Self Fulfillling Prophesies - Make Yours Good Ones

We hardly ever apply logic or rational thought to the negative words we adopt to describe ourselves, or the negative things we think when we’re faced with particular situations or people, or have to learn something new. I know I never used to. My own particular negative nugget was 'I'm bound to make a mistake'. Guess what happened...

Anyway, I don't want you falling into the same dark hole, so I'm listing a few of things that I often hear people say about themselves. They don't make cheerful reading, but they illustrate the point I'm trying to make - and that is that we often think damaging things about ourselves that are wrong, irrational, illogical or past their sell-by date.

I want you to think when you read the list. I also want you to apply logic and try to refute each statement as you go along, and to try to stand outside yourself and imagine what advice you would give to someone who made any of these statements to you.

OK? Here's the list:

I feel inferior to other people who are better off/better educated/better looking than I am.

I have negative beliefs about myself and my own abilities.

Although I realise that the negative beliefs I hold about myself influence my current conduct, I remind myself of them every day.

I make negative statements and self-deprecating remarks about myself in every­day conversation.

When I was younger members of my family or peer group made negative remarks to or about me. I remember them and still believe them to be true.

When I get negative feedback from people close to me I take it personally and believe it to be true even though I know, logically, that it is not.

I have a negative self-image about my body/looks/background/social skills that influences the way I present myself to other people.

I always believe negative assessments of my competency, skills, ability, knowledge, intelligence, creativity, or common sense to be true.

I feel negative about my future prospects of success and lack the motivation to make the effort to achieve my goals.

I feel angry, resentful or hostile toward others for real or imagined mistreatment.

I dread the future. I don’t believe that I have what it takes to be successful.

I have made mistakes in the past and feel sure that I will make mistakes in the future.

Do you really believe that’s its logical to feel inferior to another person just because that person is better off, better educated or better looking than you are?

Do you sincerely think that it's rational for a person to make negative statements about him or herself to other people, or make negative assessments to themselves about their own abilities?

Do you honestly consider that people always tell the truth about other people, or do you believe that some people sometimes have a personal agenda that makes it politic to denigrate other people?

Do you think it wise for a person to base his or her view of themselves on what people said to, or about, them years ago?

Do you really think it’s a good idea for people to keep reminding themselves of their personal negative beliefs about their own background, abilities, etc?

Do you consider that people who don't believe in themselves and lack motivation to pursue their goals can make a success of their lives?

No? Me neither. But I do sincerely believe, think, and consider that negative thoughts and beliefs can become self-fulfilling prophesies.

Many of the things we think or believe about ourselves are wrong, illogical, irrational, or distorted. Most of those thoughts or beliefs are rooted in the past, but things that happened in the past, however painful and damaging to the self-confidence, have little or no relevance to the present.

I've a great belief that if there's a monster in your closet then the best thing to do is to haul it out, and shine a strong rational, logical, and realistic light on it, because that's the only way to see the monster as it really is - a scrawny little creep that's trying to ruin your life.

If you make negative statements about yourself that you apply to yourself - write them out on a piece of paper, and treat them exactly as you treated the statements I've written here. Stand outside yourself, apply logic, try to refute the statement, and try to give yourself some good, impersonal advice. You might also ask yourself a couple of questions: like “What does it matter to me now? or "Why does it bother me so much?" and write out the answers to those questions, too.

All part of making your self-fulfilling prophesies good ones...

Emily - http://www.therapypartnership.com

You, Your Teeth, the Dentist - and Finding the Money

Unsurprisingly - and given the fact that nearly everybody is strapped for cash and finding an NHS dentist prepared to take anyone on is now is about as likely finding teeth on a hen - dental care doesn't top the list of priorities for a lot of people.


The problem is that you if you ignore your teeth, they do tend to go away.


You need your teeth to chew food and speak clearly. Your teeth also affect the appearance of your face and your smile - so it's important to look after them, and make sure that they don't go away.
 You can do a lot by yourself to keep your teeth in your head and your smile intact:

• Brush your teeth at least twice a day.
• Make sure you brush every surface of every tooth. To do this properly can take longer than you think. Most dentists would recommend around two minutes. Takes me at least five minutes.
• Use fluoride toothpaste to protect against decay.
• Use a toothbrush with a small head and synthetic bristles.
• Start at one side of your mouth and move round to the other side, brushing all the tooth surfaces thoroughly.
• Pay particular attention to the gumline, angling the bristles into the crevice where the gums meet the teeth.
• Use a good mouthwash - like Corsodyl or Alodont - and follow the instructions. No, they don't taste good, but you can't have everything.
• Replace your toothbrush every month.

Some people prefer an electric toothbrush - I certainly do - and there is some evidence that electric toothbrushes are more efficient at removing plaque than brushing by hand. However, how throughly you clean your teeth is much more important than what type of brush you use -and you still need to replace the brush once a month.


And you still need to visit a dentist once in a while - as opposed to letting things go and heading for A&E or calling NHS Direct when things get unbearable.


For reasons I won't bore you with, I was reading through the Business Credit Management UK website earlier this week, and I found an article entitled 'Debt Ridden Britain Relies On Credit For Dental Bills'. The article was talking about a Company called Simplyhealth .


Simplyhealth seems to provide a lot of benefits (it isn't just about teeth!) for not very much money, so its worth checking it out. It's 'Simply Cash Plan' starts from £2.25 a week and provides for dental visits, opticians appointments and - interestingly - complementary therapy along with a lot of other stuff. Visit the site! It might be for you.


Emily - http://www.therapypartnership.com/

NICE recognition for hypnotherapy … neither complementary nor alternative

Whether the following proves to be good or bad news for hypnotherapy in the UK is currently unclear.

But what is now clear is that hypnotherapy is not classified as a Complementary Therapy by either the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) or, at least in some circumstances, by the Department of Health.

It is a development which will doubtless leave most of the country totally unshaken but one which hypnotherapists themselves might do well to take on board.

The fact hypnotherapy is now described as “a psychological intervention” by NICE and DoH has been confirmed in email replies from both organisations.

That classification was made more than two years ago, in February 2008 when NICE published a 554-page clinical practice guideline on “Irritable bowel syndrome in adults: Diagnosis and management of irritable bowel syndrome in primary care.”

Commissioned by NICE and prepared by the National Collaborating Centre for Nursing and Supportive Care, the guidelines have already been reported as recommending that hypnotherapy be considered for refractory IBS, i.e., continuing for more than a year.

What was less noticed was the guideline's inclusion of a 17-page chapter on hypnotherapy for IBS followed by a five-page section on indirect comparisons of psychological interventions plus two pages of evidence on the inquiry’s recommendations for psychotherapy, CBT and hypnotherapy.

The inquiry team considered psychological interventions for IBS, recognising several different disciplines, including “psychotherapy, biofeedback, cognitive behavioural therapy, family therapy, hypnotherapy, interpersonal therapy and psychodynamic therapy.”

Evidence included the findings from a 2006 study showing hypnotherapy resulted in a “significant reduction in the use of prescriptions in the one year following intervention.”

The report therefore recommend that IBS patients who fail to respond to pharmacological treatments after more than 12 months, should then be considered for psychological interventions.

The inquiry developed two models of treatment to try to estimate the cost-effectiveness of different types of IBS interventions. First – long-term maintenance with pharmacological interventions. Second – a “one-off” intervention model for behavioural interventions (CBT, psychotherapy and hypnotherapy) over a defined period with the expectation that benefit continued beyond the intervention period.

Examining whether hypnotherapy had a role in managing IBS symptoms the guidelines stated: “More complex psychological interventions include biofeedback, cognitive behavioural therapy, dynamic psychotherapy and hypnotherapy are usually initiated for people with moderate or severe symptoms who have not responded to other management programmes.”

It then adds: “These therapies are effective, but time consuming to provide, require specialist input and currently availability varies widely across the UK.”

We have to plough on all the way to page 375 before the guidelines attempts to explain what hypnotherapy is and how it works. Helpfully it describes gut-directed hypnotherapy as “a specific form of hypnotherapy developed for the management of gastrointestinal disorders.”

It also quoted Professor Peter Whorwell’s conclusion that: “IBS is ideal for treatment with hypnosis, as there is no structural damage to the body. During hypnotherapy people learn how to influence and gain control of their gut function and then seem to be able to change the way the brain modulates their gut activity.”

Details on past studies of hypnotherapy for IBS; comparisons with different treatments, its efficacy with pain controls, bloating and other symptoms were also provided.

Which then led to a look at the economic issues; pointing to the total lack of any analyses of the cost-effectiveness of hypnotherapy for IBS or any NHS reference cost, even though hypnotherapy is funded in some regions of the NHS.

But – and this for UK hypnotherapy is a big, important but – it crucially considered just where hypnotherapists might fall within NHS pay scales.

The NICE-commissioned inquiry decided the salary of a typical hypnotherapist should fall within the Agenda for Change band 6 – the same scale as counsellors. Which meant the cost, based on seven sessions at £41.55 each, would be £291 per patient.

The report explained: “We have assumed that hypnotherapists have a similar working pattern to counsellors undertaking psychotherapy in terms of the proportion of their time that is spent on direct client contact and the proportion that is spent on research, administration, education and other activities.”

What is important here is that the study team clearly believed hypnotherapy should and would be provided by hypnotherapists rather than clinicians, psychologists or psychotherapists.

As mentioned earlier, all this probably seems far from exciting to the world at large, but to UK hypnotherapists it is a decision of potentially immense importance and long-term significance.

And it only came to light with a written Commons question from the chairman of the Commons Science and Technology Select Committee, Liberal Democrat MP Phil Willis.

He wanted to know which complementary or alternative treatments, medicines or therapies (CAMs) NICE had either considered or approved for use by NHS clinicians.

Health Minister Gillian Merron listed reflexology, acupressure, massage, Tai Chi, the Alexander Technique, Aromatherapy and others … but not a mention of hypnotherapy.

Her reply seemed puzzling since NICE had specifically included hypnotherapy as appropriate for refractory irritable bowel syndrome.

Why on earth was hypnotherapy not on the list? The answer – because as far as NICE is concerned hypnotherapy is not a CAM.

Validation of this came during a chat with NICE’s External Communication Manager, Laura Gibson along with an email stating: “Following your enquiry about whether NICE classes hypnotherapy as a psychological intervention or a complimentary/alternative therapy, I can confirm that it is classed as a psychological intervention.”

So was this view shared by the Department of Health? Yes it was for the Department’s press office explained that the written parliamentary reply to Willis was based on NICE's guidance.

It’s email added: “In the context of the clinical guideline on Irritable Bowel Syndrome published in 2008, NICE's independent Guideline Development Group considered hypnotherapy as a psychological intervention and not as a complementary therapy. NICE's guidance was subject to extensive consultation with stakeholders throughout its development."

Now the Credit Crunch can crack your teeth

Seems it not just our finances which are cracking under the Credit Crunch … so are our teeth.

Quite often clients mention to us in the course of conversation that, quite separate from the reason they have come to see us, they know they have a tendency to clench their teeth.

Frequently they become aware of this not from personal observation but due to their spouses or partners complaining bitterly about the noise they make grinding their teeth while asleep.

Teeth grinding, whether while awake or asleep, is known as bruxism, and can cause all sorts of dental problems including wearing down, chipping or flattening or loosening teeth to earache and the contraction of jaw muscles.

Sleep bruxism and many instances of Awake bruxism is an unconscious, involuntary behaviour and can be a really.

Now, according to some dentists, there has been a noticeable surge as a resulted of the added anxieties created by the current financial nightmares.

Details of the problem appeared in the Guardian with a report on how dentists were recording increases in patients whose teeth have started to crack – sometimes beyond repair – as a result of this unconscious grinding.

The Guardian’s Health correspondent Denis Campbell explains that stress-related teeth grinding is causing people to have to take painkillers every day to relieve their symptoms and is even damaging their working life.

The paper quotes implant dental specialist Sharif Khan as saying: "People who are worst affected by grinding are Type A personalities: ambitious people and perfectionists, who usually work in business."

According to Edinburgh dentist Yann Maidment the dental consequences of the Credit Crunch has become very apparent within the financial sector. He and his colleagues reckon the numbers of patients affected by bruxism has risen by up to a fifth - especially among those in Edinburgh’s banks, fund managers and financial services firms.

"There's a lot of anxiety that redundancies may be coming, and about job losses that have already happened," says Maidment.

What do dentists do about bruxism? Often they merely provide bite guards which patients are supposed to bung in their mouths at night while they sleep – at a cost of between £250 to £300 a time.

There is though a better solution – and as we’re hypnotherapists, you’ve probably guessed that the answer is hypnotherapy. And you’d be right. Hypnotherapy can really help to deal with the underline causes of bruxism; the stress, the anxiety … and in many cases, the unresolved anger. You can learn more at our website by clicking on the Therapy Partnership website

Well, that’s something to chew on.