Myalgic Encephalomyelitis – Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Given all the controversy that exists about ME/Chronic Fatigue S yndrome and its treatment, I like to make my standpoint clear upfront – I believe that M.E. is a serious and debilitating physical illness of uncertain duration. I also appreciate why many sufferers prefer to use the term ME rather than CFS to underline that it is a neurological condition for which there is currently no cure.

Some people with M.E recover fully and most will improve significantly over time. A minority will unfortunately remain very ill for a very long time. And there are of course a wide range of conventional medical and other approaches which may be used, such as Graded Exercise Therapy, pacing, homeopathy and other complementary treatments. I am not decrying any of these approaches but I do know that when the mind is engaged well in the process of recovery, that process can happen much faster.  And hypnosis can enable people to do just that*. (*Results may vary from person to person.)

Currently, it is estimated there are around 250,000 ME/CFS sufferers in the UK and this means that there may be several thousand sufferers in Sheffield and surrounding area alone. As I know from the people that I have helped with ME/CFS, that is an awful lot of people experiencing an awful lot of pain and misery which can be greatly reduced with hypnotherapy*.

You are probably wondering – how is it possible for me to help you influence your body’s health using a combination of hypnotherapy and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) tools?  The answer lies in the body’s physical emergency response, the unconscious mind’s fight/flight reflex- that’s what holds the key.

Whenever the body senses a threat – for example, eating food that is off or an emotional shock, it produces the physical emergency response (PER) to find a way to recover or stay safe. It does this by switching on the Sympathetic Nervous System and producing the powerful hormones adrenaline, noradrenaline, dopamine, cortisol and DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone).

This is exactly what needs to happen to help us deal with the threat, affecting our muscles and nervous system. The problem comes when we keep on switching this system on, because this leads to problems with the way our immune system works (which is the system for healing the body) and changes the way our nerve cells work.

When the body is in overdrive a massive amount of energy is spent constantly keeping muscles ready for fight or flight. Further energy is spent preparing the immune system to fight off bugs that are not there, affecting appetite and digestive system as energy is diverted elsewhere.

In hypnosis I can help you change your mind/body connections, improve your sleep and powers of recovery, reduce anxiety and stress, and boost your self-belief.*

In addition, I can help you to learn how to spot when the PER is occurring and how to calm it through specific steps which are not onerous or physically demanding. I then work with you to learn how to make this change to your physiology permanent by practicing the steps so that they become automatic, leading to improved health and well being*.

I tailor all my treatment to the individual and their condition. Treatment usually involves 4-6 sessions though benefits can be expected and felt after just 1 or 2 sessions*.

For those who are housebound I am happy to do home visits but may charge for the travel costs and extra time involved.

*Results may vary from person to person.
