Stress Free Living

See my guest piece on RapidBi on the cost of stress to your business

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 07:07:06 -0400

See my guest piece on RapidBi on the cost of stress to your business

One in Four HR Directors have no Stress Management Policy in Place

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 11:49:00 -0400

One in Four HR Directors have no Stress Management Policy in Place:

When more is being demanded in the workplace doesn’t it make sense to give employees the tools to manage their stress levels? It is encouraging that this study found 33% of HR Directors provide stress management training for all staff. However„ with 28% having no formal policy, there is clearly room for improvement. Stress Free Living will be providing some open courses for anyone to attend. Watch this space.

"To date, the nature of the industry has, for the most part, consisted of a reactive..."

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 09:56:48 -0400

“To date, the nature of the industry has, for the most part, consisted of a reactive ‘sticking-plaster’ approach that disregards the root causes of stress. Professionals involved in employee health and well-being are now able to fully engage in the movement for standardisation and gain confidence in demonstrating a proactive approach to effective stress management.”

- http://www.shponline.co.uk/features-content/full/stress-training-approval-ratings

This comment on the stress management industry from the official magazine of IOSH refers to the new publicly available specifications (PAS 1010 and PAS 1012) published by the British Standards Institute. Stress Free Living offers training for HR professionals, H&S professionals and managers in PAS 1010. Call 07588563143 for details.

New Stress Management courses start September

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 12:33:37 -0400

One-day stress management courses for managers and employees starting in September. Sign up to our mailing list for details.

New website for organisational stress

Thu, 24 May 2012 16:44:01 -0400

New website for organisational stress:

Take a look at my new website for organisational stress management training and consultancy. It will be populated by useful information on workplace stress over the next few weeks.

Dennis Richards

"Time is Money" may pay but does it make you happy?

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:36:26 -0500

"Time is Money" may pay but does it make you happy?:

New research at the University of Toronto has found, unsurprisingly, that treating time as money makes it harder for people to switch off and enjoy leisure time. For many self-employed people “time is money” keeps us focused, while employees and employers may also take this attitude to improve productivity in the workplace.

The downside is people cannot forget about work or feel guilty when they have some leisure time. It is important to make time for leisure and also to be able to switch off in order to keep stress down. This is where meditation or relaxation techniques can help. For homeworkers, having a designated work area can help confine our work worries to one spot in the house where we can leave them alone while we relax.

So yes, “time is money”, but sometimes “time is me-time”!

Ten Top Tips for Keeping New Year Resolutions

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 06:45:29 -0500

Keep your resolutions with these ten top tips from Dennis Richards.

Be specific. Set goals which are precise enough to know when you have achieved them, e.g. “Be more confident” is not specific – how would you know when you have achieved it? “Make a presentation to business colleagues in February” is.
Be realistic. “Lose two stones in a month” is not realistic unless you are having major surgery. “Lose 2 stones in 9 months” is achievable.
Affirm the positive part of your resolution. You might be stopping smoking to feel healthier or losing weight to look slimmer – remember that when you make your resolution so you are motivated by the benefits of making it.
Write your resolution down. Writing it down makes a contract with yourself – an official document, if you will. Don’t just write it down on paper though – write it somewhere prominent like on your mirror. On the fridge is a great place to put weight loss resolutions. Be creative – you could have it as a wallpaper for your PC or mobile phone.
Get support. Don’t feel you have to do it all alone. A qualified hypnotherapist can enlist the help of your subconscious mind where your resistance to success often lies. You can consult the General Hypnotherapy Register or if you cannot visit someone in person use a hypnosis recording. Steve Jones has the largest collection of hypnosis recordings on the planet.
Deal with negative thoughts. It is common to face thoughts like “I can’t do this”, “it’s too hard”, etc. You can challenge them by affirming the opposite (“I can do this”, “It’s easy”) or just observing them, perhaps saying “thank you, mind, for your opinion”.
Break your resolution into chunks if it seems daunting. Congratulate yourself on achieving each milestone (but don ‘t be too hard on yourself if you don’t or you will get discouraged).
Visualise yourself achieving your resolution regularly. Imagine how you feel as you see yourself celebrating your achievement.
Don’t make excuses. Take responsibility for keeping your resolution, rather than blame external circumstances for abandoning it. You can overcome obstacles if you are committed.
Don’t get disheartened if you break your resolve, e.g. by sneaking a cigarette or chocolate bar. Take the long view and celebrate your overall achievement and resolve to continue toward your goal.

Mental illness rising in the workplace

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:51:17 -0500

Mental illness rising in the workplace:

Productivity and well-being in the workplace are being hindered as mental illnesses become more prevalent, reports managers.org.uk. This article reports that the OECD is urging policymakers to “look for new solutions” and for employers to take mental illnesses “more seriously” and suggests hypnotherapy as a way forward.

Do you suffer from stress?

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:35:25 -0400

You are not alone. In any given year almost 30% of the adult population will suffer from a recognised psychological disorder. In any given week, one tenth of the adult population is suffering from clinical depression and one-in-five will suffer from it at some point in their life. One in four adults will suffer from drug or alcohol addiction at some point in their life. Almost 50% of the population will seriously contemplate suicide at some point and one in ten will attempt it. Added to these psychological woes, the American Medical Association estimate that 70% of all illness is caused by stress.

For many people life-shattering events like bereavement, divorce or separation and personal injury or sickness trigger stress-induced conditions (Holmes and Rahe, 1967). For others it is pressure of work or lack of work. The 2011 CIPD/Simply Health Annual Absence Management Report shows Stress as the most common cause of long-term sickness absence for the first time. Workplace stress affects over 400,000 people a year. This costs organisations an average of £673 per employee.

While CIPD research shows workload and management style as the top two causes of work-related stress, it has also found that 60% of stress-related absence is for non-work causes. Whatever the cause, helping employees to identify and cope with stress must be worth it. Stress risk assessments and adjustments to management practices can help prevent stress. Stress management training can help employees cope with daily stress that is not structural. Counselling services can help with employees who are already debilitated by stress.

Devising a stress management policy needs to be based on information about stress in an organisation and a stress survey is often a first step to understanding what is required. Stress free Living can offer, with partners, a stress survey, analysis and consultation to construct or amend your Stress Management Policy and follow through with Stress Management Training for your staff.

As psychologist Nathaniel Branden said, “The first step toward change is awareness”.

To get your free stress test questionnaire to help you identify how stressed you are and Top 10 Tips for managing stress, just send a message using the ‘Contact Us’ button below with “Free Stress Test” in the body of the message

Today is National Stress Awareness Day. Get your free stress...

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 07:13:51 -0400

Today is National Stress Awareness Day. Get your free stress test questionnaire to help you identify how stressed you are and Top 10 Tips for managing stress , just send a message using the ‘Contact Us’ button below with “Free Stress Test” in the body of the message

Free Stress Test and Top 10 Tips

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:50:31 -0400

Get your free stress test questionnaire and Top 10 Tips for managing stress. Tomorrow is National Stress Awareness Day and to help you identify how stressed you are, just send a message using the ‘Contact Us’ button below with “Free Stress Test” in the body of the message.

Stress now most common reason for long term sickness absence

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 06:44:38 -0400

Stress now most common reason for long term sickness absence:

Jill Miller, an adviser at the CIPD, said: “The survey this year shows that stress is for the first time the number one cause of long-term sickness absence, highlighting the heightened pressure many people feel under in the workplace as a result of the prolonged economic downturn.” How good is your company’s stress management policy? We can help you devise or implement your policy. www.stressfreeliving.biz

Good management practices reduce stress in the workplace

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 04:57:49 -0400

Good management practices reduce stress in the workplace:

Book review:

Preventing Stress in Organisations by Emma Donaldson-Feilder, Joanna Yarker, Rachel Lewis

“Most works on stress look at the problem from the individual’s point of view, describing strategies to cope with stress, and working from the assumption that stress is a given within the working environment. This book is different; it looks at how the organisation can control and reduce the stress on staff using good management techniques.”

Hypnotherapy, CBT and antibiotics for OCD

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 03:21:37 -0400

Hypnotherapy, CBT and antibiotics for OCD:

Hypnotherapy is one of a range of therapies, including cognitive behavioural therapy, used to treat obsessive compulsive disorder. The link above is about a new study using using an antibiotic which normally is prescribed for tuberculosis. The medication D-cycloserine (DCS) seems to increase the brain’s ability to stifle those fears which feed into OCD.

BUSH THERAPY (A Ground Breaking Opportunity in Hypnotherapy)

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 11:22:23 -0400

Article by Guest Writer John Dutton

Lead Researcher/Principal SAMHA

Hypnotherapy is possibly globally the most underutilized therapy of its kind and has so many unique opportunities to help in a world full of the need for help.

One of the areas that I believe has huge potential in Africa and possibly other countries is Bush Therapy.

I have been blessed to work with over 11000 people one on one using various techniques in Hypnotherapy and been able to conduct many years of research with some amazing findings and results, a few years ago while waiting at an airport to catch a flight to my lovely Indian ocean home town of Umhlanga situated near Durban in South Africa a fleeting thought came to mind. Over the years I had conducted hypnosis in some strange places such as on a plane for a traumatized passenger, in a prison cell on an awaiting trial prisoner, in rehab centres, in the change rooms at a soccer stadium to calm a nervous player and a swimming pool to calm a nervous swimmer and at a car accident scene to calm a accident victim awaiting the arrival of an ambulance and the list goes on.

The Interesting factor was that I had no equipment, private office or couch to work on.

The idea struck me that in the beautiful country of South Africa millions of HIV/Aids sufferers live a life of anxiety worry and stress as they suffer, many in silence.

Thousands of these people live in the rural areas out in the bush little or no roads, no electricity, living in mud or reed huts with no means to get medical help no money and definitely no access to psychologists and social workers to assist in helping them cope with the trauma of HIV/Aids. If I could work in so many different places why couldn’t I teach Practitioners to work under a tree with a client in the warm peaceful African bush?

I recruited a bursary student a 45-year-old black gentleman name Mahli with, a strong empathy to help a very basic education and little or no knowledge of Hypnosis or Hypnotherapy.

After an intense 5 day workshop teaching him how to safely induct and how to use Hypnotherapy to ease stress and anxiety, Mahli was given 5 months to practice, write and exam and project which he did successfully with vigour and passion.

Mahli then had to visit a village out in a remote area in the valley of a thousand hills outside of Durban, a very beautiful place with rolling hills and greenery.

His first mission was to get permission from the local village Chief and the Sangoma (witch doctor) after much deliberation and discussion in fact weeks, it was decided the process would not interfere with spiritual values and a session was to be carried out on the Chief in his mud hut overlooking the beautiful valley. The result was the session was extremely effective and the Chief granted Mahli consent with the blessing of the Sangoma to work on his tribe members.

At this stage I have a training module that works, I have a therapy that works, and I have people that want to be trained and people that want the help. My next step is to find funding to take on this large undertaking, this I know is going to be very challenging, I need to train trainers and expand this even beyond the South African borders, my dream of Bush Therapy becoming a reality are so close but yet so far, I believe this is both ground breaking and unique in Africa, and with the millions of HIV/Aids suffers we could make a difference, even if it’s just a peaceful hour under a tree with a hypnotherapist as the African sun sets

John Dutton

The South African Modern Hypnotherapy Academy

john@hypnosiscentre.co.za

+27 031-561-4090

www.hypnosiscentre.co.za

Alcohol is more harmful than heroin or crack

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 17:40:10 -0400

Alcohol is more harmful than heroin or crack:

Alcohol is more harmful than heroin or crack when the overall dangers to the individual and society are considered. Hypnotherapy can help you cut down.Call me for details. www.stressfreeliving.biz

Education, Goldie Hawn and Brain Science

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 07:59:48 -0400

Education, Goldie Hawn and Brain Science:

Fascinating account of The Hawn Foundation, which exists“to promote children’s academic success in school and in life through social and emotional learning.” When I worked in schools I found children really warmed to meditation as a totally new experience of their minds. Now I can offer hypnotherapy to calm those exam nerves and coaching in study skills to improve academic performance.

83% of employers do not provide stress management advice and support

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 05:34:35 -0400

83% of employers do not provide stress management advice and support :

Despite stress being the second most frequent cause of workplace illness in the UK, affecting over 400,000 people a year, only 17% of employers provide stress management training or advice. This DWP study found only a slim majority agreed that the financial benefits of investing in employee health and wellbeing outweighed the costs, with half believing that their employees would not want them to intervene in terms of their physical and mental health. What do you think? Do you want your employer to provide training in Stress Management?

Laughter keeps pain at bay

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 06:05:38 -0400

Laughter keeps pain at bay:

Oxford University research shows a good belly-laugh can release endorphins that help endure pain. This follows on from research showing that giggling for 15 minutes a day can burn off 5lbs in fat in a year. 5lbs in a year? You’re having a laugh! Your better off with my hypnotic weight loss programme. See: http://www.stressfreeliving.biz/#/weight-loss/4553429767 for details

Combat stress: Half of GPs are unaware of official guidelines on how to diagnose vets' PTSD

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 10:11:06 -0400

Combat stress: Half of GPs are unaware of official guidelines on how to diagnose vets' PTSD