All articles
Simon’s writing on mental health.
19 February 2023
Phobias And How To Treat Them
A phobia is a strong, irrational, fear that’s elicited by something in the near environment (or anticipated environment). Common phobias are of swimming, driving, flying, heights and lifts. There are also fears of tight spaces…
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21 January 2021
Interview for The Rut Podcast with James Roycroft-Davis
Towards the end of last summer (2020) I had the wonderful opportunity to do an interview with James Roycroft-Davis on ‘The Rut’ podcast. This is a highly successful podcast that focuses on (mostly) men’s mental health with the intention of…
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4 November 2020
Don’t Be A Victim – Jordan Peterson
Jordan Peterson talks about the allure of victimhood, all you have to do is complain. Well, you could also find something important, something meaningful to pursue. Based on his book ‘12 Rules For Life’.
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4 November 2020
Dealing with Health Anxiety in the age of COVID 19
2020 saw the UK on lockdown over the COVID19 respiratory disease. Not only did this put people at physical risk of a very nasty flu-like disease but also created 24 hour news coverage of people being hospitalised, struggling to breathe,…
Read article15 September 2020
HIV Diagnosis and The Process of Adjustment
The article linked here from BBC Newsbeat is the inspiring story of Luke Alexander, who has been HIV positive for just a year. His attitude shows us all how a brave and well adjusted a person can respond to such devastating news.
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20 April 2020
Sleep, The Easy Road to Improved Mental and Physical Health – INSOMNIA SOLUTIONS
PART ONE of this article on sleep dealt extensively with the reasons for prioritising high quality and sufficient sleep. In summary, there are substantial gains in performance and health vitality as well as warding off the most serious…
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15 December 2019
Everybody Dies, But Not Everybody Lives
Worth a look.
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15 December 2019
How To Make Stress Your Friend
Great Ted Talk by Kelly McGonigal on stress. Enjoy.
Read article13 November 2019
Fear of Flying and Bad Advice
You know those ’10 tips to X’ articles that are ten a penny. I just caught this one on Fear of Flying which highlights what’s wrong with well intentioned and plausible but utterly wrong-headed writing: …
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19 May 2019
Resolving Anxiety Through Hypnotherapy
Anxiety describes the agitated state we experience when our brain looks into the future and predicts a threat towards our life or the things we value. People suffering from anxiety conditions tend to be unable to enjoy the present moment…
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15 December 2018
Lobsters Have A Lot To Teach Us
Dr. Abraham Twerski on responding to stress and fear. The stimulus to be able to grow is to feel uncomfortable! Times of stress are also times that are signals for growth.
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15 December 2018
Bob Newhart Leaks Top Therapy Tool
Great therapy advice from Bob. On a serious note, intrusive thoughts and worries cause havoc but can be treated easily.
Read article19 November 2018
Treating PTSD And Trauma With Hypnotherapy
Whether you’ve been diagnosed with PTSD or whether you suspect you’ve not been able to overcome a traumatic event in your life, there is help available. If you suffer from serious mood swings, find yourself reliving traumatic events, have…
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18 March 2018
Eye Movement Treatments For Depression Are Here To Stay
There are a number of effective treatments for depression. As a Cognitive Hypnotherapist I know that there is no single treatment that works for everybody which is why I have many treatment options for my clients with depression (and…
Read article14 March 2018
Treating Depression Effectively With Hypnotherapy
We’re not born depressed. We’re born happy, energetic and curious. We throw ourselves at new experiences, engaging with everything new like it’s the best thing ever. The last thing on the infant’s mind is “I think I’ll put off learning to…
Read article13 February 2018
Ending Addiction / Less Excess
The cycle of addiction is one of the main causes of people waking up after decades and realising their life has passed them by. Whether it’s taking a toll on your wallet, your relationships, your job or your life, a short set of sessions…
Read article18 January 2018
Diagnostic labels and meds are barriers to quick change
Every month or so I get enquiries from a potential client who’s clearly been through the medical/psychiatric pathway of care and my heart sinks. This week I had a client who insisted I read his psychiatrist’s notes on how they’d been…
Read article4 January 2018
Male Rape, A Problem That Persists
This post is inspired by the very emotional programme about male rape shown on the BBC in December 2017. It covers the stories of a number of victims of male rape and how it affected them and continues to do so. The programme included the…
Read article15 December 2017
Addiction: Johann Hari’s Seminal Ted Talk
Now is a as good a time as any to challenge what you know about addiction.
Read article15 December 2017
Humour: Free Phobia Workshop
Most phobias can be properly treated by a single session of Cognitive Hypnotherapy.
Read article15 December 2017
Wordweaving – The Science of Suggestion
Wordweaving™ is a style of hypnotic language developed and used within Cognitive Hypnotherapy by Trevor Silvester of The Quest Institute.
Read article13 December 2017
Cognitive Hypnotherapy
Cognitive Hypnotherapy is a fast, effective and permanent way of dealing with emotional problems, habits and performance issues. It is the go-to treatment for anybody suffering from stress or trauma related issues, addictions, temper,…
Read article25 November 2017
Abuse Stays Fresh Until It’s Treated – PTSD, Football & Rape
Nobody could have been left unmoved by the revelations of retired football players this month. First a lone footballer speaks out about the sexual abuse he suffered as a child from a coach, then the floodgates opened up as we realise the…
Read article16 September 2016
The Quest Institute
The Quest Institute is a UK based organisation created by Trevor and Rebecca Silvester to promote and train practitioners in Cognitive Hypnotherapy.
Read article20 July 2016
Anxiety
Firstly, a simple reminder that anxiety is not a disorder. Anxiety is a normal feeling, rather uncomfortable, but one that we need to be able to experience in order to stay healthy. Without anxiety, blowing the rent money on restocking…
Read article9 July 2016
Eye Movement Therapy (IEMT, EMDR & EMI)
I’m the first to admit that there are a number of ‘alternative’ or ‘complimentary’ therapies out there that raise eyebrows. Even hypnosis is a stretch for some sceptics despite clinical evidence. Some of these therapies rely very heavily…
Read article8 July 2016
Latest Research
There are many complimentary therapies available for most mental health issues. There are even many different types of hypnosis. The difficulty is often choosing a suitable, effective and value for money treatment. Until recently Cognitive…
Read article17 May 2016
Drugs Are Not The Answer
The government continues to stymie research which could reduce symptoms for people with depression because of their prejudices against certain types of drugs. Psilocybin research may help relieve depression
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15 December 2015
England’s Top Doc Doesn’t Understand Obesity
A summary of her position is featured on BBC News. It’s the usual government nonsense. But in order to fix something you have to understand how it comes about, you must identify its real cause. History is littered with mistakes that…
Read article22 July 2015
Extreme Phobias, Extreme Quacks
Initially, I avoided watching Sky’s latest programme on Extreme Phobias because I thought it might be frivolous. ‘I was wrong, the programme is positively dangerous.
Read article8 March 2015
The Fourth ‘F’
Fight, Flight and Freeze. The study of comparative psychology has long since identified three bulk-standard responses inherited from our forebears when under threat. These three responses have a lot in common including high emotional…
Read article20 November 2014
Fear of HIV Disclosure Following Clinic Data Breach
This week the prestigious Dean Street sexual health clinic mistakenly released the names and email addresses of nearly 800 of its HIV clients.
Read article10 September 2014
Suicide and Young Gay Men
There’s a disproportionate number of young gay men committing suicide. Very disproportionate. If the figures from Stonewall’s 2011 study of gay and bisexual men is to be believed 27% of gay and 38% of bisexual men said they had considered…
Read article23 August 2014
Better Sleep
There are few things that sabotage a day more than a poor night’s sleep and if it continues our mental and physical health can suffer.
Read article1 July 2014
Flying, The Trance State and Power of a New Perspective
Yesterday, I was flying to Dublin from London’s City Airport and I thought the experience is worth recording. Now, I deliberately mention City Airport since, had I been travelling from Gatwick or Heathrow, I’d undoubtedly be in a bad mood…
Read article26 June 2014
Inner Wisdom vs. the Nutrition Nazis
I’ll admit that this is more of a rant than a blog post about hypnosis but sometimes I just get so mad with government experts, it makes me want to give Michael Fabricant a list.
Read article1 June 2014
Resilience, Why Is It So Important? How Do I Get More?
I’m a big fan of resilience. In fact, I believe resilience is the difference that makes the difference in determining who comes through my door and who doesn’t.
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