Treating Insomnia Improved my Health

Sylvia Wood, 39, Filmmaker

Throughout my life I have always had problems with sleeping. My family used to tease me about my sleepwalking and sleep-talking and I was always the ‘night owl’ of the family. As I got older my insomnia and bad sleep patterns really started to take a toll on my health, my work, and my poor family! (I am married with two children under 5).

When I heard about Alix’s success in treating insomnia, I thought I’d give it a go as it was different from anything else I had tried (and I have tried almost everything!). She promised to get to the ‘core’ of the problem instead of treating the symptoms.

The treatment was a revelation. I always thought I knew what made me ‘neurotic’ and caused my problems getting to sleep: I spent most of my nights worrying about everyone and everything – and although I knew I should be better at ‘turning off’ these thoughts so I could sleep properly, I never questioned the real reason behind my pattern of thinking.

Alix was able to bring the surface a very early memory of being upset when I was separated from my twin brother and put into my own bedroom. I wasn’t afraid for myself, but for him – soon after we separated, he started wetting the bed soon and used to get in real trouble for it. I can remember feeling so sorry for him, and now I realize that I also felt incredibly guilty – that he may have been ok if I had just stayed in the same bedroom as him.

After just one session, I have finally been given permission to sleep. Alix made me realise that I didn’t need to be afraid of going to sleep any more and that everyone and everything would be ok. She ‘reprogrammed’ the thoughts I had formed when I was very young.

This has been the best treatment for insomnia I’ve ever had, by far. It worked and I actually look forward to going to bed now.

Alix’s notes about this case:

Insomnia is a common complaint with many of my clients who suffer stress, anxiety or depression. Disturbed sleep patterns often occur when there are important decisions to be made or a person feels out of control with some aspect of their lives. Poor sleep is often one of many symptoms that the client may be experiencing.

In this session I used hypnotherapy to find out the root cause of the problem that was causing the sleepless nights.  Using techniques such as emotional freedom, I work with the client to resolve their emotional issues that are impacting on their sleep patterns. I also used creative visualisation to help the client experience greater feelings of relaxation and bring about a marked improvement in the sleep disorder. The effect of such a combination of treatments is that the sleep pattern is improved immediately.  In this case, only one session was needed but typically up to three sessions may be required.