Liz Croton
Dr Liz Croton is a General Practitioner (GP) from Birmingham, England.
What sort of therapy practitioner are you?
I use Medical NLP, TFT and hypnotherapy. I’m also a NHS GP and Network Marketing professional.
(A GP is a British term for ‘family doctor’.)
How long have you been practicing?
As a GP, since 2007 and as a hypnotherapy practitioner since 2012.
Do you see clients from home or in a clinic?
I incorporate the techniques into my NHS consultations. I do see some private clients but most of my work is NHS based in the surgery.
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I see a lot of anxiety and phobias and traumatic experiences from the past.
What are your biggest frustrations in running your practice?
Time mainly due to the length of my consultations. When I’m seeing private clients, this is obviously a lot easier, as there is more leeway. My NHS consultations are 12 minutes long, so I have to work pretty fast! You can achieve a lot though if you choose your words carefully and get your state right. I will set people tasks to do in-between consultations so that they can practice the techniques at home.
What do you find hardest about your daily work?
I suppose the sheer volume of people I see every day. A new face every 12 minutes. I have to work hard to keep myself in a good state for consulting and I have found many of the techniques that I use with patients very helpful to use on myself.
Do you find your professional body supportive and helpful? Do they help you to connect with other therapists?
I’m with the British Institute of Hypnotherapy and they have been very supportive. I contribute to their journal and review books for them. The Society of Medical NLP is also a great resource and we regularly connect with other practitioners in MNLP and learn from each other.
How do you manage work and life? Stress management/avoiding burnout
I’m learning to set good boundaries with clients and patients. I’m very clear about how many clients I will see per month and I stick to this. I have a regular meditation practice and practice yoga. I also have other business interests such as Network Marketing and hobbies such as stand-up comedy!
What frustrates you most about the way mental health is dealt with in your country?
As a GP, I would say that we have not enough time with patients and not enough resources to back us up if we need to refer on. I also think that we prescribe too many antidepressants. It’s extremely challenging for GPs though when faced with a distressed patient. We want to do “something” to help and the prescription pad can seem a viable option in these cases.
Can you tell us about your most uplifting experience when treating a client?
There have been so many. We’ve cured phobias in 10 minutes (one consultation) that have been present for years. With the most recent case I saw, I simply encouraged her to view the phobia from a different perspective and it resolved itself.
Pictured above: Liz at work in her surgery.
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About Mark Tyrrell
Psychology is my passion. I've been a psychotherapist trainer since 1998, specializing in brief, solution focused approaches. I now teach practitioners all over the world via our online courses.
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