FAQs

No, I run an easy-going practice – once we start therapy, feel free to see me as often or as little as you choose. Some clients elect to see me weekly, twice-monthly or monthly, others prefer to book a session whenever they need one. For some, just one or two sessions in total to talk through a problem is enough to gain clarity.

If you’re a new client, I’ll start by taking a detailed account of your problem and how you’re experiencing it. At the end of that first session, when I feel I have a good initial understanding of you and the problem(s) you’re facing, I’ll work with you to develop a strategy for change. In many cases there’s great value in just being able to talk to an unbiased, non-judgmental, supportive therapist who is keen to help you to untangle your mind and find the way through to a happier life. Many of my clients have said that after our first session, they feel so much better and lighter for simply having talked about their problem openly for the first time.

In subsequent sessions you are free to discuss anything – from everyday events, dilemmas and feelings to deep-rooted memories, concerns or aspirations for the future. I want you to feel safe and comfortable with me and able to talk about anything.

If you are coming to see me for hypnotherapy alone, to rid yourself of a specific habit, phobia or fear, then we will focus on that specifically.

In subsequent sessions you are free to discuss anything – from everyday events, dilemmas and feelings to deep-rooted memories, concerns or aspirations for the future. I want you to feel safe and comfortable with me and able to talk about anything.

If you are coming to see me for hypnotherapy alone, to rid yourself of a specific habit, phobia or fear, then we will focus on that specifically.

Have you ever found it impossible to change certain negative behaviours or thoughts, however hard you have tried and however much you really want to change?

Scientific research shows that as much as 95% of our behaviour is driven by our unconscious mind. Most of the time, this is a good thing, as our subconscious behaviours are designed to protect us – we instinctively lift our hand from a hot stove and we are alert to danger in a dark alley at midnight. However, sometimes our unconscious mind can start an unhealthy pattern of over-functioning after experiencing something it considers stressful. It then can anticipate future bad experiences when it doesn’t need to. Our brain becomes hardwired to be overly anxious, to be depressed, become phobic, or to take refuge in a number of self-destructive addictive behaviours, such as eating excessively, smoking, alcohol-abuse or taking drugs. These negative thoughts, behaviours or addictions can then become an automatic response to life, leading to a cycle of lack of confidence and despair. They are programmed deep into our unconscious mind, which is why it is very difficult to change them, even when we want to. As a result, at best, you are not able to fulfil your potential, and at worst, they cause great harm to you and your relationships.

Hypnotherapy cleverly gets to the heart of this automatic negative hard-wiring and seeks to gently rewire the unconscious mind to respond to the strains of life as you wish it to – not to feel anxious or depressed all the time, not to reach for that comforting addiction that you want to stop because you know it’s damaging you, and not to feel unnecessary fears or phobias that are limiting your life.

Hypnotherapy is a safe, fast and effective way of helping you to remove unhelpful persistent automatic thoughts or behaviours, and to replace them with automatic positive thinking, encouraging feelings of calm, happiness, confidence, strength and determination to live the life you want to lead.

Cognitive Hypnotherapy has achieved great results. In a recent study published in the Mental Health Review Journal 2015, of people suffering from anxiety or depression reported themselves recovered after an average of 4-6 sessions. You can read more about the study here:

During our first session, I will find out what you want to achieve and ask you about the nature of the problem/s that you want to overcome. We’ll get to know each other so that you can feel safe with me and secure in the knowledge that I’m compassionate, non-judgmental and have the expertise to help you to let go of your problem.

I will ask you a number of questions: about what might have been, and/or are now, the original triggers behind why you’re feeling or acting in this way, how your problem is affecting your life, and what ideally you would like to achieve by coming to see me.

In our first session, we’ll do a simple hypnotherapy exercise together that you’ll be able to practise at home to enhance and accelerate the therapy process between sessions. Clients who take the time to practise self-hypnosis techniques in this way usually see results more quickly. During our second and subsequent sessions, I’ll use various hypnotherapy techniques to gently, safely and effectively ‘rewire’ your brain to let go of your destructive, problematic thinking or behaviours. In the course of your treatment, when necessary, I may record a bespoke hypnotherapy audio for you to listen to at home.

At the beginning of each session, I’ll ask you to close your eyes and relax in your chair and I’ll then lead you into a deeply relaxed state, during which I’ll gently make carefully constructed hypnotic suggestions to effect the positive change that you want.  You’ll be freely able to respond and have a conversation with me throughout the process; it’s important to stress that you’re fully in control and can bring yourself out of your relaxed state whenever you choose.

When the session is at an end, I’ll gradually bring you out of the trance, assuming that you haven’t already brought yourself out at an earlier stage in the intervention.

Absolutely not. You will be in control throughout and will be able to speak to me and respond to the world around you as you usually would. There’s no way in which I can ask you or make you do or say anything against your wishes. In fact, cognitive hypnotherapy only works by helping you to think, act or behave in the way that you want to behave, but can’t because of your own unconscious blocks.

None whatsoever. A stage hypnotist is an entertainer and works in a completely different way. A hypnotherapy session with a qualified hypnotherapist is a completely safe and gentle form of therapy during which you will never lose control, or do or be made to say anything that you don’t want to do or say. It will never involve being made to do something silly or embarrassing.

You’ll feel relaxed, safe and in control, as if in a daydream controlled completely by you. You’ll be able to respond to any outside stimuli – to speak to me or get up if you choose to. In some sessions, I’ll have a conversation with you whilst you are in this light trance; you might be surprised at how normal this conversation feels. In other sessions, I’ll take you into a deeper relaxed state with no talking required from you.

Most of my hypnotherapy clients experience significant positive change in 4-6 sessions.   Some, especially those with specific fears or phobias and those wanting to quit a particular habit such as smoking or nail-biting, may need only two or maybe three sessions before their problem is resolved.

Those who seek counselling – with or without CBT – are generally looking for longer-term support. However, there’s no need to book in a block of sessions; I run an easy-going practice and you can see me for as many or as few sessions as you like. All my clients report that they already feel a positive benefit after their first session with me.

You should ensure that they’re registered with a professional membership/regulatory organisation such as the National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH) or Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNCH). These organisations will take only the best-qualified, fully-insured hypnotherapists – they require that all their members have had rigorous training at a reputable accredited college and have had ongoing supervision.

I myself am a graduate of the renowned Quest Institute and an NCH member.