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THE JOURNALOF

STRESS MANAGEMENT

PUBLISHED BYTHE SOCIETY OF

STRESS THERAPISTS

VOLUME TWELVEOCTOBER 2015

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THE SOCIETY OF STRESS MANAGERSTRADING AS THE SOCIETY OF STRESS THERAPISTS

The Association for Professional Stress Managers & HypnotherapistsCompany Registration 3707691- Incorporated in England & Wales

Registered Office:Third Floor,

207 Regent Street,London W1B 3HH

STRESS: the reaction people have to an imbalance between the demands theyperceive to be placed upon them and the resources they have to cope.

The Society of Stress Managers was incorporated as a professional body on 1st February 1999. The Society is aRegistered Company Limited by Guarantee and has a Council of Management with a provision for nine Directors andthe Company Secretary. The Objects of The Society are:

to establish and promote a professional association for those persons qualified to nationally accreditedstandards in the skills of stress management and hypnotherapy;

to promote the training and continuing professional development of those persons;

to do all such things as are incidental or conducive to the attainment of these objects.

To meet these Objects The Society has adopted a ‘Code of Conduct, Ethics and Practice’, which sets out the principlesthat members of a professional association should follow at all times, both with their clients and their fellow StressManagers. These principles include the ethical values of honesty, integrity and probity.

All hypnotherapists registered with the CNHC are expected to abide by the CNHC Code of Conduct, Performance andEthics.

All members and potential members are invited tocontact the Secretary of The Society of Stress

Managers, Peter Matthews, for further information viathe registered office address shown above

or telephone 0161 652 2284or email petermatthews@manageyourstress.co.uk.

The Society’s website can be found atwww.hypnotherapistsuk.co.uk

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CONTENTS

Any articles and reviews in this Journal are those of the individual writers concerned and do not necessarily reflect theviews of the Directors of The Society of Stress Managers. It is understood that all contributions are the original work ofthe writers concerned. No article may be reproduced in whole, or in part, without the prior agreement of The SocietyDirectors.

Journal Administration

Editor: Marilyn Upton. Email: mjeupton@gmail.com

Assistant Editor: Julie Spitler. Email: julie@juliespitler.co.uk

Formatting: Alex Evison.

©The Society of Stress Managers 2015

All contributions to The Journal should be sent by email attachmentto Marilyn Upton at the email address above.

The Society of Stress Managers 2

Members of The Council of Management 4

Editorial 5

NLP Coaching as a Management and Therapeutic Tool 5

Hypnotherapy: The Road to Professional Recognition 7

The Right and Left Sides of the Brain 8

Book Review ‘Achieve What You Want in Life’ 9

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MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL OF MANAGEMENT

Laurence Nicholas - ChairmanE-mail: laurencenicholas@aol.com

Tel: 01462 459 202

Gill Hines - Membership SecretaryE-Mail: gill_hines@hotmail.com.

Tel: 01386 833 779

Stef RichardsE-Mail: info@bridgfordtherapy.co.uk

Tel: 0115 981 1549

Marilyn Upton - Editor of SST JournalE-Mail: mjeupton@gmail.com

Tel: 0796 031 6948

Alex EvisonE-Mail: alexevison@aol.com

Tel: 01434 673550 or 07801190179

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I am passionate about helping peopleto improve their health, wellbeing,happiness and productivity. I set upmy business “Jo Hand –Hypnotherapy & Coaching” in August2014 where I see clients in Eveshamand Alcester.

My first career was as a CharteredLibrarian and senior manager in localgovernment for 27 years, inBirmingham, Solihull andGloucestershire. Throughout this timeI particularly enjoyed peoplemanagement and change leadership.As I look back now, I have alwaysbeen fascinated by “what makespeople tick”, whether this was at work,at home, at hockey and at my LionsClub. I soon began to see how NLPcoaching skills can help in all of thesesituations.

In 2013 I attended Central EnglandCollege of Clinical Hypnosis where Iachieved my Diploma in ClinicalHypnotherapy. The Diploma consistedof 4 modules:

* Solution Focussed Hypno-therapy

* Cognitive Behavioural Hyp-notherapy

* Ericksonian Hypnosis

* NLP Professional Coaching

I found that the content of NLPcoaching module overlapped nicelywith some of the management and

leadership skills that I had alreadydeveloped.

NLP stands for Neuro-LinguisticProgramming and a useful definition ofthis is

* Neuro - the mind and how wethink about the world

* Linguistic – how we use lan-guage and how it affects us

* Programming – how we se-quence actions to achievegoals

NLP Coaching is a model and anapproach to communication, personaldevelopment and psychotherapydeveloped by Richard Bandler andJohn Grinder in the USA. It is referredto as “the art and science of personalexcellence” and is used for success inbusiness, personal development andin many other areas such as sportscoaching.

An understanding of a few of the keyconcepts in NLP can be useful.

Reframing is about getting people tolook at things in a new way. Forexample this might be helping a clientto no longer see themselves as avictim, but to accept responsibility fortheir own life.

There is a distinction betweencontent, which is what people say andprocess, which is the way that theysay it. This can provide tell-tale signsabout how they tick at a deeper level

and whether they really believe whatthey are saying.

The word calibration is used inconnection with the body languagethat someone typically uses. Thisknowledge can help us to work outwhat state a client is currently in, andwhat they are really thinking or feeling.

NLP stresses the similarities betweenthe brain and a computer. Each of thesenses is a representational or “rep”system – a way of inputting, codingand recalling information. It can behelpful to work out what your client’spreferred sense is and useappropriate metaphors andinterventions. These are often referredto using the acronym VAKOG, whichstands for

* Visual (see)

* Auditory (hear)

* Kinaesthetic (feel)

* Olfactory (smell)

* Gustatory (taste)

There are a number of NLP pre-suppositions that can be used withclients to help them to see thingsdifferently. A few of these which I haveused include:

* The map is not the territory

* People create their own ex-perience

NLP COACHING AS A MANAGEMENT AND THERAPEUTIC TOOL

Based on a talk given by Jo Hand to the SSM on 15th May 2015

EDITORIAL

It was good to hear that you all enjoyed the last edition of our Journal. The Journal reflects the vibrancy of our Society.We’re still small, but growing. However we punch above our weight in the professionalism of our practices, and thedepth of our solutions for clients.

I hope you enjoy this edition of the Journal - once again it is a reflection of the tireless and dedicated work of ourmembers.May it inspire you to contribute an article on your particular specialism, or your particular take on practising StressManagement and Hypnotherapy for the next edition!

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* A person is not his or her be-haviour

* The meaning of a communi-cation is the response it gets

* Every behaviour has a posi-tive intention

* People have all the resourcesthey need to bring aboutchange and success

* There is no failure only feed-back

Communication is key and we need toremember the following points whenwe are working with a client:

* Communication is 38% voicetone, 55% body languageand 7% the words we use

* It is helpful to monitor the cli-ent’s body language and wecan then match, mirror, paceor lead them as required

* Work out and use their pre-ferred “rep” system

* Use active listening – noticethe language and tone used,what is not said, repeatphrases, summarise and askquestions

* Remember that it feels goodto be listened to empatheti-cally

* We have 2 ears and 1 mouthand should use them in thatproportion

* Don’t be afraid of the use ofsilence

There are a number of situationswhere coaching may be the answer:

* Putting together a life plan,understanding our aims andgoals

* Finding ways to reduce stressin our lives

* Building and fulfilling awork/life balance

* Improving our ability to relateto others

* Improving our self-awareness

* Improving our own self-disci-pline and motivation

* Improving our health andwell-being routines eg dietand exercise

As a senior manager, I attended anumber of CPD courses whichtouched on elements of coaching andin addition, my skills and knowledgegrew from my experience of managingpeople and teams. I used a coachingapproach with staff in appraisals,feedback and training sessions and Icould see that like me, they enjoyedthis experience and found itempowering.

Using NLP coaching as amanagement tool can help to:

* Motivate and inspire people

* Improve people’s skills andhelp them to learn

* Get the most out of peopleand to achieve targets

* Enable people to work moreeffectively as a team

* Encourage people to thinkdifferently and “outside of thebox”

* Improve people’s confidenceand self-esteem

* Support people through majorchange and restructures

* Help people to recognisetheir own transferrable skills

Now in my hypnotherapy sessions,NLP coaching is an importanttherapeutic “tool in my toolbox” whichhelps me to:

* Build rapport with a client

* Remain aware of effectivecommunication and VAKOGrep systems

* Identify incongruence be-tween someone’s words andtheir body language

* Not be afraid to use silence

* Use active listening skills andeffective questioning

* Use NLP pre-suppositions tohelp clients to explore options

* Help clients with motivationand to anchor a resourcefulstate

In my coaching sessions NLPcoaching also helps me to:

* Appreciate the importance ofusing a signed coachingagreement

* Use a structured approachwhilst remaining flexible

* Use the GROW model

* Develop a repertoire ofcoaching questions and waysto “challenge” gently

* Repeat back phrases anduse silence to encourage aclient to elaborate further

* Summarise and captureSMART goals

In conclusion I continue to lovelearning, to share good practice withother therapists and obtainsatisfaction from helping clients tomake positive changes in their lives.

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The Society of Stress Managerswas originally founded in November1998, and became incorporated as aLimited Company on 4th February1999. The first Annual GeneralMeeting of The Society was held on3rd July 1999. The Objects of TheSociety, as set out in theMemorandum & Articles ofAssociation, are:

* to establish and promote aprofessional association for thosepersons qualified to nationallyaccredited standards in the skillsof stress management,hypnotherapy and psychotherapy;

* to promote the continuingvocational training andprofessional development of thosepersons; and

* to do all such things as areincidental or conducive to theattainment of these Objects.

Since its foundation The Society hasalways been a Member Organisationof The UK Confederation ofHypnotherapy Organisations, andhas played a major part in itsdevelopment and policy formation.UKCHO itself was also founded in1998 and became one the largestumbrella organisations ofhypnotherapy practitioners in theUnited Kingdom, and always had asits principal aim the establishment ofprofessional regulation for thehypnotherapy profession, able torepresent hypnotherapy as aprofession to government, academicbodies and the public at large, andable to speak with authority on behalfof all hypnotherapy practitioners in theUnited Kingdom.

Following the recommendationscontained in the Report of the Houseof Lords Select Committee onScience and Technology,‘Complementary and AlternativeMedicine’, recommendations whichwere endorsed by the Governmentand the Department of Health,

UKCHO represented the discipline ofhypnotherapy at a series of seminarsorganised by The Prince’sFoundation for Integrated Health,with the intention of establishing theprofessional regulation of thehypnotherapy profession.

UKCHO was also invited by Skills forHealth to contribute to thedevelopment of national occupationalstandards for hypnotherapy within theframework of national vocationalqualifications, and was instrumental inhelping to develop the NationalOccupational Standards forHypnotherapy and the HypnotherapyCore Curriculum which were acceptedand endorsed by Skills for Health in2009. The national occupationalstandards and the core curriculumnow form the basis of all courses inhypnotherapy recognised andaccredited by the Complementaryand Natural Healthcare Council.Also in 2009, UKCHO established aNational Register of HypnotherapyPractitioners which made a majorcontribution to the unification of thehypnotherapy profession and whichultimately became the NationalRegister of ComplementaryTherapists maintained by the CNHC.

In 2012 the Professional StandardsAuthority for Health and SocialCare became the super regulatorybody for all medical andcomplementary regulatory bodies,both statutory and voluntary, and theComplementary and Natural HealthCouncil became the AccreditedVoluntary Register for complementarymedicine in general, and forhypnotherapy in particular. Thus,following the establishment of the PSAand the CNHC, UKCHO achieved itslong standing policy of professionalrecognition for hypnotherapy in theUnited Kingdom. Moreover, the PSAnow recognises that hypnotherapy, asregistered and regulated by the

CNHC, is a health profession whichsatisfies the definition laid down in theNational Health Service Reform andHealth Care Professions Act 2002,section 25E(8,) as amended by theHealth and Social Care Act 2012,section 228. In short, after a longcampaign the hypnotherapyprofession has achieved recognition,registration and regulation.

UKCHO is still a major source ofadvice and information, both for itsmembers and members of the public.The Objects of UKCHO, as revised,are as follows:

● to promote and develop a unitedhypnotherapy profession by acting asa forum for professional hypnotherapyorganisations;● to promote and develophypnotherapy as a profession togovernment, academic and publicbodies, and the media, by speakingwith authority on behalf of professionalhypnotherapy organisations;● to promote and develop thestandards of education and training ofhypnotherapists to nationallyaccredited and regulated levels;● to promote and develop thestandards of conduct, ethics andpractice of hypnotherapists tonationally accredited and regulatedlevels;● to liaise with regulatory bodies forhypnotherapy, both statutory andvoluntary;● to liaise with other professionalhypnotherapy organisations, bothnational and international; and● to do all such things as areincidental, or conducive, to theattainment of these Objects.

HYPNOTHERAPY: THE ROAD TO PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITIONPeter Matthews - Secretary SST

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Michael Dillon has shared his expertisein matters of the mind in this easy toread, enjoyable book.

The book gives an interesting insight tothe workings of the conscious and sub-conscious parts of the mind, andexplains the emotional awareness thatmakes some people succeed whileothers fail.

The book is written in such a way as toencourage active participation by thereader, with easy to do mind exercises.

It is not simply your average self-helpbook.

The step by step guide to relaxationmeans that it is suitable for the non-professional, and the way that the bookis set out means that it will hold theattention of even the most experiencedStress Manager or Therapist.

The book explains the six mental laws ofsuccess, including covering The Law ofAttraction in a no nonsense way, whichwill appeal to many readers seeking to

use focussing their mind tobring abundance into theirlives.The metaphors leave lastingimpressions and the remindersin bold makes easy referencepoints.

After reading the book throughit is easy to go back and selectthe points that matter the mostto the reader, allowing them tohave a personal experiencewhile fine tuning their mind forsuccess.

BOOK REVIEWAchieve What You Want In Life. Manage Your Mind For Success.

Michael Dillon. F.S.S.M. Ph.D (Hon)

By Julie Spitler

WHO AM I?I am not just my body, nor my emotions

I am not just my mind nor my spiritFor I am the totality of my being.

I am that which partakes of this moment in TimeAnd I am that which has its roots in Eternity.

I am the actuality and the potentialityI am what I am, and what I have been and what I may yet become.

I am what circumstances have made meAnd I am what the Divine Presence could yet make me.

I am the prisoner of my historyYet I am the master/mistress of my destiny who can transcend history.

ANON

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It never ceases to amaze me what awonderful mix of unique individuals weall are. No two people are the same!Of course we know that each personis a mix of the genes that they haveinherited, the experiences they havehad growing up and beyond, and whatthey have done about that!

One of the things that determinessomeone’s personality and particularabilities is how right- brained or left-brained they are.

Here’s a picture of the brain, seenfrom the front. It looks the same onboth sides doesn’t it? But we knowfrom three sources that the left and theright sides of the brain serve differentfunctions. The first source is that it hasbeen discovered that people with braindamage are not able to carry outparticular functions according to whichpart of the brain is damaged. Forexample, a poor unfortunate mannamed Phineas Gage had an accidentthat damaged the pre-frontal part ofhis brain. It left him unable to controlhis emotions, and turned him into anobstinate, egocentric, capricious sortof person, whereas he hadn’t beenbefore. Someone with damage to theright side of the brain was no longerable to recognise the faces of peoplehe knew.

The second source of evidence is onethat fortunately is no longer carriedout, that of experiments on animals.

The third source of evidence isPositron Emission Tomography, orPET. PET allows an image to beformed of the activity of different partsof the brain. Individuals are asked todo different tasks, such as to imaginea scene, or to do some maths, anddifferent parts of the brain are seen to

be using up fuel (glucose and oxygen)to carry out the tasks. The left side ofthe brain, which controls the right sideof the body, is used in logical thinkinglike the maths, and the right side,which controls the left side of the body,is used in more imaginative tasks likebuilding pictures in the mind.So the left side is used when we makestrategies, are logical, rational, makerules, use or learn a language, and dodetailed work.

The right side is used in creatingimages, in creativity of whatever sort,in fantasy, with intuition, with curiosityand in chaos - sometimes it’s good tothrow everything up in the air and seehow things land!

However there seems to be aconversation between the two sides ofthe brain; they seem sometimes towork together to get a whole picture. Asurgeon called Roger Sperry won aNobel Prize for his work with epilepticbrains. By cutting through the thickmembrane (called the corpuscallosum) between the two sides ofthe brain, he was able to stop epilepsyin individuals. But the patients whohad this operation couldn’t puttogether information from both sides ofthe brain. Their thinking wasn’t so fluid.

Traditionally in our Western culture,the left side’s activities have beentrusted and the right side’s have beenmistrusted. But we know now that theleft side is not the whole picture - thatif the right side of the brain is broughtin to problem solving, we get a morecomplete picture.

In our work as hypnotherapists we usethe right side of our clients’ brains agreat deal - which is whyhypnotherapy has had a rough ride.People have wanted logical proof thatsomething is happening, and that’smore difficult in the kind of work thatwe achieve. But now as the medicalprofession see more and more greatresults from our work, it is beginning tobe accepted. Never mind that it’sbeen in use since at least thePharoahs’ Egyptian times. I don’tknow about you, but I have seen quitea few clients who have tried to thinkand think of an answer to their

problems, but can’t come up withanything. And they don’t know why.Thinking logically usually solvesproblems they say. I then explain thatthere is another completely differentapproach, which hypnotherapyencourages. It involves daydreaming,envisioning, imagining. And togetherwith the logical approach, the client’sown mind comes up with solutions totheir problems through hypnotherapy.

If negative thinking is holding a clientback, we can of course help the clientto get rid of the negative feelings bornof negative experiences, in a TraumaRun. Conversely we also enable theclient to think and imagine positivethings about themselves and theirfuture which help them to live thatpositive life that they want forthemselves.

I remember watching a TV interviewwith Richard Branson, and theinterviewer just didn’t get it. He askedRB how he came up with all those newideas. “Well”, said Branson, “I just liein my hammock on my island everyday for about an hour and they justcome to me!” “Yes, but what do youdo?” insisted the interviewer. “I just liethere,” said Branson. I think he wasquite enjoying flummoxing the guy.

It’s important to say that (contrary towhat we may think when confrontedby certain people) no-one iscompletely right-brained or left-brained. No-one is completely rational,or completely chaotic. But it’s possibleto be dominated by one side or theother. If we find that we’re too rationalfor our liking, then we can indulge inMeditation or deliberate daydreaming.If we would love to be more organisedthere are ways of training the brain tobe so, just as it’s possible to train thememory in a certain way. And ofcourse, the great thing about CBT isthat it cuts through thinking that isbiased in one direction.

Mind mapping is another way to useboth sides of the brain. There are nowsystems that encourage people totake a two sided approach to things,thus getting a more complete answer,quite often used in corporate awaydays.

THE RIGHT AND LEFT SIDES OF THE BRAINA Talk by Marilyn Upton, Cert Ed D Hyp FSSM CNHC

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Books I have read on self-development and achievement weredirected almost exclusively toconscious mind logic. I believe a morebalanced approach to the subject ofmanaging your mind is desirable. Theconscious mind ‘sweat and tearsapproach’ and ‘no pain no gainattitudes’ are one way to achieve in lifebut this method often producesoverkill, stress, anxiety and ‘burn out’which can endanger health.

I suggest a more flexible approachthat appeals to the logical consciousmind, together with subconsciousmind exercises and metaphors thatappeal more to the creative andintuitive subconscious mind. Thisprovides a balanced mix that enablesa person to use the whole of his/hermind to achieve what they want in life.Basic psychological concepts can beused as a springboard so each personcan move steadily and surely in theirown individual way towards personalachievement.

We are all unique people and perceivesuccess in our own way. Therefore aspecific roadway to success does notexist. What we need to do is seekways of using our mind in a flexible,progressive and positive way that isright for our own individual needs.

We need to actively engage our mindin creating our own unique journeytowards achievement so we are ableto observe and explore the manypossibilities there are for achieving ourgoals and desires. People often readbooks about self-development andachievement and find them veryinteresting but rarely know how tointegrate the knowledge they haveacquired into the very fabric of theirmind and behaviour.

A person can more readily achieve intheir life if the advice and guidancegiven to them is set out, in a clear andunderstandable way, along a clearlysignposted pathway to success. Ourconscious mind helps us in a logical

and analytical way with everything wehave to think about, decide upon andtake action. However there is anotherpart of our mind, the subconsciousmind that can spontaneouslychallenge our good intentions causingagitation and emotional disturbance ofthe mind. This can frequently happenwhen we are trying to achieve ouraspirations and desires.

Successful achievement in life isessentially about awareness of thebasic mental resources required as afoundation by which a person canmanage their mind for success. Weneed to engage our conscious mind intandem with our subconscious mind.This can be achieved by using ourmind in a creative and intuitive way,using specific ‘mind exercises’ andmetaphors.

The Subconscious Mind:

It is an established fact that oursubconscious mind activity is muchfaster than the conscious mind. It doesits own thing, completely outsideconscious control, without a personhaving made any conscious choice.However its job is to protect us, to

keep us safe and secure, it wants tobe on our side, but at the same timepays little attention to adult logic andreasoning. If we don’t tell oursubconscious what we want toachieve, in a way it can understand, itwill just do its best in a haphazard way.

Subconscious Mind Exercises:

Going through subconscious mindexercises in a quiet relaxed state isthe easiest way to change deeplyingrained negative beliefs, habits andbehaviour. When a person’s focus ofawareness is focussed inwards it ispossible to deal with negativeemotions and behaviour in a relaxedway. The subconscious mind is astorehouse of memories, knowledgeand possibilities which can be used tonaturally change doubt into ‘I canachieve what I want’.Subconscious exercises encourage aconditioned response. So the more weengage in them and the techniques welearn, the more we gain from them.The better we get at using our mind ina new creative way, the more useful itbecomes to us. The more useful itbecomes, the more we want to do it.The better we get at it, the quicker we

‘Achieve What You Want in Life’

By Michael Dillon

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get into a positive feedback cycle. Themore we relax, the easier it is to usepositive mind patterns in a beneficialway and the quicker it helps bring intoreality any changes we desire to make.Metaphors are essentially asubconscious mind activity. We canoften accept what a metaphor impliesand consider new solutions within theframework of our own life in a purelyintuitive way. They can often clarify, ina spontaneous way, what we finddifficult to understand.

Relaxation:

Relaxation is an essential part of goingthrough ‘subconscious mindexercises.’ By regular use of a deeperrelaxed state one can focus onresources hidden from consciousawareness and discover skills andabilities that are quite separate fromconscious mind skills. Using thisrelaxed state of mind a more positiveway of thinking can be used forpersonal benefit. We can thenconsider our true feelings in a relaxedand controlled way. This can beachieved by releasing unwantedthoughts and feelings andencouraging character-friendly onesto replace them.

I have identified Six Mental Laws ofSuccess to underpin a person’sendeavours to achieve what they wantin life, they are:

The Mental Laws of:(1) Self-Awareness.(2) Cause and Effect.(3) Belief(4) Control(5) Attraction and(6) Expectation.These psychological laws underpinmost of the main talking therapies.They are essentially ‘mind tools’ whichwhen used constantly and effectivelycan help people to achieve things theyhave in the past only dreamt of doing.To start positively managing our mindto achieving what we want in life, thefirst elements of our psychology weneed to deal with are our negativeemotions and disappointingbehaviour. These can be daunting toovercome. However if we study howour mind works in a psychologicalcontext, it becomes much easier todeal with. We can then use thisknowledge to start our journey of

achievement in an effective way. Areadiness to think, observe andexplore is all we need. It is no good“reaching for the sky” if we can’t fly,getting the psychology right enablesus to mentally fly. With the busy life weall lead, it is essential we make ourachievement goals a priority in our life.

As a first step self-awareness andnegative inner dialogue need to bedealt with. We all have thesechallenges, if we don’t deal with themwe won’t even get off the starting block.The following are short summaries ofthose resources I believe we mustface in our quest to be an achiever inlife.Self-Awareness:

The more self-awareness we have,the more options we have and themore flexible we can become. It iscritical to have a true knowledge of ourself, to recognise our strengths andweaknesses. The capacity for ongoingchange and self-development iscrucial on our pathway to ourachievement goals. If we project ourtrue self we automatically attract to usthe things that make us feel good, thatare right for us. If we answer questionshonestly about our achievementchallenges we can then begin to closethe gap between what we believe wecan achieve now and our potential forgreater achievements in the future.

Inner dialogue:

Probably the most important questionto ask about inner dialogue is:Are there any past negativeexperiences that still affect our abilityto achieve what we want in our life?Our inner dialogue is very relevant toour personal development and beliefs.It is a cause and effect process. If ourinner talk is negative we are focussingon how we don’t want to be and ourmind will focus on that. So positiveself-talk is imperative as we seekthose achievements in life we desire. It is important to always ask ourselvesquestions. They have a magneticquality that compels us to answerthem - but to effectively gain from ourresponse to the questions we must bescrupulously honest with our answerswhen dealing with feelings using ourmind to overcome negative mindchatter. It is amazing how our lifechanges when we take control of our

negative thinking and change it intopositive empowering inner dialogue.Having dealt with the negativities weall have as a challenges to overcomewe can then move forward on ourjourney of achievement by embeddingthe following mental resources deeplyinto our mind. Neuroscienceacknowledges that whatever we allowto dwell in our mind we embed deeperinto our consciousness.

Self–belief:

Self-belief is paramount in fulfilling ourdesires and aspirations in life. It is veryimportant that what we believe aboutourselves is true and valid because,accept it or not, often what we believeabout ourselves, in many cases, is nottrue. It is just the way our mind hasbeen influenced and programmed aswe grew up, from an infant into anadult. That is why it is necessary toexamine what we believe aboutourselves thoroughly. Whatever webelieve with feeling and desirebecomes our reality.

Sharing in the abundance of life:

The more we achieve the more we aresharing in the abundance of life. Withsociety’s idea of abundance there isvery little choice of any genuine worth.It is just a continuous roundabout ofconsumerism and not much else. Whynot move away from materialstereotypes, take control of your lifeand achieve those things that are rightfor you. Find out what you really wantto achieve and obtain it, that’s wherereal control of your life lies. Bringabundance into your life in a way thatsuits you. Fully focus on what youwant to achieve and enrich your life.By doing so you stop hoping anddreaming and start believing andachieving.

The confidence to be you:

By using your mind in an achievementorientated way you gain great benefitfrom it. You can then move steadfastlytowards the most important aspect ofyour psyche, the confidence to be you.This is when you realise at a profoundlevel of consciousness that what youthink about yourself as a personactually dictates almost every thoughtyou have, including your actions,beliefs and behaviour. This can then

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provide an irresistible springboard forachievement.

Creating the future you desire:The next stage of the journey iscreating the future we desire and akey part of that is surely what we wantto achieve in our life. We can then giveour self the opportunity to design thedirection and destiny of our life. Wecan create a vision for the futurevisualise our self with all those thingswe want to achieve, as alreadyaccomplished. Whatever we allow topersistently dwell in our mind withbelief and conviction we can manifestinto our life.

Detachment:

Another essential part of achievementis to consider the concept ofdetachment when attempting toachieve something. Using detachmentcan relieve tenseness. The use ofsubconscious mind exercisesillustrates the use of detachment whenengaged in mental activity.Detachment is a powerful process inachieving anything of a psychologicalnature. It is often difficult to recognisethe value of a quieter more relaxedway of psychological achievement.We can achieve what we desire in duetime, in the time and in a way that bestsuits us.

We can then continue along ourpathway to new achievements andcan do so in a new creative way. Eachperson has their own idea of whatsuccess means to them. We canprogress through all the necessaryprocesses and acquire the resourcesneeded to become mentally resilientand take our life forward in a way thatsuits our own achievement goals. Ourconscious mind, can respond to allthat is logical and analytical, while oursubconscious mind responds to the‘subconscious mind exercises’ andmetaphors creating a balanced way oflearning, so we can cope with all thatlife throws at us and still achieve allthat we want to in life.

Why not adopt this attitude in life -“I know who I am. I know what l canachieve!”

The secret of every successful lifeis to know what we want to achieve.Take no heed of who we are; theimportant thing is what we will be.What we will be is the ideas wemanifest in our consciousness asto what we want to achieve.

We are complete only when webecome what we want to be andachieve what we want to achieve.

Michael Dillon believes his book canbenefit experienced therapists as aback to basics review. Create session

material for their clients. A booktherapists can recommend to clients,most people want to be successfuland an achiever in life, also fortherapists in training and newlyqualified clients.

Because the book is generic incontent it is suitable for anybodyinterested in self development andpersonal achievement.

Michael Dillon’s “Achieve What YouWant In life’ Manage Your Mind forSuccess is based on the basic therapyhe used for 23 years as a successfulprofessional therapist. He had aprivate practice in Higham Kent for 23years. For 16 years Michael alsoworked at the GP medical centre runby 7 doctors in Rochester Kent as theirresident therapist. He also worked atThe ‘Longfield Health Care Centre’where complementary therapistsworked alongside NHS therapists. Hewas one of the original therapists whohelped this pioneering ‘flagship’ centrebecome the successful enterprise itnow is.Mike Dillon’s book ‘Achieve WhatYou Want in Life’ can be purchasedfrom AMAZON:

ISBN paperback 978-1-910394-02-1and ISBN hardback 978-910394-03-8.

Book price £7-99p

Members of the SST with author Mike Dillon at the 2014 AGM.

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IMPORTANT REMINDERTHE NEXT

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

MEETING WILL BE HELD ON

FRIDAY 20TH NOVEMBER 2015

IN NOTTINGHAM

STARTING AT

11.00AM

This event will be free to SST members but there will be a smallcharge for lunch payable on the day.

A CPD CERTIFICATE WILL BE ISSUED TO ALL SSTMEMBERS ATTENDING THIS MEETING

Please contact Gill Hines at gill_hines@hotmail.com as soon aspossible to let her know whether you plan to attend.

Gill will supply you with full details of the agenda, venue andtravel directions.

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AGMThe Society of Stress Therapists’ (SST) AGM

will be held at 1.30pm on Saturday 3rd October2015 in the Midland Hotel, Derby.

Refreshments will be available from 12.30pm.

The AGM will feature a presentationby Caron Pickford-Perry entitled

“Chronic Complex Trauma: its impact on thebrain of thrivers and therapists.”

The Society Directors are looking forward towelcoming members attending the AGM. Thisprovides the opportunity for you to give yourviews about the work of the Society and inparticular your views of the Society’s Journaltogether with constructive ideas for the both theSociety’s and the Journal’s future.