RELAXATION THERAPY FOR CHRONIC INSOMNIA

Relaxation therapies are based on the premise that patients with insomnia display high levels of physiologic and cognitive arousal throughout the day and night.
Positron emission tomography has shown increased cerebral metabolism of glucose in patients with insomnia. Relaxation therapies are meant to deactivate this hyper-arousal.
Table below provides a list of relaxation techniques and definitions.
Most therapies can be self-administered by patients after initial professional guidance and regular practice over several weeks.

Relaxation Therapies

TECHNIQUE	COMMENTS
Autogenic training	Imagine a peaceful environment and comforting body sensations, such as warmth and heaviness in the limbs, warmth in the upper abdomen, and coolness on the forehead
Biofeedback training	Visual or auditory feedback is provided to the patient to control chosen physiologic parameters. Contact me if you are interested in biofeedback services.
Hypnosis	Contact me if you want to experience an unique,exclusive,customized, personalized self hypnosis session in Malaysia.
Imagery training	Visualization technique with focus on pleasant or neutral images
Meditation, abdominal Breathing	The goal of meditation is to focus and quiet your mind, eventually reaching a higher level of awareness and inner calm.
Paced respirations	Take a deep breath and hold for five seconds, repeat several times; focus on the sound of the breath
Progressive muscle relaxation	Tense and relax large muscle groups; usually begin with the feet and work your way up to the facial muscles
Repetitive focus	Focus on a word, sound, prayer, phrase, or muscle activity

Source: American Academy of Family Physicians http://www.aafp.org/afp/2009/0115/p125.html#afp20090115p125-t4

Success Story (Depression and Insomnia - Miss T)

If you think you may have insomnia, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you wake up during the night and find that you cannot fall back asleep? 
• Do you lie in bed, tossing and turning for hours each night? 
• Do you dread going to bed because you feel like you never get a good night’s sleep? 
• Do you wake up feeling unrefreshed after sleeping? 
• Does the problem occur even though you have the opportunity and the time to get a good night’s sleep? 
• You are suffering from depression?
• It takes you more than 30 mins to fall asleep?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, then you may have insomnia. If you’ve had insomnia for more than three weeks (chronic insomnia), consider booking an appointment with a therapist.
Let's me share a testimonial that I get from my clients, this real story tell you how she improve her insomnia problem after doing her clinical hypnotherapy and EEG biofeedback therapy with me.

.................................................................................................................................................................

My client: T (22 years old), primarily came to see me for her stress issues. She has been diagnosed with depression and was prescribed with the antidepressants as well as sleeping pill by her Psychiatrist. However, She stopped her anti depressant and sleeping pill after using them for 3 weeks as she felt that she could not sleep even with the sleeping pills and she feels a lot more blur and slow in response after the antidepressants.
Her problem has influenced her life since she was young until to the extend that she had to stop herself from continuing her study due to her lack in  focus and emotional issues.
Upon analyzing her unique brainwave patterns and her response toward clinical hypnotherapy, I found that most of her brainwaves pattern (especially those brain locations which associated with focus, logical thinking, verbal expression and attention span) is under-arousal/weak.

Her brainwaves pattern is the reason why she was having problem as below:

1. Depression symptoms
2. Self harmful thoughts
3. Insomnia
4. Bad sleeping quality
5. Negative thoughts
6. Inability to express confidently
7. Poor focus and attention span

Treatment Plan:
A customized self-hypnosis method was planned for her; She was guided on how to do self hypnosis effectively while her brainwaves was monitored. For the first session, 2 hours was spent with her to deal with her depression symptoms, negative thinking and self harmful thoughts issues.

Following is the result obtained:

After the first session, she confessed that it was the first time ever that she felt so calm and relaxed. She complied to practice her customized self hypnosis technique for positive thinking once a day until her next visit.
Two weeks later, the follow up session was carried out.
Following are the changes that she experiences after the 2 weeks practice of self hypnosis:

1. Positive thinking
2. More optimistic
3. More confident to speak
4. Ability to let go of past event
5. Begin to look forward for a better future
6. Less self harmful thoughts
7. Become less anxious and stressful
8. Become relax and calm 
9. Response speed increased

For her 3rd session, her objective is to improve her sleep quality and deal with her insomnia problem so that she can improve her overall life quality as well as her health condition. I guided her to do a customized self hypnosis technique for sleep and following is the result obtained:

During the session, she was able to fall asleep by doing her customized self hypnosis technique for sleep alone! As you can notice her Delta brainwaves for sleep increased after she did her self hypnosis technique (See the red cursor on the graph above) and her Hibeta was decreasing further too.

Upon the completion of the clinical hypnotherapy session, she came back to do EEG biofeedback therapy to improve her attention span and focus issue.
She shared her joy and improvement on the relevant issue. She found the following positive changes in her life after the therapy session:

1. Feel more motivated to live better
2. Easy to wake up in the morning, feeling refreshed
3. More alert 
4. Increase in the respond speed
5. Improvement in sleep quality (Able to sleep by doing customized self hypnosis and without the use of sleeping pill)

Remark:

Before she started the clinical hypnotherapy session, her depression screening test showed a score of 29 (Category: moderate to severe depression). After 3 sessions of clinical hypnotherapy, she now had a score of 9 (Category: none to mild depression).

Remark: Our client's information will be kept strictly confidential all the time. All reviews have been acknowledged and provided by past and current clients of (Clinical Hypnotherapist Koo). Clients names have been changed to protect their identity. 

Success Story (Insomnia - Mdm Wong)

Success Story (Insomnia - Mdm Wong)

I have been having insomnia for the past few months. It is usually triggered by an involuntary jerk during sleep. I do not know the cause of its occurrence, hence underwent MRI and EEG Scanning.

The result from the MRI scanning showed that I had been suffering from slip disc. However that cannot be the cause of my insomnia issue. On the other hand, the EEG scan revealed that I have some unusual spikes near my temporal lobe area.

Upon the release of the result, I decided to try the TCM method. Therefore I signed up for Acupuncture and took on some Chinese medication as well. I also tried physiotherapy; Ultrasound.

I also went to Singapore for further consultation and the doctor revealed that I had neuralgia issue.

Therefore, he recommended me to do laser therapy to stabilize my nerve.  However, I decided not to undergo this process as I was worried about the side-effect that it may cause and the cost was ranging to about RM 20,000.00

Finally my husband convinced me to give a try on Clinical Hypnotherapy. I think it’s not a harm to try and my husband told me that the clinical hypnotherapy that he found was through a website and he choose this therapy because it is convincing, professional and it gives him a sense of confidence.

Although the location was in Kuala Lumpur and we stay in Johor, we didn’t mind to travel weekly for the session since there was a need. The uniqueness about these therapy session was that they actually combine brain trainer with clinical hypnotherapy to deal with my issue. Surprisingly, just after 6 session, my family member and I saw the significant changes in me.

My husband also told me that I became more stable emotionally. No more depression and anxiety. And my behaviour became normal again.

From my personal view, I also found that I became more stable emotionally and had less negative thought. In addition, I also realize that I became more positive now. I am no longer afraid to sleep anymore. This is a significant improvement to me because I can finally experience good sleep again. I have also learnt how to relax and remain calm at night. I managed to do so because the Clinical Hypnotherapist also taught me ‘How to cope with stress, anxiety, and fear by using effective relaxation technique.’

Now, my next goal is to deepen my sleep quality. I will continue to use clinical hypnotherapy, brain trainer and Serumi Ion service to enhance my sleep quality.

By Madam Wong

 






Remark: Our client's information will be kept strictly confidential all the time. All reviews have been acknowledged and provided by past and current clients of Spectrum of Life proactive healthcare centre (Clinical Hypnotherapist Koo). Patients names in stories are changed to protect their identities.

Sleep disorder-Insomnia

Definition 
Insomnia is a persistent disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, hard to stay asleep or both, despite the opportunity for adequate sleep. With insomnia, you usually awaken feeling unrefreshed, which takes a toll on your ability to function during the day. Insomnia can sap not only your energy level and mood but also your health, work performance and quality of life. How much sleep is enough varies from person to person. Most adults need seven to eight hours a night. Many adults experience insomnia at some point, but some people have long-term (chronic) insomnia. Insomnia may be the primary problem, or it may be secondary due to other causes, such as a disease or medication. You don't have to put up with sleepless nights. Simple changes in your daily habits can often help.  

Symptoms 
Insomnia symptoms may include: 

• Difficulty falling asleep at night 
• Awakening during the night 
• Awakening too early 
• Not feeling well rested after a night's sleep 
• Daytime tiredness or sleepiness 
• Irritability, depression or anxiety 
• Difficulty paying attention, focusing on tasks or remembering 
• Increased errors or accidents 
• Tension headaches 
• Distress in the stomach and intestines (gastrointestinal tract) 
• Ongoing worries about sleep 

Someone with insomnia will often take 30 minutes or more to fall asleep and may get only six or fewer hours of sleep for three or more nights a week over a month or more.  

Causes
Common causes of insomnia include:

• Stress. Concerns about work, school, health or family can keep your mind active at night, making it difficult to sleep. Stressful life events — such as the death or illness of a loved one, divorce, or a job loss — may lead to insomnia.
• Anxiety. Everyday anxieties as well as more-serious anxiety disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, may disrupt your asleep. Worry about being able to go to sleep can make it harder to fall asleep.
• Depression. You might either sleep too much or have trouble sleeping if you're depressed. Insomnia often occurs with other mental health disorders as well.
• Medical conditions. If you have chronic pain, breathing difficulties or a need to urinate frequently, you might develop insomnia. Examples of conditions linked with insomnia include arthritis, cancer, heart failure, lung disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), overactive thyroid, stroke, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.
• Change in your environment or work schedule. Travel or working a late or early shift can disrupt your body's circadian rhythms, making it difficult to sleep. Your circadian rhythms act as an internal clock, guiding such things as your sleep-wake cycle, metabolism and body temperature.
• Poor sleep habits. Poor sleep habits include an irregular sleep schedule, stimulating activities before bed, an uncomfortable sleep environment, and use of your bed for activities other than sleep or sex.
• Medications. Many prescription drugs can interfere with sleep, including some antidepressants, heart and blood pressure medications, allergy medications, stimulants (such as Ritalin), and corticosteroids. Many over-the-counter (OTC) medications — including some pain medication combinations, decongestants and weight-loss products — contain caffeine and other stimulants.
• Caffeine, nicotine and alcohol. Coffee, tea, cola and other caffeine-containing drinks are well-known stimulants. Drinking coffee in the late afternoon and later can keep you from falling asleep at night. Nicotine in tobacco products is another stimulant that can cause insomnia. Alcohol is a sedative that may help you fall asleep, but it prevents deeper stages of sleep and often causes you to awaken in the middle of the night.
• Eating too much late in the evening. Having a light snack before bedtime is OK, but eating too much may cause you to feel physically uncomfortable while lying down, making it difficult to get to sleep. Many people also experience heartburn, a backflow of acid and food from the stomach into the esophagus after eating, which may keep you awake.

Insomnia and aging

Insomnia becomes more common with age. As you get older, you may experience:

• A change in sleep patterns. Sleep often becomes less restful as you age, and you may find that noise or other changes in your environment are more likely to wake you. With age, your internal clock often advances, which means you get tired earlier in the evening and wake up earlier in the morning. But older people generally still need the same amount of sleep as younger people do.
• A change in activity. You may be less physically or socially active. A lack of activity can interfere with a good night's sleep. Also, the less active you are, the more likely you may be to take a daily nap, which can interfere with sleep at night.
• A change in health. The chronic pain of conditions such as arthritis or back problems as well as depression, anxiety and stress can interfere with sleep. Older men often develop noncancerous enlargement of the prostate gland (benign prostatic hyperplasia), which can cause the need to urinate frequently, interrupting sleep. In women, menopausal hot flashes can be equally disruptive.
  Other sleep-related disorders, such as sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome, also become more common with age. Sleep apnea causes you to stop breathing periodically throughout the night. Restless legs syndrome causes unpleasant sensations in your legs and an almost irresistible desire to move them, which may prevent you from falling asleep.
  
• More medications. Older people typically use more prescription drugs than younger people do, which increases the chance of insomnia caused by a medication.

Sleep problems may be a concern for children and teenagers as well. However, some children and teens simply have trouble getting to sleep or resist a regular bedtime because their internal clocks are more delayed. They want to go to bed later and sleep later in the morning.

Treatments

Behavior therapies

Behavioral treatments teach you new sleep behaviors and ways to improve your sleeping environment. Good sleep habits promote sound sleep and daytime alertness. Behavior therapies are generally recommended as the first line of treatment for people with insomnia. Typically they're equally or more effective than sleep medications.

Behavior therapies include:

• Education about good sleeping habits. Good sleep habits include having a regular sleep schedule, avoiding stimulating activities before bed, and having a comfortable sleep environment.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy. This type of therapy helps you control or eliminate negative thoughts and worries that keep you awake. It may also involve eliminating false or worrisome beliefs about sleep, such as the idea that a single restless night will make you sick.
• Relaxation techniques. Progressive muscle relaxation, biofeedback and breathing exercises are ways to reduce anxiety at bedtime. These strategies help you control your breathing, heart rate, muscle tension and mood.
• Stimulus control. This means limiting the time you spend awake in bed and associating your bed and bedroom only with sleep and sex.
• Sleep restriction. This treatment decreases the time you spend in bed, causing partial sleep deprivation, which makes you more tired the next night. Once your sleep has improved, your time in bed is gradually increased.
• Remaining passively awake. Also called paradoxical intention, this treatment for learned insomnia is aimed at reducing the worry and anxiety about being able to get to sleep by getting in bed and trying to stay awake rather than expecting to fall asleep.
• Light therapy. If you fall asleep too early and then awaken too early, you can use light to push back your internal clock. You can go outside during times of the year when it's light outside in the evenings, or you can get light via a medical-grade light box.

P/S: Positive effects of behavior therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy can be deepened when combined with clinical hypnotherapy. Biofeedback is a holistic non-invasive training tool for your brain and overall well-being, why don't you try it too? Contact us now for more information.


All retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/insomnia/basics/definition/con-20024293

自我催眠以帮助失眠

催眠疗法治疗失眠是应用一定的催眠技术使人进入催眠状态，并用积极的暗示控制病人心身状态和行为的一种心理治疗方法，通过正性意念来消除焦虑、紧张、恐惧等负性意念。

　　要想拥有安稳的睡眠，必须内心安宁平和。多数失眠者患的是“失眠担心症”，开始时是偶然事件造成的偶然睡不着，后来则是因为担心失眠而导致失 眠，越失眠就越担心，越担心就越失眠，形成恶性循环并深陷其中无法自拔。催眠治疗就是要消除这种紧张担心的条件反射。治疗在温馨舒适的环境中进行，伴随着 优美的音乐，治疗师一方面用专业轻柔的语言，引导来访者进入深度放松状态，一方面引导其体验深度放松的感觉，让来访者在意识清醒状态下真切地触摸到入睡的 感觉，并学习掌握跟这种入睡感觉建立连接的方法，使来访者对入睡建立信心，消除对失眠的焦虑。对于担心失眠者来说，只要消除了紧张担心的感觉和条件反射， 内心安宁了，睡眠自然就正常了。

　　催眠疗法对失眠有非常高的疗效。在催眠师语言的诱导下，能使患者达到全身乃至心灵深处的放松。催眠师的循循诱导，能使患者摆脱所有影响睡眠的症 结;再通过一针见血的语言指令，使一切造成压力、紧张、不安、挫折的因素得以宣泄，深层的病因被催眠师消除，从而能使患者体验到心身放松的快感和愉悦。只 要经常体验这种松弛状态，那么恢复正常的睡眠功能那是指日可待的事情了。

　　身体疾病导致的失眠，也可通过催眠疗法进行辅助治疗。潜意识对调节和控制人体的内分泌、呼吸、消化、血液循环、免疫、物质代谢等均起着很大作 用。身心灵是一体的，当内心充满了焦虑紧张等消极情绪时，体内会有大量的P物质和去甲肾上腺素释放，使全身血管收缩，气滞血淤，各种身心疾病由此产生。而 人在喜悦、大笑、回忆幸福的体验时，会有大量的脑啡肽的分泌，这种脑啡呔的止痛能力超过自然吗啡的二百倍之多,是人体内部主要的止痛系统。如果在催眠状态 下不断地强化积极情感、良好的感觉以及正确的观念，消除焦虑紧张等消极情绪，人脑中枢神经也会分泌大量的脑啡肽，不但有止痛作用，而且让人内心感到安详宁 静，从而改善睡眠质量。

自我催眠能帮助失眠？

夜裏無法入睡、做夢支離破碎、醒來比睡去更累，失眠的心病可以靠催眠醫治；本港一項研究發現，催眠治療能令失眠患者每晚多睡一小時，連帶抑鬱及焦慮症狀也大幅減少六成。

記者：張嘉雯

今年40歲的 Jenny，兩年前開始失眠，每晚只能睡三、四小時，尋求精神科醫生治療不果，「最初生完 BB，返工壓力又好大，眼光光望住天花板要一、兩個鐘先瞓到，成日發噩夢俾人追殺、炒魷魚，腸胃好唔舒服，成日肚屙」。
任職會計的她，更因日間無 法集中精神，工作出錯，「計錯數，老闆畀現金我，我又唔見錢，好大鑊 o架嘛，要自己賠番錢出嚟」。她接受兩個多月的催眠治療，結果少了噩夢，腸胃不適次數也由每周一、兩次減至每月一次。

助進入鬆弛狀態

香港復康會適健中心和港大行為健康研究中心在2009年5月至去年8月，進行整合式催眠治療對繼發性失眠的成效研究，發現37名參與催眠治療的人士，入睡 所需時間由原來平均42分鐘減至21分鐘，平均睡眠時間由少於六小時增至多於七小時，抑鬱及焦慮症狀的比率由原來的83.8%及91.7%，下降至 17.1%及26.5%。
香港復康會適健中心註冊社工尹婉萍指，每五個港人就有一人受失眠困擾，若每晚超過半小時未能入睡、中途「扎醒」超過30分鐘、較慣常早醒超過一小時，以及睡眠後好像沒有睡過一樣，情況持續超過一個月，每周出現兩次或以上，即可算失眠。
本 身是認可催眠治療培訓導師的尹婉萍解釋，催眠治療師會協助當事人進入鬆弛狀態，使潛意識更容易接收正面、積極的訊息，紓解困擾、消除負面思想；傳統催眠由 催眠師作出提示，整合性催眠治療不一樣，「唔一定（幻想）去沙灘或者郊外，由佢自己去搵番啲令佢安靜嘅平台，令自己舒服有力嘅嘢，好似開心嘅生活片段，由 佢哋自己畀個提示自己」。整個治療需要三至七節，在一至兩個月內完成。

催眠助入睡步驟

1.找一個舒適位置躺卧或坐下來

2.閉上雙眼深呼吸，以鼻吸氣，以口呼氣，每次呼氣時放鬆全身

3.重複深呼吸三、四次，想像自己到了一處美麗而舒適的地方，內心向自己發出提示，如「我可以攤唞一陣」或「我享受此刻舒服自在的感覺」

4.若有煩擾的片段出現，內心向自己發出提示，如「由得佢啦」

5.再進行深呼吸一、兩次，就可以自然入睡

資料來源：香港復康會適健中心

http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/news/art/20110221/14995952

[治疗小插曲]惯性失眠

惯性失眠，怎么说呢？

最近的案例，一位失眠的顾客非常忧心。

他无法安心的睡觉，也常常睡不好，使得身边的人都很担心他。

在我调查后发现，他的失眠或许不起自生理因素，而是心理因素。

生病后的他，生活无法自理，也无法做喜欢的工作了。

这些种种原因或许导致他渐渐变得焦虑和害怕。

然而当大家发现他严重失眠的问题后，

再次给与了他许多关心和照顾。

这或许成为了他惯性失眠的重要因素。

他需要的不是安眠药。

但极可能是绝对没有副作用，

那份简单又珍贵，取自家人的关心和爱护。

当我为他做临床催眠疗法时，

脑波显示他的确可以放松，但却睡不着。

这让我分析出他所面对的真正原因。

他的失眠，极可能来自他的心理因素而不只是生理问题。

于是，我要求其家人配合，展开一些疗法。

希望他很快就可以不再依赖安眠药。

我知道，他做得到。

* 以上案例已获得顾客许可为醒觉与教育用途。