Zest magazine, June 2007
THE THERAPY: Hypnotherapy
THE GUINEA PIG Tabitha McDonald, 29. She's been smoking for 15 years and gets through ten to 20 cigarettes a day.
WHAT DID IT INVOLVE? 'The session started with a 45-minute chat about what to expect and why I wanted to stop smoking. I explained that I wanted to quit for health reasons and that my main trigger is boredom - cigarette breaks punctuate my day and I consider my mid-morning and mid-afternoon cigarettes rewards for hard work. I also socialise with smokers a lot, which doesn't help. The hypnotherapist, Lisa Jackson, explained that hypnosis works by implanting suggestions into your unconscious mind that you no longer want to smoke. The session started as I expected, with Lisa telling me I was feeling deeply relaxed. I went into a trance and the next thing I recall is being counted out of my hypnotised state - quite spooky!'
DID IT WORK? 'Much to my surprise, it really did! Despite going on a group holiday with six smokers, I've managed not to smoke for a month. I did feel a little grouchy for the first few days, and I'm fidgeting a lot, but find that every time I think of having a cigarette, an image of a sad, old, wrinkly smoker pops into my mind - which must be down to the hypnosis!'
Prima Baby magazine, January 2008
FORGET THOSE TV BIRTHS
Birth doesn't have to be like an episode of ER. OK, so these types of births make the best TV, but the majority happen with a lot less drama. After all, women are designed to give birth, and have been doing so for many, many years. If you want to get back to basics and tune into your natural birthing instincts, a course in HypnoBirthing might appeal. HypnoBirthing aims to give women the confidence that they can give birth naturally, and teaches breathing, hypnosis and visualisation techniques to help them do just that, explain HypnoBirthing teachers Lisa Jackson and Michelle Pearson. This was something that proved a big help to Claire Arnold, 22, from Dunstable, when she gave birth to her second baby, Adeleine, now 6 months. 'I'd had a difficult first birth, but learning HypnoBirthing techniques really helped my fears. I felt in control during labour, and trusted my body. The pain did not register until Adeleine was crowning,
at which point I felt some burning. One more push and she was born!' says Claire.
BREATHE WELL
HypnoBirthing teachers suggest slow and deep breathing during 'surges' - the HypnoBirthing term for contractions - where you breathe in deeply to a quick count of 20, and out deeply, again to a quick count of 20. 'Breathing like this helps to maximise blood flow and oxygen to your uterus and creates space in your abdomen so that the muscles of your uterus can dilate your cervix more easily,' explains Lisa.
DON'T EXPECT PERFECTION
When it comes to delivering your baby, things don't always go exactly to plan, and taking special antenatal classes or learning to breathe right doesn't guarantee a pain-free or perfect birth. 'It's impossible to have total control over how your birth works out, but you can control how positive you stay, and how you respond to things,' explains Anja. That's something Maria Mitchell, 30, from Croydon, learnt when she gave birth to her son Caleb, now 8 months. 'For most of the birth I used the breathing and visualisation techniques I'd learnt on a HypnoBirthing course to help me feel calm and in control. But then Caleb got stuck and I had to have an epidural and forceps delivery. Even though that wasn't part of the plan, the skills I'd learnt stopped me from panicking. It could have felt traumatic, but I really don't have bad memories of the birth.'
Croydon Advertiser, January 2008
... Lisa's approach complements a single hypnotherapy session with an in-depth interview, a breathing technique and mental distractions. She said: 'I try to give clients practical strategies to handle situations they usually associate with smoking. For example, calling a friend or indulging in a fun pastime - whatever the individual prefers'... Lisa makes it sound easy, but she used to smoke 40 a day and knows it's anything but... 'I know exactly how the smoker's mind works and I know it's possible to recondition yourself so you don't [want to smoke],' she said.
Pregnancy & Birth magazine, February 2008
MIND YOUR LANGUAGE
'In HypnoBirthing we never refer to contractions,' says hypnotherapist Lisa Jackson. 'We call them surges. And we never say pain, we say pressure or tightening. If you use gentle, less negative terms, your expectations will be more positive and so will the outcome.'
TALK TO YOURSELF
'Give yourself a positive affirmation you can repeat every day,' says Lisa. 'For example, 'My baby's birth will be easy because I'm relaxed.' You may feel a bit silly, but the message will sink into your unconscious mind and, when it comes to B-day, you'll feel calmer and more in control of the pain.'
USE YOUR IMAGINATION
'It may sound a little bit kooky, but try to imagine your vagina slowly opening like a lotus blossom, with the soft petals unfolding around your baby's head,' says Lisa. 'If you can get this peaceful image fixed in your mind, you'll be more likely to relax your vagina to allow your baby's passage through it. Relaxation also encourages the production of the hormone oxytocin, which stimulates your uterus to contract.'
Zest magazine, May 2009
The Independent, 11 August 2009
Enjoyment and variety are key to exercising, says multiple marathon runner and former fitness-phobe Lisa Jackson
Best magazine, 12 May 2009
THE TREND: HYPNO-DIETING
WHO FOLLOWS IT? Lily Allen, Liz McClarnon, Courtney Love
Lily Allen credits hypnotherapy for dropping from a size 14 to a size 8, splashing out £300 per session at a Harley Street clinic. "After the hypnotism, I want to go to the gym every day, or I feel really bad," she says.
Former Atomic Kitten Liz McClarnon says hypnotherapy turned her off crisps and help her drop to a size 8/10: "I used to eat four packets a day. Now I feel I just don't want them," she explains.
And Courtney Love praised hypnotist Paul McKenna for helping her lose weight: "He's repsonsible for me staying so skinny. When I feel my resolve weaken, I see Paul for a hypnosis session."
VERDICT? "Hypnotherapy is effective here, but it does this by reinforcing changes you already want to make," says hypnotherapist Lisa Jackson. "The motivation to lose weight has to come from you."
Zest magazine, February 2008
ANTI-AGEING HYPNOTHERAPY
WHAT IS IT? The treatment involves using hypnosis to reduce your stress levels and alter behaviour that may cause premature ageing.
WHAT DOES IT INVOLVE? First, the therapist asks about your diet and lifestyle, so that she can establish if you do anything that could be prematurely ageing you. Next, she helps you go into a trance before teaching you self-hypnosis (you're meant to do up to 20 minutes twice daily at home), which is surprisingly easy to pick up. Then the hypnotherapist implants skin-enhancing habits, such as wearing an SPF daily, drinking less alcohol and eating antioxidant-rich foods. She then asks you to imagine a number of scenarios, from tiny antioxidant soldiers combating your free radicals, to seeing yourself with your skin looking its best. At the end, you wake feeling relaxed and refreshed. A minimum of three sessions is recommended.
WHO'S IT GOOD FOR? Best for those who have unhealthy habits that need breaking or a hectic life, as stress is a major contributing factor to the ageing process and hypnosis is extremely relaxing.
DOES IT WORK? 'This is a lovely treatment but you have to do self-hypnosis to permanently change your habits, and that takes discipline.'
Zest magazine, May 2006
'I CURED MY DENTAL PHOBIA WITH HYPNOTHERAPY'
'I've been terrified of going to the dentist since I was a child, when a nurse held me down while I was having a filling,' says Tamsin Larcombe, 27. 'As an adult, I avoided going for years and eventually found one who offered intravenous sedation. But being heavily sedated to have a filling seemed ridiculous, so I decided to go for hypnotherapy. In the session, the therapist and I made a list of what I feared about it, starting from the least scary situation and working up to the worst. She then put me in a trance, described each situation to me and asked me to imagine myself feeling calm. When I was able to visualise the scenario without feeling fearful, we moved on to the next. I went to the dentist a week later and it was amazing. I had a filling with no sedation and I was finally able to control the fear.'
Tamsin visited Quiet Medicine Clinical Hypnotherapy in London (www.quiet-medicine.co.uk).
Zest magazine, September 2006
HAVE NO FEAR...
Does your flying phobia stop you getting on a plane? Do spiders make you cry? Try one of these alternative cures...
HYPNOTHERAPY
HOW DOES IT WORK? 'A technique called hypno-desensitisation is used,' says hypnotherapist Lisa Jackson (www.quiet-medicine.co.uk). 'The patient visualises the aspect of their phobia that evokes the least anxiety (such as seeing a photo of a spider). When they can do this and feel calm, another, slightly scarier scenario is visualised. It's increased until they can imagine their fear anxiety-free.' For info, visit www.bsch.org.uk.
Best magazine, May 2008
'Undergoing hypnosis is also an excellent option to go for when trying to give up smoking, and can be hugely effective. "It's the most successful way of quitting, according to the largest-ever study of ways of breaking the habit," says hypnotherapist Lisa Jackson... "In the session you're helped to become deeply relaxed, and this enables your hypnotherapist to make habit-breaking suggestions to your unconscious mind, where your behaviour patterns are stored. When you wake, your conscious mind will carry out these suggestions and you won't want to smoke."
Slimming World magazine, August/September 2009
... 'I'd suggest you try something called the talk test to check your pace,' says Lisa Jackson, co-author of Running Made Easy (Collins & Brown, £9.99). 'If you can still talk fairly comfortably while you're running, you're going at the right speed for a beginner. If you're gasping for breath and unable to get any words out at all, you're going too fast and need to slow down.'
'I really believe in giving myself regualr treats for completing runs or reaching goals,' says Lisa Jackson. 'They make you feel great and help you build lots of positive associations with running. One of my favourites is to have a shower with my Body Shop Pink Grapefruit body scrub - the scent has become like the smell of success to me, and I really love using it after a run.'
Croydon Guardian, 3 December 2008
'... The premise[of HypnoBirthing} is that, by teaching deep relaxation methods or using hypnosis, the fight-or-flight response that would divert blood away from the uterus is reduced. This means the uterus is able to function optimally. This apparently results in far less discomfort and quicker births (by up to three hours in the first stage, during which the cervix dilates). Lisa said: 'Most couples remark on how they experienced far less pain during labour and how they felt in control during the entire process. Even women who have had to have a Caesarean have said how the hypnotic techniques they learned helped them stay calm when they had to make difficult decisions.'... Lisa and Ian Russell, parents to James, said: 'We are happy to say that we had a really great birthing experience. We went into the birthing pool at 1am. James arrived three hours later. We can honestly say that the HypnoBirthing training really helped us to stay calm and in control. The breathing, the CD and most of all, the light touch massage that Ian did so tirelessly for many hours, all made the pain manageable.'
Slimming World magazine, March/April 2009
Make up a simple rhyme or mantra to use when you're exercising, to help create a positive feeling and focus, and kick any negative thoughts into touch. Choose something fun - how about 'I am fit, I am strong, I will look good in my thong!' suggests Lisa Jackson, clinical hypnotherapist. 'Repeating something like this to yourself lays down a new neural pathway in your brain, which your unconscious starts to believe.'
Slimming World magazine, January/February 2009
SEPTEMBER: Up the pace
Now that your fitness is improving, chances are you're feeling ready for a new challenge, and some walk/run sessions are a brilliant idea. Don't freak out at the word 'run' - you actually start with ultra-slow jogging, and only for 60 seconds at a time. 'It's the very easiest, most gradual way to get into running. The idea is to do 60 seconds, take a good long walk to recover, then repeat,' explains Lisa Jackson, co-author of Running Made Easy (£9.99, Collins & Brown). The book features a 10-week plan that slowly helps you to build up your running times. It suggests running for 60 seconds, walking for three minutes, then repeating this pattern three more times, and doing this Monday, Wednesday and Friday of your first week.
Harper's Bazaar magazine, April 2010
What is it about running? We love the idea of it - the appeal of being outside and able to exercise wherever and whenever we like. So why are we so reluctant to pull on our running shoes? `It's because we're naturally wired to avoid anything that uses energy,' says Lisa Jackson, a hypnotherapist specialising in working with athletes. `We have to learn to trick our minds into getting on with it.'
BREAK YOUR RUN INTO CHUNKS Stop halfway to stretch, or try Jackson's trick of mentally halving the distance: `More than 30 minutes is long for everyone, so tell yourself it's a 15-minute run, then turn around and come home - of course, it's another 15 minutes back, but it works every time.'
IGNORE THE `TOXIC 10' `It's so common for the first 10 minutes of your run to hurt, the professionals even gave it a name,' says Jackson. `Take no notice and run through it.'
DISTRACT YOURSELF `Counting backwards is a classic, but planning your supper or window-shopping work just as well,' says Jackson.
Prima Baby magazine, January 2010
'I HAD MY BABY AT HOME'
Suzy Doyle, 33, from Carshalton, Surrey, describes the birth of Sophie, now nearly 5 months.
2.30am 'A day before my due date, I started to get a dull tummy ache, like mild period pain, every 20 minutes. I sat on the bed practising my HypnoBirthing breathing.'...
9.45am 'Natalie, my doula, arrived. She kept me focused on my HypnoBirthing breathing and gave me some lavender oil on a tissue to inhale with each contraction.'...
11.30am 'With Natalie's help, I got out of the pool and back on my knees with my head resting on the sofa. My body seemed to go completely still for a few minutes and I felt very calm.'
12 noon 'Within three or four contractions Sophie was born, weighing 7lb 6oz. The midwives caught her and passed her to me, while Steve cuddled us both. I just kept looking from Sophie to Steve. I felt so happy, amazed and proud.'
Women's Running magazine, February 2010
Croydon Advertiser newspaper, 13 August 2010
MUM TALKS JOYS OF PAINLESS 'HYPNOBIRTH'
SARAH'S MIND OVER MATTER EASES LABOUR
Sarah Abay shunned hospitals and any pain relief, choosing to give birth to her twin boys at home with only meditation and relaxing music to soothe her. What is more, the 34-year-old mum says she did not feel even the slightest twinge of discomfort. She puts this down to HypnoBirthing - the practice of using self-hypnosis, visualisation and breathing techniques to relax and reduce pain. Sarah gave birth to Barnaby, who weighed 7lb 13oz, and Gabriel, who weighed 8lb 4oz, on Monday night... with her labour taking just three and a half hours.
'My friends and family thought I was mad, but people have been naturally giving birth for hundreds of years without needing hospitals or drugs,' she said. 'I wanted to be in a relaxed, comfortable environment and I was adamant that I was going to be at home. Everyone seems to have a horror story about giving birth but this wasn't really painful - all I could feel was pushing.'...
For the couple, who consulted Addiscombe-based hypnotherapist Lisa Jackson, the birth was a quiet affair. Chris said: 'Sarah didn't scream or moan once. Because she was meditating throughout the birth the midwives and I stayed quiet and would talk about what to do next, like checking heart rates, outside so as not to distract Sarah. No one was shouting at her or telling her to push, it was a fantastic environment.'...
Croydon University Hospital's deputy head of midwifery, Sue Stock, was one of the midwives at the birth. She said: 'We always support home births but we haven't had anyone choose to give birth to twins at home in the last seven years.' 
To read testimonials from some of Lisa Jackson's patients, click here.