Break that bad habit

Have you got a habit you want to break?

Bad habits can be supremely annoying for us and can come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Nail biting, hair pulling, eyebrow picking, thumb sucking, knuckle cracking... the list is endless and they can often be damaging as well. Thumb sucking for instance can have a damaging effect on our teeth particularly when started at a very young age.

The good news is there is a treatment that is proven to be around 90% successful for cracking that habit. The treatment is called Habit Reversal Training and was developed in the 1970’s. Since then it has been used by therapists far and wide to help clients overcome habits they no longer wish to have. And better news still it entails one two-hour session with your therapist, followed up by a single session two to three weeks later to check on progress.

When combined with hypnosis the treatment becomes even more powerful and evidence has shown that in some cases the habit is reduced by 97.5%, which is significant.

The treatment works best with hand based habits such as those referenced above but has also been successful with habits like stuttering and tics. Basically, any habit where an opposing physical response can be created to counter act the habit.

During the treatment your therapist will; fully explore where and how the habit works, including when you are under stress or anxiety as this can often increase the habit, create an opposing physical response that works for you, help you practice and perfect that response and use hypnosis for imaginal work to prepare you for applying the treatment after the session.

Often our habits can be embarrassing or irritating. Not being able to wear nail varnish or confidently shake someone’s hand because of badly bitten nails, brushing your hair a certain way to cover patches of missing hair where you’ve pulled it out, realising you’re picking your nose while sitting in a queue of traffic. All of these and many other habits can be a thing of the past by booking a session with a therapist who is training in the use of habit reversal training.