Tim Maude Hypnotherapy

Author: Tim

  • What is a normal level of stress and anxiety?

    What is a normal level of stress and anxiety?

    I have been seeing a client for a number of weeks seeing small changes in her levels of anxiety, but nothing major … until last week. It happens so often. I see small improvements and then all of a sudden there is a step change.

    And the interesting thing was that she said to me, “I feel so calm now. I have realised that I have been through the whole of my life being stressed and anxious all the time. I didn’t realise that this was not normal.”

    Is it normal to be stressed and anxious all the time? Of course not, but it is so easy to get used to it and accept it as normal. Our brains can get used to the constant levels of adrenaline and cortisol in our bodies.

    Of course, a certain level of stress is important, because it helps us get through busy times. It helps us achieve more in a short period of time. And anxiety is important when we are in danger. It gets us to focus on the danger so that we can avoid it.

    Our bodies were never designed to be under constant stress and anxiety, as this raises blood pressure and heart rate, as well as making many of our organs work less effectively.

    You may like to consider – what is a normal level of stress and anxiety for you? Has it always been like this? Are you content with the level it is at now or would you like to change it? Some people are quite happy with higher levels of stress and anxiety – they may even enjoy it. However, if you are among those that do not, you may want to consider what you might do to change.

    If you have problems getting your anxiety under control on your own, you might want to consider therapy. I help people with anxiety get their lives back under control and return to a state of normality. I use the power of hypnotherapy from my clinic here in Fleet, Hampshire. I also work online. Contact me if you would like a chat.

    Photo courtesy of Mental Health Foundation / Adam Jaye

  • Are You Hiding Your Anxiety, While Only Just Coping?

    Are You Hiding Your Anxiety, While Only Just Coping?

    Anxiety happens … It happens to everyone in their lives at sometime or another. It happens to some people a lot more than others. Anxiety effects people in different ways. For some, anxiety is a mild inconvenience, and for others, it dominates their lives.

    Everyone has a different approach to sharing their anxiety. Some hide it away from their friends and family, too embarrassed to say anything and not wanting to burden others with their problems. Others tell anyone who will listen all about the stress and worry they are undergoing.

    Everyone finds different ways of coping with anxiety. Some just put up with it, hoping that it will eventually go away. Others actively challenge anxiety and decide to do something about it. Some people set out to cope with anxiety on their own, and some involved friends, family, self-help groups and therapists.

    And the question I have is: Why does anyone simply put up with anxiety? No-one who sprains their ankle goes about pretending it doesn’t need rest, and that they can still walk without limping. So why do people pretend that anxiety doesn’t exist and that they don’t need to do anything about it?

    To have anxiety means that the fight-or-flight centre of your brain is being over-sensitive. It needs time to recover, and if it’s bad, it may need treatment. It’s just like if you sprain your ankle – it needs time to recover, and if it’s bad, it may need treatment.

    So please … if you are suffering from anxiety, if you are only just coping with it all, and especially if you are hiding it all from the rest of the world … do something about it. Self-help is always a good start. Go and see your doctor. Go and see a therapist. Just don’t suffer in silence.

    And Finally …

    If you need help with your anxiety, in whatever form it might take, you might consider coming to see me. I use hypnotherapy to help my clients get back in control and regain normality in their lives. I work from my clinic here in Fleet, Hampshire and also see people online. Check out my website, and then Contact Me.

    Useful Links

    How to Stay Mentally Fit – the Mental Health Hygiene Triangle
    https://timmaudehypnotherapy.co.uk/2024/03/12/how-to-stay-mentally-fit-the-mental-health-hygiene-triangle/

    Image courtesy of Mental Health Foundation / Natalie Persoglio

  • Fear: And what to do about it

    Fear: And what to do about it

    Before I understood the power of hypnotherapy to regain control of my fears, I had all sorts of things that I was afraid of. I never had a fear of flying, but I had to get my wife to sort out spiders in the house, and the thought of speaking in public made my mouth dry up. Thankfully, that is now all gone.

    When you step back and look at these fears, they are not rational. Flying is one of the safest forms of transport, spiders (at least in the UK) are not going to hurt you, and there is no way that speaking in public will kill you. We call these irrational fears Phobias.

    Phobias are a learned response. Something that happened in the past or something that I learned from other people embedded these fears into my subconscious. It doesn’t matter what it was, and I never had to identify it. The only thing that concerned me was how it effected my life.

    The main problem I had was the embarrassment. As a grown man, I was embarrassed to be scared of such little innocuous things. I tried to hide my fears and pretend they were not real – and that actually made the situation worse.

    And so I put up with these fears until I discovered the power of hypnotherapy, and I started to understand that it is simply that my subconscious has learned something inappropriate. Hypnotherapy allowed me to get back to normal again.

    Since becoming a hypnotherapist, I have had the privilege of helping may people with fears of public speaking, taking exams, wasps, lifts, driving on motorways, and, of course, flying. It is always a delight for me to see my clients simply calm down and return their lives to normal.

    The questions you need to ask yourself are: Is my fear something I am prepared to live with for the rest of my life, or do I want to eliminate it? Is this something that really interferes with me living the life that I want to live? Is it worth the time and money to get rid of it?

    If you really want to leave your fears all in the past, then check out https://timmaudehypnotherapy.co.uk/treatments/#phobias and fill in the contact form at the bottom of the page. I help people with fears and anxiety. I run my hypnotherapy clinic in Fleet, Hampshire and also see people online.

    Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels

  • How to Choose a Hypnotherapist

    How to Choose a Hypnotherapist

    So you’ve decided you need professional help from a hypnotherapist. But there are a lot of them out there. So how do you choose? This is a simple guide to choosing a hypnotherapist.

    Find a Professional

    Make sure you find someone who is properly qualified by checking with the National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH). You can be certain that all hypnotherapists registered with the NCH:

    • Have been properly trained
    • Continue training to develop their skills throughout their career
    • Have the proper qualifications
    • Are properly insured
    • Have signed up to a code of professional ethics and standards
    • Have a professional supervisor, who they meet regularly

    You can also get an idea of how much experience they have. More experienced members will have Accredited Membership and may have other qualifications such as being a hypnotherapy Supervisor.

    • Go to the “Find a Therapist” page of the NCH Website https://www.hypnotherapists.org.uk/therapist-finder/
    • Fill in the name of your town or city in the box labelled “Find near”
    • Under “Advanced” – find the “Grade” menu and choose “Accredited” (If you want a more experienced hypnotherapist)
    • Click on “Search>>”

    You can then browse hypnotherapists near you.

    Find Out What Other Clients Think

    It is useful to see what the hypnotherapists’ other clients think of them by looking at online reviews. The best way to read independent reviews is to look at their “Google My Business” entry. Reviews placed there will show both the good and the bad reviews as they have not been selected by the hypnotherapist.

    • In a Google search engine, search for “hypnotherapy near me”
    • Near the top of the results page, there will be a local map as well as a list showing the local hypnotherapists.
    • You can either select a hypnotherapist from the map, or from the list, and read the independent reviews.

    Check Out Their Website

    It’s always a good idea to have a good look through the hypnotherapist’s website. You will get a better idea of them, as well as getting a handle on their prices and logistical arrangements.

    Have a Chat

    Most hypnotherapists are quite happy to have a chat on the phone to answer any questions you might have. The website will normally tell you how to contact them. Ask for a 10 minute chat and see how your get on with them.

    And Finally …

    Of course the quick way to make sure you get a professional hypnotherapist with good reviews and the right attitude is to give me a call !! Be assured that I am an accredited member of the NCH, with lots of good reviews – but some of you will want to check that out for yourself.

    Check out my website and contact me if you have any questions.

    Photo by James Wheeler on Pexels

  • Can Hypnotherapy Help With Anxiety?

    Can Hypnotherapy Help With Anxiety?

    Most people will have experienced anxiety at some time in their lives. This takes the form of tension, worry, a feeling of dread, helplessness, fear, or one of many other symptoms. It is quite natural to have short periods when we are anxious in this way.

    The problem comes when we are anxious on most days for long periods of time, when it effects our lives so that we are no longer living the life we want to live. For some people, this level of anxiety builds up over a long time and they come to accept it as “normal”.

    There is nothing normal about having constant anxiety.

    So if you feel that tension, the worry, the dread of the day to come – you might want to consider doing something about it. There are lots of things you can do for yourself to ease it off. However, if you need help in getting your life back together, just bear in mind that hypnotherapy can be very effective.

    Hypnotherapy is not magic. I cannot simply snap my fingers and make my clients change. In fact, hypnotherapy cannot make anyone do anything. But it can encourage your subconscious mind to choose a path that can lead you to be more like your normal self, and more in control of your life.

    I have seen hundreds of people with anxiety in one form or another over the years. Typically, I see them for between five and ten weekly sessions before they have got their lives back together and feel normal again.

    Hypnotherapy can be extremely effective at combating anxiety.

    So if you happen to be wondering “Can hypnotherapy help with my anxiety?”, you can type in “Tim Maude Hypnotherapy” into Google or Google Maps . Click on the review tab and read the Google reviews that tell you what my clients think of me. Then give me a call or use the contact form on my website and we can arrange to have a chat.

  • How to Stay Mentally Fit – the Mental Health Hygiene Triangle

    How to Stay Mentally Fit – the Mental Health Hygiene Triangle

    I spend a lot of time talking about anxiety and what happens when things go wrong, why it happens and what to do about it. Today, I want to take a different approach.

    We brush our teeth each day even when our teeth are healthy. It’s just a dental hygiene habit. But what is the equivalent mental hygiene habit? This article looks at the mental health hygiene triangle.

    Mental Health Hygiene

    The mental health hygiene triangle covers body, mind and attitude. There are things we can do in each of these areas that will support our mental health. I have divided each of the three areas (body, mind and attitude) into three categories, making nine in all.

    Body

    1. Sleep Well – When we are asleep, particularly during the dreaming phase, our brains sort out all the stresses of the day. If we don’t get enough sleep, ours brains do not have time to sort it all out and so we wake up with stress that still needs to be sorted out.
    2. Eat Well – There is growing scientific evidence that eating poorly effects our mental health. In particular, eating a wide variety of plants (vegetables, fruit, nuts, grains and so on) has a positive impact on the gut biome, which in turn gives us a better mental outlook.
    3. Exercise Well – We don’t have to go down to the gym for hours each day (unless you really want to). Even going for a short walk round the block has a positive impact on our mental health.

    I know that not everyone can do all these things, but the more you can make changes to keep the body in shape, the better mental health you will have.

    Mind

    1. Mindfulness – Mindfulness is about focusing one the here and now. Focus your attention on everything you are experiencing right now – for example, the feelings of your arm moving as you raise a cup of coffee to your lips, the change in temperature of your face as the hot air from the coffee hits your face, the light reflected in the surface of the coffee, the taste of the coffee as it hits your tongue and so on. Just practicing mindfulness for a few minutes each day trains your brain to be able to focus on the here and now.
    2. Focus – Train your brain to be able to focus on one thing at a time – get absorbed into watching a film or reading a book, or playing a sport or whatever you like to do. If you notice the odd stray thought enter your mind, just notice it and bring your attention gently back to whatever you are doing.
    3. Reflection – Spend a few minutes each day reflecting on how things are going for you. In particular, notice the things you have experienced that have been good for you, things you have enjoyed – because those are the things you should do more of.

    You need to set aside time each day to practice these things. For me, it’s first thing in the morning over a cup of tea. For you it may be something different.

    Attitude

    1. Positive Thinking – We have a natural tendency to focus our thinking on the stuff that is going wrong in our lives – and this just creates a little bit more stress. So change the balance of your thinking – notice the good things in life when they occur – things that give you those little nuggets of joy in your life – things you are grateful for.
    2. Positive Action – Ask yourself, “What small thing could I do to make my life a bit better?” Then get out and do it – no matter how small. Small positive actions may seem to be trivial in comparison with whatever else is going on in your life, but those actions have a direct impact on your mental health.
    3. Positive Interaction – Spending time interacting with other people in a positive manner has a big positive impact on mental health. It could be chatting with the person at the checkout in the supermarket, a good chat with your friends over a cup of tea, or simply being with others going for a walk.

    Keeping your body healthy; training your mind so that it can be mindful, focused and reflective when you need it to be; and adopting a more positive attitude to life are three major tools you can start using today to improve and then maintain a good state of mental health.

    And Finally …

    If this is not enough for you to get your anxiety under control, and get you into a good mentally healthy state, you may need help. I help people with anxiety get their lives back in control using hypnotherapy from my clinic in Fleet, Hampshire. I can also serve people online. Give me a call or contact me if you want a chat.