There are different different types of phobia listed in DSM IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994): agoraphobia, social phobia and specific phobia. Within the specific phobia category there are five subtypes of phobic anxiety: animal phobias, situational phobias, blood injection injury types, natural environment type and other type. Animal phobia usually has a childhood onset. Individuals who suffer from animal phobia can normally lead a normal life, but in some instances, a person might develop extreme avoidance and safety behaviours, and in these cases, it is helpful to seek psychotherapeutic support.

These are some examples of safety/avoidance behaviours:

1 Not being able to read a newspaper because of an uncontrollable fear that you might come across a cat on one of the pages.

2 Not being able to go on holiday abroad because of fear of seeing a large spider in the wild.

3 Screaming out loud and asking your boyfriend to check every room of the hotel for ants before you can go in.

If these scenarios sound familiar, it might be helpful for you o seek help now. The approach that David Kraft uses combines behaviour techniques with hypnosis. He will use systematic desensitization in order gradually and efficiently to reduce anticipatory anxiety to your feared object. The hypnosis will intensify you feelings of well being and control throughout the process.

David Kraft is a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a full member of BSCAH. He runs a successful practice in Harley Street, London. To book a session, please ring 0207 467 8564.

London Hypnotherapy UK is the specialist partner of London Psychotherapy.

Offices and consulting rooms ar based at 10 Harley Street, London, W1G 9PF

Royal Society of Medicine

On the 6th of June 2011, the Hypnosis and Psychosomatic Medicine Section was at the centre of the news because of claims that the NHS could save money–a huge amount of money–if hospitals employ fully qualified therapists to use hypnosis in treatment. The overall message of fellows of the society was that hypnosis is a very powerful tool that can be used on its own or in conjunction with medical treatment, but that patients should be protected from, as Jacky Owens, president of the section calls them, ‘hypno-cowboys’.

She said,

“Conditions such as depression, pain and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affect millions of people in the UK and a great cost to the NHS. But hypnosis can often work where other treatments have been unsuccessful”.

Hypnosis is, at long last recognised by NICE as an intervention for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome and Peter Whorwell in Manchester has shown that his gut directed approach is significantly effective in treatment. However, there are many other conditions that have been treated effectively with hypnosis including depression, phobic anxiety, agoraphobia, psychosomatic pain, OCD, sleep disorders, eating disorders, anxiety, grief, chemotherapy-induced nausea, PTSD amongst others.

Amongst other specialists, Dr David Kraft gave a lecture on the use of hypnosis for smoking cessation. He gave a detailed account of a case study: the client was a man in his early 30s who had smoked over 25 cigarettes for about 20 years. Dr Kraft used hypnosis and a number of techniques which he described for the audience. He showed that it is possible to use hypnosis and help people give up smoking in one session. In one hour.

David Kraft is a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a member of the Hypnosis and Psychosomatic Medicine Section. He is also a member of the British Society of Clinical & Academic Hypnosis (BSCAH) and on the General Hypnotherapy Register (GHR). He has written and co-written over 10 peer-reviewed articles in academic journals in England and Australia and has given lectures at the Royal Society of Medicine of four occasions. David has spent a great deal of time treating people with phobic anxiety, but has recently also had a lot of success helping people give up smoking. He uses covert sensitization (aversion therapy) in his approach and has even help people to reduce their cravings to a minimum.

Smoking has a deleterious effect on almost all of the organs in the body and is responsible for many deaths each year.

To give up, phone Dr Kraft on 0207 467 8564. Now!!!

Dr David Kraft is the managing director of both London Psychotherapy and London Hypnotherapy UK. He has had a great deal of experience treating the full range of psychological conditions, and his practice is based at 10 Harley Street in central London. This year, he has treated a number of clients to help them stop smoking, and, so far, all his clients have given up smoking in one session. Stop Smoking Hypnotherapy is a fast evolving treatment programme, and Dr David Kraft uses the following techniques during the process: aversion therapy (covert sensitization), indirect and direct suggestions, future orientation in time, as well as many of the principles of healthy living (psychoneuroimmunology). Over the years, he has helped many people give up smoking in a very short period of time; the effects are long lasting. Nowadays, smoking is not as socially acceptable as it was in, say, the 1940s. Dr David Kraft points out that many physical conditions occur as a result of smoking including,  cardiovascular disease, emphysema,  chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, shortness of breath, bladder problems, cancer of the oesophagus, kidneys complications, cancer of the pancreas and cervical cancer.

It is time to stop smoking now.

For an appointment, please ring Dr David Kraft at London Hypnotherapy UK on 0207 467 8564.

Dr David Kraft is a specialist hypnotherapist and psychotherapist  with a successful private practice in Harley Street, in central London. He specializes in phobic anxiety, sleep disorders, PTSD, psychosomatic pain and generalized anxiety disorder. Recently, he has had a considerable amount of success helping patients who are about to, or have undertaken cardiac surgery–in particular coronary, valvular and aortic surgery and ‘redo’ procedures. He has also worked in conjunction with gynaecologists helping patients to overcome anxieties in relation to having had hysterectomies: further, using hypnotherapy, he has helped to reduce flooding and clotting, and has helped patients suffering from vaginismus and dispareunia. This year, Dr Kraft has help a number  of clients to stop smoking, and, in all cases, clients have given up in one session.

Dear hypnotherapist

(All the words in the following letter have been kept; however, some wrong spellings have been changed by the author to help readers).

I need some help with sport. I am a keen netball player and I have been playing for years. I heard that hypnotherapy can enhance performance and I need some help in this area. I have been struggling recently on the pitch. I doubt myself and hesitate and this affects what I do. When I am really engaged I play really well, but, for most of the time, I worry that the goal is too far away and my shot will not be good. I heard that hypnosis can help. I want to reach my full potential. Can you help me because I love playing so much and I feel that I am letting my friends down. Last year I missed a really important shot and we lost the game, and my problem got worse after this event. K

Dear K

Hypnotherapy can be used effectively to help people with sport–specifically performance anxiety. It can help you to concentrate and also to reach your full potential in the game. It can enhance your skills in all aspects of the game. If you would like to book a session, please do not hesitate to phone 0207 467 8564.

Yours sincerely

Dr David Kraft

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

Psychotherapist and Hypnotherapist   

Dr David Kraft is a psychotherapist and hypnotherapist in private practice. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a member of the British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis (BSCAH). He is a member of the Hypnosis and Psychosomatic Medicinee  Section of the RSM. David has published articles on driving phobia, covert sensitization (including helping people give up drinking alcohol, stopping smoking, stopping nail biting and eating chocolate), sleeping disorders, anxiety, hyperhidrosis, sexual disorders, eating disorders (including bulimia and anorexia) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Dr Kraft has p[ublished in the Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis and in Contemporary Hypnosis, which is the official publication of BSCAH. He has a diploma in clinical hypnosis, an advanced certificate in clinical and strategic hypnosis and a diploma in clinical psychology.

Dear Sir/madam

I am looking for a hypnotherapist in central london and wondered whether you could help me here at London Hypnotherapy UK. I have had tremendous problems with the NHS. I just get put on waiting lists and I feel like I am just a number. I am not a number. I am a very anxious person who needs some personal care. Can you help me? You are probably all very busy but if you could book me an appointment soon, I would be very grateful.

It all started last year when I went to work one morning with an aching stomach. I thought to myself, ‘I wonder whether this will get worse and worse. I wonder whether I will get some horrible disease and then die of it. I started to think of the worst scenario. I started to imagine what it would be like to have to have an operation on my gut. Then I started looking at the internet. This made things worse. i went to my GP and she said that she would do some tests. I went to the hospital twice and had various blood tests and scans. Everything was ok, but I still felt terrible. I still had feelings of being cramped up and I had diarrhoea, and a feeling of being bloated. The bloating feeling was the worse. I never really had constipation, but once I took some anti-diarhoeals and they made me really constipated. I then went back to my GP. She prescribed me mebeverine which is a relaxant of some kind. I have tried peppermint oil and Chinese medicine. My GP said that I should cut out yeast from my diet, but that didn’t help. I also noticed that when I was busy at work I had fewer symptoms, but, when I travelled to work and when I started thinking about it when I got home, I was really bad. I would think my condition was getting worse and then it would happen. I think this is definitely psychological. My GP finally told me that I had IBS. She said that this occurred in most cases as a direct result of stress. Is this true. What sort of IBS have I got and hypnotherapy help me with this condition. Thanks B

Dear B

Thank you for your e-mail. It sounds like you have IBS-D, the form which is diarrhoea predominant–many individuals with this form of IBS also have abdominal pain and some have feelings of being bloated too. Hypnotherapy is extremely helpful in the treatment of IBS. It has been highly successful too. I use hypnosis in conjunction with psychotherapy, and this combined approach has had a tremendous amount of success. The tapproach here, using imagery in the hypnotherapy, and support within the psychotherapeutic context, is to deal with the cause of the problems rather than to manage symptomatlogy. At the follow up too, we have had good results here at London Hypnotherapy UK.

Best of luck

Dr David Kraft, Psychotherapist and Hypnotherapist

Dr David Kraft (PhD) is a psychotherapist and hypnotherapist in private practice. His offices are at 10 Harley Street, London, W1G 9PF, UK. The phone number there is 0207 467 8564. The phones are open from 9am until 10 pm on week days. The phones are also open at the weekend, although 10 Harley Street closes at 5pm. It is not open on bank holidays. Dr David Kraft is a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, and a full member of the British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis (BSCAH). BSCAH is a combined organization of the following organizations: BSCAH and BSMDH. He has a diploma in clinical psychology and two diplomas in clinical hypnotherapy. He has written papers in national and international journals including Contemporary Hypnosis, the journal of the British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis, and in the Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. Dr David Kraft is also on the General Hypnotherapy Register.

Hi

I am in a terrible state. I have been on Citalopram for several months now, I am now feeling worse, and not only do I feel worse, I feel out of control. I feel that the whole world is passing me by and I have no hope. I had a bout of depression when I was seventeen when my mother died. It feels lie this has happened again. I feel like I am a teenager again. I am out of control and I can’t control my emotions. Also, my boyfriend has left me. That’s when I started to get really bad and I went to see my GP. I hope that hypnotherapy can help me to get out of this cycle of depression. I have read a lot of hypnotherapy and how it works and it sounds right up my street. I want to stop taking the medication and start using hypnosis to help me through this difficult time. I need help. Do you teach self hypnosis as well? Thanks. Vicky

Dear Vicky

The approach that I use combines psychotherapy with hypnotherapy; it is a very powerful and effective form of treatment which has no side effects and it does not use medication. If you would like to book an appointment, please do not hesitate to phone 0207 467 8564.

Dr David Kraft, London Hypnotherapy UK in association with London Psychotherapy

David Kraft has a diploma in clinical psychology (Dip.Cl.Psy), and two diplomas in clinical hypnosis–the DCHyp and the A.Cert.CS.Hyp. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a full member of the British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis (BSCAH). He is also on the General Hypnotherapy Register, and has the General Qualification in Hypnotherapy Practice. Dr Kraft works in private practice in central London.

Hi. Sir.

I need a hypnotherapist in London who can help me with my problems. I started worrying about getting into a car and driving anywhere. I don’t drive, but I found it difficult getting into any cars, taxis. I then started to avoid public transport and refused to get on a bus, or travel on London Underground. I started to go on the train to work even though it was a longer journey. I then stopped going on the train, and stopped work altogether. My phobia got worse at this point. I seem to be punishing my parents for the way that they have treated me recently, I have shout at them all the time, and then make up the next day. I am very anxious around other people and I only have two friends. I heard that hypnotherapy is used in order to help people with claustrophobia. I have other problems too, though. Can hypnosis be used to help me with my fear of travelling, and my fear of cars and trains. I have been to a hypnotherapist before and he help me to give up smoking. I am still off the cigs, but now I have bigger problems. Thanks. Natalie

Dear Natalie

It sounds like you need some time to work through some of these issues with a psychotherapist or counsellor. My approach combines psychotherapy–specifically psychodynamic psychotherapy–with hypnosis. I feel that hypnotherapy is not a therapy on its own andit should be combined with another form of treatment–nursing, dentistry, psychotherapy, CBT, NLP, cognitive or behavioural approaches. As I say, I use psychotherapy and feel that the support that give is critical in treatment. I should be happy to see you in town. All you need to do is to ring the following number–0207 467 8564.   

David Kraft

Dr David Kraft (PhD) is a private hypnotherapist and psychotherapist, and is based at the following address: 10 Harley Street, London, W1G 9PF. David trained in hypnosis at the BST Foundation in Russell Square, London. It was here that he received the Diploma in Clinical Hypnosis (DCHyp), and the Advanced Certificate in Clinical and Strategic Hypnosis (A.Cert.CSHyp). He also has a Diploma in Clinical Psychology (Dip.Cl.Psy) from the London School of Management Science. David is a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a full member of BSCAH. He has also publsihed nationally and internationally; he has, for example, written four papers in Contemporary Hypnosis, which is the journal for BSCAH. Dr David Kraft uses psychodynamic psychotherapy combined with hypnosis.

Key Words: Agoraphobia, Claustrophobia, Anxiety

Dear Sir

I have just been diagnosed with cancer and I am really scared. I heard that hypnosis is helpful. I am so angry and upset all of the time. I don’t know what to do. Please help me.

Thank you

Mabel

Dear Mabel

Thank you for your e-mail. Hypnotherapy has been used for a long period of time to hep people who have been diagnosed with cancer. There are several techniques that I use, but probably the most important point I need to make is that I combine the hypnosis with psychotherapy. It is the support and the hypnosis that makes the treatment effective. One technique that I used is an ‘instant calm’ technique and  help people to experience life without constant worrying. I also can spend some time looking at the diagnosis and how to tackle this information. In addition, we can talk about how to deal with pain.

The most common features of cancer are pain and fatigue. Hypnotherapy is extremely helpful with this in mind. Hypnotherapy can enhance the quality of life and provides support throughout the day. Hypnosis is very valuable in helping people go through radiotherapy or operations. I also teach self hypnosis. The value of this is that it gives patients (or clients), more control throughout the day. I also use dissociative techniques to move the pain further away and to decrease the intensity of the pain in specific areas of the body. Hypnotherapy is extremely valuable for pain relief. If you would like to book a session, I look forward to seeing you.  

Dr David Kraft; hypnotherapist and psychotherapist

Dr David Kraft (PhD) is a full member of the British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis (BSCAH), and a member of the Royal Society of Medicine. He is also on the General Hypnotherapy Register. He has three diplomas–the BST Foundation Diploma in Clinical Hypnosis, the BST Foundation Advanced Certificate in Clinical and Strategic Hypnosis and a diploma in Clinical Psychology. He has published four articles in Contemporary Hypnosis, the official journal for BSCAH, and three articles in the Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. At present, David is based in Harley Street and has a private practice there. He uses hypnosis as an adjunct to his treatment programme, which essential employs psychodynamic psychotherapy. Dr David Kraft is not a medical doctor.

Dear psychotherapist

I am originally from England. I moved to France and lived there for about three years. I moved back to London six months ago and on the plane, I felt terrible. I felt that I was having a panic attack and that there was nothing I could do to stop it. I felt that the whole of my body was tense and that my internal organs were becoming tighter.

I survived this ordeal but it really shocked me. I went back to work. But after a few days I started to feel this tense feeling in my stomach. I love hot (spicy) food, and I wondered whether this was the reason, but I have always eaten spicy food and I have never experienced this. I then went to the GP and he gave me Mebeverine, which is an antispasmodic. I took this and it improved slightly, but now I have diarrhoea. I then took some Imodium and that worked but then I got constipated and so it goes on. I have had my stools tested and had all sorts of examinations but they can’t find anything. Is this sort of thing psychological? Can it be? It seems real to me. I haven’t tried hypnotherapy andI wondered whether you can help me. Can you? And how do I get an appointment to see a hypnotherapist. I am sure that I have got IBS. Is hypnosis what I need? Thanks Dave.

Dear Dave 

Thank you for the e-mail. It seems that you are suffering from IBS-A, where symptoms of diarrhoea and constipation alternate. IBS is very often related to psychological stress or trauma. The approach that I have used in the past, and I have had great success with this process, is to combine support in the psychotherapy with hypnotherapy. In the hypnotherapy I used the direct application of hand warmth to the stomach and I combine this with imagery–specifically, the river metaphor. In this approach, you will be asked to imagine a river and to clean the river of all the rubble and waste, and this, in turn, has a relieving effect on gastrointestinal transit.

In order to book a session, you can simply ring the number here–0207 467 8564. One used to have to get a referral letter from one’s GP; but now, you can simply ring for an appointment with a hypnotherapist or psychotherapist.

Best of luck

Dr David Kraft (PhD); hypnotherapist and psychotherapist.

Dr David Kraft is a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and also a member of the British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis (BSCAH). David is also on the General Hypnotherapy Register. He holds two diplomas in clinical hypnosis and a diploma in clinical psychology. He has written papers in international and national journals, including four articles in Contemporary Hypnosis, the publication of the British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis (BSCAH), and three articles in the Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. Dr David Kraft uses hypnosis in conjunction with psychodynamic psychotherapy, and he is based in Harley Street in London, UK.

Please find the attached pdf. This is Dr David Kraft CV, April 2010.

Dr David Kraft is a specialist psychotherapist and hypnotherapist working in London. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a full member of the British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis (BSCAH). David is on the General Hypnotherapy Register and hold two diplomas in clinical hypnosis–the DCHyp, the BST Foundation diploma in clinical hypnosis, and the A.Cert.CSHyp, the advanced diploma in clinical and strategic hypnosis. He has also published on hypnosis and psychotherapy in Contemporary Hypnosis (the journal of BSCAH), and in the Australian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis(AJCEH).  curriculum-vitae-professional-version-april-2010