Are you looking for a new and exciting career? Maybe just want to find out more about hypnosis and how it can work for you? 

Then have a look at our website for more info! 

Based in MidKent College Gillingham, we have limited spaces left for next year. 

​www.kich.co.uk

A few weeks ago, I met the wonderful Rosie! She was such a sweetie pie. She came in with her mum and was very worried about dogs. But once we had done a session or two, her confidence soared - so much so, that the next day she went into the playground and she petted a friends dog! 

The next few weeks passed, and Rosies mum gave me a lovely update - she said:

"Hi Emma an update on Rosie. Tonight she went round her friends house after school, who has a dog. She sat at the table most of the afternoon with the dog at her feet! It's amazing what you've done for her to get her completely over this fear. Thank you!" 

What a star you are Rosie!! Well done. 
​

The exciting news is that I have my own range of professional hypnotherapy recordings. I bet you didn't know! You can find them via this link. :) 

http://www.kenttherapyclinic.co.uk/store/c1/Featured_Products.html

#kenttherapy

For years scientists and psychologists alike have realised the mind body connection exist. Freud, in the 1800's was a pioneer in matters of the mind, who forged forwards with the idea that the subconscious mind could control the functions of the body in ways we just hadn't realised until then. 

He established the connection between neurotic behaviour and physical illness. It was an amazing and exciting discovery, which led him to be one of the most influential psychoanalysts in history. In fact, it was Sigmund Freud who pioneered a technique that therapists would use, world over, even to this day.
That technique is called "free association".  

Freud discovered that if you could get a patient to go back to an originating cause of their symptom, and re-live it in their minds in such a way that they cleared the original "locked" emotion, the physical symptoms, or the behaviour changed immediately. The neurosis was gone and the patient remained well thereafter. 

So think then, how powerful the mind is in this regard. If you think in a certain way, it can negatively effect your whole body structure. On a lesser scale, you may suffer from minor illness, such as migraines, back pain, IBS, eczema, high blood pressure. But on a much more detailed level, it is known that every fibre and cell of our entire being is affected by stress and mindset, therefore catastrophic illness may also be as a result of our environment and lifestyle, but also our inner dialect. 

How can we start to heal ourselves and stop this negative cycle in its tracks? How do we remain in a healthy mindset and in turn gain better health as a result? 

Imagine for a moment how you speak to yourself.  That voice in your head that advises you as you go about your daily business. 

What kind of things does that inner voice say? Does it tell you "You are amazing!" or "Wow, great job!"? Or is it more likely to tell you "That was a stupid thing to do." or "You are not capable!"? 
​
Quite often it is our upbringing which has influenced the way we think about, and talk to ourselves. Sometimes cruel people around us say things or are spiteful on purpose. If we get brought up in an unsafe environment, it can hinder our health when we get to be adults. Sometimes though, it is the most well meaning people who can influence the inner voices in our mind. Teachers, Doctors, Grandparents and other influencing adults can mistakenly implant negative self believe systems.

What we tell ourselves has the most impact on our lives. I ask my clients at Kent Therapy Clinic, if you were to look in a mirror and see a younger version of yourself, say, that little girl or boy at 6 years old, how would you talk to that child?

Would you criticise and verbally beat them up? Would you tell them "You're no good, you're stupid"? Or, are you more likely to tell them "I'm here for you...I love you...you are awesome!"

When you begin to change those root belief systems, your body can be so much stronger. 

I have seen people come to me at 200lb+ because their relationship with food is wrong. They have learnt to hide away behind years of junk food, they may have diabetes or high blood pressure. Sometimes, what's led them to that point is their unhealthy relationship with their past. We cannot change what has gone before, but we can start to think about it in a different way. 

I have treated many medical conditions; IBS, Chronic Pain, Eating Disorders, Psychosexual Difficulties, High BP, Skin Conditions, Depression and Anxieties, Panic Attacks, Fears, Phobias and a whole lot more using the clients own wonderful and extremely powerful mind body connection. 

If you are interested to find out more about how hypnotherapy and psychotherapy may help you, please visit my website www.kenttherapyclinic.co.uk 

Author: Emma Evans

So, a couple of weekends ago, we held our annual graduation ceremony. Usually we do it in the college. The college has a lovely restaurant. But unfortunately, this time they had a major gas leak so we couldn't use their venue. |

Off to Pizza Express we went instead! A good time was had by all and it gave us the opportunity to congratulate our newest therapists into the hypnosis fold! 

Our students worked diligently over 10 months (one weekend a month) and completed hours of practical work and homework. They worked hard, but the feedback was that they enjoyed every minute! Here are some photos of our 2015/16 students in class and at their graduation. 

Well done to you all!!

​www.kich.co.uk

As of today I am going to be doing a weekly "Ask Emma" featured question. Please PM me with any questions you might have or anything which may be on your mind. 
We all have times where we just have a nagging doubt about something, or wish we could just ask an opinion on some kind of minor issue. Well, now you can!  

To maintain your total anonymity and confidentiality, no names will be mentioned, and I'd advise that you don't comment if you see your question popping up on the page! That way, you remain completely anonymous. :) 

I will welcome other followers to comment, but I will remind you that this is a therapy page and therefore, any answers must be given in a kind and considered manner - or you will be deleted. 

I wonder what kind of question I will get first! 

Follow me on www.facebook.com/kenttherapy 

Fancy training for a professional diploma in Hypnotherapy and psychotherapy? If you live in Kent you can join us at MidKent College on a weekend course! One weekend a month, for ten months.

We run a successful and popular training school. KICH Hypnotherapy Training is a professional and comprehensive course that will train you to a recognised and accredited level so that you can become a self employed therapist in 10 months! 

Follow in the footsteps of our previous students to become competent therapists within a world that is both exciting and profitable. Many therapists earn £50 an hour upwards! 

This might be your opportunity to change career, or simply learn more about yourself and those around you. Past students have told us that it changed their lives in unimaginably, making them truly understand people and the mind in many different ways. 

If you'd like to find out more please visit www.kich.co.uk - there you'll find all the info you need to make the right decision to choose our course. Next course starts in May 2016

We love a good success story here at Kent Therapy Clinic, and this one made us beam with pride! 

This bright and lovely young lady came to therapy because she had the worst phobia of dogs. No one could really pinpoint when it had started, but she knew she had suffered with it since she could remember and she was 11, so it was beginning to really affect her street cred!! 

It was affecting all kinds of parts of her life in such negative ways! 
 
She could not walk past dogs without totally freaking out and would hysterically cry if one got anywhere near, even if they were on the opposite side of the road. Her mum told me that she could spot a dog when no one else could even see it; she was always on high alert!  

She couldn't go to her Granddads house without fearing his dogs, which had led to him building an area in his garden where the dogs could get shut away when she came round. But she still couldn't go in the garden without fearing the dogs. 

It was stopping her going to birthday parties, sleepovers, events with friend and families and even once stopped her playing with her dad and brother on the beach. 

She was off to secondary school, and would be walking with her friends, with the potential of having to face dogs on route, so she decided enough was enough and she would try hypnotherapy to help. 

She arrived with her mum and quickly settled into the session. Such an intelligent girl, she described beautifully just how awful this issue was for her and how much she wanted to like dogs! 

We did two sessions, she embraced the therapy brilliantly and she immediately started to feel better. A few days after the second session, I received a message....of her STROKING A DOG!! 

What a HUGE success she is! 

Well done to such a lovely young lady!! (There is even talk of perhaps getting a dog of her own!) 

Lucie Low is a 13 year old child, from Medway in Kent, who, until recently was a healthy and happy school girl. She was going to school with her friends and socialising like any other 13 year old and began to get pain in her abdomen. At first doctors treated her for constipation but it soon became evident that her condition was worsening when she lost 14 Kilos in weight in just 2 weeks. 

Eventually she was submitted to hospital in excruciating pain and it was diagnosed that she was suffering from a rare condition called superior mesenteric arterial syndrome. 

This leaves her in continual pain 24 hours a day 7 days a week, and she is in need of specialist care. 

We are raising money for her parents to be able to seek medical help from the private sector, the NHS are saying there's not much more they can do for her except pain relief. We feel that if she can see a specialist in this condition, there may be some relief for this beautiful child. She is fast losing hope. 

If you would like to help, you can donate via this link: http://www.gofundme.com/HelpLucieLow

The image below is Lucie before her illness.

Please help by donating and sharing this with your friends. The more help she can get, the faster she can be treated!!

Caution: the video below of Lucie in pain is distressing. 

It's that time of year again, where we start to get lots of enquiries for our April course. http://www.kentinstituteofclinicalhypnosis.co.uk - you could be one of our students for next year - so have a look :) 

Any time we let someone else’s actions or words or even lack of actions hurt or offend us, it is us who is allowing that process to happen. 
So silly when you come to think of it isn’t it? 
We are giving that person the power to upset us! We put all of our happiness onto them, and if they don’t do as we think fit, we them blame them for our unhappiness.  

Any time that you put all of your happiness into someone else’s hands, you are asking to be disappointed. There will always be a time or an event which will come along and upset or disappoint you. 

Better then, to take control of our own lives. Making sure that we make ourselves happy and then whatever anyone else does around us we can simply choose not to allow it to affect our happiness in any way. 

It sounds far more complicated than it is. Essentially, what it all boils down to is a willingness to accept that, for the main part, people are in their own world, living inside their own heads, without much thought for us at all. Therefore, we can allow them to live in exactly the way they see fit, without taking anything personally or trying to make their behaviour all about us. 

This incredible story of achievement against adversity is awe inspiring, the revelation around half way through the video is both shocking and fantastic at the same time. 
Just watch, and please like on Facebook :) 

Author Emma Evans

This post is a follow up to the previous Smear (pap) Test one I did. 

If you've had a smear test come back as abnormal, the following explanation may just answer a lot of your questions regarding what that means. Please do read the previous post which can be found here: 

http://www.kenttherapyclinic.co.uk/blog/cervical-smear-pap-test-abnormal-results

So, you've got the diagnosis of abnormal cervical cells and as I stated all over the last article, because I really want you to listen....that quite possibly means that it's NOT cancer, but abnormalities created as a result of a very common virus called the Human Papillova Virus or HPV for short. 

YOU SHOULD NOT PANIC if you get a letter saying you have an abnormal smear test or if they state you have low grade or high grade dyskaryosis. In my previous article I talk all about the absolute horror of getting that letter through the post which states any of the above. It can really upset women and make them terrified of the implications. 

In simple terms; HPV is a sexually transmitted infection. However, before you fear the worst (that your other half has been messing around behind your back!) it's a really common virus effecting almost ALL sexually active men and women at some point in their lives. There's no shame in having it. It can be caught at any part of sexual contact via skin to skin contact. So that means, all types of sexual intercourse including normal, oral and anal sex. 

It's not choosy, it just likes everyone! It's a little like herpes in as much as it stays within your system for years and can remain dormant. There are over 100 variants of the virus and most are not harmful. 

Many people contract the virus and don't ever have any side effects. The body fights it off and they never develop any illnesses as a result. Some contact the version that leads to genital warts, and some get the strain that can cause cancer. The type of HPV virus that causes genital warts is not the same as the one that causes cancer.

So - what can you do about HPV? Well, as the illustration suggests YOU are the key to not getting cancer of the cervix. Regular smears are the only way to prevent abnormal cells turning into full blown cancer ones. Cell changes are often referred to as Dyskarosis.

• Borderline or mild cell changes (low grade dyskaryosis)
• Moderate or severe cell changes (high grade dyskaryosis)
• Often referred to as CN1, CN2 and CN3 changes depending on the severity.

And just to reiterate.....anyone who is sexually active can get HPV, even if you have had sex with only one person.

In anyone who has had multiple partners, it could have been your first sexual contact, the latest one or any in between.  Our children in the UK are now being vaccinated against this virus because almost all kinds of cervical cancer are caused by a strain of HPV.

Once you become sexually active, you need to go for your smear tests because by far the best way of never getting cervical cancer is regular screening and treatment if abnormal cells are found! 

HPV can also cause other cancers including cancer of the vulva, vagina, penis, or anus. It can also cause cancer in the back of the throat, including the base of the tongue and tonsils (calledoropharyngeal cancer).

The good news is that HPV cell changes are slow. Really slow. So chances are, if you discover any cell abnormalities, a quick treatment is all you need in order to get rid of them! 

Below is a very unartistic diagram I drew to show the progression of HPV into cancer. I hope this will settle some nerves and give you some hope that even if you have been diagnosed with abnormalities, as long as they've found them early enough, there should be no reason to think you have cancer. 

I hope this article and the one before helps some of you. I work with people who have either had, or are currently being diagnosed with cancers of all kinds. Fact is 1 in 4 of us will contract cancer at some point. Being on top of it is the key. Even if you don't have symptoms, DO get your pap smear tests done! 

Author Emma Evans

An easy to understand guide to your pap smear test results (in plain English!!)

As part of my job, from time to time I have to support someone who may be facing cancer or is awaiting a cancer diagnosis.  With 1 in 4 people getting cancer of some kind during their lives (often perfectly treatable and non-life-threatening) therapists do see a fair share of clients who are recovering or have just been diagnosed.

Recently I had experience of a cervical cancer scare. I did a LOT of research for this particular case and I figured that some of the information that I found out may be really helpful for other women who are possibly going through a similar situation.

Firstly, when you go for your smear, it may not be the most pleasant experience in the world, but hey, 5 minutes with someone poking about in your insides has got to be better than the horror of a full blown cancer diagnosis. Especially when you consider that almost all cases of abnormal cells found CAN be treated if they are found early enough, as was the case of my recent client. 

Smear tests (pap smears) really aren’t anything to worry about.

So what’s the score with the smear test? Well, let me explain them in simple non-scientific terms.

At your smear you’ll be asked to take of your clothing from the waist down, you then lay down on a medical couch, the nurse or doctor will cover you over usually with a towel, and then off they go.

They use a speculum, which looks like this: 

It’s not as scary as it looks. I always think it looks like a funny duck, but anyway, it’s just an extending tube type device, this is covered with some kind of lubricant & then gently goes inside of your vagina and allows the person doing the smear to have a clear view of the opening of your cervix. It’s important they can see inside so that they can collect cells from the opening of your cervix to check to see that everything is ok. It shouldn’t hurt at all when they put it in, you might feel a little pulling, but that’s about it.



Then they use a tiny brush to collect the cells on your cervix. The brush usually looks like this: 

The bristles of the brush are soft. The most you will feel is some pressure and an odd feeling – like a scraping or a tickling sensation. Some women report feeling this as a bit of a sore feeling but you’ll be glad to hear, it’s done within seconds!

That sample of cells then gets packaged and sent off to a lab for analysis.


So, you’ve been for your smear and between a week to 30 days later you should get a letter from the NHS (if you are in a different country this may vary) to say your smear test is clear – which basically means there’s nothing to worry about.  If you do not receive your letter from the NHS you MUST – I repeat MUST follow it up with a phone call to your GP. It is not unheard of for these tests to go missing in the process, so if you don’t get a letter – check, check and double check.  I cannot stress enough how important it is that you find out the result. 

Remember my client?  She came to me after she had attended her smear. She thought that because she hadn’t heard anything she was ok.  Four years on, she went for another smear and this showed a cancerous growth. This is rare – I stress that because it truly is rare to get full blown cancer of the cervix – but it can happen if you don’t get checked regularly enough or don’t get the warning that something is up! Anyway, lets carry on.

If your test comes back borderline, this usually means either something went wrong with the test so they need to re do it, or it was not conclusive. In either of those cases you will be advised if you should leave it until the next smear, or you have to go back for another.

There are a number of other results that can be daunting at first so I am going to explain them here because so many women are understandably terrified when they see the words “abnormal results”.

Abnormal test results quite often DO NOT mean you have cancer. Now, I know that’s easy for me to say and right about now, if you are reading this because you’ve done a search, chances are it’s because you’ve read those dreaded words “abnormal cell changes” or "mild to moderate dyskaryosis". I understand that this has probably put you into a complete tail spin, fearing the worst and you may be feeling dreadful. 

But let me assure you, abnormal cell changes can just mean that the lab has picked up some variant from “normal” cells and you need further investigation. It also means that you have usually caught them at a time when they are treatable. If these are left untreated then you have a risk of developing cervical cancer. So as you can see, early detection is essential.

A few facts:
 

• More than nine out of ten screening results are negative and around one in 20 show mild cell changes called mild dyskaryosis. 
  

• Dyskaryosis just means cell changes.  
  

• For most women with mild cell changes, the cells will go back to normal without treatment. 
  

• One in a 100 test results show moderate cell changes (moderate dyskaryosis) and one in 200 show severe changes (severe dyskaryosis). If your results indicate that you have cell changes, you will be sent for colposcopy to investigate further.
  

• It is extremely rare for cancer to be diagnosed from a cervical screening test. Less than one in a thousand women’s test results show invasive cancer.
  

Ok – so a recap; mild, moderate or severe dyskaryosis can be picked up on your smear test. I repeat to you though lovely lady; this does not necessarily mean you have cancer, so please, take a nice deep breath and try not to panic.  No, don’t try not to panic – JUST DON’T PANIC!

These cells are almost always treatable!

I understand that’s its as scary as hell. I truly do. I’ve seen enough clients who are in a hysterical mess because of that letter. One piece of paper that even states on it somewhere that it doesn’t mean you have cancer – but they still come to me, petrified.

The next step after the abnormality letter, is to wait for an appointment to have a colposcopy.

A colposcopy is a procedure where someone who is trained in gynaecology and most importantly, cell changes, will have a proper look, probably paint a solution on to your cervix and look for any cell changes. It can be a specialist, a consultant or a specially trained gene nurse who does your colposcopy.

This procedure can identify how severe the changes are (how wide spread) and also, by taking a biopsy, the lab can then test to see what kind of cells you’ve got. 

The cells are classified as:

CN1 - mild changes, these cells can often just resolve themselves believe it or not! Sometimes they just go away. But if you have them, chances are they’ll send you on your way, tell you not to worry too much and re-test you with another smear in around 6 months to a year.

CN2  & CN3 – moderate to severe changes. In these cases the specialist will probably want to do some treatment. Depending on the surface area or how deep the cells have gone, there are a number of relatively straight forward removal methods.

If your doctor or specialist nurse finds an area of abnormal cells, you may have treatment there and then, or they may make you another appointment to have treatment in a few weeks time.

Usually a simple procedure can be done called a LLETZ (Large Loop Excision of the Transformation Zone). This means cutting out the area of the cervix where the abnormal cells develop. This sounds much scarier than it is. It is a quick 5 minute procedure that is pretty painless. The transformation zone means the area just inside the cervical canal. 

LLETZ is the most common treatment used in the UK. It is simple and quick to carry out, works really effectively and can be done under local anaesthetic. They take this sample of your cervix a clear tissue sample for the laboratory to examine. There are quite a few other treatment options, including laser, cold coagulation and cone biopsy, and these can work equally well.

Sometimes the doctor or specialist nurse cannot see clearly enough because the abnormal cells go further up into the cervical canal than can be seen with a colposcope. If they cannot see all the cells that are abnormal you may need a cone biopsy.

A cone biopsy is a minor operation that you usually have under general anesthetic. You will probably stay in hospital overnight.

While you are under anesthetic the doctor cuts out a cone of tissue from your cervix. The cone includes the whole area of the cervical canal where there might be abnormal cells. The cone of tissue is sent to the laboratory for examination under the microscope.

In both cases, they are straight forward procedures that may be slightly uncomfortable afterwards, but apart from slight period pains (and not being able to have sex for 4 weeks, or wear tampax) usually you will not get any other negative effects and usually that’s all you will need in order to clear the effected area.

Remember; the good news is, even if you have pre-cancerous cells, and even if you have lots of pre cancerous cells, it often STILL doesn’t mean you have cancer.

Cancer of the cervix usually takes many years to develop – somewhere between 6 and 10 years in fact.

BUT if you don’t go for your smear, you don’t know if there are early changes – so you really must do that – unfortunately the Jade Goody effect has evaporated, with one in four women missing their last cervical cancer screening test! Don’t risk it being you with that awful letter landing on your door mat.

Please look out for my next article explaining why cervical cancer develops and explaining HPV. Oh, and if you’ve enjoyed reading this jargon free explanation of abnormal smear test results, please do pass it on. You can share it on social media or email it to your friends. But whatever you do, please make sure YOU are the one who gets checked regularly. 

Author Emma Evans

Hello blog - haven't been here in a while. I've been so busy lately, seeing lots of clients and not having much time out. But I love my job, I enjoy seeing all of the different clients that come to see me, so all is great!

Our year two hypnotherapy/psychotherapy course at MidKent College is going well. Lots of enthusiastic minds all learning how to become fab therapists! If you're ever interested in training to become a clinical hypnotherapist, have a look at the website, it's a fascinating career to develop. www.kentinstituteofclinicalhypnosis.co.uk

I'm seeing so many stressed out people - mainly work stress at the moment which is very effectively  treated with hypnosis. Also a number of people with relationship issues. It seems that people are finding things hard right now in all areas of life. But I can help people start to sort through their issues and eventually become a lot less stressed or worried. You don't have to be bogged down with life all of the time, there IS help. 
Call me to make an appointment. 07979 330395