#StrokeMonth
I know you’re thinking, so how can hypnotherapy possibly help a stroke? Well it can in a number of ways.
Adopting a healthier lifestyle
Most strokes are preventable and there are at least six things you can do to reduce your risk:
- 1) Eat a healthy diet
- 2) Stay a healthy weight
- 3) Drink minimal levels of alcohol
- 4) Increase exercise
- 5) Stop Smoking
- 6) Manage your medical conditions
And hypnotherapy can help reduce stress and therefore reduce problems like hypertension, which can lead to aneurysms. It can help people gain control over their eating, drinking and smoking habits, and focus on a happier and possibly more productive life.
I have seen stroke victims at close quarters. My grandfather had a stroke when I was 7 and he was never the same again. It disabled him and for a short time he was helpless as a baby. It robbed him of his dignity and his independence. The cause was smoking, which is why I have never smoked. The same is happening to my mother at the moment. Her strokes are possibly the result of a physical condition where her immune system has turned upon her. For years she’s had high blood pressure due to a problem with her kidneys and the mini strokes she’s had means she cannot retain any information, so it’s as if she has dementia.
But hypnotherapy can help after strokes. We now know that the brain is very plastic and it can re-grow with practice. We also know you don’t actually have to do the movement for the brain to retrain, just think it.
I was called in to work with a lady who had suffered a massive stroke after having a gastric band fitted. It had caused a clot that went to the brain and caused such a major stroke she was in a wheelchair. Unable to walk, dress or eat and drink properly she was waiting for a deep brain penetration operation to try and get the part of the brain that produces the body’s natural pain killers to kick in. This inner part (possibly the thalamus) had been damaged and it meant she was in so much pain she had to have morphine several times a day. It was horrendous. She couldn’t swallow and they would only do the operation if she could, so her family was desperate.
Knowing about brain plasticity, I worked with her over several weeks, just getting her to imagine sipping ice cold drinks with condensation dripping down the sides whilst relaxing on a tropical beach. When she was most relaxed I suggested she imagine herself taking the medication that was needed. 3 weeks in, she swallowed it down on her own with no problem and when the doctors re-scanned her brain it had changed. They were astounded at how fast it had been. The part of the brain that controls swallowing had been damaged, but with the relaxation and visualisation I had helped her change her brain.
So if you know someone who has had a stroke and is feeling stressed by the whole thing, then hypnotherapy could be a fantastic way of dealing with it.
To find out more of how solution focused hypnotherapy could help you or a family member then go to my website at: https://www.oxford-hypnotherapy.co.uk/downloads/download-ebook/
Disclaimer:
Hypnotherapy is effective, however results may vary and success in not guaranteed. Full client commitment is important. Please read FAQ’s for more details.
Penny Ling is a widely experienced hypnotherapist who has worked with everyone from top executives to stroke victims since 2007. She has been editor of Hypnotherapy Today Magazine and is a supervisor and mentor for members of the AfSFH and NCH.
Read Penny’s inspiring story “How I beat all my phobias”, or find out more how hypnotherapy could help your problem by downloading “How Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can help with life”. Feel free to send Penny a message here.