In the varied field of counselling and psychotherapy, continuous professional development is essential for us as therapists to provide the best possible support to our clients.
One valuable tool that plays an important part in my journey is ongoing learning via supervision sessions with a senior Hypnotherapist, qualified in supervision. This form of guided reflection and mentorship not only fosters personal and professional growth, but also ensures ethical and effective practices during sessions. It is something that Topaz Health Training is committed to long term to ensure we can best support you, however that may be. The Basics of Supervision: Supervision involves a collaborative relationship between my supervisor and myself as a therapist. The goal is to enhance the quality of services I provide through a combination of education, support, and reflection. The structured process provides a safe space for me to discuss my cases anonymously and confidentially, explore challenging issues, and receive constructive feedback in order to improve. Key Elements of Supervision: Reflective Practice: Supervision encourages me to engage in reflective practice. Through thoughtful exploration of my own reactions, thoughts, and feelings during client sessions, I can gain deeper insights into my work and identify areas for improvement and development. Case Discussion: Discussing specific cases inconfidence with my supervisor allows me to benefit from their experience and expertise. This collaboration of examining my real life clients not only enhances problem-solving skills but also encourages me to gather a broader understanding of various therapeutic approaches. Professional Development: Supervision is an ongoing process that supports me in staying up to date with the latest research, interventions, and ethical considerations. This commitment to professional development ensures that I continue to evolve and provide high quality, current and successful services to my clients. Ethical Guidance: Supervision serves as a crucial forum for discussing ethical dilemmas and challenges that I may encounter in my day to day life. By providing a confidential space for open dialogue, my supervisor helps me to navigate any ethical issues while upholding the highest standards of professional conduct. Benefits of Supervision Therapy: Enhanced Competence: Regular supervision contributes to the development of my own knowledge, increasing my confidence in handling diverse situations. Reduced Burnout: The emotional demands of my job can lead to burnout if not managed effectively. Supervision provides emotional support and helps me to develop self-care strategies, reducing the risk of burnout. Cultivation of a Learning Culture: Supervision encourages a culture of continuous learning within the profession. By engaging in regular supervision I am more likely to embrace a growth mindset and a commitment to lifelong learning. To summarise, supervision is a powerful tool for therapists such as myself who are committed to providing the best possible care to my clients. In this collaborative journey of self-discovery and professional growth, supervision stands as a beacon, guiding Topaz Health Training towards fulfilling our mission “Making a difference; empowering, educating and changing lives” and we very much look forward to welcoming you to join us on your journey.
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The Mental Health Foundation carried out a study that showed 74% of people have felt so stressed they have been overwhelmed or unable to cope. Stress is a necessary part of life (yes really) - appropriate amounts of stress help to motivate us to act.
What is Stress? According to The Mental Health Foundation “Stress is our body’s response to pressure. Many different situations or life events can cause stress. It is often triggered when we experience something new or unexpected that threatens our sense of self or when we feel we have little control over a situation.” Moderate amounts of stress actually help improve your memory and productivity by strengthening the connection between the neurons in your brain. The problems start when the amount of stress outweighs your ability to cope. Often referred to as your resilience and ability to cope with adversity. You know how some people seem to manage a lot of challenges at once and others find even minor stressors just too much? Well, every day we meet challenges that may or may not cause us stress and we will all respond differently based on our experience and levels of resilience. The important thing is to find healthy ways to manage stress before it fills the metaphorical stress bucket in our minds. High levels of stress are linked to an increase in stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol which lead to poor sleep patterns and a lowered immune system. This is often why you might experience upset stomachs, increased anxiety symptoms, indigestion, fatigue and catch every cold bug around! How to Manage Stress Some proven ways of managing stress and improving your overall well being include: All these methods help to reduce the stress hormones - they can regulate brainwave activity, increasing the parasympathetic nervous system (sometimes referred to as your ‘rest and digest’ system) so you feel calmer, positive and able to cope better with whatever life has to offer. Contact us to find out more about how Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can help you manage your stress (and reduce your stress bucket!). Would you like a more positive way to manage your health and be a healthy weight?
Do you find yourself having a hidden battle with your weight, trying many different diets, or using negative language about yourself and the food you eat? Do you label your food good and bad? As someone whose weight fluctuates easily, I know the hidden battle of dieting, exercising and not always liking how your body looks in the mirror. What I have learnt through my coaching and hypnotherapy training is that weight loss is only part of the problem, for when we are focusing on what we do not want; worrying and increasing stress levels, we attract more weight. Solution-Focused Hypnotherapy (SFH) has allowed me to change my thoughts towards my own weight management and to realise the benefits that it can bring to improving my overall health and wellbeing. There is more to ‘weight management’ than the end goal and SFH helps us to identify the underlying issues which are contributing toward this negative self-perception. It can help promote a healthier mindset and a more positive relationship with food. It can also help you to change your mindset and adjust your thoughts, beliefs and attitudes towards food, exercise and your body. Neuroscience tells us that all meaningful change happens at the subconscious level. We know weight related issues are not just about diet and exercise. Stress levels and emotional wellbeing all play a part. SFH incorporates relaxation techniques and stress reduction strategies to help you manage and overcome stress effectively. Reducing stress levels helps to lower stress hormones such as cortisol which can increase fat storage. When our stress levels are lower, we are less likely to do things that negatively affect our weight goals such as overeating or eating overly processed foods. SFH also helps us to change our outlook by helping to improve self-esteem and confidence by reinforcing positive thoughts. Visualising these during our sessions we actively develop a more positive self-perception which contributes to long-term reported happiness and weight management success. While there is no quick fix for weight management, SFH provides the positive mindset which will help motivate you towards your goal and to also feel more positive in all areas of life. Here at Topaz Health, we offer a unique combination of SFH and neuroscience- based coaching to help you achieve and maintain healthy changes throughout lifes everyday challenges. If this is something you would be interested learning more about then contact me on 07974 095011 or email me at [email protected] to book a complimentary discovery session. As far back as I can remember, I have been a people pleaser, but my first memory of true anxiety was when I started dance college. Completely stepping outside of my comfort zone, away from the path my school friends had taken and into a world where everybody else seemed so cool, calm and together. The anxiety has come in waves since then, I had bad moments and good moments, but I always managed to push through it and never let it stop me doing the things I wanted in life. I refused to let it paralyse me into avoiding the things that made me truly happy. Then I had a baby. I was so cool and calm during pregnancy. Throughout my twenties, I had developed coping strategies of yoga, reiki, meditation and carrying crystals to keep myself calm and centred (it was a bit of a running joke with friends that I was a secret hippy!), and I carried this on throughout my pregnancy. I enrolled in hypnobirthing sessions and sat back and waited to be the cool calm mummy I wanted to be. Fast forward 4 years and I look back at my pregnancy wistfully, wishing I could be as calm now as I was then. Postnatal anxiety is not talked about as much as postnatal depression, but it is a thing and it hit me hard. Throughout the 4 years of my little boy's life, it has come and gone in waves. Sometimes I felt like I had a lid on it, but more frequently I felt constantly paralysed with fear that something bad was going to happen to him. I met Suzi when she booked in for a Reflexology session with me, and during her session we began talking about her work. The mention of Hypnotherapy piqued my interest and in the back of my mind I knew it was something that I needed to try. I started off with eight weekly sessions with Suzi. I had no idea what to expect, as all I had known of hypnosis in the past was the comedy acts you see on tv or in holiday resorts. I wasn’t even sure that I “could” be hypnotised, but to be honest, by this point, I was willing to try anything to help myself feel better. A session with Suzi always starts with listing the positive things that have happened that week. In the past, I have always prided myself as being a positive person, but speaking to Suzi made me realise I had been slipping into quite a negative mindset, which is so easy to do without realising. Listing positives seems like such a simple thing to do, but I found that doing this each week during my session really trained my mind to focus on all the good things that were happening around me. After this, we would talk about how my week had been in general and set goals/tasks that centred around little things that could improve my all round general well-being. After this we go ahead with the relaxation. I have done a lot of guided meditations in the past and in the beginning, this is what hypnotherapy mostly felt like. I sat back, tried to clear my mind, and let Suzi’s words sink in and relax me. Afterwards, I felt calm and very sleepy - I almost never want to wake up and leave the room once the session is finished! After a few weeks of these sessions, I realised I was feeling calmer and less stressed. I started to realise that, although the sessions felt similar to my guided meditations, the repetition and the wording of the relaxations were most definitely having an effect on the workings of my mind, and each time I went, I was sinking into an even deeper “trance”. Towards the end of my eight weeks of sessions, there was definitely a breakthrough moment, where I could really start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It took a lot of baby steps to get there, but those weeks of baby steps made a huge change to the workings of my mind and my ability to deal with stressful situations. I now see Suzi roughly every two weeks, and she keeps me on the straight and narrow! Would I say my anxiety has gone? No, in a way a small part of it is who I am. But I am in a much better place than I was at the end of last year. If I feel those thoughts and worries spiralling out of control again, I know that a session with Suzi will leave me feeling calmer and back on track. Guest blog written by Chloe from Reflexology by Chloe. If you would like to contact Chloe, you can reach her here: [email protected] Suzi Gibbs-Chalmers, Wellbeing coach, shares her mental health focus with The Hunts Post. “I am a great believer that we all have mental health issues but no one needs fixing - we just need to sometimes take a look at our life experiences.” These are the words of wellbeing coach Suzi Gibbs-Chalmers, from Brampton, who is supporting The Hunts Post's We Need To Talk focus on mental health. Suzi, who runs Topaz Health Training, is set to launch a new coaching room in Huntingdon once restrictions ease. She has more than 20 years’ experience in health and fitness; having worked alongside Huntingdonshire District Council and the NHS. “I really got interested in how emotions and feelings lead behaviours and have an impact on mental health,” she explained. “You can have had a fantastic upbringing but inherited a value that could be holding you back from moving forwards in life. “I am a great believer that we all have mental health issues but no one needs fixing; we just need to sometimes take a look at our life experiences.” Suzi, who has tutored for leading fitness industry trainers, offers tailored sessions to her clients who may be struggling with their mental health. Her calming approach lets people explore the best ways to cope if they are finding certain situations difficult, but also the importance of improving their physical health too. “There is so much research on how physical symptoms we experience can be caused by mental health,” Suzi said. “For example, if we’re experiencing a lack of sleep then the body cannot heal or recover the way it should. “Meditation is a great way to bring awareness to what we may be feeling". “If you sit in silence and breathe deeply it’s amazing how that can be really calming, so then when you have a challenge to face that can really improve how you handle it. “I think that people are aware that they need to get regular exercise and take time to rest but they just find it difficult to actually do certain things as something may be holding them back. “They know that they need to change but they are just struggling with it.” Topaz Health provides a safe space to help people overcome challenges and limiting beliefs to achieve their full potential. Suzi also volunteers for the CALM Town initiatives in St Ives helping to reduce depression and loneliness within the community. While Suzi hasn’t been able to officially open the Topaz Health office in Huntingdon yet, she has still been able to support people struggling in lockdown and even set up a help group for women during menopause. Suzi has continued has also continued to provide her clinical case work for the NHS and pick up shifts for the ambulance service. “Everyone is managing the best that they can right now,” she said. “But it can be hard when you have no control over the situation. All age groups have been impacted in different ways. “It’s been heartbreaking for people not to be with loved ones, especially if they have lost someone.” Her tips to help people feel well during the coming weeks include get a daily dose of nature and keeping connected with friends.
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