THERAPY AND COACHING FOR LASTING CHANGE
Sometimes we need a little help...
SERVICES
- Counselling
- Clinical Hypnotherapy
- Stress Management
- Life Skills & Personal Development Coaching
- Weight Management
About Us
My mission is to help you effectively and efficiently within a caring and professional framework of trust, compassion and respect.
- Face-to-face appointments in Melbourne (Williamstown), Australia
- Telephone consultations
- E-Therapy via internet-telephone and email
- Online Personal Development Programmes
Do explore this page to get a feel for the kind of work I do and do visit my website at www.belindahulstrom.com for more detailed information. If you have any questions you would like to ask, please don't hesitate to drop me an email or call me on (03) 9016 3831 or 0419 331457.
Best wishes
Belinda Hulstrom
WHAT SORT OF ISSUES COULD I HELP YOU WITH?
The short answer is that I can probably help you with just about any issue that is troubling you or that you wish to improve. In any given week, I will see a wide variety of clients spanning a broad gamut including confidence and motivation issues, fears and phobias, parenting and relationship problems, stress management difficulties, reactive depression, weight loss, habit control and many variations and combinations under each of these broad headings.
WHAT IS COUNSELLING?
Why go to a counsellor? Why not just talk to a friend? Many people find that this does help enormously but there are times when you might feel you don’t want to do that: perhaps because you feel your friends have heard it all before and you feel you don’t want to burden them or perhaps because you can’t really say what you want to say because they might be hurt or confused or frustrated or they might judge you in some way. It can also be the case that friends can find it difficult to be objective quite simply because they are your friends.
The relationship you have with your counsellor is a professional relationship with the sole purpose of focusing on you and your thoughts and feelings about your situation so there is no need to “filter” what you say. This has the benefit of being able to simply “tell it how it is” without having to worry about what the other person might think.
In your counselling sessions with me, I will use a wide range of active listening, questioning and analysis techniques to assist you to clarify, explore and increase your awareness and choice in relation to whatever issue(s) you wish to improve or resolve. Unlike some TV shows where counselling is portrayed as a simplistic (and sometimes brutal) display of one-upmanship, real-life counselling is not about giving advice or telling you what to do – my primary purpose as your counsellor is to help you to find workable approaches and solutions to your issues and improve your quality of life.
WHAT IS CLINICAL HYPNOTHERAPY?
Clinical Hypnotherapy involves the use of hypnosis for the purpose of therapy which, by the way, is somewhat different to using hypnosis for entertainment! Hypnosis is a very useful tool in therapy because of the access it can provide to different levels of consciousness which we tend to be unaware of as we go about our daily lives. Hypnotherapy can often provide us with empowering insights into what our wants and needs really are. Hypnosis is often described as the key to unlock the door to the subconscious mind but the key won’t turn in the lock unless you want it to. During hypnotherapy I can help you to find the key but you have to be the one to open the door and I will only be able to see what you decide to show me. I stress the latter point because I am often confronted with the common misapprehension that hypnosis is tantamount to some sort of mind-control or brainwashing and I can assure you that it is not. All hypnosis is self-hypnosis which means that you can enter or leave this altered state of consciousness at your will and use it only to do what you want to do.
Please visit the link to my website ay the top of this page for more detailed information.
DOES HYPNOTHERAPY WORK FOR WEIGHT LOSS?
The simple truth is that calories consumed minus calories burned = no change, weight gain or weight loss. It's not complicated so why do so many people find it so hard to do something which is, in theory, so easy?
The more complex truth is that the relationship you have with food has been programmed into your subconscious mind and if you eat when you are not hungry, then all the other reasons you are feeding yourself have become part of this programming. Furthermore, if the associations in your subconscious mind about diets or dieting include misery, guilt, deprivation and failure, then you can expect more of the same if you start another diet. So what can you do?
If what you have tried in the past hasn’t worked, you need to do something different. Hypnotherapy is an extremely effective vehicle for “re-programming” the subconscious mind to allow you to change your relationship with food and I have helped many people lose unwanted kilos – permanently.
In August 2005, Australian reporter for the ABC TV science programme “Catalyst”, Paul Willis, put hypnosis to the test himself for weight loss and found it easy to lose 5 kilos in a month. Indeed, since the broadcast of this particular programme on the ABC, many of my colleagues and I are experiencing a noticeable increase in the number of enquiries we receive for hypnotherapy in general and about hypnosis for weight loss in particular. To read a transcript of this ABC broadcast and for summaries of some of the studies that have been published about the effectiveness of hypnosis for weight loss, please visit my website.
HYPNOTHERAPY TO QUIT SMOKING
In October 1992 New Scientist Magazine published the results of an extensive clinical study carried out at the University of Iowa on the most effective methods to quit smoking. This research combined and analysed the results of more than 600 studies covering almost 72,000 people from all over the world and found that a single session of hypnosis dramatically increased a smoker's chances of quitting. The study found that only 6% of smokers manage to quit using willpower alone as opposed to 60% of smokers who are able to quit after a single session of hypnosis.
When you make the decision to use hypnosis to quit smoking, as you shop around to find a hypnotherapist to help you quit, you will find a variety of approaches ranging from a single-session to programmes of five or more sessions. My experience has led me to develop an approach which might be described as somewhere in the middle and usually comprises three sessions.
Your first session with me is an intensive “preparation session” lasting approximately an hour and a half. About a week later you will have the actual “quit session” and two to three weeks after that you have the option to come for a “relapse prevention session” (which you may well feel you don’t need and which you can then cancel with 48 hours’ notice). I offer this third session because the honest truth is that some people who have quit smoking for a period of time can and do relapse and the available research indicates that being forewarned and forearmed against relapse is important in long term success.
WHAT IS LIFE COACHING?
If you are feeling a bit “stuck” in some aspect of your life, don't feel you need “therapy” as such but do feel you could do with some help then maybe “coaching” would be of benefit to you. Top sports people have always reached their peak and stayed there with the help of a coach who believed in and helped them to optimise their potential. LifeMapper coaching works in a similar way, guiding you to set challenging but realistic goals and helping you to develop the strategies and behaviours needed to achieve clarity, motivation and success.
The LifeMapper way of coaching is founded upon years of extensive research into how the combination of your unique personality and context can be reframed to optimise your motivation and potential. Whether you want to manage your stress better, increase your motivation, further your career, improve your relationships or just simply find ways to enjoy your life more, the individually tailored LifeMaps we would work on together could be just what you need to get you moving in the direction you want to go.
Some people are of the opinion that therapy and life coaching are radically different and see therapy as dealing with the past and coaching as focusing on the future. My view is that they are part of the same continuum and to combine the skills and different emphasis of both allows for a great deal of flexibility in my approach.
NEURO LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING
Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a stand-alone modality in its own right but also often forms part of an approach to various forms of therapy, counselling or coaching. NLP works with our subconscious information processing via our preferred way(s) of understanding and learning often referred to as “representational system(s)”. You may hear or read about the acronym “VAK” used in NLP circles to refer to our Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic ways of perceiving information. Some of the presuppositions underpinning the NLP "attitude” are:
There is a solution to every problem
People are not their behaviours - behind every behaviour there was or is a positive intention and in any situation a person makes the best choice with the resources currently available to them.
"The map is not the territory" - people interact with their internal maps of the world rather than with pure sensory-based input
Mind and body are part of the one system: external behaviour is the result of internal behaviour
"Mistakes" are feedback - if what you are doing is not working then do something else
Meet others in their own unique model of the world and respect their world view
The meaning of your communication is the response you get
People have all the resources they need even if they do not currently have access to these resources
NLP is a very powerful and positive model because of the emphasis it places on generating solutions. Having said that, there is no single "one-size-fits-all" approach and it can also be the case that we need to put some work into understanding the causes of our problems in order to be able to move forward with our solutions. You will find that I incorporate a number of NLP principles and techniques in my work, usually in combination with whatever counselling, hypnotherapy or coaching methods are the "best fit" for you in your current situation.
E-THERAPY & COACHING
If you are too busy to even contemplate the prospect of organising your schedule to find the time to see me for a face-to-face consultation, why not consider working with me via telephone and/or e-mail? Working this way has obvious advantages:
1. If you are connected to the internet, we can work together wherever you are using email and the free internet telephone service Skype.
2. Even if you live reasonably close by, you can save the time and expense of travelling to and from my consulting room.
3. Telephone work can be done at mutually convenient times even outside of normal business hours.
4. You can choose your own time of day to write and send emails (and you can take more time to think about what you want to say).
5. You can work with me from the comfort and privacy of your own surroundings.
6. You may feel less embarrassed when discussing personal matters.
If you think this way of working might suit you, to get started just drop me an email at belindah@bigpond.net.au and we’ll take it from there.
HOW DOES ONE GO ABOUT CHOOSING A THERAPIST?
Just as there are many accountants, solicitors, dentists and other professionals there will be many therapists advertising their services in your area. Most people feel comfortable with going to see someone recommended by a friend or family member but what if you don’t want to let on that you are looking for a therapist?
One of the best ways to feel confident about your choice of therapist is to check if they are a member of a relevant professional association. I am a registered member of three professional associations because I am keen to continually update my skills and to network with other therapists, both in Australia and overseas. To join these professional associations requires that I am suitably qualified and abide by a strict code of ethics and that I complete on-going professional development via attendance at seminars and training courses. It is not essential that you choose a therapist who is a member of a professional association (there are some very good therapists who are not as it is costly and time-consuming to meet all the requirements of membership) though many people find it reassuring to know they are seeing someone who is.
On a more personal level, it's important to remember that whatever labels we use to describe ourselves, we are all unique individuals (and that includes the psychotherapy profession too!). Many therapists have diverse professional interests and what they have to offer you will be a unique blend of the personal interpretation they bring to their formal learning combined with self-education, experimentation and experience. A good way to gain an impression of the blend a particular therapist has to offer is to read any informational material they have produced (brochures, newsletters or website material). As you are reading what they have to say, you will get an insight into whether it “makes sense” and “feels right” for you. If there isn't much in the way of published information to go on (and even if there is), why not give them a call and hear if what they say “speaks” to you?
Ultimately the most important thing is that you feel comfortable with the person and that you feel you are being helped. For this reason, when you come for your first appointment, if you feel after about 20 minutes with me that you don't think you can work with me for whatever reason, then you have the option to leave and there is no charge (I haven't had anyone do this but it can be the case that two people just don't click!).
Please visit my website for further information or why not give me a call on 0419 331 457 so that we can talk about how I can help you. I fully understand that it often takes some courage to make that initial call and it can then be a little deflating if you’re asked to leave a voicemail message (usually because I’m with a client and unable to take your call) but please do leave me a message with your contact details and I will call you back as soon as I can.
QUALIFICATION DETAILS
Belinda Hulstrom, MA Hons (Oxon), PGCE (Oxon)
Dip.Clin.Hyp & Psych., Dip.Pers.Dev., MAPHP, MAACHP, MCCH
Service Categories
Counselling, Hypnotherapist, Life Coaching, NLP, Weight Loss
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