If you have not visited this site before, my name is Patrick Lilley and I am a Cognitive Hypnotherapist based in Paddington in central London very near Paddington station. I work as a hypnotherapist with a wide range of clients including those suffering from bruxism and jaw grinding.
It is always a pleasure to be able to assist clients using hypnotherapy for whom a habit or an unwanted behaviour is causing unhappiness as bruxism does.
It is doubly true if that behaviour is both unconscious and causing pain.
Jaw grinding and teeth clenching can have quite unpleasant consequences including the breaking of teeth, over development of jaw muscles and ongoing pain, stress and discomfort. The causes of this are not always obvious but can frequently be connected with a stressful event or on gooing build up of stress but sometimes there is no obvious trigger. A quote from a recent BBC newstory (linked below) states “We know that stress is involved in the process but there can be other factors. When we take histories from people they will often describe an increase in stress levels that have accompanied the onset.”
The symptoms can create their own viscious cycle of stress, more unwanted grinding and clenching and then more stress. I am pleased to have helped clients whose medical medical practitioners have been unable to help other than prescribe a pharmaceutical approach or tooth guards to wear at night that can cost up for several hundred pounds. I am pleased when clients get the freedom to relaxation and and this can lead to no longer need uncomfortable jaw guards to prevent further damage to teeth.
So I thought it would be helpful to present some articles and research on this subject as I offer sufferers some hope that hypnotherapy can help affect both the conscious and unconscious behaviours and change this troubling habit for the better.
The Daily Mail newspaper dedicated a large article to this topic not so long ago: read more by clicking here.
This (click here) BBC news report details a vast increase in tooth and jaw grinding. I think its great that they are covering this but wish they would not add a judgemental comment sometimes when discussing hypnosis. Read more about bruxism here and how “even hypnosis” can be used to relieve symptons. Further down this page I discuss how hypnotherapy can be used for more than sympton relief.
And the last link here is a further meta study on the use of hypnosis and hypnotherapy for the management of chronic pain. “ The results suggest that hypnosis is efficacious for managing chronic pain.”
A key aspect of my work with clients is to suggest through a number of hypnotherapy sessions and stages toward the goal of relief from the problem (pain/unwanted behaviour) to tackle the root cause of a problem.
I do this by asking the client – either consciously or unconsciously in a light trance – if there is or was a positive intention behind a pain or an unwanted behaviour? If there is a positive intention I will go on to ask the conscious or unconscious to find at least 4 alternative behaviours to meet that positive intention BETTER than the unwanted behaviour that are consistent with the clients personality, health and the ecological well being.
You might be amazed what a successful change mechanism this technique can start. As well being relaxining and calminng hypnotherapy and NLP can break the pattern of stress so that this issue is tackled on a number of levels.
There may be new learnings to be made, new behaviours to try out but on the whole as clients learn first to relax in the treatment session they can take these skills with them into the lives. Learning how to embrace the body and minds unconscious signals to relax appropriately (especially when sleeping) to allow the unwanted habit to be unnecessary as new and healthy habits replace the old unwanted one. But benefiting from a dialogue with ones unconscious to find alternatives to an unwanted behaviour is a great way to effect change.
If you would like to arrange a free 15 min phone or skype consultation and to receive a free pre-session questionnaire to help guide you to some well formed goals and relief from your bruxism, jaw grinding and teeth clenching using hypnotherapy. As I have said I am in London please call me or text 07931 424 905 or use the contact me form on this site adding a few words about your goal or problem and your name.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Patrick Lilley
