Effectiveness of Online Hypnotherapy - Dan Regan Hypnotherapy Zoom and Skype Although I've worked online with people for many years, this year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions,...
Hypnotherapy Supervision: The Benefits and Importance of Supervision for Hypnotherapists
Effective hypnotherapy supervision is one of the most important resources available to help you, as a hypnotherapist, improve and succeed in your work and business.
The therapy market is a crowded place these days. Pretty much anyone can set up and call themselves a therapist, even if they’ve only ever done a cursory online weekend course (something the BBC reported on in 2020 was about how anyone can call themselves a therapist and start working with clients to help them with psychological and mental health issues). And, of course, more and more ‘new approaches’ continue to spring up weekly offering miracle results, and that we professionals know lack the science and evidence to support them.
That means that for those of us who are qualified and ethical hypnotherapists, we have to continually improve our knowledge and skills and get better at what we do to help our clients even further. We want to aim for excellence at what we do.
I can well remember my early days as a therapist, over a decade ago, when I qualified and set up my hypnotherapy business. It can be a pretty daunting affair to find yourself first working with clients. And as you gain more experience, there are still challenges to face, improvements to be made and a level of support needed. That’s where hypnotherapy supervision is a real benefit. Rather than being alone in your work and having to figure it all out yourself in your head, the support of a good supervisor will help you get better at making therapeutic decisions, at building upon your knowledge and resources, and improving in the work you love so much.
Hypnotherapy in Ely & Newmarket: Lockdown Three Update
I hope that you had a good Christmas and have been able to enter the New Year in positive spirits. Things were certainly different this festive season but I hope you and your loved ones are all healthy and well.
Christmas in our household, like many others I am sure, was fairly low key with plenty of time for exercise, guitar playing, games and a few good movies.
As no doubt you’ll have seen, just before Christmas it was announced that several areas, including Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, were being moved to Tier 4 Covid-19 restrictions (at that time, the most stringent of the tiers). In fact, this was going to be a Tier 4 update on my hypnotherapy sessions. However, events have moved apace and this is now a Covid-19 lockdown three update instead.
Lockdown restrictions mean that I am only able to offer online hypnotherapy sessions until the lockdown ends. This covers my hypnotherapy sessions in Ely and Newmarket, and it means that once again all of my sessions are back being delivered online through Skype and Zoom.
This is the same arrangement that needed to be put in place during the two lockdowns last year. It worked very well during those weeks and I was still able to help many, many people with issues such as anxiety, worry, fear and stress (whether pandemic-related or otherwise).
I’ve been getting great feedback from clients who have worked online with me, even if some may have preferred something more face to face had the option been possible. Over the last decade, and as supported by the research and evidence, online hypnotherapy sessions can produce results similar to face to face sessions.
So for the time being everything is back online to keep us all safe, yet fingers crossed we can all soon enjoy once again meeting in person.
The Three Pillars of Mental Health:
Hello and Happy New Year! I hope that you had a wonderful festive period and that you are all set to have a positive and productive 2021.
The Covid-19 pandemic is still with us, of course, and it has certainly had a detrimental impact on mental health, with anxiety levels continuing to escalate. Many of you may well be suffering with anxiety, depression, stress and worry as a result of the pandemic (things I wrote about a lot last year if you scroll through my blog pages).
There are many things you can proactively do to support your mental health and to reduce symptoms of anxiety, stress and depression. It certainly is possible to deal with those unwanted thoughts and feelings so that you feel better and happier. The research evidence I’ve mentioned below certainly l suggests that our mental health has been impacted.
In this article, I’m talking about the three pillars of mental health that were published in a research paper at the end of last year.
Sadly, one of the actions for improving your mental health doesn’t include chatting with kangaroos! You may have missed the news at the end of last year that animals that have never been domesticated, such as kangaroos, can intentionally communicate with humans (McElligott, O’Keeffe, & Green, 2020). I think that is pretty incredible stuff (almost out of the Scooby-do cartoons that my daughter keeps watching). I think talking with kangaroos would certainly boost my sense of well-being, although personally I’d rather have a penguin as a pal (and keep in mind that there is scientific evidence for the mental health benefits of pets, as I’ve covered before).
I like the idea of communicating with animals, although that’s got nothing to do with this article about the impact of the pandemic and the three pillars of good mental health.
The Effectiveness of Online Hypnotherapy: Skype and Zoom Hypnotherapy Sessions
Online hypnotherapy sessions are something that I’ve been successfully using with people for many years. Yet whereas in the past it was mainly people abroad or who live outside a reasonable travelling distance, with Covid-19 and everything that goes with it (like social distancing and lockdowns), Skype and Zoom online hypnotherapy sessions have boomed.
There are many advantages that come with online hypnotherapy. As long as you have a reasonable internet connection, you don’t need to live near Ely or Newmarket to work with me, you save on the time and cost of travel, and if you are struggling with something like anxiety or health anxiety, it can make accessing effective hypnotherapy much easier.
This year I’ve helped more people than ever with online hypnotherapy and for issues such as generalised anxiety, health or coronaphobia anxiety, stress, fears and weight loss. It’s been great to be able to continue helping people during the pandemic lockdowns.
Whenever online hypnotherapy, through platforms such as Skype and Zoom, gets mentioned, one of the first things people want to know is whether it is as effective as face-to-face hypnotherapy, or even whether hypnotherapy online is effective at all.
In my own experience it certainly can be effective, subject to the usual ‘rules’ of effective hypnotherapy that include someone being motivated and committed to make changes and to take action, and being willing to put techniques and strategies in place both in and outside the sessions. Yet rather than only rely on the positive results I get when working online, let’s have a look at some of the evidence for the effectiveness of online therapy.
My Most Read Hypnotherapy and Mental Health Articles During 2020
I think we can all agree that 2020 has perhaps been one of the strangest and most challenging years we’ve ever come across. What started just like any other year quickly became a torrent of uncertainty, lockdowns and restrictions that impacted on pretty much every area of our lives.
There is no doubt that the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted upon mental health. I can still think back to those uncertain early days of the pandemic lockdown and remember the worry and stress from not knowing how things would pan out for me and the kids, and all the while against the backdrop of staying at home and watching terrible images from in hospitals and the every increasing death rate. since then things have been up and down with the virus and with restrictions, yet the impact of Covid-19 continues to loom large in our lives.
All of the evidence and research I’ve covered over the year shows increased levels of anxiety, stress, worry and fear. There are health fears about you or your loved ones contracting the virus and the risks that would come with that. You may have been hit financially and been impacted in your work and employment. Education has been impacted upon. Usual activities and routines have been disrupted. You may have been unable to spend time with loved ones or friends, or had to curb your usual sources of enjoyment and fun. Each and every one of us has faced challenges, disruption and restrictions that have changed the usual path of our life.
At the end of each year I like to highlight the most popular articles on my blog. There may be ones there that you missed or that it may be beneficial to revisit (and remember too that you can also check out my many vlogs for even more help, information and suggestions)..
It’s no surprise that most of my most popular blogs of 2020 cover aspects of mental health and anxiety related to the pandemic. I’ve been covering the research and suggesting ways to support your mental health and well-being throughout the pandemic, and much of the same advice still holds true at this time. Yet there are also some other aspects of my hypnotherapy work covered such as sports performance, the science behind kindness and other aspects of mental health, overcoming anxiety and managing stress. Do read on and revisit the blogs that were the most popular from over the year.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
It’s been a strange year to say the least (which seems to be the main thing I come out with whenever I talk about 2020). Yet the festive season is now upon us. I plan to spend some time having fun with my girls and I hope that whatever you have planned, you have a wonderful Christmastime ahead of you too.
As the year draws to a close I always like to spend a few moments reflecting on my year. Given everything that’s been going on with the pandemic, I think that just having made it through in one piece to the end of the year is something of a triumph. Certainly we’ve all faced challenges, uncertainty, restrictions and changes over the months and I hope that you have been able to take care of your physical and mental health. I’ve written a load of articles this year with suggestions for supporting your mental health (relevant during the pandemic and more generally too) so do check those out if you think that your well-being could be improved.
Due to the pandemic I’ve been working with more and more people online (via Zoom or Skype) which has worked really well, as well as helping people (outside of the two lockdowns) in my offices in Ely and Newmarket. I’ve moved office in Ely to a great new location, and been fortunate enough to celebrate a decade of being a hypnotherapist and helping people.
Fingers crossed that 2021 will be a smoother year for us all and I wish you well with taking action upon, and achieving, your goals for the coming year. But before 2021 arrives, do have a very Happy Christmas!
Hypnotherapy in Ely & Newmarket: Post Lockdown Two Update
It’s been a busy few weeks during Covid-19 lockdown two. Somehow it seems to have flown by while I’ve been working online with clients (through hypnotherapy sessions over Zoom and Skype) and getting on with some behind the scenes things, such as getting ready to record a load of new hypnosis downloads in the New Year.
Of course my running has kept me pretty busy too (thankfully there has only one frosty morning recently!) and I’ve just started up with some guitar lessons (and I still need to get through another five seasons of Game of Thrones!). Busy, busy!
With lockdown two coming to an end, hypnotherapy sessions will be available face to face once again from Thursday 3rd December in Ely & Newmarket. And, of course, online hypnotherapy sessions will still be an option if you don’t want to travel, live too far from my offices, want to limit your interactions with others or because you simply prefer it!
There are only a few weeks left until Christmas and the New Year will be here in no time at all so if you are seeking help with things like anxiety, stress, worry, fear or something else then please do get in touch as soon as possible.
Looking forward to seeing many of you in person very soon!
Celebrating A Decade of Helping People With Anxiety, Stress, Worry & Fear:
It’s official! November 2020 marks ten years since I first set up business in Ely and started helping people with anxiety, stress, worry and fear. A decade of helping people!
It’s hard to think back and remember what life was exactly like when I made the decision, following redundancy, to set up practice in Ely. I do know that back then my eldest daughter was still in nappies and my youngest was yet to even enter our lives.
Having struggled myself with anxiety and low self esteem for many, many years, and having found a way to overcome these issues, I do know that I was inspired to set up by my desire to help as many others as I possibly could to make similar positive changes to overcome limitations, challenges and unwanted thoughts and feelings that can stop you enjoying your life.
So much has happened in the last decade as a hypnotherapist. I’ve helped thousands of people to overcome anxiety, stress, worry and fear, and to boost their confidence and self-esteem. I’ve worked internationally, appeared in local and national press, been published, created several hypnosis downloads that people tell me really help and I now have dozens of positive written and video reviews from people with whom I’ve worked. I’ve been blessed to have met many wonderful people along the way.
So as I look forward to the next decade of helping people with metal health issues to feel better, I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me, worked with me, trusted in me and believed in me and my approach. Thank you so much!
Support Your Mental Health and Support Talking FreEly:
As the coronavirus pandemic rolls on, and with the ongoing restrictions on life and social interactions that will likely be in place for some time yet, I know that many of you have been struggling with your mental health and well-being.
There may be anxiety, worry and stress from the virus itself, in terms of illness and death, as well as fear around contracting Covid-19 and the potential impacts of that upon your health and the lives of those around you. On top of that, many of you may have employment worries and you could just be struggling without your usual social interactions or from not being able to do the things you usually enjoy doing. I’ve spoken to many people who describe the anxiety and fatigue from the impacts of the pandemic that have been affecting us all for many months, and that still has a way to go yet.
The latest data from the Office for National Statistics Survey (covering early November 2020) reported that over 70% of adults were very or somewhat worried about the effect of Covid-19 on their life right now, and nearly half of adults reported that their well-being was being affected (e.g, through anxiety and stress) by the coronavirus pandemic.
Looking after your mental health is more important than ever right now. I’ve spoken to many people who have told me how helpful and beneficial they have found my hypnosis downloads for their mental health.
At the same time, I want to do all I can to help as many people as possible to find help and support for their own mental health, whether it’s depression, anxiety or in some other form. And that’s why I’m delighted to let you know that every penny of profit from purchases of my hypnosis downloads during this lockdown will be donated to Talking FreEly.
Subscribe to Dan’s Digest filled with tips, strategies and techniques and get instant access to your free rapid relaxation hypnosis audio track.
Enjoy feeling and being more mentally calm and physically relaxed right now:
