What is Hypnotherapy?

People have been pondering and arguing over hypnosis for more than 200 years, but science has yet to fully explain how it actually happens. We see what a person does under hypnosis, but it isn't clear why he or she does it. This puzzle is really a small piece in a much bigger puzzle: how the human mind works. The key to understanding the general characteristics of Hypnosis is that it is natural for us as humans to be able to go into trance therefore clinical Hypnotherapy is very simply the application of this natural trance state for a therapeutic purpose. Hypnotherapy can be combined with other therapies extremely successfully and I will often use a variety of techniques including EFT, NLP and Counselling to assist the client to overcome emotional or anxiety related problems.

Often clients wish to be able to achieve something which they currently perceive as being impossible, such as overcoming a phobia or an addiction or unwanted habit such as smoking. Increasingly Hypnotherapy is being successfully used to alleviate stress symptoms. It can also help with performance and test nerves and can provide valuable assistance with almost all psychosomatic illnesses such as migraine, stress, digestive problems including irritable bowel syndrome and muscular tension. Athletes and sports people also find that Hypnotherapy can greatly assist with mental rehearsal, concentrationand goal achievement.

Clients are sometimes a little wary to begin with since they imagine that the therapy involves them losing control and possibly revealing their innermost secrets! In fact, they are fully in control and can bring themselves out of trance at any time if they so wish. Once therapy begins they are normally enjoying the relaxed state so much that all they want is for it to not to end too soon!

How do I conduct a Hypnotherapy session and how many are needed?  

In the initial consultation a detailed assessment is made; it may not always be possible to start therapy proper at this initial stage because the client can bring a lot of information that they have been holding onto for quite some time. This has been mostly my experience anyway. During the time between the client returning to the their session proper, I would have reflected upon that information and the goals wanted by the client. I would then have a pretty good idea of what suggestions to make for the wellbeing of the client on his or her return to therapy. The client is asked to sit or lay comfortably in a chair. I then talk soothingly and will guide the client slowly and gently into a relaxed state of hypnosis by using their imagination and anything relevant to them also from information given in the consultation. 

It is difficult to say how many sessions will be necessary because of the wide range of conditions which may be treated and the fact that all clients are different and will make progress at different rates. Often improvements will be noticed after just one session, however, a number of sessions over a period of time are advisable to gain full benefit.  This I discuss with the client in more detail at the Initial stage.  I let the client know that we will both know whether the treatment is working and the client as well as myself will be able to gauge whereabouts they are in the process as their therapy is always a collaborative venture. 

If you already haven't done so, visit the FAQs page for more detailed answers regarding Hypnosis.

NB: At this point in time, hypnotherapists are not regulated in the United Kingdom and there is no UK organisation that governs standards. That having been stated, the National Council for Hypnotherapy (the body to which I belong) is working towards regulation in line with the National Occupational Standards. I agree whole heartedly with this because only then will the public be reassured and safe in the hands of well qualified therapists. However, in 1955 the British Medical Association endorsed the practice of hypnosis in Medical School education, since then it has become a valuable addition to conventional medical treatment.