Phobias.

shysal you said :
Nankate, that fee sounds a bit much!

You are dead right!

Please don't, anybody, fall into the trap of thinking that the "Therapist" who charges/makes the most money is the best therapist either!
Years ago one of the main Newspapers named one of the biggest charlatans in the Hypnotherapy world as "The most Successful" on the account that she was making the most money!
By coincidence, I was sent to observe her course (among others, I was a kind of "undercover inspector") for budding hypnotherapists. She was one of the most unethical and dangerous people I saw in the research! Not only was she mass hypnotising the whole class without any knowledge of their medical backgrounds, she was giving them "scripts" or hypnotic suggestions written out in a prescribed way, which were banned from use because of the harm they had done to so many people!! She was telling her "students" downright lies as well! The main lie being, "You will not do anything while under hypnosis that is against your moral code or principles or that you would not want to do". This has been proven time and again to be untrue. After all it's the basis of hypnotherapy that you are trying to get someone to change their behaviour and do something they don't want to do when they are to hypnotised. I was taught by Michael Yapko, and she actually showed a video of his in which he makes the statement that it is not true that you won't do anything you wouldn't normally do etc. !! Then she went on to teach the opposite saying that "under hypnosis you won't do something you wouldn't do...."
Anyway, being the richest hypnotherapist cannot be a measure of the best. Most likely it's a measure of the best charlatan.

NanKate You mentioned the "Ultra calm that lasted about 5 hours" following hypnotherapy.

I am sure your therapist explained all the safety precautions, but you have reminded me to mention that it is inadvisable to drive after a hypnotherapy session.

One of the reasons for making as sure as you possibly can that your therapist is fully qualified is because there can be side-effects to hypnotherapy which are unpredictable. People may do things even a week later which they normally would not do. Any trigger could be implanted in their mind while under hypnosis even if the therapist did not intend it to happen.

In general I am reluctant to advocate hypnotherapy, having seen people under treatment at the Psychiatrist's clinic following bad reactions. These were patients who had seen Hypnotherapists who seemed to have "proper" qualifications. However these qualifications are somewhat debatable since there are and have been a multitude of hypnotherapy courses being run all over the country, with people making up their own grand sounding names for the course they run and giving grand titles and initials to the people who "qualify" at the end of the course. It is a great money-maker. The courses are very expensive, then the therapist has to be in Supervision by someone from their so-called "hypnotherapy college" so keeps paying for that, and needs insurance and membership of the professional organisation usually run by the "college".
I was asked to do "fly on the wall" research into these courses. The people attending were usually very kind honest people. Most of them arrived on the course to learn to be a hypnotherapist because they went to the Therapist/Teacher for a therapy session themselves and had not thought about studying hypnotherapy before that. (Isn't that interesting?) The people running the courses were money-making sharks with no care for the clients whom their pupils would see one day or their pupils whom they "treated" with dangerous techniques. When given a dose of their own techniques, they could not cope!

There are too many unregulated and blissfully ignorant Hypnotherapists out there. Be careful!

HootyMcOwlface Off you go Hooty, we'll join the queue behind you. Oh, except for me of course. My DD says she "Wouldn't dare make a fuss about an injection because of what her mum would say/do" mmmmmm what would I say/do I wonder? Well, it worked anyway.

You know, there is a new stance regarding therapy. Instead of going into people's past and letting them understand when and why they became stuck in a an unadaptive or problem behaviour (maybe a phobia), therapy now starts with changing the behaviour. Living in the moment and just doing the thing that you say you can't do. It has been found that, when people are made to do the avoided behaviour, they decide that it is ok after all. An example is of a child who would not put his head under water. Nobody deliberately made him- don't worry! But one day he slipped into the swimming pool, falling in and going under. His mother, watching, jumped up and was ready to help her terrified son... who... got out of the pool... and... did it again, and again....
OK this is a very short-hand explanation and there is far more to it.
However, hypnotherapy can be very good but please be careful who you go to, as there are charlatans out there.
Also, if you get a book and learn how to relax, and learn what to say, you can do a guided relaxation with your grandson or whoever needs the help.
For the big dog phobia: My feeling today is, if you can, ask a friend with a very gentle big dog to hold her dog and start by being near the dog for longer periods at a time, finding out that even though you feel fear, you are in fact ok. Then gradually move on to gently touching the dog, just briefly and slowly building this up. There is nothing like doing the actual thing for proving to yourself that it is ok after all!
Good luck!

Three sessions of hypnotherapy sorted out my fear of flying forever. Flipping marvellous. I paid £75 per session, worth every penny. (That was in Oxford).

paddyann. Too outing for me to explain but .... if when he feels calmer, a medic (phlebotomist, nurse, even a doctor he relates to) could show him how to take blood in a practice situation, he might feel able to allow blood to be taken. Rules and regs now might not allow this but I know someone it worked for a long time ago.

I have developed a phobia of having my blood pressure taken. Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous?

Flipping heck, I had to hold my son in a headlock when he was about 13 and he had to have an injection off a nurse for something! I’ll take myself off to the police station now and hand myself in!

YesFennel I can’t take heights either even if it is on the tv.? I am also with you on Alsatians. Very oddly I can walk along the road see a large dog and say to DH I’m fine with this one.

Hello Shysal I was recommended to this particular hypnotherapist and was very impressed with out first meeting. Yes it is a lot of money but with her help and the local Mental Health team Who are giving me CBT I feel sure that I will be able to cope with this nightmare divorce my DS and two young GSs are going through.

NanKate - I'm terrified of big dogs too - especially alsations. But I wouldn't call it a phobia - it's a real fear leading to caution. Because of experience with them.
I have a phobia of heights, but now just avoid looking down if I'm high up. It's strange because before having children I used to go rock climbing, no fear at all.
I don't know anyone who has had hypnotherapy for a phobia.

I did have hypnotherapy with a psychologist for a phobia, it worked for finding the cause but didn’t take away the fear . It’s worth trying though , good luck

Afraid I have no experience to contribute, but returning to the OP’s problem (with every consideration for those with needle phobia), is it correct Kate that you are already having hypnotherapy for stress, which is working, and you and your therapist are considering extending it to cover your dog phobia? I suppose at any rate you would have nothing to lose, except maybe ££ if it doesn’t work. If the dog phobia is partly responsible for the stress I’d say even more strongly give it a go. Very best wishes whatever you decide.

I do understand anyone who is truly needle phobic. Whilst in the middle of a bad asthma attack probably isn't the best time to try and approach the problem ! Hopefully the young lad will be able to overcome his fears with some help.

As an aside, I once treated a young girl, about 17 I think, who refused to have a blood test because she was "scared" of needles. I pointed out she had managed to have her ears pierced (three studs), and had a butterfly tattoo. She looked at me and said "oh alright then" with a scowl on her face. (This is not meant to brush aside those with real phobias).

Nankate, that fee sounds a bit much! DD1 pays £30 for an hour. The hypnotherapist has helped with her anxiety and panic attacks to a certain extent and has provided recordings to calm her during the day and at night to help her sleep. The problem seems to me to be that it only provides a temporary quick fix, he calls it pressing the reset button. I feel that DD has become too dependent on him, but I understand that she is sometimes desperate for help.
Spare a thought for the families and friends of sufferers, it is awful to feel helpless. I can listen and also try to distract her - we walk a lot - but when she is on a downward spiral little makes a difference. Her controlling ex has a lot to answer for!

There's no harm in trying. I haven't tried doing that but maybe it could help you in some ways.

I do feel for you and your grandson Paddyann don’t we worry about our families?

I have only had the one session and I came away ultra calm that lasted for about 5 hours. I must admit I am very open to alternative treatments and regularly meditate, so I am not sure if a young lad would be open to accepting hypnotherapy. I do hope so.

It’s not cheap £250 for 3 sessions. One and a half hours each session. If I can help you further in any way please PM me.

I suspect the nurse was thinking of ‘Gillick competence’ with your grandson paddyann as this allows young people under 16 to seek or refuse medical treatment without parental agreement if they are deemed competent to do so. If the person is deemed to be at risk of serious harm I understand their judgement can be overturned by the court of protection although goodness knows what this does to their relationship with their parent.

I know this doesn’t help when we are worried about the health of a young person and I do understand your concern. It sounds as if your grandson needs some time to calm down and might have been angry at feeIing pressurised. I’m sorry I can’t advise on the suitability of hypnotherapy with teenagers other than to say many people report excellent outcomes from it in overcoming fears and phobias. There are other approaches believed to also have good outcomes, including CBT. I suspect the problem you may have is persuading your grandson to engage with any therapeutic process.

Perhaps when he is calmer and not in the midst of a health crisis he could be gently encouraged to think about his options, perhaps talk with his GP and see what he will consider.

In the meantime I do hope he’s feeling more comfortable, the whole situation sounds very scary indeed.

I had a session of hypnotherapy to deal with a phobia. It did reduce my anxiety about the issue, to a limited extent. I am considering having a further session, but on the basis of my experience to date, I would expect another reduction to the intensity of my phobia and not that the phobia would no longer exist.

I'd be very interested in anyone who used hypnotherapy as a teenager.My GS was rushed to hospital today with a bad athsma attack ,he refused to let the doctor take blood as he has a phobia .My daughter said if necessary she would sit on him so they could take it...half joking ..the nurse was horrified its not allowed to force teens to have treatment they dont want she said its abuse.So he was sent home after spending hours on a nebuliser and still having breathing problems.All attempts at talking common sense to him failed...when told he could die he said then he would haunt us and let us know if a god existed .
I'm worried sick about him and would happily pay for anything that will get his phobia sorted ,he has just turned 15 surely the final word on treatment must be his mothers?