What the papers say...

I was an empty bottle.
In no time I filled up
Basingstoke Observer 28/02/2002

SCIENTISTS have at last discovered that hypnosis does alter the way the human brain works.

So I agreed to volunteer myself to be hypnotised - though not because my editor believed any brain alteration HAD to be an improvement. Before the latest research was published a client only had the word of the hypnotherapist that the treatment actually worked. But now it has been proved that the state induces a change in blood flow to the brain that cannot be explained by the power of suggestion. The research demonstrated beyond doubt that some people are highly susceptible to hypnosis, and that when they are hypnotised they use their brains subconsciously. As an 'investigative reporter' I had to go and give it a try. Was it all hocus pocus or was there really some truth in it?
Hypnotherapists claim they can help people with a number of conditions including anxiety, addiction bedwetting and memory loss. I could come out a new man, and my laundry bill would be halved! Christine Green and her partner, Nigel Skinner practice hypnotherapy at the Hi-Life fitness and Lifestyle club in Winchester Road, Basingstoke.

The pair are members of the Austin Association, a team of fifteen specialists in hypnosis being trained by leading hypnotherapist Valerie Austin.
She put all her training and experiences together and designed a technique which incorporates the best of everything.
A company in New York also recently contacted the group to put together a programme to help people deal with the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attack.

Being a hack with constant deadline pressures the therapy could help me deal with the stress of the daily grind. Nigel's plan was to put me into a deep relaxed state rather than try and cure any phobias which can take up to five sessions to fix. I was to get the orange liquid treatment where it was suggested to me that my body was a bottle, which is being filled up with liquid.
When the liquid is flushed out, all the negative thoughts and anxieties are supposed to leave with it. I was asked to lie back and was put into a deep trance like state. I was aware of everything that was happening but my mind was focused on what was suggested to me. When I was told to open my eyes at the end of the session I was definitely feeling more refreshed. I had a buzz about me and a lot of the stress I had been feeling beforehand had gone. Christine, said: "Your mind is like a computer. As a trained specialist I am like a skilled computer programmer and can help you to reprogramme your subconscious.
"If something isn't working in your life, it is either you have a habitual way of thinking, feeling or behaving, or because of the effects of past experiences. A past experience still exerting its influence in your life today is called trauma. When you are at the effect of a trauma you re-experience the emotions and thinking patterns which happened at the time of the trauma, but you don't remember the events which provoked them.
"These habitual behaviours, thoughts, feelings and traumas are the reason why people find it so hard to change.
"When you find it hard to change it's because you are trying to use your conscious will without taking into consideration the subconscious programming caused by habits and traumas.
"When you programme your subconscious in this way it allows you to redefine your thoughts, feelings and actions, thereby enabling you to generate new ways of thinking and behaving which bring about the changes you want."