In the news December 2010

A new system of weight loss that harnesses the power of mind over matter is available in Newark.

Mark Sheppard, of The Complementary Therapy Centre, offers the Virtual Gastric Band technique, using hypnosis to retrain mind and body to accept less food.

Says Mark: “By using hypnosis and guided visualisation you can trick the brain into thinking you have had a gastric band operation.

“This works in the same way as the surgical procedure — by allowing your stomach to feel full earlier and to stop you feeling hungry.”

Mark, who with his wife, Julia, has opened the therapy centre in Southchurch House, just off the Market Place, says the benefits — apart from the obvious one of not having surgery — mean there is no need for follow-up procedures to tighten or loosen the band, because the technique should be long-lasting.

“If you follow the rules you will lose weight,” says Mark, who includes a personalised CD for each client to listen to after the Virtual Gastric Band session.

Mark and Julia, who moved their business to Newark from their home in Retford, both have scientific backgrounds and met at university.

Julia specialises in Swedish massage, Indian head massage, hot stone massage and reflexology — a treatment aimed at relaxing the body through the stimulation of specific points on the feet or hands.

Says Julia: “Reflexology is a good detox treatment. It can help with problems such as headaches, migraine and constipation.

“The massage are ideal for de-stressing and for releasing muscle tension.

“One of the most relaxing is the hot-stone massage.”

Other treatments offered include Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) based on acupuncture without the needles, which is aimed at balancing emotions with mind and body, and reiki healing.

Mark, who gave me a reiki treatment, explained: “There are channels of energy running through the body.

“This energy is the universal life force, or chi.

“The universal life force is channelled through the reiki healer. It can restore the natural flow of energy in the client, allowing the body to self-heal.”

The treatment involved Mark laying his hands on several of my energy centres, such as the top of my head, neck and feet.

The sensation was mainly one of heat and, on one knee, I felt a distinct movement, just as though energy was coursing through my joint.

Reiki is recommended to treat conditions such as arthritis, and to aid relaxation.

Says Mark: “We don’t give any treatment we don’t believe in.”

There is 20% off treatments at the centre until January 31. For further information visit www.thecomplementarytherapycentre.co.uk

Politics Over Evidence in Drug Legislation

Government try to remove the legal requirement for scientific evidence from drug legislation. 

The Drug Equality Alliance have announced that the Government intends to remove the legal requirement for scientists to be on the Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs. If passed, the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill would effectively by-pass the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), the government's own advisory body.

According to The Drug Equality Alliance “This would allow the government free reign to control various drug users, without the need for the statutory consultation process nor any of the required scientific expertise being present on the council”.

The Drug Equality Alliance is a not for profit organisation, set up after the sacking of the former chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs professor David Nutt for publicly disagreeing with the then Home Secretary Alan Johnson over the reclassification of cannabis and the subsequent resignations of most of the former scientists on the council.

If the Bill is passed it will undo the core ethos of the legislation that sought to bring expert evidence to the heart of the drug user classification system and is seen by many as a way of the government silencing critics who want to use evidence, rather than tabloid hysteria, to fulfil the need to be seen to be doing something simply for political gain. Another danger of this bill is that once scientific and other evidence based input is withdrawn from the legislation process it is likely never be restored and subsequent governments will be free to act impulsively driven by political moral panic.

As a clinical hypnotherapist based in Newark near Nottingham, I see dozens of clients each year who seek help with the side effects of long-term drug misuse (both legal and illegal) and without doubt the two drugs that cause the most problems are alcohol and tobacco, both of which are legal. It's blatantly obvious that drugs are here and that millions of people are using them, so surely it's equally obvious that in order to be effective, any legislation should be based on sound scientific and social evidence rather than political point scoring.

In the end it comes down to this – every year hundreds of people will die through the use of drugs they considered safe because they are legal and thousands more will be made criminals for using relatively harmless drugs that are illegal, not because of legislation based on scientific fact but on the personal and political views of whatever minister happens to be in power. 

If you would like information about how hypnotherapy can help with the side effects of long-term drug use, including alcohol and tobacco addiction, click here for my contact form or call 07825 654377.