Category: <span>Therapy</span>

A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder defined by a persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. The phobia typically results in a rapid onset of fear and is present for more than six months. The affected person goes to great lengths to avoid the situation or object, to a degree greater than the actual danger posed. If the feared object or situation cannot be avoided, the affected person experiences significant distress. With blood or injury phobia, fainting may occur. Agoraphobia is often associated with panic attacks. Usually a person has phobias to a number of objects or situations.

Phobias can be divided into specific phobias, social phobia, and agoraphobia. Types of specific phobias include those to certain animals, natural environment situations, blood or injury, and specific situations. The most common are fear of spiders, fear of snakes, and fear of heights. Occasionally they are triggered by a negative experience with the object or situation. Social phobia is when the situation is feared as the person is worried about others judging them. Agoraphobia is when fear of a situation occurs because it is felt that escape would not be possible.

It is recommended that specific phobias be treated with exposure therapy where the person is introduced to the situation or object in question until the fear resolves. Medications are not useful in this type of phobia. Social phobia and agoraphobia are often treated with some combination of counselling and medication. Medications used include antidepressants, benzodiazepines, or beta-blockers.

Specific phobias affect about 6–8% of people in the Western world and 2–4% of people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America in a given year. Social phobia affects about 7% of people in the United States and 0.5–2.5% of people in the rest of the world. Agoraphobia affects about 1.7% of people. Women are affected about twice as often as men. Typically onset is around the age of 10 to 17. Rates become lower as people get older. People with phobias are at a higher risk of suicide.

Relationship maintenance (or relational maintenance) refers to a variety of behaviors exhibited by relational partners in an effort to maintain that relationship. Relational maintenance is defined by scholars in four different ways:

1. to keep a relationship in existence
2. to keep a relationship in a specified state or condition
3. to keep a relationship in a satisfactory condition and
4. to keep a relationships in repair.

First, in order to keep a relationship in existence (for example, adult friends that contact each other infrequently, but adequately to maintain the friendship), means the relationship continues without termination. Second, in order to keep a relationship in a specified state or condition, human communication professors Kathryn Dindia and Daniel Canary “refers to sustaining the present level of certain dimensions or qualities thought to be important in relationship development.” There are three elements of a stable relationship:

1. the participants reach minimal agreement about the relationship
2. relationships can stabilize at different levels of intimacy and
3. relationship still has considerable change occurring in it.

Dindia and Canary’s third definition of relational maintenance refers to keeping a relationship in a satisfactory condition or to maintain satisfaction within the relationship. “For example, this third definition implies that no one can be in a stable, but dissatisfying relationship.” Fourthly, to keep a relationship in repair means to keep the relationship in good, sound, or working condition and to repair a relationship that has come apart. Repair of the relationship means “changing a relationship from its present condition and restoring it to a previous (more advanced) state after decline or decay.”

Anxiety is an emotion characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil, often accompanied by nervous behaviour such as pacing back and forth, somatic complaints, and rumination. It is the subjectively unpleasant feelings of dread over anticipated events.

Anxiety is a feeling of uneasiness and worry, usually generalized and unfocused as an overreaction to a situation that is only subjectively seen as menacing. It is often accompanied by muscular tension, restlessness, fatigue and problems in concentration. Normally considered to be appropriate, when anxiety is experienced regularly the individual may suffer from an anxiety disorder. Anxiety is closely related to fear, which is a response to a real or perceived immediate threat; anxiety involves the expectation of future threat. People facing anxiety may withdraw from situations which have provoked anxiety in the past.

A sleep disorder, or somnipathy, is a medical disorder of the sleep patterns of a person or animal. Some sleep disorders are serious enough to interfere with normal physical, mental, social and emotional functioning. Polysomnography and actigraphy are tests commonly ordered for some sleep disorders.

Disruptions in sleep can be caused by a variety of issues, including teeth grinding (bruxism) and night terrors. When a person suffers from difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep with no obvious cause, it is referred to as insomnia.

Sleep disorders are broadly classified into dyssomnias, parasomnias, circadian rhythm sleep disorders involving the timing of sleep, and other disorders including ones caused by medical or psychological conditions.

The most common sleep disorder is insomnia. Others are sleep apnea, narcolepsy and hypersomnia (excessive sleepiness at inappropriate times), sleeping sickness (disruption of sleep cycle due to infection), sleepwalking, and night terrors. Management of sleep disturbances that are secondary to mental, medical, or substance abuse disorders should focus on the underlying conditions.

Primary sleep disorders are common in both children and adults. However, there is a significant lack of awareness in children with sleep disorders, due to most cases being unidentified. Several common factors involved in the onset of a sleep disorder include increased medication use, age-related changes in circadian rhythms, environmental and lifestyle changes [4] and pre diagnosed physiological problems and stress. The risk of developing sleep disorders in the elderly is especially increased for sleep disordered breathing, periodic limb movements, restless legs syndrome, REM sleep behavior disorders, insomnia and circadian rhythm disturbances.

Fertility by Hypnosis – We are here to support you on this amazing journey.

Each year millions of people around the world try treatments for infertility.

Despite receiving state of the art care for their fertility problems in many areas, research into how contraception occurs and what can prevent or interfere with it, shows the success rate for those who undergo high tech procedures, appears to be about 20%.

In order to boost this success rate and have the very best chance of conception, many women seek out complementary treatments such as Homeopathic Medicines, Chiropractic, Acupuncture and Mind/Body approaches.

One of the most powerful and stress reducing methods is working alongside a skilled and certified Clinical Hypnotherapist.

Following the guidelines of a personalised 12 week (3 ovulations) program, increases the odds of conception and enhances overall vitality and health.

Studies have indicated that “infertile” women utIlising mind/body techniques, have a 42%- 55% higher conception rate. Women with depression, when treated showed a 60% viable pregnancy rate within six months,contrasting with 24% when depression went untreated.(Journal of American Medical Women’s Association,1999,vol 54)

Fertility by Hypnosis tm (Lynsi Eastburn)

Fertility by Hypnosis a 12 session program for those seeking a complement to IVF or for those wishing to conceive naturally and having infertility issues. The first consultation is one and a half hours,and further consultations are one hour sessions.

The 12 week program covers:

• Release of depression, anxiety, worry
• Release of stress and lack of Confidence
• Hypnotic fertility support
• Self Hypnosis
• Biofeedback
• Healing the inner body
• Inner child Journey
• Deep sleep

Read More about Getting your brain ready for a baby.

Judi Gurd-Chapman, Clinical Hypnotherapist – Certified by the Hypnofertility Foundation