Dr Shahid

"Well, I've always wanted to be a doctor since I was little, but as I grew older, life threw a number of challenges at me, which actually forced me to learn more deeply about myself. 

Had it not been through these deep changes I would not have been here today, and now I feel so honoured and grateful to serve and help others."

"As medical students, we loved to help make people feel better. We would make tea for relatives, listen to their stories, hold patients' hands, and be with them in their last moments. But as time went on only few would be left with those qualities of compassion and empathy. In fact, by the end of GP training, with 10-minute appointments, endless distractions, paperwork and admin, it often feels like working as a cashier scanning shopping. I think it's necessary to engage in a more human way for both the patient and the doctor.

Spending time listening to patients' stories really inspired me. People who had endured so much, from chronic illnesses, chronic pain, stress, and cancer; I would wonder what was the difference between those who did well and those who struggled? 

So by using a human/compassionate approach, whilst trying to educate and encourage positive change in I did see real change in chronic conditions, I saw people come back after a 10-minute chat with a new direction for their health and life, and they were so grateful. I enjoyed seeing that change so much."

"I went on to learn more; about chronic pain, trained as an ambassador for Public Health Collaboration, read further into lifestyle treatment, studied food for mood, spoke to other practitioners such as functional medical practitioners... and I heard the same message from them, people need holistic health. It can prevent many of those nasty conditions which are debilitating people but also destroying our NHS, such as cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attacks stroke, depression.... the list goes on.

So why is there such a gap in practicing this? I realised that it's not the 'what to do' as much as 'how to do'. 

Distressing emotions such as stress, anxiety, and fear can hold people back from change, and can drive harmful behaviours that get them stuck into a cycle of unhappiness and ill health. They need guidance on how untangle their emotions quickly, the tools to set their health/life navigation in the right direction, and go beyond that to help them gain deep purpose and value for their life"

Learning from patients was a great experience, but that wasn't enough, so I trained as a Transformational Coach. It was a great opportunity because the trainers shared their incredible stories about how they brought dramatic changes to people's lives. 

At first, I was dubious about using hypnotherapy and NLP due to my own preconceptions about them, but after researching them and understanding their value and seeing how quickly they work, I was really excited to use these techniques to help others, and can bring change quickly.

Usually, this would be done via cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) only, however, it is often slow, and people wait a long time to access it on the NHS. Research on CBT shows that behavioural change (rather than thought change) was the most important element. 

But with hypnotherapy and NLP, untangling emotions and their connected thoughts happens rapidly, so we can get to the coaching/creating change quickly, to make lasting positive behavioural changes."

"Yes! I am a student of Tazkiya (Islamic Spirituality) which guides a human being to purify the 'self' of negative and harmful traits, such as greed, envy and hatred, and replace them with beneficial traits such as sincerity, selflessness and compassion. I hope that this will make me a better person to help others and will hold me to a higher level of ethics and accountability.