End of Life Doula Stuart Downing

16/10/2025

Insomnia, Sleep Issues , Misophonia
Client referral posted today ,
" Great, and effective hypnotherapist. Stuarts techniques really work and will change you're life for the better.
Hi my name is Neil. I came across Stuart Downing when I found myself seeking out hypnotherapy to treat problems I was having with my sleep due to living next door to previous neighbours who were very noisy and whom had kept me awake. Thankfully, after a couple of months, the neighbours had moved on, but unfortunately as a result, I developed an anxiety about getting to sleep, which in turn lead to me developing an insomnia which was caused by the anxiety. I had also developed Misophonia as a result, and had become hypersensitive to certain noises, such as any bangs or thuds. Even though the neighbours had left, my anxiety still persisted, which only caused me even more anxiety as I couldnt understand why I just couldnt relax as I knew the neighbours were no longer there. It got too the point where the anxiety around my sleep was so bad, that it really started to have a profound effect on my life. I felt I couldnt enjoy life anymore, I just wasnt happy. I had felt like I had lost the ability to relax, as a result it really started to effect my relationships with my family as I just wasnt me anymore, so to speak. Thats when I knew I had to do something as I felt it was destroying my life. I researched hypnotherapy. I was curious as to how it worked, and researched whether or not it would be beneficial for the issues that I was going through. I sought out a few hypnotherapists, thats when I came across Stuart Downing. I did my research on him, and discovered that he could treat issues around sleep/anxiety. I read his reviews, which were all positive. I booked a consultation with Stuart, who was very friendly and reassuring and explained how hypnotherapy worked and the methods he was going to deploy in helping to heal me. In the consultation, Stuart told me that I would only require three to four sessions at the most, which I was surprised about to be honest, as I felt so afflicted by my issues. What can I say? Well, after just one session, I already noticed a vast improvement in my sleep quality. I was sleeping longer and deeper, and waking up totally refreshed. Over the last few weeks of the sessions , my sleep and anxiety has just got better and better. I feel much less anxious, and lot more relaxed, like a weight has been lifted. I am so glad that I decided to invest in the sessions with Stuart, and would recommend it to anyone who is considering hypnotherapy. Stuart helped me learn that a lot of fear is irrational and totally unnessacary, and that I can rationalise with myself that I do not need to feel that fear. I have also learnt extremely effective relaxation techniques, which have really helped me. I f I ever experience any difficulties in the future, I will be sure to utilise these techniques. So, if you have any issue that is effecting you to the point where it is having a profound effect on you're life, then I would highly recommend that you book yourself a consultation with Stuart Downing, it can and will change you're life!
Neil 14/10/25
If you need help with sleep issues , contact Stuart 07825 599340
stuart@hypnotherapy4freedom.co.uk
https://hypnotherapy4freedom.co.uk/reviews
https://hypnotherapy4freedom.co.uk/hypnotherapy-services/hypnotherapy-for-sleep-disorders-insomnia

Sleep hypnosis is extremely effective for those who struggle with sleeping, and hypnotherapy for insomnia can help alleviate your struggles.

05/02/2022

End of Life Doula
Enjoy calmer and more relaxed relationships in both personal and work life
Call Stuart - 07825 599340 for a free telephone consultation - stuart@stuartdowning.co.uk
www.stuartdowning.co.uk
Client reviews - https://www.stuartdowning.co.uk/client-reviews

I coach people through change, allowing clients to find direction and achieve their potential. Successful coaching is a process, requiring regular meetings and continuous support between sessions. I work from several locations Edgbaston, Birmingham, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, Harley Street, London, L...

04/05/2021

for , - online appointments available -07825 599340 - stuart@stuartdowning.co.uk
www.hypnotherapy4freedom.com

28/04/2021

Client review posted today, .
Call Stuart - 07825 599340 to discuss your issue and how hypnotherapy and neuro- therapy techniques can enable you to break free .
See all client reviews - https://www.stuartdowning.co.uk/client-reviews
Online Zoom appointments available
stuart@stuartdowning.co.uk
www,hypnotherapy4freedom.com

Stuart is a masterful practitioner within his field. I contacted his hypnotherapy practice full of scepticism after realising I needed to seek alternative avenues to those I’d already explored. Stuart listened to my problems and then gave me insight into the mental triggers and impulses that influ...

21/03/2021

Post Covid Stress Disorder
Those who had severe Covid-19 symptoms have found themselves admitted to ICUs and receiving mechanical ventilation and would clearly expect to share the heightened risk of subsequently developing PTSD in the form of Post Covid Stress Disorder. However, it appears that Covid-19 patients are generally experiencing poorer mental health outcomes than might be expected regardless of the course their illness took or the treatment they received.
A study of Covid-19 patients in the UK by Imperial College London and the University of Southampton included over 13,000 patients with suspected and confirmed Covid-19 and a variety of outcomes. It found that mechanical ventilation was strongly correlated with subsequent symptoms of PTSD; but the UK study found a higher rate of patients, one-in-three, subsequently experienced those symptoms.
Although the UK sample was controlled to try to account for other external factors, if it were considering purely ventilated patients the difference might not be significant; the relevant numbers in both studies were small. However, the UK study found that regardless of treatment received patients reported key PTSD symptoms, the most common being intrusive images or flashbacks.
The proportion of those in the study who reported symptoms of PTSD included one-in-five of those admitted to hospital, but not ventilated, and one-in-six of those who simply received some medical treatment at home. Perhaps most interestingly one-in-ten of those who had Covid-19 but managed their symptoms without medical help or intervention also reported PTSD symptoms after their recovery.
Covid-19’s effect on mental health
There also seems to be an association between Covid-19 and other mental health problems. Initial research has suggested that one-in-five people with a positive Covid-19 test are diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, such as depression or anxiety, in the following three months, of those around one-in-sixteen for the first time.
A follow-up study, still in preprint, suggests an increased rate of neurological and psychiatric problems in the six months after an initial positive test.
Why this is the case is unclear, and as the studies highlight, it’s not impossible that the patients were more likely to contract Covid-19 as a result of behaviours associated with poor mental health, rather than developing poor mental health as a result of Covid-19. However, the apparent increase in other neurological conditions may suggest that Covid-19 is not purely a respiratory illness and adds to the evidence that it can have effects on other parts of the body, in this case the brain.
Non-Covid Stress Disorder
Poor mental health, including PTSD, is not limited just to those that have contracted Covid-19. The negative effects on mental health of the pandemic have been observed in people who, although they have not had the illness, have been exposed, in some way, to its effects.
Healthcare workers comprise the main part of this group, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, those working in ICUs are the most at risk. The Covid-19 pandemic put unprecedented pressure on ICUs and ICU staff, during peaks they were required to work beyond their usual capacity, in some places using makeshift ICUs with equipment being adapted to help them cope.
And while ICU staff may be used to death, the nature of death during the Covid-19 pandemic changed. With families unable to visit, farewells were said while staff held phones and tablets aloft and were unable to provide even simple comforts like a human touch. A study of nurses in China found that about one-in-six had PTSD following the exposure to Covid-19 patients.
There are several protective factors and stressors that will affect the likelihood of staff to suffer from PTSD symptoms, from the protection provided by simple job satisfaction to the stressors of having experienced loss to Covid-19 elsewhere or the strains of insufficient or inadequate PPE experienced by many early in the pandemic.
Perhaps the biggest stressor on healthcare staff was the moral injury. There is a correlation between moral injury — the feeling of responsibility, fault or failure — and PTSD. While entirely unjustified, Covid-19 provided lots of opportunities for healthcare staff to feel a moral injury, whether from the patient they were unable to save, being off work because of Covid-19 or symptoms, or having to make difficult decisions when resources were stretched.
There is even some evidence that there may be a population-wide exposure to stress as a result of the pandemic, a type of vicarious stress disorder. While this indirect exposure to trauma would not meet the strict diagnostic criteria for PTSD the effects on the wider population’s mental health has often been commented on. A survey by the CDC found that two in every five people had suffered an adverse mental health effect as a result of the pandemic. A quarter of these were trauma- or stressor-related.
Coping with Post-Covid Stress Disorder
Whether Post Covid Stress Disorder is a condition in its own right or just a particular presentation of PTSD it will require professional treatment. PTSD can respond well to treatments like therapy or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing,(E.M.D.R ) but untreated can persist for years after the trauma.
In practice, many people are best trying to increase the known protective factors and decrease exposure to stressors associated with PTSD. This will mean ensuring there is adequate social support, security — both financial and physical — and good healthcare provision available. While healthcare workers should also have access to support at their workplace and access to PPE.
Unfortunately, when fighting a pandemic, these are the very things that are almost immediately removed. Policies designed to reduce transmission can cause social isolation and have economic effects putting people’s livelihoods at risk. And while healthcare workers have job security, the pressures caused by a pandemic can mean the system’s resources have to be prioritized for the patients rather than the staff.
Research is still ongoing, but the studies so far suggest that it’s reasonable to expect more will be discovered connecting Covid-19 with poor mental health and some form of post-Covid stress disorder. Just as the long-term physical impacts of Covid-19 are still unknown, we don’t know what the long-term mental health impacts will be. However, we can be confident not just that there will be some, but also that they will not be limited just to those who had the virus.
Call Stuart - 07825 599340 for a free confidential call if you feel Post-Covid Stress Disorder is affecting you .
stuart@stuartdowning.co.uk
Online Zoom appointments available
https://www.emdrtherapykenilworth.co.uk/

08/03/2021

Sleep and Dreaming

Not all dreaming is the same.
Dreams can be funny, frightening, sad or strange. Flying dreams can be euphoric, chasing dreams can be terrifying, forgot-to-study-for-my-exam dreams can be stressful.
There are several dream classifications, including nightmares, recurring dreams, and lucid dreams.
Nightmares are broadly defined as frightening dreams that result in some degree of awakening from sleep. "Bad dreams" are considered a less severe form of nightmare. Most people experience nightmares throughout life, usually very rarely and, less commonly, with more regularity. A small percentage of the population—studies suggest around 5%—have nightmares as often as once a week.
Nightmares can result from different triggers, including stress, emotional upheaval, and traumatic experiences. They can occur as side effects of some medications, use and abuse of drugs and alcohol, and illness. Nightmares themselves disrupt sleep by not only by waking the sleeper, but also leading to a fear of falling asleep and returning to a disturbing dream.
Nightmares can have other negative sleep-related health consequences, as well. According to research, they may contribute to insomnia, daytime fatigue, depression, and anxiety.
Studies indicate that people with certain conditions may be more likely to experience nightmares, including:
Migraine
Obstructive sleep apnea
Clinical depression
Night terrors, or sleep terrors, create another frightening dream-like experience. While they are frightening and disruptive to sleep, night terrors are not the same as nightmares. Night terrors are very intense episodes of fright during dreams. These frightening episodes are often accompanied by screaming or yelling, as well as by physical movement such as leaping out of bed or flailing in panic. Research suggests that sleep terrors occur during non-REM sleep dreaming, while nightmares tend to happen during REM sleep.
Adults do experience night terrors, but they are somewhat more common in children. Estimates suggest that as many as 6% of children experience night terrors, most often between the ages of 3-12.
Recurring dreams are ones that reappear with some pattern of regularity. Studies suggest that recurring dreams may contain more threatening content than regular dreams. Research suggests links between recurring dreams and psychological distress in both adults and children.
Lucid dreams are an especially fascinating form of dream. In lucid dreams, the dreamer is aware of the fact that he or she is dreaming, and often can manipulate or control the dream as it unfolds.
Research links lucid dreaming to unusually elevated levels of brain activity. Studies have found that lucid dreamers displayed significantly higher brain wave frequencies than non-lucid dreamers, as well as increased activity in parts of the frontal lobe. This area of the brain is deeply involved with conscious awareness, a sense of self, as well as language and memory. Studies of lucid dreams are not only shedding light on the mechanics of dreaming, but also on the neural underpinnings of consciousness itself.
Dreams appear to be influenced by our waking lives in many ways.
Theories about why we dream include those that suggest dreaming is a means by which the brain processes emotions, stimuli, memories, and information that’s been absorbed throughout the waking day.
According to research, a significant percentage of the people who appear in dreams are known to the dreamer. One study found more than 48% of dream characters were recognizable by name to dreamers. Another 35% of characters were identifiable to dreamers by their generic social role or relationship—as a friend, doctor, or police officer, for example. Fewer than one fifth of dream characters—16%—were unrecognizable to dreamers.
Other research indicates that a majority of dreams contain content related to autobiographical memories—memories about the self—as opposed to episodic memories, which deal with events and details, such as locations and times.
There’s a body of study that suggests our waking lives have great influence over the content of our dreams. Pregnant women dream more about pregnancy and childbirth. Hospice workers who act as caregivers to others (whether patients or family members) dream about the experiences of caregiving and the people for whom they care. Musicians dream twice as often about music as non-musicians do.
There’s also fascinating research that shows our capacity to dream beyond our waking experiences, in profound ways. Dream reports of people born paralyzed reveal that they walk, swim, and run in their dreams as often as people without paralysis. Dream reports of people born deaf indicate they often hear in their dreams. These reports may lend credence to the theory that dreams serve as a broad, virtual-reality model of waking life—a proto-consciousness—that instructs and supports survival and growth.
Daily life experiences don’t always present themselves in dreams immediately. Sometimes an experience from life will filter through to a dream after several days, or even a week. This delay is what’s known as dream lag.
As much as dreams may contain aspects of everyday, routine life, dreaming is also a state in which we contend with extraordinary experiences. Another likely function of dreaming appears to be processing and coming to terms with traumatic events. Grief, fear, loss, abandonment, even physical pain are all emotions and experiences that often replay themselves in dreams. Studies of people who’ve experienced loss of loved ones indicate that most of them dream about the deceased.
Some of the most common dream subjects include:
School dreams (studying, taking tests)
Being chased
Sexual dreams
Falling
Being late
Flying
Being attacked physically
Dreaming of someone dead being alive, or someone alive being dead
A recent study of the content of nightmares found the most common themes included:
Physical aggression
Interpersonal conflicts
Experiences of failure and helplessness
Researchers found fear to be the most common emotion in nightmares and bad dreams, though it’s often accompanied by other emotions as well.
Call Stuart -07825 599340 to discuss your sleep issue and how sleep therapy can help resolve sleep issues .
stuart@stuartdowning.co.uk

07/03/2021

Anxiety and common symptoms
Anxiety can often skew our interpretation of the things that are going on around us, leading us to react in ways that do not line up with the problem at hand. Things that might normally be a breeze, can feel overwhelming – or we might get flustered over simple tasks. Maybe you worry about picking up the phone or making a journey to a new place. This is all because, during periods of anxiety, our bodies are on high-alert, ready to fight or flight at any second.
Being told to ‘calm down’
Whether it’s naïve but well-meaning, or simply ignorant and dismissive, being told to ‘calm down’ when you’re experiencing anxiety rarely solves anything. If it’s coming from someone you trust and care about, you might want to point them in the direction of resources that can teach them about what it’s like to live with anxiety. But if you’re not comfortable doing that, try your best to let the comments wash over you, and don’t let it undermine your experience – as much as a lot of us would like an ‘off’ switch for anxiety, the reality is far more complex.
Overthinking events after they’ve happened
An anxious mind has a tendency to spiral, and one way that it might do that is by taking you over and over an event after it has happened. Maybe you paid for a sandwich and said, ‘thank you’ too many times, or perhaps you spoke up in a meeting and mixed up your words. Going back to the point of mountain vs molehills, it can be easy to obsess over the small, insignificant details of interactions.
Tracing back physical symptoms
Mental health problems can come with some very real physical symptoms, but it’s not always immediately obvious when that is happening. For example, you might feel nauseous and begin to think about what you’ve eaten that day, or maybe if there’s a bug going round, before considering the fact that it could be because you’re worried about a stressful event that’s fast approaching.
Panic creeps up on you
As with many mental health problems, anxiety can come and go in waves. But sometimes it catches you off guard. Perhaps it’s following a period of high stress, or maybe it hits you during a time when you thought everything was going fine. When panic and high levels of anxiety do happen out of nowhere, it can be frustrating – particularly if you’ve been working to try to manage it. But understand that these things are often out of your control, and that sometimes we just have to learn to ride the wave.
Fearing the worst and overpreparing
Do you notice that your mind automatically jumps to the worst-case scenario? And do you then find yourself overpreparing because of this? Perhaps you’re due at an appointment at 11 AM, but you’re worried about traffic, not being able to find the place you’re going to, car troubles, parking restrictions, forgotten items, and anything else that could possibly hold you up. Consequently, you arrive half an hour early.
Trouble sleeping
Sleep problems are incredibly common, and a lot of the time anxiety could be the culprit behind your tossing and turning. Do you find that, the moment your head hits the pillow, your mind begins to race and wander through the day’s stresses? The secret to a good night’s sleep isn’t straightforward, but there are certain steps that you can take to give yourself the best chance of some quality shut-eye.
Feeling frustrated
There will be points in everyone’s lives when they feel a degree of frustration over their thoughts and actions. And when it comes to anxiety, it’s easy to see why we might beat ourselves up about how it can affect how we go about our daily lives.
Call Stuart to see how hypnotherapy can quickly relieve your anxiety issues - 07825 599340
stuart@stuartdowning.co.uk

06/12/2020

just tell me why....

Why don’t doctors tell you to take magnesium instead of stool softeners(which dehydrates the bowel)?

Why don’t doctors tell you to change your diet when you have heart burn and indigestion instead of you taking Prilosec(this causes more heartburn and colon cancer and osteoporosis and leaves food fermenting in your body)?

Why don’t doctors tell you HERBS heal? That food heals?? 🌿 🌱

Why don’t doctors tell you to lower toxic chemicals in your home and when you have constant headaches and allergies(these fragrance and chemicals cause toxic buildup in our cells cause more allergies and headaches)?

Why aren’t you informed by your doctor that if you eat a grapefruit everyday, it will lower your blood pressure naturally and you don’t need 💊 (this is why a person can’t eat it while on blood pressure meds)?

Why doesn’t your doctor tell you to take activated charcoal for headaches, bloating/gas, skin issues, colds, food poisoning(activated charcoal bonds waste/toxins for the removal from the body)?

Why don’t doctors tell you about herbs and herbal teas to support immune and digestive functions(different herbs help different organs do their jobs to keep the body healthy)?

Why isn’t your doctor suggesting that you take a probiotic daily(this boost immune function, helps clean and balance the bowel, helps regulate absorption and elimination, keeps colds and allergies at bay)?

Why don’t your doctors provide you with any information on your vaccines before you inject yourself or child(they don’t disclose that there are aborted baby cells, cow cells, African monkey cells and dog cells, along with many other horrible adjuvants like mercury and aluminum and formaldehyde.... none of which are health beneficial to the body)?

Why don’t doctors create diet/lifestyle plans for patients instead of offering a pill(diet and lifestyle choices are 90+% of all illness)?

Why don’t doctors teach the importance of breastfeeding instead of telling you formula is acceptable(breast milk is the natural immunity holder, it adapts to what a child needs at each individual feeding, it is the ONLY thing that build an immune system in a baby)?

Why don’t doctors tell you to take supplements to boost your health prior to be coming sick and then they recommend 💊 (supplements/herbs/tinctures can all prevent illness by boosting immune function and supporting organs with their natural functions)?

Why don’t doctors teach you that you emotions store in your physical body and can cause you mental anguish, instead the say you need a 💊(emotions can play a very significant roll in our total health, without tools to help navigate our emotions we can easily become physically ill)?

Why don’t doctors tell you when they take a whole organ from your body, that you’re still going to suffer you just will suffer in a new way(organs are all useful, we need them for many reasons, and most organs can be healed completely without removing anything)?

Why don’t doctors take a real role in helping people to live better lives? Why do they set up these protocols of pills that most of them wouldn’t even take? Why aren’t we being helped to be healthy before we get sick?

This needs to change! Healing is here, and possible! We just aren’t getting the right information from the people we were taught to trust!

Copied and pasted!

04/12/2020

A client review posted today regarding a chronic Insomnia issue - in 2 session !
Call/WhatsApp Stuart - 07825 599340 for a free confidential 30 minute consultation to discuss how I can help with your issue - and resolving root causes.... fast
stuart@stuartdowning.co.uk

I've suffered from chronic insomnia all my life. I stumbled across Stuart in an online search and this has been the best investment I've made so far for my sleep troubles. Stuart has given me the tools to work with, given me deeper insights into the underlying issues behind the insomnia and given me...

20/08/2020

Eating Disorders .- Binge Eating

Pleased to post a 5* review received today from a happy client who has resolved his binge eating disorder in just 5 online sessions . All my client reviews are independently collected and verified by a reputable 3rd party review agency and can be viewed on my website review page-
https://www.eatingdisordersbirmingham.co.uk/testimonials/

Call Stuart -07825 599340 for a free 30 minute telephone/online consultation to discuss how therapy can resolve your eating disorder issue,
stuart@hypnotherapy4freedom.com
www.hypnotherapy4freedom.com/eatingdisorders

From: "Trusted Practitioner"
To: "stuart@hypnotherapy4freedom.com"
Sent: 19/08/2020 14:07:03
Subject: A review has been submitted for your approval

Dear Stuart,
Sam has rated your business:

"I never thought I’d be free of my eating disorder, until I met Stuart Downing.

It’s not often that you can say that someone truly changes your life. But Stuart did that for me. I had been a binge eater for as long as I can remember. I had tried crash diets, self help books and even trying not to eat just to find peace! Five sessions with Stuart and for the first time in my life I feel in control of my eating, rather than my eating being in charge of me. If you have any kind of reservation about doing it, I promise you within the first five minutes all anxieties have disappeared and you’ll feel at ease with Stuart. Go for it, you won’t regret it! "

Kind regards,
Trusted Practitioner