am Ashcroft from Ballaugh for story Lottie is doing on using NLP,EFT and other psychological methods of weight loss.
ONE Ballaugh woman has given up a career in the finance industry to dedicate her time to helping others with their emotional torments.
Pam Ashcroft spent 27 years working in IT before packing it in last December to become a practitioner of hypnotherapy, neurolinguistic programming (NLP) and emotional freedom technique (EFT).
These are all proven techniques for dealing with psychological issues including anxiety, depression and phobias. EFT has been particularly successful with soldiers suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
One area in which she has found the methods particularly successful is helping clients to lose weight – and now she has set up a new innovative group for people battling with weight issues.
‘Weight is never about food,’ she said. ‘It’s always about emotions. People with weight issues are always feeding something, an emotional hunger, not a physical hunger. They can experience instant cravings or a build up of anxiety which leads to food. So many people turn to food when coping with emotions.’
NLP is the study of how our thoughts can affect our body and vice versa. And EFT is all about getting rid of stuck emotions which are causing mental or physical pain by tapping on the same Meridian points used in acupuncture.
Pam said: ‘Things from childhood get stuck or traumas like a car crash - things which cause emotional or physical pain. The theory is that by tapping with your hand you release energy and therefore stuck emotions and stresses. You tap away at the issues that are holding you back.
‘In my years of seeing people, tapping has been the most successful. It works magic. Yes, it sounds stupid and you feel stupid doing it but the results are phenomenal.’
She explained: ‘Many people who are overweight have developed mental connections between certain foods and feeling happy. Maybe they were given a treat as a child to cheer them up after something bad happened. many people return to that method of feeling better in adulthood. We tap away to break those connections.
‘Emotions and connections can come from the simplest of things like a comment made years ago. In fact I’ve found that there are a lot of people who realise their eating issues are related to something their grandparents’ said about food either once or regularly because they came from a post-war time when there was a lack of food.’
Instead of dieting, Pam’s new weightloss group will look at the emotional reasons members have turned to food, create a timeline featuring a history of life events – like divorce, a death or becoming a parent – which have affected weight, learn how to beat cravings and generally change the relationships they have with food.
‘I want it to be a small group,’ said Pam. ‘Sometimes stuff comes up with tapping that you don’t want a lot of people to know about. And although they don’t have to tell the group what they are feeling, it will allow me to be able to give each person the attention they need to address the emotions surfacing. A lot of issues can come up from childhood.’
She explained: ‘Everything we do serves a purpose to keep us safe or make us happy. For some people getting rid of the weight might mean they get more attention which they can’t handle because of something that happened to them.
‘We will look at what kind of feelings we are trying to generate by eating. What feelings like guilt, grief or fear are we trying to cover up? And as the course goes on, we will monitor our progress. For instance, members started with all these strong feelings that were 10 out of 10 but now they are down to a six or seven.’
She added: ‘Once we feel happy and motivated we are in a better position to do what we need to do. It’s really hard to do anything when you’re in a place where you feel stuck. We will explore how people feel when they look in the mirror. I want to make them feel good when they see themselves.
‘One lady I was seeing wasn’t getting rid of her weight but she said “I’m not bothered anymore, I feel so content having let go of all that emotional stuff I don’t care about my weight anymore”. She wasn’t that overweight anyway.’
Pam will be explaining to the group why 95 per cent of diets don’t work but actually make people fatter.
She said: ‘Scientists doing studies on obesity asked for some fat [longtails] but they don’t exist. So they got some and decided to over feed them. But it didn’t work because they stopped eating when they were full. So they starved them for a while and as they re-introduced food they ate and ate and all put on the weight again plus more. And when they repeated the process the [longails] put even more weight on.
‘The body has a set point and by starving it the set point is changed. Our body is constantly trying to find a balance and it simply isn’t normal to lose two stone in two months.’
The group will also receive advice from a nutritionist as well as a personalised eating plan.
Pam, 51, lives with partner Ceri, their 14-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son, and border collies Muffin and Snoopy.
One to one sessions normally take place in her home but she can visit people when necessary.
Each weight loss group will meet above Pure Inspirations on the quay for seven weekly two-three hour sessions. For more information and prices contact Pam on 467706 or hypno@manx.net Or visit www.pamashcroft.com
Pam said: ‘The business is going really well. I used to get up in the morning for about five years and think “Oh God I’ve got to go to work again” and I don’t have that feeling at all now.
‘It’s amazing because people might come to me in bits and they leave feeling a lot better. And to be able to help them out of the hell they are in is fantastic.’
ONE Ballaugh woman has given up a career in the finance industry to dedicate her time to helping others with their emotional torments.
Pam Ashcroft spent 27 years working in IT before packing it in last December to become a practitioner of hypnotherapy, neurolinguistic programming (NLP) and emotional freedom technique (EFT).
These are all proven techniques for dealing with psychological issues including anxiety, depression and phobias. EFT has been particularly successful with soldiers suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
One area in which she has found the methods particularly successful is helping clients to lose weight – and now she has set up a new innovative group for people battling with weight issues.
‘Weight is never about food,’ she said. ‘It’s always about emotions. People with weight issues are always feeding something, an emotional hunger, not a physical hunger. They can experience instant cravings or a build up of anxiety which leads to food. So many people turn to food when coping with emotions.’
NLP is the study of how our thoughts can affect our body and vice versa. And EFT is all about getting rid of stuck emotions which are causing mental or physical pain by tapping on the same Meridian points used in acupuncture.
Pam said: ‘Things from childhood get stuck or traumas like a car crash - things which cause emotional or physical pain. The theory is that by tapping with your hand you release energy and therefore stuck emotions and stresses. You tap away at the issues that are holding you back.
‘In my years of seeing people, tapping has been the most successful. It works magic. Yes, it sounds stupid and you feel stupid doing it but the results are phenomenal.’
She explained: ‘Many people who are overweight have developed mental connections between certain foods and feeling happy. Maybe they were given a treat as a child to cheer them up after something bad happened. many people return to that method of feeling better in adulthood. We tap away to break those connections.
‘Emotions and connections can come from the simplest of things like a comment made years ago. In fact I’ve found that there are a lot of people who realise their eating issues are related to something their grandparents’ said about food either once or regularly because they came from a post-war time when there was a lack of food.’
Instead of dieting, Pam’s new weightloss group will look at the emotional reasons members have turned to food, create a timeline featuring a history of life events – like divorce, a death or becoming a parent – which have affected weight, learn how to beat cravings and generally change the relationships they have with food.
‘I want it to be a small group,’ said Pam. ‘Sometimes stuff comes up with tapping that you don’t want a lot of people to know about. And although they don’t have to tell the group what they are feeling, it will allow me to be able to give each person the attention they need to address the emotions surfacing. A lot of issues can come up from childhood.’
She explained: ‘Everything we do serves a purpose to keep us safe or make us happy. For some people getting rid of the weight might mean they get more attention which they can’t handle because of something that happened to them.
‘We will look at what kind of feelings we are trying to generate by eating. What feelings like guilt, grief or fear are we trying to cover up? And as the course goes on, we will monitor our progress. For instance, members started with all these strong feelings that were 10 out of 10 but now they are down to a six or seven.’
She added: ‘Once we feel happy and motivated we are in a better position to do what we need to do. It’s really hard to do anything when you’re in a place where you feel stuck. We will explore how people feel when they look in the mirror. I want to make them feel good when they see themselves.
‘One lady I was seeing wasn’t getting rid of her weight but she said “I’m not bothered anymore, I feel so content having let go of all that emotional stuff I don’t care about my weight anymore”. She wasn’t that overweight anyway.’
Pam will be explaining to the group why 95 per cent of diets don’t work but actually make people fatter.
She said: ‘Scientists doing studies on obesity asked for some fat [longtails] but they don’t exist. So they got some and decided to over feed them. But it didn’t work because they stopped eating when they were full. So they starved them for a while and as they re-introduced food they ate and ate and all put on the weight again plus more. And when they repeated the process the [longails] put even more weight on.
‘The body has a set point and by starving it the set point is changed. Our body is constantly trying to find a balance and it simply isn’t normal to lose two stone in two months.’
The group will also receive advice from a nutritionist as well as a personalised eating plan.
Pam, 51, lives with partner Ceri, their 14-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son, and border collies Muffin and Snoopy.
One to one sessions normally take place in her home but she can visit people when necessary.
Each weight loss group will meet above Pure Inspirations on the quay for seven weekly two-three hour sessions. For more information and prices contact Pam on 467706 or hypno@manx.net Or visit www.pamashcroft.com
Pam said: ‘The business is going really well. I used to get up in the morning for about five years and think “Oh God I’ve got to go to work again” and I don’t have that feeling at all now.
‘It’s amazing because people might come to me in bits and they leave feeling a lot better. And to be able to help them out of the hell they are in is fantastic.’
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