Depression is common but are we talking about it

Depression is common but are we talking about it?

There was an interesting documentary on BBC3 this week (09/07/13) about professional football and how even the top paid superstars can be at risk from depression. It was presented by former Premiership player Clarke Carlisle who has first hand experience of the emotional up and downs and highs and lows top sports people can experience. At one point he had attempted to take his own life and is now very much involved in helping maintain and improve the best support systems for professionals in any sport who are having difficulties in their lives with depression and dealing with the pressures that a high profile sporting career can bring.

The most important message to come out of this documentary was that depression is still something that many of us find hard to talk about and even harder to discuss with anyone if we have it. When Gary Speed the Wales National Football Team manager and celebrated footballer took his own life in 2011 not even the closest members of his family knew of his depression and state of mind.

Depression can be triggered by many things including loss and bereavement, anger or loss of a relationship, childhood experiences, drugs and other issues. For sports people and those in the public eye the pressure can be absolutely intense and belief in one’s own value, loneliness (even with so many people around) and isolation are just a few of the cocktail of doubts and insecurities that can begin to eat into an otherwise confident person’s internal thinking.

But neither do we do have to be a mega star to suffer from depression. It can hit anyone at any time in their life or career. If you think you or someone you know may be suffering from depressive symptoms a quick search on Google will find a lot of information from reputable sources to help find out more about it. Depression is an illness that can afflict anyone whatever their role in society but the message is always the same, don’t keep it to yourself and speak to someone you can trust. There is help out there and one phone call could make all the difference.

Roger Foxwell is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, EFT and NLP practitioner dealing in many areas including helping clients with depression get their lives back on track. For more information call 07970218451 email roger@rogerfoxwell.co.uk or visit www.rogerfoxwell.co.uk 

How these voice tips and hypnosis can help you speak confidently in public.

Public Speaking

Public Speaking with confidence

In my hypnotherapy sessions I work with a lot of business people who are having difficulties with public speaking and giving presentations. Hypnosis and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) are ideal vehicles to help make powerful and lasting change very effectively and rapidly. However when dealing with these issues an important part of a session will almost always include some simple voice projection exercises. In my opinion these are vital to giving a confident and well projected speech. We may have all the confidence in the world but if no one understands or hears clearly what we are saying then our message will not get across. Now I am not a voice coach and voice coaching could well be something worth following up but I do offer in my sessions as a bonus some very simple voice exercises that will really help get your message across in any situation. I originally began looking for some simple but effective voice development techniques at a time when I felt my voice could be more assertive in certain situations. It is one thing having the ability to produce a smooth and soothing hypnotic voice but trying to order a drink in a crowded bar or give a presentation to a hundred people is another!

To give you a taste of some of these simple exercises try pointing to your nose and saying “this is my nose.” Then do the same thing with your lips, your throat and your chest. Interestingly you will probably notice a change in voice tone that bears a resemblance to where you are pointing especially when you point at your nose. As you become more aware of this you can begin to develop the resonance and timbre in your voice that is required to command attention when it is needed. I soon noticed once I started practising these techniques was that as my own voice developed in resonance and the actual feedback I was getting inside my head from my voice helped add to my speaking and personal confidence.

How rapidly we speak and how much variation in tone and pitch are also important for best results. Remember you know what you are saying but people listening will need extra time to process it. Speaking just a little slower will help this and also give you more time to organise your thoughts. Every positive change you make will add to your confidence whilst diminishing the anxiety and this will help you achieve the results you are looking for. Like a lot of things in life once we know where to start and which techniques to use it really is possible to make positive and lasting changes very quickly. Yes, you really could be getting your message across clearly and confidently in just a few weeks.

If you would like to develop your confidence, your presentation and public speaking skills with the help of hypnosis and the power of your own mind please call me on 07970218451 or you can email to either book an appointment or to find out more.

I haven’t got time!

No Time

How often do you find yourself saying “I haven’t got time”? We all do it don’t we. Life and Success Coach Bob Proctor says “Everybody gets exactly the same amount of time and that’s all there is.” Time won’t change but we can “make time.” If we wait for another year we won’t have a minute more or a minute less.

If you would like to know how my unique and empowering hypnotherapy and EFT techniques can help you reorganise your life and personal confidence just call me on 07970218451 or email and I will be very happy to chat through whatever issues you would like to work on.

Flying Phobia

Flying Phobia

One of my posts deals with Flying Phobia so it is always nice to get a text back from a recent client when they arrive home from their holiday and no phobia. A recent client wanted to go to Spain with her friends but was absolutely terrified of flying and had already backed out of a previous holiday for that reason.

We had one initial session a few weeks before she was due to fly and she immediately found that she really was not worrying about it anymore at all. However as the date got closer she began to experience some of the old feelings so thought she had better come and see me for a back up session.

It is interesting working with something such as flying since the conscious mind is often not quite sure whether any change has occurred. Until you experience stepping onto the plane you don’t know consciously if the therapy has worked. Although our conscious mind knows that our fear is irrational and unfounded it is interesting that when our unconscious allows us to let go of the fear the conscious often still needs proof and is still not always totally convinced. This is where we need to trust this creative part of ourselves and avoid too many internal questions as the positive change becomes a natural experience.

Hypnosis allows us to bypass our conscious questioning and that is exactly what we did in the session just a couple of days before her holiday. It also allows us to visualise a sequence of events in such a way that they become, in a sense, real. Visualising the flight and other important details whilst connecting it to feelings of relaxation and calm can, according to research, be as powerfully compelling as experiencing the real thing.

Oh yes, and here is the text she sent me when she got home:

“Hi Roger just bk my hol was absolutely fab i was gr8 on plane was a bit nervous at 1st then completely went away quite enjoyed it defo do it again i even fell asleep on the way back … thanks very much”

The initial “bit nervous at 1st” is an example of the conscious mind still not quite believing that it really can feel safe. However when the unconscious has been reprogrammed powerfully enough the conscious mind is then able to take a back seat and just relax.  Somewhere within us we really do know how to make these changes and by allowing that part to do what it needs to do and change what it needs to change  the new feelings will naturally become fully integrated into our actual live experience.