Meet the Chesterfield therapist taking clients on a ‘dream holiday’ to help with conditions such as PTSD and anxiety

Stress Awareness Month has been held every April since 1992 to increase public awareness about both the causes and cures for our modern stress epidemic.

And this year, many of us will be experiencing higher stress levels than ever due to the pandemic – but a therapist from Chesterfield is helping people deal with issues such as these by harnessing the power of their dreams.

Martin Rothery devised his own holistic therapeutic method called Sanomentology, which he says can allow clients to slip into a natural dream state, allowing the 'body to respond physiologically'.

Not confined to just stress or anxiety however, Martin says this form of therapy can help people with all kinds of issues or conditions ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to severe morning sickness – otherwise known as hyperemesis gravidarum – and can be uniquely tailored to each individual client and their needs.

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“Sanomentology is a blend of therapeutic processes and life enhancing processes, touching into the esoteric, the law of attraction and even deeper into quantum theories,” he explained.

"It can be as light or as deep as is needed for the particular client and cover whatever is needed. It can help everybody that’s the beauty of it.

"The listing of the things we help – although it’s not limited to – but we started out with chronic pain. It’s highly effective, 10 to 15 minutes tops to permanently resolve chronic pain issues.

"Onward from there we’re talking anxiety, depression, PTSD, phobias, weight issues, any mental health problems that are going on but also providing that clarity to move forward.

“So, if you’re looking for answers or have got big decisions to make – it’s as limitless as your dreams are basically.”

In the ancient world, many cultures built elaborate temples dedicated to their healer gods, Imhotep in Egypt and Asklepios in Greece for example.

These gods were recognised as having the power to cure supplicants from a variety of ailments within sleep and sacred dreams, with many travelling from far and wide to visit these ‘sleep temples’ as a form of healing.

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Martin, who initially trained as hypnotist and hypnotherapist, said Sanomentology is somewhat based on these ancient rituals – albeit with a few differences.

He said: “They would send their patients or clients into the sleep temples to essentially make themselves better and they would have a dream that was specifically guided to make them heal.

"The difference between what we do and that is we don’t set the scene, we actually take somebody into it. As a brief example, I’d ask where it is you like to go to relax if there’s somewhere you can really be at ease.

"I would then make you imagine that you’re there now and make it feel as real as possible for you. Then I’d ask your unconscious mind to a doorway or gateway to a new place that it is going to create with the specific reason to resolve whatever the issue is.”

Martin recently appeared on This Morning where he transported hosts Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield on a two-minute ‘trip’ to Portugal, calmly guiding their minds through a door and onto a beach, describing the sights, sounds and feelings.

Speaking on the popular daytime programme, he said the aim was to ‘instigate a natural dream state and give the unconscious mind that freedom to resolve or enjoy itself as it likes’.

He insists his method is different to hypnosis, because Sanomentology allows you to control the dream state your mind is in.

“I talk all the way through it then you’d be responding to me. So I’d be asking where you are now, what do you see around you, where do you feel you need to go, what do you feel you need to do,” Martin added.

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"And it becomes reality in that, so far we’ve had one of the trainees, her glasses steamed up when she went into a cold place. It produces physiological effects as well.

"Because the mind doesn’t know the difference between reality and fantasy, people can deal with situations differently.

"For example, somebody who is still grieving somebody they lost 20 years ago. They can meet them and do any unfinished business, they can talk to them, resolve anything that was left so in their mind it has happened and it is real. Therefore it can be let go of, released, and they don’t worry anymore.”

Described as a ‘dream architect’, Martin offers Sanomentology to clients at the Global Therapy Academy, on Beetwell Street, but has also trained hundreds of other therapists in the practice across the world.

For something such as a phobia, he says it can often take a single session to resolve whereas more complex conditions such as PTSD may take around four.

Adding that he has helped thousands of people over the years, Martin urged those who need a resolution of some kind to give Sanomentology a go.

He said: "We can guide any dream anywhere, doing anything. We’ve guided people to see their potential futures, we’ve guided people to set their goals to get their businesses running as well as the healing stuff.

“We don’t give up. We will work with the client until we get the resolution because the resolution is always in their head somewhere.”

To find out more visit www.sanomentology.com.

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