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XS STRESS
INDIVIDUALS
We all experience pressure at some time or another and it is sometimes said that we could not survive without it as it creates the motivation to make us get up in the morning. However stress is another matter we were not built as human beings to suffer from the prolonged effects of stress. It will eventually make us ill and can cause serious harm to us if not relieved.
Our bodies were built for short term stresses or fear to protect us from harm and when that harm is passed to quickly return to normal function. Situations in our modern lives often create that stress when there is no clear and present danger and hold it in that state of readiness for prolonged periods. This process causes high levels of stress hormones to be secreted within our bodies and long term this has an effect on our well-being and can deplete our immune abilities.
With our one to one assistance and the use of various psychological interventions we can usually see a marked beneficial effect within one or two sessions.
Interventions sound very clinical but we have a very down to earth approach to dealing with any individual as they are usually more aware of what is going on than they think. You are the expert on how you feel and can judge the improvements step by step. (Even using hypnosis you will be in full control - see Hypnotherapy page)
On many occasions we have clients who attended in a very distressed state and after their first session they have found the change such that they have gone on to become much stronger personalities than they were previously.
Police Officer
This client attended as he was suffering from a stress problem which he could not understand.
He was at this time a Police officer having served for some 27 years in various departments uniform and C.I.D. posts. During this time he was engaged dealing with amongst other things several Paedophile offenders.
Over the years the client had dealt with several horrific and violent deaths during the course of his work and had been engaged on enquiries relating to several murders. Two of which he felt, stood out amongst the rest, two young boys and although he had not attended the scene and witnessed the scene first hand he had in fact seen the photographs of the scene and the victims. This murder took place in a relatively remote rural area.
The home address of this client was accessed by him driving through a fairly remote area that in some way reminded him of the murders. When driving through this area he began getting flash backs to some of the horrific incidents through his service and particularly of the photographs of the two murdered boys. It began in a small way but the area he passed through was somehow the trigger for these thoughts and the problem grew.
Over time the intrusive thoughts and flashbacks got worse and worse until after a while he could not drive through that area without stopping the car and gathering his faculties before continuing his journey. All the time these incidents got worse until he began avoiding the route home altogether. He started to take another route that took him several miles out of his way before getting back home. This was taking more time and seemed to him as clearly irrational.
He got to the stage where he could not use the original route without it causing him severe disturbance.
He began to relate these incidents to how it might be his own children and feelings of helplessness to prevent it from happening. Additionally that he was ineffectual in the scheme of things and that prevention was not possible. The feelings of his children being harmed became stronger and more powerful in his mind as time went on. He recognised that this problem was getting out of hand and sought assistance.
We addressed his irrational fear and feelings of helplessness and altered his perspective in relation to the problems. He had several sessions of hypnotherapy resulting in a total resolution. There was a marked difference after the first session and after the second session he had no more flashbacks and was able to use that route regularly. After this it was just a matter of small adjustments and reinforcement.
It is always rational to worry about your children no matter what age they are, but to allow it to become a fear which gets out of hand and becomes irrational can be very harmful. In this case it was very much a case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) but with a difference. He had experienced several incidents concerning death of others but it seems to have been a case of those experiences being cumulative in the affect that it had upon him. The fact that the area he passed through on the way home linked to the murder of the two boys and the perception of vulnerability he related to his own children would seem to have been the catalyst to this reaction.
It was an advantage that he was a very good subject for hypnotherapy. However it may be that the very fact that he is a good subject might be the reason it occurred but that is academic, the problem was and continues to be resolved.
SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES
There are many successful outcomes regarding stress and individual cases many of which relate to past experiences and childhood events that have had such an impact that have caused people to behave in a particular way when faced with what they see as similar situations.
Here are just a few examples to give an idea of the type of problems that arise. To the individual they can seem devastating to their life until it is changed.
We have clients from all walks of life such as doctors, nurses, NHS staff, local government officers, civil servants, performing artists and many other varied
types of work. Anyone can suffer because of stress, you can become stronger by seeking the help you need and resolving it.
Make contact, it’s the first step forward.
In pursuit of excellence
This client a was a fifteen year old boy he played ice hockey and performed according to his father, very well in practice games. His father informed me that his son had a great ability but this was marred by the fact that when it came to a real game he would just completely lose it and fail to produce the performance.
His father requested that I see him and wanted me to cure him of this failure to play well when required.
I am and always would be sceptical when a father makes this type of request for obvious reasons. It occurred to me that this might have been a case of a pushy father expecting performance from a son that was unable to live up to the fathers expectations and as a result conflict arising. Or maybe the boy was refusing to perform as he didn’t really want to take part or be spotlighted.
As a result of my reservations I agreed to see them on two conditions. One that I could speak to the boy alone and two that if I felt that the boy did not want to take part that we would call a halt at any stage. This was agreed. The reason I wanted to speak to the boy alone was to gauge his feeling and find out if this was what he wanted.
On meeting father and son father explained that his son was slightly dyslexic and although not a severe problem he did not perform academically very well. I was pleasantly surprised that the father was very reasonable. As the boy was fifteen he was able to converse and communicate as well as any adult but due to his age I requested signed written permission to work with him. Had the son not wished to proceed I would not have continued, but he was keen to see what we could do. Having satisfied myself this was the boys wish and there was no undue pressure or influence I decided to work with him.
We had several sessions of therapy and he was a delight to work with accepting the process with questions and a genuine desire to learn more.
He seemed to suffer from trying too hard and in trying too hard he was fearing failure but the fear was the predominant factor in his mind.
This young man progressed very quickly and at each session he would tell me of how he had improved. After about two months I was at home in the evening when I received a phone call from this young man who informed me that he had just played an ice hockey match with one of the toughest rival teams and had won the game. He was cited as “Man of the Match” he was very excited at his success and thanked me for my work. His father then spoke to me and informed me that his son had been at his school for four years and they have a merit system. During all that time his son had received two merits. However since he had been working with me he had received eleven merits for his school work.
The next time he saw me was the last time as he had discovered success and likes the feeling. This has opened up his future and I expect this is not the last we have heard of this young man. He is likely to go far in this world.
Take time to help yourself
If your too tied down with your work you need to do something about it.
Lecturer
This client was a woman in her forties, she presented With problems of work related stress. She felt that she could not cope and was unable to be strong enough to stand up to her line manger who was making unrealistic demands on her time and duties. He also requested that she do a job that she was neither contracted for nor comfortable with but he felt that due to her efficiency and personality that she would be well suited to the work. She attempted it as she wanted to please, but found that she was not given enough time and that support was not in place for her to carry out the promises to clients that she was dealing with, therefore it became very uncomfortable for her. When she thought to broach the subject with her line manager she became very tearful and frightened for no apparent reason.
When she attended she discussed the fact that she had often had similar problems when relating to those in authority. We discussed her background , growing up and life experiences. It transpired that her father had bee an ex-army Major, very strict and had little or no close contact with her or her siblings.
At about 7 years of age she had stolen some money from a coat pocket belonging to her father, which was hanging in the hallway. Swinging on the banister she knocked the coat heard the jingle of cash and helped herself. She treated other kids to ice cream. Her and her sibling were never allowed to get ice cream from the ice cream van as money was short.
Her mother asked all of them if anyone had taken some money but no one said anything. Her mother of course found the change in her pocket and the game was up. “Wait till you father gets home!!”
Father was rather harsh and said he did not want a thief in the house and made a very big issue of it. She was very distraught.
Her parents went through an elaborate charade of getting her “put into a home” and went to the lengths of arranging phone calls and reply calls so that she could hear the arrangements being made for her to be placed in “the home”.
This was a very traumatic event for her at a vulnerable time in her life, though her parents were probably unaware of the effect it might have on her. After this event she became very timid in the face of any figure of authority and found it difficult to challenge that type of individual. She felt that it was because she always wanted so much to please and automatically reverted to the behaviour of the child she had been.
Consequently through her working life, when confronted with authority she would revert to type in an effort to gain approval and remove threat.
With some confidence and assertiveness work we resolved her problem very quickly.
A charming lady, she is now very confident, has addressed her work issues and she has new found power. (To use with care.)
XS Stress
Cressington, Liverpool, UK
Capitol of Culture 2008
Tel: 0151 427 5278 or 07917 164 087
E mail : info@xsstress.co.uk