Services offered by Isabella
Where can hypnotherapy be of benefit?
These are areas in which I have expertise and offer therapy
CHILDHOOD STUFF:
Many people are aware that they have unresolved ‘childhood issues’, some have insight that this is what is really causing any current problems while others lack this insight and may be surprised at what emerges in hypnotherapy for what they believe to be strictly a current problem. Child Ego States in the subconscious mind are where the ‘issues’ reside and that is where we go to ‘fix stuff’.
WEIGHT:
Craving or preference for high calorie food is ‘self medication’ to provide psychological comfort via release of endorphins (the body’s own anaesthesic or ‘feel good’ hormone). This ‘coping style’ is learned during early childhood, generally when the need for comforting is consistently not met by a parent. Food may have even been given to pacify the child. If carrying excess body fat serves a protective function (eg to deter sexual advances) or there is a history of unsuccessful attempts at weight loss, then there will likely be subconscious ‘saboteurs’ to address in therapy.
GRIEF:
Grief is a natural reaction to loss, whether it is death (of a partner, child or other family member, close friend or pet), breakup of a relationship or marriage, major financial loss or devastating events that result in loss of identity. There are stages in the grieving process which the individual has to work through in their own time that will enable them to ‘move on’ and find purpose and enjoyment in life again. However, sometimes, the individual is stuck in one of the stages so is unable to engage in life at all, merely going through the motions. If grief lingers on for more than a year or two, then professional help may be required to address emotional issues that ‘complicate’ the grief and prevent resolution. These commonly involve regrets about ‘what was said’ or ‘not said’ in the last conversation, unresolved issues and if suicide was involved, those left behind may feel anger at the departed one.
ABORTION:
Society has conventions for grieving death, but for an abortion, these conventions do not apply because generally, the abortion is a secret and ‘life must go on as normal’ so grieving is ‘not permitted’ and is ‘pushed aside’ – only to raise its head years later as ‘depression’. Grief may not be the only issue. There may be feelings of ‘guilt’ and/or ‘shame’. If forced or coerced by parents or by a partner ‘not ready to be a father’, there may also be ‘anger’ and resentment.
ANGER (repressed):
‘Repressed anger’- if you have been described as having an ‘angry or aggressive personality’ or your angry reactions are out of proportion to the ‘trigger’, family members ‘tread on egg shells’ so as not to ‘set you off’, then your anger may actually be about childhood events/circumstances rather than what is happening in the present. Did you experience any abuse or violence as a child? Are you aware of feeling any resentment towards a parent for not meeting your emotional needs or treating you unfairly or unjustly (whether intentionally or unintentionally)?
DEPRESSION, PND:
‘Non-endogenous’ depression (psychological, situational) accounts for about 90% of depression cases, and while it is likely to be ‘precipitated’ by current/chronic events, the real, underlying origins lie in ‘childhood stuff’. In my experience, the same applies to POST NATAL DEPRESSION and factors around the birth of a baby and life changes ‘precipitate’ the episode of depression. Biological depression (melancholia, bipolar disorder, psychotic depression) requires medication to manage the condition, but patients are not immune to the impact of ‘childhood stuff’ as well as current stressors acting as triggers so they can benefit from psychological therapies.
Lack of neurotransmitter (such as serotonin) in the neuronal synapses is merely the ‘mechanism’ for depression, not the cause, so treatment with antidepressant medication aimed to restore neurotransmitter availability is merely providing symptom relief. Medication may be chosen to help a patient to function in the short term, but bear in mind, reliance on long term medication use is an indicator that the ‘real’ problem is not being addressed. To address non-endogenous depression successfully, (and to eliminate or reduce risk of future episodes) the client needs to be able to cope effectively with the ‘precipitating event’ (or ‘chronic depressogenic circumstances’) responsible for the current episode, and to be able to do that effectively, we need to address childhood stuff that has resulted in emotional vulnerability, dysfunctional attitudes, beliefs, patterns in thinking and behaviour and ineffective or maladaptive coping styles.
PANIC DISORDER:
My experience is that the event that you believe is responsible for the first panic attack - which has created a ‘fear of having a panic attack’, resulting in experiencing recurring panic attacks - is not the real cause. People with Panic Disorder tend to have two conflicting self beliefs in their personality core: “I am a strong person” and “I am not good enough” . These beliefs came from childhood circumstances and create a vulnerability to Panic Disorder. The first panic attack happens when the individual does not cope with a situation as well as they think they should have (being a ‘strong person’) so challenges this belief. At the same time, it reaffirms the belief that “I am not good enough”. Being ‘strong’ is regarded as a positive and desirable quality whereas being ‘not good enough’ may be felt as negative, a flaw, a weakness. Thereafter, the person lives in fear of ‘further evidence’ (ie panic attacks) that they are “not a strong person” because if that belief is destroyed totally, all they are left with is the belief “I am not good enough”. If you can relate to this, then what you need is to address this ‘childhood stuff’.
Comorbidity? Panic Disorder can often be ‘co-morbid’ with Depression and there is a logical reason for this. Depression may occur first and be the ‘event’ that triggers the first panic attack. Alternatively, Panic Disorder may come first and the ‘loss of identity’ of being a ‘strong person’ and thus being left with the sole self belief as being ‘not good enough’ can be a depressing prospect.
CSA:
Sex abuse to a child has a long term negative psychological impact. In addition, there is generally anger and sense of betrayal by the perpetrator, plus the parent who ‘turns a blind eye’ and family who ‘side with the perpetrator’. Some have always been able to remember what happened to them but others have ‘repressed’ the memories (generally when the child is dependent on the perpetrator for care) deep into their subconscious mind. These ‘forgotten’ memories may have resurfaced in confusing fragments in flashbacks. When ready to face these issues, hypnotherapy can help.
Warning! I do not recommend using hypnosis to probe for repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse, for two reasons. (i) Sometimes, people claim there are periods of their childhood that they cannot remember anything, there is a complete blank, so they start to wonder …..? Repressed memories are more likely to be ‘selective’ whereas a complete blank tends to mean there was not anything much of any significance happening. (ii) Alternatively, ‘recovered’ memories of childhood sexual abuse is a legitimate phenomenon and so is ‘false memory syndrome’. The latter is the result of implicit suggestion when engaging in a deliberate, targeted search to find repressed memories, with the expectation that they do exist, even in the absence of confirmatory evidence that sexual abuse took place.
I believe that since traumatic memories are repressed as a protection, they will surface when the individual is ready to deal with the issues of abuse and betrayal. These memories may be ‘recovered’ fragments in dreams and flashbacks. Probing and opening a ‘whole can of worms’ at once prematurely may result in greater trauma that the person is not able to deal with in a healthy constructive way.
DRUG and ALCOHOL ADDICTION:
Substance use is generally an attempt at self-medication to deal with emotional problems, blot out distressing thoughts and memories, dull the pain of past experiences, cope with current life situations – and even recreational use. ‘Recreational use’ is a euphemism for lack of ‘inner resources’, lack of ability to relax and enjoy entertainment or the company of friends. Rehab and support groups are essential tools in overcoming drug and alcohol use, while hypnotherapy has an adjunctive role by helping to resolve the ‘issues’ that create the vulnerability that leads to substance use ie the subconscious need to ‘self medicate’.
How many sessions?
This can vary with the requirements of the client. Generally, most of the 'stuff' can be addressed and resolved in a single session with the need for only a couple of f/u sessions to check in with Ego States and address any other issues that may have arisen. An essential part of therapy is reinforcing therapeutic changes achieved during the treatment sessions. This can be carried out in additional f/u sessions with the hypnotherapist. However, I believe it is more effective for the client to carry out this reinforcing work at home because the client is now the 'surrogate parent' for Child Ego States that were treated and the reinforcing work involves 're-parenting' by the client which is in effect, meeting emotional developmental needs that were not met by the parents. Hence, I provide clients with a homework schedule to be carried out until the treated Child Ego States have become 'integrated'.
Two-Day Intensive Therapy
For potential clients who may be aware that they have unresolved childhood ‘stuff’ that is responsible for repeated dysfunctional patterns in their life and would like to visit me for therapy but live some distance away, perhaps interstate, so think that therapy is not an option – I have treated interstate clients who were so motivated as to fly to the Sunshine Coast (S-E Qld) specifically for therapy. We conducted intensive therapy over two days with positive results. So, this is an option for the strongly motivated!
Hypnotherapy tourism
As a plausible alternative, combine therapy with a holiday on the beautiful Sunshine Coast. People travel to Thailand for dental work and cosmetic surgery, so why not travel to Queensland for hypnotherapy?
These are areas in which I have expertise and offer therapy
- Resolving CHILDHOOD STUFF – underpinning current problems
- WEIGHT issues - comfort eating, protective role of padding, self-sabotaging
- ‘Complicated’ GRIEF - anger, regret, unresolved issues
- ABORTION grief - anger, shame, regret
- ANGER resolution - anger originating in childhood
- PAIN management
- Mental health - DEPRESSION, POST NATAL DEPRESSION,
- Anxiety - PANIC DISORDER
- CHILD SEX ABUSE – addressing issues as an adult
- DRUG and ALCOHOL ADDICTION – as an ADJUNCT to rehab and support groups
CHILDHOOD STUFF:
Many people are aware that they have unresolved ‘childhood issues’, some have insight that this is what is really causing any current problems while others lack this insight and may be surprised at what emerges in hypnotherapy for what they believe to be strictly a current problem. Child Ego States in the subconscious mind are where the ‘issues’ reside and that is where we go to ‘fix stuff’.
WEIGHT:
Craving or preference for high calorie food is ‘self medication’ to provide psychological comfort via release of endorphins (the body’s own anaesthesic or ‘feel good’ hormone). This ‘coping style’ is learned during early childhood, generally when the need for comforting is consistently not met by a parent. Food may have even been given to pacify the child. If carrying excess body fat serves a protective function (eg to deter sexual advances) or there is a history of unsuccessful attempts at weight loss, then there will likely be subconscious ‘saboteurs’ to address in therapy.
GRIEF:
Grief is a natural reaction to loss, whether it is death (of a partner, child or other family member, close friend or pet), breakup of a relationship or marriage, major financial loss or devastating events that result in loss of identity. There are stages in the grieving process which the individual has to work through in their own time that will enable them to ‘move on’ and find purpose and enjoyment in life again. However, sometimes, the individual is stuck in one of the stages so is unable to engage in life at all, merely going through the motions. If grief lingers on for more than a year or two, then professional help may be required to address emotional issues that ‘complicate’ the grief and prevent resolution. These commonly involve regrets about ‘what was said’ or ‘not said’ in the last conversation, unresolved issues and if suicide was involved, those left behind may feel anger at the departed one.
ABORTION:
Society has conventions for grieving death, but for an abortion, these conventions do not apply because generally, the abortion is a secret and ‘life must go on as normal’ so grieving is ‘not permitted’ and is ‘pushed aside’ – only to raise its head years later as ‘depression’. Grief may not be the only issue. There may be feelings of ‘guilt’ and/or ‘shame’. If forced or coerced by parents or by a partner ‘not ready to be a father’, there may also be ‘anger’ and resentment.
ANGER (repressed):
‘Repressed anger’- if you have been described as having an ‘angry or aggressive personality’ or your angry reactions are out of proportion to the ‘trigger’, family members ‘tread on egg shells’ so as not to ‘set you off’, then your anger may actually be about childhood events/circumstances rather than what is happening in the present. Did you experience any abuse or violence as a child? Are you aware of feeling any resentment towards a parent for not meeting your emotional needs or treating you unfairly or unjustly (whether intentionally or unintentionally)?
DEPRESSION, PND:
‘Non-endogenous’ depression (psychological, situational) accounts for about 90% of depression cases, and while it is likely to be ‘precipitated’ by current/chronic events, the real, underlying origins lie in ‘childhood stuff’. In my experience, the same applies to POST NATAL DEPRESSION and factors around the birth of a baby and life changes ‘precipitate’ the episode of depression. Biological depression (melancholia, bipolar disorder, psychotic depression) requires medication to manage the condition, but patients are not immune to the impact of ‘childhood stuff’ as well as current stressors acting as triggers so they can benefit from psychological therapies.
Lack of neurotransmitter (such as serotonin) in the neuronal synapses is merely the ‘mechanism’ for depression, not the cause, so treatment with antidepressant medication aimed to restore neurotransmitter availability is merely providing symptom relief. Medication may be chosen to help a patient to function in the short term, but bear in mind, reliance on long term medication use is an indicator that the ‘real’ problem is not being addressed. To address non-endogenous depression successfully, (and to eliminate or reduce risk of future episodes) the client needs to be able to cope effectively with the ‘precipitating event’ (or ‘chronic depressogenic circumstances’) responsible for the current episode, and to be able to do that effectively, we need to address childhood stuff that has resulted in emotional vulnerability, dysfunctional attitudes, beliefs, patterns in thinking and behaviour and ineffective or maladaptive coping styles.
PANIC DISORDER:
My experience is that the event that you believe is responsible for the first panic attack - which has created a ‘fear of having a panic attack’, resulting in experiencing recurring panic attacks - is not the real cause. People with Panic Disorder tend to have two conflicting self beliefs in their personality core: “I am a strong person” and “I am not good enough” . These beliefs came from childhood circumstances and create a vulnerability to Panic Disorder. The first panic attack happens when the individual does not cope with a situation as well as they think they should have (being a ‘strong person’) so challenges this belief. At the same time, it reaffirms the belief that “I am not good enough”. Being ‘strong’ is regarded as a positive and desirable quality whereas being ‘not good enough’ may be felt as negative, a flaw, a weakness. Thereafter, the person lives in fear of ‘further evidence’ (ie panic attacks) that they are “not a strong person” because if that belief is destroyed totally, all they are left with is the belief “I am not good enough”. If you can relate to this, then what you need is to address this ‘childhood stuff’.
Comorbidity? Panic Disorder can often be ‘co-morbid’ with Depression and there is a logical reason for this. Depression may occur first and be the ‘event’ that triggers the first panic attack. Alternatively, Panic Disorder may come first and the ‘loss of identity’ of being a ‘strong person’ and thus being left with the sole self belief as being ‘not good enough’ can be a depressing prospect.
CSA:
Sex abuse to a child has a long term negative psychological impact. In addition, there is generally anger and sense of betrayal by the perpetrator, plus the parent who ‘turns a blind eye’ and family who ‘side with the perpetrator’. Some have always been able to remember what happened to them but others have ‘repressed’ the memories (generally when the child is dependent on the perpetrator for care) deep into their subconscious mind. These ‘forgotten’ memories may have resurfaced in confusing fragments in flashbacks. When ready to face these issues, hypnotherapy can help.
Warning! I do not recommend using hypnosis to probe for repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse, for two reasons. (i) Sometimes, people claim there are periods of their childhood that they cannot remember anything, there is a complete blank, so they start to wonder …..? Repressed memories are more likely to be ‘selective’ whereas a complete blank tends to mean there was not anything much of any significance happening. (ii) Alternatively, ‘recovered’ memories of childhood sexual abuse is a legitimate phenomenon and so is ‘false memory syndrome’. The latter is the result of implicit suggestion when engaging in a deliberate, targeted search to find repressed memories, with the expectation that they do exist, even in the absence of confirmatory evidence that sexual abuse took place.
I believe that since traumatic memories are repressed as a protection, they will surface when the individual is ready to deal with the issues of abuse and betrayal. These memories may be ‘recovered’ fragments in dreams and flashbacks. Probing and opening a ‘whole can of worms’ at once prematurely may result in greater trauma that the person is not able to deal with in a healthy constructive way.
DRUG and ALCOHOL ADDICTION:
Substance use is generally an attempt at self-medication to deal with emotional problems, blot out distressing thoughts and memories, dull the pain of past experiences, cope with current life situations – and even recreational use. ‘Recreational use’ is a euphemism for lack of ‘inner resources’, lack of ability to relax and enjoy entertainment or the company of friends. Rehab and support groups are essential tools in overcoming drug and alcohol use, while hypnotherapy has an adjunctive role by helping to resolve the ‘issues’ that create the vulnerability that leads to substance use ie the subconscious need to ‘self medicate’.
How many sessions?
This can vary with the requirements of the client. Generally, most of the 'stuff' can be addressed and resolved in a single session with the need for only a couple of f/u sessions to check in with Ego States and address any other issues that may have arisen. An essential part of therapy is reinforcing therapeutic changes achieved during the treatment sessions. This can be carried out in additional f/u sessions with the hypnotherapist. However, I believe it is more effective for the client to carry out this reinforcing work at home because the client is now the 'surrogate parent' for Child Ego States that were treated and the reinforcing work involves 're-parenting' by the client which is in effect, meeting emotional developmental needs that were not met by the parents. Hence, I provide clients with a homework schedule to be carried out until the treated Child Ego States have become 'integrated'.
Two-Day Intensive Therapy
For potential clients who may be aware that they have unresolved childhood ‘stuff’ that is responsible for repeated dysfunctional patterns in their life and would like to visit me for therapy but live some distance away, perhaps interstate, so think that therapy is not an option – I have treated interstate clients who were so motivated as to fly to the Sunshine Coast (S-E Qld) specifically for therapy. We conducted intensive therapy over two days with positive results. So, this is an option for the strongly motivated!
Hypnotherapy tourism
As a plausible alternative, combine therapy with a holiday on the beautiful Sunshine Coast. People travel to Thailand for dental work and cosmetic surgery, so why not travel to Queensland for hypnotherapy?