When I went on my honeymoon to Mauritius we could be served our breakfast on our own private terrace looking out over the Indian Ocean. It would have been idyllic, if it weren’t for one thing destined to ruin it for me. There were tiny birds that would flit over as soon as we were served, and sit on our table. Even I, with my lifelong fear of birds, could see how pretty these brightly coloured birds were. But I couldn’t stand to have them near me. So instead of enjoying the azure blue ocean with my breakfast each day, we ate in the room. Six months later I decided that enough was enough, and I sought the help of a hypnotherapist to address my fear of birds. I was sceptical as to whether it would really work, but in one session I found myself completely fear free. More than that, when I see a bird now I’m drawn to look at it, they make me laugh, and I find myself chatting to them. I have a distant memory that I used to have a crippling fear of anything that flies, but it is no more than that. Now I have trained as a clinical hypnotherapist, I love nothing more than helping a person to work on those areas of their life that are limiting their happiness.
There is little better than getting an update from a client that they had managed confidently in a situation that might have caused them extreme anxiety before. A client who came to me with a spider phobia recently sent me a photo of her hand beside a tarantula, taken on holiday in Ecuador. She loved her time in the Amazonian rainforest, a trip that she wouldn’t have dared make before. The change of season is often a time when people have to revisit a fear or a phobia that had laid dormant for a year. A fear of flying would be enough to limit the options for a family holiday. Wasps and bees buzzing around would, for other people, be enough to fear this time of year. And having to make a wedding speech might be overshadowing an otherwise happy time. If you have a fear, a phobia, or something in your life that you know just needs to change, hypnotherapy can bring fast and long lasting results. One or two sessions is usually sufficient to address an issue, and your very best summer yet can soon be here! I’m off to Venice. There are about 40,000 pigeons I’ve yet to meet!
Jennifer McClean is a clinical hypnotherapist for Mind Yourself in Enfield Town. She has a separate pixie house to work with children, and a calming room to work with individuals and groups of adults. Contact her via www.mindyourself.solutions Summer 2019
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