Volunteer News From London 

An Update on the Volunteer Scheme

By Thomas van Berckel

Our voluntary program has been slowly building for the last year or so and we are pleased with the progress we are making. The NHS is a complex landscape to navigate, with obstacles and challenges at every turn. However no matter the complexities, if you persevere you will ultimately be rewarded. As you may already know we are focused on three main hospitals at the moment: The Royal Brompton Hospital where we are working with the Pulmonary Hypertension Unit, St Georges Hospital with the Palliative Care Unit, and University College Hospital where we are helping preoperative patients prepare for surgery. As we strengthen our protocols and commitments to our existing placements it is only natural that we are looking to expand into other areas.

Volunteer News From Exeter 

Voluntary Work

By Michelle Hague

Although I am not currently involved with formal voluntary work, I have in the past been very lucky to work with some wonderful people who have given their time freely to help others.  

Volunteering is defined as " the commitment of time and energy, for the benefit  of society, local communities, individuals outside the immediate family, the environment or other causes". Voluntary activities are undertaken with a person's own free will, without payment, except sometimes for the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses, although this is not always the case.

Back in 2002 when I was actively engaging the use of volunteers for both major and minor tasks in a very busy community centre, there were some staggering statistic bandied about.

• 22 million adults were involved in formal volunteering each year in the UK.
• 10 million people volunteer each week in the UK, amounting to 90 million hours of work.
• Volunteers contributed an average of 66% of the working hours - that was equivalent of five extra full-time staff to our organisation annually.

We had volunteers in our care for the elderly in the day care centre, and in the play school, and in the special needs unit, we had them in our reception and in the office, helping from our kitchens and we had visiting volunteers who came to pick up our meals , helping in the wider community deliver meals on wheels.

Volunteers can be a huge resource for any organisation, giving time, special skills, experience and energy, but they are not free of all costs. They need proper management so that the experience is equally beneficial.  

Volunteers were an asset to my old organisation, but sometimes it was hard to rely on them. In time, eventually formalising a very simple structure, we were able to improve the reliability of our volunteers who until we did, had no clear sense of their importance or value, or for some who had become so egotistical about their role or precious about their tasks that they would not allow anyone else to help. Boundaries and roles need to be clearly defined so as to identify those important tasks that volunteers can do.

One of the lesser known facts and benefits regarding voluntary work is the access to funding  it brings to organisations, who often struggle to keep going. When any organisation enhances its work force with volunteers, it automatically opens up a whole raft of hitherto inaccessible funding.    

For many organisations one of the hardest tasks is simply to keep going year on year. Finding new funding can often be the only way to guarantee that the provision of services or care so many come to rely on, can be there year on year.  

Every year organisation has to jump through hoops to find new sources of funding,  government and local councils often having to cut back, or set ever increasingly difficult criteria to reduce the demand for local council funding. By using volunteers, important health care provisions can be kept going, as the overheads of staffing are kept to a minimum, and other trust funds become open to new bidders.

Royal Brompton Hospital, London

Spring is in the Air

By Maggie Elmore 

Spring is in the air and the trees outside the Royal Brompton are showing some green shoots and I have a spring in my step as I enter the hospital and make my way to the fifth floor. I have been doing hypnosis with patients attending the Pulmonary Hypertension Unit for nearly two years now and it has been an uplifting experience; my faith in hypnosis and the human spirit has increased exponentially in that time.

A diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension used to be a death sentence; happily that is no longer the case and the condition can now be managed but it's tough to stay buoyant when even moderate exercise hurts and makes you feel out of breath. And that can be made worse if you had a bit of a weight problem anyway and now the pounds are piling on and that's slowing you down even more. . . . .Or in the case of one of my patients, a newly wed young woman, to be told that under no circumstances should you contemplate having children because your heart and lungs simply could not cope.

Who could blame you for feeling depressed, anxious, angry? Nobody.But of course those unhealthy negative emotions don't help they just add a layer of misery on top of  your very real and challenging physical problems and that's largely what we have been working on together; changing the things that can be changed and making peace with the rest.

Hypnosis reaches the parts other therapies can't get to, it puts patients back in the driving seat, in touch with themselves and their power, it reminds them that they are much more than just a complaint or a condition and I have been privileged to be part of  that over the last two years at The Brompton. Long may it continue and flourish!

Spring is in the air . . .

CBH for Cardiovascular Patients at the Royal Brompton Hospital

By Jana Stanton

It is often expected that patients with cardiovascular issues experience both anxieties and psychological as well as physiological challenges throughout their lives. Some of them also have to face medical procedures. That said, the relatives and friends of the cardiovascular patients might also deal with anxieties, as they often share the concerns as well as responsibilities.  

All the 'out patients' I have been seeing at the Brompton hospital were diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension (PH) which is a rare lung disorder in which the blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries rises far above normal levels and at the same time as the pressure rises, the walls of the pulmonary arteries become thicker.There are many different types of PH, however pulmonary arterial hypertension (PHA) is the most common type.  

The main role of my placement is to teach PHA patients how to harness the power of their unconscious mind and reasoning using Cognitive Behaviour Hypnotherapy techniques. The aim is to focus on a solution rather than the problem. The goal of the therapy is to equip the patients with effective therapeutic tools to assist them in weakening their unhealthy beliefs, and strengthening their healthy beliefs, which tends to be derived from the 'counselling part' of the session. Most of the PHA patients I have been working with usually face a range of struggles, including an acceptance of their current medical state, phobia of death, unchallenged beliefs regarding their abilities and expectations they used to have prior to their diagnoses, anger management, pain management, general anxietiesand unhealthy habits. Some patients also struggle with the side effects of the medication.  

Most of my patients have benefited from learning relaxation techniques as well as metaphorical scripts (e.g. The Control Room of the Mind, The Garden Script, An Old wise man/woman, de-labelling technique, apposition of opposites, Self-integration Dissociation), which has helped to decrease anxiety and challenge their perceptions in regards to their particular problem. I have also employed cognitive behaviour techniques in order to provide a clearer understanding of a patient's healthy and unhealthy negative belief resources and their impact upon their cognitions, behaviour, and symptoms. They were often unaware of the close relationship between the nervous and cardiovascular system. Some of my patients have experienced hyperventilation or palpitations in between sessions, or even during the sessions. However, once they have an understanding of the various ways of how to remain in control by using learnt CBH techniques then they realise how powerful the connection between their minds and bodies really is.  

Some patients are preoccupied with concerns related to the future, fairness, and peaceful death.All these very relevant enquiries have been addressed and discussed within the therapy by using the CBH disputation process. The patients often come to their own rational conclusions during the process of vigorous challenge of individual demands, and as a result they learn that these very demands are sabotaging any potential of improving their standard of living.  

I have also been encouraging my patients to record particularly the first part of the session on their dictaphones. This is dedicated to their feedback and discussion addressing their everyday challenges. Setting homework helps to re-frame or in other words rationalise the statements they have made during the session. Some of my patients also record their anxiety provoking thoughts and disputations of these which provide us with a great source of material for the following session.   

I also make clear to my patients that my ambition is to teach them how to become their 'own' therapists, which applies certain level of personal responsibility. They often conduct the hypnotherapy part of the session in their own style, which encourages their confidence and awakens the voice within their psyche.My responsibility is to guide the patient through the process; nevertheless it is they who are in control of their own therapy.  

I also teach my patients how to challenge their behaviour, as they often sit in the comfort zone of their own anxieties at the beginning of the therapy. They soon realise that coming out of their comfort zone is vital. That said, I encourage them to adapt to any changes in their lifestyle gradually and if they feel tired then it is acceptable to rest or slow down any activity. This particular point also challenges their perception of fallibility.

Finally, I would like to mention that I feel honoured that I can contribute to the lives of PHA patients and their families as well as work at one of the best cardiovascular centres in the world. I have been inspired and impressed by the level of dedication that most of my patients are prepared to bring to the table.

St. Georges Hospital, London

The Use of Clinical Hypnotherapy in the Treatment of Cancer at St Georges Hospital

By Feisal Umar 

I chose to volunteer in an Oncology setting because of my personal experience as a carer for my wife who was diagnosed with and treated for cancer.  I am pleased to say that my wife is now in remission.

The LCCH successfully negotiated our placements at St Georges.  There were two key members on the nursing team that were very keen for us to start and helped in speeding up the process. I started working there as a volunteer in November 2010 and since then have seen nineteen patients, some as one-offs and others on an average of four sessions.

The most common symptoms presented are:

• Anxiety and Stress
• Insomnia
• Nausea
• Pain

Other symptoms include:

• Fear of dying
• Loss of identity
• Panic
• Phobias
• PTSD

It is generally accepted that anxiety is a normal reaction to cancer, and it may be present at some level throughout their experience, from undergoing cancer screening tests to the end of treatment which brings on an entirely different form of anxiety. The level of anxiety associated with the different stages may increase the feelings of depression, despair, pain, insomnia, nausea and vomiting.

When there are obvious signs of the cancer treatment present such as hair loss, the degree of anxiety is far greater.This is further exacerbated when there are any metastases present.

My experience so far has been in working with patients only during the 'treatment' phase of the process.Based on their feedback I found that using hypnosis and self-hypnosis helps them on different levels of their cancer care. Firstly, it has been very useful as a means of dealing directly with the symptoms of their condition - anxiety, insomnia and pain.  Secondly, hypnosis is useful in the management of the side-effects of their treatments - hair loss, nausea and vomiting. Psychologically, self-hypnosis helps the patients become pro-active in the recovery and healing process, giving them an element of control.

Hypnosis lags behind in the therapeutic process of cancer patients and at present it is not utilised anywhere near the potential it offers in the management of acute and chronic pain, as well as the other symptoms of cancer and its treatment.

It is my fervent hope that with the work being done by us, the volunteers, we will be able to show how hypnosis can be integrated into the total care of cancer patients and that we will have access to these patients from the start of the oncology cycle, from screening to the end of treatment.   

The added bonus will be that we may qualify for funding in order to expand our services and develop conclusive evidence of the efficacy of clinical hypnotherapy in cancer care.

"Feisal

Thought I'd just drop you a note, to let you know I MADE IT BACK TO WORK! I returned to the office on March 16th and have been doing reduced hours with the goal of starting full time in the middle of April. I cannot tell you how amazing it is to get back to 'normal' and get on with my life.

I'm officially in 'remission' (whatever that means), my hair is keeping up with the Spring growing season and I now sport a slightly 'edgy do'. All the bulbs I planted in the Autumn at the beginning of my treatment have materialised and the garden just looks so lovely.

I am also making good use of the skills you taught me which have enabled me to get through treatment and on to the next stage of my new journey.  My experience in the 'cancer bubble' would have been far more traumatic and gruelling had it not been for your support and advise which has also had far reaching effects on my family and friends, you are very clever!

Sending you my sincere thanks and best wishes"

Hypnotherapy and acupuncture

by Nora Ryder  

My introduction to hypnotherapy was by chance. I was a practising acupuncturist renting a room in The Harvest Clinic hypnotherapy clinic in Glasgow. As you would expect, in between appointments, I would chat to the other therapists and the practice manager about their work and found I was becoming increasingly interested and aware of the scope and efficacy of hypnotherapy. At the same time, I was working in a Marie Curie Hospice as a volunteer acupuncturist. My main focus was on relief for patients for symptoms such as pain, low energy, anxiety and breathlessness. However, in the hospice too, I was aware that hypnotherapists were treating patients for the same symptoms and much more.

I think it was a combination of both of these influences that prompted my study of hypnotherapy with LCCH. The result is a fundamental and enormously beneficial shift in how I treat patients and I now regularly combine acupuncture and hypnotherapy. The course has been a huge education into how we can change and colour our beliefs and understanding of our situations, coupled with powerful tools to effect change. On a very practical level in the Hospice, this can mean how a patient perceives and experiences pain as well as their ability to cope with frequently distressing symptoms.

I've noticed how my language, as well as my approach to treating patients has altered but ultimately, the measure is through patient feedback of enhanced symptom relief. While there are clearly cases for single treatment choices, I find that both disciplines, hypnotherapy and acupuncture, combine and complement beautifully. Curiously, it's difficult to remember how I treated patients before my LCCH study insofar as many of the approaches seem to integrate very naturally with existing work practice. I suppose that is testament to the course itself - it's relevant, practical and hugely enjoyable.

A Masterclass Reminder!

A gentle reminder that we are running two Masterclasses, at Angela's house near Cumbernauld

There's nothing wrong with you on Saturday May 7^th

The Mayr Day on Sunday May 8^th

These classes fill up quickly so book early to avoid disappointment:

Click on the following links to download a booking form for Mayr Day or for There's Nothing Wrong With You. Please call us on 0141 333 0878 to book for the other courses  or to express an interest in other areas.

Love Angela x

p.s. we'd like to include student/graduate stories and experiences in future issues.  Please e-mail us your input at info@harvestclinic.co.uk for future inclusion.

Hypnotherapy Pain Clinic At The University of Malaya Hospital, Malaysia

Brachial Plexus Injury and Hypnotherapy

By Sheila Menon

The Pain Clinic in University of Malaya Hospital was started in collaboration with the LCCH in June 2009.  Currently, there are 10 patients undergoing hypnotherapy for pain management.

Dr Sivashanmuganathan (Dr Siva) said there has been a lot of improvement in the patients whom he was seeing.  For example, some have stopped taking their medications and and are reporting that their quality of life has increased significantly as well.  Normally, after the second and third sessions whereby they are taught how to practice self-hypnosis, the outcome has been good.  

Professor Tunku Dr Sara Ahmad Yahaya (Head of the Orthopaedic Department) doing her morning rounds stopped beside a patient who was scheduled for surgery that day. When she enquired, whether he was doing his self-hypnosis, the patient said "Yes doctor. And I was doing it just now." He closed his eyes and drifted of peacefully into trance again. This was a patient who described his pain as off the scale when he presented for his first consult two weeks earlier.   

The work we do at this clinic is very satisfying because the patients we see are often those who are resistant to other methods of pain management. We work primarily with brachial plexus injury which is a traumatic injury notoriously resistant to pain relief. Our clinic is scheduled on a Tuesday at the University Hospital and we have two wonderful rooms with comfortable chairs and doors (this was

the most difficult piece of equipment to acquire!).  

Dr Siva

We are in an out-patient clinic on the orthopaedic floor. Our one

concern was the noise. Asian hospitals can have very noisy waiting areas and in addition the buzzer announcing the number for each new patient  was right outside our room. The question became: can we manipulate all these distractions? Well the answer was a very big YES. WE have never had difficulty in taking our patients into trance nor managing the hypnotic session. And none of the patients complain of sound disturbance, so in a strange but contradictory way ....

Prof Tunku Dr Sara Ahmad Yahaya, Sheila Menon, Peter Mabbutt, Dr Siva and Dr Alan Soh form the core team for the Pain Clinic.

Other News From Malaysia

We would like to wish our Cognitive Behaviour Hypnotherapy students the best of luck as they wait for the results from their recent examination.

Calm CBH students prior to their exam demonstrating the power of hypnotherapy for performance anxiety!

Notícias de Portugal

Não temos muito a acrescentar este mês. Os cursos Certificado em Hipnose Clínica continuam a decorrer normalmente e o feddback tem sido fantástico.  Estamos muito contentes com o progresso dos alunos. Já anunciamos as novas datas dos Certificados a ter inicio em Setembro 2011. Para consultar as datas dos cursos podem visitar www.lcchportugal.com. Já estamos a receber inscrições para os cursos.

Atenciosamente

Tess 

Images From Birmingham

Masterclass

Focus on Hypnosis and Dentistry Masterclass 

Focus on Virtual Gastric Band Masterclass

With growing worldwide concerns about the ramifications of an increasingly obese population, weight loss surgery is on the increase. Surgical interventions such as the the useof the gastric band have been shown to result in improvements in quality of life and a reduction in obesity related diseases such as hypertension and diabetes.

The Virtual Gastric Band Masterclass sets out to present a new and fast growing aspect of hypnotherapy, virtual bariatric surgery. Dealing with the treatment of obesity, this Masterclass incorporates:

• Healthy eating

• Exercise

• Cognitive behavioural therapy approaches to weight loss

• The use of the virtual gastric band.

Designed for people who find it difficult to lose weight on their own, Virtual gastric band surgery is a method that utilises a patients conscious and unconscious mind to maximum benefit without the obvious necessity of undergoing a surgical procedure and the inherent risks that involve.

This Masterclass will teach you how to combine approaches within the eclectic nature of Hypnotherapy so that treatment can be tailored to each individual patient whilst at the same time following a simple guided procedure.   

About the lecturers

Michelle is an international lecturer with the LCCH, Clinical Hypnotherapist and Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist working from three busy clinics in South Devon. She studied for her first degree in Education at Portsmouth University and then Psychology with the Open University, progressing on to study with the London College of Clinical Hypnosis. She is also the regional Coordinator for the Exeter Region of the London College of Clinical Hypnosis.

Lorraine is a registered Hypnotherapist and Coach, running busy practices in South Devon. She studied Social Science and Psychology with the Open University where she attained her degree and holds an advanced diploma from the Coaching Acadamy. She is also a tutor with the LCCH and a Supervisor for the BSCH.

New Technology 

LCCH Graduates in Print: New Additions

For those of you working in the field of fertility and hypnosis, Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzars book The Fertile Body: a Practitioners Manual is an invaluable addition to the available literature. The Fertile Body Method combines hypnosis and other mind-body approaches to help identify and address the mental, emotional and physical factors which affect fertility and reduce the negative effects of infertility. It is packed with tips, suggestions, tools and techniques which will provide practitioners with practical ways of working with each stage of treatment. The lively case history examples illustrate some of the ways that this therapeutic framework can be put into practice.

Anne Marshall has written The Health Factor - Coach Yourself To Better Health. Based on her Wellness Coaching Programme, she presents a superb hands-on guide to enjoying and maximising your wellbeing irrespective of your current physical and emotional health. Packed with health and wellness boosting tips, techniques and exercises, this book helps you to find a better, more vitally-filled way of living, now and for many years to come. Most importantly, it is a book about enjoying your best potential, so that even if you live with a serious illness, or injury, you will still find ways to enhance your wellness within the limitations of what can realistically be improved for you.

Lynda Hudson, the acknowledged expert on working with children and young adults, has written Scripts and Strategies in Hypnotherapy with Children. It is an invaluable source of script and script ideas for those novice and seasoned therapists alike looking to gain help and guidance in this specialist area of hypnotherapy. Lynda provides a wealth of information, protocols, and creative and inventive scripts that satisfies every need.

Don't forget that these books and many others on hypnotherapy, NLP, psychotherapy etc. can be found at the Anglo American Book Company.

LIMITED INTRODUCTORY OFFER - FREE COPYWRITING

My name is Marcus Saban. From 1978 to 2010 I was in Trading Standards. Being a contractor, I was one of the first casualties of the government's economies. Before 1978 I was at school with the editor of this newsletter. I also have an MA in Creative Writing.

So, having both a facility for language and an understanding of the importance of accurate descriptions, I'd like to offer my services as a writer. Perhaps you would like something good and crisp for your website, or maybe you just want a few pages proof-reading to make sure their message is as concise and direct as possible. I make no promises about prospective patients queuing at the door, but anything that helps me build a portfolio would receive my most dedicated attention.

You can find out more about me on my (brand new) blog: http://instead-of-writing.blogspot.com/.

It will be free until such time as I've got enough business to start charging for it.

Something for nothing - email me at marcus.saban@googlemail.com.

Thank you.

Marcus Saban MA DCA MTSI ACQI

Mike Bryant and Peter Mabbutt

Self-hypnosis for Dummies 

Hypnotherapy for Dummies 

Personal Development All-In-One for Dummies 

Lisa Jackson

Adore Yourself Slim 

Zest: Running Made Easy 

Steve Miller

From Fat to Fit 

Get off Your Arse and Lose Weight: Straight-Talking Advice on How to Get Thin From the Life Bitch