It's always good to get out and meet people, old friends and new ones. Apart from being asked about being in Kids TV show Brum (which I finished longer ago than I care to remember!), as a clinical hypnotherapist I often get asked about what I do.

I had a great time at the Stratford Tweet up recently and met so many people that a lot of the old questions came up again!

As any hypnotherapist will know most of the time these questions are about perceptions of hypnosis based on people seeing Derren Brown or old Paul McKenna TV shows. 

"Can you take over my mind and make me do things I don't want to do?"

"Are you hypnotising me now?"

I smile and explain that no one can make anyone do anything that they don't want to do. I can help people who want to make changes but they are always in control.

I recently went to see the Tom Hanks film Captain Phillips and it has proven very useful as an example of how our bodies struggle to tell the difference between real and imagined. I have not had a more gripping couple of hours in a cinema for a long time. My heart was beating out of my chest with excitement and tension, even though I knew I was just watching some pictures on a screen and listening to some sounds. I went with another hypnotherapist friend and afterwards we joked about needing a relaxing session to calm our bodies back down.

Another great story that I have been able to tell people that illustrates how hypnotherapy can be used is based on something that happened to me during the summer..

I attended a wedding as a guest of one of the bride's friends. I had never met either the bride or the groom before. During the evening the bride retired to her room with terrible toothache. At this point I was asked if it was something that I could help with. I was more than happy to go and speak to her. I found myself alone in the bridal suite with the bride lying on her four poster bed still in her wedding dress. We talked about the pain and I went through some techniques with her to turn down that pain. Of course, I also gave her the number of my dentist and made sure she called him to make an emergency appointment !

After a little time working with her she was able to turn the pain down to a managable level and went out to enjoy the rest of her evening. She was very grateful for the help, and the groom was over the moon about having his wedding night saved  

You never know when you will be able to help someone and as well as the wonderful warm feeling that comes from being able to help...

I ended up with a great story to tell.

Recently, I ended up in the Bridal suite of a lovely hotel with a newly married bride, still dressed in her wedding dress, lying on the four poster bed, waiting for me. The bridegroom shook my hand, thanked me and left us to be alone.

I had never met the bride or the groom before; I was just a plus one at the evening wedding party. It’s probably one of the most unusual things that has happened to me recently but when I explain then I think it will all make sense.

Earlier in the evening the bride had been suffering from a very bad toothache. No one wants toothache on a normal day, but on the day supposed to be one of the greatest in your life, it wasn’t good news at all. She had retired to the room to have a lie down whilst the party continued on without her downstairs. It was at this point that I was asked:

“Could you do anything to help with hypnosis?”

I work with clients for many different reasons and one of the things that sometimes people are less aware of, is that you can turn down pain with hypnosis. Often a client who has a long term injury or pain comes to me because they find that the medication they have been prescribed does help, but they often spend so much time thinking about pain that it becomes too much. It is important that I do not advise about medication and the doctor is the person responsible for that. However, I can teach people to “turn down pain” by using hypnotherapy and hypnosis techniques. This can really help.

So, firstly I helped the bride to start to allow herself to get into a relaxed state. I always have some relaxing music on my phone, and as I use the same music in my therapy room I know how much it helps to start that relaxation process. I then spent about twenty minutes asking questions and getting the bride to imagine certain things in order to help her to get some management and control of the pain. Of course it was important that she sought help from a dentist also, so I also gave her the number of my dentist so that she could call him in the morning. When we started talking I asked how bad the pain felt on a scale of 1 - 10 and she told me it was a 9, which of course is quite high, especially on the day of your wedding!

Once we had finished I asked how things felt now and she told me that the pain was now a 3, this means it is much more manageable. It’s never my intention to turn if off completely because it is there for a reason. If you are suffering you should seek medical help.

The good news is that after our brief session the bride returned to the party downstairs and the groom was very full of thanks as he shook my hand smiling broadly. I like to think that I managed to help make the wedding day go a little smoother than it may well have done otherwise.

NB: Sometimes when I work with clients I may use stories and tales that are changed from reality in order to help illustrate an idea, thought, or point that I want to make.

However, the story above is completely true, and I was proud to be able to help.