Press Clippings
Oxford Mail, September 30 2004, By Sarah Edwards of the Oxford Mail
 Sarah Edwards is left feeling relaxed and free of worries after a hypnotherapy session with Oxford-based practitioner Luke Henderson. Hypnotherapy is something that many people fear, and even more people doubt. Despite the fact that it has been around for centuries and used successfully by millions of people worldwide to treat everything from depression and fear to pain and phobias, there is still a lot of mystique surrounding this form of therapy.
Eager to dispel this myth, I decided to have a hypnosis session with Luke Henderson who has a clinic in Summertown Oxford. Luke, who I am sure starts to hypnotise you the minute you meet him, has been using hypnosis for about four years, and has been based in Oxford for the last twelve months. He treats clients who are trying to give up smoking and drinking, have problems with depression or anxiety and weight loss, and has also an excellent success rate with golfers looking to focus their mind and improve their game.
A few months ago, he was on the A40 at a scene of a car crash. By using visualization techniques, Luke successfully calmed down the victims and helped them to relax, even though some had suffered injuries.
The power of our minds is something that most of us are blissfully unaware of, and so was I until I experienced a hypnosis session. Luke suggested that I try hypnosis for relaxation and, as it turned out, this was an excellent idea. Luke's clinics are conducted from a room of a house and it all felt very natural and normal. Moving from the talking chair to the reclining comfy red chair, I lay back and just did as I was told - I relaxed. Luke's voice can be likened to silk, it immediately starts to lull you.
You cannot help but to trust him and because he is so passionate about hypnosis he really makes you understand how the process can work. Lying back in the chair I listened, but the most I can remember is being asked to write imaginary letters on an imaginary blackboard. - I think I got to the letter f before I nodded off. However, despite being in a very relaxed state, I was still aware of Luke's voice and everything around me, but couldn't open my eyes or speak at all.
Apparently I burst three imaginary balloons with an imaginary pin at one point but I have a very hazy recollection of this. When I woke I felt like I had been asleep for a couple of hours and was very chilled. The whole experience left me relaxed and I was very chilled. The whole experience left me relaxed and without any of the little worries that had been rattling around in my head for the last few days. It was an excellent way to clear the clutter and focus on what is really important, I felt as though I could have taken on the world!
Luke explained: "Hypnotherapy is incredible powerful, but most people really don't understand it. The origins are very primitive and its all about releasing emotions through a therapeutic process. "Hypnosis is about relaxation, focus and heightened awareness. Your body and mind are totally relaxed and your senses become heightened. People become more aware of their breathing and this helps the whole process of healing.
"In the case of smokers who want to give up, they have to be convinced that they want to stop and I make sure that they really want to do it. The success rate is about 85 per cent and hypnotherapy does really work well. During the process I give people hypnotic suggestions and then follow it through afterwards. "Healing people can be simple, although there is a lot of resistance and fear mostly because people don't understand how it can work. It doesn't have to be psychoanalytical, and it really doesn't matter how it works as long as it works for you." |
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Client testimonials
I have stopped drinking every night and I wake up in the morning feeling full of energy. I feel that I am coping much better with work now. I can now find the energy to go to the gym.
Emily - Came to see me for weight loss. We discovered her weight problem came from her drinking.
I can sleep so much better now. I am still taking the pills, but am going to see my doctor to talk about coming off them.
Susan - We explored the emotions of an incident that she had never spoken about.
I had not driven a car for 10 years but I drove on my own to Bristol to see my mother. I was having panic attacks for 9 years. I had been seeing another hypnotherapist for about a year for my panic attacks but they only got worse. I am amazed that I am now coping so well with everything. I have not had any panic attacks and I am looking forward to driving down to see my mother for Christmas.
Janet - a client I saw on just five occasions.
I managed to start my Phd again last Monday. Last weekend I felt like my proper self. I have not felt like this since my depression started four years ago.
Clare - Was suffering from depression and had almost given up her Phd.
I am not smoking. It is easy, no withdrawal symptoms, its fantastic. Thank-you.
Richard - an ex forty a day smoker
I thought it might be difficult and that you would try to control my mind. But it was not like that at all. I new I would stop smoking even before you hypnotised me. Penny - another satisfied former smoker
After seeing you I now understand the emotions that made me binge eat. I have lost half a stone in just two weeks. Thank-you.
Debra - Could not lose weight after giving birth.
When I was in Mongolia I stayed in a house on my own for 3 weeks and was not scared. I also enjoy sex much more. Its fantastic. Thank-you so much.
Anna - She could not stay in any building alone at night. The unblocking of bad emotions also allowed her to enjoy sex.
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