這世界越來越不安全了！走在路上都會無形中被催眠~Dr Hiro為你解析催眠治療的奧妙(谈關於睡眠和催眠知識）

第一次上自媒体上谈催眠，主持人欣怡一开始就给了我很多定心丸，说自媒体的限制很少，鼓励我就安心的做自己，说自己想说的内容。摄影团队还来到我中心摄影，让我感觉特别轻松。主持人也夸我口条不错，听到名嘴这样肯定自己，真的更有信心了。

所以这一次我觉得自己采访出的来的内容比较真实，我也看起来特别放松吧？放下框框架架，我用最真切的态度去讲严肃的课题“睡眠”，再延伸到情绪课题甚至创伤与时事课题，放佛看到自己回到宽中时期的史地学会，每周一次的时事汇报

本来我是准备了被讨厌的勇气，毕竟我这次比较放飞自我。然而很意外，看到影片上传两天内的观众反应很不错，许多人都留言给予支持与好评，真是小惊讶。期待还有更多机会上不同的媒介采访，我相信我会越做越好，带给大家优质内容与心理教育。

影片链接点击这里：https://youtu.be/GItFTAVY4jU

[Event] Sleep Management Workshop for Great Eastern on 25 August 2021

 

              A virtual sleep management workshop was organized for Great Eastern Malaysia employee.

 

 

Interested to attend our workshop in order to improve the productivity at work?

Feel free to contact us for more info.

 

[Client Review] Intervention for relational trauma related concerns in Malaysia (BL Case)

 

Client's Review (Mr.BL)

I had difficulties accepting my past traumas in regards to my family and other relationships including myself. It affected my daily performance as my prior perspectives were not effective enough to help me be functional to carry out daily tasks to pursue my personal goals. 

Hypnotherapy helped broaden my perspective in a way condition myself to compassionately accept my past and see it a positive way as having a wider comfort zone going forward. As I started accepting and grow comfortable, I was able to open up to myself and others more which help me understand my behavioural and thought pattern more. This allow me to discuss and try out methods such as meditations, journaling, exercising regularly and eating healthily more consistently. 

With brain training (clinical neurofeedback), I saw my stress tolerance. Focus, thought processing, learning and sleep quality in more significantly. As I grew further into my practice, I am able to be more objective and make more rational decisions and increase my tolerance when there are thoughts overflowing, letting them pass like clouds.

This entire experience make me believe that if I take care of my mind and thoughts, I can be happy and healthy and I can achieve anything I set my mind to it. The more consistent I am incorporating there practice and habits, the more benefits I see in terms of being more open- minded and thoughtful to myself and others, balancing every day events and continue going forward even through difficult moments. 

This helped me to tune into my equanimity especially during these Covid-19 period and MCO, remembering my purpose and continue working towards by being flexible and having a strong belief system. Hence, how you perceive yourself and your environment will determine what you become.

 

在过去，对于家人和包括我自己在内的其他人际关系，我其实很难忍受过去亲情上所承受过的创伤。这些经历无疑影响了我的日常表现。。。然而，催眠疗法帮助我拓宽了视野，这使我自己能够更舒服坦然地接受我的过去，我也认为这是积极的方式，因此我向前迈进了更大的舒适区。当我开始接受并逐渐适应时，我能够更开放的面对自己和他人，这有助于我更多地了解自己的行为和思维方式。这使我可以讨论和尝试冥想，日记，定期锻炼和更健康地饮食等方法。通过脑部训练，我看到了我的压力承受能力。专注，思想处理，学习和睡眠质量更为显着。当我进一步练习时，我会变得更加客观，做出更理性的决定，并在思想泛滥时让自己更加宽容，让他们像云一样通过。整个经历使我相信，只要我照顾好自己的思想和想法，我就能快乐，健康，并且能够实现我所下定决心的一切。我在其中融入实践和习惯的方式越一致，就对自己和他人更加开放和体贴，平衡每天的事件并即使在困难时刻也能继续前进，就会看到更多的好处。这有助于我调适自己的镇定性，尤其是在这些Covid-19时期和MCO期间，记住了我的目标，并通过保持灵活性和强大的信仰体系继续朝着这个方向努力。因此，您如何看待自己和您的环境将决定您成为什么样的人。

 

Remark: Our client's information will be kept strictly confidential all the time. All reviews and photos have been acknowledged and provided by past and current clients of New Mind Sdn Bhd

3 Reasons Perfectionists Are More Likely to Fail at Sleep

You might not consider yourself a perfectionist, but many of us apply unrealistic standards to sleep. We're brought up being asked seemingly innocuous questions such as, Did you sleep well? Are you a good sleeper? Those are yes or no questions, but they set us up to think about sleep in all-or-nothing terms. If sleep isn't good, it's bad. And so bad sleep starts to feel like a failure

We're also told that we need to sleep "well" in order to function. Big day tomorrow? Get some good sleep. If you don't, you certainly won't perform your best. These messages set us up to worry about sleep, making it into something that we have to accomplish in order to succeed at whatever tasks are in store. Suddenly, you have performance anxiety...about sleep. And the more you worry about sleep, the harder it is to relax. And, as we all know, worrying produces a physical stress response that keeps us awake. Here, three sleep myths that are needlessly keeping us up at night.

Myth #1: "I need (X number) hours of sleep."

We are bombarded with information about how much sleep we need. It seems as though new studies emerge daily, telling us that if we don't get a certain amount of sleep, we'll get fat, crash our cars, make cognitive errors, get the flu, develop diabetes…the list goes on.

These are important messages, especially for those who believe that sleep is a waste of time. But standards can backfire for people who hold to them too rigidly. If a study says people should get seven hours of sleep and you need just six-and-a-half, your effort to get that extra half hour can fragment your sleep and make it less restorative. Stressing out about that half hour can cause performance anxiety and insomnia, leading to less sleep instead of more.

If you fall asleep relatively easily, sleep relatively soundly, and feel reasonably rested during the day, you are probably getting enough sleep. Track your sleep for a couple of weeks to see what your true average is.

Myth #2: "I must sleep soundly all night."

Sleep differs from person to person. This is especially apparent when you share a bed with someone. Maybe your partner falls asleep immediately and it takes you 15-20 minutes. That's not wrong—it's just different.

It's also normal to wake up during the night. Most people wake up as they complete a sleep cycle and enter a lighter sleep phase. You might remember waking or you might not. You might go right back to sleep or you might be awake for a period of time. Sleep is not seamless. But we often get frustrated by normal nighttime arousals. And this frustration and anxiety will prolong the awakening and cause bigger sleep issues.

Myth #3: "If I'm tired, I can't function."

No one likes to feel tired, but feeling sluggish—or even exhausted—is not a catastrophe. With so much focus on productivity and performance, we fall into the perfectionist trap of striving to give 110% all of the time. And we know that sleep can improve performance, so we become distressed when it doesn't cooperate. That distress contributes to sleep-killing performance anxiety.

It's true that sleep deprivation will cause performance impairments. But there is a huge difference between occasional sleep loss and the type of chronic sleep deprivation that causes significant impairment. Conflating the two just causes more anxiety and makes temporary sleep problems into something bigger.

When we tell ourselves that we won't be able to make it through the day if we're tired, we are lying to ourselves. We get tired for all sorts of reasons: stress, blood sugar fluctuations, circadian rhythms, mood, even the weather. Sleep contributes to our energy level during the day, but it is not solely responsible for it.

Instead of telling yourself that a rough night is going to mean disaster, remind yourself of all the times you've managed to do just fine on less-than-perfect sleep. Take care of yourself and focus on the tasks of your day. Engaging in activity will improve your energy and mood. You might not feel fantastic, but you will manage.

Source:

http://www.elle.com/beauty/health-fitness/how-to/a29220/sleep-tips-for-bad-sleepers/

Sleep disorder-Insomnia therapy in Malaysia (Neurofeedback method)

Sleep Difficulties Have a Variety of Contributors 
Many complex factors contribute to sleeplessness and insomnia including stress, anxiety, trauma, and habitual over-thinking resulting in abnormal brain wave function.

Why am I Tired All of the Time? 
Until recently, insomnia was studied from a behavioral perspective, but as this problem grows, new research and insights have been discovered. Recent studies suggest that in cases of insomnia, the brain is unable to process information properly due to cortical hyperarousal. This creates abnormal brainwave function.

Restore Sleep Naturally
By retraining the brain and improving brainwave function in those key areas affected by insomnia, the brain is rewarded through neurofeedback for creating healthier patterns. As the brain learns new responses, new patterns and pathways develop improving brainwave function as you begin to sleep better, longer.

Does Neurofeedback Work? 
Clinical studies have shown neurofeedback to be an effective, drugless, natural approach to insomnia, especially for people who have struggled for years. If you are ready to be able to fall asleep and stay asleep, for improved energy, health and wellbeing, then it’s time to relax and reward your brain.


Why Does Neurofeedback Work? 
Neurofeedback takes advantage of the brain’s ability to change itself through a process known as Neuroplasticity. It utilizes the same learning process that occurs whenever we acquire a new skill. The brain learns by forming connections between nerve cells and utilizing important pathways that connect different locations in the brain. The more frequently you utilize these pathways the better the brain becomes at performing the associated task. In psychology, this type of leaning is called “Operant Conditioning”. It is a type of learning in which responses come to be controlled by their consequences. Quite simply, Neurofeedback offers the perfect learning conditions, since it facilitates awareness of when the brain is producing healthier brainwave patterns, provides reinforcement for the positive change and multiple opportunities to provide practice during a training session.

How do I start with neurofeedback?
A comprehensive assessment is where neurofeedback therapy begins. The assessment allows me to determine whether a client’s brainwave patterns are different from normal. Based on your brainwaves analysis results, we then create a restorative plan of care. Each assessment provides me with neurofeedback training protocols. These protocols are designed to retrain the brainwave patterns towards better pattern. The result of rebalancing these brain waves improve health, healing and functionality for lasting results.


Contact us if you would like to do a brainwaves analysis assessment. 
Kindly note that this is not a medical diagnostic but merely provides additional information for your brain to run more efficiently and sleep better. 
The price of this assessment is RM190 (Report will be provided).



Source:
https://braincoretherapy.com/brainwaves/

Insomnia Treatment in Malaysia

Insomnia Meaning:
Insomnia is a lack of sleep due to insufficient sleep quality or quantity. The insomniac’s major complaint is awakening during sleep, followed by difficulty falling asleep. An insomniac may sleep but experience poor sleep quality, also known as nonrestorative sleep. As a result of a lack of quality sleep, impairments are experienced in social and occupational functioning.

The three types of insomnia are sleep insomnia involving difficulty falling asleep, sleep maintenance involving awakening during sleep, and late insomnia involving early morning awakenings. Insomnia can be episodic lasting for a period of one month within 3 months, or persistent lasting longer than 3 months. Recurrent insomnia is two or more episodes within a year. Insomnia disorder is one of the major three groupings of sleep disorders under DSM-5, together with hypersomnia and arousal disorders.


Insomnia Symptoms:
The DSM-5’s major criteria for a diagnosis of insomnia, in brief, are (APA, 2013):

1. Dissatisfaction with sleep quantity or quality, with one or more of the following symptoms: difficulty initiating sleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, early-morning awakening 
2. The sleep disturbance causes significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, educational, academic, behavioral, or other important areas of functioning 
3. The sleep difficulty occurs at least 3 nights per week, is present for at least 3 months, and despite adequate opportunity for sleep 
4. The insomnia does not co-occur with another sleep disorder 
5. The insomnia is not explained by coexisting mental disorders or medical condition

Insomnia is a precursor to, and comorbid with, a number of mental and medical disorders. To ensure proper treatment, DSM-5 recognizes that one or more disorders may be present at the same time. A medical condition such as chronic pain or mental disorder such as breathing-related sleep disorder may be the cause of the insomnia. However, DSM-5 does stipulate that the insomnia should be clinically significant on its own to warrant a diagnosis.


Insomnia Treatment:
Medication is the most commonly used treatment for insomnia. A class of sedatives called hypnotics is typically prescribed. Benzodiazepine has a high risk of side effects and long-term dependence, and therefore is recommended for short-term use. Nonbenzodiazepines are more commonly prescribed today but still have a risk of side effects and are habit forming. Doctors will first try non-drug approaches to treat insomnia. These may include mind relaxation exercises and avoiding stimulants before bedtime such as caffeine. Despite the complications, insomnia worsens when patients go off medication for insomnia.

Psychotherapy approaches (Such as CBT-I) include stimulus control to teach the association between the bed and sleeping, sleep restriction to restore sleep regulation, and cognitive restructuring to address anxiety-related thoughts that lead to a lack of sleep (Mitchell, 2012).
While almost half of us report being kept awake by stress or worry, increasing evidence suggests that a large proportion of chronic, long-term insomnia is caused not by environmental factors but by the very worry we feel about getting our prescribed eight hours. In short, this sleep performance anxiety – our worries about getting enough sleep – is stopping us from getting the sleep we need. Thus, sleep performance anxiety issue should be addressed first during the therapy session.
Study also finds that those highly suggestible to clinical hypnosis can have deeper sleep after hypnotic suggestion.


Message from Hiro Koo:
Our psychological hypnosis approach will combine psychotherapy and clinical hypnosis methods to deal with your insomnia problem. First, we will do an initial consultation (Include brainwaves analysis method) to find out the root cause of your insomnia problem. After that, we will recommend the most helpful method to deal with your insomnia. Please drop me an email if you need more info: [email protected]



Source:
http://www.theravive.com/therapedia/Insomnia-Disorder-DSM--5-780.52-(G47.00)
http://www.healthista.com/want-better-sleep-worry-less-about-how-much-youre-getting/

[Corporate Health Talk for SAP Malaysia] Mental Energy Booster Program

A full day workshop with SAP Malaysia during the SAP people weeks 2016.

 My topic is about how can sleep deprivation affect your mental energy level and what are the effective ways to manage it.

Yes, the best way to boost up your mental energy level is to learn healthy coping strategies.

Thus, my role of the day is to share some DIY coping techniques for all the staffs here.

We all know that learning to do-it-yourself can save thousands of dollars in nearly any arena of life.

Participants were undergoing the brainwaves assessment during the workshop.

For your information, brainwaves assessment is not a medical diagnosis procedure but a safe, non invasive and painless method designed to give the client’s subconscious mind a voice, and allow the Clinical Hypnotherapist to reveal the various underlying factors that shape the client’s cognitive abilities, emotional responses and automatic behavior.

About SAP:

SAP South-East Asia (SEA) has grown from its humble roots in the late 1980’s to become one of the most successful companies operating in the region today. SAP SEA covers a diverse territory consisting of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam and the rest of the Emerging Markets. Headquartered in Singapore, SAP is now serving 1,222 large enterprise customers and 4,585 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across the region.

We hope all the staffs found the sessions advantageous in future decision-making on health-related services. Please do not hesitate to contact us for any further information.

第11届马来西亚华社辅导研讨会11th Malaysian Chinese Counseling Conference - Research Paper Presentation by Hiro Koo

I was sharing about my research related to clinical hypnotherapy and sleep quality in this national counseling conference in Malaysia. This is research for my master's thesis. I am grateful to my advisor and supervisor for their guidance. To the event organizer, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your invite and the excellent organized Conference.

研讨会主题源自于生命线协会去年所推展“我听见了你”运动。生命线协会透过全国巡迴讲座、工作坊、青少年营、父母成长班、教师工作坊等，唤醒社会大众对“倾听”的觉醒，希望校园、企业界及社区等，皆能理解“倾听”的可贵及重要，一起建立“会倾听，愿倾听”的社会，陪伴家人朋友及时面对压力、困扰与生活瓶颈，进而达到减压力、抗忧鬱、防自杀的健康社会目标。

除了工作坊，研讨会的内容还包括研究报告、研讨课题、公开演讲及华社辅导机构交流会。感谢主办单位，让我有幸可以在这个意义非凡的活动中与大家分享我的研究报告。让心理健康工作者了解到临床催眠和脑电波反馈疗法对心理健康所扮演的角色。也感谢在场500名参与者的支持与鼓励。

Jasmine Magazine茉莉杂志 - J Mental by Hiro Koo (July 2016 Issue) 失眠症

 

在我中心里，因失眠问题而求医的人不计其数。

许多人在练习了我教导的自我催眠法后，睡眠都得以改善。

承蒙茉莉杂志对心理健康的醒觉活动，我有这个机会跟大家分享一套简易的助眠秘籍。

现在就去临近书摊找出7月份的<Jasmine Magazine茉莉杂志>,

你就可以学到一个由我教导的简单易学自我催眠术来改善你的睡眠质感哦！

 

《健康时尚A Healthy Lifestyle Magazine》March 2016 - All about sleep apnea and snoring 睡眠窒息症与打鼾

转载自《健康时尚A Healthy Lifestyle Magazine》March 2016 - 生活专题：睡眠窒息症与打鼾
欢迎留言咨询更多治疗详情。

Natural Health Magazine (March 2016 Issue) "Snoring and Sleep Apnea, symptoms too loud to ignore" by Hiro Koo

Natural Health Magazine (March 2016 Issue)  

"Snoring and Sleep Apnea, symptoms too loud to ignore" by Hiro Koo

SLEEP MANAGEMENT MALAYSIA

How can someone measure his/her sleeping quality?

How important water is for our daily living, sleep is equally as important to rejuvenate our body. Imagine yourself not having a quality sleep can have an impact on your performance the next day at work, the reason is sleep deprivation which to large extent affects our prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is just like the cream on our cakes located front of the brain just behind the forehead, in charge of abstract thinking and thought analysis, it is also responsible for regulating behavior. This includes mediating conflicting thoughts, making choices between right and wrong, and predicting the probable outcomes of actions or events. It acts as a filter to prevent oneself from irrelevant information interfering the task on hand.

With years of experience in this field, I have analyzed quite a number of brain waves using EEG Bio feedback at SOL, in most cases clients with sleep issue often lack in focus and have higher tendency to become restless. E.g. even for young kids with excessive slow brain waves on the prefrontal cortex tend to suffer from attention deficit, hyperactive behavior which is not very surprising because at the end of the day I often check with the parents on their sleeping patterns and there it goes.

Sometimes craving for sweet or high carbohydrate diet such as rice, noodles can be result of insufficient sleep, this is due to sleep deprivation that disrupts your body function which is responsible for regulating your appetite and research have proven.

I would like to share my experience in helping a client, Juliet to manage her sleeping problems and issues caused by sleep deprivation.

Finding it difficult to stay focused and remain calm

“Juliet is a corporate executive, and recently she was bothered by some health concerns which worried her so much that she sought help from us. She was losing focus in her work and experiencing fatigue very frequently. She did not take these signs seriously until one day she passed out in her office. Initially, she thought she was having autonomic nervous system dysfunction as she experienced symptoms such as excessive fatigue, blood pressure fluctuations, rapid heart rate, dizziness and digestive problem.Autonomic nervous system dysfunction generally involves impairment of the sympathetic or parasympathetic components of our autonomic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system functions like a gas pedal in a car. It triggers the fight-or-flight response, giving the body a burst of energy to respond to perceived dangers. The parasympathetic nervous system acts like a brake. It arouses the “rest and digest” response that can calm the body down after the danger has passed. Just imagine that, if your brake and gas pedal is not working accordingly? You might experience symptoms similar to Juliet’s or even worst.

Juliet had undergone a health assessment in our centre and the result showed that the main issue in Juliet is not the autonomic nervous system dysfunction but related to her sleeping quality and quantity. To find out more about her concern, a brainwave assessment was conducted on her. According to the result, it showed that there are excessive slow brainwaves on her prefrontal cortex which would lead to impairment on her executive functioning. This is the major reason why she was having focus problem, poor mental stamina, short attention span and related issue. Scientific studies have shown that sleep deprivation would bring negative impacts on brain regions like memory and emotions causing development of anxiety related issue. Therefore, Juliet was having anxiety symptoms like indigestion, rapid heart rate and dizziness issue as well.

Solutions to end her daily-struggles

Issues related to Juliet’s sleep deprivation have affected her work performance and daily activities. To help her effectively improve her sleeping quality, Brain Trainer, the non-drug, evidence - based EEG Biofeedback therapy and Neuro-hypnotherapy are suggested to her. Sleeping pills are not recommended as sleeping pills may only improve the duration and quantity of sleep but not the quality of sleep in long run. Juliet was feeling better and her sleeping quality has improved remarkably after completing the program. Besides, a good sleep at night has brought down her anxiety level.

Apart from the cutting-edge therapies, some sleep hygiene tips were given to help her sleep better. For example, stop using her phone at least 30 minutes before bed and reduce her coffee intake or any beverage containing caffeine after 2pm. Moreover, Juliet needs to monitor herself that she needs at least 8 hours of sleep every day instead of 6 hours which previously she thought it is enough for her. Sometimes she is having insomnia, then she would need to practice self-hypnosis techniques tailored for her and shortly, she will be able to fall asleep easily. Juliet’s ability to focus has improved and interestingly, she lost about 5kgs in just 3-month time without any strict diet plan! The reason of her weight loss is simply because she has better sleep quality now.

What is neuro-hypnotherapy and EEG biofeedback therapy?

Researchers at Harvard University found that hypnotherapy actually promotes faster healing. Many insomniacs have tried this intervention with great success. Under hypnosis, you might work out any personal issues that are robbing you of sleep. A clinical hypnotherapist can also "program" you to sleep. Our neuro-hypnotherapy technique is first of its kind in Malaysia which is able to help you to improve your sleep quality. Personalized self-hypnosis method to fall asleep will be developed based on your brainwave response.

EEG biofeedback or brain trainer is based on the international standardized 10-20 electrode location system. It is essentially a way of teaching you how to self-regulate your own electrical activity in the brain and strengthen your sleep spindle activity indirectly. A powerful tool for helping people fall asleep and stay asleep. People who produce more frequent or greater amounts of sleep spindles than the average person require a higher decibel noise level to be roused out of a sound sleep. As we age, we produce fewer spindles and are more sensitive to noises around us. This can be one of the explanations why older people don't seem to sleep as well.

So are you getting at least 7 hours of sleep? Do you wake up feeling refreshed? If not, contact your healthcare provider as soon as possible.

Author:

Hiro Koo