I have been very fortunate in being able to deliver numerous hypnosis sessions within my work environment. I was recently asked by one of the course managers to present a session on Stress Management. In answer to this request I designed a mini workshop entitled: 'Stress Busting Through Hypnosis and Relaxation'. I delivered three of these workshops and am happy to say that they were well received by the course participants. The group inductions within these workshops were always well received and the feedback from the officers concerned was very complimentary.

I also designed a five-session course entitled: 'Memory Enhancement and Stress Busting', for new probationers currently studying at the Police Training Centre. The students attend the course voluntarily after work hours. During the sessions I explain to them the various functions of the brain and how our memory works, and, more importantly for them, how to improve recall of information. The other subjects covered on the course include: study skills, revision skills, memory cues, revision techniques and the causes of forgetfulness. I also help the students to identify their own particular learning style based on the eight intelligences identified by Dr. Howard Gardner. This helps them to focus on their strengths and work on areas in need of development. I have been trained as a trainer in the use of Accelerated Learning Techniques and use this method of teaching almost exclusively. At the end of the training sessions I take the students through an induction and reinforce their learning from the lesson using hypnosis.

At the end of one such session we were having a short debrief when I asked the class if anyone had noticed any benefits in their general well-being since they had been participating in the hypnosis sessions. One student informed me that for many years he had not been very comfortable with heights. This is his story in his own words:

'I have had a fear of heights for a number of years but in the last five years it has got increasingly worse.
For the last 18 months my phobia had got to such a level that I would stop the car in a lay-by if I was driving and get my wife to take over before crossing a bridge which crosses the river Clyde near to where I live in Scotland.
If l were on my own I would make a lengthy detour through the Clyde Tunnel. My wife is a nurse and managed to get me to see a Doctor who was a psychologist in a Scottish hospital.

Although I understood what was physically happening to me, I still could not cross the bridge while driving. I would shut my eyes and try to control my fear in the passenger seat.

After attending one of Sergeant Doherty's sessions I remember him telling me to think of somewhere relaxing and safe. I imagined I was still on my honeymoon on the beach in Tobago, dangling my foot in the water. It was so vivid.

I flew home to Scotland the next day and my wife as usual came to pick me up at the airport. This time I took over the driving.
As I approached the Erskin Bridge that crosses the Clyde, I felt the fear coming on. I thought about the image on the beach in Tobago. The fear disappeared. I drove onto the bridge still with this thought in mind and the fear was not there.

After crossing the bridge, I turned the car round at the earliest opportunity and crossed again, using the same thought, it worked. AIthough I will never be totally free of my fear of heights, my irrational fear has receded.
This simple technique has changed my life and has broken an anxiety cycle that I seemed to be in. My wife will confirm that everything I have written I was experiencing and it was of great concern to her as well as myself.

She has witnessed the change in me and tells me she no longer worries about being a passenger while I'm driving '.

The interesting thing about this story is that the session was to do with self-esteem and general well-being, not specifically phobias.

I have also helped people with performance anxiety, smoking cessation, and sports performance. I am currently planning to hold some group days for smoking cessation, with the proceeds going to charity. I am also developing a keen interest in the subject of Investigative Forensic Hypnosis and intend to pursue this avenue further in the future.

I have to say that since taking the LCCH Certificate and Diploma courses, and now studying for the Practitioner, my horizons have certainly expanded in many ways and I firmly believe there are lots of avenues for me to explore and many new horizons to discover.

The LCCH News is also mailed free of charge to hypnotherapy practitioners from other organisations. If you know of any other professional who may be interested in receiving it please ask them to get in contact with the LCCH office.

Tel: 020-7402 9037 
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