FEATURED TESTIMONIAL – Depression
Reflections on a course of hypnotherapy with Christine Hill
Throughout my life I have experienced periods of depression. These times of ‘melancholy’ may have begun very early. I can clearly remember, as a teenager, kneeling at a window watching a sunset, and feeling numb, and as if there was no point to anything - caught in a kind of ‘time stands still’ state of mind - and not knowing what to do about it, or who to ask for help.
As I became an adult, trained to be a teacher, married, had children, worked, developed musical skills and lived a fairly ‘normal’ life, I would suddenly find myself ‘sliding down’ into a state in which everything became very difficult. I would struggle to cope with things that I knew I was quite capable of ‘taking in my stride’ and even excelling at. I would become very self-critical, have difficulty in smiling and seeing the funny side of life, and I would have to make a huge effort to be sociable. After a period of time I would ‘recover’, and find a sort of slightly uncomfortable balance. My husband and family were kind and supportive, but they were always mystified by what appeared to be my ‘cycle’ of ‘very up’ and ‘very down’. Various G.P.s made diagnoses, and variously prescribed antidepressant medications of several different kinds, and referred me for courses of therapy - counselling and ‘cognitive behaviour therapy’. All these approaches to the problem seemed to help at the time, but none of them seemed to offer long-term relief from what appeared to be some kind of predisposition for depression. I personally funded courses in some other types of therapy, and an experienced friend gave me the opportunity for counselling at various times when things were very difficult, and is still ‘always there for me’. I applied to study to become a music-therapist, and was told, after the interview that my musical skills were more than adequate, but that I had demonstrated through my responses and in my written application that I would not be a suitable candidate for the course unless I was prepared to engage in psychotherapy before applying again!
Strangely I knew ‘at the back of my mind’ that what I should really try was hypnotherapy! In 2010 I finally began researching the background to the ideas and principles that form the foundations of hypnotherapeutic practice. I looked at a number of websites of practitioners, and decided that I would try it. I sent an e-mail to Christine Hill, and we had a short e-dialogue. Then my husband and I decided to travel for 10 weeks, and my decision about hypnotherapy was put ‘on hold’. When I came back I was as sure as I could be that it was the right thing to do, and I made an appointment with Christine.
During the course of 9 sessions, Christine taught me that the human mind is always ‘in control’ of itself, and that I need not fear that I would decide anything whilst undergoing the therapy that I would not subsequently be ‘in charge of’! She explained the functions of subconscious and conscious levels of thinking, and how it is possible to move from one to the other. She taught me techniques for exploring what is stored in the subconscious ‘files’, for deciding what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to replace, and for effecting this change. At all times she was friendly and professional, and she was always patient with me whilst encouraging forward movement with the work we were doing. She offered me many ‘tools’ to help in my personal practice of the techniques she was teaching me, and gave me helpful and gently challenging ’homework’ to do in between our meetings. I found her a very easy person to talk to about what were sometimes sensitive and deeply held emotions. She planned our work so that there was always an opportunity to relax at the end of each session, and I always left feeling better than when I had arrived! I found Christine generous-hearted and warmly attuned to the needs and difficulties of the human state, whilst obviously being personally ‘happy to be herself’, and having wide experience of, and expertise in, her field of research and therapeutic work. This was very reassuring to me, and encouraged me to believe that I could arrive at a similar point and ‘state of being’. And, very thankfully, with her help, I now have! I am very grateful to Christine for all her help, and I recommend anyone who is contemplating beginning a course of hypnotherapy to get in touch with her - and ‘go for it’!
Margaret January 2013