Why do I do what I do…
What if the hardest part of a serious health diagnosis isn’t the diagnosis itself, but the waiting, the uncertainty, and the overwhelming anxiety in between?
I recently made a decision to refocus my work, to provide emotional support and anxiety management for people who have experienced a cancer diagnosis. I teach hypnotherapy and EFT tapping to enable people to manage stress and anxiety differently, giving them tools to feel calmer, challenge unhelpful thinking, and find their footing when the ground has shifted beneath them.
This is an area that I have wanted to work in for a number of years as I can clearly see how the strategies and coping techniques that I teach people would be of immense value for people going through these challenges in their lives.
In my own life, I have experienced on a number of occasions a medical situation that has flung the family into stress, anxiety and worry.
The anxiety begins to build when the first sign appears – maybe your body is experiencing unusual symptoms of some kind and you need to seek urgent help, perhaps you find something unusual in your body or you go for a routine test. Your brain starts whirring, ‘what does it mean?’, ‘what is going to happen?’, ‘what if it’s bad news?’
I have sat in hospitals waiting for news, worrying about what they will say and I have watched people’s stress levels visibly climbing while they wait for answers, wait for medication, wait for the next scan or test to be done. When I have been in these situations I have found hypnotherapy and EFT tapping to be incredibly useful, using them myself, but also teaching simple strategies to my family to help them to manage the situation better.
The delivery of health services does not prioritise management of stress and anxiety, and in some cases, we might even feel that it is designed to increase them! We can all understand that it is important to know what we are dealing with, what the pros and cons of different approaches to treatment might be and what the potential outcomes are that we could be facing. But often, this type of information does not help to generate a positive mindset, rather the opposite! When the brain is already in threat mode, all this information can send anxiety spiralling in ways that nobody in that building has time to address.
On the other hand, there is great deal of research to demonstrate that patients who can maintain a positive frame of mind during treatment can cope better with the treatment. Hypnotherapy and EFT tapping are both excellent techniques for achieving this, they can be learned by anyone and they are tools that you then have for life! My own lived experience has shown this is true.
What I offer in my approach to emotional support for people with a cancer diagnosis is a range of tools and strategies that are tailored to each individual and their own particular circumstances to enable them to reduce worry and anxiety, to deal with any uncomfortable fears or side effects and to face life after the completion of the treatment with hope rather than fear.
I have volunteered at our local cancer support charity for a couple of years, teaching hypnotherapy and EFT tapping and I’ve seen for myself the difference that they can make to many different kinds of people. And not everyone has access to support services such as these, yet all people deserve the chance to get support if they want it. This is what my programme can offer.
My emotional support programme isn’t just for the person who has the cancer diagnosis, but for their family as well – if they need it. Your family may feel they need to hide their own fears because they don’t want to cause additional upset. And the person with cancer may not be able to talk about their feels as they exactly are for the same reason! Having a neutral person to talk to and who will show they whole family better ways of coping more effectively can make a huge difference.
I know what it feels like when:
🎗️ You are given a diagnosis and your whole world tips upside down, whether that comes after weeks of worry or completely out of nowhere
🎗️ You feel scared and anxious about the road ahead… the treatment, the procedures, the unknown
🎗️ You struggle to sleep because your brain won’t switch off
🎗️ You wonder if you’re strong enough to cope with what’s coming
🎗️ You’re exhausted from holding it together for your family while feeling raw and vulnerable underneath
You don’t have to go through this on your own – let me help.
If you would like to book a free call with me to talk about his further, use this link:
