BWRT reviews are starting to appear more on social media and often what they have in common is that they show that as a therapy it can take fewer sessions that you may expect to make a real change.

This is a story from an email about a very personal case of BWRT and how it made a real change in a situation that was highly emotional.

Brain Working Recursive Therapy Reviews:

A very personal story....

"I've spent the last few weeks undergoing some pretty unpleasant tests and then about three weeks ago I had to see the consultant and I was told that I have prostate cancer. I am only 47 so it is very young, and the good news is that it isn’t aggressive, so everything will be fine. Our family have been through many cancer treatments and one is mid way through chemotherapy at the moment, so it’s almost something we are used to.

This led me to thinking that perhaps I should do some of the things that I haven’t been doing but thinking about, so the next day I walked straight into our local music shop and bought myself a set of drums. I play a little but it turns out that in fact I am pretty good and I have loved having them !

Another thing I have been thinking about for a long time is getting a dog as a companion, and I always wanted a rescue dog so off I went with a friend and her daughter.  Long story short, I have a 12 year old who I still get to spend time with from a relationship a long time ago.  Often I face not being able to see him. I love him more than anyone can imagine and fortunately the feeling is mutual!

So, missing him, as I often do and with another child in tow, and a friend who had been there for me to listen to my worries, I arrived at the Dogs Trust in Kenilworth. Whilst her daughter went off to get a drink her mother told me that she had explained what had happened to me and her daughter had said “Why do bad things happen to good people”. At this point all those overwhelming feelings about everything that was happening just overtook me and the tears came. My biggest worry at this point was that the trust staff would think that I was not capable of looking after a dog! I found a beautiful dog and knew that I would end up taking him home. Whilst we sat through the paperwork I gently sobbed whilst explaining that it would stop soon. What a state I was! Somehow my emotions have not been very much in check of late in my real life. 

So, I knew that I would be going back to pick him up a few days later after my house and garden were checked and all his checks were done. I had bought his bed, bowls and many many toys for him!

Part of me was pretty sure that I would be in tears again. I don’t mind people seeing it and I have enough confidence to laugh it off...but the other part of me wanted to enjoy the experience.

I emailed a BWRT practitioner in the hope of a BWRT on Skype therapy session and explained that I had a challenge and how about BWRTing me. 

Lo and behold working together that evening I laughed when I opened my eyes and looked all confused. I said “Hold on ! Let me try a bit harder to feel bad again” and laughed again too.

There I was the next morning driving up the long road and feeling full of pride in what I was doing and a happiness that my new friend would be coming home with me. It was a wonderful experience and he is settling in really well now. I smiled and just felt happy!!!

I have attached a video of us just after we arrived home on Sunday morning, and as you can see there are no puffy eyes on me from crying. I am so excited about how well BWRT worked for me"

You can read all about BWRT here: What is BWRT and how does it actually work?

If you would like to speak to me about working with you I can be reached on 07980 233160 or you can email me on [email protected] 

Can Hypnosis help patients during awake brain surgery?

According to a new study published in the Neurosurgery Journal hypnosis appears to be able to help reduce the psychological trauma associated with brain surgery performed while the patient is awake.  The technique is called "hypnosedation" and offers neurosurgeons an alternative for patients undergoing awake surgery for gliomas.

Hypnosis Research undertaken in France

The team in Tours, France, evaluated a hypnosis technique in 37 patients who were undergoing "awake craniotomy" for a type of tumour called a glioma. During the awake craniotomy, the patient is anesthetised but is kept conscious so that they can still communicate with the surgeon during the surgery. This communication is vital as it helps the surgeon navigate to the tumour without damaging the areas of the brain involved in language or movement.

What happens when the surgery takes place?

As a standard in this type of surgery, the patient is put to sleep, and then awakened so they can talk to the surgeon, and then afterwards put back to sleep again, which can be challenging in patients with high-grade gliomas.

In order to have time to teach the patients about how hypnosis works the preparation and training began a few weeks before surgery.

An anaesthesiologist who was also a hypnotherapist met with each patient to carry out a short hypnosis session and teach the patient how to create an imaginary place where they can feel safe and effective. This safe place technique is something that hypnotherapists use widely with clients to help them find somewhere relaxing and with practice you can imagine that you are in this calming place very quickly any time that you want to go there.

The Brain Surgery with Hypnotherapy

During the surgery, the patients were placed in a hypnotic trance. In reality this really just means that they were very relaxed and rather than focusssing on their worries and fears about the operation they would have been calm and relaxd, but also open to suggestion. They can hear everything and are always in control. The hypnotic experience was progressively enhanced during the first steps of surgery, and included specific instructions and imagery for each potentially unpleasant or painful step of the surgery.

The 37 patients underwent a total of 43 surgeries with hypnosedation, including repeat surgeries for recurrent gliomas. Hypnosis failed in six patients, who underwent standard anaesthesia. Another two patients decided not to undergo hypnotherapy for their operations.

 It was shown that hypnosis seemed to reduce the impact of unpleasant events during surgery. Some patients reported high stress levels, but this did not appear to affect their experience of hypnosis. Pain seemed to decrease as the level of hypnosis deepened. Only two patients said they would not choose hypnosedation if they had to undergo a second awake craniotomy.

While these results are encouraging, the researchers noted that they do not show that hypnosedation is superior to standard anaesthesia. They also noted that it requires intense involvement and long training for the surgical team and the patient.

It is always interesting to see medical research undertaken about hypnosis and hypnotherapy and the benefits to people’s health.  As a Clinical Hypnotherapist I work with many people who are suffering from pain and can help to teach you to turn down that pain and reduce the impact of it. Of course, it is always important to see your GP first and make sure that you get the pain checked out. Often with sufferers of chronic pain the effectiveness of drugs can seem to feel like it diminishes over time and this is where learning to control that pain can have real benefits.