it to discover a new and fulfilling level to your relationship.

Skin Complaints
A great deal of skin complaints are caused by, or made worse by, stress and emotional pain. Hypnotherapy can help you address these deeper issues and have a profound effect on your skin. It has been shown to help calm down inflammations and help with itching and pain. Even Eczema, Psoriasis and warts have been known to respond well to hypnosis.

Stop Smoking
Stopping smoking could much easier than you think. After all, there has to be a reason why it is increasingly recognised as the most effective means to quit smoking – even being recommended by the NHS.

Stress
Research has shown that feeling stressed can have a debilitating effect upon the bodies immune system and can result in the onset of many diseases, so it’s a relief to know it can be treated – and easily!

Weight Control
Weight control is a continuing battle for many people, however it is much easier to achieve with hypnosis. Hypnotherapy can help replace the desire for unhealthy foods with a new found appreciation for fruit or a glass of water. It can also assist you in correcting bad habits like snacking or over-indulging. However, the first step is often looking at why you overeat and why you want to lose weight. It is here that hypnotherapy can help reprogram your mind and help you look at yourself (and your past) in a new light. It sounds remarkably easy – because it can be!

This is by no means an exhaustive list of treatable conditions, but can give you an idea of the many benefits of using Hypnosis.

You can contact us if you are interested in hypnotherapy in Northampton, using the contact form below.

I am based at the Abington Health Complex, Northampton, which can be accessed easily from Bedford, Buckinghamshire, Corby, Daventry, Earls Barton, Higham Ferrers, Kettering, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Peterborough, Rushden and Wellingborough.

However, where appropriate, home visits are also available. These will normally take place in the evening or at weekends.

To find out more about hypnosis, including discussing any queries you have, advice on hypnotherapy training, or to enquire about accessing hypnosis in Northamptonshire, please use the form below, or contact us at the Abington Health Clinic. Our postal address and phone numbers are in the column on the right.

Hypnosis : Northampton is the Northampton Hypnotherapy Practice of Graham Old, focused on getting you the results you want. We specialise in client-centred hypnotherapy and solution-focused trance-formation.

We are far more interested in helping you discover your future, than in exploring your past.

You can benefit from the services of Hypnosis : Northampton at Abington Health Complex, Northampton, or via home visits. To find out more, please go to our contact page.

About Hypnosis Northampton

Having studied with some of the best hypnotherapists alive, Graham is uniquely positioned to help you make the changes you desire. With a background in pastoral counselling and a long career in family support, mental health and learning difficulties, Graham has devoted his life to developing a compassionate, caring and contemporary approach to helping people live their lives to the fullest.

Graham originally trained with Jonathan Chase, where he quickly acquired the ability to hypnotise people in a matter a minutes and even seconds. This experience gave him practical experience of seeing people’s life-long problems overcome rapidly and permanently.

He soon became troubled with the direct and authoritarian style of hypnosis that many people still associate with clucking like a Chicken, at the hands of a Stage Hypnotist. He also found that such an approach can leave the client feeling disempowered and believing that they were ‘fixed’ at the hands of the hypnotist, rather than through the power of their own mind. Graham would rather work on educating and empowering people than entertaining or embarrassing them.

So, Graham sought out the World’s leading expert on indirect ‘Ericksonian’ hypnotherapy, Stephen Brooks. Since then he has completely revolutionised his own approach to hypnotherapy, with a focus on finding solutions instead of problems and being lead by the client instead of the therapist.

He is accredited by The Hypnotherapy Society and is a member of The International Association of Professional Conversational Hypnotists (IAPCH). He has also been awarded certificates by The Academy of Hypnotic Arts, British Hypnosis Research and the Coaching Academy.

What is Hypnosis?

Have you ever been totally absorbed while reading a book, cooking or watching a movie? Did you zone out to the point you didn’t notice what else was going on around you? If so, you’ve experienced a  state of mind that’s similar to what happens to you during a hypnotherapy session.

Or, you may have had the experience of driving home from work and wondering where the last 15 minutes when. You have no recollection of maneuvering the 4 roundabouts, going through traffic lights or leaving the dual carriage-way. Yet, you still got home in one piece! In fact, that experience is a perfectly natural one that most people enter at least twice a day. It is what some hypnotherapists call ‘trance’.

In hypnosis, you are not in a zombie-like daze. You simply enter a state of physical, mental and emotional relaxation, along with a heightened state of awareness. It is actually a very enjoyable and rewarding experience, with many people reporting that they enjoyed it so much they did not want it to end!

How Hypnotherapy can Help you

Hypnosis has been endorsed by the British Medical Association and continues to gain credibility as a valuable mental and psychological tool, with many Doctors and Dentists and satisfied members of the public.

Hypnotherapy can be used to:

A number of techniques can be used to address issues like those above. Our approach is compassionate and client-centered, which means we work with you to find an approach that matches what you want to accomplish, your personal preferences and your unique life experience.

The one thing that remains the same is that we are 100% committed to enabling you to make positive changes in your life and move forward into the future.

Where to Find Us

Graham is based at the Abington Clinic, which is part of the prestigious Abington Health Complex, Northampton, within easy reach Bedford, Buckinghamshire, Corby, Daventry, Earls Barton, Higham Ferrers, Kettering, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Peterborough, Rushden and Wellingborough.

Sharon Davies, Olympic Medallist, opened The Abington Clinic in 1996. The goal of the clinic remains the same as it was at the inception, to get you back to health and fitness as soon as possible, and in a way that lasts.

The Abington Health Complex site incorporates the Abington Medical Centre, Pharmacy, Dental Clinic and Optician. There is ample, secure and free on site car parking and they have excellent disabled access to the purpose built facility.

You can also find us, online, at The Hypnotherapist Register and The Hypnotherapy Directory.