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Specialising in Chronic Pain, Stress Management, Anxiety and Depression, Goal Setting and Retraining.
Hypnotherapy can harness your ability to retrain neural pathways and develop new patterns in the brain and body, to help you reclaim control and put pain in the back seat. It helps you address physical, emotional and psychological issues in a gentle but powerful way, enhancing meaningful change and increased wellbeing.
SERVICES
Sarah Ivens Clinical Hypnotherapy
Specialising in
- Chronic Pain
- Stress Management
- Anxiety and Depression
- Goal Setting and Retraining
'We so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us'
Alexander Graham Bell
What is Chronic Pain?
Pain is considered chronic when it occurs for most days of the week and persists for longer than three months. It includes persistent pain that no longer has an identifiable cause where the original injury has healed, as well as pain that has an identifiable cause such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, TMJ dysfunction, diabetic neuropathy, shingles, multiple sclerosis, oedema etc. It also includes persistent pain that has no identifiable cause.
It is estimated that 1 in 5 Australians suffer from chronic pain. The cause and treatment of persistent pain is complex, added to which is the enormous impact chronic pain has on a person’s ability to function effectively in their family, social and work life.
Chronic pain and illness is debilitating, isolating and extremely stressful. There is no single approach or sole answer to treating and living with chronic pain; rather it's a matter of finding the right combination of treatment strategies and health care professionals to help you improve the quality of your life.
Our brain decides if something is painful or not. This is hard to comprehend because we feel pain in parts of our body, therefore we believe the pain comes from those parts, but in fact pain is determined by the brain. Pain is an output our brain makes to defend us. It is what alerts us to danger and it acts as a protective mechanism to make us stop and do what we need to, to take care of ourselves.
However, when pain is ongoing the body's danger response to sensory input becomes over sensitised and the alarm system stays on red alert; then fears, thoughts and beliefs become involved and start contributing to the chronic pain state. Chronic pain sufferers end up feeling as though pain has engulfed their life.
There is physical evidence that hypnosis works to alleviate chronic pain, and medical imaging studies have shown that hypnotic therapy influences all of the cortical and neuro-physiological processes that underline pain (Prof Mark Jensen, ABC News 16/9/2011 ‘Hypnosis for Chronic Pain’). So the good news is that hypnotherapy can harness your ability to retrain neural pathways and develop new patterns in your brain and body, to help you reclaim control of your life and put pain in the back seat.
‘Our brain can change itself’...what does this mean?
The brain’s neuroplasticity means that it is not a fixed and final thing; it can change the way it works and the way your body responds to its messages. “Neruo is for ‘neuron’, the nerve cells in our brains and nervous systems. Plastic is for ‘changeable...modifiable’” (The Brain That Changes Itself, Norman Doidge MD, 2007). The neural pathways that take messages to and from the brain can be altered, and new paths can be created. ‘Neurons that fire together, wire together’, and this is what happens when you make new brain circuits that can gradually replace the previous well worn tracks in the brain for pain.
The latest brain research shows that our brain has the ability to change its function and structure through thought and activity, but only when it is in a state of openness, creativity and freedom from stress (Neuro Orthopaedic Institute Australasia, August 2011). Because hypnotherapy helps you reduce the significant levels of stress that occur in your body as a result of experiencing ongoing pain, it creates the necessary open and creative space for your brain to begin changing its responses.
Science has discovered that thoughts, emotions and physical movement create chemical reactions in our body, which either calm down our central nervous system or turn the alarm volume up. By changing your response to pain and the way you think about pain, you can in fact change your pain state.
'Each thought alters the physical state of your brain synapses at a microscopic level'
The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge MD
How does Hypnotherapy work?
Hypnosis is a safe and natural state of focused concentration and inward attention. In hypnosis you are awake but very relaxed, and you are in complete control at all times.
In this comfortable state of physical and mental relaxation the 'busy' conscious mind can take time out. You are then able to tap into the power of your own inner mind to find solutions and develop new patterns of behaviour that lead to a more fulfilled and empowered life.
Hypnotherapy deals directly with the deep intuitive wisdom of the unconscious mind to help you bypass the obstacles and barriers the conscious mind sets up. By accessing the creative resources that each of us has in our unconscious mind, we can reprogram our response circuits and transform habitual patterns.
With hypnosis you will be able to get both of your 'minds' on the job of creating the outcomes and goals you want to achieve.
What happens in a Hypnotherapy session?
In a hypnotherapy session you will experience a trance state. Trance is a natural and commonly experienced state that we all go into during our daily life, for example when you are reading a good book and become so involved in it that you don’t notice conversations going on around you, or perhaps you miss your bus stop. A similar trance state occurs when you are driving to a destination and find that you have been on ‘auto pilot’ and do not remember the actual journey.
The same thing happens during hypnosis in a hypnotherapy session. The therapist takes you into a guided relaxation so that you can get comfortable and move into a deeper level of relaxation. You then become focused on your internal reality instead of external distractions. In this very relaxed and comfortable state your unconscious mind takes the lead and your conscious mind can take a break from what it likes to do best; that is, think, analyse, remember, plan and sometimes just chatter...chatter, chatter.
The unconscious mind is a deep well of information and intuitive knowledge and when it is accessed profound changes can take place. In hypnosis it is your unconscious mind that works to find solutions and new possibilities that suit your goals and desired outcomes.
During hypnosis you are aware of what is happening throughout. You are in control and safe at all times. It is good to know that it is not possible to make anyone take up a suggestion that they don’t agree with, or is not in line with their own moral compass.
What else can Hypnotherapy help with?
Hypnotherapy can help you address problems related to a wide range of physical and emotional issues, many of which are also experienced due to living with chronic pain.
By utilising hypnotherapy for areas of concern in your life, you will learn ways to become healthier and stronger and more in control of how you experience life.
- Stress management
- Anxiety and depression
- Low confidence and self esteem
- Grief and loss of self
- Goal setting and retraining
- Insomnia
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Fears and phobias
- Habitual behaviours
- Weight management
What is the Mind/Body Connection?
Scientific studies demonstrate that our mind affects our biology, and it is now well established that the mind/body connection is essential to our wellbeing.
Research shows that many aspects of physical illness, as well as mental and emotional suffering, can be linked to underlying stress, negative thought patterns and self limiting beliefs. Hypnotherapy is a tool that helps you address physical, emotional and psychological issues in a gentle but powerful way, enhancing meaningful change and increased wellbeing.
There are a range of allied health strategies and therapy modalities that form part of the holistic treatment of chronic pain, which work in conjunction with your medical diagnosis and treatment. A multidisciplinary approach is required in order to address the different facets of physical and emotional health involved in the treatment of chronic pain.
Hypnotherapy is a valuable tool that will support your ability to learn new ways of dealing with the impact of pain in your life, and help you to incorporate the right treatment tools for your best health outcome, some of which may include:
- Nutritional and naturopathic support to restore important biochemical balance for the healthy function of your body and its systems;
- Physical movement and exercise that is designed specifically to retrain your body and gradually increase your levels of activity and endurance;
- Body work from a range of modalities such as physiotherapy, osteopathic, chiropractic, remedial massage, cranio-sacral therapy, acupuncture, Bowen therapy, etc.; and
- Meditation to reduce stress hormones, gain clarity of thought and awareness, and connect with your deep inner wisdom.
About Sarah
Sarah is a certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and NLP Practitioner, committed to supporting your process of change and healing in a respectful and compassionate way.
Sarah can draw upon her own journey of chronic pain to guide and help you discover new options and find relief. Her own experience of living with chronic pain means that she has a real understanding of the impact it has on all areas of life. She utilises established therapeutic techniques and the latest therapy models to assist you to achieve positive and creative outcomes in your life that put you in charge of your health decisions and journey.
Hypnotherapy is safe, drug free and also works to support other medical and alternative therapeutic approaches you may be using in your multidisciplinary approach to healing. Sarah’s own experience of utilising a range of health options to holistically manage her own chronic pain is a valuable resource that she brings to the sessions. She can help you navigate those choices to find what’s right for you to gain real improvements in wellbeing and quality of life.
You are not your pain, and hypnotherapy can help you make that statement a reality. It will help you create opportunities that promote the healthy effects of positive energy in your life, and you will discover new possibilities that empower you to get back in the driver’s seat of your life once again.
Call today and chat to Sarah for more information, or make an appointment for a session and start your way forward into a life that is not defined by pain.
Association Memberships:
ASCH, AHA, IMDHA
(MASCH1508N, PMAHA061192, ABN 13 997 893 494)
Health Fund Rebates Apply
QUALIFICATION DETAILS
Dip Clin Hyp, Cert NLP
BA (Hons), Grad Dip Tesol
Hypnotherapist, NLP, Weight Loss
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