Below are some of the common areas Brandi addresses with her clients in the therapy sessions.
Relationship Counselling
Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy have been found to be very effective for relationship therapy. The number of requested sessions for relationship therapy tend to vary because the presenting concerns, problems and issues are so varied. However, if both partners are committed, a de-escalation of negative emotions usually occurs after the first few sessions.
Often after the second and third sessions couples find they are beginning to refocus and take their relationship in the direction they wish it to go.
The first session, as stated above, is always a pre-session. This provides the client the opportunity to share with Brandi where the relationship is at and possibilities and perspectives on how it got there. Additionally, each client shares the direction they wish the relationship to go.
The pre-session is usually followed by a one hour Hypnotherapy sessions in a week to ten days which is followed by a variety of Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy sessions.
Weight Loss
With clients desiring weight loss, issues such as: portion sizes, cravings, eating times, binging, grazing, mindless eating, emotional eating etcetera are addressed. The issues and concerns, the evolution of the weight gain, possible triggers etcetera are all addressed in the pre-session. There are usually noticeable improvements after only two or three sessions in a variety of the areas being addressed.
Please be aware that the goal is not just loosing weight or attaining a certain size as most people have experienced some success, in the past, in these areas. It is not about deprivation (which is unnecessary) nor is it about will power (which is only a willingness to do something). The goal is to create a sustainable and lasting expression of health and strength in ways that feels natural and enjoyable.
Exercise Motivation
A greater degree of exercise motivation is often experienced after the first session. However, sustaining the motivation often takes at least five or six sessions. During the pre-session, goals, obstacles, past successes, struggles, etcetera are all explored. A variety of goals are usually addressed during the sessions such as the number of times per week wanted to exercise or consistently reaching a desired intensity level during exercise. (Exercise motivation is covered in the weight loss sessions)
Depression
Hypnotherapy has been found to be a very effective tool for both the longterm and immediate alleviation of depression. The clients that come in for depression often experience a shift in perspective that offers relief after the first or second session. However, the shift needed to transcend out of and beyond depression requires more sessions.
During the pre-session clients share the evolution of their depression, triggers, struggles etcetera.The session to follow is usually a one hour Hypnotherapy session aiding the client in a re-focus for depression relief. The sessions are always individually tailored according to that which was discussed in the pre-session. Once relief is experienced the sessions are further tailored to aid further, deeper and sustainable relief.
Stress
The clients suffering with anxiety or those having trouble dealing with stress often complain of headaches or neck discomfort (due to tension). The headaches and neck tension usually subside after the first session. Those having trouble coping with stress often find relief after one or two sessions allowing for a relief in both physical and mental symptoms.
Additional sessions are usually required to create and sustain the alternative thought patterns desired and to ensure many and most stresses can be coped with in a happy and healthy way. This can usually be accomplished in five or six sessions.
Smoking Cessation
(These sessions may also include cigars, chewing tobacco and nicotine gum. Brandi has also successfully used Hypnotherapy for those wanting to omit marijuana use)
For most clients coming in for smoking cessation three sessions are recommended. There are of course those that do not require three and there are those that may require one or two more sessions. After the first session the desire and/or reminders to smoke usually dissipate significantly or disappear all together.
The next couple sessions handle any twinges of desire or reminders which help to create a sense that being a non-smoker is natural and normal and therefore easily sustained. There is a one hour pre-session, prior to the Hypnosis, which allows a client to share the evolution of their habit, their ideas of addiction, their triggers and that which they may have emotionally associated with smoking. This allows for individually tailored and specific Hypnotherapy sessions
Anxiety / Panic Attacks
The clients suffering with anxiety or those having trouble dealing with stress often complain of headaches or neck discomfort (due to tension). The headaches and neck tension usually subside after the first session. Those suffering with anxiety or panic attacks often find that the severity and frequency of these attacks dissipating after the first or second session.
About five or six sessions are usually required for the elimination of these attacks to be sustained.
Sleep Concerns
For sleep concerns and disorders, most people experience improvements after only two or three sessions; these improvements are usually deeper sleep and/or continuous hours of sleep.
Clients that have not slept well for a prolonged period of time often have to be reminded that a "good sleep" three or four nights a week is not the goal. It is natural and normal and within the realm of improvement to sleep well each night of the week
Peaceful Focus
Some clients are angry or ruminating about something they can not seem to let go of or forgive. Others explain they seem to let little things bother them or anger them more than they think they should. The more a thought is thought the stronger it becomes - both mentally and physically - therefore the harder it becomes to get in front of, change or ignore. For these clients the sessions are based on creating a peaceful focus which leads not only to greater peace but greater happiness.
With the help of Hypnosis and Psychotherapy, a peaceful focus is enabled through specific suggestions that encourage the brain to create peaceful thought patterns. These thought patterns allow for a peaceful focus that encourages anger or lack of forgiveness to dissipate. These thought patterns, once sustained long enough become habitual and ensure negative thought patterns stay quiet.
After the one hour pre-session a one hour Hypnotherapy session is usually recommended. Clients often experience relief from their anger and/or a new perspective on forgiveness after the first Hypnotherapy session. The following sessions are usually a combination of Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy which substantiate and deepen the peaceful focus which in turn encourages long-term significant relief. Most clients attend 5-6 sessions over the course of a few months.
Pain Relief
Some of the best known applications of Hypnosis have been in the domain of pain relief. The potential to reduce pain to a manageable level or to eliminate it is perhaps one of the most worthwhile uses of hypnosis (Yapko, 2003). Most people experience relief during the first hypnosis session. With further sessions, aimed at reinforcing and practicing pain relief, self-hypnosis can be learned for pain relief to be experienced and expressed beyond the therapy sessions.
Each client’s pain is experienced differently and is an expression of something unique within the body. Therefore, it is expected that every client has been provided professional medical advise regarding their pain prior to beginning hypnosis for pain relief. Because each client’s pain is so unique the sessions required vary considerably.
* It must be noted that in preparation for anticipated pain (such as that experienced after a surgery) it is recommended that the client allow 6-8 weeks to acquire the skills necessary to make the experience of pain malleable or negotiable. Brandi is a Certified Medical and Dental Specialist for the field of Hypnotherapy
