In this interesting report scientist say that your personality is a factor to how you age, and indeed how long you live. 





​How we interact with people is very much based on who we are as a person, so working on improving our personalities can only be good for everyone.

Please do get in touch if you would like some help for something you would like to work on. I can do sessions over the phone or on video-link. 

So, as the Coronavirus, or Covid-19 to give it's official name, continues we are witnessing panic from some members of the population. This is causing many to start stocking up on 'essential' products which only encourages more people to do the same. We are wired to copy others if they are doing something different. If a group of people run past you looking scared, automatically your fight,flight,freeze part of the brain takes over, and you join in with the panic. But you don't have to. This article helps explain why we react in a similar way in a crisis and ways you can stay calm so you don't join in. The more calm people there are around the more people will feel calm.

Feed the fear or feed the calm. you decide. 

If you are struggling to stay calm and need some help in coping, please get in touch.

This article was first posted on Merryfield Hypnotherapy.

With today's world of instant communication it's no wonder so many people are having confidence issues. Within seconds of posting a picture or a comment online a response can be given, and we always take more notice of the bad comments than we do the good. 

This article helps you understand why we act this way and suggests methods that may help you deal with it better.

But, I'd like to ask a question; Should we stop caring what people think about us? 

I don't think we should. We just need to be better at whittling out the ones that matter and the ones that don't. What I mean by that is, if someone you love or trust says something to you that you don't like, then I think we SHOULD take notice of what is said. As these are the people that are saying these things for a reason other than just because they think it's fun! They are trying to tell you something, something they think is important, and I believe this is when we should listen and discuss. All the nasty comments by people we don't know or don't care about can be put in the bin and forgotten about. It's just bullying and we don't want to encourage them by giving them a reaction they can play you with. 

Confidence is the key. If you are confident with your own self, with whom you are and what you represent then you will be able to deal with the bullying types with ease. Equally you will be able to deal with the constructive criticism from someone who has your best interest at heart. 

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy is brilliant at helping you improve your confidence. The process can help you understand why people have said what they've said, and be able to deal with it without letting it get to you. It can help you find out who the true you is, understand what you're good at, as well as finding out what you could improve on.

If you need help with your confidence please get in touch via the email or phone number above or via the contact page.

This article first posted on Merryfield Hypnotherapy.

There is a lot going on at the moment. What with the Coronavirus, the crazy weather and the ongoing Brexit uncertainty, let alone what may be going on in your personal life. 

We need to find a way to cope and this article talks about being real about how you feel. A lot of us hide how we feel, or pass off a "How are you?" question with an "I'm fine thanks" when, in fact we are not fine. 


There's nothing wrong with saying how you feel, and there's nothing wrong in feeling the way you do. What is wrong is not talking about it to someone.

This doesn't mean we should offload everything onto anyone who asks us how we feel and nor will being miserable all day because we feel miserable help either. It's more about recognising things are not the way you want them to be, and then doing something about it. 

If you feel low, admit it. Even just to yourself. Then do something about it. Change something. Talk to someone who you trust. Book an appointment with your doctor or call 111 and talk to a health professional for advice. Call a friend. Put some music on that makes you smile. Go for a walk in the park. Restart an old hobby. Take your dog for a walk or stroke a cat. Push yourself to do something. Remember, if you change nothing, nothing will change

Be real about how you feel, don't lie to yourself about your emotions, do something that helps.
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​This article first appeared on Merryfield Hypnotherapy.

This video is from the excellent Uncommon Knowledge team and helps explain depression. Hypnotherapy can help with this so please get in touch if you need some help with this debilitating condition.

Sleep is important, as we all know. We need sleep to feel energised the next day and to help our bodies repair and recover. 

Sleep is also important for brain health.

In this article, (posted on wired.com) the statement “Sleep is actually a very distinct function” resonated with me strongly. I remember when I was recovering from my stroke that I needed plenty of sleep. I understood sleep was important to enable my damaged brain learn to cope and start rerouting signals around the damaged area. I embraced sleep and accepted its purpose.

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It has also been suggested that people who have long term sleeping problems are more at risk of developing Alzheimer’s and other brain based diseases.

Are you having problems sleeping? Hypnotherapy can help. Please get in touch to find out more.

This article was first published on Merryfield Hypnotherapy. 

This time of year it's very common to feel overwhelmed.

It could be due to how much was given to you during the festive season or it could be to do with how much YOU gave. Quite often it can be due to financial worries, after spending more in December how can I pay the bills in January?


This article from the Havard Business Review gives helpful tips that can assist you with coping better during this time.


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One of the tips is to Challenge your assumptions. It explains that by focusing on failure this only helps you feel worse and by doing so it could be easy for it to spiral out of control and lead you into a full anxiety attack or depression. 

This is where Solution Focused Hypnotherapy (SFH) is so good. SFH helps you focus on the solution instead of the problem. It helps you come up with a plan to help move forward instead of staying where you don't want to be. It helps you see hope instead of despair. 

If you feel you need some help and you think SFH will help you, please get in touch.

Happy New Year.

This article first appeared on Merryfield Hypnotherapy 03.01.2020  

Yesterday (Saturday 30th November 2019) I attended the first AfSFH Conference. It was held at the Novotel in Victoria Street, Bristol.

The event was attended by over 100 Solution Focused Hypnotherapist from all over the country and it was great to meet up with colleagues I hadn't met before. Also great to meet friends I had endured training with or met previously at Supervision sessions.  

I attended 5 presentations during the day, two of them from Dr David Hamilton. I had seen his books many times when searching for reading material that would help enhance my knowledge and skills but had never attended any of his talks. I was impressed. He engaged me right from the start and it was fascinating hearing what he had to say about the Placebo effect and, later on, how Kindness helps us become healthier and live longer. 

Deborah Pearce helped give me a kick up the rear when I attended her Marketing talk and the always entertaining Rachel Gillibrand reminded us of the science that backs up what we do. I also found Andy Workman's talk on Body Language really interesting too, giving me encouragement to learn more.

All in all it was a fabulous day, extremely well organised (thank you to the exec team at AfSFH) and thank you to Novotel for you excellent hosting and catering. I'm already looking forward to the next one.

This post first appeared on Merryfield Hypnotherapy. Photographs by Julie May and Anne Wyatt and used with permission.

So, we're halfway through Alcohol Awareness week. How are you doing? How are you managing? Is temptation becoming stronger? Is it a real challenge for you and are you finding it easy?

Awareness days or weeks are great for doing just that, making us aware of what we are doing or thinking. The problem comes after they finish. We tend to go back to our previous habits. We blame stress, anxiety, living for today, or sorts of excuses to justify why we went back to our old ways. 

The bottom line is we should be aware of everything we do at all times. Even if we are doing something too much or too little. Being aware of what we are doing means we are doing it through choice rather than habit. We are deciding to continue with the current pattern until we decide otherwise.

My mother passed away recently and I know I started drinking more alcohol afterwards. I like alcohol and usually have a few drinks at weekends and occasionally during the week. I know the risks and accept them. I like to think I am managing it and, most of the time I think I do. However, there are times when I've had a drink when I've given in and poured myself a second one, even though I knew it wouldn't be in my best interest. Then later I've been disappointed with myself because I'd done so. 

Before I registered it was Alcohol Awareness Week this week I had already decided to reduce my intake. I know I can do it as I've done it plenty of times before. I don't want to give it up as it's part of my life that I enjoy, and I shouldn't need to providing I take care of my drinking now. Making sure it doesn't get out of hand will go some way to help myself continue to enjoy alcohol in my later years. Unfortunately I have lost a number of friends over the years because they couldn't (or wouldn't) keep themselves in check. I don't want to wait until I'm told that I have to give up something due to my poor health. I'm responsible for what I do and I choose to look at the bigger picture.

Hypnotherapy has helped me in this. I don't actually have hypnotherapy but once I learned how the brain works and understood the reasons why I make bad choices It helped me. To be fair I was always reasonably sensible before I learned all this (anyone who knows me well will attest to this) but it certainly helped me further. Now I have a better understanding of the need to speak to myself in the correct manner, to avoid setting myself up for failure by using the correct words and thoughts.

If you'd like some help with changing your thoughts and habits to help yourself feel more in control please do get in touch.