Sunday 30 October 2011

A mindfulness breathing meditation

Mindful Breathing Meditation Instructions

  1. Get as comfortable as possible.

  2. Close your eyes. Be aware that this is your time to relax. Start concentrating on deepening your breathing.

  3. Breathe calmly and naturally. Concentrate your attention on the coming and going of the breathes.

  4. Notice the sensation created by the passage o air through your nostrils.

  5. Notice where exactly the sensation is focused. Is it in your nostrils or further inside your sinuses?

  6. Notice the moment when breathing is suspended, the natural pause after breathing out, before you breathe in.

  7. Notice the point at which you feel the breath passing.

  8. Notice the moment between breathing in, when you pause, full of breath, before breathing out again.

  9. Stay concentrated in the same way during the next cycle of breathing, breathe after breathe.

  10. Think about a cloud of dust, then rain washing that cloud away, then the rain clearing to leave a clear blue sky.

  11. Let any agitation and confusion be like the dust, washed away by the rain of your breathing, leaving calmness and relaxation.

  12. Let your breathing choose it's own rhythm, do not force the speed or pace, just let the natural rhythm occur.

  13. If thoughts or sensations distract you, do not tense or feel bad about this. Let them pass through your mind, like birds through the sky, leaving no trace behind them.

  14. Just enjoy the state of calmness for as long as you wish, noticing thoughts, but letting them pass without resistance or tension. Simply being mindful.
After returning, make sure you relax a while longer before you return to normal activity.

Tuesday 25 October 2011

Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Therapies Available

Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Therapies Available: Stuart: Psychotherapy (integrative and psychoanalytic) Counselling (Humanistic, TA, Gestalt, Pastoral) Hypnotherapy (direct, indirect, co...

Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Clinic Staff

Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Clinic Staff: Stuart Morgan-Ayrs Member: National Council of Psychotherapists Member: National Association of Counsellors, Hypnotherapists & Psychothera...

Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Clinic Locations

Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Clinic Locations: Main Clinic Locations Edinburgh: The Salisbury Centre, Salisbury Rd, EH16 5AB Mainly Saturdays, Thursdays and occasional appointments b...

Now also at The complementary Healthcare Clinic, 162 Grahams Rd, Falkirk, FK2 7BY

Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Counselling for the stress and anxiety effects of ...

Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Counselling for the stress and anxiety effects of ...: Dyslexia is a condition that effects far more than simply the ability to read and spell. If often exists alongside dyscalculus or dyspraxia....

Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Anger management counselling and coaching

Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Anger management counselling and coaching: Anger in itself is a naturally occuring state, and can be considered a natural emotion. It should be noted from the start that "feeling an...

Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Stresses associated with dyslexia

Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Stresses associated with dyslexia: Many people associate dyslexia and similar problems like dis calculi and dyspraxia as entirely learning orientated. In other words they assu...

Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Anger management counselling

Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Anger management counselling: Anger Management Anger in itself is a naturally occuring state, and can be considered a natural emotion. It should be noted from t...

Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Important ne...

Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Important ne...: Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Important new petition : A new petition has been launched to call for an independent inquiry into the ...

Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Important new petition

Integrated Psychotherapy in Scotland: Important new petition: A new petition has been launched to call for an independent inquiry into the NICE guidelines for counselling and psychotherapy and the impac...

Important new petition

A new petition has been launched to call for an independent inquiry into the NICE guidelines for counselling and psychotherapy and the impact of IAPT. Please join the 1600 names already there and sign the petition with your name and affiliation, and any comment you wish to make.
Please do sign this petition - we are trying to work towards increased choice in private and NHS care, so that more methods of therapy are available for people to use.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stop_nice-iapt_bias/

Tuesday 13 September 2011

Anger management counselling


Anger Management

     
Anger in itself is a naturally occuring state, and can be considered a natural emotion. It should be noted from the start that "feeling anger" and "acting angry" are two different things.
     
Sometimes we get the "feeling" of anger. This can be for good reason, or inappropriate. An example of a good reason might be when you are in danger of violence, you can not avoid it and the "fight and flight" response kicks in. This is a natural example of where feeling angry and aggressive might save your life!

The problem with "feeling" angry is it does not always kick in when we want it to. This is because of mis-association between events, people, things, or places and a feeling of unease or danger. Thus we inappropriately respond to something with the "feeling" of danger or anger. There are two main reasons for this:



1. We have learnt a lesson somewhere in life that causes us to associate something with an angry feeling. This might be because of abuse, trauma, unusual circumstances, bereavement, grief or unnatural events. We then associate elements of whatever happened with the feeling of anger. This is the perception process at work, and is thus a Cognitive area for therapy.

2. We are in a physical or mental state that causes inappropriate response. This might be a fever, a manic or depressed state, halucinations, PMT, Low blood sugar, or a high pain level. In this state our cognitive processes are compromised.
Therefore there are times when the "feeling" is there when it should not be, and therefore needs cognitive work to resolve. This is an area that "off the shelf" anger management books, pack and self-help aids virtually ignore, and frankly only qualified therapy can help resolve. 

The second area is "acting" angry. This is where we have a "feeling" of anger or irritation, and this results in an "action" or "behaviour". This is the area of anger management most commonly talked about since it is the "behaviour" that is displayed to people around you. Most "off the shelf" books and courses deal just with this area.

When we have felt the"anger feeling", whether for good reason or not, we tend to respond with angry "behaviours" such as aggression or passive aggression. There are actually a variety of display types, from the most obvious violence, to sulking, shouting, being a angry manipulative person who seems like a "victim", and various other variations. These are all outcomes of the behaviour being "angry". 

Between the "feeling" and the "behaviour" are occurances that "trigger" that response. Theses are the people, things, smells, sounds, places, actions, words etc that "trigger" the person into feeling angry. What happens then is the "feeling" is felt, the person goes into a kind of "autopilot" and the "behaviours" result. 

The "autopilot" is a laymans term for learnt response or conditioned response. Over time we learn to respond to certain triggers with certain behaviours. As these become "natural" responses for us, they become unconcious rather than deliberate. Thus we automatically respond that way without thinking about it conciously. While the person continues to automatically respond with "angry behaviours", the problem persists. The most common advice for dealing with this is "to count to ten before responding". It is sensible advice, but most clients need help in making this possible! According to eastern psychology thinking, we spend way too much time in this conditioned state.

Anger management coaching and therapy


So what can be done about it?

1. Deal with underlying causes, the reasons why the person has high stress or aggression levels.

2. Deal with the perceptions that cause a person to tend to be angry by "seeing things" a certain way. These are the learnt perceptions, or way you have learnt to see / understand things.

3. Change responses to triggers. This means unplugging the autopilot! The behaviour can thus be addressed, and freedom of choice returned to the client! Part of this is the client choosing new responses that work for them.

4. Environmental factors. Addressing any factors, relationships or other things that may have causes the client to get stuck in this mind set initially, or kept them there since. This helps to prevent slippage back into the old patterns.

CBT is highly effective in dealing with anger management, especially when combined with hypnotherapy, personal development counselling skills, psychological therapy and other methods. Primarily these should be combined as necessary in a fairly seemless way.


Cognitive therapy helps to resolve perceptual issues. Counselling skills or psychological therapy methods help to look at deeper issues. Hypnotherapy and behavioural therapies help to change responses to triggers and give back freedom of choice. Life coaching helps to resolve environmental factors.

Mindfulness, Naikan, Satori and other eastern psychology methods are helpful in retraining perception and resultant behaviour.


The most important part of anger management is to ensure that the problem is addressed on all levels, thus preventing reoccurance.

     

We are complementary health practitioners, not alternative health practitioners. This means that we work WITH the medical profession. If you have an illness or injury, or if you are going to embark on a new diet, fitness plan or if you have any uninvestigated symptoms, you must consult your medical doctor. 
     

Anger management consultancy and training

     
Stuart has written practitioner training courses in anger management coaching (Level 4 award), life coaching (Level 4 award) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (Level 5 Award). Anger management is a specialism that Stuart has researched, worked on and written training courses about for many years, and he has provided many interviews on live Radio in the UK as an expert on anger issues and anger management. 


Stuart is a NCP and NACP approved psychotherapist and counsellor. We support the coming voluntary regulation of psychotherapy and counselling. Stuart is a CNHC registered hypnotherapist (voluntary regulation of hypnotherapy).

Clinics at:
Salisbury Centre, Edinburgh
The Healthy Life Centre, Edinburgh
The Embody Massage Clinic, Glasgow

Thursday 25 August 2011

Stresses associated with dyslexia

Many people associate dyslexia and similar problems like dis calculi and dyspraxia as entirely learning orientated. In other words they assume that the only effects people will suffer will be in terms of finding it harder to read, write, and in the latter two conditions, count and perform physically.

However there are a number of other effects, often completely disregarded by people generally, and even teachers and lecturers.

Most people with dyslexia and similar conditions go a fairly long period of time without having been assessed and identified as having the condition. Therefore there is usually a period of struggle prior to then having to face the "label" of the condition.

The period of struggle often involves been considered "slow", "clumsy", "stupid", "lazy", "not applying yourself", "could do better", "bad attitude", "disruptive" etc etc.

As a person is faced with these opinions, through no fault of their own, resentment grows and a negative attitude towards authority is commonplace. This results in a number of problems:
- Being disruptive, since you are being punished anyway
- Being resentful, since the system and people are being unfair
- Being depressed, since you are being criticised unfairly
- Having anger management problems, as a result of the unfairness
- Having very poor self-image, as a result of the negative comments
- Trying too hard and potentially being obsessed with success or acceptance
- Obsession with proving everyone wrong

Then there is the adjustment that occurs at the point of identification -  or "labelling". Although this can be the beginning of a positive outcome with increased support and resources, in the short term it is common for this to be another source of depression or anger. It tends to be a point at which people analyse and remember all that was said and done before, raking up old insults and conversations. It also challenges the self identity of the person, who may have worked hard to prove themselves intelligent, only now to receive what seems like a new form of critical label.

There is then also the problem of a "glass ceiling" that tends to exist. With support and positive strategies many people with learning issues create new and imaginative ways of moving forward and coping. Sometimes this even leads to new leaps of creative imagination and new useful learning strategies for other people. There is usually however a limit or ceiling beyond which the person can not easily travel in terms of achievement. This can be painful, frustrating and very bad for self image.

The problem with such a learning issue is therefore two-fold. Firstly there is the actual cognitive impairment, which is not something that can be cured, and thus has to me managed. Then there is the range of emotional and psychological issues and problems that can arise from it's presence. The two interact with one of the key issues being how badly such learning problems react to stress, anxiety or depression. Thus the dyslexic who is stressed performs far worse than the calm, collected dyslexic who is able to calmly consider their learnt strategies for learning or examinations.

Additional effects of note include the ability of dyslexic people to often see patterns within information, almost a savant effect, to use visual representations far easier than dense text, to be creative, and to think outside the box. Often these abilities are directly related to having to find new ways to cope with their own problems. Another area that is often a struggle and requires additional strategy and support is the common effect of poor short term memory. Memory tricks, careful use of diary systems and managing stress and anxiety levels are helpful in reducing the effects of any impaired short term memory. Another helpful method is frequent rehearsal prior to examinations over a longer than normal revision period, thus enabling the information to enter long term memory, where it may remain intact ready for the exam.

A number of strategies are notably useful for people with dyslexia. Meditation or mindfulness based exercises before study or work can help to cultivate the optimum state of mind ready for learning, and reduce the frequent emotional disruption suffered.

Calibration exercises are a relatively new idea, but involve learning and balance related exercises prior to starting work. This might involve listening to the TV news to begin processing information, especially on the strap line, or reading a newspaper. It might physically involve balancing and centring with Tai Chi or Swiss ball exercises. It should however be a controlled exercise so that it does not become a type of procrastination to avoid the main work at hand. It should remain a preparatory routine followed by the planned work.

Counselling and psychotherapy can be a useful combination for looking at the developmental issues and emotional issues. Self hypnosis or hypnotherapy can be used to assist memory. NLP can be used to adjust emotional states, exercise can be used to wear off anger and frustration.

Overall a kind and understanding approach is needed, not just from a therapist, but from the client towards themselves. This is crucial since the client may have internalised all the critical comments over the years, and may be used to emotionally beating themselves up!

I (Stuart) am particularly interested in the field of managing dyslexia and it's effects since both myself and my wife are dyslexic, and I work with a number of clients with the  issue. I combine the study of psychology (MSc level) with psychotherapy, counselling, hypnotherapy, NLP, CBT, coaching and meditation based exercises including Chi Gung or Mindfulness where appropriate.

Potential enquiries should note no claim is made to "cure" dyslexia, which is a life long cognitive impairment.

Wednesday 10 August 2011

Open Day, Healthy Life Centre, Edinburgh, Sunday 21st August, Free therapy taster sessions, Meditation, Shiatsu, Chi Gung, baby Yoga Craniosacral therapy, Breathing, hypnobirthing, acupuncture, belly dancing, thai massage


Open Day Sun 21st August 2011

Tasters – Classes & Therapies



Timet
Room 1 (ground floor)
Training Room (upstairs)
Meditation room (downstairs)
Room 2 (downstairs)


11.00 -11.30



Shiatsu Tasters


Chi Gung (Standing Like a Tree) – Peter Browne



**10am – 11.30**
Osho Dynamic Meditation – Lucasz Wilczynski
* 1 ½ hour class by donation *

Shiatsu Tasters


11.45- 12.15

Craniosacral Therapy – Alison Lillian

Baby Yoga – Julia Gerken


Shiatsu Talk – Tamsin Grainger
12.00 – 4.00





Thai Massage &
Sports Massage Tasters

Anna R. Aladern


12.30- 1.00

Craniosacral Therapy – Alison Lillian

Belly Dancing – Iraya Noble



Chi Gung (moving Zen) – Frank Sargent

1.15- 1.45

Hypnobirthing – Clare Cotton
Chi Gung (Standing Like a Tree) – Peter Browne



ABC of Correct Breathing – Dr. Kumar


2.00-2.30


Acupuncture, Oriental herbs & Cognitive Hypnotherapy – Tom Lawrence

Baby Yoga – Julia Gerken


Meditation – Stuart Morgan-Ayrs


2.45- 3.15

Laughter Session – Jo Bluett


Hypnotherapy – Stuart Morgan- Ayrs


3.30-4.00

Hypnobirthing – Clare Cotton

Belly Dancing – Iraya Noble

Intro to Kundalini Yoga –Dr. Kumar


4.15- 4.45

Shiatsu Tasters

Edinburgh Intuitive Creators Group – Janette Dumble


Shiatsu Tasters
Thai & Sport Massage appts avail.




Thursday 4 August 2011

Anger management counselling and coaching


Anger in itself is a naturally occuring state, and can be considered a natural emotion. It should be noted from the start that "feeling anger" and "acting angry" are two different things.


Sometimes we get the "feeling" of anger. This can be for good reason, or inappropriate. An example of a good reason might be when you are in danger of violence, you can not avoid it and the "fight and flight" response kicks in. This is a natural example of where feeling angry and aggressive might save your life!


The problem with "feeling" angry is it does not always kick in when we want it to. This is because of mis-association between events, people, things, or places and a feeling of unease or danger. Thus we inappropriately respond to something with the "feeling" of danger or anger. There are two main reasons for this:


1. We have learnt a lesson somewhere in life that causes us to associate something with an angry feeling. This might be because of abuse, trauma, unusual circumstances, bereavement, grief or unnatural events. We then associate elements of whatever happened with the feeling of anger. This is the perception process at work, and is thus a Cognitive area for therapy.

2. We are in a physical or mental state that causes inappropriate response. This might be a fever, a manic or depressed state, halucinations, PMT, Low blood sugar, or a high pain level. In this state our cognitive processes are compromised. Therefore there are times when the "feeling" is there when it should not be, and therefore needs cognitive work to resolve. This is an area that "off the shelf" anger management books, pack and self-help aids virtually ignore, and frankly only qualified therapy can help resolve. 

The second area is "acting" angry. This is where we have a "feeling" of anger or irritation, and this results in an "action" or "behaviour". This is the area of anger management most commonly talked about since it is the "behaviour" that is displayed to people around you. Most "off the shelf" books and courses deal just with this area.

When we have felt the"anger feeling", whether for good reason or not, we tend to respond with angry "behaviours" such as aggression or passive aggression. There are actually a variety of display types, from the most obvious violence, to sulking, shouting, being a angry manipulative person who seems like a "victim", and various other variations. These are all outcomes of the behaviour being "angry". 

Between the "feeling" and the "behaviour" are occurances that "trigger" that response. Theses are the people, things, smells, sounds, places, actions, words etc that "trigger" the person into feeling angry. What happens then is the "feeling" is felt, the person goes into a kind of "autopilot" and the "behaviours" result. 

The "autopilot" is a laymans term for learnt response or conditioned response. Over time we learn to respond to certain triggers with certain behaviours. As these become "natural" responses for us, they become unconcious rather than deliberate. Thus we automatically respond that way without thinking about it conciously. While the person continues to automatically respond with "angry behaviours", the problem persists. The most common advice for dealing with this is "to count to ten before responding". It is sensible advice, but most clients need help in making this possible!

Anger management coaching and therapy


So what can be done about it?

1. Deal with underlying causes, the reasons why the person has high stress or aggression levels.

2. Deal with the perceptions that cause a person to tend to be angry by "seeing things" a certain way. These are the learnt perceptions, or way you have learnt to see / understand things.

3. Change responses to triggers. This means unplugging the autopilot! The behaviour can thus be addressed, and freedom of choice returned to the client! Part of this is the client choosing new responses that work for them.

4. Environmental factors. Addressing any factors, relationships or other things that may have causes the client to get stuck in this mind set initially, or kept them there since. This helps to prevent slippage back into the old patterns.

CBT is highly effective in dealing with anger management, especially when combined with hypnotherapy, personal development counselling skills, psychological therapy and other methods. Primarily these should be combined as necessary in a fairly seemless way.


Cognitive therapy helps to resolve perceptual issues. Counselling skills or psychological therapy methods help to look at deeper issues. Hypnotherapy and behavioural therapies help to change responses to triggers and give back freedom of choice. Life coaching helps to resolve environmental factors.


The most important part of anger management is to ensure that the problem is addressed on all levels, thus preventing reoccurance.
     
We are complementary health practitioners, not alternative health practitioners. This means that we work WITH the medical profession. If you have an illness or injury, or if you are going to embark on a new diet, fitness plan or if you have any uninvestigated symptoms, you must consult your medical doctor. 

Counselling for the stress and anxiety effects of dyslexia

Dyslexia is a condition that effects far more than simply the ability to read and spell. If often exists alongside dyscalculus or dyspraxia. The condition is essentially an information processing problem, which effects a range of comprehension and processing.

We can provide support and coaching to assist clients with adult dyslexia in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Please note we are an ADULT service provider and do not assist in child or adolescent cases. Also such assistance can not "cure" dyslexia which is a life long cognitive condition. Since the condition interacts with social and emotional issues however, often wellbeing can be greatly improved.

What is dyslexia


In basic terms dyslexia effects the way in which the sufferer processes information. A specific area of the brain is normally effected, and this results in problems with processing information from a range of inputs. It is not just reading and writing that are commonly effected. Often delays in information processing effect sufferers in verbal conversation as well. Classically pauses while "processing", difficulty with spelling, difficulty with comprehension while reading, problems with "proof" reading, and difficulties with essay writing are all commonplace.

It should be noted that there are different types of dyslexia, some complex, some severe and some which effect mathematics, memory or speech more than other types. Not all dyslexia cases are the same. Some models of dyslexia split types into lexical and non-lexial cognitive problems, this means in basic terms that some people suffer more with non-words (or unusual words), others with known and logical words. However there are competing explanations for dyslexia.

What other effects does dyslexia have?


There are a range of knock on effects that are often seen in cases of adult dyslexia. As a result of problems during childhood and adolescence there will often be issues with:
  • Fear of failure
  • Negative self image because of difficulties in study and learning
  • History of bullying because of "pauses" in speech or listening
  • Internalised negative things that have been said, classically "stupid", "slow", "lazy"
  • Higher levels of stress. This is caused by the added strain of processing information generally, and the fears of looking "stupid".
  • Anger management. Repeated negative comments, difficult challenges and fear of failure result in defensive or offensive strategies of behaviour.
  • Some sufferers are unable to measure the passage of time and are often very late or early. Even the thought of managing time can be stressful.
  • Some adult sufferers are over keen to revisit academic areas in a desperate attempt to gain success, often without the resources they need.
  • Numbers and mathematics are often effected, as is short term memory. Thus a sufferer may be unable to remember facts, dates, numbers or read material. It can be hard to commit facts to memory during study.
  • Post traumatic Stress effect. Often sufferers are more likely to have symptoms of traumatic stress, abuse, relationship difficulties, study issues or work issues. Sufferers often have involvement with legal or social difficulties as a knock on effect of the condition.

What can assist adult difficulties with dyslexia?

There are two main reasons for seeking assistance of a counselling or life coaching type.

1. Dealing with all the negative things from the past. These can involve unpiclking learned negative behaviours, fears of failure, hurt from negative comments, abuse or bullying.

2. Creating new strategies for the present and future. These can involve learning anger and stress management techniques, study methods, goal setting, calm time management, memory skills and other personal strategies.

If you have a diagnosis already

You may already have had an educational psychology assessment and be aware that you have dyslexia. If you have not, then it is highly recommended that you seek a referral for such an assessment as soon as possible. We can assist with non-specific learning difficulties, but it is a major step forward to have a clear diagnosis not only of dyslexia, but of the type and nature of your condition. This helps you to design new strategies for learning and study much easier.

Wednesday 27 July 2011

National Occupational Standards NOS updates

As part of our ongoing commitment to standards that are meaningful, we are currently adapting to the latest revisions of the NOS (National Occupational Standards) for the Complementary health field. National Occupational Standards are guidelines of good practice, and although there is no legal requirement to follow them, if you don't and something goes wrong then you have real explaining to do in court, or regarding an insurance claim / malpractice claim. Therefore it is common sense to follow them, because then you have the knowledge that you are doing things "by the book".

One of the more annoying features of NOS is the tendency for updates to pop up every 6 months or so, often with little fanfare, so you often need to to be checking the quango sites to find out if there is any change.

The latest massive revision of NOS is actually a very positive move. The standards have been simplified so that there are simplified standards for "explore and establish the client's needs" and "develop and agree plans". These two main standards: CNH1 and CNH2 are common for all complementary therapies, rather than having different bits and pieces for each therapy. Further standards then apply for each therapy method, and the Healing NOS are often used for any therapy that has not yet got standards written for them.

Having reviewed CNH1 and CNH2 today for a training course I am running this coming weekend, I am fully confident that we adhere to these for all therapies provided. Since all the standards have been simplified, and since we adhered to all the older complex standards, I am also confident we adhere to all the appropriate sub standards for individual therapies. I will be reviewing and checking this over the coming weeks, Nutrition and Healing NOS having already been checked for all the integrative work that we do. We have also recently checked the psychological therapies NOS and found we match them well. Just Reiki, Herbalism, Kinesiology and Hypnotherapy revisions to check :)

Overall it is a massive improvement to see such well simplified standards!

Incidentally if any students / therapists are reading this blog - to access the Skillsforhealth NOS you now need to sign up (free) at their website and get a login. You can then access the competence search tool. Without that it is tricky to access each competence, unless you know the exact document url.

Wednesday 20 July 2011

Open Day August 21st Sunday 2011, free meditation and therapy testers in Edinburgh

There will be another Open Day at the Healthy Life Centre in Edinburgh on Sunday the 21st August 2011.

There will no doubt be quite a range of Shiatsu and other therapies during the course of the day, and I will be running two workshops in the afternoon, at 2pm and 2-45pm.

My workshops will be mindfulness and meditation based, and would be a useful introduction for anyone thinking of attending the meditation classes in September.

Self Help using online resources

Clearly any serious emotional issue needs professional assistance, therefore there is no online substitute for proper psychotherapy, coaching or counselling services. However to assist with low levels of stress, or to take a role in your personal management package, it is well worth looking at some online resources.

poodwaddle.com allows you to access some short streamed meditation music you can use alongside meditation, Chi Gung or other relaxation methods.

Google Apps market have a number of free downloadable apps for meditation and relaxation.

Lightening bug is an app that is on android and I think Iphone that assists sleep patterns and has a free trial version.

YouTube have quite a range of instructional videos for autogenics, basic yoga such as sun salutation, and a few other things too. Of course with YouTube take a look first and screen out any flaky videos before choosing one that is credible!

Sometimes using a free app, or free online service can breathe new life into some of the little positive habits and routines that are really good for us, stopping them going stale, and being discontinued!

Of course use common sense with any such programme -  "buyer beware".... but with just a little common sense you should be able to spot the decent ones!

Sunday 17 July 2011

Self help sleep remedies

Some things you try try to aid sleep. Always follow the instructions on the product you buy. This blog is not medical advice.

1. Melatonin tablets- these provide the natural substance that the body produces for deep sleep. Best not to use every night, since it seems to build up a little and leaves you sleepy in the day. Different dosages available from Biovea online. NOT available in UK shops.

2. Mix a base oil (enough for one application) with 8 drops camomile, 8 lavender and 8 black pepper aromatherapy oil. mix, and gently rub in to the back of your neck, back of your upper legs and from the knee down all around on each leg. Allow to soak in.

3. Remember no caffiene after around 4 pm latest!! That includes cola!

4. Gentle exercise early evening, or a short walk last thing before bed often helps.

5. Avoid alcohol. It is a sedative, but it produces poor quality sleep. Often detox for a few days with none is a good idea and aids the sleep cycle.

6. Try to get up the same time each day. If you need to catch up sleep go to bed early, or have one massive lie in, returning to the normal get up time the next day.

7. Some foods keep people awake. We are all different with what we digest well, so learn which foods to avoid late at night. Some people find the "blood type diet" useful for this.

8. Unless you are lactose intolerent is is worth trying warm milk with a little cinamon in it before bed. Hot milk contains a natural substance that aids sleep.

9. Try to have some physical activity each day. Sleep problems can be caused or worsened by an imbalance between physical and mental activity levels.

10. Finally have a medical check up. Sleep problems can be caused by a range of other conditions, and your body may be trying to tell you something!


Some therapies can assist sleep as well -  counselling or psychotherapy can help to address emotional issues that may be causing stress and emotional distress. Hypnotherapy can be used to promote relaxation, and sleep recordings can be used that use hypnosis to invoke the natural in between state that is hypnotic trance, from which it is easier to fall asleep. Always consult a CNHC registered hyponotherapist -  the CNHC is the official voluntary regulator in the UK.

Thursday 14 July 2011

Linkin in page

Please do come and network on our Linked In system.

We welcome clients, students, colleagues and interested members of the public linking to us there, or joining us on facebook as friends.  Scotlandtherapy and SHTC contacts very welcome.

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/stuart-morgan-ayrs/2a/591/185

Facebook ID: Stuart Scotlandtherapy

Tuesday 12 July 2011

Learn to reduce stress, manage anger and modify perception

The new meditation classes starting in September in Edinburgh will provide a range of skills to student learners.

- Manage stress through regular relaxation: learn self hypnosis techniques and autogenics techniques as well as a range of meditation styles

- learn to modify reactions to stress or anger triggers. Morita psychology teaches us that we do not choose the emotions we feel, but we can choose our reactions to them. Learn perception and breathing methods to do this.

- mindfulness techniques to ground you, reduce tension, reduce obsessive thinking and encourage a calm state of mind perfect for wellbeing, creativity and simply feeling good.

- benefit from a range of Naikan and mindfulness exercises to practice between sessions, using them to greatly increase the effect of the weekly meeting.

- Join in a like minded group, and find mutual support to get positive new habits ingrained and automatic. It is much easier with a supportive group.

- Changing the automatic reactions we tend to have to triggers in the environment gives us back personal control, instead of being like pre-programmed automatons reacting without thinking. We are free to choose the outcomes and reactions that work best for us, instead of simply repeating what we have done before.

-Naikan exercises enable us to reanalyse the interactions we have with others and start to see the overall day and week in a more balanced way. We tend to remember the negatives far easier than the positives, and Naikan helps us to put the balance back. This enables a greater sense of wellbeing, as well as encouraging us to seek out new positive opportunities each day.

Sessions will start on September 15th (Thursday) 17.45- 18.45 and will run for 14 weeks. £7 per week or £90 for the full 14 weeks.

Handouts and learning aids will be emailed to save paper and natural resources to be sure to bring the email details along. The Venue is The Healthy Life Centre, Bread Street, Edinburgh EH3 9AL

Psychology membership promotion

Happy to announce that as of last Friday I have been recognised with full membership status in the Institute of Professional Psychologists, a leading international organisation for professionals working in the psychology industry. I long ago chose IPP as a home rather than the local BPS or HPC, since the local bodies are concerned entirely with western psychology, and are very biased towards cognitive psychology. In contrast the IPP is based in Sri Lanka and represents professional psychologists around the world, with a much greater diversity.

On the basis of my recent MSc Psychology completion (award date 31st July) I have been upgraded from associate to full member status.

Monday 11 July 2011

New direction with ongoing professional training

July already, and half way through! And quite a lot has changed on the training front for me personally and professionally.

The MSc Psychology is complete and passed -  graduation officially on the 31st :)

The Edinburgh Uni certificate of education should hopefully also be done, need to wait a month or so for the final results, but I will be shocked if that is not passed too.

No funding was available for the MSc Research & PHd at the moment, due to all the cuts, so that goes on hold!

The TODO vocational course in Morita is complete, and was very useful and provided some new skills personally, and for client use.

Booked to do two courses now in October - both Open University so that I can complete them while still working full time. One philosophy and arts based as part of the degree I am doing in philosophy of the mind -  a different perspective to either psychology or psychotherapy. The other is politics based and looks at issues such as power in society, therefore examining the society in which clients must function.

Technically I am now registered for a BA (Hons) Open degree choosing psychology, politics and social science topics, and a BA (Hons) Philosophy and psychological studies degree with a fixed syllabus.  Should complete the first inside of 14 months, the other a year later :)

Also going to be doing additional research training with the NHS, and possibly with the OU Students Union regarding training and development.

No rest for the wicked :)

Friday 8 July 2011

Meditation classes for stress, anger, anxiety and general relaxation

From Thursday 15th of September 17.45-18.45 I will be running regular meditation classes for 14 weeks at the Healthy Life Centre in Bread Street, Edinburgh.

I will be presenting a range of meditation methods, from the many I have personally studied since I first began meditating back in the mid 80's (which really dates me and indicated my age!).

I will be combining visualisation, meditation, mindfulness and other such techniques with exercises for the students to do during the course of the week, drawing on mindfulness, self hypnosis and Naikan techiques, possibly some Morita too.

Denise will also be taking part and will help with the crystal meditation method, and possibly some other Chakra and colour methods, time permitting.

The cost of the sessions will be £7 per weekly session if paid on the day, or £90 up front for the full 14 weeks.

The methods should help with general relaxation, but also are suitable for people with issues such as depression, anxiety, bipolar, anger issues or general stress.

People should contact me in the first instance, either via fb (Stuart Scotlandtherapy) or via email stuart@scotlandtherapy.co.uk

Monday 4 July 2011

Emotions linked to the goals we set

It is easy to pretend that goal setting is a logical, dynamic and easy process with no emotional baggage. Of course when we do that we are fooling ourselves and entering into a state of deliberate denial. The truth is that we would not have to try so hard to set and achieve goals if it were not for the complex emotions that go along with them!

Often we have positive emotions that encourage us to "have a go" and move forward.

We then have negative emotions that encourage us to "leave it be" and not "rock the boat".

We have paralysing emotions that prevent forward movement.

Motivational interviewing encourages us to look at these issues like a see-saw, with two forces on each side:

Motivation for Change                                                         Motivation for Status Quo
Negatives and fears from Change                                        Negatives and fears from Status Quo

And right back in the middle -  gumming up the works is fear of change and desire to hide!

So an example: desire to go to the gym more:

I want to get fitter                                                                 I am happy watching TV
I am afraid I will fail or look stupid                                     I know my health is suffering being fat!

So the other way to look at things, is to consider all the emotions we have attached to the plan. Take the gym again:

Hope: Would like to be healthy
Fear: I am overweight and this is not good for me
Guilt: I should have done this years ago
Anger: I feel like I am doing this because I "should", not because I "want" to.

Once you recognise all those emotions you can start to process them, think about them and move on from them. Some you can recognise as misplaced, and therefore change, some you can accept but "do it anyway", others you may decide to process by giving yourself a boost or treat elsewhere to compensate. The main thing is that by being aware, you can challenge, and then move on from or practice acceptance for each emotion. While you are in denial that the emotions even exist, you are giving them power to subtle control and influence your behaviour behind the scenes!

Wanting change in our social group

A lot of psychotherapy and counselling theory talks at length about the individual, self actualisation, personal change, personal growth etc etc. Naturally all of these are vital to the person going through personal development. However it is easy to underestimate the importance of the social group.

As individuals we are fooling ourselves if we pretend we have any kind of noticeable identity in complete isolation. Although humanistic theory teaches us that we have a "core" identity, and of course psychoanalysis has alternative models, there is no real way to EXPERIENCE who we are unless we interact with some kind of environment and social group.

Eastern psychology has a different slant on this topic, in some Buddhist psychology models it is actually considered a western neurosis to believe you are an individual at all! This is an extension of the idea that in the 18th and 19th centuries western scientific thought moved further and further along the route of reductionism and positivism. What this meant in simple terms is that everything got broken down into sub parts. In science this meant the formation of psychology, philosophy, biology, theology etc as separate subjects. This is not the case in many eastern cultures where they still remain largely combined with massive overlap. It also meant that in terms of people, we were split from the macro level of society, right down to the most micro level, the individual.

In the west we love to look at the smallest possible unit, example or identifiable "thing" and this is seen a lot in our medicine where there is a bio-medical model looking at individual complaints, rather than the holistic patient as a whole. Sometimes this means that a headache will be treated with pain killers when it is actually caused by a food intolerance, trapped nerve in the back, bad posture, stress or some other deeper issue. Of course in eastern medicine there is often a consideration of the patient as a whole and balance between heat, coolness, dryness etc etc

Therefore coming back to the initial issue, the individual and their group, we see that the client or patient may well engage in personal individual change, but do so away from the reality of the group. Often this is seen where the client feels much better in the four walls of the clinical setting, but soon regresses to normal back in their real environment. Much of this is due to the lack of consideration of the need for interaction with people and environment. Clients are not separate from their social groups, families, friends, environments and cultures, in fact they are an integral part of them.

When we wish to elicit change therefore it is vital to consider how personal changes are going to impact on, and integrate with the people and environment around us. Indeed we may go further and decide that we actually want to have an impact on them i order to create social change! If a married client feels a lack of warmth and excitement in their relationship, we need to change the way the marriage works and inject some warmth back into BOTH people through dynamic change, otherwise the changes will be surface and temporary. If a person wants to be more confident at work, then we will need to modify their interactions and communications in the workplace, perhaps by making them more assertive and taking more responsibility. This of course then has an effect on the work colleagues around them.

Coming to the core "thought" then when desiring change around you. - - -  Change only happens when you put energy out there!! Meditating in a bliss like state away from everything may be good for you, but if you want to change things then you need to take action, and make changes out there in real life. Put that energy out there and make positive changes!

Friday 1 July 2011

Horizontal benefits of change

When we start implementing change it is important to be aware not only of the changes that we intended to occur, but also the horizontal effects! This refers to the secondary positive effects that can occur as a result of moving forward in life. You might for example choose to eat more sensibly, perhaps to loose weight. As you implement this and enjoy some nice healthy but tasty food, you might also find that you feel motivated to go to the gym or walk further each day. This is a by product of the state of mind that comes with positive change. To use a rather overused expression -  you gain a "can do" attitude. Not just that but an attitude of enjoying doing!!

All the more reason to make small but meaningful changes in life, one at a time rather than trying to overload yourself with massive leaps. Make the small changes and see what small horizontal benefits come right along with them!

Tuesday 28 June 2011

Positive habits versus negative habits

People often consider that habits are negative. This is a sign of the times, where we have tended to become slaves to learnt behaviour. However a habit is simply something that we have learned to do through repetition, and therefore repeat it further without much thought. The habit becomes a learned behaviour and a typically automatic one.

As with most things, our balance of perception tends to fall towards emphasising the negative. We tend to remember all the bad stuff that happens during the day! Likewise we tend to remember all of our "bad" habits. However there is no negative monopoly on habits!

Spend some time considering your positive and negative habits, perhaps list them. The add a further list of positive habits you would like to have. Be reasonable and realistic since only through repetition will an action become a habit.

Start to be aware and mindful of the habits you have listed as negative. When you are about to fall into that habit, think about the fact you are doing so. At that point the habit ceases to be a habit, and becomes a choice. Now you may still choose the old behaviour, but that will now be because you chose it, not because of any habit. Be honest with yourself about this, since often we blame our choices on "habit" as an excuse not to change or improve them. Move to the position of choice and then make your decision. Either stick with your negative behaviour, or exercise your right to choose a new outcome. With practice this exercise becomes easier and we let go of automatic behaviour, choosing instead to exercise freedom of choice and decision making.

As far as your positive list goes, celebrate the good habits, smile, remember and reinforce!

As far as your desired habits go, begin to implement them as choices, and repeat, repeat, repeat! Only this way can the new habits start to become ingrained and automatic.

Above all else remember - negative habits are not an excuse.... merely realising you have them gives you the beginning of the ability to change!

Tuesday 21 June 2011

MSc Complete and passed

Glad to let everyone know that this morning the Open University confirmed that I have passed the final module of the MSc Psychology, and therefore the entire Masters Degree. Officially the degree will be awarded 31st July...... quite why the wait I am not sure but anyhow, all good.

Monday 20 June 2011

Open Day feedback

The open day at the Healthy Life Centre yesterday was a fun opportunity for people to meet, try new therapies and mingle! Although it was father's day and the opening day of the Edinburgh film festival, we still had a reasonable turnout.

It was interesting to run separate workshops for meditation, visualisation and hypnotherapy, since so often these are provided in a combined way. It was therefore a useful exercise to prise them apart and demonstrate them as stand alone entities!

Delegates attended both the 1:1 self hypnosis tuition sessions, and the three demonstration and discussion workshops, and the other programmes provided by the centre were also well attended.

This was the first time I was involved at a Health Life Centre Open day, and can heartily recommend attendance at the next one. Open Days are provided free of charge a few times a year.

Friday 17 June 2011

Mindful Breathing

Morita teaches us that we are subject to emotions much of the time and therefore not entirely in control of them. Indeed in many situations we are not in control of them at all, for example when feeling ill, having a depression, anxiety or bipolar mood state, a feeling of OCD panic or other severe emotional response.

In these situations it is often a mistake to try to rationalise or directly combat the emotion. Methods like the over-sold NLP techniques of resource anchoring try to convince us to have a designer approach to how we feel. In practice this only works with the milder emotions, not with severe emotions such as those driven my mental health conditions.

Morita suggests that we learn acceptance instead, and operate from the position of letting the emotion be, and learning to co-exist with it. Instead of fighting it, resisting it and spending valuable energy in combat with it, allow it to be, accept it and respect it. However do so in a mindful way.

Begin by pausing, choosing a moment of peace, and breathing deeply. This is important, STOP and breathe deeply.

Next breathe into the problem, allowing your body rythms to slow as you breathe into and through the feeling.

Allowing the emotion to stay with you if necessary, continue to breathe as you continue life, not surrendering and becoming frozen, but also not entering into worthless combat. Instead learn acceptance.

The comparison that is often made is with having a bad leg so you limp, or having flu so you feel under the weather. You might take some pain killers or flu remedy, but you would not stop and rage at the condition fighting it and trying to make it "not so". You would either rest, or get on with life accepting a hindered capacity for the time being. Breathing into the problem and taking moments of peace, and exercising acceptance allow us to do the same with emotions.

Thursday 16 June 2011

Ongoing professional training update

it appears that funding for the research project at Edinburgh University is not going to be possible. At least I assume so since the answer should have been received by now and there is deathly silence :) Therefore it appears that my mental health research project, which might well have saved the NHS nationally many,many times the cost of the project is not going to be funded due to budget restraints. Not what I would consider logical, but hey, politics right?!?

Therefore plan B will continue with me completing the BA in philosophy and psychological studies which I am around half way through, and then possible a joint politics and social studies degree.

I am a strong believer that when working with clients you need a robust understanding of the individual, small group, social group, community, culture and society..... micro up to macro. Therefore in my estimation it is important to have a grasp of psychotherapy, psychology, sociology, philosophy and politics in order to maximise your skill as an integrative therapist. And as those who know me are already aware, I have a commitment to lifelong learning and improvement. Or cynics might say I am a study junkie!

Tuesday 14 June 2011

Balance when setting goals

It is a very common phenomenum for a person to set a new goal, such as finding a new job, going to the gym more often, starting a new hobby, or spending more time with a loved one, only to find that it does not last more than the magic 6 week period. 6 weeks is the estimated "drop out" peak!

One of the key reasons for this drop out is that people do not sit down and work out the DOWN side to their new objective! Now this may seem negative, but in fact it is referring to the cost of the new goal.

Think of it like a business decision -  there should always be a cost and benefit analysis. When setting goals we quite rightly focus on the motivational benefit part. However we should not go into denial about the cost! We should not be put off by the cost, but neither should we pretend it does not exist, so that it comes round to bite us in the rear later! An easy example might be deciding to go to a new gym on a regular basis -  excellent -  more fitness, better health.... just forget that sizable new direct debit coming out of the bank! Now normally we do consider the direct debit, because we have become quite used to budgeting.... which is a form of cost benefit analysis. However we do forget other things:

- Do we need to get a few more hours of sleep the night after the gym so we can recover and our bodies get the full benefit of the work-out?

- Do we need to be careful not to skip meals and to take a look at our nutritional intake?

- Do we need to perhaps ease up on the units of alcohol in the run up to the gym session day so we can do ourselves justice?

- If we are taking time out of another activity, do we need to budget additional time elsewhere?

The same principle applies in other areas too.

More time with loved ones = potentially less time doing solo hobbies. Therefore perhaps cut wasted time elsewhere to still enjoy a few hours on the xbox, cycling, going to the pub etc

A higher paid job may mean longer hours or a more tiring day or longer commute to work. So better rest, food and play time may need to be organised.

A new hobby may mean less time with family and friends.... and therefore more careful scheduling.

Whatever the new goal or objective, still be positive, but be aware of the costs as well. By being aware, you can be thinking about what else you may need to do in order to make it work long term.

The same applies to stopping or cutting down perceived negative behaviours. When we stop going to the pub so often however, we loose out on social activities, fun, and other perceived positive experiences that are referred to as "secondary gain". The secondary gains are good feelings, experiences or outcomes we get as a result of doing something rather negative. When we decide to change therefore, we loose some of those secondary gains, and can end up feeling like a child whose parent took away the bag of sweets! And if we feel deprived, punished or otherwise feel like we lost out, there is an incentive to go back to the negative habit again!

Therefore if you are cutting down, cutting out or changing any negative habits, then be aware of why you enjoyed them in the first place. Was there a pleasure aspect, or social, or an enjoyment of personal space, or perhaps a feeling of freedom. List the different things that you enjoy about the habit rather than pretending that it is all bad. If it was all bad you neve would have bothered with it in the first place. Pretending there is no secondary gain is a form of denial! List those gains! Once you have done that work out where you will get a substitute good feeling! Choose new activities or other well loved old ones. Look for the same or very similar gains so as to provide balance and equilibrium.  This will allow positive moving forward without feeling hard done by or punished!

Monday 13 June 2011

Grey old weather in Scotland

Many of us in Scotland, especially those of us not from here originally like myself, suffer from SAD or Seasonal Adjustment Difficulty. This is largely related to the amount of sunlight being absorbed, stimulating the piturity gland and thus the whole metabolism and hormonal system.

The effects include depression, lethargy, low metabolic rate, distorted appetite, appetite for the wrong foods, irritability and general malaise.

Another long term effect, thought to be related to the poor health record in Scotland, is low levels of vitamin D, much of which the body forms itself through a process involving sunlight.

So what can you do to offset the effects:

1. Create a sleep plan, setting hours to go to bed and get up, and try to stick fairly closely to it. If you allow yourself to sleep more, you will be encouraging the "hibernate" pattern that essentially the lack of sunlight is encouraging.

2. Get as much sunlight or daylight as possible. Even if it is overcast and cloudy, try to get out and absorb what little light there is, in breaks or lunch hours.

3. Eat healthy foods, of course have some tasty treats, but keep the fruit and veg and lean protein sources coming to prevent spiral into high sugar foods. Look for long burn carbs like brown rice.

4. Consider a vitamin D supplement. These are cheap and available from most chemists and supermarkets. Follow the instructions on the packet.

5. Try some full spectrum light bulbs in your home. Especially first thing in the morning, and during the day a few hours of full spectrum light copy the effects of the sun. Try to avoid last thing at night though to avoid over stimulation.

6. If you can not sleep well, consider melatonin as a sleep supplement. This is the same natural chemical the body produces to enable deep sleep. It can not be bought over the counter in the UK, but companies like Biovera sell it online. It is a naturally occurring chemical that is thought to be more healthy than taking artificial sleeping pills or soporific herbs.

7. Take regular exercise. On a dark or grey night -  get to the gym where it is brightly lit, energetic and active. Getting there requires a self applied kick to the rear, but once there you have the chance to get the old metabolism up and running.... literally!

Even though summer is nearly here.... in Scotland we are still "enjoying" grey, wet and cloudy weather. Therefore you can learn to practice some of these ideas now while it is only miserable some of the time, and when real winter comes you should have systems in place that work for you.

Also there is a condition that is essentially reverse SAD, where sunlight is such a shock that over stimulation occurs, resulting in anxiety and other issues. Learning the above methods for use on grey days can help to create balance as you ease off them on Sunny days. Part of the problem with typical and reverse SAD is simply the adjustment to change. You can use the above methods to help create a more overall balanced experience, thus reducing the difficulty of any remaining adjustment.

If you have any other emotional difficulties or trauma then SAD will cause you to find it harder to cope with stress, anger, anxiety etc. Therefore consider combining the above with some appropriate counselling support, or self help CBT.

Friday 10 June 2011

Purpose of ongoing professional development training

I am often the subject of jokes and good humoured ribbing by colleagues and work friends in relation to the amount of university study I do. And frankly I can well understand it :)

In the previous few years I have simultaneously been studying towards a MSc Psychology, a BA Philosophy and psychological studies, and an advanced certificate of Education. Meanwhile I have continued vocational study via TODO and ongoing development updates via the British Medical Journal and the Royal Society of Medicine.

So why so much study? Well there is a simple reason actually -  as an integrative therapist there is always a major question -  what sort of qualification matters? Is it the industry accredited award that enables psychotherapy practice? Is it the vocational award that gives some kind of externally accredited award? Is it the philosophy and theology based award that reflects study of different cultures, belief systems and models of psychology? Or is it the UK university based academic award?

The bottom line is -  all of the above!  The more integrative you become, there more need there is to be clear that you are not falling into the category of "jack of all trades, mater of none". There becomes a real need to show certification, study or other awards in the range of different therapy models being used. This for example is the reason why I have completed accredited ASET vocational awards in each of the therapies: Hypnotherapy: Level 4, Psychotherapy: levels 3 & 4, Integrated counselling: level 4, NLP: level 3, Lifestyle coaching: level 3, Grief and bereavement counselling: level 3, Chi Gung: level 3, Mental health social work: Level 4, Competence in Social work: Level 4, and last but certainly not least: an NVQ in Training and Development in the context of complementary health education including coaching unit C25.

And then there is the need to explore eastern and theological / philosophical models..... leading to TODO courses of self reflection, and of course the M.Phil and D.Phil level awards from the Interfaith Seminary where I am a Senior Professor. These awards, gained for the submission of thesis in the form of entire training courses and studies, provide accreditation and recognition in Mindfulness, Holistic psychology and pastoral counselling. In particular they reflect the ability to study, master and use eastern psychology skills as well as the run of the mill western models.

And of course the industry awards - I have frankly only bothered with one such award in order to get started: a 2 and a half year diploma in psychoanalysis, counselling and hypnotherapy that launched my career back in the early 90's and required over 200 supervised client cases to complete, as well as regular training weekends, classes, meetings, supervision etc etc over that whole time period.

And of course ongoing professional updates -  essential for any serious practitioner to keep up to date with recent developments through RSM and BMJ professional courses and updates, designed for both medical personnel and allied professionals. A sound knowledge of National Occupational Standards, medical standards and NICE guidelines results enabling better complementary working with medical staff and personnel!


So why the University courses? Well many do provide an additional wealth of knowledge, such as the post graduate training I completed recently in issues of brain and behaviour, studying the neural effects of addiction and ageing. Others enable a more social psychological viewpoint regarding language, social constructivism and identity. Most importantly though, is the simple proof that you can meet a standard that everyone is familiar with!

It does not really matter to people in the general public whether you have an NVQ, ASET, Diploma or a theological award, however relevant and important the training and topic. What people still look for is a UK University degree -  it is what they understand and recognise. And if you have one, or more than one, the chances is those other qualifications you mentioned -  probably are quite good too!

And thus to the heart of the matter! I know that my theological based masters degrees and doctorates were hard earned, meaningful and very relevant -  but the average client does not!  I know that ASET awards are QCA (qualification curriculum authority) approved -  but this has to be explained to the client. I know that my initial industry diploma and my NVQ both assessed my actual ability to do the job to a high standard, but clients often do not grasp this..... what they do grasp is a good old fashioned academic degree! They look for that and professional registrations, and anything else is a bonus. What is noticeable is that if you have the UK university degrees, they then trust that other qualifications are probably worthwhile too, because if you did a BSc, BA or MSc then why would you waste your time doing something useless??? and Of course this does have a ring of sense to it!

So as I wait for the confirmation of MSc result which is due in 2 weeks, and prepare for the next module of my BA, and result on which parts of my existing BSc are relevant to my work, and wonder if I will get funding from Edinburgh University for my research MSc and PhD, I remind myself that the most important part of training sometimes is very simply -  credibility!! Fellowship of Royal Societies, UK University Degrees and professional registrations give you credibility and the client reassurance! And sometimes credibility and reassurance are the most important factors of all!

Wednesday 8 June 2011

Buying chinese herbs for own personal use

For some time I have benefited from the herbal combinations sold by local Chinese herbalists. The problem is that they pressure you to buy ever increasingly large volumes of pills, potions, massages, acupuncture and other forms of healthcare that run into many hundreds of pounds! If you are simply looking for some effective herbs to sort out sinus problems for example, you can look at various cheaper alternatives.

1. Online chinese herbalists providing complete remedies in tablet form
2. Buy the herbs yourself and brew tea. With this route it is entirely at your own risk, although frankly if you stick to the safer herbs and read the safety warnings about pregnancy etc you should not have too many problems. You also need to stew the tea for a long time for potency - keeping the liquid hot using a tea light candle under the tea pot is one way, for about half an hour. You can even mix in prepared chinese herbs and dissolving remedies from local chinese supermarkets. Do not expect a nice taste though!

Herbs can be googled from the names on the side of bought packets and their various latin, chinese and common names then searched on ebay and via herb stores like baldwins.

Open Day at The Healthy Life Centre the programme June 19th


Self-defence for women 10-3.30pm Find out about Shiatsu
training
10.30 Self-defence for women 10-3.30pm Yoga with Isabel Find out about Shiatsu
training
11.15 Self-defence for women 10-3.30pm Chi Gung with Frank Seated Shiatsu taster
class and information
about training
12pm Self-defence for women 10-3.30pm Belly dance with Iraya 11.45 Shiatsu hand
massage with Gabi
1pm Self-defence for women 10-3.30pm Pilates with Emilia
1-2.30pm
12.30 Shiatsu foot
massage with Gabi
1.30 Self-defence for women 10-3.30pm Pilates with Emilia
1-2.30pm
10 min 1:2:1 sessions
with Stuart Morgan- Ayrs
2.45 Self-defence for women 10-3.30pm Meditation techniques with Stuart Find out about Shiatsu
training
3.30 3.45 Nia experiential dance with Lin Hypnotherapy techniques with Stuart Seated Shiatsu taster
class and information
about training
4.15 4.30 Laughter yoga with Jo Visualisation with Stuart Find out about Shiatsu training
5pm Movement meditation with
Lin
Seated Shiatsu taster class and information about training
PLUS Free Shiatsu taster
sessions all day
11-12 HypnoBirthing 1-3pm Acupuncture
and Oriental Herb

Tuesday 7 June 2011

Bitcoin

One of today's little projects is to try to get bitcoin working so we can accept payments at Scotlandtherapy and the SHTC using this alternative currency. The idea of bitcoin is a great one - a currency without any government interference or taxation, accepted by members and valued by it's members.

Any feedback or advice gratefully received!

I will keep the website, fb and blog posted as and when we get the system up and running!

Setting goals - Morita principle

A few more ideas from Morita training to consider when planning a goal, or avoiding procrastination!

1. The difference between intention and action
Beware of the trap of thinking about doing things! Sometimes we overthink so effectively that we convince ourselves that we have actually DONE something, when all we did was think!

2. What leads to action?
Try to shorten the road between idea and action! This is one way of reducing overthinking! When you remember something that needs doing, GET UP and move towards that thing, BEGIN the process of DOING. Once you have made a movement towards something it actually requires a decision to avoid it, but until movement is present, you can procrastinate forever!

3. Steps
Nature moves slowly - we see it in evolution, nature, the seasons, the course of the day. Nothing is instant. However we WANT things instantly. You want a new skill, you want it NOW, you want more money or a better job -  NOW please! This goes against nature. Learn to break down the end goal into steps and then take action! Do not be frozen by the size of the goal, the idea of it being too far away, too much hassle, break it down and get started! Little steps like move to the phone, make the call and ask for the application forms for a job or course.... do not get into contemplating and overthinking the entire course!!!

4. Have a clear purpose
Be clear in your mind WHY you want to do something, and do not let the habit of overthinking cloud that thought or suppress it! Overthinking is a form of distraction, taking focus away from what is needed. Keep the clear goal in mind and keep reminding yourself of WHY you are bothering to make that effort!

5. Show up
Sometimes getting yourself moving towards the right place is the key to getting the action underway. Do not worry about whether you really feel like the gym today -  just throw on the clothes and get there.... then see what happens! It takes far more dedicated procrastination to avoid doing something when you are in the right place at the right time! Get moving, and worry about the details later!

In Morita we often use the Kaizen concept of making small changes very often. This is a concept borrowed from industry. It can be easily understood if you consider having a whole house to tidy. If you consider the whole house then the task is pretty big and easy to run screaming from. If you consider tidying a small area, but doing this every day, then after a few days a real difference starts to occur, but without the need for overwhelming effort. Do not scare yourself into inaction, do a little each day, be it study, exercise, housework, job seeking, meditation.......

Monday 6 June 2011

Morita and Naikan, combatting procrastination

According to Greg Krech, a leading author in Japanese psychology at the TODO Institute (highly recommended), there are seven steps to challenging procrastination and putting off decision making:

1. First step -  acceptance
Rather than being in denial of your situation and distracting yourself from looking at the problem, learn to accept the state of inaction you are in. Embrace it, and get used to it. From there you can be honest about the need to change.

2. Feeling state
Do not distract your emotional state from any negative feelings. If you feel anxious or angry about the fact you have not done something, do not try to be happy instead.... this is another means of distraction. If your inaction means you are anxious or angry, feel it and accept it, distracting yourself from it is supressing the problem.

3. Focus on your goal and purpose
Sometimes the thought of moving forward brings anxieties, fears and thoughts of low self confidence. It is easy to get all caught up in such emotions and thought processes. When we allow ourselves to start processing these, we loose track of what we set out to do. Stay focused on the task at hand and the positives it holds!

4. What trouble do we cause for others by not moving forward?
Procrastination causes inaction, stasis, and negative emotions. These usually do not only effect you, but also effect those around you. Have a think about what you lack of action is doing to others!

5. Small steps
Do not accept the false huge picture of all the task put together in a giant leap. If you pile enough molehills one on top of another you will create a mountain. Break the task down into winnable battles -  or chunks as they are often referred to in NLP and coaching.

6. Appointments
Set appointments! Make a time table and work towards it. If you have an appointment in your diary, or your electronic calender, you actually have to find something else to do, which is harder than simply forgetting to get around to something!

7. Give up
If you have tried all six previous steps, then frankly either get on with it or face the fact you really did not want to do it in the first place! There is one thing being stuck in a rut, quite another to be fooling yourself into thinking you are going to embark on a great dream! If the last six stages failed to kick you into gear than get real, wake up, smell the coffee and make a decision!

With thanks to the TODO institute and Gregg for the great information.

Misguided BBC interview on hypnotherapy

Dr Peter Naish of the RSM has given an interview suggesting that GP's should be trained to use hypnosis. He also suggested that it was a very simple procedure to use.

Although I respect Dr Naish as a fellow member of the Royal Society of Medicine, he is completely wrong and misguided in his comments.

Hypnosis is indeed very simple, anyone can do it. However HYPNOTHERAPY is the combination of hypnosis with suggestion, analysis, visualisation or other forms of psychotherapy. It is certainly NOT simple and easy to do well!

GP's have no psychotherapy training and are therefore absolutely not a sensible choice for hypnosis training, unless it is simply going to be for basic relaxation purposes, in which case the patient might as well buy a book or off the shelf CD / DVD.

GP's do not have the time to be providing hypnotherapy sessions, which if they are going to be effective need to be at least 20 minutes long, probably nearer 40 minutes. With informed consent information and guidance the session is normally around an hour. GP's already complain about the demands on their time, and expecting them to have 1 hour slots for patients rather than giving a referral or prescription is totally nuts! It is simply not going to happen, nor should it!

The BBC should have reflected on the fact that hypnotherapy is now subject to voluntary regulation via the CNHC, a project supported and funded by the NHS. This is the official way forward with proper training standards, qualification standards, matching to National Occupational Standards, and a guaranteed level of competence by a properly trained hypnotherapist. This is the safe way forward, not crash courses in basic hypnosis for overworked GP's! The BBC article even suggested other NHS personnel with even less relevance might be trained in this crash course manner -  total nonsense!

Using Reiki in Psychotherapy and Hypnotherapy

From time to time I get asked what connection there is between Reiki, which is an energy healing model, and talking based therapies like psychotherapy and hypnotherapy.

In brief -  Reiki enables the practitioner to practice self care, and therefore in the first place it helps the therapist to be more stable and with better wellbeing.

Secondly practicing Reiki or Chi Gung exercises in the therapy space prior to talking therapies grounds not only the therapist, but also the space itself. This is especially true in bare foot practice spaces like the Salisbury Centre and The Health Life Centre -  my two practice bases in Edinburgh.

Thirdly when using a hypnotic process, you should as a professional therapist be monitoring the client carefully, monitoring body tension, skin colour, breathing rate etc. While doing so, and maintaining either the relaxation process, or the suggestion process, it is quite straight forward to send positive Reiki energy into the space, and to the client.

Finally (for now) whenever you think about a client, email them, call them, note them in the diary, senda reminder or just think about planning a session, you have the perfect opportunity to send healing Reiki energy.