Obsessions are useless thoughts which keep coming into consciousness, and compulsions are actions that a person feels they must carry out. Many people have slight obsessive-compulsiveness sometimes, but in real cases, the signs are strong and unmistakable. The thought may be a doubt, say, that the gas has been left on. Some people will return home to check the gas, not once, but many times.

Rituals can appear – like frequent hand-washing. Some self-mutilating compulsions may manifest, such as hair-pulling. Compulsive collecting can be so resolute that the person’s home might become absolutely packed with unnecessary items. In an effort to keep the powerful thoughts at bay, they may resort to counting objects around – a left-brain activity that overrides the right-brain anxiety.

Of course for somebody having an OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), life may become dominated by their fixations. Paradoxically, usually the individual has full realisation that the thoughts and behaviours are quite irrational – yet is unable to remove them. OCD-ers are often intelligent, but can be rather isolated because of the anti-social nature of their issues. A not-unexpected depression may follow.

Bulimia Nervosa (gorging, then vomiting) is seen by some therapists as an OCD. In hypnotherapy, an angry childish sub-personality (a part that was traumatized and remains stuck in time at that age) often seems to be present. The procedure in that case is to process and re-integrate that part, then deal with the long held habit, using suggestion.

A new experimental technique pioneered by this author utilises the fact that brain-scans of persons reliving OCD episodes reveal four specific areas in the brain that are involved. It is as if, at each of them, a gate is left open – so the same message keeps entering. In hypnosis, the client’s unconscious mind is instructed to dampen activity after a message is let through at each place.

The strong energy behind OCDs is anxiety – a drive that is wasted on useless repetitions. If the energy can be harnessed and redirected, the client maybe able to utilise it so as to soar to great heights of success!

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We offer treatment for obsessions / compulsions (OCDs) in Egham, Surrey, London, etc.