Using neurolinguistic programming and hypnotherapy in the treatment of Erectile Dysfunction

Contrary to popular stigma, erectile dysfunction is a condition that can impact all men regardless of age, health and alcohol consumption.

Erectile dysfunction covers a broad range of symptoms but generally refers to any condition where a man can’t achieve an erection firm or for long enough to maintain penetrative sex.

While a man can feel like the only person in the world experiencing the frustration and anger at not being able to have sex at a time he wants to, recent studies confirm as many as 40% of Australian men are likely to experience erectile dysfunction at one time or another.  If you or your partner is experiencing erectile dysfunction, you’re far from alone!

Physically, what has previously been more commonly known as impotence can leave a man with unsatisfied sexual desires. Emotionally, the ongoing condition can also put a strain on relationships as one or both partners miss the intimacy of regular intercourse.

Perhaps most significantly, erectile dysfunction can lead to a crisis of identity or confidence for men who traditionally believe that maintaining an erection is the first and most significant sign of their masculinity. In those cases where this is then taken away, the impact on self-esteem can be devastating and can infiltrate into every area of life.

Causes of erectile dysfunction

Most men at some stage of life are likely to go through a period of erectile dysfunction. This might start during a relationship breakdown, stressful period at work or during a bought of depression.  If the condition starts with no obvious trigger and persists for longer than a month, a visit to the doctor is recommended to make sure there are no underlying medical issues.

If an erection can be achieved during sleep or masturbation or there are no underlying medical conditions, other common causes of erectile dysfunction may include:

  • Stress
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Relationship issues
  • Drug and alcohol dependency
  • Vicious circle – pressure to perform
  • A combination of one or more of the above

Treating erectile dysfunction

The good news is, if there is no medical cause, erectile dysfunction is something that may be rectified relatively simply through a strategic combination of NLP, hypnotherapy and coaching.

NLP and erectile dysfunction

In many cases, ongoing erectile dysfunction is simply a consequence of habit. Once it happens once or twice, initially triggered by an environmental or emotional event, the brain can subconsciously create negative thought loops making the behaviour harder to stop, just like smoking or overeating.

Much of erectile dysfunction stems from fear and anxiety. Fear of it happening again, or anxiety that it may never improve. NLP can be highly effective in reducing the symptoms of erectile dysfunction by replacing the fear with new thought patterns that lead to more positive outcomes in the same scenario.

The brain then responds to intimacy with those more positive feelings which become the dominant thought pattern. By focussing on those thought patterns and habits through neuro-linguistic programming, fear, anxiety and apprehension are replaced with sexual desire once again.

Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as telling yourself you want to overcome erectile dysfunction without identifying the underlying causes. And that’s where hypnotherapy and NLP may help.

NLP can address the brain’s neural thought patterns associated with the dysfunction and help break poor and debilitating neural associations within the brain.  Once these poor neural associations are broken, NLP is then used to install new neural pathways in the brain that help provide positive sexual outcomes and a new sex strategy.

Hypnotherapy can then help address any unhelpful behaviours that may be linked to ED such as smoking, drinking, lack of self-confidence or stress and anxiety. Hypnotherapy can also be used to install new positive thoughts and positive sexual suggestions straight to the subconscious mind that will assist with the process of achieving positive sexual outcomes.

Treating the symptoms of erectile dysfunction without addressing the psychological causes is likely to replace the dysfunction with related problems in the future (such as premature ejaculation).

This works in exactly the same way as an addict who has given up a substance but failed to deal with the reasons they turned to drugs, alcohol, food or shopping in the first place. These cases often go on to replace the initial substance or behaviour with another.

How long does it take to treat erectile dysfunction?

Erectile dysfunction covers a range of conditions so treatment will vary. Using a combination of NLP, hypnotherapy and coaching, previous clients have experienced positive outcomes within as few as four sessions with Jade.

To find out more about our treatment for erectile dysfunction, contact Jade today.