Frequently Asked Questions
If you have questions which are not answered here, please get in touch via the contact page
The most appropriate type of therapy for you depends largely on your situation and the problem or issue you would like to address.
Most therapy sessions involve a blend of different therapies and therapy techniques depending on your situation. We will discuss your situation at your first session and decide on the best approach for you.
Therapy sessions provide a safe space for you to explore your situation. During your first session, we will discuss a number of areas connected with your problem or issue including everyday events, problems, feelings, thoughts, memories, past experiences and the future. At each session, we will discuss your progress since we last met and a combination of therapy techniques will be used during your session, to help you get to where you want to be.
You may also be given exercises or tasks to complete between your sessions to build on the work done during your session and to help you to develop new skills and responses to enable you to overcome the problem or issue.
For more information, please visit the Therapy page.
People seek talking therapies to help with a wide variety of problems and issues including:
- Anxiety & Panic Attacks
- Low Confidence & Self Esteem
- Stress Management
- Trauma & PTSD
- Fears & Phobias
- Exams, Tests & Interviews
- Insomnia & Sleep Issues
- Public Speaking
- Stopping Smoking
- Weight Loss
…and many more
Hypnotherapy may also be helpful in managing or reducing some of the symptoms and stress associated with certain medical conditions including Migraines and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
Hypnotherapy has also been recognised as a possible treatment for IBS by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
If you are committed to making changes, the chance of success is high. However, there are a variety of factors that can affect the outcome of therapy sessions and for this reason, it is unethical to offer any guarantee of success.
Generally speaking, there are usually three reasons why therapy may not be as successful as desired:
- You are not ready to fully embrace or participate in the process, or you are not genuinely ready to make a change.
- You do not want to make a change for yourself, but are actually participating in therapy sessions for the benefit of someone else (e.g. feeling under pressure because your partner or doctor want you to have therapy).
- There are hidden ‘secondary gains’ which mean that there is an unintended benefit from continuing with the problem behaviour or response (e.g. if you have a fear of flying, the fear may continue because you are actually afraid of being away from home or may experience separation anxiety when away from a partner or other family members).
Hypnotherapy, NLP and Talking Therapies have a good track record in helping people to make lasting changes, however everyone responds differently and therefore results may vary from person to person. Your motivation and participation are the key to success, so you need to play your part too.
There are a variety of different talking therapies available, each of which works in a different way to help you change the way you feel about an event or situation. Some types of talking therapy are more suitable for some situations than others. The talking therapies that I often use include:
- Hypnotherapy
- Counselling
- Mindfulness
- Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)
- Rewind Therapy
- Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
- Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)
Everyone’s situation is unique and I often use a combination of different therapies to help you make the changes that you need to achieve the changes that you want.
There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach in therapy; so it’s difficult to say exactly how many sessions you may need because everyone is different and some people experience changes more quickly than others.
The number of sessions required also depends on the problem or issue, along with your level of motivation and participation in your therapy sessions.
Hypnotherapy involves working on a subconscious level and so this type of therapy is often relatively rapid, with many issues requiring between 4 to 6 sessions, depending on you and your situation.
With talking therapies such as Counselling or CBT, a course of 6 sessions is often recommended in the first instance, followed by a review. Working with and resolving issues can often be achieved in a fairly short number of sessions and some issues may require longer term therapy. Often problems are resolved in short term therapy (12 sessions or less).
During your first session, we will talk about your situation and decide on the most appropriate therapy approach for you.
Hypnotherapy sessions are typically 2 to 3 weeks apart as this allows sufficient time for your subconscious mind to process new ideas and for you to start making changes.
Other types of talking therapy sessions are usually weekly, especially in the early stages.
We will discuss the frequency and number of sessions during your first session.
The problems or issues that people often seek help with, have usually occurred as a result of past experiences and unhelpful thought processes. In order to overcome a problem or respond differently, the desired change comes from within; therefore, we need to change our thoughts and behaviours.
During your therapy sessions, you may be shown how to use self help tools and techniques to enable you to make the changes that you desire. How you use those tools and the level of effort applied, will affect how quickly you experience positive changes. Remember, your motivation and participation are the key to your success, so you need to play your part too.
Questions About Therapy
Questions About Hypnosis & Hypnotherapy
Far from being the almost zombie-like state that many people think it is, hypnosis is actually a natural psychological trance state which we all experience, usually several times a day. Examples you might be familiar with include day dreaming, travelling to work and not remembering the journey, or being deeply absorbed in a good book or film.
The mind is like an iceberg. Only a small part of an iceberg is visible above the surface of the water and this is similar to the conscious mind; the part of your mind which is responsible for every day thoughts and processes, analysing information, using logic and making decisions. Below the surface is the subconscious mind; the much larger part of your mind which controls the autonomic nervous system and deals with memories and emotions. It is this part of the mind that stores all of the behaviours and responses which make you who you are.
Although often mistaken as a form of sleep, hypnosis is actually an altered state of awareness where the subconscious mind is very alert. During hypnosis, the subconscious mind becomes more receptive to suggestion and through hypnotherapy, new thought or behaviour patterns and responses can be suggested.
Hypnotherapy is a type of therapy which uses hypnosis and positive suggestion, combined with other psychological techniques to help you make changes to your thoughts, feelings and behaviours. For more information, see the hypnotherapy page.
There are no specific feelings associated with being in hypnosis, because everyone experiences it differently. It’s similar to drifting off to sleep at night where you are not quite awake and not quite asleep. Some people say that it feels very similar to a deeply relaxed daydream where you are still aware of your surroundings and can open your eyes, move or speak if you want to, but you’re so relaxed that you simply can’t be bothered.
You may experience a sense of weightlessness or you might experience a feeling of heaviness as your muscles begin to relax, or you might not feel very different at all, just very relaxed. Everyone’s experience of hypnosis differs slightly and most people are pleasantly surprised at how calm and relaxed they feel afterwards.
Most people can go into a light hypnotic trance, providing that they want to. Hypnosis is a natural state of awareness which we all experience several times a day. However, hypnosis is not usually suitable for people who are experiencing serious mental health issues, some people with Epilepsy, the very young or those under the influence of alcohol or recreational drugs.
There are many different ways to induce hypnosis from very rapid, shock-inducing methods often used in stage hypnosis, to more relaxing methods usually used in hypnotherapy. Some of the more common methods used in hypnotherapy sessions include being asked to relax various muscles in the body, focusing your attention on an object or point on the wall or ceiling, or imagining relaxing scenes such as walking through a meadow or along a beach. Drifting into hypnosis as part of a hypnotherapy session is usually a very pleasant and relaxing experience.
Hypnosis is a natural and safe state of awareness which we all experience several times a day and hypnotherapy can be a very positive and beneficial experience when carried out by a properly trained and experienced Hypnotherapist.
Absolutely not. This is probably one of the most common beliefs about hypnosis and usually stems from what people have seen or heard about stage hypnosis, as well as the popular portrayal in the media of ‘The Hypnotist’ as a sinister character who has absolute power and control over their subjects.
During hypnotherapy, you will not be asleep and will be able to hear everything that is said. It’s a common myth that hypnosis involves some sort of magical sleep where you are unaware of what’s happening around you. Because hypnotherapy involves responding to the suggestions made by the Hypnotherapist, you need to hear what is being said in order for you to take the suggestions on board and for therapeutic change to happen.
No, it’s not. Whilst both Stage Hypnotists and Hypnotherapists use hypnosis, the way in which it is used is completely different. Stage hypnosis is, what it says; hypnosis carried out on a stage. It is used as a form of entertainment and is for the benefit of the audience and volunteers taking part. Those who go to a stage hypnosis show are usually well aware that the people who volunteer to go on stage will be asked to do funny and sometimes embarrassing things. Nobody has forced the people who are on stage to be there; they have volunteered themselves by choosing to follow the Hypnotist’s suggestions.
There are two types of people who go to a stage hypnosis show; those who want to watch the show (and stay in the audience) and those who want to be part of the show (and be up on the stage). The Hypnotist is looking for his or her volunteers from this second group – the people who want to be on stage and who want their 15 minutes of fame. The best candidates from this group are the people who are naturally outgoing, the life and soul of the party and who will do almost anything for a laugh. Combine this with some cleverly worded suggestions and showmanship from the Hypnotist and it can appear that the volunteers are under some sort of control or ‘spell’.
Hypnotherapy uses hypnosis to help people with a wide range of problems and issues in a safe and appropriate manner which is for their benefit. You cannot be hypnotised against your will; for hypnosis to happen, you have to want it to happen.
You cannot get ‘stuck’ in hypnosis. It is an altered state of awareness from which you will return to full alertness either by yourself, or when asked to by the Hypnotherapist. Even if something were to happen to the Hypnotherapist whilst you were hypnotised, then after a while, you would either wonder why they had stopped talking and ‘wake up’ by yourself, or if you were tired, you would simply fall asleep and then wake up as normal after a short while.
Hypnosis is a natural state of awareness which you drift in and out of by yourself on a subconscious level every day. You have control over whether you enter a hypnotic trance or not and therefore, you also have control over whether you remain in hypnosis and for how long.
You are aware of everything that you say during hypnosis and so you cannot be ‘made’ to discuss things that you do not want to. However, if you are in hypnosis as part of a hypnotherapy session, it is important to remember the reason why you are seeing a Hypnotherapist. In order for you to benefit fully from hypnotherapy, the therapist needs to know about the problem or issue, including any relevant background information and contributing factors. Hypnotherapy is a two-way process and it is important that you can trust and have confidence in your therapist.
Because you are aware whilst you are in hypnosis, you will usually remember everything that you experience. In hypnotherapy sessions, sometimes people do find that they can’t consciously remember every detail afterwards, but the subconscious mind remembers everything. This is quite common and is similar to forgetting what someone has just said because your attention was elsewhere rather than concentrating on the conversation.
People commonly report some amnesia or memory loss following participation in a stage hypnosis show and because the Stage Hypnotist can often be heard to give suggestions to the volunteers on stage that they won’t remember what has happened, this is usually believed by both the audience and volunteers taking part. However, in reality, as explained above, the volunteers on stage are fully aware of what they are doing and usually remember everything that they have done whilst on stage. The suggestion that they forget what has happened is often included to save the participants from embarrassment later on, so that when their friends ask them about the antics that they got up to on stage, they can claim they don’t remember!
You will probably feel more relaxed than usual and slightly refreshed, but you will be fully alert and should not experience any other after-effects other than those which have been suggested for your benefit as part of your therapy session and which your subconscious mind has accepted and acted upon.
Hypnotherapy can be beneficial for a variety of medical conditions including Migraines, Tension Headaches and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) to name a few.
However, it is important to know that hypnosis and hypnotherapy cannot ‘cure’ a medical or physiological condition, despite some of the claims that are often made, especially regarding the treatment or management of cancer and other associated conditions. Despite some of the fancy titles such as ‘Hypno-Oncology’ which can often be found on the internet, hypnotherapy cannot change or treat physical problems. Where it can often help, is by reducing stress and anxiety, thereby changing the way that some of the symptoms may be perceived or experienced and therefore enabling people to cope better with their condition.
If you are seeking hypnotherapy for a medical, physiological or psychiatric condition, you will need to consult your doctor first to confirm that they are happy for you to receive hypnotherapy. Depending on your individual situation, I may also need to ask your permission to contact your doctor in order to discuss the suitability of hypnotherapy for you.
It’s a common misconception that a Hypnotherapist will ‘put’ you into a hypnotic trance and then ‘make’ you stop smoking, lose weight, overcome a fear or other problem. Hypnosis is not a magic pill; you cannot be forced to do something that you do not want to do; even in hypnosis. The only person who can make you do something is you.
On average, it takes the subconscious mind around 10 to 14 days to take new ideas on board and to start making changes to habits and patterns of behaviour. However, everyone responds to therapy differently and so the time it takes for the content of therapy sessions to take effect will vary from person to person. Ultimately, any type of talking therapy will only be successful if you want it to be. Your motivation and participation are essential.
There are a lot of myths and beliefs about hypnosis and many of these stem from what people have seen or heard about stage hypnosis.
In reality, hypnosis is actually a completely normal and natural psychological trance-like state which we all experience several times a day. Every time you day dream, drive to work and can’t remember the journey or lose track of time whilst reading a good book, you’re experiencing hypnosis.
You can read more about some of the myths about hypnosis in this blog post here.
Standard therapy sessions are 50 minutes in order to maximise concentration and get the best from the process. Your first session is usually a little longer (approximately 60 to 90 minutes) to allow sufficient time to discuss your situation and answer any questions you may have.
For more information about the cost of therapy sessions, please see the Fees page.
I offer a free 20 minute online consultation which is an opportunity to meet, briefly discuss your situation and answer your questions to help you decide whether therapy is right for you. The consultation takes place online via Zoom and does not include any therapy.
Please visit the contact page to get in touch and book your consultation.
Everything that we discuss during your sessions, on the phone or via email, remains confidential and is not discussed with anyone else without your permission.
There are a few exceptions to this, for example, if someone was at risk of harm or where a referring healthcare professional required a progress update or report. In such cases, I would endeavour to discuss this with you first before any information was disclosed.
Further information regarding confidentiality can be found in the Client Agreement.
Clinic Sessions:
The deposit is payable online within 48 hours of booking your first session in order to confirm the appointment booking. Payment can be made using a credit or debit card or a Paypal account via the fees page.
Payment for therapy sessions is due at the end of each session and must be paid via credit/debit card, Paypal or cash. Payment can also be made online via the fees page subject to prior agreement. If paying online, payment is required at least 24 hours before each session. Cheques cannot be accepted.
Online Sessions:
Payment must be made online via the fees page at least 24 hours before the scheduled start time of each session. If payment has not been received 24 hours before your session, the appointment will be cancelled and may be offered to someone else.
You are more than welcome to enquire about therapy sessions on behalf of a friend or relative and it’s great that you want to help them. However motivation and participation are essential in order for therapy to be successful.
A person must want to overcome their problem or issue for themselves, rather than because they’re doing it for someone else. For example, someone who wants to stop smoking, must want to genuinely stop smoking for themselves, not because their family want them to or because their doctor has recommended it. For this reason, it is important that your friend or relative contacts me directly before any appointments can be booked. This is to ensure the suitability of therapy for their situation.
Please note: Appointment bookings on behalf of another person will not be accepted, except where the client is under 16 years old and the appointment is booked by their parent or guardian.
Yes. I offer online sessions via Zoom and work within The National Hypnotherapy Society’s guidelines for the provision of online therapy.
Please get in touch for further information or to book an appointment.
Talking therapies including Hypnotherapy are, as the name suggests, based around ‘talking’. We have conversations with friends, family and work colleagues in a variety of different ways nowadays, including in person, on the telephone and online via websites such as Zoom or Skype. For this reason, it’s also possible to offer therapy sessions online too.
Since talking therapies are psychological rather than physical, you don’t need to be in the same room as your therapist to participate in a therapy session. All you need is somewhere quiet where you won’t be disturbed, a computer, tablet or other mobile device and a decent internet connection.
Online therapy also offers a number of advantages over traditional face to face sessions including:
- A Familiar Environment: You can attend your therapy sessions from the comfort of your own home or office.
- No Travelling: No need to leave your home or office with online therapy sessions.
- Same Techniques: Most hypnotherapy and talking therapy techniques can also be used online, so you can still benefit from the same therapies as used in face-to-face sessions.
- Greater Choice: The right therapist for you isn’t always the nearest; they may even be in a different country. With online therapy, you have a greater choice of therapists.
I am an Accredited Member of The National Hypnotherapy Society and as such, abide by their code of ethics. The society were the first and currently only hypnotherapy organisation to hold a register which is accredited by the Professional Standards Authority under its Accredited Registers programme.
All professional registrants must adhere to the society’s code of conduct and ethics, have undertaken appropriate training and qualifications, receive regular supervision and be fully insured as well as undertaking regular Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
I receive regular supervision in line with The National Hypnotherapy Society’s guidelines in order to maintain standards and promote best practice. Supervision sessions involve discussion of client work, however client confidentiality is maintained and my supervisor is also a qualified and experienced therapist who is bound by a code of confidentiality and ethics.
As an experienced therapist, I am also an Accredited Supervisor and provide supervision for students, newly qualified and experienced Hypnotherapists. In addition to this, I also sit on the Professional Development and Supervision Committee for both The National Hypnotherapy Society and The National Counselling Society.
I have full professional indemnity insurance along with a current DBS certificate.