The Focus Clinic will be closed from Saturday 24th July until 29th July 2010. For urgent queries only, please contact our reception on 020 7467 8539 who will forward your message to us. For non-urgent queries, please send us an email to info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Appointments will resume as normal on Friday 30th July 2010.

Thank you.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Travailler trop augmente les risques cardiaques de 60% - BBC News

Les gens qui travaillent 10 à 11 heures par jour ont une probabilité nettement plus forte d'être victime de problèmes cardiaques, selon une étude réalisée en Grande-Bretagne.

Le travail c'est la santé. Ne rien faire la conserver. Ce vieil adage n'est pas loin de la réalité, si l'on en croit les chercheurs britanniques qui ont étudié pendant 11 ans un groupe de 6 000 fonctionnaires londoniens âgés de 39 à 61 ans.

Il ressort de leur étude que les gens qui ont l'habitude de faire 3 ou 4 heures sup par jour ont nettement plus de chances d'être victime d'une maladie du cœur : accident cardiaque ou angine de poitrine.

"Le lien entre les longues heures de travail et les maladies cardio-vasculaires est indépendant d'un ensemble de facteurs de risque mesurés au début de l'étude, tels que le tabac, le surpoids ou un taux élevé de cholestérol", explique un des chercheurs dans un communiqué.

Les causes de cette augmentation de 60 % des risques cardiaques demeurent à préciser. Le stress chronique dû à une surcharge de travail fait office de suspect idéal. Travailler trop peut aussi masquer un état dépressif, d'anxiété ou de manque de sommeil. L'étude évoque également le "présentéisme maladif" qui pousse certains à travailler même lorsqu'ils sont malades.

Mais, cette augmentation du risque cardiaque pourrait être simplement une histoire de "type A". Selon cette théorie, les individus de "type A" sont de nature hyperactive - donc des gros bosseurs - plus sujets aux problèmes cardiaque que la moyenne.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The Focus Clinic will be closed on Monday 31st May 2010. For urgent queries only, please contact our reception on 020 7467 8539 who will forward your message to us. For non-urgent queries, please send us an email to info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Appointments will resume as normal on Tuesday 1st June 2010.

Thank you.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Le stress pourrait rendre gros - article sur Zigonet.com

Des scientifiques auraient découvert un gène qui, lors d’un stress important, pousserait à vouloir grignoter.

Ce gène découvert est également lié à deux formes de diabète, maladie qui peut être également liée à l’obésité. En effet lors d'une situation stressante le gène activerait un certain besoin pour les sucreries et la nourriture grasse. Et lorsque le système est continuellement activé par le stress, les conséquences sur la santé et sur le poids pourraient se faire ressentir.

"Le stress est bon lorsque vous devez faire face à une situation comme une rencontre avec un lion. Alors votre métabolisme change, plus de sucres et de glucose parviennent aux muscles et vous pouvez échapper au lion", explique le Dr Chen. Autrement, le stress joue un rôle néfaste sur la santé. Les scientifiques espèrent que l’étude de ce nouveau gène permettra de développer de nouveaux remèdes aux diabètes ainsi que des pilules favorisant la perte de poids.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Do you stress out about taking downtime?

Stuffing our diaries full makes us feel important, but is it also making us ill, reports Fiona Macdonald-Smith for the Times Online.

The Germans have always been good at coming up with words for those emotions we all feel but don’t have a name for: schadenfreude, for example, or angst. “Freizeitstresse” is the latest, a term that literally translates as “free-time stress”.

Millions of us, apparently, worry about whether we spend our spare time wisely. A consequence of feeling that we have so little of it is that we agonise over what we do with our precious, unscheduled hours. Do you feel that you have to achieve something even in your leisure time? On holiday, does simply doing nothing make you feel uncomfortable and twitchy? Have you ever spoilt your Saturday afternoon by worrying about whether you should be doing something imaginative with the kids or at a yoga class by yourself while you’re pounding the supermarket aisles? Freizeitstresse could be your problem.

“Figures show that about 75 per cent of people are incapable of relaxing; even on holiday they experience high levels of stress and feel more overburdened than anything else,” says Professor Doctor Henning Allmer, a psychologist and expert in freizeitstresse at the German Sport University Cologne. “One of the reasons for this is because people take too much on. In Germany, at least, the idea of doing nothing has negative connotations. A ‘nichtstuer’ (a do-nothing) is a derogatory term. So there are people who fill their free time with a very busy schedule.”

Some people cannot switch off; they have to be constantly in touch with work because they need to be needed. Others, Professor Allmer says, store up all the things they might like or need to do in their free time for the weekend, “which means there is a massive imbalance between expectations and what is achievable”.

Welcome to ‘the new busy’

How you deal with free-time stress depends, he says, on your personality. Rather than dividing your life into work and leisure time, you can create a better balance, he says, by dividing your time into two thirds work/achievement, one third recovery. “Those who do not make time to recover build up a recovery debt, if you like — they will need more and more time in the future to recover from work.”

Cary Cooper, the Distinguished Professor of Organisational Psychology and Health at Lancaster University, and an expert on stress, says: “The key lies in doing something you want to do in your free time instead of what you are expected to do.”

So what are the signs that you are suffering from freizeitstresse — and what can you do about it?

Whenever you have some time off, you fall ill

Freizeitstresse can manifest itself in psychosomatic form, which is diagnosed as “leisure sickness”. Increasing numbers of us seem to suffer from it. When eventually we get around to taking a few days off, suddenly we develop a choking sore throat or severe cold symptoms. The Dutch psychologists who identified leisure sickness, Ad Vingerhoets and Maaike van Huijgevoort, claim that about 3 per cent of the population suffer from it every weekend.

You don’t like to spend time on your own

There are some people, Professor Allmer says, who feel defined by their work and when they close the door behind them on a Friday evening “fall into a sort of hole where they don’t know what to do with themselves”. They don’t know how to connect with their families and can spend the whole weekend longing for Monday, when they will have something “important” to do again. If this is you, Professor Allmer warns that such a situation ‘implies a state of exhaustion’. Therapy may be your best solution.

Whatever you do on your ‘to do’ list, you feel you should do something else

Come the weekend, there’s such a number of things to do — chores, childcare, seeing friends, catching up with work, keeping fit — that whatever you’re doing, you are likely to feel that you’re doing the wrong thing.

“One of the problems people have is the huge choice of activities,” says Professor Allmer. “People want to try new things, perhaps indiscriminately, if only to tell their friends about it. There is a temptation to say you’ve done a lot on the weekend, there’s a fear of missing out. It is socially unacceptable to say ‘I’m bored’ or ‘I’ve been doing nothing’. The key is to step back and think “what’s important to me?”

You feel anxious if your diary is fully booked for the next two weeks, and if it’s empty

“Everyone needs to feel important,” says Professor Cooper. “And what makes a lot of people feel important is having a packed diary. By the same token, they feel unimportant if it’s empty. But if your diary’s stuffed solid, then you’ve got your priorities wrong.” You need, he says, to work out what in your diary is vital, and what are just “ad-ons to make you feel needed”. He adds: “You have to make spaces in your diary for your family, your friends — but make sure that you’ve left some thinking space in there too.

You think your life would be better if you knew how to make jam

You spend a lot of time reading about the latest crazes — for example, quilting and chutney-making — and you love recipe books by celebrity chefs, but despite good intentions you never get round to making anything yourself. You’re too ambitious about your free time and packing your weekend with self-improving hobbies.

We’re overloaded with opportunities, with things we’d like to do, so we end up not doing anything. Plus, we’re all exhausted. So just pick one thing, Professor Cooper says. “Choose the option that has the most benefit and least costs associated with it [for example, you might need to buy equipment for jam-making]. Then make the space in your week and stick to it.”

You beat yourself up about answering e-mails on holiday

On a weekend away you ban the BlackBerry because you think your free time must be sacred. But you’d feel much better if you just looked at your e-mails once or twice a day. According to Professor Cooper, the UK has the longest working hours in the developed world (we’ve recently overtaken the United States). We are in an age of non-stop electronic communication so it is natural that some people can’t switch off completely.

“If you don’t answer those e-mails, you’re going to worry about them, and although you’ll be there physically by the pool you won’t be ‘present’,” Professor Cooper says. “Make a contract with yourself and then promise that you won’t answer any more. You just have to be flexible.”

Deep down you know that you don’t really like going on holiday

A survey by American Express revealed that 40 per cent of British holidaymakers claimed that a visit to the dentist was less stressful than having a break. “First, you nearly always have to factor in someone else’s wishes — your family’s, your partner’s — so what you do is nearly always a compromise,” Professor Cooper says. “Second, your expectation is that you should go somewhere exotic, even though what you actually need is rest and your trip will involve three airports. It’s only worth putting up with all the hassle — the flights, the delays, the insurance — if you’re going somewhere you want to visit. Why do you want to have a holiday that meets peer group expectations rather than yours? Next year just go to Scotland, if that’s what you want.”

 Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Martine Laronche pour Le monde.fr

Révéler son homosexualité à ses parents est une épreuve difficile pour un adolescent. L'accepter est souvent vécu douloureusement par la famille. Mathilde Besson, 20 ans, étudiante en deuxième année de médecine, estime avoir eu beaucoup de chance. "Mes parents me soutiennent, et c'est très important pour moi." Vers 12-13 ans, la jeune fille interpellait souvent ses parents sur le sujet. Connaissaient-ils des homosexuels ? Comment réagiraient-ils si un de leurs enfants l'était ? "Ma mère était gay friendly, mon père moins conciliant, mais ça ne le gênait pas fondamentalement."

Ce n'est que vers 15 ans qu'elle a pris conscience de sa différence. "Je suis sortie en seconde avec un garçon dont j'étais très amoureuse, mais pour qui je n'éprouvais pas de désir physique." Cette attirance troublante, elle l'a ressentie en prenant une amie dans ses bras. En début de terminale, elle a fait son coming out auprès de ses camarades. "D'un seul coup, je me suis dit que j'en avais marre de me mentir. Personne n'a été vraiment surpris." L'annonce à sa mère s'est faite plus tard, en première année de fac. "J'aimais une fille et je me confiais à ma mère en la faisant passer pour un garçon. Quand j'ai rompu, ma mère m'a dit, pour me consoler, que les garçons étaient immatures. Alors je lui ai dit que ce n'était pas "il", mais "elle"." Il a fallu deux semaines à la mère de Mathilde pour accepter la nouvelle. Elle s'est sentie coupable, s'est inquiétée pour sa fille avant de l'accepter pleinement. Mathilde n'a pas osé en parler à son père. Ce dernier, informé par son épouse, est allé vers sa fille, six mois plus tard, et lui en a parlé de lui-même, très naturellement.

Pour Félix, 20 ans, qui préfère ne donner que son prénom, l'annonce à ses parents a pris la tournure "d'un drame antique". Ils étaient attablés tous les trois à l'occasion de l'anniversaire de sa mère - son frère était absent. "Mon aveu a eu un effet dévastateur. Il y a eu un silence de mort. Le ciel s'est écroulé sur leur tête." Sa mère l'a questionné d'un ton agressif, s'est mise à pleurer, lui a même proposé les services d'un psychiatre mettant son homosexualité sur le compte des troubles de l'adolescence.

Trois ans plus tard, Félix a toujours le sentiment que ses parents espèrent qu'il changera. "J'ai compris que je ne pouvais pas m'appuyer sur eux et cela a creusé un fossé." Ses parents ont tendance à occulter le sujet, ce qui est insupportable pour le jeune homme. "Ma mère a un cortège de représentations très négatives sur les homosexuels. Elle pense que je risque d'avoir le sida, que je vais peut-être changer de sexe, elle associe homosexualité et pédophilie, craint que je me prostitue auprès de vieillards." Pour tenir, Félix est passé dans une "logique guerrière" et est devenu "férocement antihomophobe".

Difficile, l'aveu de son homosexualité s'accompagne souvent d'un vif soulagement quand l'entourage est bienveillant. Romain, 22 ans, qui requiert aussi l'anonymat, a pensé, dans ses périodes les plus noires, à mettre fin à ses jours. "J'ai fait une bonne dépression à 17 ans, se souvient-il. J'ai vu un psy pendant plusieurs mois mais je n'ai pas osé lui parler de mon homosexualité." L'annonce de son orientation sexuelle à ses parents lui a ôté un poids énorme. "J'ai de la reconnaissance pour eux de m'avoir accepté comme je suis. Ç'a été un immense coup de pouce. Je sais qu'ils me défendront toujours."

Selon l'étude du Dr Marc Shelly (Aremedia-Inserm), les jeunes hommes homosexuels ont treize fois plus de risques de faire une tentative de suicide que les jeunes hétéros. L'isolement, le sentiment de solitude, la peur d'être rejeté du fait de stéréotypes négatifs associés à l'homosexualité, notamment à l'école, expliquent en partie cette fragilité. A l'inverse, le soutien des camarades et de la famille constitue une aide précieuse.

Selon une étude menée par Caitlin Ryan, de l'université de San Francisco, publiée dans la revue américaine Pediatrics en janvier 2009, les jeunes gays et lesbiennes qui subissent, adolescents, des comportements de rejet de la part de leur famille auraient 8,4 fois plus de risques de faire une tentative de suicide, 6 fois plus de risques de faire une dépression et 3,4 fois plus de risques de se droguer, comparés aux homosexuels dont les parents sont plus compréhensifs.

Jean-Claude Pinchon préside pour l'Ile-de-France l'association Contact. Avec des groupes de parole, cette union d'associations départementales aide les familles et amis à accepter l'orientation sexuelle de leurs proches et les jeunes homosexuels à communiquer avec leur entourage.

De l'acceptation à la tolérance, en passant par la condamnation ou le dégoût, les réactions des familles sont multiples. "Souvent, le père et la mère ne réagissent pas de la même façon. L'un peut éprouver un sentiment de rejet, d'incompréhension", explique-t-il. Qu'ai-je fait pour avoir un enfant homosexuel ? L'ai-je trop protégé ou pas assez ? Est-ce ma faute ? "Pour certains, il faut des mois, voire même des années pour accepter l'orientation sexuelle de leur enfant. D'autres n'y parviendront jamais", analyse M. Pinchon. Aux jeunes qui veulent le dire à leurs parents, il conseille d'abord de préparer le terrain en ayant une discussion générale sur le thème de l'homosexualité pour voir quelles réactions le sujet suscite. "Si le milieu familial est franchement homophobe, je leur conseille de ne pas en parler", explique-t-il.

Même les parents les plus ouverts peuvent éprouver de la tristesse : tristesse d'imaginer qu'ils ne seront pas grands-parents - même si cela peut être faux -, tristesse pour la vie de leur enfant dont ils craignent qu'elle soit difficile. "En discutant avec les familles, j'ai compris qu'avant d'accepter pleinement l'homosexualité de leur enfant, de nombreux parents devaient faire le deuil de leurs projections parentales et que ce deuil était marqué par toute une série d'étapes", analyse Elisabeth Thorens-Gaud, auteur du livre remarquable Adolescents homosexuels. Des préjugés à l'acceptation (Favre, 2009). Et mieux les parents les soutiendront, plus leurs enfants auront de chances d'être heureux.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

By Eleanor Bradford
BBC Scotland health correspondent 

Patients arriving for knee surgery at a Glasgow hospital are being asked if they want to watch a movie while they are having their operation

The technique is being used to divert their attention so they need less anaesthetic.

The idea was the brainchild of Gartnavel Hospital anaesthetist Dr Nick Pace. He had been trying to reduce the number of people opting for a general anaesthetic and being put to sleep for the entire operation.

Most people recover faster when they are only numbed from the waist down, but too many patients found the sights and sounds of the surgery unnerving.

"We tried music, but after about an hour a lot of patients got distracted and fidgety, and we ended up having to give them a general anaesthetic anyway," said Dr Pace.

"Then I happened to be speaking to a friend of mine who was taking two young kids on a long journey down to London and she told me she'd distract them with two DVDs strapped to the back of the seats. It got me thinking."

Dr Pace asked Gartnavel Hospital's engineering department to make a mount to hold a DVD player over the operating table. He brought in some DVDs from home and found that offering his patients the option of watching a movie during their surgery has proved a huge success.

He said: "Most of them are desperate to phone relatives and say - 'Guess what? I've just been watching Only Fools And Horses in the middle of my operation!'"

If the patient becomes uncomfortable Dr Pace will quickly put them to sleep, but that has never happened so far in the 18 months he's been using DVDs.

James McLaren, 69, is very relaxed about the idea of staying awake during his knee operation. He picks The Blue Planet from Dr Pace's extensive collection.

"The Blue Planet is very relaxing," he said. "I like the fish and the oceans. I don't mind being awake at all."

'Some noise'

During the operation he seems engrossed in David Attenborough and hardly seems to notice the sights and sounds of the theatre.

After his leg is swabbed down with iodine, a blue sheet is positioned below his neck so he can't see the surgery itself. After about an hour it's all over and he's wheeled into recovery.

"It went very well," he reflects. "There's various movements and maybe some noise, like that grinder, but it was fine."

Now, 50% of Dr Pace's patients opt for a movie and a spinal anaesthetic, although he still has a long way to go to match Scandinavia, where about 95% of operations are carried out using this kind of 'regional' anaesthetic.

"It's a really good way, I think, of undertaking these kinds of operations," he said. "Some patients are quite disappointed because the operation is finished before the end of the film!"

However, the biggest surprise for Dr Pace has been his patients' taste in DVDs.

"I picked up this one: The Guide to Successful Pole Fishing," he explains. "My wife said - 'Who on Earth is going to want to watch that?' but it's by far the most popular male choice!"

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Internet, la clé du bonheur? Document tire du site slate.fr

Quand il s'agit de santé mentale, l'Internet n'a pas vraiment la cote. Il existe un nombre incalculable d'études qui tendent à montrer qu'un accès régulier au web se traduit par de l'addiction, du stress et de l'anxiété. Mais il semble bien que l'Internet ait aussi pour effet de rendre les gens heureux...

C'est en tout cas ce que montre un article du magazine américain Time construit à partir d'une étude rendue publique le 12 mai par des chercheurs britanniques du très réputé Chartered Institute of IT connu aussi sous le nom de BCS. Ils ont établi un lien direct entre l'accès à Internet et le bien-être. Et ce lien est encore plus fort pour les personnes dont les revenus sont faibles et le niveau d'étude peu élevé, pour les populations dse pays du tiers monde et ce qui est plus surprenant pour les femmes.

D'une façon générale, cette étude montre qu'avoir un accès à Internet tend à faire que les gens se sentent mieux dans leur vie. «Expliqué simplement, les gens qui ont un accès à Internet sont plus satisfait même en tenant compte de leur niveau de revenus» explique Michael Willmott, le chercheur en sciences sociales qui a dirigé l'étude. «Notre étude montre que les technologies de l'information permettent aux gens de mieux maitriser et contrôler leurs vies, elles augmentent leur sentiment de liberté et de contrôle, ce qui a un effet positive sur le sentiment de bien-être et le bonheur», ajoute-t-il.

Peu d'études ont été réalisées sur la façon dont l'Internet affecte le bonheur des utilisateurs. Les chercheurs de Trajectory Partnership, un think thank britannique, ont mené les recherches pour le BCS auprès de 35 000 personnes dans le monde entre 2005 et 2007.

«Ces résultats... semblent très plausibles», explique Carol Graham, qui détient la chaire d'études politiques étrangères à la Brookings Institution de Washington. Elle est l'auteur du livre Happiness around the world (La joie dans le monde). «Si vous introduisez une technologie, que ce soit l'Internet ou le téléphone portable, cela permet aux gens de réduire les contraintes considérables qui pèsent sur leur vie quotidenne, cela a un effet considérable sur le bien-être».

L'étude du BCS montre que la corrélation entre l'accès à l'Internet et le bonheur n'est pas liée à l'âge des personnes. Ce ne sont pas seulement les enfants et les adolescents qui retirent le plus de bénéfices de l'Internet. «Que vous soyez jeune ou vieux, nous sommes tous des êtres sociaux, nous avons tous besoin de choses dont les technologies de l'information facilitent l'accès», souligne Paul Flatters, partenaire du cabinet d'études Trajectory Partnership.

Ce qui a le plus surpris les chercheurs, reste l'impact de l'Internet sur les femmes dans le monde qui y ont accès. C'est une industrie et une technologie dominée par les hommes, mais selon l'étude le web est un outil très efficace pour faciliter la vie sociale et il permet aux femmes immédiatement de nettement maitriser et organiser leur quotidien.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

By Adam Brimelow
Health correspondent, BBC News 

Stress at work raises the risk of heart disease for women under 50, a study of more than 12,000 nurses suggests.

Danish research in Occupational and Environmental Medicine concludes work pressure has a greater effect on young women than those in their 50s and 60s.

It suggests other risk factors may play a bigger role in the development of heart disease for older women.

The British Heart Foundation says people facing stress at work should try to tackle it in a positive way.

There is a lot of evidence indicating that stress at work raises the risk of heart disease in men, but there has been much less research examining the impact on women.

Risk profile

In this study, the researchers asked more than 12,000 female nurses aged between 45 and 64 about pressure at work and tracked their health for 15 years up to 2008.

By then 580 nurses had been admitted to hospital with ischaemic heart disease, including 369 cases of angina and 138 heart attacks.

After accounting for risk factors such as smoking and diabetes, the researchers found that those who described pressure at work as "much too high" were 35% more likely to have developed heart disease than those who were comfortable with the pressure.

But when they broke the results down by age, they found it was only the women aged 50 and under who were affected significantly.

The researchers from Glostrup University Hospital, in Denmark, say this could be down to a changing risk-profile in different age groups.

"It seems as if the effect of work pressure has a greater impact on younger women," they said.

"This is in agreement with findings from previous studies looking at age-specific effects in both men and women.

"The lower risk among the older nurses may be due to other risk factors that become relatively more important with increasing age."

'Worrying'

June Davison, a cardiac nurse with the British Heart Foundation, said people who were stressed at work should talk to colleagues or managers about how to manage the pressures.

"If you feel under pressure you should try and tackle it in a positive way and get active during work hours," she said.

"Using the stairs and walking some of the way to work could help act as a stress buster and boost heart health too."

Josie Irwin, head of employment relations at the Royal College of Nursing, said the paper raised important concerns.

"Our latest employment survey found that 55% of nurses feel they are under too much pressure at work, making this research worrying reading," she said.

"We know that safe staffing levels are key to providing the best quality care for patients - this research also suggests under-staffing and excess pressure can have a damaging effect on nurses' health

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Happy and enthusiastic people less prone to heart disease, say researchers

People who are typically happy and enthusiastic are less likely to develop heart disease than those of a gloomier disposition, researchers say.

An increased risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke has previously been linked to getting angry or stressed, but a study by American researchers, published in the European Heart Journal, claims to be the first to show an independent link between emotions and coronary heart disease.

The findings suggest that it may be possible to help to prevent heart disease by boosting a person’s mood, says the lead researcher, Karina Davidson, of Columbia University, New York.

“Everyone should try and inject some fun into their daily routines to counteract any effects of stress on their health, rather than waiting for holidays,” she said. “Some people wait for their two weeks of vacation to have fun, and that would be analogous to binge drinking.

"Essentially, spending some few minutes each day truly relaxed and enjoying yourself is certainly good for your mental health, and may improve your physical health as well.”

Over ten years Dr Davidson and colleagues tracked the health of 1,739 adults who participated in a 1995 health survey in Nova Scotia, Canada.Nurses assessed participants’ risk of heart disease and measured symptoms of depression, hostility, anxiety and their degree of positive emotions, referred to as “positive affect”.

Writing in the European Heart Journal, the researchers define positive affect as the experience of pleasurable emotions such as joy, happiness, excitement, enthusiasm and contentment. Although these feelings can be transitory or short-lived, they can also represent stable character traits, particularly in adulthood, they add.

The study pParticipants were awarded a score out of five for positive affect, varying from “none” to “extreme” depending on their answers to questions on how they responded to stressful situations or expressed their emotions.

After taking account of age, sex and cardiovascular risk factors, the researchers found that, over the ten-year period, people with increased scores for positive affect were less likely to suffer a fatal or non-fatal heart attack or stroke.

“Participants with no positive affect were at a 22 per cent higher risk of heart disease than those with a little positive affect, who were themselves at 22 per cent higher risk than those with moderate positive affect,” Dr Davidson said. “We also found that if someone who was usually positive had some depressive symptoms at the time of the survey, this did not affect their overall lower risk of heart disease.

She suggested there could be several possible explanations for the link, including typically happy people having longer periods of rest or relaxation, or being able to recover more quickly from stress or anxiety.

They may also not spend as much time “re-living” or dwelling on depressing events, “which in turn seems to cause physiological damage,” she added.

Dr Davidson said that to improve mood and relaxation, people should devote time daily to a hobby or preferred leisure pursuit.

“If you enjoy reading novels, but never get around to it, commit to getting 15 minutes or so of reading in. If walking or listening to music improves your mood, get those activities in your schedule.

She added that more studies were needed to confirm the link between mood and physical health: “We desperately need rigorous clinical trials in this area.”

“If the trials support our findings, then these results will be incredibly important in describing specifically what clinicians and patients could do to improve health.”

Ellen Mason, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said that the charity was funding ongoing research to “unravel the biology” that underlies the link between happiness and health. But she warned that existing risk factors such as obesity, poor diet, lack of exercise or smoking should not be discounted.

“Today’s study used an experimental design that is great for observing trends and associations, but doesn’t prove cause and effect or tell us for sure whether changing our mood can definitely reduce our risk of heart disease,” she added.

“This research suggested that those who naturally had a ‘glass half-full’ mood seemed to be most protected from disease. But we’re not all like that, and we know that improving your mood isn’t always easy – so we don’t know if it’s possible to change our natural levels of positivity.

“We would of course recommend that people take time to indulge in healthy activities that can lift their mood, but trying to keep established risk factors under control remains really important.”

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

'Your left brain has a bigger ego than your right brain', by The British Psychological Society

Psychologists have used an inventive combination of techniques to show that the left half of the brain has more self-esteem than the right half. The finding is consistent with earlier research showing that the left hemisphere is associated more with positive, approach-related emotions, whereas the right hemisphere is associated more with negative emotions.

Ryan McKay and colleagues used a version of the self-esteem 'implicit association test' (IAT). This compares how readily participants associate themselves or other people with positive words like 'capable' and negative words like 'boring'. Forty-six participants used keyboard keys to categorise words as self-related (e.g. 'me', 'myself'), other-related ('they', 'themselves'), positive or negative. To take one example, people with high self-esteem should be relatively quicker when the same response key is used to categorise self-words and positive words, than when the same key is used to categorise other-related and positive words.

A key twist to this study is that McKay's team used an auditory version of the IAT - the first time this has ever been done. Specifically, they used so-called 'dichotic presentation' such that when a word was presented via headphones to one ear, the same word was played backwards to the other ear. This has the effect of ensuring that the word is only processed by the hemisphere opposite the presenting ear, thus allowing the participants to perform the IAT test with just one hemisphere at a time.

As you'd expect, a participant's self-esteem as measured via one hemisphere tended to correlate with their self-esteem as measured via the other hemisphere. More intriguingly, however, a consistent finding was that participants clocked up higher self-esteem scores when hearing words via their right ear (processed by the left hemisphere) compared with via their left ear (processed by the right hemisphere).

Critics may point to the language dominance of the left hemisphere as a major confound, but actually this is not relevant - even if the left hemisphere were faster overall, there's no reason it should have shown a specific advantage for associating the self with positive words.

The researchers said further investigations are needed to build on this initial discovery, including lesion studies and brain imaging techniques, which 'would be useful in providing a more fine-grained assessment of the relative activation of the left versus the right hemisphere in the representation and processing of self-esteem and in providing detail concerning anterior/posterior and cortical/subcortical involvement.'

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Here is an excellent article by 'Be lucky - it's an easy skill to learn' by Richard Wiseman for The Telegraph Online:

A decade ago, I set out to investigate luck. I wanted to examine the impact on people's lives of chance opportunities, lucky breaks and being in the right place at the right time. After many experiments, I believe that I now understand why some people are luckier than others and that it is possible to become luckier.

To launch my study, I placed advertisements in national newspapers and magazines, asking for people who felt consistently lucky or unlucky to contact me. Over the years, 400 extraordinary men and women volunteered for my research from all walks of life: the youngest is an 18-year-old student, the oldest an 84-year-old retired accountant.

Jessica, a 42-year-old forensic scientist, is typical of the lucky group. As she explained: "I have my dream job, two wonderful children and a great guy whom I love very much. It's amazing; when I look back at my life, I realise I have been lucky in just about every area."

In contrast, Carolyn, a 34-year-old care assistant, is typical of the unlucky group. She is accident-prone. In one week, she twisted her ankle in a pothole, injured her back in another fall and reversed her car into a tree during a driving lesson. She was also unlucky in love and felt she was always in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Over the years, I interviewed these volunteers, asked them to complete diaries, questionnaires and intelligence tests, and invited them to participate in experiments. The findings have revealed that although unlucky people have almost no insight into the real causes of their good and bad luck, their thoughts and behaviour are responsible for much of their fortune.

Take the case of chance opportunities. Lucky people consistently encounter such opportunities, whereas unlucky people do not. I carried out a simple experiment to discover whether this was due to differences in their ability to spot such opportunities.

I gave both lucky and unlucky people a newspaper, and asked them to look through it and tell me how many photographs were inside. On average, the unlucky people took about two minutes to count the photographs, whereas the lucky people took just seconds. Why? Because the second page of the newspaper contained the message: "Stop counting. There are 43 photographs in this newspaper." This message took up half of the page and was written in type that was more than 2in high. It was staring everyone straight in the face, but the unlucky people tended to miss it and the lucky people tended to spot it.

For fun, I placed a second large message halfway through the newspaper: "Stop counting. Tell the experimenter you have seen this and win £250." Again, the unlucky people missed the opportunity because they were still too busy looking for photographs.

Personality tests revealed that unlucky people are generally much more tense than lucky people, and research has shown that anxiety disrupts people's ability to notice the unexpected. In one experiment, people were asked to watch a moving dot in the centre of a computer screen. Without warning, large dots would occasionally be flashed at the edges of the screen. Nearly all participants noticed these large dots.

The experiment was then repeated with a second group of people, who were offered a large financial reward for accurately watching the centre dot, creating more anxiety. They became focused on the centre dot and more than a third of them missed the large dots when they appeared on the screen. The harder they looked, the less they saw.

And so it is with luck - unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else. They go to parties intent on finding their perfect partner and so miss opportunities to make good friends. They look through newspapers determined to find certain types of job advertisements and as a result miss other types of jobs. Lucky people are more relaxed and open, and therefore see what is there rather than just what they are looking for.

My research revealed that lucky people generate good fortune via four basic principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.

I wondered whether these four principles could be used to increase the amount of good luck that people encounter in their lives. To find out, I created a "luck school" - a simple experiment that examined whether people's luck can be enhanced by getting them to think and behave like a lucky person.

I asked a group of lucky and unlucky volunteers to spend a month carrying out exercises designed to help them think and behave like a lucky person. These exercises helped them spot chance opportunities, listen to their intuition, expect to be lucky, and be more resilient to bad luck.

One month later, the volunteers returned and described what had happened. The results were dramatic: 80 per cent of people were now happier, more satisfied with their lives and, perhaps most important of all, luckier. While lucky people became luckier, the unlucky had become lucky. Take Carolyn, whom I introduced at the start of this article. After graduating from "luck school", she has passed her driving test after three years of trying, was no longer accident-prone and became more confident.

In the wake of these studies, I think there are three easy techniques that can help to maximise good fortune:

Unlucky people often fail to follow their intuition when making a choice, whereas lucky people tend to respect hunches. Lucky people are interested in how they both think and feel about the various options, rather than simply looking at the rational side of the situation. I think this helps them because gut feelings act as an alarm bell - a reason to consider a decision carefully.

Unlucky people tend to be creatures of routine. They tend to take the same route to and from work and talk to the same types of people at parties. In contrast, many lucky people try to introduce variety into their lives. For example, one person described how he thought of a colour before arriving at a party and then introduced himself to people wearing that colour. This kind of behaviour boosts the likelihood of chance opportunities by introducing variety.
Lucky people tend to see the positive side of their ill fortune. They imagine how things could have been worse. In one interview, a lucky volunteer arrived with his leg in a plaster cast and described how he had fallen down a flight of stairs. I asked him whether he still felt lucky and he cheerfully explained that he felt luckier than before. As he pointed out, he could have broken his neck.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The Focus Clinic will be closed from 6th January until 24th January 2010. For urgent queries only, please contact our reception on 020 7467 8539 who will forward your message to us. For non-urgent queries, please send us an email to info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Appointments will resume as normal on Monday 25th January 2010.

Thank you.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Please note that our opening times over the holiday season are as follows:

Wednesday 23rd December 2009 - CLOSED

Thursday 24th December 2009 - CLOSED

Friday 25th December 2009 - CLOSED

Saturday 26th December 2009 - CLOSED

Sunday 27th December 2009- CLOSED

Monday 28th December 2009 - CLOSED

Tuesday 29th December 2009 - OPEN between 6pm and 9pm

Wednesday 30st December 2009 - OPEN between 6pm and 9pm

Thursday 31st December 2009 - OPEN between 6pm and 9pm

Friday 1st January 2009 - CLOSED

Joyeuses fetes de fin d'annee a tous et a toutes et a l'annee prochaine! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2010 to everyone!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The Milgram experiment was a series of social psychology experiments conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram, which measured the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience.

The experiments began in July 1961, three months after the start of the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem. Milgram devised the experiments to answer this question: 'Could it be that Eichmann and his million accomplices in the Holocaust were just following orders? Could we call them all accomplices?'

Conducted at the prestigious Yale University and with a respected scientist in a white lab coat with a quasi-religiously symbolic book, the subjects were under a great amount of authoritative pressure. Prior to the experiments, experts predicted that less than 1/10 of 1% would eventually apply the full voltage. Surprisingly, the experiment found that over 60% of subjects actually did it.

Disturbing video - ames sensibles, s'abstenir!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Treat yourself with our exclusive Natural Lift Facial Massage! This 30 minutes wonderful experience includes a gentle massage of the neck, shoulders and natural face lift with aromatherapy and relaxing music.

The Focus Clinic is pleased to offer two discounted sessions this coming Friday (2/10) starting at respectively 8pm and 8.30pm.

Price: £25.00 per session payable directly at the clinic (cash or cheque).

First come first served.

If you would like to enjoy our Focus Natural Lift Facial massage this Friday, please send us a message and we will get in touch with you by email.

We look forward to your visit!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Don't miss Derren Brown and his 'events' next Friday on Channel 4 as he is going to 'investigate the world of subliminals', these messages that can affect our subconscious mind and influence the way we think, feel and behave.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Women are 'programmed' to have a natural fear of spiders, say researchers. They found girls aged 11 months associate spiders with fear, while boys are not concerned.

A study to be published in New Scientist suggests women have evolved to be scared of potentially dangerous animals over millions of years. David Rakison, of Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, said it made revolutionary sense for women to fear venomous bites as, in prehistoric times, they were the sole carer of offspring. Men would be less worried as threats were an accepted risk of hunting.

Article from The London Paper

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The Focus Clinic will exceptionnally be closed from 24th July until 3rd August 2009. For urgent queries only, please contact our reception on 020 7467 8539 who will forward your message to us. For non-urgent queries, please send us an email to info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Appointments will resume as normal on Tuesday 4th August 2009.

Thank you.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

'Mental' is a television series, produced by Fox's subsidiary Fox Telecolombia, which is debuting in 2009 on FOX international channels for Latin America, Europe and Asia, starring Chris Vance and Annabella Sciorra.

Dr. Jack Gallagher (Vance) is a radical unorthodox psychiatrist who becomes Director of Mental Health Services at Wharton Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles. Gallagher has developed high sensitivity about the minds of his patients and see the way they see reality, allowing him to uncover what might be the keys to their long-term recoveries. This perspective leads Gallagher to offer strange treatments for his patients. These treatments threaten to break the hypersensitive environment of the hospital and generate serious conflicts with his boss Nora (Sciorra), who had a relationship with Jack previously. Jack has to deal not only with his patients but also with Veronica (Jacqueline McKenzie), an ambitious psychiatrist who is his rival in the hospital, and Carl (Webster), an attending with a pristine image but who hides a deep hate for Jack. In addition, Arturo (Gonzalez) is a junior resident addicted to women, and Chloë (Ramirez) is a young doctor who shuns Arturo's attempted overt sexual advances towards her.

Excellente serie a mon avis - donnez moi le votre!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The summer is practically here and so is The Focus Clinic's Summer Sale!

Any new patient starting a psychotherapy treament or a therapeutic massage at the clinic from 1 July 2009 will benefit from 2 consultations for the price of 1 until 31 August 2009.

New prices from 1 July - 31 August 2009:

FOCUS INITIAL CONSULTATION: £50
LE MASSAGE FOCUS: £60
FOCUS NATURAL LIFT FACIAL MASSAGE: £25
FOCUS PSYCHOTHERAPY TREATMENTS: £50
FOCUS HYPNOTHERAPY TREATMENTS: £50

Profitez-en, cela ne dure que deux mois!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

La tentation de l’infidélité

La fidélité est souvent mise à mal au quotidien. Fatalité ou crise passagère, comment négocier cette envie d’aller voir ailleurs sans mettre son couple en danger ? Tous nos conseils avant de céder ou non à la tentation...

L’amour, le désir, on connaît la chanson ! Quand on examine de près l’évolution de la notion d’infidélité à travers l’histoire, on s’aperçoit qu’au XIIe siècle, le mythe amoureux, celui de Tristan et Iseult, reposait déjà sur l’adultère. Plus près de nous, en 68, les enfants du baby boom se ruent sur le libertinage. En 2000, à une époque qui cultive le moi, l’individu se retrouve coincé entre amour de l’autre et amour de soi. Les images de l’amour sont tantôt folles et parlent de liberté, tantôt conjugales et éprises de durée. Quoi qu’il en soit, la notion d’infidélité renvoie aux liens sacrés du mariage, de l’amour unique, et il n’est pas si facile de s’en déprendre. Evolution des moeurs ou pas, quand ça nous arrive, c’est un moment toujours difficile à gérer.

Un message inconscient ?

Entre manque de communication dans le couple ou réassurance narcissique, les raisons qui poussent à être infidèle ne sont pas toujours celles qu’on énonce consciemment. "Elle survient le plus souvent au bout de quatre ans, explique Gonzague Masquelier, psychothérapeute. Bien sûr une certaine monotonie sexuelle rentre en compte". Mais au-delà, quand un partenaire investit un autre objet de désir, c’est aussi un message inconscient. Celui d’un manque, que ce soit d’amour, de créativité ou encore d’investissement dans la relation. Marie, enseignante, mariée depuis 7 ans, met en avant le désir de se revaloriser dans un regard neuf. Quant aux hommes, "eux sont pris symboliquement entre l’image de la madone et celle de la putain", ajoute le Dr Gérard Leleu. L’infidélité lui permet de séparer l’amour de l’érotisme.

Passage à l’acte…

Au-delà des codes comportementaux et des discours, ce que l’on met en jeu dans l’infidélité pose la question de soi et bien sûr des conséquences dans le couple. Pourquoi le faites-vous ? Pour blesser l’autre, ou vous rassurer ? "La plupart du temps, les conflits datent de l’enfance" affirme le Dr Gérard Leleu. L’enfant mal aimé et blessé qui est en nous, toujours insatisfait nous pousse à aller de bras en bras. Si l’on prend conscience de sa "programmation infantile", nos besoins d’être consolé ou de séduire aux quatre vents peuvent cesser. On ne ressent plus le besoin de multiplier les relations amoureuses. De plus, "en allant chercher ailleurs ce qui manque dans son couple, on prive celui-ci de soins qui vont le fortifier" précise Gonzague Masquelier. C’est une décision, qu’on ne prend donc pas à la légère.

Avouer ou non ?

La question de l’aveu est bien sûr délicate. Il n’existe pas de règle en la matière et c’est à vous de prendre la décision selon votre intime conviction… Vous pouvez lui part de votre incartade si c’est un véritable symptôme de malaise dans votre couple. "Ca ne va pas, d’ailleurs je t’ai trompé". Cela peut-être l’occasion d’ouvrir la discussion. Il arrive que ces péripéties renforcent le lien conjugal.

Pour le Dr Gérard Leleu, "le drame de l’infidélité serait d’accuser l’autre de ses propres souffrances". Se montrer mature, c’est prendre en charge la responsabilité des deux parties. En revanche, si c’est le besoin d’aventure qui vous a emmené voir ailleurs et même si l’amour est fort au sein du couple, vous pouvez envisager de ne pas en parler : c’est un moment d’individualité et il n’y a ni "cocu", ni tromperie si l‘amour n’a pas été renié. A vous d’agir selon ce que vous jugez le mieux pour votre couple.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Here is a video of illusionist Derren Brown using the power of suggestion to perform a trick with a voodoo doll in Epping forest.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

In Treatment is an HBO drama, produced and developed by Rodrigo Garcia, about a psychotherapist, 53-year-old Dr. Paul Weston, and his weekly sessions with patients. The program, which stars Gabriel Byrne as Paul, debuted on January 28, 2008, as a five-night-a-week series.

Each episode of In Treatment focuses on one patient, including Paul, who is seeing his own psychotherapist, Gina, played by Dianne Wiest. The first season included 43 episodes, each airing a different night of the week, Monday through Friday. The first season covered nine weeks for most of the characters, except in the final week, which did not have Monday and Tuesday night installments.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Do you see a bunny or do you see a duck? Perhaps both?

Pour moi, c'est le canard d'abord, puis le lapin...

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The Focus Clinic will exceptionnally be closed from 23-25 May 2009. For urgent queries only, please contact our reception on 020 7467 8539 who will forward your message to us.

Appointments will resume as normal on Tuesday 26th May 2009.

Happy Bank Holiday weekend!

Thank you.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Neurose ou psychose?

 Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The Focus Clinic will exceptionnally be closed from 02-04 May 2009. For urgent queries only, please contact our reception on 020 7467 8539 who will forward your message to us.

Appointments will resume as normal on Tuesday 5th May 2009.

Happy Bank Holiday weekend!

Thank you.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Art therapy is a form of expressive therapy that uses art materials, such as paints, chalk and markers. Art therapy combines traditional psychotherapeutic theories and techniques with an understanding of the psychological aspects of the creative process, especially the affective properties of the different art materials.

The website Art.com gives you an opportunity to express yourself with their online tool, ArtPad. To begin your very own art therapy, click here

A vos pinceaux 'virtuels'!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The Focus Clinic will exceptionnally be closed from 10-13 April 2009. For urgent queries only, please contact our reception on 020 7467 8539 who will forward your message to us.

Appointments will resume as normal on Tuesday 14th April 2009.

Thank you.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Can you find the twelve faces hiding in the tree?

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Grégoire est le premier artiste produit par le grand public en France via MyMajorCompany. MyMajorCompany est un label communautaire qui permet aux internautes de produire directement ses artistes.

A ecouter et a apprecier sans moderation... 'Allez, venez et entrez dans la danse... Allez venez, laissez faire l'insouciance.'

Toi, plus moi, plus eux, plus tous ceux qui le veulent,
Plus lui, plus elle, et tous ceux qui sont seuls,
Allez venez et entrez dans la danse,
Allez venez, laissez faire l'insouciance.

A deux à mille, je sais qu'on est capable,
Tout est possible, tout est réalisable,
On peut s'enfuir bien plus haut que nos rêves,
On peut partir bien plus loin que la grève.

Oh toi, plus moi, plus tous ceux qui le veulent,
Plus lui, plus elle, plus tous ceux qui sont seuls,
Allez venez et entrez dans la danse,
Allez venez c'est notre jour de chance.

Avec l'envie, la force et le courage,
Le froid, la peur ne sont que des mirages,
Laissez tomber les malheurs pour une fois,
Allez venez, reprenez avec moi.

Oh, toi, plus moi, plus tous ceux qui le veulent,
Plus lui, plus elle, et tous ceux qui sont seuls,
Allez venez et entrez dans la danse,
Allez venez, laissez faire l'insouciance.

Je sais, c'est vrai, ma chanson est naïve,
Même un peu bête, mais bien inoffensive,
Et même, si elle ne change pas le monde,
Elle vous invite à entrer dans la ronde.

Oh toi, plus moi, plus tous ceux qui le veulent,
Plus lui, plus elle, et tous ceux qui sont seuls,
Allez venez et entrez dans la danse,
Allez venez c'est notre jour de chance.

L'espoir, l'ardeur, prend tout ce qu'il te faut,
Mes bras, mon cœur, mes épaules et mon dos,
Je veux te voir des étoiles dans les yeux,
Je veux nous voir insoumis et heureux.

Oh, toi, plus moi, plus tous ceux qui le veulent,
Plus lui, plus elle, et tous ceux qui sont seuls,
Allez venez et entrez dans la danse,
Allez venez, laissez faire l'insouciance.

Oh toi, plus moi, plus tous ceux qui le veulent,
Plus lui, plus elle et tous ceux qui sont seuls,
Allez venez et entrez dans la danse,
Allez venez c'est notre jour de chance.

Oh toi, plus moi, plus tous ceux qui le veulent,
Plus lui, plus elle, et tous ceux qui sont seuls,
Allez venez et entrez dans la danse,
Allez venez et entrez dans la danse..'

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Il y a une explication a tout...

For the patients who, last night, were wondering what the music outside The Focus Clinic was, here is the explanation...

To watch the BBC video, click here

Rock band U2 have played a surprise gig on top of BBC Broadcasting House, in central London.

A crowd of around 5,000 watched the rooftop show, which capped off a day of promotion for the Irish band's 12th studio album No Line On The Horizon.

U2 had been special guests on BBC Radio 1 and rumours of the gig appeared on internet message boards during the day.

The band performed four tracks during the 20-minute gig, including new songs Get On Your Boots and Magnificent.

Bono told the crowd: "This is a great honour. This is the first time we've played these songs to people, so we hope we don't screw it up."

U2 also performed Beautiful Day and Vertigo, as onlookers danced, clapped and sang along in the street below.

'Great honour'

The BBC's Darryl Chamberlain, who was at the scene, said: "Some people tried to crowd on to traffic islands to see them... the crowd was screaming and cheering.

"Others were spilling out of pubs and shops to see it, and looking out of windows. It was a good natured crowd and people really seemed to be enjoying it."

Police closed Portland Place in Westminster to divert traffic away from the area.

News of the unannounced gig spread on internet message boards

The band all wrapped up against the cold, except The Edge who wore a short-sleeved lumberjack shirt and hat.

The performance was also broadcast live on DJ Chris Evans' BBC Radio 2 show.

U2's impromptu gig echoed The Beatles' 1969 rooftop performance at record label Apple's London headquarters.

Earlier the band revealed they are preparing to tour later this year, and hope to offer tickets with cheaper, recession-busting prices.

Frontman Bono told BBC Radio 1's Jo Whiley they had "something very special planned" for early summer.

He added that it was "a whole way of trying to do shows outdoors and make them very intimate".

In an interview on Radio 5 Live with Simon Mayo, Bono said that he had "gone off" Get On Your Boots a few weeks ago, but was now "back on it".

"It's a small song, a tiny little song, a little shot of adrenalin," he added.

Another song from the album, Breathe, had its live debut at an intimate Radio 1 concert on Friday morning.

Bono told the audience: "This is a great honour. This is the first time we've played these songs to people, so we hope we don't screw it up."

He said they were "trying" to work on some cheaper ticket prices, but added: "We're also going to have some very expensive ticket prices because rich people have feelings too!"

Radio 1 also apologised on-air immediately after Bono used an expletive to describe Coldplay's lead singer Chris Martin.

The BBC said it had received no complaints about it.

 

On ne s'en est pas trop plaint non plus a la clinique!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The Eatwell Plate

The British Nutrition Foundation is launching episode one of its new healthier eating video podcasts for schools (February 2008). This new free resource has been developed in response to teacher feedback and advice. The videos, to be launched bi-monthly throughout 2008, focus on different food groups as depicted in the Eatwell Plate, as well as exploring other important aspects of nutrition, such as allergy, energy balance, salt and breakfast. Each video is 10 minutes in length. This first episode introduces pupils to the Eatwell Plate model and then goes on to explore the Fruit and vegetables food group in more detail.

© British Nutrition Foundation 2008

For further information about healthy eating, please visit the website http://www.nutrition.org.uk

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Le boulot, une usine à stress

La vie en entreprise est loin d'être un long fleuve tranquille. Et cela semble de plus en plus vrai !

Trop de pression…
Hausse du chômage, augmentation du travail précaire, licenciements… le monde du travail traverse une crise. Sans compter les éventuelles brimades et autres harcèlement qui semblent se multiplier. Mais assiste-t-on à une véritable augmentation de la pression ou s'agit-il de la mise en lumière d'un phénomène existant aujourd'hui largement relaté par les médias ? Selon les travaux de la Fondation Européenne pour l'amélioration des conditions de vie et de travail, 28 % des Européens déclarent que leur travail est source de stress. La France serait depuis peu dans le peloton de tête des salariés sont les plus stressés.

De plus en plus de stress ?
Le stress au travail semble avoir fortement augmenté ces dernières années. Pour le Conseil Economique et Social qui vient de publier un rapport sur les nouveaux risques pour la santé des salariés, la faute incombe aux nouvelles organisations du travail. La mondialisation, et la concurrence qui l'accompagne seraient ainsi en ligne de mire. Selon ce rapport, le travail est de plus en plus intense et les marges de manoeuvre de plus en plus restreintes. Au rang des causes du stress : un isolement croissant des salariés et une disparition d'une organisation plus collective.

Les cadres en première ligne
Selon les travaux de la Fondation Européenne pour l'amélioration des conditions de vie et de travail, il existe de profondes différences en matière de stress, selon le métier et le domaine d'activité. Ainsi, les moins stressés en Europe sont les ouvriers, employés… et militaires ! A l'autre bout de l'échelle, on trouve les techniciens, cadres et scientifiques. 30 à 40 % d'entre eux ressentent un stress quotidien dans leur emploi. Une tendance confirmée par un sondage du Figaro Entreprises et de la Confédération Française de l'encadrement réalisé en avril 2004. Selon cette enquête, les cadres ont majoritairement l'impression que leur charge de travail est plus lourde, qu'ils doivent travailler plus vite, et que leurs efforts ne sont pas reconnus à leur juste valeur… Une autre enquête, réalisée par l'Usine nouvelle et le cabinet Stimulus en février 2004, souligne la plus grande pression dont sont victimes les femmes. Mais apparemment cette tendance serait en train de s'inverser…

Une meilleure protection ?
Aujourd'hui, il existe une véritable prise de conscience des menaces qui pèsent sur la santé mentale des salariés. Ainsi, de nouvelles lois ont été votées, telle que la reconnaissance du harcèlement moral (en 2002). De même, l'employeur a obligation de faire de la prévention en matière de santé physique mais aussi mentale. Enfin, de nombreux cabinets de coaching et autres organes de formation se sont spécialisés dans la gestion du stress en entreprise. Ils rencontrent un succès grandissant. Car les dirigeants l'ont bien compris, chasser le stress est essentiel pour la santé des salariés… et de l'entreprise !

Pour visualiser la video Doctissimo, cliquer ici

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

How To Lose Weight Through NLP

If you're trying to lose weight you'll know how difficult it can be to stay motivated to stick to your diet and keep exercising. We will show you how to use neuro linguistic programming to change the way you think about food and exercise, and then give you some simple practical tips to make the most out of your new-found will power (article available on Videojug).

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Step 1: Change the way you think about food

NLP can help reduce your appetite by making you understand the triggers that make you eat. The average person's appetite and cravings for food are caused by two unconscious programmes:

Firstly, when you pair eating with any other behaviour, the other behaviour will trigger cravings for food. This is called a conditioned response. For example, if you eat when you watch TV, you will automatically feel hungry each time you sit down to watch TV.

The other trigger is tension. When you feel anxious, you feel compelled to put something into your mouth for relaxation. This is the result of programming that you received as an infant. When you got cranky, your mum put a bottle in your mouth. .

Change these triggers by creating a picture of these times when you snack in your mind. Once you have done this, before you reach for a snack ask yourself what you want to do instead. This might be drinking a glass of water or going for a walk.

Now imagine seeing yourself, dissociated, doing this activity. Make this image of your future self so that it is compelling to you then bring it slowly over the top of
the picture of you wanting to snack.

Step 2: Change the way you think about exercise

Exercise is a key factor in losing weight - and it gets a lot easier to exercise if you enjoy the physical activity. Start by thinking of the various times in your life when you felt motivated and eager to do something physical, whether it was dancing at a wedding, or playing sport as a kid. As you create this mental image, your unconscious mind will connect the feeling of excitement and eagerness to the thought of exercising. And then get out there and exercise!

Step 3: Put it into exercise

So, you have made the decision to lose weight and used NLP to change the way you think about food and exercise. Next you need to write down your goals. Make them realistic then pin them to your fridge so you can't forget them. Get support from your friends or family - tell them what you're trying to do and see if you can talk them into trying to lose weight too.

Bon courage a tous et a toutes!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Choosing the right massage oil is just as important as giving a massage. This film will help you decide on what oils to use when giving a massage. A great introductory video into the therapeutic benefits on choosing the correct oil for a well deserved massage.

A Basic Guide To Massage Oils

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

For those who watched the movie last December, did it turn you into a 'Yes man' or 'Yes woman'?

Yes Man is the story of depressed bank worker Carl Allen, a man who would rather sit home alone watching DVDs than hang out with his pals in a local bar - even when his best friend is celebrating his engagement. Brought low by his dead-end job, and still reeling from being dumped by his fiancee three years previously, Allen has become used to saying "no" at every given opportunity.

That all changes when a chance meeting with an old acquaintance introduces him to the world of charismatic self-help guru Terrence Bundley (Terence Stamp), who preaches a gospel of serial positivity by saying "yes" to everything. Geed on by thousands of enthusiastic acolytes at one of Bundley's glossy seminars, Carl enters into a covenant with his new mentor to respond in the affirmative whenever he can (from The Guardian.co.uk).

If you say NO to life, you are not living - so say YES to life!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The truth about sleepwalking

Do you go walking in the dark? It's the stuff of jokes, but for 10 million Britons who sleepwalk it can be a nightmare. Just what is the truth about this bizarre - and dangerous - illness?

Here, we speak to three people with sleep disorders to find out how they cope with their bizarre and unpredictable condition.

Schoolgirl Katie Yates, 13, lives with her parents and three sisters Nicola, 17, Sarah, 19, and Emily, five. She says:

As long as I can remember, I have been a sleepwalker. At the age of three, I would walk downstairs, get into a cupboard and just stand there. My parents would guide me back to bed. Since then, my sleepwalking has become more frequent and elaborate. I sleepwalk around five times a week - sometimes every night. I might walk downstairs, open the patio doors and run around the garden.

Because I'm asleep, I have no awareness of what I'm doing. Whether my eyes are open or shut, I don't see what's around me. It's as if my mind has gone into automatic 'zombie' mode - I know where everything is, so I do things robotically.

I must have some sort of awareness because I recently started calling people randomly on my mobile phone and having conversations with them. The next day, I've received calls from strangers, but I've no idea who they are or what I've said to them. My parents now look after my phone at night.

Episodes last between five and ten minutes. Recently, I woke to find I was sitting bolt upright in my bed shouting 'Forward!' over and over. At other times I spout complete nonsense.

The worst thing I've done happened three months ago when I accidentally killed my goldfish, Sharkie. I sleepwalked downstairs, fished him out of his tank, wrapped him in a duster and left him in a drawer.

I'm on a waiting list to see a paediatrician who might be able to advise me on how I can manage the condition. But it doesn't upset my lifestyle too much. I don't mind it and my family think it's funny.

Susan Cope, 47, a primary school teacher, is married to Graham and is a mother of two. She began sleepwalking aged nine. Her daughter, Emma, 17, also sleepwalks. Susan says:

As a child, my parents used to hear me talking to myself at night. The light would go on and I'd wander around. They would tell me to get back to bed and I would do what they said - all in my sleep.

Children often grow out of sleepwalking, but i t's become more pronounced for me: I might get out of bed several times a night. When it happens, I feel I am living a dream, but it is so real I think it is reality.

One of the things I do most regularly while asleep is to make food. I think it's a comfort thing, particularly if I've been living out an anxious dream. The next day I find toast crumbs on the kitchen table. It's difficult to go on a diet because I will sleepwalk to the freezer and help myself to a chocolate ice cream.

Security isn't a problem, as I seem to be able to move safely around the house. But on holiday we have to be careful about locking windows. Once in Benidorm, we were staying on the 10th floor when I tried to open the balcony doors. Luckily, my son Mark woke up and put me back to bed.

I sleepwalk far more than I realise. When we had TV cameras in our bedroom for five weeks for a BBC programme on sleep disorders, out of 15 sleepwalking episodes, I could recall only two. In one, I walked downstairs backwards, went to the kitchen and ate a banana. Then I went back to bed and fell into a deep sleep.

My daughter has inherited my disorder. She's a receptionist and sometimes in the night she opens her bedroom door and says: 'Hello, I'm Emma, can I help you?'

Though there is no cure, I have developed ways of managing the condition. Three years ago, I went to the Oxford Sleep Disorders Centre because I was sleepwalking three to four times a night and felt exhausted the next day. They wired me up to an ECG machine and monitored me at night to watch my sleep patterns.

Doctors noticed my sleepwalking was linked to anxiety and suggested I use relaxation techniques and that I organise my mind before going to bed.

Cheese, chocolate, coffee and wine seem to make my sleepwalking worse so I have stopped buying them, to stop me bingeing in my sleep.

Melvyn Sharpe, 65, a dentist who is married to Beryl, suffers from REM Behaviour Disorder in which he lives out lucid dreams. He says:

The first recollection that I was experiencing hallucinatory dreams was six years ago when I dreamed I was on a golf course. I'd just started playing when I looked back to see a friend, who had passed away several years earlier. I told him not to tee off as I was still on the fairway, but the next minute a golf ball was flying towards my face. The next thing I remember was my wife Beryl asking me what I was doing on the floor with blood pouring from my nose. In my dream, I had dived off the bed to evade the ball but hit my face on the dressing table. But I felt I had really lived the dream: it was every bit as real as the living world.

I've been experiencing lucid dreams two or three times a week ever since. Often I act them out through sleeptalking.
But the episode that concerned me most was one night when I dreamed I was being attacked and ended up struggling with my wife. In April, worried that I might do something to hurt her, I started attending the Sleep Clinic at Papworth Hospital. I was referred there after agreeing to become involved in a BBC programme on sleep disorders.

Sleep specialists monitored my brain waves and heart rate. Because of the stage of sleep I am in when I have these experiences, they believe I have REM Behaviour Disorder.

Unlike sleepwalking, which is a sort of automatic pilot that occurs when you are sorting out the day's events, in this condition you act out dreams associated with deep sleep.

According to the consultant, this disorder can become more pronounced with age. The problem is that if you are having a violent dream, you might act it out with absolutely no awareness.

To control the disorder, doctors suggested I take sedative medication similar to Valium to help me get uninterrupted sleep. I take them two or three times a week at most, as they are habit-forming. While they haven't cut down the number of episodes, they have calmed them down.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Please note that our opening times over the holiday season are as follows:

Wednesday 24th December 2008 - CLOSED

Thursday 25th December 2008 - CLOSED

Friday 26th December 2008 - CLOSED

Saturday 27th December 2008 - CLOSED

Monday 29th December 2008 - OPEN from 6PM to 9PM

Tuesday 30th December 2008 - OPEN from 6PMto 9PM

Wednesday 31st December 2008 - CLOSED

Thursday 1st January 2009 - CLOSED

Appointments will resume as normal on Friday, 2nd January 2009.

Joyeuses fetes de fin d'annee a tous et a toutes et a l'annee prochaine! MERRY XMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Voici un article tres interessant ecrit par mon ami Pierre Kaldy pour le Figaro Online (www.lefigaro.fr). Celui-ci decrit le lien direct entre les fluctuations hormonales et les resultats boursiers.

Des chercheurs de l'université de Cambridge viennent de montrer que les résultats boursiers des traders sont meilleurs lorsque ceux-ci ont des taux élevés de testostérone.

L'exubérance irrationnelle des marchés ou la grosse déprime des krachs boursiers pourraient bien avoir une origine hormonale. C'est avec cette idée en tête que John Coates, l'un des auteurs de l'étude et trader expérimenté sur le marché de New York, est revenu dans le monde académique à Cambridge en Grande-Bretagne, son université d'origine en Angleterre, pour mener une enquête sur l'importance des fluctuations hormonales sur les résultats boursiers.

Les résultats publiés dans les comptes-rendus de l'Académie nationale des sciences américaine (Pnas) (*) ont mis en évidence notamment que les traders avaient un fort taux de testostérone les jours où ils réalisaient le plus de bénéfice. Il avait observé les passeurs d'ordre pendant la crise des marchés asiatiques et lors de la bulle des valeurs technologiques à la fin des années 1990 : «Au-delà de tous les paramètres qui avaient pu être étudiés pour expliquer ces comportements, confie John Coates au Figaro, il y en avait un qui m'a paru essentiel mais complètement oublié, les hormones stéroïdiennes.» En effet, le cortisol est produit sous l'effet du stress par nos glandes surrénales, tandis que la testostérone, une autre hormone stéroïdienne produite par les testicules chez l'homme et dans une moindre mesure par les ovaires chez la femme, favorise la prise de risque.

L'ancien trader de Goldman Sachs et de la Deutsche Bank s'est alors lancé, avec le concours des facultés de neurosciences et de la Judge Business School de l'université de Cambridge, dans l'étude de ces deux hormones aux effets bien distincts. Il a demandé à dix-sept traders de la City de leur donner un échantillon de leur salive le matin à 11 heures et l'autre l'après-midi à 16 heures, sur une période de huit jours de travail consécutifs où tombaient d'importantes statistiques de l'économie américaine. Parallèlement, il avait accès aux performances boursières quotidiennes des traders volontaires.

Il apparaît que les jours où les traders avaient la concentration de testostérone la plus élevée étaient ceux où ils obtenaient les meilleurs résultats boursiers. Leur concentration en cortisol pouvait aussi connaître d'énormes variations dans une journée ou une semaine : elle grimpait en flèche lorsque le degré d'incertitude, dû à la volatilité des marchés, était le plus élevé. C'est-à-dire au moment où le stress était le plus intense.

Troubles du comportement

«Ces résultats nous intéressent beaucoup, car ils rejoignent ceux que nous avons obtenus chez des sportifs, commente Édith Filaire, chercheuse au laboratoire des activités motrices et adaptations physiques de l'université d'Or­léans. Les judokas qui, juste avant les compétitions, ont une concentration salivaire en testostérone plus élevée que d'habitude vont plus loin dans les éliminatoires. Ce sont les moins stressés et ils ont développé une stratégie attentionnelle pour répondre au défi posé. Le taux de cortisol, lui, varie fortement dans le stress anticipatoire destiné à mobiliser l'énergie.»

Une injection de testostérone pourrait-elle doper les performances des traders ? Non, s'empressent de dire les deux chercheurs, car le lien de cause à effet n'est pas établi et les équilibres hormonaux sont bien trop subtils pour être manipulés de la sorte. En revanche, de telles tempêtes hormonales, si elles persistent, peuvent conduire à des troubles du comportement.

Chez nombre d'animaux, la testostérone favorise l'agressivité. Mais son augmentation répétée lors d'une forte spéculation à la hausse pourrait induire, indiquent les chercheurs, une dépendance à la prise de risque et une impulsivité échappant à tout contrôle. De même, la présence persistante de cortisol, lors de fortes incertitudes boursières à la baisse par exemple, peut induire l'anxiété avec une tendance à exagérer les risques et à se rappeler uniquement les précédents négatifs : elle accentuerait alors les attitudes de repli excessif.

«Je ne sais pas pourquoi, précise John Coates, les traders sont dans la plupart des cas des hommes jeunes. Au vu de nos résultats, nous pensons que les emballements boursiers seraient probablement réduits si le profil endocrinien des traders était plus diversifié : des hommes d'âge mûr et des femmes, moins soumis à de forts écarts en testostérone, pourraient aussi faire ce métier.»

Ces travaux innovants doivent être reproduits et les conditions boursières actuelles semblent s'y prêter : «Maintenant, ce serait fantastique, assure John Coates.

(*) Pnas, 104, 6 167, publication du 14 avril 2008.

Pierre Kaldy
04/05/2008

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The Focus Clinic will exceptionnally be closed from 05-12 December 2008. For urgent queries only, please contact our reception on 020 7467 8539 who will forward your message to us or email us to info@thefocusclinic.co.uk.

Appointments will resume as normal on Monday, 15th December 2008.

Thank you.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Dear Supporter,

The death of Baby P has shocked the whole country.

As a supporter of the NSPCC, I know you will feel, like us, horror, sadness and anger at the news of the death of this little boy.

We are working to shape the debate about child protection: talking directly to government and professionals who work with children, submitting evidence to the Laming review of the child protection system in England, and keeping the media and wider public informed.

In the coming weeks, we'll be launching a public campaign to help keep children safe. We need your help to influence the Government. Join our Campaign Action Group and we'll be in touch soon.

The more of us that sign up, the stronger our voice will be.

If you feel as strongly as we do, please forward to as many people as possible.

***If you are worried about a child call the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000.

For further information about NSPCC, please visit their website http://www.nspcc.org.uk/default.html

CRUELTY TO CHILDREN MUST STOP. FULL STOP.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Here is a fun way to test just how smart you are.

Below are four questions and a bonus question. You have to answer them instantly. You can NOT take your time and must answer all of them immediately.

Question 1: you are participating in a race. You overtake the SECOND person. What position are you in?

..........

..........

Answer 1: if you answered that you are first, then you are absolutely WRONG! If you overtake the second person, you take his/her place, so you are second!

Now answer the second question.

Question 2: if you overtake the LAST person, then you are...?

..........

..........

Answer 2: if you answered that you are second to last, then you are WRONG again. Tell us, how can you overtake the LAST person?

Now here is a very tricky arithmetic! N.B.: this must be done in your head ONLY. Do NOT use paper and pencil or a calculator.

Question 3:

Take 1000 and add 40 to it. Now add another 1000. Now add 30. Add another 1000. Now add 20. Now add another 1000. Now add 10. What is the total?

..........

..........

Answer 3: did you get 5000? The CORRECT answer is actually 4100. If you don't believe us, check it with a calculator!

Now try the fourth question.

Question 4: Mary's father has five daughters: 1. Nana, 2. Nene, 3. Nini, 4. Nono. What is the name of the fifth daughter?

..........

..........

Answer 4: did you answer Nunu? NO, of course it is NOT. Her name is Mary!

Now the BONUS question.

A mute person goes into a shop and wants to buy a toothbrush. By imitating the action of brushing his teeth, he successfully expresses himself to the shopkeeper and the purchase is done.

Next, a blind man comes into the shop who wants to buy a pair of sunglasses. How does HE indicate what he wants?

..........

..........

BONUS answer: he just has to open his mouth and ask... It is really that simple!

Pass this on to all your smart friends and family :)

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Hypnotism produces physical changes in the brain, according to a study showing that the favourite stage act of 19th- century magicians has a genuine scientific basis and could play an important role as a painkiller in medicine.

"The cerebellum (Latin for little brain) is a region of the brain that plays an important role in the integration of sensory perception, coordination and motor control. In order to coordinate motor control, there are many neural pathways linking the cerebellum with the cerebral motor cortex (which sends information to the muscles causing them to move) and the spinocerebellar tract (which provides proprioceptive feedback on the position of the body in space). The cerebellum integrates these pathways, like a train conductor, using the constant feedback on body position to fine-tune motor movements." (definition by Wikipedia).

Here is a game that involves both your motor cortex and the cerebellum. Click on the ball and it will change colour. N.B.: this can be done.

To access the game, click here.

Enjoy!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

There's no magic, no swinging pendulums or swaying watches, and no one is counting backwards as they slump into unconsciousness. This is medical rather than stage or movie hypnotism, and it is increasingly being used to treat the symptoms of diseases and conditions as diverse as asthma, cystic fibrosis, snoring, migraines and warts.

It's been used to allow surgery and dental work without anaesthesia, and for pain-free childbirth without medication. And new evidence from the UK's first and only NHS centre offering hypnotherapy shows that it's highly effective in treating some types of chest pain as well as irritable bowel syndrome.

New research from America has also found that more than half the people who used hypnotherapy to give up smoking were able to kick the habit, while researchers in France have successfully used the therapy to lower blood pressure.

Hypnosis has been used for centuries to treat diverse ills, but it went into relative decline with the rise of modern medicine, and in the last 200 years it's been more associated with stage magicians and movie villains than medicine.

Film-makers take a lot of blame for damaging the image of hypnotism: "When a hypnotist appears on screen, expect evil. If his induction features magnetic hand passes, he's probably about to compel someone to commit a crime. If he hypnotises with an intense stare, his intent is likelier seduction,'' says Dr Deirdre Barrett of Harvard Medical School, who has studied more than 200 films about hypnotism.

At the University Hospital of South Manchester, Professor Peter Whorwell, a gastroenterologist who heads the only NHS-funded hypnotherapy centre in Britain, which has been pioneering the therapy as a treatment of irritable bowel syndrome, agrees. "One of the problems is the name,'' he says. "If we started off again with a name like neuromodulation, for example, it would be more readily accepted. The name hypnotism has so much baggage attached. Cognitive behavioural therapy is now reasonably well accepted, and so, too, is psychotherapy, but of the three, I would say hypnotism is potentially the most powerful. It is becoming a treatment of choice for IBS.

"When I am dead and gone, people are going to suddenly realise that hypnotism is an incredibly powerful tool and question why it has been ignored for so long.''

Just how it works is not clear, and some critics suggest it's simply a way of relaxing. But practitioners say there's more to it, and that under hypnosis the patient can concentrate intensely on a specific thought, memory, feeling or sensation while blocking out distractions.

"The first thing you have to do is get past the myths and misconceptions about clinical hypnosis," says Dr Carol Ginandes who led a study into its use for anxiety at Harvard Medical School. "It's not used for entertainment. There are no Svengali-like figures in power-dominant relationships. It's not a sleep state or something that someone can make you do. It's a state of heightened, focused attention that we can all shift into very naturally.''

In a report in the Harvard Magazine, she explains how it has an effect: "We don't yet understand the mechanisms by which these suggestions are transplanted by the mind into the language of the body, but let's say someone is a smoker. When he's in a hypnotic state, I could suggest that he's going to find himself craving cigarettes less and less over a period of time. If he's ready to quit, that suggestion will be planted at a deep level in his mind, like seeds planted beneath the soil rather than scattered over the top, helping him tap into some useful physical and psychological resources."

Smoking

In a study at the Scott and White Memorial Hospital in Texas, smokers were given eight sessions of therapy over two months, and told to quit smoking one week after beginning the course of treatment.

Carbon-monoxide concentration tests were carried out on the patients to see whether they had smoked after treatment, and results showed that by the end of treatment 40 per cent had given up. At a follow-up 12 weeks later, 60 per cent had quit.

Dental

Hypnotherapy is increasingly being used in a number of areas of dentistry, including dental phobia, teeth-grinding and extractions and fillings. It has also been used for dental surgery that is usually done under local or general anaesthetic.

In one reported case, a patient in Scotland has also had a tooth implant, which involved putting a titanium rod into her jaw. In her case, hypnosis was used to alter the sensation in the areas where surgery was taking place. She was asked to imagine a dial where zero meant no pain.

Chest pains

Up to one-third of patients who have angina-like chest pain are found to have normal coronary arteries, but many continue to suffer painful symptoms despite no evidence of heart disease. Non-cardiac chest pain is a problem because there is little or no treatment.

In a new NHS-funded trial at Manchester, 28 patients were given 12 sessions of hypnotherapy or a placebo treatment. After being hypnotised, patients were told to focus on the chest, and given repetitive suggestions about reducing pain. Patients were also given a tape of a session and encouraged to practise at home. Results show that of those who had the therapy, eight out of 10 had an all-round improvement in symptoms.

Wound healing

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have shown that broken bones and surgical wounds heal faster in patients who have hypnotherapy. Six weeks after breaking their ankles, patients being treated with hypnotherapy were three weeks ahead in their healing schedule than those who were just put in plaster.

In a second study, the researchers had similar results with surgical wounds. Before surgery, suggestions were made under therapy on pain and anxiety, and on decreased inflammation, reduced scar tissue, and accelerated wound-healing. Results show the women who had the therapy healed significantly faster.

Irritable bowel syndrome

One of the most common gastrointestinal disorders, with research showing that between five and 20 per cent of us suffer at some time. Its main symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhoea or constipation. The exact cause is not known, but in some people changes in the balance of bacteria that line the gut are thought to be involved, as well as inflammation. Existing treatment for the condition can be only moderately effective.

Research at the University Hospital of South Manchester, where the first trial of hypnotherapy for the condition was carried out, shows that the majority of sufferers can benefit. "We have found that IBS patients treated with hypnotherapy remain well in the long term, with dramatically reduced medication needs,'' say the researchers.

Cystic fibrosis

According to a University of Michigan report, hypnotherapy can reduce symptoms of cough, shortness of breath, anxiety and other symptoms of cystic fibrosis.

A study at the Robert C Schwartz Cystic Fibrosis Center at the State University of New York also shows that self-hypnosis can be highly effective. "Many of the patients used hypnosis for more than one purpose, including relaxation (61 per cent of patients), relief of pain associated with medical procedures (31 per cent), headache relief (16 per cent), changing the taste of medications to make the flavour more palatable (10 per cent), and control of other symptoms associated with CF (18 per cent). The patients successfully utilised self-hypnosis 86 per cent of the time.''

Childbirth

Research at the Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide, where hypnosis is used for women in labour, shows it is highly effective. Women who had the therapy, which was given after 37 weeks gestation, used fewer epidurals - 36 per cent compared with 53 per cent in other women. A second study showed that women taught self-hypnosis reduced their need for analgesia by half, epidurals by 70 per cent, and were more than twice as likely to be satisfied with their pain management in labour compared with other women.

Snoring

According to Harley Street psychiatrist Dr Tom Kraft, snoring can be treated with hypnotherapy by suggesting under hypnosis that the sufferer turns on his side every time he begins to snore.

"I have reported on the case of a 53-year-old man who came to see me after his snoring led to his wife throwing him out of the bedroom,'' he says. "After I treated him, his snoring went, and he was allowed back in the bedroom, for which he was eternally grateful. After 10 sessions, the patient no longer snored, and when he was followed up later the improvements had been maintained.''

What is hypnotism?

What hypnotism doesn't do is put people to sleep, or make them lose control, or do things against their will. "Many see it as the mind being taken over by the hypnotist and loss of control, which is completely erroneous," says Professor Peter Whorwell at the University Hospital of South Manchester. "As a consequence of this, the whole subject is surrounded by a cloud of mystery."

In hypnotherapy, patients are helped by the therapist to reach what's described as a relaxed state of consciousness, like being absorbed in a good book. Therapists may start by describing images that create a sense of security and well-being. They may then suggest ways of achieving specific goals, such as getting rid of phobias.

Just how it works is not clear. Practitioners say the patient can concentrate intensely on a specific thought, memory, feeling or sensation while blocking out distractions.

Article from Roger Dobson for The Independent Online (http://www.independent.co.uk)

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The following video featuring Derren Brown shows how techniques like the NLP Eye Accessing Cues model can be used, not only in the entertainment industry but also in business and even in therapy.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Le site web www.guerir.fr nous propose un moyen tres simple de gerer le stress par un doux massage des mains. A consommer sans moderation!

Pour acceder au lien, cliquez ici.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

... what if things were happening for a reason?

 A mediter.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

C`est une révolution, peut-être la plus importante de tous les temps en psychothérapie. On l`appelle EMDR, une thérapie inventée en 1987 aux Etats-Unis et qui est devenue la méthode la plus étudiée au monde. Il s`agit de guérir les traumatismes en utilisant le mouvement des yeux. Pour parler de l`effet EMDR, Ursula Gauthier reçoit les psychanalystes Jacques Roques et Michel Meignant.

En finir avec les traumatismes en un clin d`oeil - Nouvel Obs

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

"Positive anything is better than negative thinking" - Elbert Green Hubbard (June 19, 1856 – May 7, 1915), American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Peta Bee's article below for The Sunday Times explains the physical, psychological and emotional dangers of prolonged stress.

Cracking up?
Work related stress can ruin your life, not just your job

After three weeks of summer holidays with her family in Italy, Laura Hughes was preparing to return to her job of producing current-affairs documentaries. Flipping open her laptop, she heard her son Oscar, 6, remarking glumly to his father that “Mummy’s going back to work, so she’s going be really angry with us all again and we better stay out of her way”. It was a reminder that she wasn’t fooling anyone; managing a high-octane career was making her intolerably stressed.

“Oscar’s words hit me hard,” she says. “Although my work is demanding, I thought I’d shielded my family from the stress I was under. But he was spot-on. When I’m working hard, I take it out on my family by shouting or getting tearful, and really resenting the perfectly reasonable demands they place on me — they’re my children, after all.

“At a certain level, stress is exciting and motivating. But there’s another moment beyond that — and it’s hard to identify when it’s approaching — when I’m like a frightened bunny. I become paralysed with fear, waking at 4am feeling sick, which means I’m a nightmare by evening. It’s not just me paying the price: the kids do, my husband does and my employee does, too, because I know I’m less productive in that state.”

The psychological manifestations of stress that Laura describes — sleeplessness, nausea, fear — are familiar to many people. Work-related stress can be responsible for numerous physical conditions, including raised blood pressure, headaches, indigestion and increased heart rate, but the emotional toll is often the thing that is most difficult for women to handle. At its worst, acute stress can be responsible for severe depression and panic attacks, devastating for the individual, but also for society as a whole, because it is estimated that 13.8m working days are lost every year due to work-related emotional stress.

For some, the idea of work actually enhancing an individual’s physical and mental health might seem unrealistic. Too often work is simply a means to pay the rent and run a life. Work in the public sector, and your stress levels are likely to be very high; statistically, teachers and nurses are some of the people most susceptible to emotional stress.

“Everyone knows we work some of the longest hours in Europe, but for many employees there’s also the increasing pressure of meeting targets,” says Ian Draper, convenor of the UK National Work-Stress Network, a campaigning group set up to work towards eradicating stress in the workplace. “Performance targets put excessive pressure on employees, both in terms of actual workload and paperwork.”

It isn’t merely the hours women are working that is the problem: it’s the stress of bottling up the strain they are under, especially in male-dominated professional spheres. Having worked for two decades in the City before switching to a career in local government, Julianna Hart has been at the sharp end of different management styles. “Men and women react differently to stress: men tend to shout, and women to cry,” she says. “It’s annoying that it’s essentially acceptable for men to lose their temper within a business environment, and yet crying is viewed as an unacceptable weakness, particularly in the City.”

A loss of control, precipitating the “frightened bunny” feeling that Hughes experienced, is often cited a key stress trigger, particularly for women managing a demanding professional life alongside the demands of young children. “There are few things more stressful than coping with work and young children,” says Louise Stormer, who resigned from her position as a high-profile headhunter when the challenges of juggling work with the demands of her young family became insurmountable. “The pressure of very long, employee-imposed working days was eventually intolerable.

I lost a stone and aged about a decade because I was so exhausted and anxious about meeting my targets.”

This anxiety can have serious long-term consequences. In Stormer’s case, she developed depression. “I felt really ashamed about it at first and was in denial about how bad the strain had got. My husband identified it, as I’m naturally a fairly buoyant person. There is real stigma about depression. It’s not something that you can take with you into a thriving business environment. At its worst, the stress of work contaminated all areas of my life. It became impossible to compartmentalise it. Although I looked forward to seeing the kids in the evening, I found myself staying in the office late, postponing the moment of going home so that they would be in bed by the time I got there. I didn’t know how to unfold myself psychologically from work and relate to my children as a mum. Looking back, I realise I was clinging onto sanity by a very thin thread.”

When that thread snapped, and her doctor recommended she take sick leave due to depression, she made a stark choice, and resigned; she now works W part time for a financial consultancy instead. “Initially, it was financially precarious, but because that felt self-imposed, I knew I could cope with it. It helped me regain control of my life, personally and professionally.”

A lack of control, exacerbating emotional stress that can lead to depression, is partly the effect of the exponential increase in our dependence on technology. Working without e-mail and internet access is now pretty unthinkable, but these now seep into our traditional downtime. A lunch break — and even the weekend off — is something that some of us are in danger of losing.

“I think my BlackBerry is clawing away at my sanity,” says one high- profile fashion designer who prefers to remain anonymous. “My business is about creating a highly desirable world of effortless luxury and glamour. I’m good at projecting that image in public, but I’m plagued by profound emotional stress all the time. It’s got worse since I got a BlackBerry, because people expect me to answer questions relating to the running of the company within moments, day or night. It’s made me jumpy and much more prone to panic attacks. And yet I cannot give it up, because now that I’m dependent on it, being without it is, ironically, stressful.”

Minimising the emotional demands of a pressurised career is challenging, and part of it lies in making an effort to maintain clearer work/life boundaries.

“The stress reported by so many derives from lack of clarity with regard to our sense of our own identity: we end up unsatisfied with our performance as worker or lover or parent because we don’t know which we’re meant to be from one moment to the next and so find it impossible to wholeheartedly embrace any one role,” says the Jungian analyst Mark Saban. “The kind of detachment that would, until recently, have been given automatically by the clear boundaries between work and nonwork needs to be consciously rediscovered or re-established by the individual.”

Perhaps, though, stress is simply a part of the human condition. Laura Hughes was still smarting from her son Oscar’s comment when her boss’s wife stomped into the office. “She complained about how genuinely stressful buying a school uniform was.

I wanted to throw my keyboard at her, and felt she had no real clue about the kind of demands many working mothers are facing. But it did make me feel that, whatever situation we’re in, part of our genetic make-up to feel stressed out.”

Risking infertility

One in seven couples in the UK now struggles to conceive and, for many women, prolonged stress and anxiety could be the root cause. Professor Sarah Berga of Emory University in America is a leading proponent of the link between chronic stress and compromised fertility. She has shown that stress often triggers a cascade of events that result in reduced levels of two hormones that are crucial for ovulation, and that women with hectic jobs on top of busy lives are most at risk. One of her studies, published two years ago, showed that women who didn’t ovulate had excessive levels of the stress hormone cortisol present in their brain fluid.

“Your brain is hard to fool,” says Berga. “If you are undereating, overworking and overexercising, then the hypothalamus — the part of the brain that controls the release of hormones — keeps a running tally of what you are doing.”

For many women, stress-related infertility can be reversed. Berga found that ovulation was restored in seven out of 10 women who underwent “talking therapies” such as cognitive behavioural therapy.

The unsightly signs that you are working too hard

For women who try to have it all — career, family, social life and exercise regime — something, inevitably, has to give, and often it is their health.

Emerging research into the effects of stress have linked it to conditions as diverse as heart disease, skin complaints and depression, with overloaded lives causing a surge in stress hormones that negatively affect the body and mind. Hair loss and acne are two big stress-related issues now affecting women, but if you’re suffering, there are ways to ease the strain.

HAIR LOSS

The number of women suffering from stress-related hair loss has doubled in the past decade, according to the charity Hairline International. Dr Hugh Rushton of the University of Portsmouth’s school of pharmacy surveyed 800 women for a study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology and found that nearly one-third of them had experienced considerable thinning or loss of hair.

For many sufferers, the problem is androgenic alopecia, which can be genetic, but is more likely caused by stress and hormonal imbalances.

“Stress causes a rise in adrenaline, which can be converted by the body into cholesterol and then dihydrotestosterone, a substance that causes hair loss in both men and women,” says the trichologist Philip Kingsley. “Stress can also affect the body’s ability to absorb nutrients, which makes matters worse.”

Getting enough sleep through catnaps and trying to incorporate stress-busting activities such as yoga can help, but diet is also important. “It is thought supplements of B vitamins can help to counteract the effects of stress,” Kingsley says. “Because hair is made of protein, it is also vital to eat low-fat protein foods like cheese, milk and dairy, preferably for breakfast, as hair follicles have their lowest energy supplies first thing in the morning.”

A drop in serum ferritin levels, caused by too little iron in the diet, can also slow the rate of hair growth. Iron-rich foods, including red meat, leafy green vegetables and fortified breakfast cereals, should be eaten on a regular basis.

ADULT ACNE

According to the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD), more women than ever are now consulting their GP about acne well past their teenage years. Indeed, studies carried out at Leeds General Infirmary showed that 14% of UK women aged 26-44 suffer from facial acne, and that the average age for people being treated for the condition has risen from 20.5 in 1984 to 26.5 today.

One of the main triggers for adult acne is stress, which increases the production of male hormones. People with acne have sebaceous glands that are hypersensitive to testosterone. Using oil-free moisturisers and noncomodogenic pore-blocking cosmetics is helpful, but in persistent cases it is worthwhile seeking treatment.

Nina Goad of BAD says the first step should be to try over-the-counter products containing benzoyl peroxide. “If they don’t work, visit your doctor, who may refer you to a consultant dermatologist,” she says. “A combination of topical creams, antibiotics and hormonal therapies may be prescribed.” Some types of contraceptive pill, such as Dianette, are beneficial, she notes, while others make acne worse.

Roaccutane, a vitamin A derivative, is one of the most powerful treatments and effective in many cases, but it has some unpleasant side effects, and should not be taken by women who are likely to become pregnant while taking the drug, or within a month of stopping it.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Bereavement is a distressing but common experience. Sooner or later most of us will suffer the death of someone we love. Yet in our everyday life we think and talk about death very little, perhaps because we encounter it less often than our grandparents did. For them, the death of a brother or sister, friend or relative, was a common experience in their childhood or teenage years. For us, these losses usually happen later in life. So we do not have much of a chance either to learn about grieving - how it feels, what are the right things to do, what is 'normal' - or to come to terms with it. In spite of this, we have to cope when we are finally faced with the death of someone we love.

In an attempt to help the bereaved person and his/her friends & family understand the bereavement and grieving process, The Royal College of Psychiatrists has created a leaflet that describes the different phases of the grieving process. Here it is.

Grieving

We grieve after any sort of loss, but most powerfully after the death of someone we love. It is not just one feeling, but a whole succession of feelings, which take a while to get through and which cannot be hurried.

We most often grieve for someone that we have known for some time. However, it is clear that people who have had stillbirths or miscarriages, or who have lost very young babies, grieve in the same way and need the same sort of care and consideration.

In the few hours or days following the death of a close relative or friend, most people feel simply stunned, as though they cannot believe it has actually happened. They may feel like this even if the death has been expected.

This sense of emotional numbness can be a help in getting through all the important practical arrangements that have to be made, such as getting in touch with relatives and organising the funeral. However, this feeling of unreality may become a problem if it goes on too long. Seeing the body of the dead person may, for some, be an important way of beginning to overcome this.

Similarly, for many people, the funeral or memorial service is an occasion when the reality of what has happened really starts to sink in. It may be distressing to see the body or attend the funeral, but these are ways of saying goodbye to those we love. At the time, these things may seem too painful to go through and so are not done. However, this can lead to a sense of deep regret in future years.

Soon though, this numbness disappears and may be replaced by a dreadful sense of agitation, of pining or yearning for the dead person. There is a feeling of wanting somehow to find them, even though this is clearly impossible. This makes it difficult to relax or concentrate and it may be difficult to sleep properly. Dreams can be very upsetting.

Some people feel that they 'see' their loved one everywhere they go - in the street, the park, around the house, anywhere they had spent time together. People often feel very angry at this time - towards doctors and nurses who did not prevent the death, towards friends and relatives who did not do enough, or even towards the person who has, by dying, left them.

Another common feeling is guilt. People find themselves going over in their minds all the things they would have liked to have said or done. They may even consider what they could have done differently that might have prevented the death. Of course, death is usually beyond anyone's control and a bereaved person may need to be reminded of this. Some people may feel guilty if they feel relieved that their loved one has died after a painful or distressing illness. This feeling of relief is natural, understandable and very common.

This state of agitation is usually strongest about two weeks after the death, but is soon followed by times of quiet sadness or depression, withdrawal and silence. These sudden changes of emotion can be confusing to friends or relatives, but are part of the normal process of grief.

Although the agitation lessens, the periods of depression become more frequent and reach their peak between four and six weeks later. Spasms of grief can occur at any time, sparked off by people, places or things that bring back memories of the dead person.

Other people may find it difficult to understand or be embarrassed when the bereaved person suddenly bursts into tears for no obvious reason. At this stage it may be tempting to keep away from other people who do not fully understand or share the grief. However, avoiding others can store up trouble for the future, and it is usually best to start to return to one's normal activities after a couple of weeks or so.

During this time, it may appear to others as though the bereaved person is spending a lot of time just sitting, doing nothing. In fact, they are usually thinking about the person they have lost, going over again and again both the good times and the bad times they had together. This is a quiet, but essential part of coming to terms with the death.

As time passes, the fierce pain of early bereavement begins to fade. The depression lessens and it is possible to think about other things and even to look again to the future. However, the sense of having lost a part of oneself never goes away entirely. For bereaved partners there are constant reminders of their new singleness, in seeing other couples together and from the deluge of media images of happy families. After some time it is possible to feel whole again, even though a part is missing. Even so, years later you may sometimes find yourself talking as though he or she were still here with you.

These various stages of mourning often overlap and show themselves in different ways in different people. Most recover from a major bereavement within one or two years. The final phase of grieving is a letting-go of the person who has died and the start of a new sort of life. The depression clears completely, sleep improves and energy returns to normal. Sexual feelings may have vanished for some time, but now return - this is quite normal and nothing to be ashamed of.

Having said all this, there is no 'standard' way of grieving. We are all individuals and have our own particular ways of grieving.

In addition, people from different cultures deal with death in their own distinctive ways. Over the centuries, people in different parts of the world have worked out their own ceremonies for coping with death.

In some communities death is seen as just one step in the continuous cycle of life and death rather than as a 'full stop'. The rituals and ceremonies of mourning may be very public and demonstrative, or private and quiet. In some cultures the period of mourning is fixed, in others not. The feelings experienced by bereaved people in different cultures may be similar, but their ways of expressing them are very different.

Children and adolescents

Even though children may not understand the meaning of death until they are three or four years old, they feel the loss of close relatives in much the same way as adults. It is clear that, even from infancy, children grieve and feel great distress.

However, they have a different experience of time from that of adults, and may go through the stages of mourning quite rapidly. In their early school years, children may feel responsible for the death of a close relative and so may need to be reassured. Young people may not speak of their grief for fear of adding extra burdens to the grown-ups around them. The grief of children and adolescents, and their need for mourning, should not be overlooked when a member of the family has died. They should usually, for instance, be included in the funeral arrangements.

How can friends and relatives help

• You can help by spending time with the person who has been bereaved. More than words comfort, they need to know that you will be with them during this time of pain and distress. A sympathetic arm around the shoulders will express care and support when words are not enough.
• It is important that, if they want to, bereaved people can cry with somebody and talk about their feelings of pain and distress without being told to pull themselves together. In time, they will come to terms with it, but first they need to talk and to cry.
• Others may find it hard to understand why the bereaved person has to keep talking about the same things again and again, but this is part of the process of resolving grief and should be encouraged. If you don't know what to say, or don't even know whether to talk about it or not, be honest and say so. This gives the bereaved person a chance to tell you what he or she wants. People often avoid mentioning the name of the person who has died for fear that it will be upsetting. However, to the bereaved person it may seem as though others have forgotten their loss, adding a sense of isolation to their painful feelings of grief.
• Remember that festive occasions and anniversaries (not only of the death, but also birthdays and weddings) are particularly painful times. Friends and relatives can make a special effort to be around.
• Practical help with cleaning, shopping or looking after children can ease the burden of being alone. Elderly bereaved partners may need help with the chores that the deceased partner used to handle - coping with bills, cooking, housework, getting the car serviced and so on.
• It is important to allow people enough time to grieve. Some can seem to get over the loss quickly, but others take longer. So don't expect too much too soon from a bereaved relative or friend - they need the time to grieve properly, and this will help to avoid problems in the future.

Grief that is unresolved

There are people who seem hardly to grieve at all. They do not cry at the funeral, avoid any mention of their loss and return to their normal life remarkably quickly. This is their normal way of dealing with loss and no harm results, but others may suffer from strange physical symptoms or repeated spells of depression over the following years. Some may not have the opportunity to grieve properly. The heavy demands of looking after a family or business may mean that there just isn't the time.

Sometimes the problem is that the loss is not seen as a 'proper' bereavement. This happens often, but by no means always, to those who have had a miscarriage or stillbirth, or even an abortion. Again, frequent periods of depression may follow.

Some may start to grieve, but get stuck. The early sense of shock and disbelief just goes on and on. Years may pass and still the sufferer finds it hard to believe that the person they loved is dead. Others may carry on being unable to think of anything else, often making the room of the dead person into a kind of shrine to their memory.

Occasionally, the depression that occurs with every bereavement may deepen to the extent that food and drink are refused and thoughts of suicide arise.

"We all die. The goal is not to live forever. The goal is to create something that will." - Charles Michael Palahniuk ((born February 21, 1962) - American transgressional fiction novelist and freelance journalist.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Voici deux videos de Gad Elmaleh sur son celebre sketche 'La clope'. A apprecier sans moderation mais a mediter aussi...

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The Focus Clinic will exceptionnally be closed from 08-21 September 2008. For urgent queries only, please contact our reception on 020 7467 8539 who will forward your message to us or email us to info@thefocusclinic.co.uk.

Appointments will resume as normal on Monday, 22nd September 2008.

Thank you.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Bien que mon amour soit fou,
ma raison calme les trop vives douleurs
de mon coeur en lui disant de patienter,
et d'esperer toujours...

Une erotomane internee pendant plus de cinquante ans.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The Focus Clinic will exceptionnally be closed from 22-26 August 2008. For urgent queries only, please contact our reception on 020 7467 8539 who will forward your message to us.

Appointments will resume as normal on Wednesday, 27th August 2008.

Thank you.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Is this the only real way of finding inner peace? We asked seven writers how they have learnt to appreciate the present

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Erotomanie : quand l’amour déraisonne…

Votre voisine de palier ne cesse de vous glisser des mots doux dans votre boite aux lettres et vous attend chaque jour dans l’escalier… Peut-être n’avez-vous pas à faire à une simple amoureuse mais à une véritable érotomane. Qu’est-ce que c’est ? Un trouble touchant majoritairement les femmes, qui ne se contente pas de faire souffrir celles qui en sont atteintes mais aussi l’élu de leur coeur… Explications de ces amours déraisonnables.

Médecin à l’hôpital Sainte-Anne pendant 15 ans, le Dr Dalle a suivi une douzaine de patientes victimes d’érotomanie pendant plusieurs années. Au-delà des clichés, il nous livre sa vision de cette véritable maladie.

Des manifestations très variables

Présente à toutes les dédicaces de son écrivain préféré, Sylvie est plus qu’une fan. Après moult compliments sur son oeuvre, l’auteur flatté la remercie par quelques mots aimables. Des paroles légères que Sylvie interprète aussitôt comme une véritable déclaration d’amour, certains signes, certains gestes, certains mots ne sauraient la tromper. A partir de cette illusion initiale, Sylvie n’aura de cesse d’écrire à l’auteur des lettres enflammées, de l’attendre lors de toutes ces apparitions publiques, de lui envoyer ses clés d’appartement. Les refus polis ou les rebuffades de l’auteur n’y feront rien, elles seront sitôt interprétées comme le résultat d’un complot visant à faire taire cette idylle imaginaire. "Au-delà de cet aspect de café-théâtre, l’érotomanie est finalement révélée au grand jour qu’à la suite d’un esclandre, qui fera intervenir la police et ensuite la prise en charge" nous précise Benoit Dalle.

Selon certains psychiatres, l’érotomanie suit le cycle "espoir, dépit, rancune, agression" envers l’objet aimé soudain détesté. Pour le Dr Dalle, ces agressions sont le fait d’une extrême minorité et bien qu’il en ait été lui-même la victime de la part de l’une de ces patientes, il est persuadé que l’érotomanie est moins dangereuse pour l’être aimé que pour le patient. Les pensées suicidaires sont plus fréquentes que les tentatives d’agressions.

L’illusion délirante d’être aimé

Décrite pour la première fois au début du XX^e siècle, l’érotomanie était considérée comme l’illusion délirante et durable d’être aimé. Depuis, une définition assez semblable de ce trouble psychologique a intégré la bible américaine de tous les psychiatres, le célèbre "Manuel diagnostique et statistique des troubles mentaux".

Relevant d’une certaine forme de délire paranoïaque, l’érotomanie est essentiellement une affaire de femmes. L’érotomane n’existe plus que pour l’objet de son désir amoureux, auquel elle attribue l’initiative de cet amour. L’être aimé est le plus souvent socialement et/ou intellectuellement supérieur (écrivain, acteur, avocat, prêtre, médecin…). Dans l’esprit de l’érotomane, c’est l’autre qui a choisi de l’aimer : "C’est lui le premier qui est tombé amoureux, le premier qui a fait des avances. Par ailleurs, l’érotomane est persuadé que l’objet de son amour fait tout pour dissimuler cette passion en bénéficiant de l’aide de l’ensemble de son entourage. L’imagination extrêmement fertile du patient lui permet d’interpréter le moindre signe comme confirmant sa thèse" nous précise le Dr Benoit Dalle. Son délire n’affecte que cette sphère du désir, la personne n’étant par ailleurs atteinte d’aucun déficit mental.

What is the difference between IQ (Intelligence Quotient) and EQ (Emotional Quotient)? Susan Dum from the Self Improvement Online, Inc. tells us more about it.

DEFINITIONS

EQ - is a measure of your emotional intelligence, or your ability to use both your emotions and cognitive skills in your life. Emotional intelligence competencies include but are not limited to empathy, intuition, creativity, flexibility, resilience, coping, stress management, leadership, integrity, authenticity, intrapersonal skills and interpersonal skills.

IQ - a number used to express the apparent relative intelligence of a person that is the ratio multiplied by 100 of the mental age as reported on a standardized test to the chronological age. IQ is the measure of cognitive abilities, such as the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new situations; the skilled use of reason; the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one's environment or to think abstractly as measured by objective criteria (as tests); mental acuteness; logic and analytical skills.

COMPARISONS

EQ gets you through life vs. IQ gets you through school

Appealing to reason and emotions to convince someone vs. Trying to convince someone by facts alone

Using your emotions as well as your cognitive abilities to function more effectively vs. Relying solely on your cognitive skills

EXAMPLE

Samuel had a high IQ. He could reason, was analytical and logical, and had a steel-trap focus on tasks. He learned new things quickly. However, he ignored how he was feeling and how others were feeling. If things didn't do the way he expected them to, he would lose his temper and lash out at others. He was unable to relate to people who weren't as smart as he was and lacked empathy. This limited his ability to be effective in team situations even though his IQ was very high.

Jose had a high EQ. He got along well with people, and managed his own emotions well. This made him highly effective in his work, even though there were others in the firm with higher IQs. Jose was able to consider the emotional component of interactions, using both his cognitive abilities and his understanding of emotions. He was able to influence and motivate people because he understood what mattered to them and was an excellent communicator. His authenticity and integrity made him a natural leader. He was flexible and creative when faced with a challenge, and resilient in the face of temporary defeats. He was well-liked and well-respected.

KEY POINT

Your EQ has more to do with your success and happiness in life than your IQ and it can be learned.

RELATED DISTINCTIONS

Knowing how and why vs. Knowing what

Knowing how to motivate each person vs. Treating everying as if they operated the same way which they don't

Managing emotions and using them for good results vs. Being at the mercy of emotions because you don't understand them or know how to work with them.

BENEFITS

When you recognize the difference between EQ and IQ, you can work to develop your EQ. It can be learned but has often been neglected in our education both at home and at school.

Here is a fun IQ test kindly offered by The Focus Clinic for all its readers. If you wish to know the solution, please contact us at the Focus Clinic.

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." - Charles Darwin"

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Government scientist claims lifestyle changes can be as effective as drugs for depression

Want to feel happier? Then smile, eat seaweed, get a new hairstyle, send fewer emails, go dancing, spend less money – and don’t just pop pills. Or so says one of the country’s most eminent scientists.

In a controversial new book, Professor Jane Plant, a chief scientific adviser to the government, proposes a raft of unorthodox treatments for the millions of Britons who suffer from anxiety, stress and depression.

Instead of just popping ‘happy pills’ such as Prozac to beat the blues, Plant and her co-author, Janet Stephenson, advise sufferers to take steps such as avoiding dairy products, sending fewer text messages, eating porridge at night and playing card games. They say all their tips are based on hard scientific evidence gathered from studies around the world.

Smiling is a way of tricking your brain into thinking that everything’s OK, even if it’s not’, said Plant.’People who are mildly depressed should do their best to show the world a happy face, as that will improve people’s reaction to you and lift your mood’.

In Beating Stress, Anxiety and Depression, Plant and Stephenson urge a radical overhaul of the way the NHS treats the soaring number of people with some form of mood disorder. They advise sufferers to increase their intake of mood-boosting chemicals by eating kippers or poached haddock for breakfast because they contain omega-3 fatty acids, and to be less materialistic, as those who achieve success may do so at the expense of personal relationships, which are a better guarantee of happiness.

The authors are serious figures. Plant, a professor of environmental geochemistry at Imperial College in London, is the government’s chief adviser on toxic chemicals and a trustee of Prince Charles’s Foundation for Integrated Medicine, while Stephenson is an NHS psychologist.

‘We do not agree with the usual advice to ‘keep taking your medication and eventually all will be well, because doctor knows best’, they write. ‘We challenge many of the conventions in the treatment of mental illness.’ The authors say their aim is to empower people suffering with a mental disorder.

They say that anyone with low self esteem should ignore celebrity culture as much as possible because it may make them feel even worse when they don’t match up to pop stars or TV presenters.

They also recommend improving your appearance through a new hairstyle, clothes or make-up because this can improve self-confidence. And people should definitely SMILE, even if they are feeling down.

One in six people can expect to experience depression, however briefly, at some point in their lives, and around 2.4 million are affected by an anxiety disorder. A large-scale study recently suggested that Prozac and similar drugs may have little value.

The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (N.I.C.E) already says that psychological ‘talking therapies’, involving one-to-one sessions, can be just as effective as giving someone drugs. Antidepressants alone cost the health server £300m a year and most family doctors admit that they prescribe too many.

Plant and Stephenson argue that human contact, face-to-face or over the telephone, and the ‘people skills’ to both talk and listen meaningfully are useful. However, emailing and texting are individualistic and isolating processes which people should do less.

The distinguished neurologist Lord Walton of Detchant, a former president of the British Medical Association and the Royal Society of Medicine, praised their work. In the latest issue of the journal ‘Science in Parliament’, he writes that it is an ‘admirable book, which would do much to alleviate the fear, helplessness and hopelessness which many feel when suffering from mental ill-health. Many sufferers from stress, anxiety and depression will find invaluable information, guidance and comfort.’

Paul Corry, of the mental health charity Rethink, said the authors were right to stress that some patients could be successfully helped with non-drug treatments, such as talking therapies and lifestyle changes.

And sufferers should always receive a personally tailored treatment plan rather than routinely being given antidepressants. But he argued that there was less evidence to back claims that certain foods could help alleviate the symptoms of mental health disorders.

‘The evidence base for food’s claimed benefits to mental health – for example, the idea that comsuming omega-3 fatty acids will improve the flow of chemicals in the brain – is really, really weak’, said Corry. ‘We certainly wouldn’t recommend that you could eat or drink your way out of depression, anxiety or schizophrenia, although they do have a role to play.

‘But long term unemployment, poor housing, lack of money and limited social contact are more important non-drug determinants of mental illness than food and drink.’

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The Focus Clinic will exceptionnally be closed from 17-24 July 2008. For urgent queries only, please contact our reception who will forward your message to us.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Here is a BBC video link showing a patient, Bernadine Coady, at a hospital in Peterborough. She was about to have a routine knee surgery without any anaesthetic. Instead, the 67-year-old claimed she used self-hypnosis to control the pain.

Video1: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7494262.stm

Video1: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7494283.stm

She told surgeon Ahmed Shair of the private Orthopaedics and Spine Specialist Hospital in Cambridgeshire that she could feel only tugging and pulling.

Nous autres, hypnotherapeutes medicaux, confirmons la puissance de l'auto-hypnose et de la suggestion directe dans le controle de la douleur. Veuillez les decouvrir a la clinique!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Love - Devotion
Feeling - Emotion
Don't be afraid to be weak
Don't be too proud to be strong
Just look into your heart my friend
That will be the return to yourself
The return to innocence

If you want, then start to laugh
If you must, then start to cry
Be yourself don't hide
Just believe in destiny
Don't care what people say
Just follow your own way
Don't give up and use the chance
To return to innocence

That's not the beginning of the end
That's the return to yourself
The return to innocence

The summer is here and so is The Focus Clinic's Summer Sale!

Any new patient starting a psychotherapy treament or a therapeutic massage at the clinic from 1 July 2008 will benefit from 2 consultations for the price of 1 until 31 August 2008.

New prices from 1 July - 31 August 2008:

FOCUS INITIAL CONSULTATION: £50
LE MASSAGE FOCUS: £60
FOCUS NATURAL LIFT FACIAL MASSAGE: £25
FOCUS PSYCHOTHERAPY TREATMENTS: £50
FOCUS HYPNOTHERAPY TREATMENTS: £50

Profitez-en, cela ne dure que deux mois!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Voici un excellent article ecrit par E.S. et tire du magazine 'Science Et Avenir' du mois de juin 2008.

"Les taches repetitives conduisent le cerveau a faire une pause, entrainant l'erreur.

Celui qui execute une tache routiniere relache sa concentration et peut alors commettre une erreur. Demain, un appareil pourrait anticiper le phenomene et eviter les catastrophes, chez les conducteurs notamment. Des chercheurs de l'universite de Bergen (Norvege) ont en effet montre qu'une erreur d'inattention survient generalement apres que le cerveau a adopte un profil d'activite particulier qui le met, en quelque sorte, en roue libre.

Treize volontaires ont ete soumis a un jeu repetitif tandis que leur cerveau etait observe par IRM (Imagerie par Resonance Magnetique). Ils devaient distinguer deux motifs de fleches sur des vignettes, 400 fois de suite. A force de reiterer l'exercice, le cerveau, qui adore la routine, finit par se mettre en mode automatique. En IRM, les scientifiques ont pu observer precisement la mise en place de ce profil d'activite de la routine. On voit ainsi tres bien que le lobe frontal qui controle la cognition et la memoire de travail baisse d'activite tandie qu'augmente celle d'un reseau de plusieurs regions de l'arriere du cerveau, implique dans l'etat de repos. C'est a ce moment-la que certains joueurs commettent une erreur. Selon Tom Eichele, co-auteur de l'etude, celle-ci survient tres exactement entre six et trente secondes apres l'apparition de l'etat de relachement.

"L'IRM portable n'etant pas pour demain, nous recherchons maintenant une correlation entre cet etat cerebral particulier et un trace d'electroencephalogramme qui pourrait, lui, etre detecte par une technologie mobile et sans fil.

Le casque anti-gaffes, c'est pour demain!"

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

According to the MSN Life & Style website, today is the Happiest Day of The Year. Find out why with this article written by Nicole O'Neil, Life & Style Editor (Website: http://style.uk.msn.com)

Crack open the champers and dust off the BBQ cover because this Friday, June 20, is said to be the happiest day of the year, so why not make the most of it and party!

Dr Cliff Arnall, a part-time tutor at the University of Cardiff, who specialises in seasonal disorders, devised a formula to conclude when Britain would hit a national high point.

Dr Arnall said the combination of good weather and the prospect of time off means Britain will be on a high. He has devised a formula which measures good mood using increased outdoor activity, high energy levels and more sunlight.

The equation Dr Arnall devised, in work commissioned by ice cream maker Walls, was O + (N x S) + Cpm/T + He.

Within that, O stands for being outdoors and outdoor activity, N for nature, S for social interaction, Cpm for childhood summers and positive memories, T for temperature and He for holidays and looking forward to time off.

Today is also pinpointed as the happiest day of the year because of its added ‘thank goodness it's Friday’ feeling at the start of a summer weekend.

Meanwhile we check out ten great foods to get you in the mood and raise those seratonin levels

"Le plaisir se ramasse, la joie se cueille et le bonheur se cultive" (Auteur inconnu)

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

"When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us." - Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish scientist and inventor (1847-1922)

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Here is a BBC video link showing a patient who turned "guinea pig" and used hypnotherapy to have potentially painful treatment at the dentist:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7436866.stm

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The Focus Clinic will exceptionnally be closed on Monday 16th June 2008. For urgent queries only, please contact our reception who will forward your message to us.

Appointments will resume as normal on Tuesday, 17th June 2008.

Thank you.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

La psychanalyse s'essaie aussi à l'interprétation de l'homosexualité, en tentant d'éclairer les aspects inconscients du comportement sexuel, notamment les identifications qui les déterminent.
 
La question du choix de "l'objet sexuel" ne peut être réduite à une question d'hormones ou reposer sur quelques détails anatomiques. Que ce choix se porte sur le même sexe ou sur l'autre sexe, de nombreux facteurs physiques et psychiques orienteront la recherche amoureuse. Pour un même sujet, des identifications à des traits des parents ou d'un autre adulte viendront baliser son parcours amoureux, donnant une certaine cohérence à ses choix.

La sexualité, du point de vue psychanalytique, suppose de prendre en compte le pôle physique et le pôle psychique (ou psychosexuel).

Aux origines, le mythe des androgynes

En retranscrivant le "discours d'Aristophane", dans "Le Banquet", Platon nous informe sur "l'humanité primitive" et l' "Origine de l'humanité actuelle". Il s'agit du mythe des Androgynes. Autrefois, raconte-t-il, l'espèce humaine comportait trois genres : des mâles, des femelles et, à leur côté, l'androgyne. L'androgyne réunissait, en lui-même, les caractéristiques de chacun, mâle et femelle. Il possédait deux têtes, quatre mains, quatre pieds. Ainsi doté, l'androgyne s'autosuffisait et pouvait défier les dieux.

Zeus, pour les punir de leur suffisance, fendit les androgynes en deux moitiés. "Or, quand la nature de l'homme eut été dédoublée, raconte encore Platon, chaque moitié regrettant sa propre moitié, s'accouplait à elle…" (Le Banquet, chapitre " l'évolution de l'amour et l'explication de ses diverses formes ")

Que penser de ce mythe grec ?

Bien entendu, il n'était pas question de prendre ce récit au pied de la lettre, mais de le considérer comme véhiculant certaines représentations du fonctionnement psychosexuel du sujet. La question des origines du groupe, de l'individu, de la sexualité, interpelle l'homme depuis qu'il pense (donc depuis toujours ?). Le mythe est un récit qui construit les origines à travers l'histoire qu'il raconte, il est le fruit du travail de construction psychique des hommes, mis en forme, fondateur et transmissible par le groupe ( comme l'explique J.P. Valabréga dans "Mythe, Fantasme, Corps et sens" ).

On peut ainsi considérer que la discussion du " Banquet " propose la représentation de deux formes de sexualité : l'hétérosexualité comme résultant de l'existence de deux identités sexuelles bien distinctes au départ, et l'homosexualité issue de ce dédoublement traumatique à partir de l'androgyne, unité première autosuffisante.

Le point de vue de la psychanalyse

La psychanalyse tente d'éclairer les aspects inconscients du comportement sexuel, notamment les identifications qui le déterminent et les échanges entre les personnages imaginaires qui composent ces identifications.

Dans la perspective freudienne

Les sexualités sont plus ou moins liées à deux pôles psychiques : le pôle narcissique, qu'on peut définir par la dose d'amour que le sujet doit capitaliser pour lui-même, et le pôle oedipien qui met en jeu le don d'amour à un autre que soi-même.

Une sexualité évoluant de manière privilégiée sur le mode oedipien aboutit à une constitution bisexuelle de l'individu. La composante hétérosexuelle est normalement consciente, vécue et source de satisfaction. La composante homosexuelle, elle, est en partie refoulée et en partie sublimée ; elle est alors source des liens sociaux. Le déséquilibre de ces deux composantes homo et hétéro peut faire que l'homosexualité dite latente devienne manifeste dans le comportement, mais elle est toujours vécue avec culpabilité ; c'est l'un des tableaux cliniques de la névrose.

Ailleurs, la sexualité du sujet peut avoir pour vocation, outre la satisfaction, de soutenir le fantasme d'unité narcissique de celui-ci. Cette économie narcissique qui doit servir la sexualité conduit le sujet à se satisfaire de manière quasi exclusive avec un autre qui tient toujours du double.

Dans le cas de l'homosexualité liée à un déséquilibre dans le fonctionnement oedipien, la psychanalyse redistribue généralement les cartes du désir vers l'hétérosexualité et l'atténuation de la culpabilité ;
Dans le cas de l'homosexualité liée à des blessures affectives concernant l'image du sujet, la psychanalyse travaille l'écart du Sujet avec ses idéaux, les idéaux de la société et l'idéal de complétude amoureuse qu'il recherche ; entreprise au bout de laquelle il rencontre souvent l'effondrement dépressif. La psychanalyse, dans ce cas, remanie extrêmement rarement le choix sexuel du sujet - et d'ailleurs ce n'est pas son but, qui reste le rétablissement d'un équilibre entre les satisfactions sexuelles et le besoin d'aimer l'autre comme son double.

Dans la perspective lacanienne

Jacques Lacan a beaucoup apporté à la compréhension de l'homosexualité et du fonctionnement narcissique en échafaudant la théorie du "stade du miroir comme formateur du Je" et la problématique phallique.

Le phallus est avant tout un objet imaginaire de l'enfant, suffisamment "voilé" pour se révéler sous des aspects divers, mais dont le point commun est de manquer à la mère. Du rapport qu'entretiendra l'enfant, garçon et fille, à cet objet supposé "manquer" à sa mère, dépendra l'identité sexuelle.

De la place accordée à la parole du père par le couple mère-enfant, celle-la imprimera plus ou moins sa marque sur le phallus imaginaire l'attribuant plus ou moins au père. Le rapport de la constellation familiale à l'attribution phallique est l'opérateur principal de l'identité sexuelle. Pour plus de détails se reporter à la lecture du Séminaire V de J. Lacan "Les formations de l'Inconscient" Ed. du Seuil p . 161 à 213. Il est essentiel que la parole du père jouisse d'une certaine considération dans les échanges entre la mère et l'enfant. Accordant une certaine valeur à ce père, la petite fille va chercher de son côté ce qui plus tard avec un homme pourra lui procurer de la jouissance sexuelle, quant au petit garçon il cherchera à s'identifier à celui qui peut donner aux femmes jouissance, enfants…

Une question d'équilibre

Le véritable but de la cure psychanalytique n'est pas de tenter de changer l'irréversible d'un choix sexuel non conforme à la "voie royale", c'est à dire hétérosexuelle, qui se déploie chez un sujet qui a traversé l'organisation oedipienne et s'y est structuré au passage.

Analyser c'est créer d'autres équilibres afin de permettre au Sujet de déployer "amour" et "travail" selon les termes imprimés sous la plume de S. Freud à la fin de son oeuvre.

Traiter des mécanismes de l'homosexualité ce n'est pas en détailler les diverses formes . André Green, dans son ouvrage "Les chaînes d'Eros" en fournit une réflexion détaillée.

Homosexuality is assuredly no advantage, but it is nothing to be ashamed of, no vice, no degradation, it cannot be classified as an illness - Sigmund Freud, letter to an American mother's plea to cure her son's homosexuality, 1935.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The Focus Clinic will exceptionnally be closed for the Bank Holiday weekend (24-26 May 2008). For urgent queries only, please contact our reception who will forward your message to us.

Appointments will resume as normal on Tuesday, 27th May 2008.

Thank you et bon weekend à tous!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

It has been a bit of an ambition to write a cover story for times2, so I was a little surprised by the sense of anticlimax when I finally hit the send key. I had expected a frisson of anticipation at the thought of my comely words provoking spasms of pleasure on commuter trains and invitations to appear on the Today programme. Instead, I get an e-mail from the sub-editor to tell me that the copy has arrived and I think, is that it? I think Gordon Brown - on a much grander scale, of course - is feeling a bit like that.

Here is a man who had his lifetime ambition snatched from under his nose by his best buddy and who spent the better part of the next 13 years plotting, scheming, agitating, conspiring, hustling and conniving to snatch it back. And when he finally gets his hands on the shiny keys of No 10, what does he find? That the job was not everything he had so fondly imagined. His current difficulties, I would suggest, are not so much a function of ineptitude as of existential confusion.

Shakespeare would have had a lot of fun with Brown's personal tragedy, but is his predicament so very unusual? I spent 15 years playing ping pong for a living (yes, really) and there was little more terrifying than getting my hands on a coveted prize. A defeat offered such a pleasing variety of options: vengefulness, stoicism, anger, resignation, sadness, exasperation. But the metaphysical hollowness associated with a long-desired triumph is something nobody can prepare you for. The champagne I swilled after winning my first Commonwealth gold medal was not so much to soak my euphoria as to anaesthetise a spiralling sense of angst.

Have you been there - not the ping pong, the emptiness? Bedded the man of your dreams only to wake up feeling hollow? Bought a shiny convertible only to glimpse its superficiality? Won a promotion only to discover that the job was not all you had dreamt of? I bet poor old Gordon wishes he were back in the bowels of the Treasury aspiring to the top job rather than being lumbered with the damn thing. As Robert Louis Stevenson, a man who knew a thing or two about the ironies of the human psyche, wrote: “To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive.”

It is an insight, the truth of which is revealed time and again in relation to those who have striven for success. I spend much of my time conducting sports interviews for this newspaper and have become well accustomed to tales of despondency after career-defining triumphs. James Toseland wept in the privacy of his hotel room after winning his first Superbike world title.

Martina Navratilova was afflicted with bouts of melancholy at a number of supposedly high points during her illustrious career. Marty Reisman, the table tennis hustler from New York's Lower East Side, was driven to proclaim the futility of sporting achievement after his triumph at the English Open in 1952.

Rather more serious bouts of depression have afflicted many major figures in politics and business including Alastair Campbell, who wrote candidly about his struggles with mental illness in his Diaries and Lord Stevenson, the chairman of HBOS, who went public last year with the inner turmoil he described as “hell on earth”.

Darian Leader, a psychoanalyst and author of The New Black: Mourning, Melancholia and Depression, says that we tend to feel a sense of depression when we attain an ideal, but that when this turns into full-blown depression, other factors are usually present. “As well as the loss of desire, we must search our own histories for the answers,” he says. “For one politician I knew, who at last attained the office he yearned for, the resulting mystery was the sign of a trespass: his father had failed in his own career, and this one felt unconsciously that he had no right to succeed.” But we would, perhaps, be wise to distinguish clinical depression from the milder disorientation that seems to be affecting the Prime Minister and which is familiar to many who have accomplished a long-cherished goal.

One of the most famous episodes of anticlimax, sporting or otherwise, was that which descended upon Harold Abrahams after he won a gold medal in the 100m of the 1924 Olympics.

In some of the closing scenes of Chariots of Fire, he is portrayed in the privacy of his dressing room with his head in his hands, refusing to talk to anyone. One of his friends, who had lost in a previous race, asks what is wrong. “Maybe you should try winning sometime and you would understand,” comes the response.

I have often wondered what life would be like if we could eliminate this perplexing facet of the human condition; if we could somehow get the emotional highs without the lows; if we could arrive at our chosen destination - No 10 or otherwise - without falling victim to the echoes of anticlimax. Psychologists, who are inclined to regard all disagreeable mental states as viruses that should be deleted from consciousness, would doubtless embrace this vision. But would it really make us happier, healthier people?

“In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love; they had 500 years of democracy and peace and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.” Orson Welles as Harry Lime in The Third Man.

Surely the same analysis applies to “negative” moods and emotions, that have evolved over millions of years to deal with specific kinds of opportunities and threats? Anxiety facilitates escape from dangerous situations and helps us to avoid them in the future. Mild depression enables us to disengage from unattainable goals. Humiliation is triggered when we are faced with the threat of losing social status.

Sexual jealousy is aroused by the imminent (or perceived) loss of a partner's undying fidelity. Perhaps the phenomenon of anticlimax is a bit like that: millions of years of evolution have sifted sequences of DNA just so that we can feel bloody miserable in the aftermath of winning the Lottery. And so the seeds of ambition, the hunger for victory, are sown all over again. Anticlimax is nature's way of focussing the mind on the next challenge.

In the case of an Olympic gold medal-winning athlete, it is the emotional lull that lays the psychological foundations for the next tilt at gold. In the case of an award-winning writer it is the melancholy that provides the creative impetus for the next great literary adventure. If goal-fulfilment induced indefinite periods of unadulterated contentment, there would have been little progress towards civilisation - a point made, albeit in rather self-serving circumstances, by Harry Lime.

Whether Gordon Brown will overcome his current difficulties remains to be seen, but viewed through this lens it is possible to understand why he was so much more disorientated by his transition to No 10 than Prime Ministers such as Thatcher and Churchill. Brown viewed elevation to the Premiership as the be all and end all of his political career: it was the goal towards which he was striving from the moment he conceded the leadership of the Labour Party to his close friend. Anticlimax was inevitable.

Thatcher, on the other hand, was no less ruthless or determined, but her guiding ambition was to change Britain. Becoming Prime Minister was, in her schema, a stepping-stone to a grander destiny. No great psychological adjustment was required until she was ousted from office, losing her raison d'etre in the process.

This placing of emotion in an evolutionary context is not intended to imply that all negative emotions are advantageous: Brown's arguably terminal political predicament proves as much. It is worth remembering that natural selection has been a bit of a slouch when it comes to keeping up with the dramatic changes in the world that have occurred since we lived on the savannah. Much disease results from this disparity: diabetes and hypertension, for example, are rare in hunter-gatherers. The problem is in identifying the emotions that are genuinely, rather than usefully, negative.

In the Western world, argues Oliver James in his popular book, Affluenza, we are governed by superficial values such as how we look, how famous we are and, most importantly of all, how much money we make. In other words, the material goods that we strive so hard to obtain turn out to be irredeemably anticlimactic.

This lament is familiar among “happiness economists”. Richard Easterlin identified the striking paradox that bears his name back in 1974: despite significant increases in wealth the rich nations of the world have not become any happier. But there is a correlation between wealth and happiness within nations. Easterlin resolves this paradox by arguing that only relative income matters to happiness, by virtue of its effect on status. Thus, if every person in an economy worked like crazy to double his or her wealth, there would be no increase in overall wellbeing, because relative wealth would be unaltered.

Economists have recently questioned Easterlin's data, but his analysis hints at an important truth: our systems of emotional regulation were designed by natural selection to suit gene-propagation rather than to benefit individuals or the species. Even if extra income does buy a little extra happiness, few could dispute that our exhausting genetic pursuit of status is less conducive to wellbeing than alternative activities, such as attending to family life. This rather pulls the rug from under conventional economic theory, which assumes that decisions are always directed at enhancing the wellbeing of the individual.

Those of a religious persuasion will doubtless be screaming at their newspapers by now, proclaiming that the true route towards happiness (and away from damaging, as opposed to useful, negative emotions) is not to be found in the writings of Darwin, Oliver James, Easterlin or any other mortal. And they may be on to something. Even atheists such as myself read the New Testament with a sense of amazement at the wisdom embedded in the teachings of Christ. “It is better to give than to receive,” he said, something that must have sounded like a wind-up to his long-suffering disciples.

But it is a teaching that has been corroborated by successive experiments in the social sciences. The paradox of hedonism, first noted by Sidgwick, tells us that subjective wellbeing cannot be obtained directly. As the Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl put it: “Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself.” Whether willing subservience can provide immunity from the deeper problem of existential meaning is, however, for each individual to answer.

The view from the top

Success, we think, should preclude misery, but clearly this is not the case. Sometimes, indeed, success exacerbates or even causes misery. Successful people have a high suicide rate. Why should this be? Why should achieving all that you have striven for years to achieve sometimes result in the severe deflation of depression? Take Alastair Campbell (pictured above) and Lord Stevenson as two obvious examples.

The reason is obvious. The striving, ambitious kind of person is always imagining that if only he could reach point x or y on the greasy pole, his life would be completely satisfactory: that he would be much happier than he is now, and all the reasons for his discontent would evaporate.

Everyone knows, at an intellectual level, that every state and stage of human existence has its own anxieties, but ambitious people ignore this knowledge when it comes to their own behaviour and do not act upon it. Instead, they idealise their future life once success has been achieved, and then discover that not only has that success brought new pressures with it, but old miseries have not disappeared either. An unhappy marriage remains unhappy, recalcitrant children remain recalcitrant.

Moreover, there is always someone who is more successful than oneself, whatever success one has had. The temperamental competitiveness that brought success in the first place prevents the quiet enjoyment of it: as the Haitians say, behind mountains, more mountains. That is why enormously rich businessmen rarely retire to a contemplative existence of luxury, but go on striving to the bitter end.

However, the realisation that success is not all that one has cracked it up to be can lead to a collapse, for success is like a balloon that must either be continually inflated or shrivel to nothing. What is the point of it all? Not only does the future look bleak if it becomes clear that further success is not going to bring what success already achieved has failed to bring, namely happiness and peace of mind, but the past begins to look bleak too. One has spent one's life trying to reach a goal that was never intrinsically worth reaching. This is how depressed people come not only to see the future as hopeless, but their own past as nothing but an expense of spirit in a waste of shame.

Successful, striving people tend to be intelligent, and many of them cannot disguise from themselves the insufficiency of their lives, and the goals they have pursued. The higher they climb, therefore, the farther they fall. As Robinson Crusoe's father pointed out to his son, it is the middling sort, perched contentedly between brilliant success and outright failure, who are the most fortunate of mankind.

When the only way is down

When people finally achieve something that they have desperately wanted to achieve there can often be a mismanagement of expectation and outcome.

Our expectations are huge these days. Since the 1980s, we have been told we can have just about anything that we want, that we should aim high and we work the longest hours in Europe to get there.

But just because someone might be capable of getting to the top, it doesn't necessarily follow that they will be able to cope with the success once they are there. I would liken it to climbing a mountain - just because you can make it to the summit doesn't mean that you could manage living up there.

This can manifest itself in a classic physical burn out. In a small way it is a bit like when people work themselves into the ground, then go on holiday and immediately fall ill. We need to learn to pace ourselves.

But there are also those who lack the emotional stamina and resilience to cope with the pressure of continually having to succeed. We live in a society which is very goal orientated. I worry about this with “helicopter” parents who put huge pressure on their children to achieve goal after goal - SATs, then GCSEs, then A levels, then the best university. The markers of success have become externalised and superficial - big salaries, a big house, an expensive car - but we are not teaching our children how to handle that success with an internal sense of worth.

Some children are put under tremendous pressure to be the best, but we are not thinking about how they will deal with that. We need to think about what happens next.

As my father used to say, when you are at the top of the pile the only way is down. If you win, say, a Booker prize at 24, where on earth do you go after that? Do you spend the next 40 years trying to be even better? And what if you can't? Sometimes the brightest people can be the most vulnerable.

You see this with gifted and talented children who are incredibly intelligent but often emotionally quite immature. I have worked with two such children who are extremely clever yet they have screaming tantrums, almost like a toddler.

Sometimes, if you have an abundance of one set of attributes (thinking), you are lacking in a different set of attributes (coping).

Just because you are capable of getting to the top doesn't mean you have the tools to deal with the reality of staying there.

C'est dans l'effort que l'on trouve la satisfaction et non dans la reussite. Un plein effort est une pleine victoire (Gandhi - Extraits des Lettres a l'Ashram).

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Are you constantly fighting pain? Do you wish you could turn pain off like a switch?

Check the video below and discover how to use Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP/Hypnosis) ) to change the way your mind interprets the pain signal. You may be surprised how the pain can effectively be reduced or even turned off via this easy-to-follow technique!

Here is the transcript of the video:

Step 1: Relax

First, you need to learn to relax. Think about words and phrases that help you to relax, and say them to yourself. Telling yourself to "breathe and relaaax" in deep gentle tones helps to put you in a trance like state, and you will feel yourself relax with every exhaling breath you take. Count from 5 down to 1, telling yourself you will be relaxed into a trance by the end of it.

Step 2: Observe The Pain

When you are relaxed, try to observe the pain objectively. Think of it as nothing more than a sensation, then try to imagine it as if it has a physical existence. What shape is it, what colour, what texture does it have, what movements does it make? Don't worry if this seems difficult, just make it up in your head. The important thing is that the image becomes a metaphor for your pain.

Step 3: Move the Pain

The next step is to move the representation of the pain to outside your body, where it's easier to observe. Continue to examine it from a couple of metres away.

Step 4: Change the qualities in the pain

Start to change some of the qualities of the representation. Make it darker or smaller, or change the colours. Alter the way it moves and its position - turn it upside down. As you experiment with this, notice which changes alter the sensation of the pain. When you're satisfied with the changes you've made and the pain is more comfortable, you can either send the pain into the distance, or put it back into your body in a different location, where it may be more manageable. Or you can simply turn it around and put it back where it was, so it cancels out the original pain.

Step 5: Increase Your Energy

The Focus Clinic will exceptionnally be closed for the Bank Holiday weekend (3-5 May 2008). For urgent queries only, please contact our reception who will forward your message to us.

Appointments will resume as normal on Tuesday, 6th May 2008.

Thank you et bon weekend à tous!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Last night I went to see 'Happy-Go-Lucky', Mike Leigh's latest movie. What a nice and contageously optimistic movie!

Here is the movie review by Dave Calhoun in the Time Out London Issue 1965: April 17 - 23, 2008:

Synopsis

Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is a 30-year-old Londoner with a bright outlook on life. She loves her job, she loves her friends, she loves her freedom. Mike Leigh's new film follows her over a few weeks one spring as she learns to drive and embarks on a new romance.

Movie review

Sally Hawkins is a real delight in Mike Leigh’s new film as Poppy, a 30-year-old Londoner with a bubbly nature and an ever-present laugh that teeters between lovable and annoying. Hawkins’ performance, and Leigh’s harnessing of it, is a tease: when we first see Poppy, cycling through the West End and joking with a grumpy bookshop assistant before joining her friends for a late-night drunken session, we don’t know what to make of her. She’s loud, joyful and indulges in terrible jokes; surely there’s something wrong with her?

The trick that Leigh and Hawkins finally pull off so cleverly by the end of 'Happy-Go-Lucky’ is that we’re entirely in cahoots with her. Poppy is a mirror to us all: if we find her blind optimism and sunny nature hard to swallow, perhaps there’s something wrong with us instead? By then, too, we know that Poppy is not the blinkered soul we may first think: she is compassionate, perceptive and harbours her own sadnesses like the rest of us.

Leigh always finds plot in character, and ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’ is more of a portrait than a story; a film that’s built around one performance. He is less concerned here, unlike, say, ‘Secrets & Lies’ and ‘Vera Drake’, with following a driving narrative than with minutely observing Poppy through her relationships with others, whether it’s the kids she teaches at her primary school, her repressed driving instructor (Eddie Marsan, excellently playing a heavy-duty bag of hang-ups), her close friend and flatmate Zoe (Alexis Zegerman) or her older, more settled colleague Heather (Sylvestra Le Touzel), whom she joins at flamenco lessons after work. In that sense, it’s comparable to ‘Naked’.

It’s a study in sadness versus happiness, a study in teachers and the taught, a study in how we carry with us everyday the burdens of what we have and haven’t learned. You know you’re watching something both delightfully light-footed and acutely meaningful when Leigh moves so nimbly between scenes at Poppy’s school, her flamenco class and her driving lessons. There’s also a wonderfully moving scene, darker and more poetic in tone, when Poppy encounters a tramp late at night. It’s a funny film – a surprise perhaps after ‘Vera Drake’ – and, crucially, it aches with truth.

There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will - Epictetus (Greek philosopher associated with the Stoics, AD 55-c. 135)

A mediter.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Here is a very good article from MT (Management Today) discussing luck in business. It is a bit long but il en vaut la peine...

Do other people seem to get all the breaks? Well, you should be so lucky. But you'll have to put yourself in the way of opportunity: get out of your routine, talk to people, share your ideas - and persevere. Fortune smiles on the brave, says sporting Dave Waller. In business, the pragmatist trumps the spiritualist. Sales graphs beat astrological charts, and listening to your customers will serve your bottom line better than an earful of Buddhist chants or whale-song. Yet there is one wholly irrational underlying force that even the most successful leaders are all too happy to credit - at least, when it comes to discussing their own achievements. It's luck.

Speaking to Britain's top business people about their careers, it's amazing how often the word crops up. From Sir Michael Bishop to Sir Ronald Cohen, Luke Johnson to Digby Jones, countless leaders have appeared on the pages of MT giving due credit to this unseen power. Even Bill Gates puts luck up there with his tech brain and canny sense of timing. Yet you'll hardly find luck on the average MBA syllabus.

A major problem with luck is that it's a tricky thing to pin down. For one, it is often apparent only in hindsight. You earn your first million, and only then do you backtrack and work out what happened to enable it to come off in the first place. In retrospect, with so many variables at play in personal lives, careers, businesses, trends and markets, the fact that you ever reached the right place at the right time to achieve what you did can start to seem dizzyingly improbable. Especially when there are countless other people out there vying for the same thing: what physicists and philosophers call the 'self-sampling assumption'. Hence the easy answer: it was down to luck.

Others may use the term to disguise their own achievements, being more comfortable crediting their success to some external force than to their own blood, sweat and tears. And yet some people seem to have lucky breaks so consistently. Are they somehow tapping into a natural force that's available for all of us to bend to our will? The answer, it turns out, is that they are. But it's more nuts and bolts than fire and brimstone.

First let's define exactly what we mean by luck. There is the stuff of superstition - the good fortune of four-leaf clovers, and footballers getting amorous with their goalposts in the belief that this will ensure a good result. But there seems little practical point in examining such hokey ritual. Tony Blair's lucky brogues, apparently a fixture at every one of his Prime Minister's Questions, have little to teach the rest of us.

There is another phenomenon that dwells in this same dark territory. Bill Gates counts being born to his parents and becoming childhood friends with future Microsoft partner Paul Allen as examples of his luck; yet most experts would categorise such events as chance, differentiated from luck in that they are totally beyond the individual's control. Richard Wiseman, author of The Luck Factor (Century, 2003), concedes that such one-off chance events may be formative in people's lives and careers, but prefers to limit his definition of luck to consistent cases of good fortune. And he says that such a recurrence indicates that the individual is influencing things. Luck is - by this definition, at least - something we create ourselves.

Predictably, the business community has its share of luck-sceptics. Antony Buck, co-founder of Ren Skincare, believes that what people call luck is often simply the result of offering a definite commitment to something that others aren't prepared to make. 'You're likely to appear luckier simply because you're putting yourself in situations and responding to them in ways that most people aren't.'

People may see you as lucky for attending an event and meeting a person who's the perfect fit for a new project. 'But it's effort, really,' he says.

Buck's view of luck may sound more pragmatic, but it is largely a semantic issue. Whether you call this phenomenon luck or not, what matters is that destiny, in work and life, clearly lies with the individual. Successful people will often ascribe their good fortune to being 'in the right place at the right time'. So it follows that the more often you put yourself in new situations, the more likely it is you'll be in a place that turns out to be right, at a time that is similarly fruitful. In other words, luck is largely down to getting out there in the first place, so you can create, spot and exploit opportunities. You have to be in it to win it, after all.

Charles Dunstone, founder of Carphone Warehouse, once described himself as 'the luckiest person since Ringo Starr'. It was meant to be self-effacing, referring to the idea that the Beatles' drummer rode into rock history on the backs of his more talented bandmates. Dunstone may be attempting modesty, but look deeper: Starr battled serious childhood illness and left school at 13, before becoming a pioneering drummer and performing with some of the best-known bands in Liverpool. He toured with the Beatles and sat in with them several times before they booted out Pete Best and created the vacancy. Starr had made his own luck. And that's not so different from Dunstone, the 'lucky' mobile entrepreneur.

The Mind Gym's Danielle Heffernan defines luck as springing from a combination of chance and perception. 'Without a doubt, chance exists,' she says. 'But how you view these chance events will determine your luck.'

She is reaffirming that luck is entirely down to us - it's just a matter of how we approach and react to the situations that we find ourselves in.

This may sound like a rehash of the old 'power of positive thinking' argument, but it does make sense. Go in clasping a glass that's half-full, expecting good things, and you may well be amazed at how things turn out. If they don't go your way, then so be it - there's nothing to be lost by reacting well to misfortune. 'Optimists expose themselves to more situations,' says Heffernan. 'They feel better, perform better and they are luckier as a result.'

Srikumar Rao, a visiting professor at the London Business School, is a firm believer in the idea that optimism brings good fortune, a subject he explores in his teachings on creativity and purpose. 'I believe you can live your life in a way where you can actually predict that fortunate things will keep cropping up.' He argues that it's human nature to label events either good or bad, and that the tendency is to choose the latter. His argument is that, despite our initial reaction, we never know whether something that seems bad will actually turn out that way, so labelling an event as bad is simply a waste of energy.

Rao illustrates his point with a story from one of his course alumni - a young woman who had signed up for a consultancy job in Lisbon because all her friends had told her it was a great opportunity. Unfortunately, the visa process was long and documents were lost, jeopardising a planned trip to Asia in the interim. Her natural reaction was to view the unfolding disaster with horror, until she remembered the course mantra, 'Good? Bad? Who knows?'. Taking a more positive approach, she went to work on a plan B, applying for fallback jobs. She soon had an offer for her dream job at a smaller company. The next day her Portuguese visa came through. Naturally, she didn't need it any more.

Of course, keeping your glass half-full is easier said than done. Some things in life just demand that 'bad' label. Take the unfortunate case of Roy Sullivan, the American park ranger who holds the world record for surviving the most lightning strikes. He was struck seven times between 1942 and 1977. Not good. Most of us would despair at such misfortune; under Rao's thinking, Sullivan should have felt fortunate to have survived with all but the odd eyebrow or toenail intact. It's an admirable idea, but one that would test even the most resolute constitution. Indeed, Sullivan's experiences eventually drained his glass completely - he began fearing that clouds were chasing him, and shot himself in 1983.

At work, too, it's easy to believe that the clouds are gathering around us. This thought could be sparked by anything, from being overlooked for a promotion or launching a product that sinks disastrously, to the general feeling that you've hit the ceiling in your career and you can't go any further. Everyone has at one time felt that the universe is conspiring against them. It's just that lucky people don't let that get in their way.

When Simon Woodroffe, founder of Yo! Sushi, was preparing to open his first conveyor-belt sushi restaurant, a rival beat him to the idea, opening an outlet at London's Liverpool Street station. Rather than cursing his misfortune, Woodroffe spent hours at his rival's sushi bar as a 'customer', examining its weaknesses, going in with tape measures, looking under tables, and even taking his bank manager along to secure funding. When the Yo! idea hit big, Woodroffe, a first-time restaurateur, looked like the luckiest man in the world.

Woodroffe is a fine example of what Heffernan calls 'retaining an internal locus of control'. If you take responsibility for events and your reaction to them, you'll generate far better luck than you would by relying on excuses or presenting yourself as the victim. Overlooked for a promotion? You can sit around bemoaning your lot, or start reassessing your career: is there more you can learn where you are, or is it a sign you should be looking elsewhere? A year later, you'll probably find yourself thanking your lucky stars that the promotion never came off.

This process of picking yourself up and dusting yourself down leads us to another truth about luck: it doesn't come to people who give up quickly. Take golfer Gary Player, and the legend in which a rich Texan offered him $50 to sink a bunker shot. Player nailed three in a row. The Texan handed over the money, exclaiming that he'd never seen anyone that lucky in his life, to which Player famously replied: 'The harder I practise, the luckier I get.' Indeed, who knows how many thousands of such shots Player had previously missed?

Sir Ronald Cohen has reaped the good fortune that comes with sticking to his guns. When he founded venture capital group Apax in the early 1970s, it was the first of its kind in Europe. The partners had to build the industry to fuel the firm. And when the concept was struggling to get off the ground, they had a crisis meeting to determine Apax's future. Cohen's cohorts prepared thorough reports full of figures explaining why the idea was doomed to fail. He turned up with a written examination of the relationship between luck and perseverance. The others quit, he turned out to be right, and Apax now manages a fund of $20bn. As Cohen put it in his recent autobiography: 'The first rule of luck in business is that you should persevere in doing the right thing. Opportunities will come your way if you do.'

Luck, it appears, works very much like magic. We may react to a conjurer's trick with amazement, but once the workings behind it are explained, it becomes just a series of logical steps. Fortunately, though, luck is still impressive even when you know how it's done.

Buck offers a pertinent tale from the early days of Ren. 'When we were first setting up, Stuart Rose appeared in the FT talking about what to do after Argos,' he says. 'We pestered the paper for a while and they agreed to give him our number. One day he rang us up, and we told him we'd just started out and were wondering if he wanted to get involved. We ended up going to see him, and that turned into a year or so of mentoring sessions. It seems lucky - suddenly we're getting advice from Stuart Rose. The fact is, we committed to it and pestered the paper. Even so, we were still pinching ourselves.'

Most people would have read the same article and thought nothing of it. In fact, it's doubtful that Rose received any calls of this kind other than Buck's. This is another sure-fire way of generating good luck - having the ability to spot an opportunity and act on it. In The Luck Factor, Wiseman conducted an experiment in which he gave a newspaper to a group of people and asked them to count the number of pictures inside. Halfway through, he'd secretly placed a large advertisement saying: 'Tell the experimenter you have seen this and win £250'. The people who'd previously been defined as unlucky tended to miss the ad, while the lucky ones spotted it. And yet it had been staring them all in the face. The message: concentrate too hard on what you think you're looking for and you may be missing something more fruitful.

Luck, then, is all about opportunities: spotting them when they arise, creating them when they don't, and most of all putting yourself in a position and state of mind to seize them. Says Heffernan: 'Some people will walk through a door saying, "How fantastic, there's this great world on the other side." Others won't want to take that chance. But they'll look at the first person walking around in the land of the fairies and say: "They're so lucky. Why can't I be like that?"' Why not, indeed? DO YOU FEEL LUCKY, PUNK?

Ten ways to make it happen for you:

• Know your goals. You invite the opportunities that will help you realise your ambitions only if you are clear on your aims in the first place.
• Be flexible. Adopt a relaxed and open-minded approach in your thoughts and actions. Break habits by changing your route to work, going to lunch with different people, and watching different kinds of film. Experimentation opens up new horizons and mental pathways.
• Assume responsibility. Fortune doesn't favour a victim. Take ownership of what happens to you and how you respond to it.
• Take risks. Remember the saying 'A ship in harbour is safe, but that's not what ships were built for'. Think of yourself when you're older - won't you regret the risks you didn't take?
• Expect good fortune. Luck operates like a self-fulfilling prophecy. If your glass is half-full in the first place, it's more likely that things will come along to top it up.
• Turn bad luck to good. Luck is all about how you view the chance events in your life. If something bad happens, suspend your reaction. Try viewing it as a good thing and see where it leads.
• Trust your intuition. Your inner voice often knows best. When Sir Ronald Cohen's Apax partners faced early trouble, he trusted his own hunch over the figures he was given. And he was duly rewarded for his good judgment.
• Network. That person on the far side of the room may be a surprisingly good fit to assist in your next project. But you have to speak to them first to find out. Network like you mean it, too. People will pick up on your genuine interest, and opportunities will come more freely.
• Keep your eyes open. You may not have found the thing you were looking for, but is there something even more important happening right in front of your eyes?

Appreciez les conseils ci-dessus et mettez les tout de suite en pratique!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work - Emile Zola, French novelist and playwright (1840-1902)

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Marc Leverton reports on the doctor who wants fellow medics to embrace happiness and the techniques by which it can be harnessed (Source: Society Guardian - Health)

Dr Chris Johnstone is introducing some new ideas into the health service. "I train GPs and medical students in ways of helping patients make difficult changes, like giving up smoking or losing weight. I also teach medical students in the holistic approach, which Bristol University has the leading course in the country on. I teach that illness can't be treated with pills alone."

Dr Johnstone trained and worked as a GP before moving to Bristol's Robert Smith unit, an NHS referral unit for severe alcoholics. He has worked there for the last fifteen years and his recently published self-help book, Find Your Power, draws on his experiences of applying positive psychology to the treatment of addictions.

Developed by the American psychologist Martin Seligman, positive psychology - sometimes referred to as the new science of happiness - aims to deepen understanding of what helps promote positive mood states and desirable human qualities.

For most of us the pursuit of happiness is elusive and appears to be outside of our control, but Dr Johnstone says it doesn't have to be so. "There are many ways we can foster positive moods. A simple technique is to identify something that has happened in the last 24 hours that you feel pleased about. When you focus attention on what you feel good about, your mood improves."

Dr Johnstone believes the key is to recognise that the mind can be trained in strategies that bring long-term improvement in mood. "We can learn ways to become happier," he says, "and that is what I teach my clients."

One of positive psychology's most consistent findings in happiness research is that people tend to be at their most content when deeply involved in activities that require their full attention. Referred to as "flow experiences", these are the moments when we're so engrossed that time seems to disappear. In contrast to the passive experiences often associated with leisure, like watching television, flow experiences may stretch us at the time, but leave a warm glow of satisfaction afterwards.

One of the leading theories of depression is the model of "learned helplessness". Dr Johnstone says: "Helplessness leads to hopelessness. If people believe they can't do anything about a situation, they tend to give up trying. But pessimism can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, creating the sort of downward spiral I often see in my clients.

"My work is to help them find their power to face challenges. When you make an effort, you become more engaged. The more engaged you become, the more you get into flow, and as a result, life satisfaction increases."

Johnstone's interest in the subject began after he experienced depression himself, which was linked to work pressures.

Starting his medical career in 1986 Dr Johnstone trained as a junior doctor and was instrumental in tackling the long hours culture expected of young doctors. "In my first job I was on a 'one in three shift' which meant that, in addition to a standard 40-hour week, I would also work round the clock every third night and weekend. Some weeks I'd work well over a hundred hours," he recalls.

As part of his campaign he wrote to his local MP, Margaret Thatcher. She reminded him that junior doctors' hours had in fact decreased in the last seven years, from an average of 90 to 87.5. He continued his struggle until eventually he issued a writ against his employer, the Bloomsbury Health Authority.

"I issued the writ on a bank holiday and the story went all over the world and hit the front pages," he says. "It was a huge story, but the legal case was slow and the health authority tried to block it at ten court hearings over six years.

"Eventually it went to the Court of Appeal and they made a ruling where, if your employer works you so many hours that it damages your health, then that is unlawful. If your health suffers from overwork you could have a damages claim."

Dr Johnstone temporarily left medicine after his excessive hours led him to fall asleep at the wheel of his car and crash into a rock face. "I felt that was my wake-up call. If I went back to work I was just going to make myself ill. It was a life or death decision."

Dr Johnstone hopes his new work on happiness can continue to benefit the medical profession. "Doctors are more likely on average to commit suicide than their patients and they are also more likely to develop cirrhosis of the liver," he says.

"There are so many gains to be had from our happiness: people can think and solve problems more effectively, and there are improved health outcomes such as the functioning of the immune system. The medical profession really needs to embrace happiness."

Nothing can bring you happiness but yourself' - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet (1803-1882)

A mediter.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Amputees can feel relief from phantom limb pain just by watching someone else rub their hands together, a study says (Source: article from BBC Online News - Health)

The treatment appears to fool the brain that it is their missing hand being massaged, California researchers say.

New Scientist magazine reports that it harnesses nerve cells in the brain which become active when watching someone else carry out an action.

UK experts said this kind of therapy may help amputees, as long as they can go along with the illusion.

Mirror neurons in the brain fire up when a person performs an intentional action, such as waving, and also when they observe someone else performing the same action.

They are thought to help predict the intentions of others by simulating the action in the mind.

Similar cells exist for touch, and become active both when a person is being touched and when they watch someone else being touched.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, say the reason people do not constantly feel what they observe happening to others is that a person's sensory cells do not give the right signals, so they know it is not happening to them.

Ex-soldiers tested

In the study, Vilayanur Ramachandran tested the therapy on ex-soldiers.

His first test used a device called a mirror box, which he developed. An amputee puts their remaining limb, in this case their hand, in front of the mirror and their brain is tricked into thinking the mirror image is actually another working limb.

Two amputees had their normal hand touched while using the mirror box, and felt the sensation of being touched on their missing hand.

In a second experiment, when amputees watched a volunteer's hand being stroked, they also began to experience a stroking sensation arising from their missing limb.

One even said their pain disappeared for between 10 and 15 minutes.

Potential uses

Dr Ramachandran suggested the amputees "felt" the actions of others because their missing limb provided no feedback to prevent their mirror neurons being stimulated, and therefore not telling them they were not "literally" being touched.

He said: "If an amputee experiences pain in their missing limb, they could watch a friend or partner rub their hand to get rid of it."

But Dr Ramachandran said there could be other uses for the therapy, including helping people who have had strokes.

"If performed early enough, it may also be used to help stroke patients regain movements by watching others perform their lost actions."

Kate McIver, of the Pain Research Institute at Liverpool University, said work done there on helping amputees create mental images of pain-free limbs - which operated on the same basic principle as the US research - had also proved effective.

She said watching massage could help, but added: "With something external like this, the patient has to accept that the illusion is real for it to work."

Des traitements de controle de la douleur sont disponibles a The Focus Clinic. Pour plus d'informations, veuillez nous contacter soit par telephone, soit par email.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Today I came across this very interesting article written by Ambika Behal for the MSN UK Life & Style online magazine. The full article is available here or below:

Is anger harming your health?
 
With insufficient programmes in place for anger management, thousands of Brits have been left with nowhere to turn, according to a mental health charity. We take a look at the reasons why.

A study conducted by the Mental Health Foundation has found that not enough is being done to help people who have difficulties controlling their anger. And while it is a natural human emotion and not a mental illness, anger can be very destructive both mentally and physically.

Many people deal with anger in a healthy way – however, anger is defined as “problem anger” when it is held onto for too long or results in inappropriate aggression. A volatile emotion, it can lead to a breakdown of the family, self, and health. According to the foundation’s Boiling Point report, chronic and intense anger can be the culprits of heart disease, cancer, strokes, colds, the flu, depression, self-harm and substance misuse.

As anger goes largely unnoticed until an “aggressive criminal act” occurs, the foundation is calling on the nation to tackle anger in its early stages, before it becomes debilitating. The charity notes that courts may refer people to anger management training, but this intervention is too little, too late.

In a survey of nearly 2,000 adults completed by YouGov, 28 percent say they are worried about how angry they sometimes feel while 20 percent say that their actions while angry have caused important relationships and friendships to end.

Results from the poll also revealed strong support for exploring problem anger: with 84 percent of those polled believing that people should be encouraged to seek help for their anger. Yet 58 percent said they wouldn’t know where to go for help.

Dr. Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, says the recognition of problem anger is imperative. “In a society where people can get help for depression and anxiety, panic, phobia, eating disorders and a range of other psychological and emotional problems, it seems extraordinary that we are left to fend for ourselves when it comes to an emotion as powerful as anger. We need to be able to recognise when anger is damaging our lives, ask for help and receive it.”

Perhaps most disturbing is the toll anger can take on our bodies. When we become angry, our adrenal glands release stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. To prepare us for a physical challenge, the brain blocks off the blood flow to the gut. If anger goes unresolved and isn’t managed appropriately, this flood of hormones will overwhelm the body – resulting in both short and long-term health problems. Along with the aforementioned, these can include headaches, abdominal pain, insomnia, high-blood pressure and skin conditions such as eczema. Repressing the emotion or allowing yourself to explode with anger only fuels these side effects.

Dr. McCulloch is hoping to achieve good results through increasing anger awareness. “This is not about excusing bad behaviour, but about helping individuals and communities to take responsibility,” he said. “Tackling it won’t be simple or straightforward, but the benefits could be enormous.”

The Mental Health Foundation offers the following recommendations to keep anger at bay.

• Get Physical - Staying physically active is one of the best ways to keep mentally well. Exercising increases the release of endorphins in the body. This chemical results in an overall sense of well-being and happiness. Participating in an exercise programme gives us a sense of purpose and allows us to feel accomplished since we have something positive to look forward to.
• Eliminate Alcohol - The next time you think about burying your troubles and woes in a pint or bottle, remember that you’ll only make things worse – alcohol is really a depressant. A better alternative would be to meet a friend over tea or coffee to discuss what is making you angry.
• Eat Well - By eating the right amount of the right foods, you’ll be mentally and physically prepared to ban your anger.  Remember to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables every day – they are rich in antioxidants, minerals and vitamins which are good for the immune system. Avoid foods high in salt, sugar, saturated fat and preservatives as they tend to slow you down.
• Talk it out - Take advantage of friends, family members, or co-workers that have been showing concern. By listening and talking, you may be able to work through the issues that are angering you. If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, try talking to a mental health professional. They are qualified in dealing with the root of a problem so that you can find a permanent fix.
• Change it up - Whether you go on holiday or take a few days off work to explore the town, a change of scenery can help you distance yourself from what it is that's bothering you. This encourages you to take a look at things from a different perspective. By the time you return, you may have come up with a new, more effective way to handle things.
• Maintain Relationships - While you might feel like you’d rather isolate yourself, force yourself to keep in touch with friends and loved ones.  Close relationships affect our emotions and perceptions. Helping those close to you with their problems might provide insight to your own.
• Distract yourself - Spending time on hobbies and activities can distract you from negative thoughts and promote feelings of purpose. Set aside some time every day and do something you truly enjoy. Whether you want to read, bake, or play football, your mind and body will benefit greatly from the break.
• Care for others - Taking care of something provides a sense of worth and purpose. Whether you’re looking after a plant, animal, or even a child, you’ll add structure to your life. Having something or someone depend on you can help you put your issues into perspective.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The Focus Clinic will exceptionnally be closed for Easter from 21-24 March 2007. For urgent queries only, please contact our reception who will forward your message to us.

Appointments will resume as normal on Tuesday, 25th March 2007.

Thank you et bon weekend à tous!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The Great No Smoking Day: can you last a week?

Money boxes and stress balls for everyone

Our comfortable consulting room

Our comfortable massage room

Essential oils for LE MASSAGE FOCUS

Stephanie, your therapist...

... who is also the Director of The Focus Clinic

The No Smoking Day 2008 is now over but The Focus Clinic remains available to help all of you who have decided to give up smoking.

Gardez courage - you can beat the smoking habit!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

FREE complementary therapy on No Smoking Day 12/03/08

For the second consecutive year, The Focus Clinic will be open on No Smoking Day between 6-9p.m to offer FREE complementary therapy to help you stop smoking. This year we are pleased to introduce our new holistic massage therapy: LE MASSAGE FOCUS.

Only 3 sessions left: 7.30p.m, 8.00p.m and 8.30p.m

To book your free session, please call Stephanie Faivre now or email us to info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Important information: we regret to announce that LE MASSAGE FOCUS cannot be applied on pregnant women and patients suffering from epilepsy, high blood pressure or any other medical condition.

To read more about No Smoking Day, please visit the official website: http://www.nosmokingday.org.uk/

A mercredi prochain!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Pour ceux et celles qui souffrent de stress et souhaitent tester une méthode innovante pour controler ses émotions, essayer le BioFeedback!

Le site Doctissimo nous propose une introduction vidéo à cette nouvelle approche de désensitisation par le virtuel.

Pour voir le clip vidéo, veuillez cliquer ici

Ci-dessous un transcript du reportage de Alain Sousa et Florence Lemaire pour Doctissimo (www.doctissimo.fr).

Aujourd'hui, le stress est partout  ! Au travail, à la maison, nous sommes continuellement sous pression.
Dr Servant  : Il y a plus de stress aujourd'hui : il y a une accélération du temps, plus de contraintes, d'exigences, à la fois de la vie professionnelle et de la vie familiale. Les personnes les plus touchées sont les femmes. Elles paient un lourd tribut au stress parce qu'il y a la double charge de la vie de famille et de la vie professionnelle et puis peut être d'autres facteurs, à la fois physiologiques et psychologiques. Chez les hommes, les stress s'exprime différemment.

Le stress a un impact direct sur notre corps. Au centre des réactions de notre organisme, on trouve un organe incontournable : le coeur.

Dr Servant : Notre façon de réagir aux émotions, est liée à notre réponse physiologique. Lorsqu'on est soumis à une peur, à un stress, notre coeur s'accélère. Après l'épisode stressant, il peut ralentir. C'est ce qu'on appelle la variabilité cardiaque. Très schématiquement, c'est la capacité du coeur à moduler son rythme et sa fréquence, en fonction des différents stress et des différentes émotions.

Pour aider notre corps à surmonter le stress, on peut utiliser une méthode innovante : la cohérence cardiaque.

Dr Servant : La cohérence cardiaque, c'est l'état idéal d'équilibre de régulation émotionnelle. Lorsque notre coeur s'adapte au mieux aux situations de stress de l'environnement.
Cette méthode va permettre de mieux dominer et de mieux réguler ses émotions en agissant directement sur la variation du rythme cardiaque.
Mais il est impossible de mesurer soi-même la cohérence cardiaque, il faut un appareil de biofeedback. C'est un outil d'enregistrement qui permet d'avoir une représentation en temps réel son intensité.

Cet appareil de biofeedback ne sert pas uniquement à mesurer la cohérence cardiaque, il peut être utilisé pour contrôler ses réactions. Il est alors possible de créer de véritables jeux vidéo pour apprendre à gérer son stress, grâce à des capteurs qui mesurent la cohérence cardiaque.

Dr Servant : L'entraînement va permettre de se focaliser sur un écran pour évaluer visuellement sa cohérence cardiaque. Grâce au biofeedback, en se concentrant, on peut utiliser le contrôle respiratoire mais également des techniques de relaxation pour modifier, pour améliorer cet état d'équilibre.

Certains fabricants proposent ainsi de calmer une tempête ou de ramener des animaux à un point d'eau, en contrôlant sa respiration et son coeur. Une technique virtuelle, qui va permettre d'affronter le stress de la vie réelle.

Dr Servant : L' entraînement se fait généralement au calme, de façon régulière. Ensuite, on va tester cette capacité rapide de gérer le stress en situation réelle dans "la vie de tous les jours".

Avec ou sans ces jeux vidéo "nouvelle génération", apprendre à gérer son stress est essentiel pour préserver son capital santé.

To learn more about BioFeedback, contact your GP or The Focus Clinic.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

For those of you who watched the TV programme My Fake Baby on Channel Four this month, here is a short psychological analysis provided by Consultant Psychiatrist Raj Patel on Richard & Judy's show.

The Oxytocin hormone that Dr Raj Patel is referring to plays an important role in humans. Oxytocin - also known as the cuddle hormone - is produced naturally in the hypothalamus and acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain. The hormone is released during hugging and touching and research has shown that it is also involved in social recognition and bonding, increasing the formation of trust between people. Oxytocin is thought to be associated with our ability to mediate emotional experiences in close relationships and maintain healthy psychological boundaries. Plasma concentrations of oxytocin have even been reported to be higher amongst people who claim to be falling in love (source: Wikipedia - the free enclyclopedia).

The women portrayed in the TV programme seemed to show signs of a special need for maternal behaviour. Such need led them to opt for a reborn doll. Is this right? Is this wrong? Opinions vary on the subject. Taking care of a pet such as a dog or a cat would probably bring the same kind of soothing, comforting feeling. But for all those women who are especially fond of babies, reborn dolls seem to be the perfect solution. And it can be. The release of oxytocin during the hugging and touching of these so realistic reborn dolls makes the whole experience a positive and rewarding moment and provides a lot of comfort and ease. This can be very therapeutic and of great help for people suffering from Alzheimer's disease, for instance.

Grieving people who lost a child may choose to have a reborn doll to ease their emotional pain. Psychotherapy or counselling would however be recommended aside in order for them to express their painful feelings and face the reality.

To watch the trailer of My Fake Baby, please click here.

Alors pour ou contre les 'faux bébés'?

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The rapid advances in technology keep surprising me.

I am particularly amazed and impressed by Web 2.0, this 'new second generation of web-based communities and hosted services which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing among users' (Source: Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia). This blog would probably not exist without Web 2.0 and adding a post about it on this professional blog is my personal way to salute new technologies.

For all readers of this blog who - like me - enjoy new technologies, here is an entertaining and educative video about Web 2.0.

A apprécier sans modération.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Révélé en 2006 par l'émission Nouvelle Star, le chanteur français Christophe Willem pose dans son titre 'Double-jeu' la douloureuse question que certains adolescents - tout comme certains adultes - se posent au quotidien: 'Que faire de ma vie'? A écouter et à méditer.

More to come on this topic...

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Elisabeth Couzon, psychothérapeuthe qui a co-écrit "S'estimer pour réussir", explique dans une interview pour le magazine en ligne http://www.linternaute.com/ comment avoir une bonne estime de soi. Au programme, commencez par vous faire au moins un compliment par jour !
 
L'estime de soi, qu'est-ce que c'est ?
Elisabeth Couzon L'estime de soi, c'est la relation que l'on a par rapport à soi-même. S'estimer, c'est s'apprécier. L'estime de soi, c'est donc un jugement que nous portons sur nous-même. C'est au niveau de la pensée que ça se situe. L'estime de soi s'intéresse à la relation que j'ai avec moi-même.

Qu'est-ce qui détermine l'estime de soi ?
Il y a tout d'abord les facteurs externes, à commencer par sa famille et son histoire personnelle qui vont déterminer son estime de soi. Si dans la famille, on a été déprécié, on va avoir une mauvaise estime de soi. De plus, il faut savoir que cette estime n'est pas quelque chose de constant, c'est un processus qui évolue en fonction des événements qui nous arrivent. Elle varie. S'il nous arrive des événements douloureux, elle baisse, s'il arrive des choses où l'on est aimé ou reconnu, notre estime augmente. Puis viennent les facteurs internes comme les petites voix intérieures qui nous poussent à nous déprécier parfois. Au contraire, si on satisfait ses besoins, si on prend du temps pour soi, pour se faire plaisir, si on se fait des cadeaux de temps en temps, si on prend le temps d'écouter une belle musique, bref si on prend du temps pour sa relation à soi, on va encourager l'estime de soi. C'est aussi faire les bons choix, en référence à soi et pas aux autres. A chaque fois qu'on vit en accord avec ses propres valeurs, d'honnêteté, de fraternité, de coopération et d'amour des autres, on conforte l'estime de soi. Quant aux blessures de l'enfance, on peut apprendre à les dépasser, mais parfois ce travail ne se fait pas tout seul.

Et la confiance en soi, comment ça se traduit ?
La confiance en soi, c'est différent, elle se situe au niveau du coeur. C'est un élan du coeur, c'est avoir foi en soi et ses capacités : "Est-ce que je peux compter sur moi ? Qu'est-ce que je ressens pour moi ?". En effet, on ne peut pas avoir confiance en soi si on n'a pas d'estime de soi. La confiance en soi est un sentiment, ça se situe donc au niveau émotionnel. Il y a un lien évidemment entre les deux. Quand on a confiance en soi, on réactive l'estime de soi.

En quoi trop d'estime de soi peut a contrario nous desservir ?
Selon moi, on n'a jamais trop d'estime de soi. Les gens qui affichent trop d'estime de soi, comme les personnes super narcissiques, qui se mettent en avant, sont des gens qui, en fait, ont des faiblesses et qui les cachent. Trop d'estime de soi couvre une faille. Les personnes narcissiques ont des grosses blessures qu'elles camouflent par ce trop plein d'estime de soi.

L'estime de soi, à quoi ça sert ?
Ça sert à augmenter la pensée d'être heureux. L'estime de soi va renforcer la confiance en soi, le sentiment d'être à la hauteur et d'être fiable, elle va permettre de prendre des intiatives et d'oser : oser changer de travail, faire des changements dans sa vie, créer, réaliser ses rêves... L'estime de soi permet la réussite, c'est-à-dire de mettre en oeuvre les actions. Avoir une bonne estime de soi va nous booster dans nos petits pas et dans notre réussite. L'estime de soi nous entraîne dans l'action avec efficacité.

Quels sont les freins à l'estime de soi ?
Tout d'abord, c'est se comparer aux autres. Ce système de comparaison tend à se dévaloriser soi-même, tout comme les petites voix négatives internes ("Je suis nul"). Il faudrait se faire trois compliments à chaque reproche pour contrebalancer, et faire une liste de tout ce qu'on a bien fait dans la journée. Un autre frein à l'estime de soi, c'est imaginer le futur en négatif, être pessimiste, mais également ne pas se faire de compliments. A bannir aussi : ressasser les blessures du passé et ne pas prendre de mesures pour les évacuer et en parler. Les personnes qui n'ont pas une bonne estime de soi ont tendance à ne pas prendre soin d'elles, et à ne pas prendre de temps pour elles, par exemple à ne pas prendre de pauses au travail. Il faut éviter de se maltraiter, de maltraiter son corps, il est important de savoir se faire plaisir car ce sont, pour moi, les petits plaisirs au quotidien qui font la différence. Enfin, favoriser les conflits, critiquer, entretenir des rapports de compétition, tout ceci est préjudiciable car au détriment de l'autre, et ne permet pas de s'aimer.

Hommes et femmes ont-ils la même estime de soi ?
C'est différent, beaucoup d'hommes sont très critiques, en externe et en interne. On va trouver bien sûr aussi des femmes critiques, celles à la recherche de la perfection, ce qui est très préjudiciable à l'estime de soi. Quand on est dans le soi parfait, on n'est jamais content, donc jamais satisfait de ses actions, et on ne peut pas recevoir les compliments. Les femmes ont aussi du mal à se faire plaisir. La culture judéo-chrétienne nous influe dans la perspective de s'occuper de l'autre avant soi. Mais ceci nous empêche de satisfaire nos propres besoins pour satisfaire à la place ceux de la famille, comme s'occuper de son mari et de ses enfants avant tout. Les femmes bien souvent ne prennent pas assez de temps pour elles. De plus, elles ont tendance à ne pas savoir demander de l'aide.

Dans quels domaines les femmes se sous-estiment-elles ? Et leurs domaines de prédilection ?
Je dirais principalement au point de vue professionnel : il y a peu de femmes à des postes de dirigeants. Pour être dirigeant, il faut avoir une soif de pouvoir. Un certain nombre de femmes vont lâcher prise, car elles ne sont pas intéressées par cette course au pouvoir. Les femmes ont par contre un grand avantage : elle se remettent plus facilement en question, les hommes, eux, ont tendance à se rigidifier, et ont plus de mal à se remettre en cause. Les enfants n'y sont pas pour rien, ce sont de grands éducateurs, ils poussent les femmes à se remettre en question tous les jours ! Je pense que pas mal de femmes se sous-estiment intellectuellement. Et quand elles n'ont pas de diplôme, elles sont en admiration devant les hommes qui en ont. Elles ont leurs zones d'excellence, mais bien souvent elles les méconnaissent. Elles sont très bonnes au niveau relationnel, et au point de vue de l'intuition, même si c'est une chose peut mesurable.

Pouvez-vous nous donner quelques astuces pour augmenter notre estime de soi au quotidien ?
Ma première astuce contient tous les petits plaisirs au quotidien. On peut commencer par se faire un compliment par jour au moins ! Puis faites la liste de tout ce que vous avez bien fait dans la journée. Il faut savoir se faire plaisir : mettre la musique qu'on aime, soigner sa déco. Réaliser ses petits rêves au quotidien boostera l'estime de soi, comme sentir un parfum, regarder des fleurs, regarder un film qui nous fait rire, car tout ceci va nous empêcher de penser aux choses négatives. Enfin, la chose primordiale, c'est avant tout se respecter, et donc apprendre à dire non.

Do not hesitate to leave your comments either on this blog or by email.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The Telegraph Online's article:

As the Telegraph Online humorously says in its article of January 4, "If you're thinking of calling your solicitor on Monday, say for some routine conveyancing work, forget it. The phone will be engaged. All day, probably. Why? Because Monday is officially known among lawyers as D-Day - divorce day."

This year, D-Day falls on January 7. In 2007, it was on the 8th, but the date is less important than the fact it is the start of the first full working week after new year, and the day when warring spouses are most likely to instigate divorce proceedings against one another.

To view the full article, click here.

The Focus Clinic's advice:

People divorce for various reasons. However the three main reasons for divorce appear to be infidelity (27%), falling out of love (22%) and domestic abuse (16%). Whatever category you are falling into, aknowledging and accepting that your life is going to change is the very first step. Filing for divorce is never easy, legally and emotionally. The loss of companionship and the loss of normal routine can be a difficult experience to live. A divorce usually involves the re-evaluation of one's life with new plans. What was familiar is not anymore - the comfort zone is suddenly broken and self-esteem at this time can be at its lowest.

Subconsciously one's comfort zone is an essential part of the human psyche. It helps us identify who we are and who we interact with; it gives us a feeling of belonging; it makes us feel good because it is familiar. It is so to speak our home rather than a house.

So when a divorce comes along and break that sense of familiarity, low self-esteem and low self-appreciation can follow. It is perfectly natural to feel this way as it takes time for the human mind to adjust to a new routine. The following tips can alleviate those negative thoughts and change the way you feel and behave:

1. Try to talk about your feelings and insecurities to somebody you trust and appreciate, or to your therapist

2. Make a list of your negative thoughts and insecurities and set up a treatment plan to get rid of these negative thoughts (e.g. by reprogramming your mind with the help of positive visualisation). What you think affects the way you feel and the way you behave. If you think that you are not pretty enough to go out with that nice man whom you met at work, you will feel sad and ashamed and as a result you may not accept his invitation for lunch.

3. Nobody likes changes, but why? Simply because it involves getting out of our comfort zone. New habits require patience and perseverance. Repetition is the key factor for reconditioning yourself to new ways of living. So if you decide to use positive visualisation and/or self-hypnosis, homework will be mandatory in order for the new thoughts to sink in. Once the thoughts are changed, the feelings and behaviour will follow.

4. Remember that as one door closes, another opens. So smile and move forward.

N'hésitez pas à me contacter si jamais vous avez des questions à ce sujet.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Firstly, Happy New Year 2008 / Bonne et Heureuse Année 2008 to all our readers!!!

The first of January is an important day each year as it is for most of us the perfect day to start the clock again. Forgotten is our past - unhealthy - lifestyle; this year will be different. We will make new resolutions and we will succeed.

Psychologists have identified some tips to help keep resolutions. The first is to make only one resolution: if you are an "obese, misanthropic, SUV-driving smoker", Prof Wiseman recommends picking just one aspect of life to improve, to increase your chances of success.

They also suggest planning your resolution in advance, instead of waiting until New Year's Eve. The extra time will allow you to reflect on what you really want to achieve. Another tip is to avoid repeating a previous resolution, or at least try a different technique to keep it. So if trying to lose half a stone did not work last year, plan to exercise more instead. "If people think they can do it they probably can, but if they've already tried and failed, their self-belief will be low," Prof Wiseman said. The remaining tips include keeping resolutions specific and rewarding yourself by buying a new book or CD if you manage to lose a few pounds or cut down on smoking.

The following article from the BBC website gives us some tips to help us to succeed in keeping our New Year's Resolutions.

Most of us will make a New Year's resolution - maybe to quit smoking or lose weight - but only one in 10 of us will succeed, say researchers.

But before you give up altogether, it is possible to boost your chances of success, UK psychologists report.

A year-long study of 3,000 people found men should set specific goals and women should tell the world about their resolution if they are to succeed.

And the key for everyone is not to leave the decision to New Year's Eve.

Study leader Professor Richard Wiseman, who is based at the University of Hertfordshire, found more than half of those in the study believed they would be able to stick to their resolution.

But by the end of the year, just 12% had been successful.

Giving up smoking seemed to be the hardest goal to stick to, with three-quarters of people lighting up again in the New Year.

Only 28% of people succeeded in losing weight and 29% of people who vowed to improve their fitness managed to do so.

Tips

Men were 22% more likely to succeed when they set goals for themselves, such as losing a pound a week rather than just saying they wanted to lose weight.

Telling others increased women's chance of keeping resolutions by 10%.

They benefited from family and friends encouraging them to stick to their goals.

Professor Wiseman said it was possible to increase the likelihood you will keep your resolution.

"Deciding to revisit a past resolution sets you up for frustration and disappointment.

"Choose something new, or approach an old problem in a new way.

"Think through exactly what you will do, where you will do it, and at what time."

He said those who made vague plans were more likely to fail - for example instead of planning to go running twice a week you should plan to go running at specific times every week.

He added: "Men may be more likely to adopt a macho attitude and have unrealistic expectations, and so simple goal setting helps them achieve more.

"Likewise, women might be reluctant to tell others about their resolutions, and so benefit more from the social support provided by friends and family once they have made their goals public."

TIPS FOR SUCCESS

Men should set specific goals
Women should tell others about their resolution
Choose a new approach
Do not leave the decision to New Year's Eve (Source: www.bbc.co.uk)

Bon courage à tous! Je vais moi-même surement mettre en pratique une ou deux idées tirée(s) de l'article BBC.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Last night I went to see the classic Christmas movie "It is A Wonderful Life" at the British Film Institute (BFI - http://www.bfi.org.uk/) in Southbank. What a beautiful film!

It is actually a "dark, bittersweet post-war tale of a savings-and-loan manager who struggles against a greedy banker and his own self-doubting nature in a small town" (Source and review by Tim Dirks). Earnest do-gooder George Bailey (James Stewart) recognizes his life as wonderful and truly rich, even in its humdrum and bleak nature, only after suffering many hardships, mishaps and fateful trials (including compromised dreams of youth to leave the town and seek fame and fortune, other sacrifices, dismay, losses and the threat of financial ruin, and suicide). He is given encouragement by a whimsical, endearing, trainee-angel named Clarence (Henry Travers).

The story turns Dickensian when the hysterical, despairing, and melancholy family man is shown what the small town (Bedford Falls, now renamed Pottersville after the town's evil tycoon) would be like without him. It's a frightening, nightmarish, noirish view of the world (at Christmas-time) that brings him back from self-destruction. He returns to the idyllic, small-town world that he left, with renewed faith and confidence in life itself. Hence, the film's title: It's a Wonderful Life.

I found the movie not only beautiful but extremely inspiring. Yes, life can be harsh. Life can be tough. When things go really wrong some of us may think that 'Enough is enough' and take extreme measures to end up their suffering. What this movie shows is that whatever happens in our life, there is always a way out. There is a solution to every problem, whatever the problem is. So if you find yourself in a difficult situation, where you feel desperate, hopeless and powerless, remember this: there IS a way out. Keep the faith, take a deep breath in and out, put a smile on your face and bring back good memories of your past, those memories that make you feel good, happy and relaxed. This exercise will calm you down and help you re-assess the situation from a more positive angle.

Gardez espoir et Joyeux Noel a tous et a toutes!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Please note that our opening times over the holiday season are as follows:

Monday 24th December 2007 - CLOSED

Tuesday 25th December 2007 - CLOSED

Wednesday 26th December 2007 - CLOSED

Thursday 27th December 2007 - CLOSED

Friday 28th December 2007 - OPEN from 6PM to 9PM

Saturday 29th December 2007 - CLOSED

Sunday 30st December 2007 - CLOSED

Monday 31st December 2007 - CLOSED

Joyeuses fetes de fin d'annee a tous et a toutes et a l'annee prochaine!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The aim of the following NSPCC TV advert is to illustrate how people can help end child cruelty with a click by visiting www.bethefullstop.com and doing a deed to make a big difference to children everywhere.

Together we will make child abuse stop.

Full stop.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The Medical profession recognises more and more the benefits of complementary therapies such as hypnotherapy. To read the MSN article about hypnotherapy, click here.

James Hurley, Editor of MSN Entertainment, talks in the following article about his experience of clinical hypnosis in the treatment of insomnia (source: http://style.uk.msn.com).

---

I can't get no sleep

Ever since he experienced jetlag when he was 13, James Hurley's life has been dogged by severe insomnia, which has had an impact on his work life and induced feelings of deep frustration.

After trying almost every remedy under the sun to cure this affliction, he decided to place himself in the hands of a hypnotherapist to see if he could finally rid himself of his nocturnal curse.

 

As any sufferer will tell you, insomnia is a peculiarly cruel affliction. Not only does chronic lack of sleep impair your concentration, ruin your mood, make every little problem seem like the end of the world and generally screw up your life, it feeds off itself too. Like some kind of twisted joke, the one thing the insomniac lies awake worrying about more than anything else is not being able to sleep. You might laugh if you had the energy.

My first encounter with it came in early adolescence after a family holiday to the US. It was my first experience of jetlag, and I remember being quite thrilled at the idea of being wide awake during the middle of the night. It seemed illicit and subversive in a way that appealed to my teenage self. Many is the time I’ve wondered since if my body clock ever really recovered.

I’ve endured more days at work in a semi-vegetative state than I care to remember. In fact, I’m sure there are many such days I don’t remember because the force of will required to get through them without walking out, bursting into tears, or just falling asleep at my desk leaves no room for normal brain function such as memory.

Having said that, the days are like your birthday and Christmas rolled into one compared to the nights that precede them. Insomnia usually leads to a phobia of looking at clocks after midnight. It’s bad enough lying there alone with your thoughts and fighting a mounting sense of panic, without getting involved in calculating how little sleep you’re going to get. It’s frustrating, depressing and very, very lonely, and you wouldn’t wish it on your worst enemy.

My insomnia has been the cause of more sickies than hangovers ever have. And therein lies an interesting point: like an alcohol-induced day off work, a day spent recovering from a sleepless night feels guilty and wrong. But why should it? You wouldn’t blame an epileptic for having a fit or, for that matter, a narcoleptic for falling asleep. Yet the insomniac is seen as somehow at fault for his or her inability to drop off.

Perhaps it’s due to the essentially psychological nature of the problem. Like depression (itself a common cause of insomnia) or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, you can’t see or measure it, which makes it difficult to sympathise with unless you’ve experienced it yourself. However, as I have recently discovered to my joy and relief, it can be tackled by psychological means. But before we get to that, a quick word on what doesn’t work.

If I could be bothered to look it up, I could tell you how many people are dependent on sleeping pills. It’s lots, anyway. Do you know why bad boy rapper Eminem cancelled a recent world tour? No, he wasn’t involved in a drive-by shooting or court battle or anything as glamorous as that. It was so he could sort out his addiction to a drug called ambien, which he’d been taking to combat his chronic insomnia.

Oh, and don’t even think about alcohol as a solution. Yeah, sure, a skin-full will send you off to the Land Of Nod but it’ll do it in a donkey driven cart via a rocky mountain pass. In other words, the quality of your sleep will be greatly reduced, you’ll probably give yourself a sore head in the process, and you’ll still feel like death in the morning.

Worse still, I have recently learned, alcohol stresses the body in such a way as to make sleeping more difficult the night after the morning you wake up with a hangover. The only solution to that is to drink more booze, and that isn’t a road you want to go down.

Having struggled with this for years, I recently got the chance to try hypnotherapy, something I wouldn’t have bothered with had it not been offered to me for free. My first session with Sjanie Hugo at the London College of Clinical Hypnosis began with a chat about the nature of my insomnia, how long I had suffered with it, and what exactly I wanted to achieve.

She was careful to explain that there is nothing sinister or frightening about hypnosis. It is simply an altered state of mind from which you can extricate yourself at any time, and one you are more familiar with than you might think.

She compared it to a long drive on the motorway when your mind switches off and you go into autopilot. At no point are you driving dangerously because the slightest hint of danger would bring you straight back. In other words, you’re not vulnerable, out of control, or, as I couldn’t resist asking, going to be made to act like a chicken.

I then lay back on what was probably the most comfortable chair it’s ever been my pleasure to grace (the cynic in me wondered whether I didn’t just need to buy the chair), and she asked me to focus on a point on the ceiling. Sjanie then slowly, deliberately, and calmly explained that I was going to feel gradually more relaxed as she counted back from ten.

When we got to about six, I noticed my vision was blurring and my eyelids drooping. Then, as if on cue, she used the hypnotist’s signature phrase, “Your eyes are feeling heavy”. I was so excited it was actually working I almost woke myself up.

I’m not sure that revealing every step of the process is helpful to anyone considering hypnotherapy. I think if I had known exactly what she was going to say and when, it may well have been less effective. Suffice it to say that I visited an extremely pleasant and relaxing place in my sub-consciousness without at any point being unaware of where I was or what I was doing. It’s certainly the best legal high I’ve ever experienced.

Hypnotherapy for insomnia is not a miracle cure. Sjanie wasn’t implanting a code word in my brain that would instantly send me to sleep or anything like that. What she was doing was introducing my mind and body to a new state of relaxation, asking me to remember it, and, most importantly, teaching me how to achieve it myself.

This last point is the most important of all. Like any new skill, self-hypnosis requires practice. I can’t pretend I haven’t had the odd restless night since, but then again, I can’t pretend I have practiced as conscientiously as I might. Also, perhaps predictably, I can’t pretend I haven’t had the odd night on the lash either. The difference is that I am now equipped with the tools to combat what has been the bane of most of my adult life. These days I can accept that if I have trouble sleeping, I have only myself to blame.

 

Pour une première découverte de l'hypnose clinique, veuillez nous contacter à The Focus Clinic.

 

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The following article was written by Dr Rob Hicks on the www.bbc.co.uk website (Health section).

Seasonal Affective Disorder is a specific type of depression that affects people at the same time each year - autumn and winter. During spring and summer, people with SAD feel well.

What causes it?
Experts believe SAD is related to a lack of daylight exposure, which explains why people feel well during spring and summer and only start experiencing problems when the days get shorter.

What are the symptoms?
Many people complain of feeling miserable, lacking in energy, being tired, having low spirits and feeling depressed.

Some also find their sleep is disturbed, they eat less or more than usual and they have no sex drive.

Symptoms usually start between September and November and almost always spontaneously disappear with the arrival of spring and the longer daylight hours.

Who's affected?
Up to one in 20 people is believed to be affected by SAD, with women three times more likely to be affected than men. Younger people, particularly those between the ages of 18 and 40, are more likely to suffer.

Because days get shorter the further north you go, SAD is more common in northern countries.

Worrying about work, relationships or money make SAD more likely.

What's the treatment?
Ensure exposure to plenty of daylight. Light boxes provide a regular dose of artificial light each day and help many people.

Counselling, exercising and spending time outdoors can help. Boost mood with rest, relaxation, regular exercise and a healthy diet.

Treatment with antidepressants or St John's wort may help to relieve symptoms.

The Focus Clinic's treatment of choice for Seasonal Affective Disorder is hypnotherapy combined with Emotional Freedom Technique. This type of treatment can help you identify negative thoughts and feelings which may be making your symptoms worse.

Apprenez à mieux apprécier la saison hivernale.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Do you have the feeling that your life is stagnating? Are you currently following a lengthy psychotherapy which does not seem to be making any difference? EFT - Emotional Freedom Technique - could be the right therapy for you.

EFT is part of energy psychology. Developed in 1995 by the American Gary Craig, EFT is often compared to acupuncture, but without the needles. As with acupuncture, EFT is based on the discovery by the Chinese of a complex system of energy circuits that run throughout the body. Eastern medicine and acupuncture, including acupressure, are based on these energy circuits (electrical) called meridians. This energy courses through the body and is invisible to the eye. One can however record the electrical activity of the brain using an electroencephalograph, (EEG), or record the electrical activity of the heart using an electrocardiograph, (ECG).

EFT is based on the idea that the cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body's energy system. By tapping gently with the fingertips at the end points of the body's energy meridians, EFT helps to resolve problems of a physical and emotional nature.

Description of an EFT session:

The first EFT session is no different from the other first sessions in hypnosis and EMDR. This first session is a good opportunity for the therapist and the patient to discuss the presenting symptom, and for the therapist to assess the right treatment for the patient. It is also an opportunity for the patient to discover the EFT technique in more detail, and to become familiar with the body's energy meridians (face, upper body, hands).

The EFT technique contains 5 phases; each phase may require more than one session depending on the patient and the presenting symptom.

Phase 1: the patient is asked by the therapist to express a specific problem that he has in mind, and assess the level of tension when thinking about that problem on a scale of 0 to 10, (0: low, 10: high).

Phase 2: preparation phase, where a statement is repeated 3 times whilst tapping on the body's energy  meridians, suggested by the practician, (normally one meridian).

Phase 3: the 'Sequence' phase, where the patient taps on guided body's energy meridians whilst repeating the statement given during the preparation phase.

Phase 4: the '9 Gamut procedure' phase. This phase consists of continuous tapping on the Gamut point, whilst performing each of the following 9 actions: (1) Eyes closed (2) Eyes open (3) Eyes hard down right (4) Eyes hard down left (5) Roll eyes in circle (6) Roll eyes in other direction (7) Hum 2 seconds of a song (8) Count to 5 (9) Hum 2 seconds of a song.

Phase 5: repeat phase 3

Those who use EFT for the very first time may find the technique quite unorthodox in comparison with more conventional psychotherapies. You will indeed be asked to perform a series of 'unusual' actions as mentioned above, which may sound rather strange for those who never experienced it before. EFT is very similar to acupuncture, in that it addresses the body's energy disruption by tapping on the meridians instead of using needles. The beauty of EFT is that it works beyond your beliefs. With EFT, you do not need to believe whether this treatment will work or not. All you need to do is concentrate on the problem that you wish to address so that the therapy can be effective.

The EFT technique can be used in various cases:

Physical problems: headaches, migraines, stomach and nervous problems, arthritic pain and general neuromuscular aches and pain, asthma, constipation.

Dependancy disorders: food related  disorders, alcoholism, various addictions, (cigarette, coffee, chocolate, sweets)

Emotional disorders: separation anxiety, anger, betrayal, PTSD, bereavement, guilt.

Habit disorders and phobias: fear of public speaking, nail biting, Obsessive Compulsive Disorders, (OCDs), arachnophobias, panic attacks.

The advantage of the EFT technique is that it can be integrated in other therapeutic techniques in the consulting room, and in some cases, used at home as a self-help  technique. Children and teenagers will find in EFT an entertaining and interactive way to get rid of their disorders (shyness, rejection, stress related disorders, fear of taking exams). EFT can be applied on children of any age.

Important note: while EFT has produced remarkable clinical results, it is still in the experimental stage. Although this technique can be used as a self-help technique, it may induce distressing 'ab-reactions' in some cases. The Focus Clinic therefore recommends that you discuss the self use of EFT with one of our therapists prior to any attempt to carry out EFT outside the consulting room.

You are also advised not to substitute your current medical treatment with EFT or any other technique used by The Focus Clinic. For further information, please contact us at the Focus Clinic.

Venez apprendre l'EFT à la clinique - vous en ressortirez conquis!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Dear readers - it is now time to test your memory.

Click here to start the test. The duration of this BBC test is about 20 minutes.

Excellent pour exercer votre mémoire!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

If you are a student or a professional suffering from memory problems, take a look at this video from Arthur Bornstein and test your memory afterwards. You might be nicely surprised!

Mon aide-mémoire préféré: associer des éléments personnels qui me sont chers à tout type de situations.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Here is another excellent video from John McGrail explaining the benefits of hypnosis and hypnotherapy in maladaptive behavioural patterns.

Je n'aurais pas pu faire mieux...

 Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

John McGrail, certified hypnotherapist based in Los Angeles, explains in this video the basics of hypnosis and hypnotherapy.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Le système limbique est un groupe de structures du cerveau jouant un rôle très important dans le comportement et en particulier, dans diverses émotions comme l'agressivité, la peur, le plaisir ainsi que la formation de la mémoire. Le système limbique influe sur le système endocrinien et le système nerveux autonome. (Source: Wikipedia)

Il consiste en plusieurs structures subcorticales situées autour du thalamus :

• hippocampe : impliqué dans la formation de la mémoire à long terme ;
• amygdale : impliquée dans l'agressivité et la peur ;
• circonvolution cingulaire ;
• fornix ;
• hypothalamus.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

"Il existe une maladie qui touche plus de 3 millions de personnes en France, une maladie qui peut vous empêcher de parler, de rire, de manger, de travailler, de dormir ou de vous lever le matin, une maladie qui peut vous empêcher de vivre." (Source: www.info-depression.fr/)

Cette maladie, c’est la dépression.

Pour visualiser le clip video, cliquer ici.

Pour mieux comprendre la dépression, connaître ses symptômes et ses traitements mais aussi savoir où et à qui s’adresser, cliquer sur ce lien ou sur celui-la.

Gardez courage et espoir - you can beat depression!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

"There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception" - Aldous Huxley

Can you read two words?

Ambiguous illusions are pictures or objects that generally present the viewer with a mental choice of two interpretations, each of which is valid. This one is known as a cognitive illusion. Cognitive illusions are assumed to arise by interaction with assumptions about the world, leading to "unconscious inferences" (source: The Eye's Mind).

The two words here are: good and evil

Fascinant, non?

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

A dream is an experience of a sequence of images, sounds, ideas, emotions, or other sensations usually during sleep, especially REM sleep.

The events of dreams are often impossible, or unlikely to occur, in physical reality: they are also outside the control of the dreamer. The exception to this is known as lucid dreaming, in which dreamers realise that they are dreaming, and are sometimes capable of changing their dream environment and controlling various aspects of the dream. The dream environment is often much more realistic in a lucid dream, and the senses heightened (source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Film director Michel Gondry explores the Science of Sleep in one of his last movies, precisely called 'The Science of Sleep', which features Gael Garcia Bernal and famous French actors & actresses such as Charlotte Gainsbourg, Miou-Miou and Alain Chabat.

Stephane Miroux (Gael Garcia Bernal) is an eccentric young man whose dreams constantly invade his waking life. While slumbering, he is the charismatic host of "Stephane TV," expounding on "The Science of Sleep" in front of cardboard cameras. In "real life," he has a boring job at a Parisian calendar publisher and pines for Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg), the girl in the apartment across the hall. While Stephanie is initially charmed by Stephane, she is confused by his childishness and shaky connection to reality. Stephanes co-worker, Guy (Alain Chabat), a vulgar but practical man, offers advice on the opposite sex, but Stephane is too far in the clouds to listen. Unable to find the secret to Stephanies heart while awake, Stephane searches for the answer in his dreams (source: www.film.com)

Faites de beaux rêves!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Here is an interesting article found on the BBC website (www.bbc.co.uk) that nicely summarises the Science of Sleep.

Is a life without sleep possible? Sleeplessness doesn't just result in tiredness; in extreme cases it can even be fatal. Preventing someone from going to sleep is a method of torture that is still used today. Nonetheless, volunteers taking part in experiments and attempts to break records have on occasion succeeded in staying awake for longer than a week.

Among the consequences of fatigue are impaired concentration, memory lapses, irritability and general malaise. Although intensive research has been carried out into its symptoms and effects, insufficient sleep is still the cause of numerous catastrophes and fatal accidents. We seem to find it increasingly difficult to judge our need for sleep correctly. Technology is used to try to minimise the risk posed by drivers who are inattentive or who nod off behind the wheel (source: www.wellcomecollection.org).

If you are - like me - interested in discovering more about the science of sleep, the 'Sleeping & Dreaming' exhibition at the Wellcome Collection Gallery in London should satisfy your 'soif de connaissance'! The new exhibition starts from 29 November until 9 March 2008.

For further information, please check the Wellcome Collection website here.

Bonne visite à tous!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

What can you see on the picture below?

Although the picture seems to be a random series of abstract black spots, it actually represents the picture of a dog drinking from a stream. The pixels of the original picture were removed, creating this perceptual optical illusion.

Such an illusion can be explained by the fact that we human beings tend to group things together based on how similar to each other they are. This is known as the Gestalt Principles of Grouping.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

I have recently come across an interesting article on the NHS Direct website about the correlation between obesity and infertility.

The full story is available here.

According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, infertility affects approximately 10% of people of reproductive age, and 15% of couples. There are a number of causes of infertility - female age, Tubal issues, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and Premature Ovarian Failure (POF), male factor issues - but thanks to the advances in fertility treatments nowadays, couples who are facing challenges to conceive can now hope to succeed.

Amongst these couples around 20 per cent of them will fall into the 'Unexplained causes' category. They are physically healthy and able to conceive, but they face fertility challenges. The BBC Health section provides with some useful advice for couples whose cause of infertility remains unknown.

Eat well: if you're a woman, a nutritious, balanced diet will help improve your general health and wellbeing, and ensure your body is able to nourish a baby. If you're a man, healthy eating is also important for sperm production. Choose a varied diet containing fresh fruit and vegetables, bread, potatoes, rice and other cereals (wholegrain, where possible), milk and dairy products, lean meat, fish and other sources of protein.

Watch your weight: being overweight or very underweight can disrupt your periods and hinder conception. A woman with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 29 or less than 19 may find it more difficult to conceive.

Drink wisely: the government advises women trying to conceive to avoid alcohol completely. Men shouldn't drink more than three or four units a day, and should avoid binge drinking to prevent damage to sperm.

Stop smoking: smoking has been linked to infertility and early menopause in women, and sperm problems in men. It also reduces the success of fertility treatments. Try our ways to quit.

Be active: regular moderate exercise (such as brisk walking) for at least 30 minutes a day will help to keep you fit for conception and help to control your weight. Exercise also reduces stress and boosts levels of endorphins, the body's own feel-good hormones.

Keep cool: for optimum sperm production, the testicles need to be a couple of degrees cooler than the rest of the body. Avoid tight underwear and jeans, and excessively hot baths and saunas.

Check drugs: certain prescription drugs can reduce the chance of conception. If you're taking regular medication, talk to your doctor. Marijuana and cocaine can also affect sperm counts.

Manage stress: excessive anxiety can sometimes upset the menstrual cycle. Try to reduce stress levels and give yourself time to relax.

The Focus Clinic can help you overcome the obstacles that prevent you from conceiving. For further information, please call us on 020 7467 8539 (main reception) or 07515550902 (Blackberry/mobile). You can alternatively email us to info@thefocusclinic.co.uk.

Gardez espoir!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

HAPPY HALLOWEEN to all our faithful readers! Here is a treat for you.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Here is another visual test to enjoy.

What did you see first? The face or the word? The face is processed by the right hemisphere of your brain whilst the word is processed by your left hemisphere.

N.B.: for those who could not see the word, it is 'liar'.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The following classic visual test is a fun way to understand the brain mechanisms from a sensory and perceptual angle. Starting from the top left hand side, say the name of the color of each word, not the word itself.

How did you find the test? Did you find it relatively easy or rather challenging?

The reason why a majority of us may find it hard to say the name of the color - one would be more likely to say the word itself - is because while the right hemisphere of your brain is processing the color, your left hemisphere is trying to process the word at the same time. This is this interference between both hemispheres that makes the experience relatively difficult.

A consommer sans moderation.

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

The Oxford dictionary of Psychology defines schizophrenia as 'a major mental disorder, formerly called dementia praecox', which affects around 1 in every 100 people.

Men and women are equally affected and the disorder seems to be more common in city areas and in some minority ethnic groups. It is rare before the age of 15, but can start at any time after this, most often between the ages of 15 and 35 (source: The Royal Colleage of Psychiatrists).

Stuart Baker-Brown, 43, a photographer and writer based in Dorset, England, was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1996. On the occasion of World Mental Health Day, he delivered a unique personal insight into how his condition has nurtured his artistic expression (source: www.schizophrenia.com).

To read the full story, please click here.

Bonne soirée à tous!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

World Mental Health Day has been celebrated annually on 10 October since 1992. Every year a different theme is set by the World Federation for World Mental Health Day. The theme for 2007 is 'Mental health in a changing world: the impact of culture and diversity'. (source: http://www.mind.org.uk)

Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced today that 'the government is to spend millions more on "talking treatments" for depression and anxiety in England. Johnson said by 2010, £170m a year would be spent - allowing 900,000 more people to be treated using psychological therapies (source: http://news.bbc.co.uk).

To read the full article, please click here.

For further information about Mental Health Day 2007, download the English version here or the French version there.

Bonne lecture!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

Has there ever been a time when people gave you a hard time about being too thin or losing too much weight? Have you ever weighed much less than people thought you should weigh? If YES - during the time you weighed less than others thought you should weigh, were you very afraid of gaining weight or becoming fat? Did your weight or the shape of your body have a big effect on your opinion of yourself?

If you answered YES to some of the questions above, you may be suffering from anorexia nervosa.

Anorexia Nervosa is one of the main eating disorders with Bulimia Nervosa. People with anorexia have extreme weight loss as a result of very strict dieting. Some people may also make themselves sick, abuse laxatives or do excessive exercise to try and lose weight. In spite of this extreme weight loss, people with anorexia believe they are fat and are terrified of becoming what is in fact a normal weight or shape. About four out of ten people with fully established anorexia make a full recovery, and others improve. Only about three in ten continue to have major long-term illness. Untreated, about 15 per cent of all sufferers will die from the disorder within 20 years of its onset (The Royal College of Psychiatrists, 'Changing Minds' campaign').

27 year-old French actress Isabelle Caro has been suffering from anorexia for 15 years. She recently appeared naked on billboards across Italy to raise awareness of the illness and combat the 'size zero' phenomenon on the catwalks. Here is one of her U.S interviews on CBS News Channel:

To access the video, please click here.

Anorexia Nervosa is a serious eating disorder that in most cases will require assistance of mental health specialists and dieticians. In addition to professional help sufferers may find the following recommendations from the Royal College of Psychiatrists useful:

Things to do

• Stick to regular mealtimes – breakfast, lunch and dinner. If your weight is very low, have morning, afternoon and night time snacks.
• Try to think of one small step you could take towards a healthier way of eating. If you can’t face eating breakfast, try sitting at the table for a few minutes at breakfast time and just drinking a glass of water. When you have got used to doing this, have just a little to eat, even half a slice of toast – but do it every day.
• Keep a diary of what you eat, when you eat it and what your thoughts and feelings have been every day. You can use this to see if there are connections between how you feel, what you are thinking about, and how you eat.
• Try to be honest about what you are or are not eating, both with yourself and with other people.
  Remind yourself that you don’t always have to be achieving things – let yourself off the hook sometimes.
• Remind yourself that, if you lose more weight, you will feel more anxious and depressed.
• Make two lists – one of what your eating disorder has given you, one of what you have lost through it. A self-help book can help you with this.
• Try to be kind to your body, don’t punish it.
• Make sure you know what a reasonable weight is for you, and that you understand why.
• Read stories of other people’s experiences of recovery. You can find these in self-help books or on the internet.
  Think about joining a self-help group. Your GP may be able to recommend one

Things NOT to do

• Don’t weigh yourself more than once a week.
• Don’t spend time checking your body and looking at yourself in the mirror. Nobody is perfect. The longer you look at yourself, the more likely you are to find something you don’t like. Constant checking can make the most attractive person unhappy with the way they look.
• Don’t cut yourself off from family and friends. You may want to because they think you are too thin, but they can be a lifeline.
• Avoid websites that encourage you to lose weight (e.g. Pro ana websites) and stay at a very low body weight. They encourage you to damage your health, but won’t do anything to help when you fall ill.

Bon courage et surtout gardez confiance et espoir!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

One of my patients recently expressed her concerns about her office work. Working for a big advertising agency Hannah's job as a Head of Digital Operations happened to be quite demanding, leaving her with a constant feeling of physical and mental tiredness. 'What I dread the most every single day is the usual morning alarm clock that reminds me that I have got to get up and get ready for work', she would mumble. 'I am so unhappy with my job', she would eventually say.

Hannah's feelings of unhappiness at work is not an isolated case. Statistics show that almost five millions Britons admit to 'a touch of ergophobia' (fear of work), resulting in employees taking sickness leave or being less productive at work.

Last month The Times Online (http://www.timesonline.co.uk) released an interesting article about unhappiness in the workplace. In her article, Carly Chynoweth - the journalist - suggested us different ways to make our workplace a happier place. Here they are:

1. Keep things in perspective. “Your work experience is a very big part of your life, but it’s not your whole life,” says Michael Chambers, the managing director of Bacs, the payment processing house. Remind yourself of the positive things in other parts of your life.

2. Recognise the possibility of happiness. “We very often fail to recognise the rich sources of pleasure and meaning that are right in front of us at work,” writes Tal Ben-Shahar in Happier (McGraw-Hill, £12.99). “To turn a possibility [for happiness] into a reality, we first need to realise that the possibility exists.”

3. Change your focus. If the daily grind is getting you down, look at the big picture and remind yourself why you took the job – for example, that you share your organisation’s goal of reducing poverty or that gaining experience at this firm will help you to land your dream job. On the flip side, if it’s the big picture that is getting you down – say, you feel that helping your company to get richer isn’t your goal in life – try concentrating on individual tasks that you can do well. Don’t underestimate the satisfaction that can be gained from getting little things done, whether that is finally clearing out your inbox or resolving an irritating administrative problem.

4. Surround yourself with happy people... even if that means making other people happy to do it, says Marc Woods, a motivational speaker. “People react well to you helping them, and being around happy people does rub off.” He also suggests finding a mentor who enjoys his or her job and can offer support dealing with your emotional state as well as with technical issues. And steer clear of moaners: just as positive people will help to keep your mood up, colleagues who spend their days complaining will inevitably bring you down.

5. Accept reality. Look for the opportunities that change will create rather than focusing entirely on the immediate negatives. “I had bone cancer and had a leg amputated at 17,” Woods says. “I could have said ‘woe is me’, but instead I sat down and thought ‘right, this how it is now, what can I do with it?’ (In his case that turned out to include winning four Paralympic gold medals).

6. Do the best you can. “If you know that you have done your job as well as you can, it can give you a sense of wellbeing even if things don’t work out quite as you’d hoped,” Woods says. “Take pride in doing your job well.”

7. Balance. Overwork and stress frequently lead to anxiety and unhappiness. Make sure that you have enough time to yourself for exercise, a social and family life and relaxation, Chambers says. Keeping a balance will also help out in those inevitable times when you are required to work longer or harder than usual.

8. Take a break. If everything is getting too much, get away from the environment that is making you unhappy, Chambers suggests. “Take a moment on your own to go for a walk or ask a colleague to come for a coffee. It will help you to calm down and get a sense of perspective.”

9. Take control. If something at work is making you unhappy, don’t wait for someone else to solve the problem – fix it yourself. “Take personal responsibility for things that don’t quite work or could be done better,” Woods says. “Managers like proactive people, so you could get a promotion, but at the very least it will improve your own job and help you to be happy.”

10. Be honest with yourself. Are you unhappy because you are in the wrong job? “Listen to your unhappiness,” Chambers says. “Can you resolve it in the current environment or is it a signal that it’s time to move on?” If you’ve done all you can to improve your mood and you’re still unhappy at work, it’s probably time to find something new. “Many [people]... are enslaved by their jobs, not because they have no choice, but because they have made a choice that made them unhappy,” Dr Ben-Shahar writes.

Any comments on the above, feel free to email me!

Stephanie - info@thefocusclinic.co.uk

When it comes to hypnotherapy, some people tend to reject this sort of therapy because they believe that they cannot be hypnotised. The truth is that although some people are more suggestible than others, everyone can go into trance and benefit from clinical hypnosis. It is the hypnotherapist's role to ensure that a strong therapeutic alliance is formed with the patient to alleviate resistance; it is also his role to define the patient's predominant modality. Is he more visual? Auditory? Kinesthetic?

Suggestibility tests are a way for the therapist to assess the suggestibility level of the subject. In my practice I always carry out such a test on the first session. Here is an audio version of The Garden deepener that can be used to evaluate a subject's suggestibility to hypnotherapy.

Please contact us if you would like to get the MP3 format to play on your iPod.