No one is born an alcoholic, or a smoker, and no one comes into this world suffering from panic attacks or with an emotional hang up with food. The fact is all of these negative actions have had to be painstakingly learned; eventually of course becoming habits just like the positive ones we learnt as children such as being able to recite the alphabet or tying our shoelaces.
The good news is that it is relatively simple to change habits, admittedly some more easily than others. A critical element is always the individual’s motivation and desire for it to happen, because a certain amount of energy is always required. People undertake to introduce change to their lives at different times and for many different reasons, some because they are scared, or lonely, others believe they have reached a crossroads in their life and feel it is inevitable, others just wake up one morning and decide that they want more from life. Sometimes just showing those people that change is possible is all that is necessary to turn their life around.
Habits are formed in the brain by the construction of neural-pathways:
An example of the benefit of change is in weight control, which is usually incorrectly treated by putting a person on a diet. Everyone knows that dieting only treats the symptoms of being overweight never the cause; it is impossible for dieting to ever eliminate a person’s subconscious need for excess food. An overweight person usually overeats because they have somehow learned the negative habit of eating to try and fill an emotional void, or to stave off boredom, rather than eating out of simple, physical hunger. A simple strategy of introducing change incorporating new eating habits, is often all that is required. The rapid and positive effect on the dieter, who has spent years incorrectly striving to control his or her weight by deprivation can be highly emotional.
The habit of smoking is exactly the same, in that it is a learned response, e.g. when the phone rings, a smoker wants to light a cigarette, regardless of whether he’s just put one out or not, it’s just another habit.
Showing people how to change from being sad to happy, negative to positive in their outlook on life and the sometimes-dramatic effect it can have, for example, on their immune system is now the subject of extensive medical research.
At a small, British run specialist clinic in Southern Spain, they are proving that these problems and many others can be permanently corrected by the careful and systematic introduction of bringing about change into peoples lives. There is nothing radically new in their thinking, but there may be in their approach. They have adopted their very own, highly successful, “triple therapy” treatment, which incorporates Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Hypnotherapy and NLP, and when used on those who really do want change the level of success has been staggering, resulting in clients flying to Spain from the UK exclusively for treatment.
When people see and understand, maybe for the first time, that any change in life is possible, and that it can be achieved relatively easily, it’s like opening Pandora’s box; all of a sudden life holds unlimited new and exciting prospects for the future. The Elite Clinic is located in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol; free information is available on their web site www.eliteclinics.com.
