Welcome to our
private psychotherapy practice

BREAVEMENT 

Following the loss of a partner, close relative or friend it is normal to experience a period of extreme grief which may last for up to a year. However if the intensity of the grief shows no signs of decreasing after one year the individual will need to seek professional help from a suitably qualified therapist.

Psychotherapy or hypnotherapy can be of great help to these people in coming to terms with their loss. Sometimes it is useful to use a combination of both these approaches. The individual will need to come on a regular basis over a period of time, preferable once a week in the first instance. During the sessions the person explores with the therapist the nature of the relationship he or she had with the person who has died. In this way the grief lessens in intensity to an acceptable level. The length of time which the person will need to be in therapy will vary from one individual to another.

BLUSHING

Blushing is a symptom of anxiety which usually involves the face but may also spread to the chest. This distressing symptom interferes with social interaction and may prevent those who suffer from it from going out to events of any kind. Unfortunately because the sufferer is embarrassed by their blushing this tends to make the blushing even worse.

It is particularly difficult for people who perform in front of others.

Blushing responds particularly well to hypnosis. During the hypnotherapy the patient is encouraged to rehearse the situations in which they feel blushing is likely to occur.

When he/she is comfortable with the situation during the hypnosis they are then encouraged to practice it in real life. Gradually as the treatment progresses the blushing symptom reduces in intensity and frequency.

Dr Kraft has found that in many cases patients report a considerable improvement after 10 treatment sessions.

BUTTON PHOBIA

Button Phobia is a rare condition but for those people who are afflicted it is extremely inconvenient. Life is very complicated for them as they cannot handle any sort of buttons. This means that their clothing has to be fastened in other ways such as zips or Velcro. This condition responds well to hypnotherapy during which the patient is taken back to the original incident which was responsible for development of the phobia.

In some cases the patient will be able to identify the precise origin of the phobia whereas other patients find this much more complicated. For example, a simple scenario could be that the incident involved a mother asking a small child to pass a button to her and the child knocks the button box onto the floor and as the buttons fall out one rolls underneath a wardrobe or desk and the child gets its hand stuck under the piece of furniture while trying to retrieve it. As the story is retold by the patient in the hypnosis the emotions are released and this sets the person free from the phobia.

It is not always possible to identify the original trauma; in these cases the therapist allows the patient the freedom to explore their past to try and find any associations which might be connected to the cause of their problem.

Using this approach patients suffering from Button Phobia are likely to make an excellent recovery.



Dr. Thomas Kraft