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This Life: The stress buster
Hypnotherapist Vernon Sykes would like you to have a nice, relaxing lie down. He'd like you to put your feet up for 10 minutes, or more if you can spare the time – although he could probably work wonders for you in just five. Neil Hudson met the man who wants you to keep your new year's resolutions
VERNON Sykes has worked as a hypnotherapist for over 40 years and in that time he's helped people meet all kinds of challenges, from quitting smoking to curing one woman of the fear of all things red.
A former hypnotherapist with the NHS, the 80-year-old worked at Fountain Medical Centre, Leeds, for 10 years and for five years at the now closed Leeds Pain Clinic, which was part of Leeds General Infirmary, where he was a consultant hypnotherapist.
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A former pupil of Batley Grammar School, he was a pharmacist for 20 years and now works three days a week at his surgery on Troy Road, Morley.
He is a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the European Society of Hypnosis in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine.
He has appeared in more than 90 TV and radio broadcasts and still lectures medical professionals on alternatives to medicine.
The one thing I could not live without is my health. I need to be healthy so I can help people out and there's a lot who need helping. Hypnotherapy and psychotherapy can help with a great deal of things, including stress. Although we do need some stress in our lives, too much can lead to all kinds of problems. It lowers your immune system and that's when you get other ailments. It's important to de-stress and that's what I teach people to do.
My first job was working as a pharmacist in Dewsbury, after I did three years at pharmacy college. I later moved to work in Morley but I was a chemist for 20 years. I have also been a member of Morley Rotary Club for 20 years and I was a Scout master for 50 years.
The thing I am most proud of is my family, which is my wife, Ann, my two daughters and son and my five grandchildren. After that I would say helping people. I've helped many people down the years, including a man who smoked 120 cigarettes a day to quit his habit. It's a partnership and requires determination from them too. I have helped people overcome phobias, including fears of flying, heights and even one woman who was scared of the colour red. In many cases, these fears stem from incidents in our youth, our responses to which were stored by our subconscious at the time and a lot of us still carry them round.
To relax I like gardening. I plant, I weed, I grow apples. I also teach other people how to relax. That's very important. I deal with the whole of you, the conscious and the subconscious. The subconscious is like a computer in that it cannot think or rationalise things. In some ways, it's a bit thick. It takes a lot of the strain off our conscious minds, which allows us to get on with everyday tasks, so it's important, because otherwise we'd never get anything done. However, it stores things for a long time, including our responses to certain situations and it sometimes needs resetting, which is what I do. I also teach people to do it themselves.
As a child I always wanted to be a doctor, I wanted to heal people. In a way that's what I try to do today. People come to me for all kinds of things: to help them stop smoking, to lose weight, to get help with phobias like flying, for pain relief. I can teach them to de-stress, clear out the garbage in their subconscious and I like to get them to imagine resetting a control panel and updating it and just take time out.
The best piece of advice I ever got was if you get some good advice share it!
My philosophy on life is to enjoy yourself.
If I could meet anyone at all it would have to be Ken Dodd. He once asked to see me back when I did shows. He'd heard about what I did, that was in Bradford.
Something which might surprise people is I used to work as a comic actor in the theatre. I was a stand-up comic. I wrote and produced a review and variety programmes. It was the time of our lives, we were treated like proper stars, it was unbelievable. I've always been a bit of a performer. I did a double act with another chap and I had a dummy, which I called Nonrev, which is my name backwards.
Even if I could remember my first kiss, I wouldn't tell you. I can tell you I met my wife in my 30s though and we've been married for 49 years. It will be 50 years in May.
Favorite things....
Favourite food: Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.
Favourite programme: Loose Women.
Favourite author: I like most war books, I have three shelves of them at home, mostly about the Second World War, although I do like to read about the Great War too.
Favourite actor: I don't have one.
Star sign: Cancer.
Vernon Sykes can be contacted on 0113 253 3494; or by email at: www.drvernonsykesclinic.gbr.cc.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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