I’ve had a few conversations recently with people who are feeling trapped. Trapped in situations they don’t want to be in but feeling unable to escape; at least for the time being.

Situations like jobs, relationships, responsibilities to children, elderly parents & loved ones.

Unable to leave a job they don’t enjoy because it pays the bills and keeps a roof over their heads and the heads of their family.

Staying in an unhappy relationship until the children are old enough to not be affected by the possible damage a separation may cause, or maybe until their financial situation changes when the promotion comes, savings mature, or pensions arrive.

You may think as a therapist I would encourage you to leave so you can feel more in control and happy again.

But what if it REALLY isn’t possible? What then?

When we are in a situation where we feel trapped, we can spend a lot of time focussing on how bad it is, what the situation is stopping us from doing or achieving.

But this only keeps us feeling stuck, because we are telling our compass to focus on the NEGATIVE; this keeps us feeling low and feeling we have no control over our lives, counting down the days, weeks, months and even years until we aren’t in this situation anymore.

If you ARE stuck there are things you can do to point your compass to POSITIVE instead, start focussing on what you CAN change, how you can make your life a little EASIER, a little HAPPIER.

Not only will it make you FEEL better but the time will seem like it goes faster too.

It doesn’t have to be massive things either, arrange to meet friends and go for a walk or coffee, take up a new interest or hobby, learn a new skill, engross yourself in a book or box set, cook a new dinner that you haven’t made before, bake a cake, go for a run go to the park or beach.

In other words enjoy your time as much as you can until your situation DOES change.

With a play on the words of Luther “If you can’t be in the situation you’ll love, love the one you’re in” at least for the time being

The post Feeling Trapped? This Might Help appeared first on Karen Britter Therapies.

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Now this is in fact TRUE

BUT

It is also FALSE!

How so? How can it be BOTH?

Well it is in fact TRUE, because the issue DOES probably run in their family and it can FEEL like they inherited it.

This is most likely because both them and their families DO have the same issue and have also FELT like it for as long as they can remember.

But it is also FALSE.

It is FALSE because as a baby you are only BORN with 2 fears

The fear of FALLING & the fear of LOUD noises

If you are holding a baby and sit down suddenly, their arms will fly up in the air, it is a natural reflex they are born with as they will feel like they are FALLING, and they will probably cry too… until they get used to it.

They will also jump if they hear a LOUD noise for the first time, again it is a natural reflex they were born with as loud, UNUSUAL noises will alert the sub conscious that they may be in danger and again, they will probably cry. But, if it is a loud noise that happens frequently in their surroundings, their brain will get used to it and it won’t react after a while.

Both these situations will initiate the fight or flight reflex from one of the earliest parts of our sub conscious mind called the Amygdala. Because FALLING and LOUD noises mean the body is PROBABLY at risk.

But the rest, the rest of all the other things we are now frightened of is LEARNT, we will have LEARNT to be frightened of spiders, frightened of the dark, frightened of flying…

As a child (usually 0 – 7 years old) we learn from the people around us, if they react, we react.

If they show that they are frightened we learn that, that THING is something to be frightened of so we store the memory for the future, so that THING doesn’t harm us.

So that’s it, you are running an old programme that was probably set up before you were 7 years old and you probably LEARNT it from someone else, who also LEARNT it before, they were 7 years old too!

So now that you know that, to STOP feeling frightened, it is JUST mind over matter you are running an OLD outdated programme that you LEARNT, and you DON’T need it anymore.

But, if that’s not going to work, I can recommend a very GOOD Therapist!

The post Fears, Phobias & Babies appeared first on Karen Britter Therapies.

Most of my clients see me for Hypnotherapy or BWRT® for stress and anxiety but I am also able to help with a lot more than that.

I have just been reviewing my month end notes and I have also worked with all these this month too.

The post 6 months now following my dream career appeared first on Karen Britter Therapies.

Well as horrible as it sounds, I have actually enjoyed her being ill; I have had my lovely child back rather than the grumpy, attitudey, ungrateful teenager that normally lives in my house!

She was always a happy child, always laughing and joking, then she hit 13 and it all changed literally overnight.  It was 2 days after her 13^th birthday and I had picked her up from school as usual.  She made a sarcastic comment, which I laughed at as I thought she was joking but apparently, she wasn’t!!  and so, my lovely daughter had been replaced with a relative stranger.

Luckily for me in my line of work I understand a bit more about what is going on with her so thought during this time of reflection I would share it with you.

When a child hits puberty a lot of changes are going on in the brain.   Its known as “synaptic pruning”, this happens at other times too but is particularly prolific during adolescence.  So, what is it?

It’s a process where the child brain, develops into an adult brain, neural pathways needed as a child are starting to become redundant and replaced with adult ones instead.  This can be confusing for the teenager and everyone around them.  One minute they are behaving quite childlike and can’t do anything for themselves the next they are challenging your authority and striving to be independent.  They will swing backwards and forwards for a few years as the process goes along.  They don’t understand what is happening to them and neither do you.

As frustrating as it is to be around them, what is actually happening is exactly what should be happening and you should be more concerned if it doesn’t.

You have been the voice of reason, the person to whom they look to for advice when they don’t know what to do, the one they can depend on no matter what.  But as their brain develops into an adult brain, they will start to challenge your thoughts and feelings and start to have their own.  This is all totally normal and means they are developing as they should do, they should be thinking for themselves and not necessarily be believing everything they understood before; they should be challenging the status quo.  This means they are developing into a mature, conscientious and responsible adult, there are just a few bumpy rides before they get there!!

Does this mean I don’t get upset when they are rude and obnoxious or get angry when I can’t get into their bedroom as the floor is covered in a weeks’ worth of clothes, food, drinks or who knows what underneath?! of course not, I wish!  I still have the same thoughts, feelings and frustrations but I am able to rationalise them.  I can walk away and understand that this is a passing phase as frustrating as it is, it won’t last forever, even though it feels like it might at the time.

Our constant nagging does nothing except wind us all up, parent/carer and child.  That doesn’t mean roll over and let them rule the roost but it does mean choosing your battles and sometimes having the maturity, a maturity they will learn from you, to know when to stand your ground and when to coin a phrase “to let it go”.

Published with the kind permission of my 14 year old Daughter.

The post Living with a Teenager in the House appeared first on Karen Britter Therapies.

Despite an estimated 1 in 4 people suffering from a mental illness in their lifetime and high profile people like Prince Harry and Ant McPartlin seeking Therapy, a lot of people will only consider Therapy as a last resort after trying several other things and spending a fortune trying to mask the issue by themselves.  They not only spend a fortune but often do things that are bad for their health too.

So, what do I mean by that comment?

How many people do you know who

• Say they can’t stop smoking because it helps them to manage stress?
• Get drunk every weekend as they have had such a stressful week at work?
• Or the overweight person who is shy and lacking self-esteem who sits at home every evening with a take away, alcohol or a pile of chocolate

It’s not only things considered ‘bad’ either

What about the person obsessed with going to the gym every day?  or the person needing to run 10 miles every evening? they may very well have their own issues they are fighting too.

In fact, anyone who does anything to excess perceived either good or bad is probably battling something.  There is a lot of truth in the saying ‘everything in moderation’.

So, sales pitch alert!

I have built up a proven track record of helping people overcome both minor and major obstacles in their lives.

I regularly travel the country to learn new techniques to ensure I am using the latest methods so that YOU get the best care available.

I specialise in helping YOU to resolve YOUR stress and anxiety, improving YOUR self-esteem so you can deal with life and life’s challenges in a more calm and confident way.

I also have a pain elimination technique that can often remove pain in just one session. This can be pain from an old illness or injury as well as conditions such as arthritis, sciatica, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome etc.

So how do I do that then?

All my methods work with your subconscious, I do this because, in my opinion, it’s the fastest and most efficient way to get the permanent change that you are looking for when you come to see me.

So, what does your subconscious do then?

Well basically it runs the show.  Every one of us has a phenomenal subconscious. It is there for 2 reasons and 2 reasons only

• •                to keep you safe and
• •                to keep you happy.

Your subconscious is responsible for keeping you alive, it checks and rechecks your whole-body millions and millions of times a day.  If it finds something wrong either physically or emotionally it will send you a signal to alert you.  If you ignore it, it will send a stronger signal and another one until you can’t ignore it anymore.

In fact, it will send a signal as strong as the attention that you need to give it.

So, if you hit your leg it will send a short sharp pain and this will do 2 things

• •      1 alert you to the fact that your leg has received an injury and
• •      2 store a memory of the impact so you will think twice before doing it again.

If on the other hand, you break that leg the pain message will be much stronger, making you act immediately

• •      so, you get yourself down to A&E so the bone can be reset and repair correctly
• •      and again, store a memory to hopefully stop you doing it again.

This is how I explain it to my clients.

If you imagine your brain is like a computer.  When you are born, you have all the functionality and connections in your hard drive but you only have a small amount of data stored.  From the moment, you are conceived that hard drive is receiving and storing information and building up your own internal database so when an impulse is received in it acts like a search engine and will look for the most suitable response.  Some of these responses you are completely unaware of as your body checks, repairs and fights infection behind the scenes.

Others are happening in your subconscious and you are totally unaware of them UNTIL you consciously think about them! like breathing, listening and blinking.  Now you weren’t consciously aware of them until I just mentioned them but now that I’ve brought them to your attention you are very aware of them.  But in a few seconds, you will forget about them again and they will carry on doing their work invisibly.

Other things are in your subconscious too but will send a message to the conscious part of your brain to make you do something to protect you and keep you happy like send a message that a gnat is crawling on your arm so you can swat it away before it bites you, or to alert you that your hand is getting too close to that hot kettle to stop you getting burnt.

Well this is very interesting but what has it got to do with Therapy? Well, quite a lot!

All those millions of messages that have been stored since you were conceived are what controls your personality and behaviours now.  If you have done something in the past and stayed alive your subconscious will do the same thing again and again because it thinks it is keeping you safe and happy.

Now most of the time, your subconscious is doing exactly what you want and need it to do for you.  If not you still wouldn’t be able to walk, talk, feed yourself, write, drive or any number of the hundreds and thousands of things you have learnt over the years.

If you learnt to ride a bike when you were younger and hadn’t ridden one for 10 years you would still be able to ride one, because your neural network has been created and your brain knows what it needs to do.  In fact, you would have great difficulty in making yourself unlearn and fall off.

But have you ever wondered why you can’t

• •           stop doing something you don’t want to do?
• •           or make yourself do something you do want to do?

Well that’s your good old subconscious following old and trusted neural pathways and behaviours.

Science has proven when an impulse comes into your brain, it goes to your subconscious first and takes approximately 1/3^rd of a second to reach your conscious brain.  In that time, your subconscious has looked for the best and most trusted neural pathway; it’s like the top search in your own personal search engine.

So, if something has made you anxious in the past, guess what?  your body will create that anxiety again and again.   You may consciously know that there is nothing to fear but that subconscious has already kicked in and your body is already well on its way to panic mode, before you are even consciously aware of it.  A message that may have been useful in the past is now unnecessary.

It’s like a virus in your computer, if it’s not brought into check a small fear of an insect in your garden can, over time, manifest itself into a complete fear of even stepping outside your house.

For some people, changing thought patterns or behaviours will make a difference, for others they need a bit of help and that’s where I come in.  You only have one life and each one of you deserves to be healthy and happy.

If you break your leg you go to the hospital

If you have an infection you go to the doctors

If you have low self-esteem, stress, anxiety etc. or unnecessary physical or emotional pain you see a therapist!

If you have any questions or you wish to contact me, please feel free to go to my website karenbrittertherapies.com where you will find all my contact details.

The post So why should you see a Therapist? appeared first on Karen Britter Therapies.

• Weight Management
• Improve feelings of low self esteem within an unhappy marriage
• Lifetime of anxiety and low self esteem, client has been able to stop taking anti-depressants for the first time in over 20 years
• Performance anxiety, low self esteem and lack of confidence. Client has left their job and is currently touring the world with their guitar!
• Family issues, lack of motivation and loss of direction
• Fear of flying
• Jealousy and control issues
• Fear of speaking out in a controlling relationship

As you can see, the issues I can help with are vast.  If any of these or other issues are affecting you please make use of my complimentary, no obligation initial consultation to see if I can help you.

 Karen Britter Therapies Clinical Hypnosis with Psychotherapy & BWRT®

Email: Karen.britter@gmail.com  Mobile: 07941 349743 Web: karenbrittertherapies.com

The post How did Axe the Angst go? appeared first on Karen Britter Therapies.

If so Therapy can help you!!

Is this YOU??

• I keep feeling tired all the time, when I go to bed I can’t sleep! I’m sure it would help to talk to someone BUT …
• I want to stop smoking BUT …
• I never seem to feel as confident as everyone else, I always seem to worry more BUT …
• I know I drink too much alcohol BUT …
• I seem so stressed and anxious at the moment, I know I should talk to someone BUT …
• I need to sort out my eating habits BUT …

So what effect can avoiding kicking BUT be having on your mental and physical health?

Holding back and not being who we want to be or not doing what we want to do; can make us both physically and psychologically ill.

There are a number of ways your body could be showing you this without you actually realising it, things like…

• Unable to get to sleep or waking regularly in the night
• Upset stomachs
• Chest palpitations
• Regular headaches
• Low energy levels
• Constantly feeling irritable for no particular reason etc. Etc.

We often know that something is just not quite right, that we need to change something BUT change is scary and we are very good at making excuses,  finding other things to do, burying our heads in the sand hoping it will all go away or hoping someone else will sort it out for us.

How many times do you come up with a good idea or think about changing something and then talk yourself out of it again, finding 101 reasons why you shouldn’t do it?

Change is a natural aspect of everyday life; we are changing and evolving all the time.  Every time you experience something new you have changed your perception of something or someone; whether you realise it or not.  And this happens each and every day and will continue to happen throughout the whole of your life time.

We often fear standing out preferring instead to camouflage ourselves to fit in and by doing so, suppress our real selves.

But what’s the alternative?

So what can YOU do about it…?

It’s Time to Kick BUT!

TAKE CONTROL OF THE SITUATION and TAKE BACK CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE

If you need help to do it or just need to chat it through; think about talking to a Therapist where you are free to talk in a completely open and honest way, someone who is trained to listen to you in a non biased or judgemental way.

Most Therapists offer a complimentary initial consultation so it won’t even cost you anything to dip your foot in the water to see if Therapy is right for you.

At Karen Britter Therapies I am able to work on all of the above issues and many more; either with BWRT® or with other Therapeutic methods.

If you want to pop along for a complimentary chat to see if I can help YOU, please contact me on

Mobile 07941 349743

Or, if you would rather have Therapy from the comfort of your own home, you can have your Therapy sessions with me over Skype or FaceTime.

Please feel free to take a look around my webpage to find out a bit more about me and the Therapies that I offer at www.karenbrittertherapies.com

Karen

The post Is it time to kick BUT? appeared first on Karen Britter Therapies.

The news about BWRT® is starting to gain pace across the world of Therapy.  With Practitioners and clients experiencing amazing results across the globe.

Our sub-conscious often creates thoughts, feelings and actions that we do not want to experience and the more we consciously try and stop them the more they seem to happen!

BWRT® makes it possible, via a simple technique, to create a new response pattern to any stimulus so that the action the brain triggers is one that we want.  The technique is exceptionally fast and some issues can be resolved in just ONE session.  We also don’t need to find the originating cause of a problem, only the worst conscious memory of it that the client can consciously find.

A relatively new Therapy BWRT® is already addressing issues within a few weeks that have needed months or even years worth of Therapy in the past.

Conditions such as:-

• Stress and Anxiety
• Depression
• Generalised Anxiety Disorder (G.A.D.)
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (O.C.D.)
• Fears
• Habits
• Weight management
• Relationship problems
• Social Phobia
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.)

But don’t just take my word for it visit www.bwrt.org and take a look at our new client testimonials page.  More information is also available on my BWRT page.

At Karen Britter Therapies I am able to work on all of the above issues and more; either with BWRT® or with other Therapeutic methods.  If you want to pop along for a complimentary chat to see if I can help YOU, please contact me on:

Mobile 07941 349743

Or complete my contact form and I’ll call you back at a convenient time.

If you would rather have Therapy from the comfort of your own home, you can have your Therapy sessions with me over Skype or FaceTime.

Please feel free to take a look around my website to find out a bit more about me and the Therapies that I offer at www.karenbrittertherapies.com

The post Therapy BWRT style – So what is it and what can it do? appeared first on Karen Britter Therapies.

In 2015 the Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions were…

1. Lose Weight
2. Getting Organised
3. Spend less, Save more
4. Enjoy Life to the Fullest
5. Staying Fit & Healthy
6. Learn Something Exciting
7. Stop Smoking
8. Help Others In Their Dreams
9. Fall in Love
10. Spend More Time with Family

Only 8% of people actually achieve their New Year Resolution with 24% totally failing (the rest achieve part of it).

So how do YOU go about keeping YOURS?

People that haven’t tried Therapy often think it is for BIG psychological problems and they would only seek Therapy as a last resort, when they have tried a lot of other things first.  But Therapy can help massively when you just get ‘Stuck’ too!

The chances are, the Resolutions you made this year you made the year before and the year before that.

So let’s do some online Therapy shall we?…

OK firstly the more specific you are the more likely you are to achieve Your Goal. This applies with any goal you set and New Year Resolutions are no exception. If you are really specific with Your Goal you are 10 times more likely to achieve it.

Take the No. 1 Resolution; Lose Weight, it’s too general and not very dynamic. So be more specific by asking yourself questions like…

1. How much do I want to lose?  Be realistic; make sure it is a healthy weight for your height and age.
    
2. By when? If you have a lot of weight to lose, set yourself smaller weekly and monthly goals that are achievable … and stick to them! I need to lose 5 stone sounds like a mammoth task but losing 3lb a week or 7lb a month sounds more achievable.
3. How am I going to do this? Ask yourself how you will achieve this and still fit it in with your work/life balance. Do you want to join a slimming club or do it on your own?  What exercise would you enjoy doing, do you want to join a Gym or will you enjoy doing something on your own?  What time of the day will fit in with your routine or can you change your routine?
4. Who can help me achieve my goal? You are more likely to achieve any goal if you do it with someone else. This can either be someone who wants to achieve the same goal as you or someone who can support and encourage you.
5. How will I reward myself? You may think that achieving Your Goal is reward itself. But if you promise yourself a reward at certain milestones, it will encourage you to continue.  It doesn’t have to be anything BIG just something that you would enjoy or that you wouldn’t normally treat yourself to.

As with all life goals sometimes there is something preventing you from achieving them.  If this is the case, Therapy can make a MASSIVE difference to your success.  Let’s take a look at each of the above New Year Resolutions in turn…

Lose Weight.

If you have tried to lose weight before and have either failed or lost it only to gain it all again there could be an underlying reason why you are not achieving your goal.  By visiting a Therapist you can discuss your reasons for wanting to lose weight; sometimes you need to look at your goal in a different way or maybe something from your past is stopping you.  There are a number of things that can hold you back and Therapy can help you identify them.

Getting Organised.

Sometimes it can feel that there is a mountain to clear or just too much to do and the goal seems unachievable or sometimes you just need to get yourself motivated to actually start.  Therapy can help you identify what has stopped you doing this in the past, what your reasons are for achieving it now and what is likely to hold you back.  Sometimes just speaking to someone who understands your issue and the things holding you back can set you on the right track.  As with weight loss above, you can set yourself small and medium sized goals so the job doesn’t feel so daunting.

Spend Less, Save More.

If you are running up debts or living beyond your means every month there could be a psychological reason for it; like low self esteem, anxiety or depression.  Hypnotherapy or BWRT is one of the best ways to help you deal with these issues head on so you can get on with the rest of your life in a happy and controlled way.

Enjoy Life to the Fullest.

As with the above if you are suffering with Anxiety or Depression or Low Self Esteem or you have an issue that you just don’t seem to be able to overcome by yourself, Therapy can help you get some control over your thoughts and feelings.  Depending on the issue, sometimes it only takes one session to set you on to get you back on track.

Staying Fit and Healthy.

If there is a psychological reason that you are unable to remain fit and healthy or if you have an illness or injury that you are struggling to cope with.  Therapy and in particular Hypnotherapy is proven to have significant benefits.  Depending on the client, Therapy can assist with pain reduction, dealing with medical symptoms that are difficult to deal with.  It is widely acknowledged in the Sporting Profession too that Hypnotherapy can help speed up the body to repair itself from injury.

Learn Something Exciting.

You might be wondering how Therapy could help you achieve this one but it depends on what has stopped you achieving it before.   Low self esteem, continually putting other peoples’ needs before your own etc.  Can all stop you achieving an ambition.  Talking to a Therapist about your ambitions can set you on the right road to achieving them.

Stop Smoking.

Hypnotherapy and BWRT are proven to be one of the most effective methods to help you STOP this habit for good.  But with all issues like this, you will only STOP if you really want to.

Help Others in Their Dreams. 

As with ‘Learn Something Exciting’ you may be wondering how Therapy could help with this one.  This is more likely to be achievable if there is something in it for you!  This may sound selfish but even if it is to make you feel useful you are more likely to help another person.   As with the other Resolutions; why you want to achieve this and what has stopped you achieving it in the past will be the first things to consider.

Fall in Love.

There are lots of reasons why relationships don’t last or why you may have trouble starting relationships with new people.  Sometimes it will be low self esteem or maybe putting other people before yourself so they take advantage of your kind nature.  Maybe you are always the one who has affairs even when you are in a loving relationship.  These are all issues that a Therapy can help you with.

Spend More Time with Family.

Again there could be a number of reasons why you have felt unable to do this in the past.  Maybe there has been a family rift or maybe you work long hours and would like to readdress your work/life balance.  Talking your issue through can often help you put things in perspective, look for other ways to achieve your goal that you may not have considered before.

The information above may have encouraged you to take your first steps, so off you go and Good Luck and let me know how you get on!

If however, it’s not enough and you are thinking of seeing a Therapist always make sure you do your research and choose one that has been properly trained and belongs to an accredited Association or two.

Therapy can really help you succeed!

At Karen Britter Therapies there are a number of things we can work on together to help you achieve Your Goals.  You owe it to yourself to have the year of your dreams.

Karen

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