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Overcoming Parental Abuse

Our parents are the people we should be able to depend on the most. They are the people who have the greatest responsibility in not just raising us in healthy and safe ways, but also in a way that will develop our self esteem to enable us to have robust mental well-being.

Sadly for some, this basic requirement was not met. There are multiple reasons why a parent would fail in this way and each case were this failure has happened has its own intricate web of history. Some parents simply lack skills, others had themselves experienced poor parenting and some were just not fit to parent or to deal with the many challenges that a child can bring. Some Parental abuse may be physical, verbal or worse still. Some abuse may be deliberate and other abuses come from ignorance. For that reason, we will not dwell too much on the reasons for abuse or the type of abuse that can occur because each case should be regarded as unique.

What is important to consider is how you as an adult, now move on with your life in a way that enables you to feel free of the past.

For some, knowing why something occurred is important to them. Knowing why doesn’t always provide a sense of peace and knowing the real reasons why someone did what they did may be impossible at times to explore, let alone understand.

However, at The Hypnotherapy and NLP Clinic, we use a framework called the six human needs. These are different to Maslow’s hierarchy of basic needs. The six human needs are based around emotional drivers.

The human needs are as follows:

Certainty
Uncertainty
Significance
Love
Growth
Contribution

Most of the behaviours we do will meet one or more of the needs above. This includes our negative behaviours as well as the positive ones.

For example, being physically aggressive towards another person could meet the needs of:

Certainty – That the aggressor will be feared and therefore feel more in control.
Uncertainty – That the other person may react in an unexpected way. It’s easy to think we may dislike uncertainty, but actually excitement and thrill comes from our need for uncertainty.
Significance – The aggressor will be noticed, acknowledged, recognised etc. Love – Clearly I do not imply that this is in a loving, appropriate or meaningful way, but that a certain amount of connection and attention may come from being aggressive. The aggressor may also have reasoned with themselves that this behaviour is a way to teach/create boundaries/communicate the importance of their message which they believe is a loving one.

There is a presupposition within NLP that “All behaviour has a positive intention.”

For someone who has been abused by a parent, the idea that their parents behaviour was in any way positive can be a bitter pill to swallow. However, it is important to point out that the behaviour isn’t necessarily intended to have a positive effect on the person at the receiving end of it. It simply means that for the perpetrator of the behaviour, there is a positive intention. That positive intention doesn’t necessarily mean that they are doing the behaviour from a positive frame of mind or with positive emotion. It simply means that the intention behind their behaviour is to meet one of those six human needs.

In meeting their needs, this allows them to avoid having to deal with other unwanted emotions that perhaps they would not have the resources to deal with.

With a combination of NLP and Hypnotherapy at our clinic in Hertfordshire, you can find that you are able to forgive parental abuse. That is not to say that you will forget the abuse or suddenly develop loving feelings towards your abuser. In fact forgiveness is as much for yourself as it may be for your abuser. Hanging onto parental abuse only serves to continue to harm yourself and this is where forgiveness can be very valuable. Many people feel frustration at how they have allowed the past to continue to hurt them long after the abusive situations have ended. When you learn to forgive yourself for abusing yourself in this way, then the real healing from parental abuse can begin.

By Gemma Bailey
www.HypnotherapyandNLP.co.uk

Speed reading

There are many claims by hypnotherapy providers that reading speeds can be increased using hypnosis- some even stating that reading speeds can be as much as trebled. Is speed reading simply a case of a skill that must be practised or is there really a way of learning this skill quickly and easily?

Speed reading works by taking in whole groups or sentences of words instead of reading each word individually. It is also common for a normal reader to “say” each word in their head as they read (inwardly vocalising), however speed readers tend not to do this, instead confidently absorbing the information ready for later recall, a bit like those with a photographic memory are able to do. They see and process the sentences but do not have to say the words to themselves as they read them. This means that with an increase of up to 800 additional words per minute when reading, the speed reader will also have a greater comprehension of what they have read- in some instances comprehending up to 25% more than the average reader.

Hypnosis can be beneficial to developing speed reading skills as suggestions can be given to increase confidence and trust that the information read is being absorbed and can be accessed easily later. Suggestion can also be made to help the reader ignore unnecessary distractions so that the mind is able to remain focused on the text and easily grasp each sentence.

Like any skill speed reading needs to be continuously practised in order to master it and the best way to do this is by reading as much and as many different types of texts as possible. In the early days however, it is important to feel that you are achieving to maintain your interest in developing the skill. This can be done by initially reading text that are meaningful to you.

There are also several practical steps you can take to help you develop your speed reading skills. For example, learning peripheral vision (expanded vision) will make it easier to take in whole sentences as you read rather than individual words. The kind of music you listen to as you’re reading can also have an impact on your reading speed.(Obviously lively tracks will likely increase your reading speed. It’s also important to read in the right environment- ensure that your material is at a good distance from your face and at a comfortable angle. Avoid reading in bed. Your bed is strongly linked to relaxation and sleeping so is unlikely to induce the right state for reading at speed.

“We worked with various techniques as well as hypnosis which were all very useful.”

By Gemma Bailey
www.GemmaBailey.com

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Behavioural Problems in Children

When ADHD, ADD and the such like come into existence, I begin to consider why they wasn’t around when I was at school- or were they? There were disruptive children yes, but perhaps they just didn’t have a label. A label to live up to.

We are all well aware of how society changes over the years, so is bad behaviour in children connected with an increase in single parents families, family breakdowns, classroom sizes and E-Numbers or have we experienced an increase in these behavioural disorders simply because we are more acute with diagnosis and more aware of our children’s feelings?

Perhaps the answer comes with a combination of these suggestions. And perhaps there are times, when medicating a child’s behaviour really is the answer. But the reason you’re here reading this, I suspect, is because you’re interested in finding another way forward that doesn’t involve pumping stimulant chemicals (such as Ritalin) into your already over stimulated child and unnecessarily making changes to their brain chemistry if you can help it. Disruption and bad behaviour can be anything including bad temper, and argumentative attitude, being deliberately annoying, anger and spitefulness. This inevitably has an impact on the child’s relationship with others and their ability to learn successfully in a regular classroom setting.

Surely if we are aware that behavioural problems are caused by chemical brain imbalances, then we should be looking towards altering the child’s biochemistry in the simplest way. Studies have already favoured more Omega 3 in a child’s diet to help improve concentration and attention span. By changing a child’s diet we are changing their chemistry.

Have you ever put a couple of teaspoons of sugar in a can of coke? If you haven’t try it and see what happens! Sometimes things don’t mix well and cause explosions. And it’s the same with children. One time when I was working as a Nursery Nurse a parent came to collect her child. She took the 3 year old into the hall to put on her shoes and I left them to it. A few moments later I could hear screaming and shouting coming from the hall. I went out there to find my little friend making it very difficult for her mummy to put her shoes on her. I simply cleared my throat and the little girl looked up. Then I gave her “the look” and she stopped in her tracks and very, very calmly let her mother put on her shoes. Needless to say her mother was stunned! There was simply a different kind of relationship between the child and her mother to what there was between the child and me. She knew exactly how to “push her mummy’s buttons” but knew it wasn’t even worth trying it on with me. If parents are inpatient, inconsistent or demanding, their child is much more likely to display disruptive behaviour. In addition, a teachers’ use of praise can have a very positive effect on a child and even lessen the likelihood of bad behaviour occurring.

What can be concluded is that a variety of interventions can be helpful for children who have behavioural problems. Coaching and redesigning of strategies can be useful for parents who require more effective means of dealing with their child’s behaviour.

Calming techniques and an understanding of other people’s point of view can help a child feel more in control and open minded. NLP can empower de-motivated minds and techniques can be learnt to resolve conflicts with others.

“He has more faith in his abilities and stands up for himself in an argument. He also does more (i.e. homework) independently- it’s great!”

By Gemma Bailey
www.GemmaBailey.com

For further treatment suggestions, click here.

To view Qualifications and Registered Body details, click here.

For inspiration by email, please click here

For Hypnotherapy and NLP Scripts, Ebooks and MP3’s, click here

For inspiration by email, please click here