Steven Walpole Hypnotherapist and Counsellor | Counsellor

Steven Walpole Hypnotherapist and Counsellor

Phone: +61 403 042 999

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25.01.2022 POST No.90 - The hard way is often the easy way when optimising mental health Back in POST no.29 - we explored the idea of a counter intuitive life. In short what appears to be the easy way in life can actually be the hard way. When talking about the golf swing, Ben Hogan (the godfather of golf) said......Reverse every natural instinct and do the opposite of what you are inclined to do, and you will probably come very close to having a perfect golf swing....Continue reading

24.01.2022 POST No.103 - "CHOICES ....what do u think?" Choices, choices, choices Ok... The scenario: At the moment we choose any behaviour, we believe that any OTHER choice would be less effective; ....... what we choose is the best choice at the time we choose it ! What do you think? Is this true for you? When we say we shouldnt do it and then go ahead and do it, we suspect it wont be effective - but not enough to stop us from choosing to do it. BUT What about when when we begin to make better or more need-satisfying choices......could the symptoms disappear? Yes they can in my experience What about your experience ? Everyones journey is personal Everyones journey is unique

23.01.2022 DID YOU KNOW ? There are over 25,000 universities in the world with most universities offering a degree that examines the brain and human behaviour Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behaviour.... Neuroscience is the fastest growing degree in the USA. Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. The understanding of the biological basis of learning, memory, behavior, perception, and consciousness has been described by Eric Kandel as the "ultimate challenge" of the biological sciences. We have over 500 different types of therapies in the world. Yet we also have had incredible traditions and ways of living through out history that sustained and fulfilled us human beings. So how on earth do we know what is optimal when it comes to nurturing and improving our Mental Health ? That is my passion, that is my mission - to understand how we optimise Mental Health in the year 2020. Look at what works, what is redundant and what is the road ahead for Mental Health. Luckily I live across the road from a professor who is one of a 25 person team that are mapping the human brain ...... not a joke - I really do !!! Can you imagine the conversations we have when putting out the Recycling on a Monday evening.

23.01.2022 POST No.106 - "Respecting your brain health" Did you know that a study was done in Pittsburgh to determine whether a brain of an overweight person vs a healthy person was different? It was found that a person that was overweight through to obese had a brain that looked 8-16 years older !!!... At the University of California it was found that obese people had 8 percent less brain tissue than people with normal weight, while overweight people had 4 percent less tissue. According to Thompson, who is also a member of UCLAs Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, this is the first time anyone has established a link between being overweight and having what he describes as "severe brain degeneration." "Thats a big loss of tissue and it depletes your cognitive reserves, putting you at much greater risk of Alzheimers and other diseases that attack the brain," said Thompson. "But you can greatly reduce your risk for Alzheimers, if you can eat healthily and keep your weight under control Ok So a little exercise for today instead....if you are daring: 1. Who in your life do you know that respects their brain health? 2. Why do they respect their brain health? 3. What is their life like? 4. How do they keep their focus to stay motivated?

22.01.2022 hmmmmmm...... interesting !

22.01.2022 POST No.99 - "The Web of Wellbeing" When contemplating optimising Mental Health, one of my go to insights is that we so often underestimate what support and daily focus is required to make sustainable Mental Health change. It is a little like thinking if we snip one strand in a spiders web that the hole web will fall down. ie if I find that all important strand and snip it, then that will make all the difference. Yes spiders that build the familiar orb-shaped web usually star...Continue reading

20.01.2022 POST No.104 - 'walk the line' walk-the-line. Verb. (idiomatic) To maintain an intermediate position between contrasting choices, opinions, etc Hmmmm I'm sure we can all relate to those times in life. You probably know those times all to well. The times when the line is so thin. The ice is brittle. The water was deeper then you expected ...Continue reading

20.01.2022 POST No.97 - A caring parent, the last of the Mohicans? In the December 2019 issue of The Atlantic, Wharton celebrity psychologist Adam Grant (and his spouse, Allison Sweet Grant) illuminate the side effect of our focus on success. According to the duo, when parents are surveyed, over 90% of them say that having a child grow up to be caring is a top priority. Yet, as a Harvard report shows, when you ask the children of those parents, 81% say their parents value achievement and happiness over caring. https://www.businessinsider.com/adam-grant-focus-on-kindn/

20.01.2022 POST no.96 - raising mentally strong kids One of the best ways to help kids develop resilience is to give up unhealthy parenting habits that rob kids of the mental strength they need to think, feel, and perform at their best Worth a read ... https://www.businessinsider.com/raise-mentally-strong-kid/

18.01.2022 POST No.93 - Trigger, behaviour, reward Have you ever just stopped and mindfully observed some of your automatic patterns? Have you ever wondered how our patterns become so deeply encoded, and bit by bit become full blown habit? Are you curious?...Continue reading

18.01.2022 POST NO.102 - "Daily routine provides the framework within which we live our lives and conduct our daily activities" ......."Soon we become familiar and comfortable with what we have to do each day. It allows us to experience a flow to our day" Is this true for you ? does daily or weekly routine provide you with a sense of flow ?...Continue reading

17.01.2022 POST No.104 - walk the line walk-the-line. Verb. (idiomatic) To maintain an intermediate position between contrasting choices, opinions, etc Hmmmm Im sure we can all relate to those times in life. You probably know those times all to well. The times when the line is so thin. The ice is brittle. The water was deeper then you expected ...Continue reading

17.01.2022 POST No.92 - unchain the brain When we excessively ruminate (mull things over and over) we send the brains stress response circuits into a flurry of sustained activity. Which for some people can trigger a full blown episode of depression and or anxiety. As it turns out, the link between depression and rumination is a particularly strong one. Through its powerful effects on emotions, behaviours, social connection and brain function, rumination renders us more vulnerable to... depressive illness. It also plays a key role in maintaining an episode of depression once its begun. Thats why when someone continues ruminating on a regular basis, theyll find it extremely difficult to overcome their depression, no matter what else they do in an attempt to get better. If you find yourself locked in the vice grip of rumination, however, I can share some words of reassurance via experience with clients. Breaking the habit may sound difficult, but the process is surprisingly straightforward. We can break down the process into two major steps: learning to notice when its happening (awareness), and learning to redirect your focus to a healthy engaging activity. ACTION: If you or someone you care for is struggling with rumination and or suspected depression I would thoroughly recommend to see a psychologist / counsellor as a starting point. This will enable some perspective given that counsellors and psychologists predominantly work with clients who present with anxiety and or depression. Changing the trajectory of your mental health is one of the most liberating experiences. To win back our basic needs of love and belonging, freedom, power and fun enlarges our experience of life . It turns us back on and unchains the brain Ps - What is it about depression that causes us to dwell at length on negative thoughts? The answer has a lot to do with human memory. The brain uses our mood state as its single most important memory cue. Believe it or not, the brain tags every one of our memories according to emotional state were in when the event occurs.........alrighty Im stopping here because this is a massive area to review together........Ill come to it in the next few posts

16.01.2022 POST No.94 - I love researching, I love writing, what do you love? I just bloody love it. I love reading. I love finding new insightful information and then trying to bring everything together, so it is practical and can be applied to our lives. I love getting up early in the morning and sinking my teeth into researching and writing. It is one of my favourite engaging creative activities in life. It provides hours of in the zone moments, that just disappear into the ether. ...Continue reading

16.01.2022 Hope you enjoy "decreasing the biological reaction to psychological stress" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkZl2gsLUp4

15.01.2022 724 men researched over 75years "The good life is built with good relationships" https://www.ted.com//robert_waldinger_what_makes_a_good_li

14.01.2022 POST no.95 - Mindset I know I promised I would put 100% of energy towards writing my book and wouldnt be posting until after Xmas.........rules rules rules But I love writing and I love sharing, so I decided that I will still write a post or two as it is in alignment with writing and researching for my book. Posting helps me stay focused and energised and helps me clarify concepts. I hope that the information is useful and practical....Continue reading

13.01.2022 POST No 107 - "seeing our mental health blindspots" Imagine if we could, with ease, ahead of time, with no fuss at all, see our mental health blindspots? Imagine if our mental health radar was so refined that the slightest little blip of stress, anxiety and or depressed states was spotted as soon as it crawled onto the screen?... Well here is the rub. It is !! Stress, anxiety and or depressed states are quite often, in most cases, the signs that our sacred mental health balance has been disrupted. We are not broken. Our body, our nervous system is doing exactly what it should. It is alerting us. It is providing integral information that something is out of balance. The states of stress, anxiety and or depressed states are not incorrect signals. They are not signals we should ignore. Stress, anxiety and or depressed states are our body and nervous sytem moving very important data up and into our awareness. Unfortunately we as humans sometimes struggle to interpret this data. We dont like this data. We dont want this data. We want to run away from this data !!! Yet it is this data of stress, anxiety and or depressed states that can provide us with the data to solve our perceived problem. The funniest thing about our mental health is that it is an extremely delicately tuned engine. When our sleep is out a little we can cope, just like the oil in the engine being a little low, but not so low, that the engine cant run. But if we remove the oil, the petrol, the spark plug, the coolant..... that engine aint going to run. Just the same for our mental health when we reduce sleep, reduce engaging activities, reduce meaning relationships or vital nutrition our engine doesnt run very well at all and sometimes just wants to shut down. Mental health is a web of delicately placed silk threads. These threads are to be trusted and respected at all times. When we dont and when we ignore the data of stress, anxiety and or depressed states we are without doubt walking a very thin line that is very very very hard to traverse. We are ignoring the web that supports us. Our mental health is the greatest advantage, yet we so often we take it for granted. We dont have this insight clear in our mind. Mental health is one of, if not, the most valuable asset we have. When our mental health is balanced and well managed via preventative good health actions, almost everything seems easier and is easier because you are in a compelling state of life. Happy New year everybody Happy New year !! Ps important: sometimes the states of stress, anxiety and or depression are physical health conditions that are mirroring the same symptoms, but not in the main. This is why it is critical to have a great GP involved in the evaluation of stress, anxiety and or depressed states.

12.01.2022 POST No.101 - "As measurement improves we are better at understanding the world around us and improving our Mental Health" In his book The Half-life of Facts, Sam Arbesman compares ones knowledge base to the decay of radioactive materials, and estimates that in about 40... years half of what one has learned will have been proven wrong. For example, in primary school I learned that Pluto, discovered in 1930 by KU alum Clyde Tombaugh, was the ninth planet. However, in 2006 astronomers reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet, thereby forcing me to update my knowledge base. A comforting way to look at the calculation about the half-life of facts is that a middle-aged person like myself will be right half of the time (which seems to be a higher rate of success than my personal experience lol). Alternatively, one can view that calculation as a challenge to keep learning no matter what your age. Indeed, the world is changing, and seems to be changing at a faster pace than ever before. So how can we apply this insight to optimising our Mental Health knowledge and the Mental Health actions we take? Lets question, clarify, and demand to know more when it comes to Mental Health. Optimising your state of mind, optimising your day, your week, your life is your advantage to experiencing life. In fact with the trajectory of mental health challenges being encountered the last two generations, optimising your mental health will be your greatest advantage to living an engaging and fulfilling life !! I dont think that we can assume what we know now re our Mental Health is enough to help us make sustainable changes. My understanding and using Sam Arbesmans insight is that updating our Mental Health knowledge re therapies, medication, theories etc is critical in optimising our Mental Health

12.01.2022 POST No.100 - "FOCUS" "Im not any less confused then you are, I just got in the habit of doing it" David Mamet talking about writing Class clown to Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet found himself and found his engaging activity "by limiting his distractions".... The relief and the engagement that comes with "FOCUS" !!! If you are always asking what is your purpose maybe you are asking the wrong question? What if you asked "what can I do today with purpose?" When we are engaged in the activity, when we have enough challenge and enough required skill we start to find that the questions around lifes purpose start to disappear........

10.01.2022 POST No.98 - 44 per cent of 18-24 year-olds rated their mental health as average or poor Three quarters of people who have mental illness develop symptoms before the age of 25, and in 2018, suicide accounted for more than a third of deaths among 15-24 year-olds https://www.abc.net.au//whats-driving-mental-hea/11714120

10.01.2022 POST no.86 - One of the nine major causes of depression: Genes and Brain changes PART 1 The brain changes as you become depressed and anxious and it changes again when you stop being depressed and anxious. Its always changing in response to signals from the world....Continue reading

09.01.2022 Brain Inflammation and Your Gut Your gut helps to manage levels of inflammation and therefore, keeping your gut healthy with the right foods is essential to keeping your brain healthy and reducing your risk of brain inflammation. The good news is, you can optimise your diet for good brain health......... https://mindd.org/foods-for-brain-inflammation/

09.01.2022 Love writing Love it !!!! Little sneak peek of one of the chapters I have been writing for my book optimising mental health Just in draft stage

09.01.2022 POST No.91 - Optimising Our Mental Health We rarely find a new way. We rarely find a better way. We just simply get to a point where we have truly had enough of the old way and hold ourselves more accountable to putting our mental health first. S.W. How many times in your life have you come back full circle 5 years later only to find the same challenge and same change is required?...Continue reading

08.01.2022 POST No.87 - underestimating whats needs to be done I still, to this day, amaze myself how much I underestimate what truly needs to be done to make important change stick ! A couple times per week, I laugh out loud when I notice my auto response to searching for an easy fix ...Continue reading

07.01.2022 Did you know ? 1. According to the largest Australian youth survey of 15-19 year olds, 56% of females and 26% of males have described stress as a high to extreme concern. (Mission Australia, 2018 National Youth Survey). 2. Twelve times the proportion of young people with psychological distress indicated feeling as though they had no control over their life (10.8% compared with 0.9% of respondents without psychological distress).... https://www.missionaustralia.com.au//research/youth-survey

06.01.2022 Recommended Reading No.4 - Sleep by Nick Littlehales One third of our lives are spent trying to sleep. Most us have disturbed, restless nights and rely on a cocktail of caffeine and sugar to drag us through the day. Yet the hours we spend in bed shape our mood, motivation and decision-making skills - defining our performance in work, at home and keeping fit. If you are struggling with sleep and need a new approach to sleep, I would thoroughly recommend this book / audible.... This book definitely has great strategies on helping us cope with our ever more demanding days via better sleep. I use a mixture of books and audibles - you could listen while commuting to and from work within a week easily .......as only 7hrs or so long If you dont want to allocate the 7hrs Reading/listening time - below is a ted talk link and also an interview https://youtu.be/kvo5vF1g20E https://youtu.be/M0oYt9hPNRU

05.01.2022 POST NO. 105 - Right, wrong and who gives a F*&K Did you know that children know the difference between right and wrong before they reach the age of two, according to research published in 2012*. Scientists have found that babies aged between 19 and 21 months understand fairness and can apply it in different situations. That doesnt mean that happens all the time but the awareness of fairness and right and wrong starts early. Yet as the great Italian actor Giancarlo Giannin...Continue reading

04.01.2022 Fascinsting article - "A large subset of people with depression have high levels of systemic inflammation," said Ilardi. "When we think about inflammatory disease we think about things like diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis -- diseases with a high level of systemic inflammation. We dont normally think about depression being in that category, but it turns out that it really is -- not for everyone whos depressed, but for about half. We also know that inflammatory hormones can directly push the brain into a state of severe depression. So, an inflamed brain is typically a depressed brain. And added sugars have a pro-inflammatory effect on the body and brain." https://www.sciencedaily.com/releas/2019//191212122532.htm

04.01.2022 Quick announcement: Im going to have a 45 day break from posting on FB. I need to redirect the morning hours in my day to researching and writing my book on optimising mental health. Thanks so much for reading, commenting and liking the posts this year. Its been a lovely campfire to sit around together and I have been inspired by so many people messaging and sharing ... I wish you all the best with your mental health and feel free to make contact if you if you need support Re mental health and making important changes in your life. Adios amigos Ps and may your bonsai grow deep and strong, day by day

04.01.2022 "mental health is one of, if not, the most valuable asset we have" S.Walpole"mental health is one of, if not, the most valuable asset we have" S.Walpole

02.01.2022 Morning all, A mate of mine, who is over from Canada, came up to visit for a few days. He brought his mobile podcast equipment along and we had a chat ... He set up the mobile equipment and interviewed me all in the space of no time at all Amazing If u get a chance to watch let me know what you think ? Cheers steve https://youtu.be/K3_ENb6KTwY

02.01.2022 POST No.88 - Where does your REAL motivation reside? The day your life truly changes trajectory is the day you look in the mirror and know that the most powerful, influential and motivational discussions you will ever have are with yourself. This is where you will find your REAL motivation. BUT, the key, is not listening to your past self, but rather your future self ! We all know that we have two narratives. Our past story and our future story. Both are fighting for ...Continue reading

01.01.2022 Recommended Reading No.5 - Mastery by George Leonard The year 1887.........what does it mean to be Samurai? So you might have seen the movie The last Samurai in 2003... I didnt mind it ! It was a great reminder of the focus and life long commitment to serve..........that worked for the Samurai for many centuries. When I saw this movie again recently, it reminded me of one of my fav little books I read in the mid 90s, which high lights a fulfilling life via mastery ! If you dont want to buy the book.....the first page below sums it up perfectly. Mastery is a way of life

01.01.2022 POST no.89 - One of the nine major causes of depression: Genes and Brain changes PART 2 As we noted in part 1 (post no.86)......The brain changes as you become depressed and anxious and it changes again when you stop being depressed and anxious. Its always changing in response to signals from the world....Continue reading