Anxiety and Hypnotherapy

Anxiety and panic attacks have increased over the last twenty years, and over the last few years, I have treated a great number of people suffering from generalized anxiety disorder. Many of them are or have been teachers—both primary and secondary–solicitors, and members of the armed forces.

Many individuals who first experience these attacks go to their GPs to ask for help and advice. Often, they are given antidepressant medication to control the effects of the attacks; however, this does not solve the problem and, if anything, it does not help the person because it takes away control from the individual—control that he or she desperately needs.

Psychotherapy, used in conjunction with hypnotherapy, is extremely powerful: this treatment approach can be used to help people suffering from anxiety with or without panic attacks. The combined approach, often known as integrative psychotherapy,  works as follows. The psychotherapy is used in order to support individuals and help them to work through the traumas that are responsible for the attacks, while the hypnosis accelerates the healing process and helps individuals to lessen the effects of the attacks.

During a panic attack, clients can experience the following effects: rapid breathing, breathlessness, light headedness, flashing lights, feeling faint, sick, feeling hot or flushed, increased heart rate, hyper-awareness, anger, feeling of the loss of control and being outside one’s self amongst other symptoms.

Often, individuals feel anxious while travelling—by car, bus, train or on a plane—or in large crowds. Clients get worked up about these problems and this only makes them worse, and this can also lead to avoidance behaviour.

Where do I Go to Seek Treatment

Many individuals go to see a hypnotist to get support. Some think that he can wae a magic wand and everything will be better; however, it is important to go to a trained psychotherapist: he or she will be able to guide you through the anxiety slowly and in your own time, and will then be able to help you come to terms with the issue and help you alleviate your attacks.

Integrative psychotherapy is also powerful in the treatment of phobic disorders which may be associated, or inextricably interconnected with the anxiety.

Anxiety disorders, according to DSM IV (1994), may be considered under the following major six categories:

1 Panic Disorder (with and without agoraphobia)
2 Specific Phobia (replacing Simple Phobia)
3 Social Phobia
4 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
5 Generalised Anxiety Disorder
6 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

For more information on this please see our published article on anxiety and sleep disorders.

For an appointment, please ring London Hypnotherapy UK on 0207 467 8564. London Hypnotherapy UK is the specialist partner of London Psychotherapy

Do you Want to have Hypnotherapy Stop Smoking?

Hypnotherapy is a very powerful tool for the treatment of psychological disorders, but it can also be used to help individuals give up unwanted habits. Hypnotherapy has been used to help people stop smoking, drinking, fighting, and other antisocial behaviour; it has also helped nail biters and cannabis smokers.

What Technique is Used to Help me Stop Smoking?

Aversion Therapy. Dr David Kraft has had a lot of success treating clients in this way; it is a very powerful and intense technique. The benefits of this technique is that it is long lasting, and, also, the effects are instant. Some clients give up smoking in a couple of sessions.

What is Aversion Therapy? How does hypnotherapy help me to Stop Smoking?

Aversion Therapy is a technique by which clients, during hypnotherapy, are given an unpleasant sensation associated with the smoking–for instance, the therapist might suggest that, before you feel like taking a cigarette, you will feel ghastly, sick and nauseous. The idea is not to actually make you sick but to stop you picking the cigarette up in the first place.

IMPORTANT!!

If you want to get hypnotherapy just to prove to a friend that you have tried everything and you still can’t give up oryou want to prove to a friend or, indeed, the hypnotherapist, that hypnotherapy doesn’t work then don’t book a session. Save your money. When you are ready to be a non smoker, then make that telephone call–it will save you a lot of money in the future.

How much Money will it Save Me in a Year? 

If you smoke 20 Marlboro Light a day, the cost per year is £2, 190. £2,190 minus 3 sessions (average number of sessions) at £160= £1,710.

But it might save your life or, indeed, thousands of pounds worth of medical bills, too, in the future!

How Do I Book a Session?

All you need to do is to phone London Hypnotherapy UK for an appointment. The telephone number is 0207 467 8564. London Hypnotherapy UK is located at the Cavendish Square end of Harley Street.

What Other Essential Information Must I Have?

This is a complete abstinence programme. In three months’ time, you cannot say to yourself, ‘Oh, I will just have one cigarette” This never works. You stop now.  

The full address is:

London Hypnotherapy UK, 10 Harley Street, London, W1G 9PF

Dr Kraft is registered with PruHealth.

Please ring 0207 467 8564 for an appointment.

Anorexia Nervosa

According to the DSM IV classification (American Psychiatric Association, 1994), eating disorders can be divided into two main categories: Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and Bulimia Nervosa (BN). Anorexic patients refuse to eat adequately and essentially starve themselves; many females, and some men suffering from this condition, have a distorted body image. In addition, female patients with anorexia nervosa frequently suffer from amenorrhoea; they present with a childlike appearance and often have a pale, gaunt face.

Anorexia Nervosa is subdivided into two main groups:

Restricting Type: weight loss associated with dieting, fasting and excessive exercise   

Binge Eating/Purging Type: weight loss associated with a bingeing and purging cycle—self-induced vomiting; inappropriate use of laxatives or enemas. This is sometimes referred to as ‘bulimerexia’ (Thiessen, 1983)         

The term anorexia nervosa was coined by Charles Lasègue (1873) and was then used by Gull in 1874. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the French psychiatrist Pierre Janet described, in many lectures, detailed accounts of patients suffering from this condition. He also used hypnotherapy to treat a condition which he described as being ‘hysterical anorexia’ (Janet, 1924). He spoke of the underlying family dynamics associated with the condition although he did not, at the time, make a clear distinction between anorexia nervosa and what is now known as bulimia nervosa.

In 2007, anorexia nervosa is widespread amongst both males and females.

A prominent feature in the aetiology of anorexia nervosa is that the patient lives in a complex, emotionally-charged and disturbed family structure; particularly females (but this also applies to young men) are often obsessional and strive somehow to be perfect. There are also a lots of hostile feelings towards parental figures—particularly between mother and daughter.

Anorexic patients have often have an encyclopaedic knowledge of foods—they count calories, and know the exact number of grams of fat, carbohydrate, protein and sugar in food stuffs. They are also very clever at hiding food and will avoid eating at all costs. In addition, some anorexics will skip meals on a regular basis, making excuses as to their whereabouts. Their behaviour pervades the whole of their lives at home and at work. Some patients also exercise excessively each day in order to take off even more weight. Patients also regard themselves as being fat even though their bodies look emaciated—thus, they suffer from having a distorted body image.

Further, these patients are able to suppress their hunger, suffer constipation and are able to feel full after a small quantity of food (Gross, 1984). One of the very important mechanisms in anorexia nervosa, and a feature which is central to their condition, is that, by eating very small quantities of food, they exercise an enormous amount of control; in addition, this has the effect of counteracting feelings of worthlessness or powerlessness in their every day lives (Sours, 1969).

Patients with anorexia can suffer from a number of physical complications including bradycardia, hypophosphataemia, delirium, amenorrhoea, stunted growth, hypothermia associated with a thiamine deficiency, a zinc deficiency, dry skin, chapped lips, skin pallor and sunken eyes./ And some patients become cachectic (Sours, 1974). It is important to remember that anorexia nervosa may lead to sudden death.

Dr David Kraft uses hypnosis to treat anorexia nervosa; however, it is important to note, that he combines this with psychotherapy. Anorexic patients require a huge amount of support and careful handling.

Welcome to the new website. Dr Kraft is the managing director of London Hypnotherapy UK. Trained as a hypnotherapist, Dr David Kraft uses integrative psychotherpy in his approach. Although he works as a psychotherapist for some clients, for most, he combines hypnosis with psychodynamic psychotherapy. He is a specialist consultant in his field. He has been trained to help people with a variety of problems including anxiety, stress, depression, phobias, sexual disorders, anger problems, IBS and grief amongst many other problems.