Peter Wright Hypnotherapy

Mastery

2009-11-08T12:48:00.002Z

Just started reading Mastery by George Leonard. I think it might well be a book I'll read in a couple of days and already echoes lots of things I have both said and thought - but expressed far more succinctly and eloquently by George Leonard than I could ever have put them.

Its a bit uncanny really...... I'll comeback on completion with some reflections.

Reframing the 'critical' voice

2009-11-08T09:12:00.003Z

Some 9-10 days ago I did a 2 hour session with a couple of young cricketers. These were guys I had coached many times before.
Technically I know their levels of expertise relative to their elite-aspirant status - and there is nothing technically to hold them back from achieving county selection prior to next summer. Emotionally and psychologically are where their issues lie, and so these were the areas of investigation I wanted to open up for them.

I laid out some basic issues surrounding reality and perception and challenged some of their currently held views. My gateway to this is usually the question "how many ways are there to get out of this sports hall?" Most people usually count the doors, windows and other sources of egress...and they were no exception! Having established for them there were thousands of ways, we then looked at how reality is pared down by our senses and filters, through a process of deletion, distortion and generalisation, into what we what we then compare with our maps of knowledge and experience and then finally perceive as reality.

Along the way, they each identified how their state and how they react to events and (more especially) their own technical actions, all contribute to the next and subsequent actions in some way. Ergo a positive reaction and frame of mind will lead to a better function of process and thus a better outcome.

They were both, primarily, victims of the effects of their own self-critic - which was manifest in a damning and earnest inner voice. Having discovered this helpful 'individual' they were able to reframe the voice to a degree where the earnestness became comical.

We installed a number of other processes to help maintain a grounded state, and they both discovered that mastery of themselves was now a significant step nearer. However, this was an unconscious discovery, since most of my delivered communicative intention was aimed at the unconscious.

Having seen one of the lads yesterday for another session I was able to observe some interesting feedback. It turned out that he had gone to a county training session in such a positive and assertive frame of mind that he had almost surprised everyone but himself in the way he was now performing. His other sporting activities also had taken on a new positive mental framework. His father was amazed and delighted at his new approach, whereas the player himself was quite matter of fact about it all.
What I know, though didn't reveal to father or son, was that having liberated him from the constant self appraisal and the vocal effects of damning and earnest self-criticism, that he is now able to fully express himself with total confidence. And this IS liberation for him, because he can now move on to the next part of his road to mastery, his game has gone up a level, and now the work on a new set of technical and psychological issues starts in earnest.

PW

2009-11-03T11:04:00.002Z

Quite excited today - my copy of Clean Language - Revealing metaphors and opening minds by Wendy Sullivan and Judy Rees has arrived. Can't wait to get stuck in.

Frogs into Princes

2009-11-02T12:34:00.003Z

Having obtained a copy of Frogs into Princes by Richard Bandler and John Grinder from my local library, I (after a couple of renewals) am just on the point of finishing it.

Having heard a number of NLP gurus mention it as being a "Must read" and as being a book they still go back to, I felt it was necessary that I see for myself!

I need to read it again within the next 6 months or so so that the first third of the book opens itself up to me. Even though I am quite familiar with Richard Bandler's delivery style, I found that for me the narrative meandered until about p60 - and then it came to life big time and was really interesting and useful.

It was published in 1979 from transcripts of NLP introductory and training workshops. I'd thoroughly recommend it to those who are some way down the NLP road, though- especially as I've been told my own book Don't Think of a Black Cat was "right over my head" or "left me cold I'm afraid" or "can't get into that kind of stuff"! and I described it as basic.

I will get my own copy probably next year now, as I can't keep it out of the library permanently!

PW

Effective team coaching

2009-11-02T12:19:00.003Z

I do pro bono coaching at my local rugby club. This is not only a pleasure but also good practice and a chance to give back to current and emerging players in the game, the benefits of what I have learnt about performance since I ceased to be a player myself.

The ongoing problems are (a) not enough training time to be able to even talk about mental preparation even at a medium level, (b) the side that actually plays matches contains probably a third of people who did not attend the previous training session. Its no surprise that the players who make the greatest number of errors are the ones not at training. Its no surprise that the players with (arguably) the weakest levels of emotional intelligence are the ones not at training.

The argument should be "then drop them".... but we are hamstrung by being in a very strong league and less conditioned or technical players would be just swept away by the opposition. So - a dilemma that is being compounded week in week out.

For this week's training session I have asked all players from Saturday's 1st XV to come to the session with some thought as to what they want to work on at the session, rather than I impose my pre-planned session upon them. Time will tell!!

Resurrection

2009-11-02T11:44:00.002Z

At last I've finally been able to get round to getting the Blog going once more.

Much has changed for me over the last 18 months, both in circumstances, daily routines and (above all) experience and knowledge.

The hope is now that I can post regular comments, thoughts, findings and updates.
All I need is the bearwithal from everyone!

PW

Parts Integration and Unconscious Communication

2008-04-02T10:51:00.002+01:00

Sometimes, you don't have opportunities to enter into a specific and formal use of parts integration to resolve issues, and with these two examples I found that just through conversation the subjects were able to deal with matters that had become mental blocks for them.

Often our unconscious drives certain actions or thoughts and emotions that we would like to overcome but find hard to surmount. In these cases while the conversation was noticeably on a level with their conscious, there was a level of sufficient unconscious communication to be suitably therapeutic. We often don't realise how much we are doing in terms of unconscious dialogue and become agreeably surpised at the outcomes. Parts Integration is a powerful and very useful technique, and for these two cases the mere acknowledgement of a part of them that was truly valid, was being protective and had their best interests at heart, was sufficient to allow their OWN inner resources to clear a path for them to go forward.

1. Prior to my mother having a stroke over a year ago, she was a very active and accomplished artist. Although she recovered the use of her dominant hand to be able to write letters etc she felt unable to return to painting. This was a mixture of perfectionism (the quality of output would never be as good as pre-stroke), pain in parts of the affected hand, level of feeling or numbness in the affected fingers, physical and mental stamina to sit for periods at the easel. Weeks and months went by and the in-built resistance was always there. To be fair, even I began to feel that she would never lift a brush again - although I always maintained a belief that she would be able to carry on. We often have lengthy conversations and I'm mindful of taking these opportunities for "subtle therapy"; there is no way I could manage formal therapy with her due to skepticism and resistance! Very recently I alluded to that part of her that was resistant and not yet ready to make the changes and allow her to start painting again, and that it was understood that it was very important to that part of her to continue to protect her from the consequences of all those reasons. And that there would come a time when that part of her would be ready to allow all the changes to take place, and that all the parts of her would know and recognise when that time had come. Within a few days of this conversation she rang to say she had done some painting, and when I saw later what she had done I was amazed at how good it was, given that she had not held a paintbrush for over a year.

2. I was working with a regular client - a young cricketer - whose feet suddenly started backing away from deliveries from a bowling machine that were swinging in to him. This was half way through a session, and these were movements he had not done for well over 9 months regular work with me. After about 5 minutes of this, and some obvious frustration, he eventually missed a ball and was struck on the leg in an unprotected area. It was painful for him. Once recovered sufficiently I talked with him about adjustments I might make on the machine - but I also said there was clearly a part of him today that was now taking centre stage and, for protective reasons, was making him (or driving his foot movements) back away from the ball. This part of him clearly felt it had valid reasons for doing this and that it would carry on resisting for as long as it felt was necessary. I'm happy to say that with minor changes on the machine - which were subsequently cancelled out - he immediately returned to being the player he had developed into and that part of him that was in conflict with the rest was suitably "put to bed once more". He was as happy as a sand-boy at having put the gremlins behind him as quickly as they had become manifest, and I pointed out that the mind is sometimes as resistive or as co-operative as it wants to be, and that this is all part of what he was, is and will be. The secret is respecting all those parts and making them function as a whole as often as is possible.

I was delighted at this outcome, and the instant eradication of the presenting problem. I often use conversational means of facilitating unconscious communication as I know how well it works. I've had great success with a variety of reframes for players who have been plagued by negative movements that blight their techniques and sometimes they can't really believe what's happening to them.

As far as Parts Integration is concerned, I'm always amazed at the ability of the unconscious mind to effect changes and that quite often all one needs to do is acknowledge the integrity of the unconscious.

Gouroux

Alternative Therapies - BBC2

2008-03-20T15:26:00.003Z

I missed Monday 17th March transmission of Prof. Kathy Sykes' programme on Hypnotherapy, but I was able to catch up with it here.....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b009jcrj.shtml?q=alternative&start=1&scope=iplayersearch&go=Find+Programmes&version_pid=b009jclh
It is available until 24th March to watch.

Having read in advance a mixture of positive and adverse criticisms and reviews I knew I would need to be especially watchful of nuances within the programme.
For me the really interesting meat in the programme sandwich came with Kathy Sykes' discussions with a number of other Professors. Irving Kirsch, Amir Raz, Peter Whorwell and Pierre Rainville, in their separate ways, illuminated for me a interesting level of research that is going on "out there".
I have been working a lot this winter and spring studying the effects of visual field enhancement on skills outcomes for young cricketers - this includes enhancing both actual visual activity as well as using visualizations. Professor Kirsch's work in particular I found fascinating in this regard and I will follow this up with interest as I continue with my case studies in this area.

Another interesting and revealing part of the programme was the lady in Glasgow who underwent complex dental surgery using the analgaesic effects of hypnosis. I was filled with admiration for her dentist (also her hypnotherapist) who kept up a dialogue with her unconscious as he performed the procedures on 2 of her front teeth. The person most stunned was Prof Sykes - who by this stage in her "journey" to find out more about hypnotherapy was clearly warming to the whole subject.

My overall impression of the programme was of one that started out at quite a basic almost street level but finished by being reasonably scientifically based.
For most people outside therapy and science I surmise the programme would not be that interesting......which means we must commend the BBC and Kathy Sykes for some further illumination for the rest of us really interested parties!

Olympic Investment?

2008-02-09T20:32:00.000Z

I always thought Olympic facilities were meant to be an investment by the host cities and countries for the longer term good of their own people - part of the infrastructure.

When I was directed to sign up for one of the Downing Street Petitions I was curious to discover what led to it's being set up. The petition is here: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/OlympicShooting/
and the reasons for it are these......

Over £18 million (at the 2006 bid price) will be spent on building the 2012 Olympic shooting sports venue at Woolwich Barracks and then after the Olympics it will be pulled down again. This is not only a total waste of money and an immoral use of resources but more importantly it does not leave any lasting legacy for shooting sports in this country. Every year the Great Britain shooting teams bring home medals from competing in ISSF and FITASC disciplines world wide. Surely it deserves a lasting legacy?

Waste not want not

PW

Pain Management with meridian based therapies

2008-01-22T08:59:00.000Z

Meridian based therapies (MBTs) are becoming increasingly used worldwide and are a powerful adjunct to the spectrum of treatments being offered by alternative therapists. Those using hypnotherapy, NLP and Time Line solutions in particular find Thought Field Therapy (TFT) and Evolving Thought Field Therapy (evTFT) another means of obtaining a ready solution for their clients, either on a stand alone basis or in conjunction with other treatments.

My first use of TFT was for myself. I had trapped the end of a finger whilst cleaning grass from the blades of a set of gang mowers. The skin was not broken but the blade had pressed hard against the fingernail. After the injury the discomfort became more and more acute (but localised to the finger end) as the day wore on. Although I had got off to sleep quite normally, I was awoken at around 4am by pain. The pain was over the whole hand and I could not identify the epicentre of the symptoms.
I used a running cold tap, then ice, ibuprofen gel but to no avail. In Dr Callahan's book Tapping the Healer Within I recalled there was a TFT algorithm for physical pain. I performed the treatment repeatedly and after about half an hour I had reduced the pain enough to be able to go back to sleep. What I did notice in the ensuing days was that there was no perception of pain (as had been before) from that particular hand. It was not anaesthetised or numb, but any pain message to the brain seemed to be processed in a different way.

More recently I have used only partial elements of the physical pain algorithm for a client who had been struck by a hard ball on the foot in the course of sporting practice. It worked for him immediately and he was somewhat amazed as to "what on earth had I done" to hasten his relief.

I did not set out to use the treatment, or should I say part of it. Opportunities present themselves on odd occasions and often there is no time to enter into an explanation of what one is doing - especially if only part of the treatment is performed. If it had not worked for him then he would have merely had to suffer the discomfort longer - but the pain would have diminished. My intervention just moved things along exponentially. I did tell him afterwards what it was though!

In evTFT, there is a treatment known as Touch and Breathe (TAB). Here, instead of tapping selected meridian points, the client touches the points while performing a number of full abdominal breathing cycles. The algorithms (or particular sequence of meridian points) are the same as for TFT itself.

Very recently I was visiting my ageing mother who was having a particularly bad day - not well, in bed, emotionally wound up, agitated etc etc. Her breathing was fast and shallow as she related to me all the things that had beset her prior to my arrival, including an upper back pain and a pounding headache. Whilst talking to her and trying to guide her to a calmer place with controlled breathing, she had an angina attack. She has medication for this which provides suitable relief, but on all other occasions she has been left with the headache and completely drained of all energy. While helping her with this and continually talking her through the guided breathing, I placed my fingers on the meridian points relating to physical pain - in a sequence that matched part of the TFT treatment. It occurred to me that the Touch and Breathe (TAB) might work with her breathing and my touch.
Normally for the headache she would take paracetamol - but this was not required in this instance as some five minutes later her headache had subsided. As her recovery continued she showed little sign of being physically drained, as usually happened.
Again, I did not tell her about the treatment (although I have since) mainly because there was no need (and no time) and she is more than a little skeptic! I was gratified to discover the extent of its efficacy especially as it was only a partial and somewhat fragmented use of the full treatment.

Whilst this may have undermined some of my mother's skepticism, for me it has reinforced the view (and the confidence) that merdidian based therapies - even with only partial use - can bring about relief. I've used TFT for clients with anxiety, obsessions and trauma (after a car crash); with success in every instance.

Why we all gripe at politicians

2007-12-17T13:14:00.000Z

Last week I watched the news.....something quite rare for me!!

There was a report about the Police pay dispute and the tinkering nuances of the Home Secretary, backed up by the Treasury and the PM. Monetary downside to government - circa £20m.
Immediately following this there was a report on the new government package of aid for Afghanistan - £105m.
Later on in my local news there was a report on the job cuts in the Fire Service brought about by reduction in central government support for Local Government.

Bearing in mind the government is already in murky waters because of treatment of pay for soldiers overseas (some in Afghanistan I might add), you'd think they might take a look at the big picture here. Some tinkering with the pots of money mentioned could sort all their problems out at a stroke....and still leave the Afghans well catered for.

Perhaps, as a dealer in quick fixes and efficacious therapies, I wear the wrong coloured spectacles......but then I expect in the eyes of such opinionated and important politicians I deal in quack remedies.
Strange world isn't it?

Basic Goal Setting

2007-12-12T23:49:00.000Z

In life coaching they talk about two main types of goal – Outcome and Process.

You have a dream (outcome) and how you achieve that dream is the process. The dream just doesn’t happen though – there has to be a plan, a strategy of how to get there. This is the nuts and bolts of how the various Goals will be achieved. In sports also there is a third type of goal – Performance – which relates to measurable aspects of your own (or team’s) performance irrespective of the outcome.

Goal setting is present in everything we do. A sports person might go into a game not worried about the result, but just happy to play well and enjoy the exercise. So – here the outcome is enjoyment and happy to play well is performance. But say their processes were lazy and unmotivated – then I wouldn’t expect them to achieve the other goals. (They also need to examine their beliefs as well if this is the case!) Alternatively, they might also go into a game where winning was all important no matter how well they might play. So here the performance goals might be very low priority – but how might you view the process goals? They are still vitally important, because no one ever sets out to WIN by not trying to play to the best of their ability.

My contention therefore is that for whatever you want to achieve as an outcome, the most important set of goals are the process goals. Good performance is a bonus – but can be relied upon if you perform the processes well. Reminds me of an amusing comment from Ted in “Ralph and Ted” from The Fast Show when asked what his take on life was. “The way I see it sir is that you’re born and then you die – and what goes on in between? Well that’s a bonus.”

But what if your process goals are not oriented towards achieving the outcome goal? Well then your plan, your strategy, has not been thought through well enough. For either the outcome goal(s) or the process goals ,their outcome is not well-formed. So you can now see that the nature of the plan becomes multi-dimensional and complex. And it is at this point where it will begin to dawn on you that if the Plan is complex – then you cannot carry it around in your head. So – write the plan down – commit it to paper. Write down your goals. Put the whole thing into something tangible, and not just a collection of thoughts.

Writing everything down is absolutely vital to the success of your goal-setting exercises.

The other well known association in goal setting is the acronym – S.M.A.R.T
You need to make your goals SMART

S Specific (Not vague like “become a better person”)
M Measurable (How will you know when you have achieved your goal?)
A Achievable (Don’t make it too difficult OR too easy)
R Realistic
T Timely (Set a timescale for achieving your goal)

Break your big goals up into a series of smaller goals – bite sized chunks. The big picture might seem daunting at first, but if you progressively plan in a series of smaller realistic and achievable goals then the big picture will soon come into view. Get yourself a small notebook and use it as a journal. Put your goals, beliefs and other info at one end, and diarise ALL your activities working towards your goals at the other.

Visualization in Action!

2007-12-07T10:36:00.000Z

The sports oriented among you might like to venture onto our coaching forum at http://prodigycoachcoachesforum.myfastforum.org/index.php
I have posted a number of sports psychology, NLP and hypnosis related topics there which you might find of interest.

One of these is called Visualization in Action and describes a short experiment I conducted with a group of eight 11-13 year olds which involved throwing at cricket wicket targets.
I will describe it here also, as it embodies the part that mental processes can play in improving a physical activity.
I set up three targets, one much smaller than the others being just a single stump. I then asked each of the group to visualize for a few minutes the targets, which were on the other side of a sports hall. Part of their visualization process was to make the targets bigger, brighter, bolder, closer. They were next given three throws at any target of their choice - starting with their backs to the targets, taking a bounce off the wall and turning and throwing across the hall.

In the first round there was 1 hit in 24 throws.

I then asked them to continue visualizing and we would proceed to the second round of throws. This time they were to throw with their eyes closed.

In the second round there were 9 hits in 24 throws, with 5 of them being on the single stump.

This "magical" outcome was a total convincer for them that visualization is a very powerful tool indeed, even and more especially after just 15 minutes or so. As I said at the time - "think of all the other ways you can use it, how beneficial it might be for you?!" Needless to say their imaginations began to run riot!

The point I made to our other coaches was this:
when you normally field a ball and throw it in this is a dynamic situation, where the eyes are actively searching for the target but only once the ball is in your hand. This information gathering process has time constraints on it as the throw has to be made as soon as possible - consequently the data the brain processes to allow the body to adjust to executing an accurate throw is not always 100% perfect. In essence its a bit of a rushed job.
However, by visualizing the position of the target(s) beforehand and enhancing the data by making the targets bigger, brighter, bolder, nearer, you are now enhancing the quality of the hurried data being gathered in real time.
Plus, if you rely solely on that almost hot-wired and 'clean' data (by throwing "blind") then you get even better results.

Needless to say, I'm not advocating all fielders throw "blind"! But if they can activate powerful mental processes to enhance their physical actions, then the accuracy of the outcomes is increased considerably.

Visualization is as powerful as your imagination allows it to be. Whether its hitting physical targets, building confidence by re-experiencing a perfect past performance, or seeing yourself delivering the perfect presentation sometime in the future - the benefits are the same. You can practice your visualization skills too, as there are many adjustments and fine tunings that can be brought into play in all the submodalities.

Peter

Profound effect

2007-12-03T14:15:00.000Z

I first saw this film a few years ago, but it had a profound effect then and still does. I think some of the images stay with you forever once you have seen them....

http://www.mokshaproductions.com/wild_horses_of_newbury.htm

Bilateral Co-ordination

2007-12-03T13:55:00.000Z

In "my day" we never did bilateral co-ordination as part of PE at school. Maybe it was in its infancy when I was - but it and balance are such an integral part of all sports that some ground work would be useful for everyone as they grow up.

In an ideal world I'd like to see bilateral co-ordination part of an enhanced and expanded PE programme in schools from ages 5 upwards. Then maybe there'll be many more brilliant and dextrous people like Tommy Baker........marvel and enjoy!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2144023043459573033

PW

Contemplating Life, The Universe, and everything

2007-11-30T15:54:00.000Z

On Tuesday 20th November I sat in St George's Hall, Bristol listening to Angela Hewitt play Part 1 of Bach's 48. As she played I was transported to another place by the depth and quality of the compositions - and there one was able to contemplate the real meaning of it all, spellbound by music written over 280 years ago.
The more baroque music I hear, the better the experience gets, the more dimensions there are. It was an amazing evening - very wet, awful traffic, but made life changing by music and performer with special qualities.