Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2007/January 2008 | Page 74

life

EQUESTRIAN

That old adage, “get back on
the horse”, is easier said than
done. One man who knows
why fear after an accident can
become insurmountable is
hypnotherapist Cliff Partridge.
Cliff works with people
who have, as he says, “issues
about confidence”. That may
be in an office environment,
or the sporting arena.
People who have fallen
from their horse suddenly
have a completely different
attitude to the challenges
they previously coped with.
Once something has
happened to dent the
confidence, self-belief starts
to go. “You think, ‘I’ve fallen
off my horse, so I’ve lost my
confidence. ‘ The brain says,
ok, I will perform reactions
which make you feel you
haven’t got confidence. You
get ‘away-from’ feelings.
So unconsciously you are
being stopped from doing
things you want to do.”
Cliff became interested in
the workings of the brain
when his fifth child developed
behavioural difficulties. His
studies have led him through
hypnotherapy to Neuro
Linguistic Programming
(NLP). “NLP turned
psychotherapy on its head,”
explains Cliff. “Instead of
looking at the problems, it
looks at the solution.”
He likens the feeling of

74

Falling of
off your
horse is not
the end of
the road

falling off the horse to a state
of euphoria if your favourite
celebrity knocked on your
door. “If he makes you a cup
of tea and sits at your kitchen
table having a chat, your brain
will attach importance to
the seat he sat on, the spoon
he stirred his tea with.”
So with an accident the brain
heightens everything that
happens. “Anyone who has
tripped down stairs knows that
sense of falling in slow motion.
Research believes it is so the
brain can learn from it,” says
Cliff. “The brain is learning
– but so is the person who
remembers every split second
of falling from the horse.”
“The only thing not going
in slow motion is the feeling
of fear. And the thought
“get back on the horse” will
fire off the same feeling.”
Understanding the root of
the problem is where Cliff
starts with his clients. He sees
a lot of people in their own
homes, but also has practises
in Newport and Ryde. A
session is usually two hours –
though he doesn’t clock-watch
– for which he charges £50.
Mind Matters 01983 756201

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