Video links are now restored
Posted by jonhinch in How Hypnotherapy Can Help on 6 May 2021
At some point in the last few years the links to my videos broke and I didn’t know where the originals were store. I have now located them and put them back on the website. For me it is quite good to see them again after all this time. I hope they give you a good sense of what a typical hypnosis session would be like.
Beating Depression
Posted by jonhinch in Depression on 11 January 2015
Is life getting you down?
Do you lack motivation to get things done?
Are there times you just don’t see the point any more?
Have you been on Anti-depressant tables for years?
Well take heart. The future does not have to look the same. Read the rest of this entry »
Stop Smoking using your unconscious mind
Posted by jonhinch in Stop Smoking on 11 January 2015
Without physically doing this, think about the following: When you cross your arms which hand is on top? Many people don’t know the answer to this.
Now do it and see.
Now cross your arms the other way. How does it feel? Could you do that accidentally? Read the rest of this entry »
Hypnotherapy demonstration session
People are often unsure what a hypnotherapy session is and what it might involve so while I was filming and helping at a British Hypnosis Research Master Practitioner Training at Roehampton University in August 2011 I took the opportunity to work with one of the students.
We actually started the session with Matthias working on me. Matthias is an inspirational man that wanted to learn Hypnotherapy despite being blind. He was initially concerned that he would not be able succeed as hypnosis requires a lot of observation and utilisation. There are clearly techniques Matthias can’t use but another important attribute of Hypnotherapy is being flexible and utilising what you do have and Matthias is excellent at this. Matthias wanted to inspire other people with limitations and we therefore decided to film a session where he worked on me. I am not an easy hypnosis subject as I am constantly working on myself in self-hypnosis and haven’t had much opportunity to be a subject of a good hypnotherapists. When I said “I was going to be a helpful subject” I think I was convincing myself! I have included that video at the end of the page in case you would like to see it. It might also explain a few peices of conversation in the session I did with Matthias.
When talking about what to do in the sessions Matthias had said he had thought of something he would like to work on me with and so when Matthias told me his sight had worsen a few years before I though lets see what Matthias can do for himself. My session lasts about 70 minutes and the first 25 minutes don’t involve trance. Because it was my idea as to what I wanted to work on I had to make sure Matthias was happy with. It would be highly unethical for me to just decide to work on his eyesight and not consider that he might perceive more advantages in his life by it remaining as it was. Once I was satisfied my idea meet with approval I went ahead and worked on it but I also gave many other ways for improvements to occur. I am not my client so I don’t know what is best for their overall health and well being. I can make suggestions but hypnotherapy is about creating opportunities for change and then seeing what happens.
Did I realistically expect to achieve anything from the session? I am no longer realistic. Being realistic held me back in my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for 15 years as I say towards the end of the session. Being realistic is just another way of putting limits on something. My job is to create and release potential in people.I believe all positive thoughts have the potential of helping us so I would expect Matthias to make gains from the session. If he told me he his vision had improved after a few weeks I would not be surprised. The next day he did tell me how excited he was that he could see objects in his mind in greater detail and how that would help him in is work on Artificial Intelligence. This seemed a great short term outcome and I would be pleased with just that. I do believe however some changes take time for the unconscious mind to implement and I look forward to seeing what, if anything, Matthias tells me over time.
Blind People Can Still Make great Hypnotherapists!
Helping someone overcome a fear of flying on Chelmsford Radio
Posted by jonhinch in In The Press, Phobias on 8 January 2015
In October 2010 I was invited to Chelmsford Radio to help one of their Staff overcome a fear of flying
You can right click and save as this link Edits from Drive Time Program on Radio Chelmsford where Hypnotherapist Jon Hinchliffe helps someone overcome their fear of flying.
I think this peice is quite nice because it shows Nicki’s reactions. She is not magically “cured”. She is back in a position where she can enjoy the experience again.
It is natural to have anxieties when you first face something that was a phobia. It is the experience of going through something that you thought impossible which really brings home the changes you have made.
Nicki made it to Australia and had a really good time.
If you holiday choices are limited by a problems with flying or you have any other fears you want to overcome call Jon Hinchliffe on 01857 600708.
Fear and excitement are close feelings and you Jon can easily help you turn one into the other.
Video – Interview answering common questions
In the following 19 minute video Brother Maximilian SSF interviews Jon Hinchliffe (when he still had long hair!) about Hypnotherapy. When you have time why not check it out. Questions covered are:
What is Hypnotherapy?
What is Hypnosis?
Will I lose control?
Why select Hypnotherapy over other Alternative therapies?
Is there any danger in using Hypnotherapy?
How long does Hypnotherapy take?
What normally happens in the first session?
Some people are strong willed, can they be hypnotised?
Why use Jon Hinchliffe Hypnotherapy?
Extreme OCD Camp
Posted by jonhinch in M.E./C.F.S, OCD, Phobias on 30 July 2013
I have just watched a news segment on BBC Breakfast for Extreme OCD Camp. Some sufferers had gone to USA to learn to manage their OCD. The clip showed the sufferer having to face her fear in direct confrontation. I don’t know if this was typical of the whole treatment but I get very frustrated watching TV like this as I don’t think it is necessary to put someone through such fear. Also the sufferers they had in the studio didn’t seem to have moved forwards too much. One said he used to take 13 mins to wash his hands and now his record was 5mins 1 second. This is great but the very act of timing himself is saying “I have a problem”. It is very difficult to overcome a problem when you are so focused it.
As a hypnotherapist I get very frustrated with direct confrontation of fear. It is not pleasant for a sufferer and it is not necessary. So much can be done to reduce the fear before that stage is necessary.
Hypnosis is a wonderful way to overcome fears and anxieties because you are in a relaxed state and therefore training your mind to cope with a situation and feel relaxed.
A good analogy of this is my own story of wanting to be a runner again. I had used a mobility scooter for 15 years because of ME/CFS/PVFS (Myalgic Encephalopathy/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome). I tried using graduated exercises to build up my walking ability. I was told to walk 50 meters a day and then 60m, 70m etc. I was able to build up to 2 minutes walk a day but then my body would shut down again under the pressure and I would go into a crash state. I would reduce the walks and build up again hit the same barrier. It was like hitting a glass ceiling. I was the first failure of the physiotherapist that was helping me. I had only had the illness about 3 years at this point but over the years I didn’t move forward. Then I learnt the principles behind hypnosis and started applying them to myself. One of the key changes for me was I wanted to be a runner. It used to really frustrate me seeing people run. I didn’t care about walking, I want to run. I therefore decided to sit down and go into a trance and go for a run.
Our brains are completely isolated inside our bodies. The only way we know the world is out there is because of the information sent to our brains from our senses. If we imagine the information from our senses there is little difference to the brain. Therefore going for a run in a trance the brain thinks it is going for a run for real. It can barely tell the difference. What it can tell however is that the body is not getting tired. I would probably spend 3 mins a day going for a 3 mile run around my old cross country route at school. After 6 weeks of daily “runs” I had reason to test a cross trainer machine and I did about 0.3 of its miles. I thought nothing of it which I thought was curious. I decided to do it the next day and the next day. Then I did 0.4 miles and followed it by 0.2 miles but faster the day after. Soon I found myself building up and up to the point I eventually did start running and eventually got to complete a half marathon.
What happened after 15 years that didn’t after 3? Well clearly nothing can be known from my isolated cases but I think scientific studies when pieced together with my own insights lead to the following theory.
When I tried walking and building up I got instant physical reactions and by body could not cope. I was already tired and the walking was a pointless exercise with no benefit only fatigue.
With the trance run the brain thought it was running. Scientific studies have shown that muscle mass can increase by mentally weight lifting each day. So my body probably started adapting to running over the six week period. And the massive difference was there was no fatigue. My brain therefore thought it was healthier and that my body could run. So when I did some light exercise it thought “Why should this be a problem. You have run for 6 weeks now”.
Breaking the link between the physical and the reality was a crucial step here and it is my belief that it is the best way to move anyone forward on a fear issue. If you get comfortable with doing something mentally first then it will be easier in reality.
The sufferers in the program all knew logically they should not have the problem. To me the unconscious mind has got some settings slightly out of sync and these need adjusting. This can be done without the stress of direct confrontation.
If you have any questions for me or a different point of view please get in touch I am always looking to expand my knowledge of how the human mind works so that I can move more people forward.
One final point to think about. If you were told that your OCD would be gone in a year as long as you focused on what you would be able to do in a years time would you focus on that for one year? What if you saw no change in that time?
It took me 2-3 years to run that half marathon. I expected I would get there in a year. All the delays were important information for me and my body. I did it. You can make massive leaps forward with your life too.
Conversation with a client working on a long term problem
Posted by jonhinch in General, How Hypnotherapy Can Help, M.E./C.F.S on 20 June 2013
Today I would like you share with you a conversation I had with a client. This client currently holds my record for the most sessions. I have had 7 sessions with them . I rarely get above 4 sessions with anyone so this is case is quite unusual for me. The client is a blind Swiss ME/CFS/PVFS (Myalgic Encephalopathy/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome) sufferer that also has sleep trouble. I have been helping this client via Skype sessions and in general they have made good progress but so far sleep is still a problem. I always ask my clients to ask me questions and today we have a text conversation which I feel is worth sharing.
Client: Hi Jon! How things with you? I am doing pretty good, being optimistic and curious about the future. You mentioned something interesting, namely, that Milton Erickson’s was often led into dead ends by his unconscious. But…. That isn’t a bad thing in itself and should not stop one from using intuition the way Erickson did?
Jon Hinchliffe: Absolutely not. This is why I have the analogy of the captain of the ship being the conscious and the unconscious being the rest of the ship. Sometimes the worker gets it wrong and need guidance from the manager as to how to proceed. Sometimes, of course, the captain gets it wrong and needs to trust his workers to get there. It is all give and take.
Client: Thanks for reminding me of that analogy of yours! I have been reading C.G. Jung – thinking I might get some inspiration as to how to steer and activate my unconscious mind in the direction I want it to work. Can’t however make much of Jung’s archetypes so far. I thought that there might be something like the ‘healer archetype’ in Jung. Haven’t found that however. Do you have any opinion on archetypes and if and how they could be used for the healing process?
Jon Hinchliffe: I have to say I don’t know what they are but given they are a man-made breaking down of us, I don’t really see them need for them. We are whole and the where we want to b is what I believe we should focus on. Do you think your unconscious might have a reason for not letting you sleep?
Client: I don’t see that my unconscious would have any reason not to let me sleep – except …. if is getting the wrong orders from the captain…. But I must say that the captain has learned quite a bit in the past year. However, I still find it difficult to tap into my unconscious mind – I am sure it is happening but I am not consciously aware of it – and this is something I’d like to be consciously aware of – like the captain of a ship ought to consciously know what the crew is doing, thinking, and suggesting….
Jon Hinchliffe: How would a captain ever know what his crew are thinking? He can’t become them.
Client: Well, a captain has his officers that will inform him, give him advice, give him an idea of how the crew is doing and so forth….. Maybe I was thinking that the archetypes could function something like the officers of a ship to the captain of the ship…..
Jon Hinchliffe: You can’t consciously think like your unconscious and you can’t necessarily be aware of it. When I feel my unconscious has given me something, I am still thinking it consciously. How am I selecting the words I am typing or the words I when I speak?
The officers still have limited views. I prefer the idea of the whole being united and I have found nothing that has convinced me otherwise.
Client: Well, I get your point. However…. In some shamanistic traditions and other mind-based traditions as well, I guess one could argue that the unconscious becomes the mode in which the world – both inner and outer world – is experienced…. Is this thinking too far out your thinking?
Jon Hinchliffe: I only like the conscious and unconscious because I can kind of prove there is something that isn’t conscious but is still there. I still think of us a whole being working towards common goals
I might incorrectly try to argue that the conscious is how we notice and represent the inner. The crew send the messages (the feelings) but the captain is the one judging them.
Client: I just feel that the border between the conscious and unconscious mind might not be as sharp as you make it look with your analogy of a ship and its captain and crew. Maybe what you mean by ‘the conscious mind’ being the captain is more like a ‘meta-conscious mind’. This at least is how one could think of it when one grants that the line between conscious and unconscious mind is blurry. By the way, I have gotten this idea from neuroscience as well as from my own experience – dreams being a good example of the blurry line between conscious and unconscious.
However, I do like your concept of the mind as a whole working towards common goals.
Jon Hinchliffe: I agree the line is very blurry and this is why we have to remember we are a whole and why we have to remember I can’t talk without my unconscious selecting my words for me. I try and rationalise the conscious and unconscious mind but I have no real idea of how the unconscious mind “ticks” all can do is give it problems and ask it to help solve them. This is why I go with my flow in sessions rather than have a strict forced structure. As I am working I often note bits I want to include in the hypnosis session but once I am working unconsciously I can ignore my notes completely. My unconscious is aware of what I have thought but is suggesting other ideas to me. I am normally more happy with what I achieved that if I had stuck to my plan. If I still feel my ideas worth doing another time I will make a note to myself.
There are problems I have thrown to my unconscious for months and sometimes the answer comes from nowhere all by itself. I feel I am still being taught by my unconscious.
Perhaps my unconscious is still learning. I encourage everyone to look at all areas of life and see where the cross links come from. It is something I am constantly doing. Perhaps my unconscious is therefore learning to communicate with me consciously better. You have to remember it is less than 5 years ago I had no concept of my unconscious mind. During that time I have changed and improved so much. My understanding of the world is constantly developing.
Client: That is a fascinating point: That your unconscious is maybe learning how to communicate with you better. I do believe that learning happens all the time and the way that the unconscious mind implements what it has learned into our life remains opaque as whatever we act out is already given to us consciously. However, going back to the topic of dreams…. Dreams might be one of those areas where the conscious mind and the unconscious mind meet in a way that is observable to the self….. I have found over time that I there are subtle changes in which my dream world presents certain common themes to me – when those themes have to do with my recovery, I find that I now have more options to choose from within the dream – it used to be only two options: Escaping from the scene and waking up or trying to ‘disbelieve’ what is happening. These days, I find I have the power to attend to any issue that comes up in the dream and try to be creative about it. Maybe your hypnosis work is based on similar principles….
Jon Hinchliffe: I certainly think the way you describe dreams there is very like the way clients describe the trance they have just had. I am one of those people that is rarely aware of my own dreams so it is not an area I have played with. I would hope the older you get the more you discover that there are always so many choices about how we move forward. It is two-choice thinking that is the cause of so many of my clients coming to see me. So often both choices are both right and wrong depending on the perspective you are looking from. This is why I like to tell clients that as soon as I believe I know something I know I am almost certainly wrong. And even that statement can be wrong!
Jon Hinchliffe: There seems a good point to let you carry on thinking and focusing on your improved health. Trust your unconscious!
Client: I like what you said about what you believe when you have come to believe something…smiley. It is almost a Quinean poing in philosophy: There are no analytical truths. You also seem to refer to what one could call ‘fluid intelligence’ as opposed to ‘rigid intelligence’, i.e. collecting data and thinking the data itself is objective….. If I understand you correctly, even the data must never be regarded as objective and written in stone. I also feel that the notion of the unconscious mind you use is closely linked to what I would call ‘intuition’. And I would say that most people trust their intuition as a default. Trusting their unconscious mind seems to be more daring and unsafe…. as most people will think of their unconscious mind as having this dark, destructive side.
Jon Hinchliffe: When I ran my first half marathon after 15 years of ME/CFS/PVFS I felt that is would prove I didn’t have ME. I spent two years expecting this. I ran the half marathon and instantly realised all it meant was on that day I had ran a half marathon. It meant nothing more and trying to put my interpretation on it was wrong.
I agree with your description as intuition and I very much like the idea of fluid thinking. The dark destructive side is not something I accept. I think that is the result of Freud and the like. I think that was a way forward that appeared to work but I see no need for it and I think it is a cause of problems. If the unconscious is dark and bad how is that useful to mankind as a species? I have often spoken to clients after therapist have left them thinking there is a something blocking them etc. I have not yet been convinced this is the case. Just talking to the client has normally left them a different perspective on this point.
Client: Oh, now you just raised a fascinating point, i.e. that you are not convinced about the dark, destructive side of the mind. I think – completely neglecting Freud -, there are some good points in favour of the dark, destructive side of the mind…. I think this would make for a longer discussion and I am all for it. Would you like to discuss that at a later time?
[15:16:02] Jon Hinchliffe: We can or we can carry on now
Client: Sorry, Jon, would like to carry on but a friend came over. Will really like to discuss this with you!
Thank you, Jon, for this conversation! I would like to take this up at another time! I feel our little exchange had a positive impact on me! Cheers to both our unconscious minds. smiley
Jon Hinchliffe: Ok another time 🙂
Client: Great! Warmest wishes from Switzerland!
Why do people start smoking after successfully giving up?
Posted by jonhinch in Stop Smoking on 21 March 2013
There is no single answer to this question.
Common reasons I have been given are:
- Stress
- I thought I could just have one more
- I missed the weight, the feel of the cigarette, watching the smoke etc
Most people I see find the initial giving up of smoking really easy. This can often be done in 1 session. The key to giving up permanently is the addressing the kind of issues mentioned above. This is why I always ask my clients what they will miss with the smoking; what they think could cause them to start smoking again. These are important questions and the more potential failures can be anticipated the more successful the outcome in the long run.
If you are serious about giving up smoking and giving up smoking permanently you might want to consider booking 3 sessions over a period of months to make sure you are adjusting well to being the new non-smoker you will be.
If you have always smoked a cigarette when stressed what are you going to do next time you feel stressed and you are a non-smoker? I can teach you techniques to help reduce your stress. To help you achieve the life you want for yourself. These sessions are the real key to giving up smoking.
I am happy to work with you on a per session basis. Or give you discount on an upfront block booking arrangement. No session of Hypnotherapy is wasted. Once you are aware of its potential there is so many ways you can enjoy helping yourself.
Please call me today and I will be more than happy to discuss this with you.
Jon Hinchliffe receives a BSc (Hons) in Clinical Hypnosis
Braintree based hypnotherapist received his certificate for his BSC (Hons) in Clinical Hypnosis at Westminster Cathedral on 18th July 2012