The Wait is over

According to The NHS Information Centre 26% of all men and women aged 16 and over in England were classified as obese in 2010 (see:

http://www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/publications/003_Health_Lifestyles/OPAD12/Statistics_on_Obesity_Physical_Activity_and_Diet_England_2012.pdf).

 

The NHS report also cited an earlier 2007 study (by the Foresight team at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills), which projected that by 2025 47% of men and 36% of women would be obese.  That’s virtually half the male population and just over a third of the female population.  Sobering figures on many counts – not least the fact that men lead the way on the obesity stakes.

Yet, this seemingly inexorable rise in obesity is occurring at a time in history when access to information has never been higher.  Who, these days, doesn’t know about healthy eating and the importance of exercise?  It’s impossible to avoid such information – rarely a day goes past without a magazine, newspaper, television programme or Internet news site carrying an article or dire warning about weight, health, diet and the health dangers of being overweight or obese. 

It’s been estimated that the UK government has spent over £2bn tackling obesity (including public information advertising) in the last ten years see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/mar/11/obesity-children-healthcare-food-industry

Can we consider this a productive investment when the results are exactly the opposite of intended?  Could, in fact, this endless diet of advice and coercion be one of the factors fuelling our ever-expanding waistlines? 

There is certainly no doubt that many overweight people feel beleaguered by the constant pressure to conform to society’s views on attractiveness and the statistical norms of what constitutes a healthy weight for one’s age and height.

The ‘diet industry’ must also be part of the problem rather than part of the solution.  How many millions of people worldwide have tried every fad diet going only to find they go back to square one, or worse, end up heavier than they were before they started dieting?

Over the years I have worked with many people to help them lose weight.  Sometimes with fantastic results, sometimes not.  Many people consult a hypnotherapist hoping that they will be ‘hypnotised’ slim.  The truth is, except in very rare cases, this passive way of approaching change simply doesn’t work.  As with all therapeutic change clients must be active agents in the process.

Issues around weight are rarely straightforward.  It is undeniably true that if we take in more calories than we expend we are going to store those extra calories – typically as body fat.  At one level it really is that simple.  But as anyone who has ever battled with a weight issue knows, things in real life just aren’t that simple.  We might know, or sense, that our diet provides more calories than we need, and/or that we do not do enough exercise – but this knowledge alone does not lead to change.  We might be full of good intentions and yet still find that we eat ‘all the wrong things’. 

Over the last few months I have been working with a nutritional therapist – Kate Lomax (http://www.nutritioncliniclondon.co.uk/pages/therapist.php) - developing an integrated programme which combines nutritional, dietary and lifestyle advice with hypnotherapy and psychotherapy.  This genuinely holistic approach is designed anew with each client.  Some people might, for example, benefit from a more coaching/motivational approach, other people might benefit from a more in depth approach exploring limiting beliefs from childhood and so on.  

So, if you are struggling with a weight issue and are not sure where to turn to next, why not book an initial consultation with Kate and myself?  This one-hour meeting, with no charge, gives you the opportunity to meet us, find out about the programme, and decide for yourself whether our new approach is the answer you’ve been looking for.

Contact David on 07941 061795 or via email: david@corehypnosis.co.uk

© David Corr September 2012

David is a UKCP registered hypno-psychotherapist who has also trained to Master Practitioner level in NLP. He offers integrated psychotherapy and hypnotherapy at The Waterloo Body Station, The Aston Clinic in New Malden and also in Epsom, Surrey. For more information please contact David via his website: www.corehypnosis.co.uk

Hero's Clinic

A few weeks ago I posted my first ever blog – “Help is available”.  I submitted the same article to the Natural Therapy For All (NTFA) website – which features over 3,000 clinics across the UK and Ireland offering complementary and alternative medicine and psychotherapy.  Yesterday NFTA contacted all the therapists listed on their site with the following message:

“Dear Therapists,

Inspired by David Corr’s recent article ‘Help is Available’, the NTFA team have decided to launch a campaign called ‘Hero’s clinic’ with the goal of helping ex service personnel and veterans avail of low-cost health services.  Through this undertaking, we aim to build a network of good clinics that are willing to offer some of their time and service to these people at a reduced cost.”

I fully support this initiative by NTFA and really hope that a great many osteopaths, acupuncturists, hypnotherapists, psychotherapists and other complementary practitioners sign up to Hero’s Clinic.  The public can also play a huge role in helping to make the initiative work.  If you know any service personnel, past or present, suffering from the after-effects of active service, or if you know someone who knows someone in that position please do pass on the details of the Hero’s Clinic (just log on to http://www.naturaltherapyforall.com).

Many thanks

David Corr

© David Corr April 2012

David is a UKCP registered hypno-psychotherapist who has also trained to Master Practitioner level in NLP offers integrated psychotherapy and hypnotherapy at The Waterloo Body Station and The Aston Clinic.  For more information please contact David via his website: www.corehypnosis.co.uk

Help is available

Help is available 

A recent newspaper article highlighted the very sad case of a young man who committed suicide some while after returning home from a tour of duty in Afghanistan. A terrible tragedy for this young serviceman, his family, friends and comrades, compounded by the fact that it appears he didn’t have access to the help he needed. There is, of course, no way of knowing whether therapeutic assistance would have helped him deal with the traumas he was going through. But, the evidence does show that therapy can play a tremendous role in helping people recover from even the most profound traumas. The Ministry of Defence have said in a statement “The mental health of service personnel is a top priority”. But, I’ve often wondered whether service personnel know that in addition to formal therapeutic provision (which may not always be as readily available as we all might wish) there is a network of trained and registered psychotherapists who offer some of their time at reduced cost (indeed some will even offer therapy for no fee) to anyone who is serving, or has served, in the forces. The offer also extends to the partners, adult dependants, and parents of current and ex-service personnel. Details of this service can be found at http://www.thelongboathome.co.uk 

One very effective way of working with the aftermath of trauma is Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing – or EMDR for short. EMDR was developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro in the 1980s. Since then it has developed a truly impressive research base which shows its effectiveness in treating psychological trauma arising from experiences as diverse as war-related experiences, natural disasters, assault, surgical trauma, road traffic accidents, sexual and/or physical abuse or neglect, and workplace accidents. It has also shown its effectiveness in treating phobias, anxiety, and fears around public speaking to name a few.  More details can be found at: http://www.emdrassociation.org.uk/home/index.htm

The process of EMDR rests on the incredible observation by Francine Shapiro that holding a distressing thought in mind whilst performing rapid eye movements, which your therapist shows you how to do, leads to the distressing thought becoming less and less disturbing, until eventually the traumatic experience becomes adaptively resolved. [Eye movements are the standard way of doing EMDR, but there are other equally successful ways of achieving the desired results for those who cannot perform the eye movements.] Accredited EMDR training is only available to suitably qualified therapists (such as UKCP or BACP registered psychotherapists and counselors). There are plenty of films of YouTube claiming to show EMDR in action. Sadly many of these bear little relationship to actual EMDR. The most helpful films, albeit consisting only of text and a voice over, are available at: http://www.emdrassociation.org.uk/home/EMDR_videos.htm

I am two-thirds the way through my accredited EMDR training and finding it more and more useful in my practice for treating a wide variety of issues. I particularly value the fact that EMDR fits really well with my main approach of hypnotherapy. Together the two approaches offer genuine possibilities for resolving even long-standing issues.

Importantly, psychotherapy is not just for people who have experienced life-threatening trauma. Therapy can also be of huge assistance even when life is generally okay or even good, except for that one issue that stumps us (whether it’s battling with a weight issue, premature ejaculation, fear of public speaking or indeed any of the countless human issues that so many of us face).

So, if you know someone who is struggling to live with the memories of deep trauma, or just struggling with a life issue, you can let them know they don’t have to struggle on in isolation. Confidential and professional help is available.

By David Corr

David offers psychotherapy and hypnotherapy at Waterloo Therapy Rooms, The Waterloo Body Station and The Aston Clinic. For more information please contact David via his website: www.corehypnosis.co.uk