Lisa Murphy Counselling & Hypnotherapy

Do Hypnotists Gain Control Over People’s Minds?

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When you see a hypnotist on the TV they seem to be able to get people to fall under their control within seconds.  Is this for real?’  Well… let me share a little secret of stage hypnotists… (Click on the pic to watch the video version of this blog post)   I get asked about this all the time.  So here’s my take on it: There are a small percentage of people who are extremely easy to hypnotise.  Part of a stage hypnotist’s preparation is to size up his audience and make sure he chooses the most suggestible subjects forContinue Reading

How can Counselling help strengthen your boundaries?

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One of the benefits of counselling is that it can help you recognise when certain relationships just aren’t right for you any more. Watch the video version of this blog here: Have you ever had to let go of a friendship, realising they weren’t such a great person to have in your life anymore? Sometimes we can have friends for many years, but as we grow and change, those friendships don’t ‘fit’ us as well as they used to. We notice things we didn’t notice before. What we might have put up with in the past, now feels increasingly uncomfortable.Continue Reading

Anxiety Course Online

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Are you suffering with anxiety?  Feeling stressed or irritated? Sometimes we need to take stock of life and make some changes so we can cope better. Those changes can be simple – but it’s often difficult to make the space for them. My free online course ‘Ditch The Stress’ is designed to help you let go of the overwhelming feelings, unravel the jumble of thoughts, and get you started on the track to better mental health. It’s a 5 day course, with short easy-to-action video modules. Also included is a relaxing MP3, so you can gift yourself some quality timeContinue Reading

Anger Management and the Child Punishment Law

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This week physical punishment of children became illegal in Wales.  What do you think about that?  Are you surprised it isn’t already a thing?  Or are you from the ‘school of hard knocks’ thinking that a clip around the ear every once in a while never did you any harm? Click below for the video version of this blog Perhaps for many of us, the odd smack didn’t cause any long-term effects.  But for a lot of my anger management clients, the physical violence they went through, or witnessed,  during childhood was damaging in many ways. However, if they mentionContinue Reading

How to get rid of intrusive thoughts in 3 easy steps

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Do you struggle with intrusive, anxious, or negative thoughts?  Let me explain a great little NLP technique to show you how to get rid of them. The problem with intrusive thoughts is that it’s really hard to just ‘stop thinking’ them.  It’s like if I said to you ‘don’t think of a pink elephant standing in the corner of the room’ – then that elephant would probably pop right into your head and refuse to budge. So rather than just trying hard to get rid of unwanted thoughts, a much better strategy is to use your creativity to mess aboutContinue Reading

How to get over a breakup – 7 ways to get over an ex

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These past couple of years have proved to be very challenging for couples.  Lately I’m finding that I’m providing relationship counselling for more and more people who just can’t work out how to get over a breakup.  Whether it finished in a positive or negative way, it can often leave them with feelings of heartbreak, loneliness, and sadness. If you’re struggling to get over a breakup, here are some tips to help you let go of the sadness and get back to your old self again. Prefer an audio version of this blog?  Click on the video below. 7 waysContinue Reading

How to communicate better with your partner

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Are you and your partner having troubles in your relationship?  Are you having disagreements, or finding it hard to see eye to eye? When we ignore those trivial misunderstandings and little problems, they can fester inside and grow into burning resentments that often explode out during arguments, and it’s not pleasant for either of you. Here’s a simple exercise that will give you the chance to speak and be heard, help you to listen to one another, and to communicate more effectively. Couples Communication Exercise Put aside all distractions.  Turn off your phones, make sure any children or pets areContinue Reading

Anxiety – are you asking yourself the wrong question?

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People who struggle with anxiety can often ask themselves the question: ‘Why?’ They get bogged down in examining WHY they might be feeling anxious… Click below to view the video version of this blog: …But unfortunately, that ‘why’ question can lead them ever deeper into a maze of anxious thoughts: ‘Why? It’s because of that bad experience I had all those years ago’ ‘It’s because my parents did xyz’ ‘It’s because my work colleagues hate me’ Etc. And guess what these thoughts do? Make us conjure up bad memories or negative thoughts. Yes, it’s useful to explore the origins ofContinue Reading

Are your childhood beliefs holding you back?

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I have a friend who, until he was about 16, genuinely believed his Dad wrote ‘Help’ by The Beatles. Turns out, his Dad just liked kidding around. As children, we tend to believe without question the things the grown-ups around us say.  But what if those things aren’t so light-hearted? For some people, they were told very damaging things as they grew up, by the people who should have been protecting and nurturing them.  Things that basically translated as: ‘You’re not good enough’ ‘You’re not allowed’ ‘You don’t deserve love’ ‘You shouldn’t speak up’ And these beliefs can haunt themContinue Reading

Getting angry online? Here’s a tip.

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Do you ever find yourself getting angry or annoyed at something you’ve read online? If you’re tempted to fire off an irate reply – STOP! (For the video version of this blog, click ‘play’ on the image below) Wait before you hit that reply button. By all means write your reply – get out all the things you need to say, then –and this is important! – don’t send it. Take a step back, breathe, go and have a cup of tea, stretch, go outside, anything to change state.  Even sleep on it if possible. Then when you feel calmer,Continue Reading