Is Hypnotherapy Real Or A Scam?

In 1952, a young British physician, Dr Albert Mason made a mistake that was to bring him short-lived scientific glory. Mason and other doctors had used Hypnosis successfully to get rid of warts.

But this case, a 15 year old boy was particularly severe. His skin looked more like an Elephant's hide and with the exception of his chest, covered most of his young body.

Mason's first Hypnosis session with the boy, focused on one arm. In Trance the boy was told by Mason that the skin on that arm would heal and turn into healthy pink skin.

One week later, when the boy returned for the second session, Mason was happy to see the arm looked healthy, so he continued with the Hypnotherapy until all the boy's skin was healthy and normal.

But when Mason brought the boy to the referring surgeon, who had unsuccessfully treated the boy with skin grafts, he discovered his mistake.

The boy didn't have warts as Mason believed but had been diagnosed as having a lethal, incurable genetic disease called Congenital Ichthyosis.

Sadly, Mason was unable to replicate this stunning success. He put this down to the fact that, as soon as he discovered this was an “incurable disease” his medical background overcame his “cocky attitude”.

(British Medical Journal 1952.Mason 1952)

Biology and Belief

The above case is covered in detail in Dr Bruce Lipton's book

“The Biology of Belief”

Lipton suggests the reason for Mason's failure was, he had absolute belief in his ability to cure warts because warts was a “curable” condition, unlike Congenital Ichthyosis which was “incurable”.

This unique power of Human beings to affect their outcomes based on their ability to accept unshakeable beliefs, has been known to medical science for hundreds, if not thousands of years as... Placebo.

Also known as "The Self-fulfilling Prophesy" to Psychology.

Although inconvenient because it flies in the face of “The Scientific Method” never the less, it cannot be ignored as it is an inescapable fact.

In more recent years serious scientific research has been carried out to determine the effect, if any this phenomenon has on healing.

Dr Alan Branthwaite published a paper in British Medical Journal 282 (Branthwaite A & Cooper P (1981) “Analgesic Effects of Branding in Treatments of Headaches”

Their results demonstrated that Trusted Brand pills were more effective than unknown brands in curing headaches by a factor of 20%.

This result was the same even when a Sugar Pill, in the Trusted Brand package was given to a control group.

In other words, as long a the patient believed they were being given a Trusted Brand pill, that pill whether real or not, was 20% more effective in curing headaches than a real pill.

A research paper published by Cambridge University Press in 2002 shows how the presence of an authority figure, in the form of a medical Doctor, exuding warmth and confidence can dramatically increase the Placebo Effect.

Moreman D.E. (2002) “Meaning, Medicine and The Placebo Effect”

“The presence of a doctor also increases expectancy, which in turn increases therapeutic outcomes, especially if the doctor is warm and enthusiastic about the treatment.”

In one study, the response increased from 44% to 62% when the doctor treated them (patients) with warmth, attention and confidence.

(see: Kaptchuk TJ, British Medical Journal 2008 “ Components of Placebo Effect...Ramdomised controlled trial in patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome”

The Law of Belief and Expectation is no longer in the fringes of New Ageism. Scientific research shows conclusively that whatever we believe to be True...becomes so.

And pharmaceutical companies, who are the major funders of Placebo Effect research, use these results in the production and marketing of their products. (Cracked...Dr James Davies PhD)

What does this mean for You?

The bottom line is...whatever you believe to be true, whether that belief is based on fact or fiction, makes no difference; it becomes so.

My own introduction to this fact of life was when a close friend was mis-diagnosed. His condition was thought to be cancer and by the time doctors realised their error, it was too late; he died.

His postmortem revealed there was no tumour or hint of sickness, he died because he BELIEVED he had a killer tumour.

From my experience as a practitioner, I have seen how False Beliefs are at the root of many 'Phobias' & self-destructive behaviours such as drug and alcohol abuse; abusive relationships, depression and failure.

I have also seen the liberating and healing effect when someone sees, often for the first time, how a False Belief has been the cause of so much misery pain and sickness and how that same life changes almost instantly when the light of Truth shines brightly into their life.

If you would like to discover how you can find and eliminate the False Beliefs lurking within you...call me. I offer a Free Initial Consultation.

Spider Phobia?

The Real Cause Of Spider 'Phobia' 

Some people are so afraid of Spiders the very word sends them into a Blind Panic. And I mean Panic as in running scared. Why is that? And is there a cure?

Before we begin, you need to know that if your reaction on seeing spiders is one of suspicion, dislike and being wary; that is normal and shows that your 'Shadow Self' is monitoring the environment for potential threats you should be aware of; even when you are busy doing something else.

And that's good to know because although here in UK spiders are harmless; in many other countries around the world, they can be lethal. So be happy that 'Shadow Self' has got your back.

However, if you are immediately sent into blind, sickening fear and panic because the Emergency Escape Reaction has been activated the moment a spider appears on Shadow Self's radar...

Then something else is having a significant say in what a Spider means to your safety.

Consider this case of a young woman who came to see me about her Spider Phobia.

She had been treated unsuccessfully in the past by several therapists for Spider Phobia and her doctor finally referred her to a Psychiatrist for assessment; who proposed she may, in fact, be suffering from a mental illness called Borderline Personality Disorder and not Spider Phobia.

After this treatment plan also failed to alleviate her symptoms, the young woman came to see me.

Here's Her Story 

My own practical experience has proven to me over and over again, that when someone has a sever emotional reaction to a specific stimulus (such as Spiders), it almost certainly points to a Significant Emotional Event in that person's life which has never been properly resolved and is therefore still active. Like a wound that has been left to fester unattended, it needs to be healed.

When she was a very young, two years of age perhaps; she remembered sitting in a high chair being spoon fed by her mother, when she felt, then saw a spider on her arm. Her (and anyone else's) body's immediately defence reaction was to jerk her arm to remove a potential danger.

She also screamed, as children do.This caused her mother to drop the bowl of food which crashed to the floor. He mother then began to shout at the child and then to smack her face and arms repeatedly.

This hidden memory was the link between a Spider and verbal, physical and emotional abuse by her mother which was to continue throughout her life; ending only when she ran away from home age 15.

For as long as she could remember, her mother's almost daily refrain was ....

"I wish I never had you" and "You ruined my life"

These and other hateful statements were often a prelude to verbal and physical abuse from her mother

which constantly reinforced the total rejection of a mother's love she experienced.

This young woman did not have Spider Phobia; rather, she needed some way to cope with and come to terms with her traumatic home life.

If you feel you may be having a similar experience, call me. I offer a Free Initial Consultation.

Thank you for reading this.

Reading that amazing book by Dr Susan Jeffers again..."Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway"
She was describing a demonstration she carried out with students on her course designed to confirm the power of the sub-conscious mind, to those who doubted such a thing exists.

The student volunteer was asked to close their eyes and hold an outstretched arm before repeating the following statement..."I am a strong and worthy person"...ten times and really get the feeling as they said the words. She then asked them to resist her trying to push down the outstretched arm.

 In every case, she was unable to push that arm down. She would then ask the student to repeat the exercise but this time repeating the following words ten times..."I am a weak and unworthy person". She would again ask the student to resist her trying to push down that extended arm... in every single case...she was able to push the arm down with little or no resistance.

The student and the audience were dumbfounded...With each positive affirmation there was resistance and with each negative affirmation, no resistance. As Susan reflected later...

"Weak words meant weak arm. Strong words meant strong arm. And it didn't even matter whether the person actually believed or not. The mere uttering of them makes your inner self believe them...

What does all this mean? Stop feeding yourself negative thoughts."   

What Is Spirituality?

My friend Gary Bayley, who is a Professional D.J. (and a very popular one with dancers), told me the other day he had completed over 100 'Wainwright's' and has only 64 to finish the 'set'. For those not familiar with the term, a 'Wainwright' refers to a series of published walks in the beautiful mountains of The Lake District in Cumbria, in the north west of England.

Named after the man who took it upon himself to 'way-mark' and publish these walks, so the solo walker could enjoy the majesty and awesome beauty of those wild places...without the justified fear of getting lost.

When I asked Gary why he decided to complete the series, so to speak, he replied that it had not been a conscious decision. Rather, the joy and sheer exhilaration of being able to successfully navigate, what in British terms is, a vast wilderness, not only appealed to his need to find a quiet place where he could.. 'wander lonely as a cloud'... but also gave him a sense of achievement in actually doing it.

We humans need these quiet moments where we can, not only commune with Nature but also ourselves.

When we re-connect to our True Self, it's a silent, subliminal understanding of the true nature of our Reality and our responsibility for creating it. And that's not hyperbole, we really are creating our own Reality, right now, this very minute. But just as we can't see the waveform energy which carries the texts to our Mobile phones and pictures and sound to our TV sets...

We are unaware of the Forces which we are working with and are shaping every, apparently insignificant, event in our everyday lives.

Because, the Truth is...We are Spiritual Beings, who are having, Physical Experiences, through a Human Existence. This can be best understood when we realise that Science teaches us that Matter (seen & known)   and Energy(unseen & unknown)..are the same thing!

In fact, Matter cannot exist without the Energy which sustains it. In other words...

Everything in the whole Universe (including you and me) is Energy made manifest. How?

Science shows us that Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only change from one form to another. And the word 'Spiritual' is an ancient term, used from antiquity, by scholars and Philosophers to describe this unseen Energy. So it could be described as a 'scientific' term but...without the hard maths! Another term the ancients used to describe this unseen Energy can be translated to mean consciousness!
(See... 'The Tau of Physics' by Dr F Capra)

In more recent times Spiritual,  has come to be associated with Religious philosophy which proposes a 'GOD Creator' among other things. There are some, like Carl Jung, who worked with Freud for many years trying to understand what made Human Beings 'tick', who arrived at the conclusion that there was indeed some connection between Spiritual/Consciousness/Energy = Reality

Carl Jung called it...'Collective Unconscious' and a modern scholar refers to this connection in his wonderful book The Biology of Belief  (by Dr Bruce Lipton)

So...in a very real sense, Gary was steeped in the collective consciousness of the whole Universe while he steadfastly, navigated the twists and turns, not only of the paths through the mountains but....unconsciously  through the twists and turns of his own life. 

More on this later!

My First Blog

This is something I have wanted to do for so long...to have my own platform where I can shout my own message to the world!

I recall the first time I went to Speakers Corner in Hyde Park in London.

The sight of those brave souls, perched atop their D.I.Y. platforms cum step ladder, delivering to bemused onlookers and virulent hecklers alike, their very own view of the world, was quintessential Englishness.

Here it was not only 'OK' to be considered an eccentric but in itself is an absolute requirement!

Then, along came the internet and suddenly everyone has a posh magazine in the form of a Blog instead of a rickety old ladder...but the vision remains the same...Everyone should have the right to speak their minds without let or hinderence...In the words of the great George Orwell..

I May Find The Words You Speak Despicable But I Will Defend To Death Your Right To Say Them.

George, I believe, would be proud of this Brave New World where we all have our voice and he would have been particularly pleased that Governments and the various Power Players who like to believe they have a place to hide...find the freedom of the Internet... infuriatingly uncontrollable! 

The good news, as far as you are concerned is, I'm not trying to destabalise political regimes or bring the New World Order to book...there are too many better qualified than me doing that already.

No...this blog is about how we human beings can get a grip, an understanding of the most powerful Laws and Principles which govern the Universe and...by definition...who we are...and how we live...

So that understanding may give us the power to really choose the kind of life we want and finally be free do discover the meaning and purpose to our lives on this planet.

Is it Religious?...maybe, depending on what your definition of religion is.

Is it Spiritual?...see above.

It's about finding out what it really means to be a Human Being...and believe me...We are Awesome!