Understand How to Construct an Appropriate Screed for Your Client and the Importance of Counselling Skills in Hypnotherapy.

Learning Journal 2:

2. Understand how to construct the appropriate screed for the personality of the client.

2.1 Describe how to deal with clients with mental health problems.

When a client has mental health problems, it is important to proceed with both sensitivity and caution. Relevant questioning will help determine the condition and differentiate between neurosis and psychosis. Those suffering from psychosis may refuse to accept there is any issue, or be unaware of their condition. They may appear, or try to appear “normal”, and are often perceived as charismatic, successful and intelligent. Watch for signs such as withdrawal and/or lack of focus and attention during conversation.

They may feel persecuted or paranoid, and may have already refused help from professionals, friends and family or rejected a diagnosis.

They could be medicated but conceal the fact, or delay in informing you. They may present as moody, be unable to sustain relationships and be prone to embellishing the truth.

A person with psychosis could have made attempts to harm themselves, have suicidal thoughts, experience paranoia and have difficulty, or dislike, integrating into normal society.

They may be evasive when questioned or reluctant to divulge information, even basic details like their name and contact details.

Psychosis fall into two categories: functional and organic. Functional psychosis are Schizophrenia, Bi-polar disorder, Endogenous depression and other delusional forms.

Organic psychosis are Toxic confusional, Alzheimers, Parkinsons, Kauskoffs Syndrome, severe PMT and post partum/ post natal depression.

Bi-polar disorder (aka manic depression) involves severe highs and lows which run in cycles depending on type. It requires medication, but psychotherapy can be a useful tool to aid understanding and coping with the illness.

Schizophrenia is a debilitating condition that has far reaching ripples around the sufferer. It can involve hallucinations, delusions, disordered thinking and unusual behaviour patterns. There is a greater incidence of drug and alcohol abuse amongst those with this disease.

Personality disorders are a grey area and are usually made up from several chronic conditions which combine to affect a person. Symptoms may be more severe when anxious or stressed...

Addictive, dissociative, avoidant, borderline, dependant, histrionic, obsessive-compulsive, paranoid, schizoid, schitzotypal and anti-social are the common types.

Under no circumstances are we, as students, allowed to treat anyone presenting with symptoms of psychosis, unsupervised, or past sufferers. It is not our place to offer up any form of diagnosis - we must refer them back to their GP or relevant professional.

However, those suffering from neurosis my be helped by Hypnotherapy and there are many disorders that fall under this category.

The client should have been diagnosed by the appropriate professional, and have been experiencing symptoms for at least a month.

These disorders are associated, to a greater or lesser degree, with stress and anxiety. Neurosis are generally self perpetuating as anxiety about the disorder and its symptoms, can lead to the worsening of symptoms and therefore a greater anxiety ad infinitum...

Neurosis can become incredibly debilitating to both physical ad emotional health.

The main types of neurosis are:

General anxiety disorder (GAD) ,Panic disorder, Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Separation Anxiety, Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) , Psychosomatic Disorder and Reactive depression.

Neurosis if left untreated, may develop over time, into a psychosis...

To reiterate - Psychosis cannot be treated with hypnotherapy alone and must only be undertaken by an appropriately experienced therapist. We may not diagnose but must refer the client back to their GP or to the relevant professional. When treating a person with a mental health issue, doctors written consent must be obtained and must state that the client is not psychotic before any treatment can be given.

Under no circumstances should a student agree to treat those with any form of psychosis, past or present. Nor at this time, are we able to treat those with depression or who are taking medication for such.

2.2 Explain common techniques for working with clients.

We are all completely unique in appearance, personality and experience. Therefore our perceptions, likes and dislikes are also unique.

Hypnosis we are directs the subconscious and there are tools we may use to adapt our treatment to better suit the personality of the client.

During hypnosis, the client is generally asked to concentrate on the therapists voice, usually with closed eyes. The language, choice of words we use during hypnosis, is paramount to achieve optimum results. Words are powerful.

To build a good rapport , and to build a trusting relationship, we must listen and closely observe to determine the persons personality and what techniques and language we can use in order to achieve the best results.

Initial impression is a good place to start. How the client holds themselves, their general demeanour. The way they present themselves (though also being aware that they may have dressed to impress, or come straight from work). How they speak - are they forthright or more reticent? In all this there are clues to that persons character and state of mind.

We can go even further by trying to determine which modality category is more dominant in that person.

By understanding a persons dominant modality type, we are able to build a better rapport - that feeling of “they get me’, “they speak my language”. Building trust and confidence.

A client will feel more affinity if you lean more towards their favoured modality and feel more comfortable and relaxed.

We find more clues observing a persons lateral eye movements (LEM). These originated from psychologist Paul Bakan who in the 1970s suggested that different types of thinking produced a tendency