“Can you help me to juggle with hypnosis?”, has to be one of the more unusual requests that I have heard! Being a clinical hypnotherapist means that I help people with so many different issues. You probably think that I spend most of my time helping people to stop smoking with hypnosis, lose weight and overcome their fears and phobias. I also spend a great deal of time working with people on managing the stress and anxiety of life and even teaching people to control and turn down pain.

But, I also get involved in things that you may not even have thought about before. I help people to learn how to control blushing so that they do not have to live in fear of what happens to their face when they feel a little anxious or embarrassed. This works wonders in stopping blushing brides from actually blushing.

One of the most unusual things that I have done recently was to help someone to become a better Juggler!

Jane Deane is an actress who has appeared on Kids TV, in the series Justin’s House where she played the unicycling Dee Livery. You may think that unicycling is tough but Jane was working with me on her juggling skills! She performs for children and adults live on a regular basis, and has been juggling for more years than she cares to remember. As a three or four ball juggler Jane is very accomplished and has no problems. She also uses clubs and can juggle away to her heart’s content.

 However, when it comes to five balls she admits that she struggles to keep up that swirling pattern of balls before gravity takes over.

Juggling is actually an excellent way to take yourself off to another place, and believe it or not to reduce stress! This may seem counter intuitive but in actual fact, even though it may seem hard to juggle once you learn, you never forget and the interesting thing is that when you are juggling you can only concentrate on one thing because you are using both sides of the brain at the same time. This is why it works so well as a stress reliever.

I worked with Jane on helping her to visualise exactly what her juggling would be like when she used all five balls and also relaxing herself so that she does not put too much pressure on herself to get it right. As she works in a fun and comical environment it is fine for her to drop the balls sometimes.

Now all she needs to do is go away with an MP3 that I made her so that she can listen and reinforce what she is learning and before long she will be juggling all five balls...with a bit of practice too of course !

As the school holidays loom large on the horizon it's not too soon to be thinking about the day that your child will return to school after the summer break.

It's never too early for families to focus on getting ready for the upcoming school year. Many children find the transition either within school years or changing schools to be stressful, of course parents can also find it a difficult time too.

Around his time of year, I usually see an increase in the number of children visiting me who are dealing with the stress and fear associated with the back to school transition. The Summer holidays when school is out, are a great time to work on overcoming those issues before the next school year begins.

The anxiety associated with going back to school is especially common among children ages 5-8 and 10-14, when they are dealing a host of new changes. New schools, new friends and teachers and other worries can become too much and cause stress for your child.

You can help though. It is good to look for the common signs that you child may be experiencing some anxiety. These include unexplained headaches, stomach aches, trouble sleeping, difficulty making decisions, excessive shyness and clinginess.

To ease your child’s fears and concerns, here are some thoughts about things that you can try to help them

  Work with your child so that they can express their worries and feelings – either by talking, writing in a diary, or drawing pictures.

  Encourage them to tell an adult (i.e. a teacher) when they have a problem at school. They never need face things alone.

  Ask them to list the things they dislike about their time at school. Then, discuss which things they have the power to change, and how they could do this.

  How about Introducing some relaxation exercises to them, helping them to control their breathing, for especially stressful moments? As an example, you can have your child inhale for the count of three, hold the breath for three and exhale on six; or inhale to the count of four, hold for four and exhale on eight. Work with them to find the best way for them to do this.

  It's always good to prepare healthy meals and snacks, and enjoy physical activities together as a family.

If you find that your child’s anxieties begin to interfere with their daily activities in school, socially or at home, and negatively affect their overall well-being and health, this can be a sign that it is time to seek some professional help.

Hypnotherapy can be especially beneficial in helping children overcome their fears and anxiety. On average, children come in for 3-5 sessions, with improvement often noticeable after the first session. Working with children is always rewarding as they can be so open to change and enthusiastic about the prospects.

Feel free to contact me on 07980 233160 to ask how we can work with your child to help them with any anxiety. I provide free initial consultations.

You can also email me on [email protected]

As well as working at my practice I also provide therapy to many clients via SKYPE