It’s been a manic few months but I thought it worth letting you all know exactly what I’ve been up to in glorious Dubai!

To be honest, I’ve been totally blown away by the reception I’ve received here and the amazing work I’ve been carrying out with clients.
People have been flooding to my Facebook page to tell me the changes they’re experiencing – it’s really been quite emotional truth be told!

“Going to Russ Hemmings is life changing. So far it has been the best decision ever. He transforms people in the most amazing way. He has helped me a lot in my journey and since then I never looked back.”
Maryangeli 

“I’m a lot more focussed and am really motivated and excited to go for a workout now! I thank you for the individual attention you show me and all your clients.”
Avan 

“Let me start with a HUGE thanks for the quality time you spared with us yesterday  and I could sense the change in my son’s attitude immediately”
Suresh

The United Arab Emirates has a huge prevalence of diabetes and that is all down to poor diet, lack of exercise and expanding waistlines. Recent stories reveal that the UAE has the second highest prevalence of diabetes in the entire world. Shockingly around 20 per cent of the UAE population could be living with it and 50 per cent of those may not even know.
BUT it is preventable and I am in Dubai to help start making that change and help people halt this ticking health time bomb once and for all.

So what else has been happening?
Well, this week I have also appeared on the country’s premiere TV channel Dubai One and was interviewed by lovely presenters Tom Urquhart and Aishwarya Ajit (above) about weight loss issues and how hypnotherapy can make those changes for good.

And Sam Alderwish’s success story, who has featured here on the blog before, has also featured in top Dubai magazine Friday – I Thought Myself Thin. Sam continues to get fitter and fitter and just looks the picture of health now. She’s almost unrecognisable from the woman who walked into my UK clinic last year.

It’s that time of year again – National No Smoking day – when many thousands of people make the pledge to stub out cigarettes once and for all.
They want to save themselves money, regain their health and quit the habit once and for all.
But of course it’s never that easy for some. Statistics show that more than a million people will be trying to quit today. But even more shocking statistics show that every year around 1000,000 people die in the UK from smoking-related causes.
It’s just not that easy to stay away from a habit that has become a constant battle in your life.

So what can you actively do to help yourself?
Making that decision to give up is a big step in itself, because you’ll never give up unless your heart is truly in it.
But in order to be successful, and not one of the thousands who give up and go back to smoking, you need to follow a few steps to make it easier for yourself.

1. You can quit. Yes, even YOU!
It doesn’t matter how many cigarettes you smoke and for how long you’ve done it, you can still give up.
ANYONE who wants to stop smoking can do it. And you need to believe that.

2. Focus on the positives.
What will you gain from giving up smoking? Your health? Better skin? More money? Focus on these things and tell yourself that smoking is denying you all of them.

3. Get active.
Replace one habit with another, more healthy one.
If you always have a cigarette with a cup of coffee or when you’re bored, try to avoid these situations. Don’t get bored, get out. Go for a walk, take up a sport, go and visit someone.
DO NOT replace the habit of smoking with eating; you will start to put on weight and then you’ll soon be reaching for the cigarettes again.
With spring in the air here in the UK, it’s the perfect time to get out and about and fill your lungs up with fresh air!

4. Smoking is NOT pleasure
Use the power of your mind to remind yourself of this, over and over and over again; think of the tar collecting on your lungs or imagine yourself inhaling something awful like creosote or bleach.
Then treat yourself to something to help ‘cleanse’ your body instead. Drink lots of water, have a hot bath and steam the toxins out. Use the money you will be saving and treat yourself to a massage or a spa day.

5. Take one day at a time
Every smoker has different habits and their own reasons for wanting to stop so one solution doesn’t fit all. Just because cold turkey worked for your friend, doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for you.
But do not give up hope. You CAN give up smoking if you really want to.

Smoking is a highly addictive habit so it is really tough for some to quit for good.
However, hypnotherapy has a proven track record of successfully treating all kinds of smokers. You only have to read our smoking cessation success stories to see that!
So if you want to improve your health, live longer, enjoy a better complexion, fresh breath – and to save lots of money! – hypnotherapy could be the route for you to take.

Here at the Bridge Clinic we run both one to one and group sessions so visit the Stop Smoking page on the website for more details.
And you can also read many comments from our happy clients.

Here is a final word from 34-year-old mum Laura, who had smoked heavily since the age of 16 – around 30 cigarettes a day.
“I’d smoke five before I got up, it was that bad. I’d have one getting in the car, I’d light up when I was on the phone – I just smoked all the time.
“And the worst of it was I really enjoyed smoking. I loved the sensation of inhaling. There was just no way I could give up.”
“But as I got older I knew it was time to change my lifestyle. I tried patches but only lasted without a cigarette for three weeks and caved in. I’d take the patch off, smoke 20 cigarettes, then put the patch back on!

“So I opted for hypnotherapy.
“I remember sitting there thinking this is rubbish! I could hear everything going on around me and was convinced I’d made a mistake. I just didn’t see how it could work.
“But it’s been nearly 5 years since that session and I haven’t smoked another cigarette since. Nor do I have any desire to.
“It sounds bizarre but I feel like I’ve never been a smoker. I can’t stand the smell or the sight of a cigarette and I know I will never be tempted again.
“I worked it out that I’ve probably saved £8,000 since giving up. That is SO much money.
“However, hypnotherapy isn’t a miracle cure. You have to want to quit when you walk in that room.
“But quitting is the best thing I ever did and hypnotherapy made it almost easy.”

CLICK ON THIS LOGO FOR DETAILS OF THE HYPNOTHERAPY COURSES

WITH even more news of job losses and unemployed rates rapidly rising, what do you do when redundancy looms?
More and more people are opting for radically different careers – often retraining to do something totally removed from their previous job.
And here at the Bridge Clinic we’re have met some of those people who are turning their pipe dream of being a hypnotherapist into a reality.

The Bridge College of Hypnotherapy offers you the chance to broaden your skills, enhance your life or even pursue an alternative career to help others.
The courses here are highly focused and we offer a break from the authoritarian, out-dated teaching methods.  We aim to have our students learn as effectively as possible and focus on the therapeutic, practical reality of working as a therapist by developing your confidence and developing your skills and intuitions as individuals – rather than the one style suits all approach.

And just as importantly, the college offers a comfortable environment where students are happy to ask questions and learn through practical skills.
We also offer part-time courses to accommodate those with full-time commitments.

In short, we want to develop therapists who are confident, competent and, of course, effective.

The Bridge College courses are designed for people looking to gain professional training and life benefits.
Even if you’re not looking for a new career, our courses mean you learn how to change your own unhealthy self-sabotaging beliefs and habits.
Our one-day self-hypnosis workshop is a great introduction to hypnosis and helps you discover the powerful secrets of hypnosis,  how it works and how you can tap into the unconscious mind to achieve you life goals.

Or we offer you the chance to gain a certificate in Clinical Hypnotherapy, a BCCH Diploma in Clinical Hypnotherapy and, for those already qualified as a hypnotherapist, our Cognitive Behavioral Master Practitioner Diploma is a conversion course which enables you to practice as a Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist.

We really do have a course to suit everyone.
So give us a call if we can help. Call 024 7671 1184 for more information or to book your place on one of our courses.
Or visit the website www.bridgecch.org.uk and read our student testimonials.

Or you can make a no obligation appointment to visit the college and discuss our courses further.

For 12 years Karen Venables suffered with panic attacks and agoraphobia.
The 43-year-old piano teacher from Coventry was almost housebound because she was so worried about having a panic attack while she was out and not being able to deal with it. So she just didn’t go out.
Then one day her husband came to my clinic to ask if I could help – she couldn’t come herself.
A few treatments on and Karen is making huge progress – so much so that she wants to share her story with the aim of helping anyone else who might be suffering and thinking there is no way out – just as she did.

“I have suffered anxiety and panic attacks for 12 years.
I was going out less and less and was becoming agoraphobic. But it was all gradual, and over time I was doing less and less and becoming more and more reluctant to go out.
It was depressing and I got quite frustrated. I tried acupuncture to help and that did help for a while, but then I got worse again and I knew it wasn’t going to cure me.

To be honest it was easy for me not to go out being a piano teacher. There was no incentive for me to get better as I was working and earning an income.
But over time I totally lost my confidence and I was frightened about going out in case I had a panic attack and couldn’t get home. It was just easier to stay in.

At the end of October 2011 I started seeing Russell. In fact, he came to me!
We chatted about what bothered me, what set my panic attacks off. And to be honest, the fact that Russell has been through it too and knows exactly what he’s talking about really helped and gave me confidence that actually, yes he would be able to help me.
Right from the beginning I knew it was going to work for me. I still have a way to go but I am definitely moving forward; I can feel the progression.

The more things I do the more confident I get. I have been to the hairdressers; something I would never have done before.
It’s these little milestones that I know mean I’m getting better.

I liked the fact that it wasn’t just one approach with Russell. It’s a bit of coaching, some hypnosis, training me how to think, giving me exercises. He wants to really know you before looking for a way to help.
And also the fact that he has experienced this exact problem helps. The fact that he really knows what panic attacks and anxiety feel like – and is now cured of them – made me think, well it must work because it’s worked for him!

There was a time I never thought I would get over this.
But you have to be ready to be cured. It is a big step to take but you really have nothing to lose.
It will take you out of your comfort zone so it is hard, but I found Russ so supportive.
I still have some way to go but I am really positive and my confidence is building.
I have skills in place now to deal with my anxiety.
I’ve been going into Earlsdon on my own – I haven’t done that for years.
But I know now that I can do it.”

When 26-year-old Rob Ward set up his own company he didn’t bank on one additional obstacle he’d need to climb; stress.

Only stress for Rob meant he suffered up to 4 panic attacks a day and it was affecting the quality of his life.
“I just wanted to go to bed all the time,” he said.
“The only time I felt safe from it was when I was asleep. But then sometimes I’d wake up and have an attack.”

Rob was even rushed to hospital at times because he genuinely thought he was having a heart attack.
But despite seeking help, he was told by doctors that it would pass and that he would have to live with it.
He was referred to a self-help group and was even prescribed pills eventually, but nothing helped.
Rob, who runs his own security alarm company in Coventry,  came to me back in April because, despite the fact that he was trying desperately to cope with these attacks and battling on, he had had enough.

“I drive a lot with my job and it was really getting to me. If I had left it any longer I think depression could have taken hold,” he said.
“But it took Russ a couple of hours to help me – not the months, years I’d been told.
“After the treatment I do still get a bit stressed out, but I can totally deal with it. I know the triggers and the warning signs and if I feel it coming on I know how to manage it. It is so much better than it was and it is no longer taking over my life.”

Helping people with panic attacks and anxiety is a subject very close to my heart after I suffered with this condition 15 years ago.
I wrote about how I lived with anxiety recently and I only wish I had taken the initiative to seek help straight away, like Rob.
I use a combination of cognitive behavioural therapy and hypnosis I aptly call the Bridge Technique to treat this. Anyone suffering with this condition or knows someone who is, direct them here and let them read Rob’s story - it IS treatable and avoidance only makes matters worse.

Picture: Dreamstime

It’s that time of year again when many, many people are thinking beyond the festivities to January and making promises to themselves that they will finally lose weight.
Well, let me tell you, if you’re thinking of going on a diet you’re likely to fail.

Diets do not work.

When you deprive yourself of anything you are more likely to obsess about food and then you’ll be in a vicious circle. You will think about food constantly and have to deprive yourself of something you’re constantly feeling you want.
It’s simply unsustainable.

I have had many years of experience of with weight loss.
And the only way to change for good – to keep the weight off once you lose it – is to change the way you think about food.

People tend to use food to escape an emotion – be that anger, sadness, insecurity, upset, loneliness. Emotional hunger is NOT physical hunger and yet they can feel the same. But obviously you will never be satisfied by food if you are feeding emotional hunger.
And this pattern of feeding your emotions can become addictive – THIS is why you need to learn how to spot the difference.

So if you diet and lose weight, the minute those emotions rear their head again, you will slip back into your old was and put the weight back on.
It’s simply exhausting to live like this, constantly having to think about what you eat or don’t eat.

So how do you recognise the signs? How can you tell the difference between emotional and physical hunger?
Well, first of all physical hunger has a slow and gradual build up.
Have you ever had an argument and reached for a chocolate bar or a biscuit to ‘fill a hole’? Or have you been in the house on your own, lonely, and found yourself standing in front of the fridge door to make you feel better?
This is not real hunger. You are replacing doing something about that emotion with feeding it.

So I say to you again. DO NOT go on a diet.
Unless you have addressed the underlying reasons for over eating, the minute something goes wrong, or you’re stressed or you take your eye off the goal, you will return to your old eating habits and the weight just goes straight back on.
You then feel like an utter failure and the cycle starts all over again.

I’ve had many, many success stories using my hypnotherapy for weight loss technique.

But don’t take my word for it; read the testimonials on my website and see for yourself the real people who have had real results and whose lives have totally changed.

If you have any questions or just want a chat about any of the Russell Hemmings’ weight loss methods call 024 76711184 or email info@russellhemmings.co.uk – all advice is totally free of charge.
You can also visit the Russell Hemmings blog at or visit the Bridge Hypnotherapy Clinic Facebook page where clients share their successes.

Two years ago I broke my back.
I lay in agony in a hospital bed, feeling down and miserable – and cursing ever climbing that tree!
But all of that was nothing to the anxiety, panic attacks and depression I suffered before becoming a hypnotherapist.

My first experience of panic attacks and anxiety was back in 1995.
I was working seven days a week, 12 hours a day. My relationship had broken down and I was exhausted.
I had been working in financial services for 15 years and was starting to question my career; my life. I just didn’t want to go on any more. The pain of living was too great and I wanted out.
I was anxious and panicky and constantly felt like I was caught in the headlights of an oncoming train and I couldn’t move.
I was having regular panic attacks and mistaking them for heart attacks. I found myself calling for ambulances I was so frightened. Everything felt out of sync, I became disassociated and felt totally out of touch with the world.

I went to my doctor who prescribed anti depressants.

That has all changed now.
Through therapy I changed how I was thinking and in turn the way I was feeling.
I will never compromise my mental health again. I am able to manage my feelings and my moods instead of them managing me.
I can tell when I am doing too much and am able to ease off and remind myself that life is a journey – it’s not the arrival that counts.

†I now run one of the busiest hypnotherapy centres in the country and treat patients who suffer with depression anxiety and panic attacks.
Many of my patients feel depression is a weakness and we need to change this perception and talk about it in the open.
If you do something like break your back, everyone rallies around you because they can see the problem and so sympathise. But you are not seen as a hero with depression and if anything you are avoided.
You feel isolated and comments like “snap out of it” or “pull yourself together” do not help.

So what is the message to take from this?
Never ever take your mental health for granted.
Anyone can become depressed and many of us will indeed suffer from depression or anxiety at some time in our lives.
If you felt flu coming on, you would do something to avert it, so treat your mental health with the same care.
Recognising you are depressed can be difficult. You may have constant flat moods or feel you are taking on too much and you can’t cope with it. And your behaviour may start to change.
If this happens to you, seek help.
Sometimes you may not even be able to put your finger on what is troubling you but it is best to react quickly to any symptoms as the sooner you deal with your depression or panic attacks the better.
Speak to your GP – there are more routes to go down besides medication such as cognitive therapy.

So how can hypnotherapy help?
One of the most researched approaches is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). It focuses on inappropriate and negative thoughts about ourselves and our futures, resulting in unhealthy negative beliefs and feelings.
But of vital importance is to have a good therapeutic relationship with the client. And my background and the fact that I’ve ‘been there and done that’ means I know exactly what it feels like to be them. I know where they are coming from and I know the journey they need to make to get better.

The majority of my clients who come here with depression and anxiety-related conditions such as panic attacks, have been recommended by previous clients. And that is the greatest compliment a therapist can have.

Anxiety disorders come in many guises and the best way to find the road to recovery is to recognise it quickly. And it is important to challenge patients’ avoidance strategies.
People around you who have never experienced panic attacks will be able to relate to how you’re feeling. You may feel as though you are going to lose control, go mad or, worst still, die. But the worst thing than can happen is the panic attack itself.
It is the fear of one or more of these things happening that maintains the fears and prolongs the feelings generated in your body – feelings that would normally be generated if we were in danger (the fight or flight response).
But having experienced all this myself puts me in a very strong position to help others recover from these disabling thoughts and feelings.

Anxiety is a 21st century epidemic and I have made it my business to tackle it head on.
I have walked that path and found my journey of recovery has that has given me the tools to help other sufferers recover and stay that way.

What is it that stops you from losing weight?
Inactivity? A sweet tooth? Comfort eating? A mixture of all of these?
I hear it so many times ‘I’ve tried to lose weight but every time something stressful happens I turn to food’. Or ‘I’ve lost the motivation to get up and exercise’ or ‘the children come first’.
Essentially your unconscious mind is controlling you and your ability to get healthy.
Everything is an effort and you’re constantly having to make a conscious decision to NOT eat that, or eat the right thing, or get moving.

But it doesn’t have to be like that.

What if you could tell your unconscious mind that actually you don’t need food if something stressful happens, you need exercise?
And that instead of feeling compelled to sit around being inactive you feel compelled to get up and get out or get to the gym?
What if you could ‘think yourself thin’?

If your unconscious mind is telling you these things you will no longer have that internal battle with yourself about what you should and shouldn’t eat/if you should or shouldn’t exercise/if you should or shouldn’t finish off the children’s leftovers!
You won’t have that internal battle because your unconscious mind won’t even be considering it.

Essentially, to successfully lose weight and keep it off you need to make a lifestyle change.

It’s not about dieting or denying yourself food groups or killing yourself with exercise.
It’s about finding a happy medium that works for YOU and committing to live like that going forward. And hypnotherapy can help make that a reality for you.

I have so many great stories of people turning their lives around through weight loss hypnosis. It is the best advert I can have for what I do; real people with real success stories.
Like mum of two Emma who dropped 4 dress sizes and now competes in marathons.
“I was disgusted at my lack of control over food. I was in denial – no one told me how fat I had become,” she told me.
And 36-year-old Sam who went from 13.5 stone down to 8 and says it has changed her whole family. “I remember someone once telling me ‘the bigger you are the smaller you feel’ and I can totally relate to that now. I am never going back. Never ever ever ever ever EVER!”

Emma and Sam were both treated with the Russell Hemmings Gastric Mind Band therapy, which is basically where your mind is ‘tricked’ into believing you have had a gastric band operation.
You think your stomach is smaller so you eat less and feel fuller, quicker.
These were both mums, with busy lives, who knew how to lose weight and get fitter – they just couldn’t do it. Their unconscious minds weren’t aligned!

But there are many other ways of helping you with weight loss, and just as everyone is different and their needs are diverse, so the hypnotherapy to help you will depend on your circumstances.
I have treated people with an addiction to Diet Coke – Claire came to see me because she was struggling to lose weight but she had no idea her addiction was causing her so much harm. In fact she had no idea she had an addiction!
And I’ve treated chocoholics with hypnotherapy, people who simply ‘had’ to have their fix of chocolate every day.

All of these are ways of helping to deal with the issues which prevent you from losing weight.

If you want to chat about weight loss hypnosis or just find out more about what it entails, drop me a line for a free consultation.
It could change your life.

Sam Alderwish is 36 and lives with her husband and her two young children in south Birmingham
And here in her own words is her experience of having gastric band hypnotherapy:

“Before having children I was always quite slim. I could pretty much eat anything – and I did!
But after my second child I just couldn’t shift the extra weight.
I didn’t really care to be honest, my priorities were elsewhere. I just wanted to focus on the children.
My husband would gently say things but I didn’t pay any attention. In fact, any time it was pointed out to me I would just rebel.
To be fair, my portion sizes were ridiculously large, but I didn’t want to hear it.

In May this year (when this ‘before’ photo was taken) I went to a party and when I saw the photos I felt fat and not at all confident.
By July I had put on even more weight.
I tried to diet, but I’d have a good couple of days and then the minute something bad or stressful happened I was back to square one and it would all go to pot.

I was trying to lose weight for a wedding we were invited to.
I remember trying a dress on in a shop and I got stuck in it – mortifying. But I just didn’t have the willpower to do anything about it.
Then, at the wedding one of my cousins was brutally honest with me, I came away feeling really crap but I think it’s what I needed to hear to spur me into action.
Then a couple of days later I watched Lorraine Kelly on TV and saw something about gastric band hypnotherapy and decided there and then that I would look into it.
I found Russell after researching online, phoned him, liked what he said and that was it.

He has literally changed my life
I have gone from 13.5 stone down to 8 after my first session in August.
I had 4 sessions; the second one was to ‘fit’ the gastric band and I can honestly say my weight loss has been easy.

I immediately went out and bought an exercise bike and it’s become a daily ritual now.
it has changed the way I eat. My portion sizes have dramatically reduced, I drink lots of water and lots of fruit (which I NEVER did before)
It is no longer a constant battle for me. In fact I’d say weight loss is easy
Plus my children get to see me exercising and eating healthily and my husband has even set himself up a little gym in the shed!

I can’t believe how it’s changed our whole family. I didn’t feel like I was in control before, now I have more energy, much more confidence – and I am constantly shopping because I keep going down dress sizes!
I can have a treat now and not feel like beating myself up about it, because I think it’s really important not to deprive yourself.
I remember someone once telling me ‘the bigger you are the smaller you feel’ and I can totally relate to that now.
I am never going back. Never ever ever ever ever EVER!
All my old clothes have gone now anyway so I can’t!”

Let me tell you, Sam looks amazing and it’s great to see how her transformation has has such a positive effect on the whole family too.
She has been charting her success on the Bridge Clinic Facebook page also, so you can see more photos of her success there!