Clear Thinking Out Loud

This podcast is the narrated version of my article Deconstructing Double Binds. Clients can find themselves in catch-22, no-win, psychological double binds which seem impossible to escape. A vigilant practitioner will spot these and help create new options that the client hadn’t considered, thereby dissolving the double bind. In this episode I talk about: How double binds glue emotional problems in place Why you need to look for the pay-off How changing one part of the pattern can change everything Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below:

This podcast is the narrated version of my article 6 Easy Behavioural Interventions for Anxiety. Behavioural interventions can be highly effective for anxiety as they break the cycle of worry and paralysis by analysis. Getting your client to do something different, however small, can make all the difference. In this episode I talk about: The multi-pronged approach to treating anxiety The mysterious power of chewing gum Naming the anxiety Facing the anxiety Breathing away the anxiety Grading the anxiety Discharging the anxiety Teach your clients the AWARE technique Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below: References/Notes: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24444431 https://www.nature.com/articles/1301574 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005796715000431 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163834317300476?via%3Dihub https://psychcentral.com/news/2011/07/13/intense-exercise-helps-combat-panic-anxiety/27693.html

This podcast is the narrated version of my article Stop Couples Arguing With These 3 Couples Therapy Techniques. “Why do you two hate each other so much? Why don’t you just get a divorce?” I asked, interrupting the pattern of their well-practised bickering. In this episode I talk about: When love feels like hate Man and woman as machines Pattern Interrupt Tip 1: Play devil’s advocate Pattern Interrupt Tip 2: Change something about the problem behaviour Pattern Interrupt Tip 3: Use hypnosis to re-evoke their love Not the be all and end all Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below: References/Notes: A bit like this chap: The soldier who refused to surrender.

This podcast is the narrated version of my article How To Boost Client Motivation In Therapy. As all practitioners know, our clients’ motivation to change isn’t always 100%. There are things we can do however to get them feeling more positive and motivated, and so  help them meet their therapy goals. In this episode I talk about: Awakening a difficult client’s motivation to change Appeal to their point of pride Appeal to their point of principle Appeal to their area of expertise What motivation really is Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below:

This podcast is the narrated version of my article Story Therapy; Why It Works And How To Do It With Your Clients. Story therapy at the right time can facilitate psychological and even physical healing and embedding traditional tales into therapy sessions is something I do a lot. In this episode I talk about: So why does story therapy work? How story therapy got rid of a boy’s warts Read, listen and learn stories Learn the story pattern, not just the content How to make your stories hypnotic Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below: References/Notes: Rob Parkinson: Transforming Tales: How Stories Can Change People. Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2009. ISBN-10: 1843109743; ISBN-13: 978-1843109747 Idries Shah: World Tales. Octagon Press 1991. ISBN-10: 0863040365; ISBN-13: 978-0863040368 World Tales. Pg 242

This podcast is the narrated version of my article 3 Helpful Metaphors for Your Depressed Clients. Here are 3 powerful, hopeful metaphors you can use to help your depressed clients gain a fresh perspective on their experience. In this episode I talk about: Depression is not a ‘disease’ but a metaphor Flat battery Boat on the river Flying high Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below:

This podcast is the narrated version of my article Why There’s No Need to Relive the Trauma All Over Again. “My father murdered my mother. Right in front of me and my brother. The police came and took my dad away and eventually he was put in a secure psychiatric hospital. After that, me and John went to live with our grandparents. That’s when the real trouble started.” In this episode I talk about: When talking makes things worse Back into hell Exorcising haunted minds How your memories are made PTSD – the memories that won’t fade Healing haunted minds Resurrected hypnosis and tapping Be kind, rewind The upshot for June A new life Confronting demons Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below: References/Notes: Noreen Tehrani. Rose S, Bisson J, Churchill R, Wessely S. Psychological debriefing for preventing post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2002;(2):CD000560. Wilson, J.P and Keane, T.M (1997) Assessing Psychological Trauma and PTSD. Th

This podcast is the narrated version of my article 3 Confidence Tips For Therapists and Counsellors Wrestling With Self Doubt. Confidence isn’t just about certainty. We may be the professionals, but we are not all-knowing seers. In this episode I talk about: Self-doubting therapists What exactly is confidence? Understand the fundamentals Practise what you preach Trust yourself Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below:

This podcast is the narrated version of my article 3 Psychotherapy Techniques That Identify Your Client’s Real Problem. Some clients are clear on what they want to achieve in therapy. Others present an amorphous cloud of detail that can hypnotize us with by detail, leaving us almost as confused and overwhelmed and they are. In this episode I talk about: How to avoid getting bamboozled by your client How to discover what are they not getting from their life What ‘faulty pattern matching’ is going on? What are your client’s metaphors telling you? Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below: References/Notes: As initially recognized by the originators of the Human Givens approach See Human Givens by Joe Griffin and Ivan Tyrrell Photo courtesy of John Hritz

This podcast is the narrated version of my article Treating Perfectionism: 3 Therapy Strategies. Sandy’s militant perfectionism had left her isolated and lonely. Here’s how I helped her change her thinking style. In this episode I talk about: It’s lonely being perfect, especially when you’re not What’s wrong with having high standards? The tyranny of perfectionism Describe the pattern Encourage a wider context Encourage downtime Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below: References/Notes: Hewitt, P.L., Flett, G.L., Ediger, E. (1995). Perfectionism Traits and Perfectionistic Self-Presentation in Eating Disorder Attitudes, Characteristics, and Symptoms. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 18(4). 317-326. DOI: 10.1.1.458.8328. Sutandar-Pinnock, K., Woodside, D.B., Carter, J.C., Olmsted, M.P., and Kaplan, A.S. (2003). Perfectionism in Anorexia Nervosa: A 6-24-month follow-up study. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 33(2). 225-229. DOI: 10.1002/eat.10127.

This podcast is the narrated version of my article Build Your Client A Roadmap Out Of Depression (4 Quick Psychotherapy Techniques). A depressed client may (quite naturally) want to tell you all about their depression, but to really begin working with them you’ll need to discover where they actually want to go in positive terms. This isn’t always easy because the depressive mindset inhibits solution focused thinking about the future, but with a little work you can get there. In this episode I talk about: Why depression is a strange city How to astablish clear goals How to break down all or nothing thinking Why grading the depression is important and how to do it Why to check the roadmap for avoiding depression in future Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below:

This podcast is the narrated version of my article Why Affirmations and Compliments Don’t Boost Low Self Esteem. Working with low self esteem is much easier when you understand how it is warping your client’s thinking style. Once you see how emotional conditioning is driving negative thinking, it becomes much easier to help your client stop the negative thoughts at the source. In this episode I talk about: The dangers of arguing with strong beliefs How to agree – and then disagree Using metaphor to bypass conscious argument Reframing negatives as positives – but carefully! Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below:

This podcast is the narrated version of my article 3 Ways to Ask Exception Questions. Exception questions are a valuable tool from Solution Focused Therapy. In this podcast I talk about a smoking cessation client where I used exception questions to help him use his love of swimming to wash smoking out of his life forever. In this episode I talk about: Why there’s an exception to every rule and how to use this How to tell when the problem isn’t a problem Asking about times when the problem pattern doesn’t happen Asking what was different Using presuppositions to help pinpoint resourceful exceptions Spreading the calm around Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below:

This podcast is the narrated version of my article 3 Firm Fair Ways To Set Boundaries In Therapy. Setting boundaries with clients doesn’t always come naturally to therapy practitioners which can lead to problems in the therapeutic relationship and burnout for therapists and counsellors. Empathy and wanting to help people is what brought you to this work, and for us it’s hard to be cruel to be kind. In this episode I talk about: Tip One: Why you must keep your ‘gratitude’ in its proper boundaries Tip Two: How to be clear with yourself where your boundaries lie Tip Three: What is means to stay professional in the therapeutic relationship Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below:

This podcast is the narrated version of my article 3 Vital Reasons Why I Use Hypnosis For Treating OCD – And Why You Should Too. There’s a good reason why I always use hypnosis to treat OCD. Every one of the hundreds of OCD sufferers I’ve treated over two decades have described how, when they are obsessing or acting compulsively, they feel like they ‘space out’. I came to realise that this is very similar to a hypnotic trance state, which gives us insight into how to go about treating OCD. In this episode I talk about: About OCD, the miserly slave driver The part superstition and ritual plays in life Why OCD is hypnosis and what this means for treatment How hypnosis lets you communicate with the ‘problem part’ of the mind Why hypnosis is a great way to extract the fear from OCD Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below:

This podcast is the narrated version of my article 3 Interventions for Treating Anxiety. Sometimes a large part of anxiety therapy is helping your client overcome the ‘feeling like a freak’ effect caused by too much self consciousness. Self consciousness can present a paradox for therapists in that the client needs to make less effort rather than more in order to overcome it. In this episode I talk about: The vicious circle effect of worrying about worrying How to normalize client problems without minimizing them Ways to reframe problems by putting them in context and so make them less ‘weird’ Why identifying the function of the problem can be profoundly therapeutic Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below:

This podcast is the narrated version of my article How to Reframe the 5 Most Common Physical Depression Symptoms. Depression often causes physical symptoms such as sleep disturbance, aches and pains, loss of sex drive and so on. Here’s how to reframe the 5 most common physical symptoms of depression. In this episode I talk about: Why it’s important to address depression’s physical symptoms Sleep problems Pain Loss of sex drive Poor immunity Appetite disruption Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below:

This podcast is the narrated version of my article 6 Things to Say to Motivate Smokers to Quit. When smokers come to get help quitting, they are not always very motivated. They may have been sent along by someone else, or else know that they ‘should’ quit, without really feeling they want to. We know that we can’t scare smokers into being properly motivated to give up, so what can a hypnotherapist do? In this episode I talk about: 3 ways to detach the smoking from the smoker 3 smoke-busting metaphors to create motivation at an unconscious level The person is not the problem, the problem is not the person: using splitting Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below:

This podcast is the narrated version of my article What You Can Learn from Milton Erickson’s Therapy Strategies Beyond ‘Just’ Hypnosis. Milton H Erickson, who died in 1980, was a maverick psychiatrist and hypnotherapist. When you read his case studies, it can seem as if he was working on another plane entirely at times. There is much we can learn from Erickson but being as effective as him doesn’t mean copying him, but working from similar principles. In this episode I talk about: Why today Erickson has followers across the World How Milton Erickson’s life and background contributed to his approach Erickson’s far-reaching influence How to go beyond the ‘cult’: understand his understandings 7 principles and techniques Erickson regularly used Erickson’s legacy today Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below:

This podcast is the narrated version of my article How to Help Your Clients Achieve Their Therapy Goals. Therapy goals are great ways to give a client a sense of confidence and engage them in their therapy – as long as they are created in a way that sets the client up for success. The way therapy goals are formulated and presented can make all the difference to a client’s motivation and confidence to complete them. In this episode I talk about: Stating the goal in positive terms, without going over the top Leading the client step-by-step towards the goal Taking one step at a time, psychologically and practically Selling the sizzle, not the steak How to use curiosity to boost your client’s motivation Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below: