HYPNOSIS FOR FERTILITY

There are two types of infertility, explained and unexplained.

Explained Infertility

– If you have explained infertility you may be working with your doctor, or other medical professionals. Using hypnotherapy whilst undergoing IVF treatment has been shown to increase the success statistics to over 50%!

Alongside medical help, such as IVF, we can aid relaxation at the important times and also use visualisation techniques to help the body do what it needs to do. When one visualises the brain sends out the same chemicals as it does when doing the actual task. This means that if you visualise something happening inside your body the brain will also release the same chemicals as if it were really happening.

If you are not yet at this stage we can still help you. Firstly to relax and feel happy again, secondly using exactly the same techniques as above to help you conceive naturally despite your medical condition.

Hypnosis is complementary to any medical procedure and often can lessen discomfort or support the medical protocol. For example, medical personnel may experience difficulty inserting the catheter during egg retrieval; yet hypnotic suggestion can easily resolve this issue. Studies show the positive influence of hypnotic suggestion on bodily functions such as blood pressure and heart rate, and hypnosis has been shown to impact the hypothalamus and influence the release of hormones.

Unexplained Infertility

– Unexplained infertility can be a cause of many things. Stress can dramatically affect fertility (described below). When in a state of hypnosis you cannot feel stressed. Your hypnotherapist can teach you techniques to remove stress helping you to feel calm and relaxed all of the time.

You may have some repressed emotions affecting your fertility; the brain may be preventing you from conceiving due to a previous experience. An example of this could be someone who, due to childhood experiences, does not believe that they will be a good parent.

Even if in the conscious mind they want a baby more than anything, there may be unconscious conflicts due to repressed emotion. Some regression work could help to release all of these feelings. Removing the conflict between the conscious and unconscious mind resulting in pregnancy.

Meeting your hypnotherapist for the first time will include an initial consultation. This will be an opportunity for you to ask all of your questions and for your hypnotherapist to find out a bit more about you. Together you can formulate a plan and decide the best way to work together. There are many different ‘tools’ that your hypnotherapist can use to help you get your life back on track and to conceive. We describe some below.

Relaxation for Fertility

– It can be as easy as some simple relaxation sessions and maybe a CD to listen to at home that can help to relax the body, taking it out of the flight or fight response and allowing the reproductive system to work at maximum efficiency. These sessions will be peaceful and enjoyable for you. They will give you some much desired ‘me time’ and you will begin to notice the effects immediately.

Regression for Fertility

– Regression can help to release any repressed emotions or memories that can be causing conflict between the conscious and unconscious mind.

Also known as Hypno-analysis we use regression to find the originating cause of a problem. Once the originating cause is found and the emotion released, the symptoms can permanently disappear. Your hypnotherapist will guide you in to the extremely relaxed state that is hypnosis and ask you to tell them whatever comes into your mind. By remembering one event after another your thoughts will eventually lead you back to incidents and emotions from your past.

There may be one specific incident that is causing your problem today or there may be cumulative trauma. Either way it is the release of emotion as a mature person, and the fitting of these incidents into the correct place, that allows your symptoms to disappear.

Hypno-analysis is a hugely specialised therapy so your therapist will guide you and look after you throughout. Your therapist has the experience to give you the best care in this sometimes vulnerable situation.

Talking Therapy for Fertility

– Infertility is one of the toughest things in life to encounter. You may feel very alone and that no one understands you. All around you people seem to be falling pregnant, some will cause upset by hiding it, others will cause upset by speaking about it. Many people in this situation feel they need to remain strong for their partner, so you may not talk about how you really feel. Having someone to come and speak to on a regular basis can just help with getting through each day.

Seeing a life outside of the infertility – Infertility can take over lives. When going through it one can sometimes forget about the rest of life. You may stop booking holidays in case you fall pregnant. Career changes are put on hold in case you fall pregnant. Visits to friends are put off in case you fall pregnant. Without doing these things life can become boring. By taking back control of your life and doing everything you would be doing with no thoughts of babies you can begin to feel happy again. Trying for a baby or having IVF can just run alongside a normal lifestyle. Your hypnotherapist can help you to see this.

Stress is the body’s way of responding to any type of demand. When people feel some sort of stress around them the brain reacts by sending some chemicals into the blood stream. The body goes into the fight or flight response.

The fight and flight response is a natural response that the brain uses to help us survive in dangerous situations. During this response our body begins to send all of its resources to the areas needed for fighting or fleeing (the arms and legs for example).

Whilst systems in the body that are not essential are shut down to allow the areas needed for fighting or fleeing to have the most input. The reproductive system is one of the areas needed the least for fighting or fleeing. It is therefore mostly shut down. When in a stressed state the body begins to put all of its eggs into one basket and that basket is not the reproductive system.

Many people dealing with infertility feel tired of being told to “just relax.” That is the equivalent of an insomniac being told to “just go to sleep.” You don’t have to relax to benefit from hypnosis, nor do you have to totally quiet your mind.

Your hypnotherapist will facilitate a calming environment for you, where you can access the rejuvenating properties of your parasympathetic nervous system. All you have to do is breathe.

We never expect anyone to choose between Hypnosis for fertility and anything else. There really isn’t a right or wrong way, all we are here to do is help you along the way. We are on your side, whatever you choose is right for you and we always support our client’s decisions.