Marianne was 22 years old and listed her occupation as a student however detailed that she had achieved a Distinction in her Diploma ( at Surrey ) and that she was working towards a BSc( Hons ) in Accountancy at Hertfordshire University. She is an only child. She wrote ( in any issues that she would like to resolve ) ‘ need to concentrate better and get less frustrated with myself and less anxious.’ Under ‘ what is the outcome you are looking for ’ she wrote ‘ more relaxation and to find study less difficult.’ In the box marked ‘ what stops you achieving this on your own ‘ she wrote ‘ too much noise and disruption, can’t relax, and get annoyed.’
Marianne had signed the consent statement.
During the initial telephone conversation Marianne seemed to have a respect for authority and right and wrong – when she was disturbed by noise from neighbours she went to see the Dean of Students who gave her a procedure to follow – namely call the warden if it happens again, which she duly did.
When she was leaving Surrey University she asked the Dean to speak to Andrew because she wanted the University to know what had made her leave and she wrote a letter to them ‘ my experience in Surrey is like a nightmare and hopefully she [ the Dean ] said they could try and prevent things like this happening in the future.’ Marianne said ‘ I couldn’t stand noisy neighbours – drinking, having fun, making trouble….that’s not why I came here. If I had wanted fun I could have stayed at home and not wasted my parent’s money…. They [ other students ] like drinking and waste police and NHS money.’
I decided to utilize Marianne’s primary modality ( auditory ) together with kinaesthetic in the script I had prepared and also to use imagery that focused on something she had said in the initial conversation. She recalled that at 7 or 8 years old her mother had asked if she wanted a baby brother of sister and she had replied no because she did not want to ‘ share her toys or parents.’ I wanted to show her the potential of her own mind not simply with regards to information processing but also to help her relax and ‘ concentrate ’( Marianne’s word ). There were no contraindications in Marianne’s medical history. I bought a lemon (!) – see later – and made sure that I had one of my discs containing some of my recordings for her to take away to support her session.
Marianne arrived exactly on time and on her own. She was polite and seemed relaxed and came into my office and sat down with ease. We briefly chatted about her journey to my office and her day at university and then I suggested we ran through the client intake registration form / consent form which she was happy to do. Her mood remained calm until we addressed ‘ issues that you would like to resolve.’ She said that she was very unhappy. The accommodation she was in was in the city and she
‘ could not concentrate – there was noise outside from the discos and pubs and there was chatting noise, TV, music from the other rooms [ her university accommodation ].’
She repeated what she had said on the telephone to me that it was silly for the university to put student accommodation near pubs and discos. She said that she had been to the Dean to complain and ask for new accommodation however she had been told that they do not move anyone for a few months to give people time to settle. They said they would take her details and try and make other arrangements however she felt that they were ‘ ignoring her.’ She said that she liked very much the British way of teaching. When she had been studying in her early years at home she was in a traditional school which taught everything in English however there were about 40-50 students in the classes, the teacher was ‘God / The Boss ’ and students were supposed to ‘ sit and listen and take notes and if you asked a question the teacher would say why were you not listening.’ In the university where she was now Marianne said she liked the fact that there were never any more than 8 students in a tutorial, they were encouraged to ask questions ‘… one thing I like even if I couldn’t finish all the work or got it wrong the lecturer will still be impressed because you tried and put some effort in it and they wont say you’ve got that all wrong, you’re so stupid….Western teaching is much better.’
Marianne said that she had been very unhappy at her previous university – I asked if she had spoken to her parents and she said that her parents just wanted her to be happy however she added that her father had said ‘ don’t worry about wasting my money on a whole year tuition fees.’ She felt her parents would have no problem at all if she returned home just so long as she was happy.
Marianne continued that she had wanted since she was 12-13years old to go to the UK to study, that it was considered a ‘dream’ of poor people to have their children educated here and that middle class and rich people chose it. Those students who returned home from the UK with a degree got better jobs than the local students. Despite her stress she did want to finish her degree and to then do an MA/ MBA.
I was aware of time and asked if she had any questions for me to which she said no. I suggested that I run though the format of the session with her ( I considered that Marianne would respond well to this since she seemed to like order and structure ) and then we could proceed.
I said that in a moment we would do a simple relaxation exercise and we would then do a bit of work on her goal namely the desire to concentrate more effectively and to help her relax. We would then do an exercise that would help her see the potential of her own mind and then finish with some gentle relaxation and hypnosis.
We proceeded with a simple relaxation exercise together which we repeated several times until Marianne noticeably started to ‘ soften ’ and afterwards I said that this was just a simple exercise that she could do anywhere ( self-hypnosis ) to help her relax without anybody knowing she was doing anything – she could change the words to suit her moods and feelings.
Work section of the session –
I then asked Marianne what would make her happier, make her feel better( kinaesthetic ) bring harmony ( auditory ) back into her life. She proceeded to tell me what was causing her stress and I used Neuro Linguistic Programming ( NLP ) language ( questions and responses ) techniques to decipher deeper meaning for both of us. For example she said she couldn’t study as there was too much noise
to which I asked her if there was noise all the time ? or anywhere where she could study that was not noisy. She replied on reflection that she found it very difficult in her room as there was tv, chatting noise, music from neighbours however the university library and town centre library was quiet. So we immediately established she could study in places where there was less noise. Marianne also said that she was very worried because one of the tutors had a strong accent and she could not understand anything he said to which I asked if she could understand some things that he said. She acknowledged that in fact she struggled in his class and ‘switched off’ and was now self studying the module he taught which was difficult. However she had approached him and expressed her concern and he had happily agreed to see her whenever she wished to discuss aspects of the course. Marianne accepted that she could understand him but that she did have a problem understanding anyone with an accent.
He had also suggested that he provide her with copies of his own course notes. She agreed that things had improved over the last few weeks and that she liked the British education system that you can ‘ just go and talk to a lecturer and see them whenever you like and they will always help you and not think you are stupid .’ She also said that she did not want to waste her parent’s money to which I asked if they had given her any reason to think they believed she was wasting their money. She smiled and said very confidently that they just wanted her to be happy to which I gently ‘lead’ the discussion and asked if maybe she ( Marianne ) was putting the pressure on herself not to waste their money as opposed to them putting any pressure on her to which she smiled knowingly and said maybe. We talked over some more points using the same method to break down meaning and understanding and summarised that if I could help her today find a quieter place to work, remove some of the external ‘noise’ would that bring some harmony ( auditory ) back into her life / does that resonate ( auditory ) with you ?
I then shared with Marianne a very simple two minute exercise that demonstrated the power of her mind using the imagery, taste, smell and feel of a fresh lemon.
I then said that if she was happy to do so we were now going to relax using hypnosis for a while – we would be repeating an exercise we learned earlier and then I would be telling her a story about a friend of mine and helping her find a quieter place to work by removing some of the external noise and sounds by using hypnosis ( I ran through the format of what was going to happen as Marianne seemed to respect structure and I mentioned hypnosis because that is what she said she came to me for – I wanted to give her the experience she wanted and was paying for ).
I asked if she was happy to proceed and assured her that at any time if she wanted to open her eyes she could.
The script utilized personal information Marianne had provided me with as well as language relating to her primary modality – auditory – thus potentiating the effectiveness of the treatment programme. The therapy I planned was unique to her.
A few extracts of the script follow :
‘……. and now I am going to tell you a story about a friend of mine who always hoped to study one day in a foreign country…. even from being a young man…and when he became a young man he travelled abroad and it was a wonderful thing…. to listen to new sounds and hear new words… and everything was fascinating and the young man inside him was filled with the excitement of new things…’
‘… ….he realised that there must be adult time and child time…..he knew that he enjoyed studying his new books and looking into his dictionary to learn the meaning of new words and he told the child within him that certain places would become special…..’
‘…. because he realised that you cannot do everything all at once and that there is plenty of time to do the new and exciting things…..there has to be up time for enjoying the new things and downtime for relaxation and recharging ……………’
‘………and he told me he gave himself permission to take times to relax and recuperate so that when he returned to his selected study areas he returned with readiness and was able to concentrate and work effectively …………’
‘…….and you told me that you said to your mother when you were 7 or 8 years old when she asked if you wanted a baby brother or baby sister that you did not want one… you did not want to share your toys or your mother or father with a baby brother or sister… and it can be the same with your mind……..and remember your mind is a powerful thing… you thought about a lemon……..so you do not have to share your mind if you choose not to with noises and sounds…………..’
‘…….. instead you will be able to focus your mind only on your work… until such time as you choose to share your mind with those sounds again………good sounds of people living their lives……….life……….a radio playing someone’s favourite music……… or a television playing their favourite film……or maybe it’s just in their background to keep them company……..maybe as you need silence and calm they need a sound…….company…….to remind them they are not alone…….just as you keep your computer on standby at night to keep your friends and family close at all times……. there are many quiet places…but few are silent……’
‘….and I’d like you to think of that beautiful place now…..your quiet place…look into that beautiful place and add the details… hear sounds that you have not heard before……feel the textures…. See the colours…… if there are beautiful flowers smell them….breath them in………and out…………look around you and really be in that beautiful place….and it’s so quiet and you can concentrate with ease on anything that comes into your mind…’
‘…… and you know that there are words and sounds everywhere around you….and you can hear them but you do not have to listen to them… because you can hear a neighbour talking but you do not have to listen to their conversation…..you can hear a radio in someone’s room playing to keep them company….life in their life……but you do not have to listen to what is playing on their radio…..have you ever watched a bird in Spring dart in and out of a hedge…..well, you can’t stop it going into the hedge but you can stop it building a nest…………’
‘……someone once said to me that each of us owns a customised almost godlike goal achieving resource, cleverly wrapped up in a three pound lump of grey matter………..our brains, of course………and we hardly use a fraction of our brain ………’
‘…..you know you have a good mind…a strong mind…..you achieved Distinction last year for your studies….wow….well done you…..that little girl inside must be proud of the adult she has become…so you can choose to keep your mind for yourself …..press the off button to those things that you do not want to share your mind…’
‘……….and instead focus inwards for a while …only sharing with your mind your books, your work, the lectures you attend……’
[ Extracts only ]
Marianne re-orientated well and said that she had very much enjoyed the relaxation. I suggested that Marianne’s ‘ homework’ for the week was that she try and use the in breath / out breath exercise over the next week as a form of self hypnosis ( not when she was driving or operating machinery ) and that if she wanted to she could change the words she used depending on the situation she found herself in. I said that practicing the exercise would make it more effective and would ‘ re-charge’ it and changing the words to suit herself would also improve ( by personalising ) the effectiveness of the exercise. I asked her if she had any questions or comments and we chatted for a while about various aspects and I then gave her a lemon to take away with her to place somewhere in her room as a fun reminder of our session and to do the exercises.
We confirmed her next session and I said that I would post her the recording of today’s session the following day. I gave her a free disc which I give to all clients at their first session which included my own recordings to support treatment programmes. I asked her if she would like to work with group participation ( social and study groups ) and confidence building next week or if she had any other requests and she said she would be pleased to work with my suggestion. I considered it appropriate to suggest a format for the next session as she seems to like structure.