How to keep those New Year's Resolutions...

The following article has been published in National and Local publications.

Andy Garland is a Registered Psychotherapist and Lecturer at Cardiff University.  He discusses how best to plan ahead and approach your New Year's resolutions like a military operation!

He said, ‘The key to success in choosing a resolution and most importantly sticking to it, is that you’re doing it for your benefit first.  If others’ also profit from your resolution, then that’s great – just be a little self-indulgent when you choose yours.’

January is a busy time at Andy’s Cardiff practice, and has seen a trend develop over the years’.  ‘I can almost predict that emails and phone calls will start-up around 1st January with enquiries about stopping smoking, weight loss, motivation to exercise and a host of other phobias and fears that New Year ‘resolutes’ want to work on.’  

So is there a magic technique that will get us to use the membership at the gym that we’ve been paying for, and not using each month?  We asked Andy:

‘No magic wand is required to find and maintain your motivation, just a dash of focus and a pinch of self-belief!

Change in routine or creating a more positive and productive life can often be challenged by resistance.  Resistance is just a thought and we have the ability and choice to change our thoughts.  Consider this; our thoughts come first, this is then followed by the way we feel, and then we act on these feelings. 

An example would be; you get out of bed in the morning and you stub your toe on the bathroom door.  Your immediate thought can be either ‘OUCH’ and then you get on with your day, or ‘I can’t believe this has happened to me, I’ve gotten out of the wrong side of the bed today’.  The latter can set in motion more opportunities for you to prove your initial thought, and your day will be full of little disasters.

Basically we will manifest what we think about – our thoughts become things.’

‘This is a very exciting concept because if we focus on what we want, there’s more of a chance that we’ll get more of it.  And we all like more, especially when it’s good!’

Doctor Wayne Dyer, Psychologist and international best selling author tells us, ‘When we change the way we look at things, the way we look at things change.’  A clever play on words maybe, though it is a concept that can truly change your approach and success in life, Andy tells us.

Andy shares with us his top 5 Principles to Succeed in keeping those New Year resolutions…

1.    Make it simple – don’t complicate your goals.  If you simplify what you want to achieve, you’ll be more likely to stick to your goals and find success.

2.    Be self-indulgent – start with what it is that you want to achieve.  For example; a partner has told you that you need to lose weight, first of all your resolution may want to be, get rid of partner! Though seriously, the motivation needs to start with you.  Think the change that you want to see in your life.

3.    Keep it real – if your expectations are that you’ll stop smoking, lose 2 stone in weight and commit to 3 sessions at the gym each week, you’ll overload yourself.  Keeping it real can ensure your focus doesn’t become diluted and you’re more likely to be a success.

4.    Tell everyone you know – okay this may be a controversial one, though you can find motivation to accomplish your resolutions by telling friends, family and colleagues.  They can become your own personal life coaches and keep you on track.

5.    Enjoy life – life is about experiences.  Allow yourself a reward occasionally; this will motivate you further and maintain your enjoyment of life.  It has to be fun.

We asked Andy what words of wisdom he would give to all of you planning New Year resolutions, ‘It’s simple, YOU CAN DO IT.’

Andy Garland is based at his private practice on Cathedral Road in Cardiff.  He can be contacted on 0800 612 2878 or visit his website www.andygarland.co.uk.

Overweight teacher loses 8 STONE after being hypnotised into believing she had a gastric band.

An overweight primary school teacher has lost almost eight stone after she was hypnotised into believing doctors had fitted her with a gastric band.

Kim Robinshaw, 31, whose weight had spiralled to 21 stone was sent into a trance by a slimming expert after other dieting attempts failed to work.
When she woke up Kim believed she had undergone surgery to have the band fitted and she started shedding the pounds.

She dropped from a size 24 to a svelte 14-16 in nine months due to her ‘virtual gastric band'.

Kim, of Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire, said: ‘I think the results are incredible, I've still got a bit more weight to lose, but I just can't get over it.

‘I didn't tell anyone at first about the hypnotherapy. My mum and dad were supportive, so they were the only ones that knew. I didn't want to say it was going to work.

‘Had I been able to afford a real band I may have thought about it, but really I didn't want more surgery so this was another option. I was willing to try anything.

‘It was coming up to Christmas that colleagues at work started to notice and I started to tell people and I think about ten of them have already booked to see him.

‘I wasn't big enough to get one on the NHS, which made me think - am I meant to get bigger?

'I thought it's only what you'd pay to go to Weight Watchers but upfront but it's given me the will power, it's changed my life completely'

She booked herself an appointment with gastric band therapist in October last year at a cost of £375.

Kim had struggled with her figure since having an over-active thyroid gland removed as a teenager.

Andy Garland is a lecturer at Cardiff University, and this term invited author and NLP expert Ellen Bothwick to be a guest speaker on his Introduction to NLP course.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) at its basic level can help you communicate more effectively, help you think differently and boost your self-confidence. This is a popular course, which is offered at two levels; NLP the Next Steps is available for all students who have completed the introduction level.

Ellen Bothwick was invited along to speak to Andy’s class about her book Ostracised, and how she used NLP to overcome extreme adversity in her life. The students were given the opportunity to ask Ellen questions about her life and her work with NLP. Ellen commented, “What an opportunity it was to be asked to speak at the University and to such a welcoming group of people.”

After the success of the evening Ellen has been offered an open invitation to return to guest speak on future NLP courses with Andy Garland.

Depression therapy - what is it?

The terms psychological treatments and psychotherapy (sometimes shortened to therapy) cover a wide range of talking treatments.

Who benefits from psychological treatment?

Anybody can benefit from psychological work. Social class, age, gender, education level or ethnic grouping should not affect the outcome of psychological treatment.

However, people's cultural experiences will affect their expectations and attitudes to psychological treatment and the role of a therapist.

People who are more severely ill may require medication before they can be helped by psychological treatments. Other people may prefer to take medication rather than engage in a psychological approach.

How do I know that therapy is right for me?

There's no guarantee that you will benefit from a particular therapy.

Before opting for psychological treatment, there are some considerations you need to be aware of:

• therapy is not usually rapid in its effects, and you need to know that it will be challenging
• you need to have a strong desire to find out more about yourself and to see the therapy through
• sometimes you will need to face difficult aspects of yourself, which may include hostile feelings about your therapist
• therapy can result in changes in the nature of your relationships with other people.

Beyond these, the nature of each psychological treatment may appeal to or suit one individual more than another. In addition, some kinds of problems may be better treated by one form of therapy than another.

What are the aims of psychological treatment?

Like any treatment, the hope is to reduce symptoms, improve wellbeing and restore or improve functioning.

Among those who have had psychiatric illnesses, there is also the hope that the risk of recurrence of illness will be reduced.

Gastric Band Hypnotherapy with Andy Garland at his private clinical practice in Cardiff.

Would you love to have ALL the benefits of a gastric band without ANY of the risks involved with the major surgery, nor the huge financial burden?

People are choosing Clinical Hypnotherapy for their gastric band which is superior to the surgical gastric band. Andy Garland's unique Gastric Band Hypnotherapy system also addresses your lifestyle, eating habits and the root cause of your overeating, raising the probability of long term success and a healthy body AND self-esteem.

Watch the video below where Lorraine Kelly and Dr. Hilary Jones interviews a lady who has had hypnotherapy for gastric banding.

Hypnotised into losing weight.  Publicity in the last few years about traditional gastric band surgery for weight loss has quadrupled, and people have paid up to £7000 and upwards for this invasive and dangerous procedure. Hypnotherapy for gastric bands is a proven and valid alternative.

Gastric Band hypnosis uses hypnotherapy to retrain your mind and convince your mind that you have had a gastric band fitted. This will lead you to feeling full much quicker and stop you from over eating just like a surgical gastric band would.

Hypnotherapy for gastric band is currently the most effective and safest weight loss treatment available today.

Andy Garland's system is a market leader in the Virtual Gastric Band Hypnotherapy
and Gastric Band Hypnosis field. It is sometimes referred to as Virtual Gastric Band Surgery and Gastric Hypno Band.  The therapy not only offers you Virtual Gastric Band Hypnotherapy, but also offers you a new technique which includes food education, as well as other services to help you achieve weight loss.

Hypnotherapy for gastric band is currently being used in the UK and Europe to help thousands of people to regain control of food in a safe and natural way.

It does not matter if you feel you have no confidence to lose weight or you have no will power or you have failed to lose weight.

Andy Garland can help you to have a slimmer figure by using various hypnotherapy methods including Virtual Gastric Band Hypnosis and Virtual Gastric Band Hypnotherapy.

Contact Andy Garland today to find out how Clinical Hypnotherapy can help you lose weight.

Free Phone: 0800 612 2878 or Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it