About Hypnotherapy
What is hypnosis?
Hypnosis is simply a way of leading the brain into an altered state of consciousness. How deep you go into trance will be different from person to person and session to session.
There are various ways to bring someone into hypnosis, but for hypnotherapy the usual technique involves talking in a gentle tone and using hypnotic cues to bring you into deep relaxation.
Hypnotherapy relaxes both the body and the mind deeply to help you to enter an altered state where the conscious everyday part of your mind is distracted to make it easier to access the subconscious part of your mind which stores memories and behaviour patterns.
And it is the subconscious part of the mind that makes those changes we’re searching for within hypnotherapy.
What will hypnotherapy feel like to you?
Everyone experiences hypnosis slightly differently but it will be a pleasurable experience. Some people will feel they have been deeply in trance whereas others may find they continue to have awareness in their surroundings.
You may find the experience feels similar to the point where you’re just starting to fall asleep. You may be aware of where you are and what’s happening around you, but deeply relaxed. If you needed to you could bring yourself out of it, but you might find you feel groggy and disorientated if you did so too quickly.
You may also find you can see, hear, and experience in your imagination. But don’t worry if you find you don’t experience with your senses whilst in hypnosis, there’s no “right” or “expected” way. You may find the more you experience hypnosis the more you can “see” and “hear” in your mind.
Your hypnotherapist may use different types of trance for different sessions. If your goal is relaxation or emotional regulation, you may only need to enter a light trance, but for deep inner work we will work with you to move in stages to a deeper trance which will give you more access to your subconscious mind.
Can everyone be hypnotised?
Yes, because it’s an altered state of consciousness and we all move in and out of different states of consciousness throughout the day.
Not everyone finds it easy to move into hypnosis, and for some people meditation might be something they have found difficult in the past. But there is a way of relaxing every mind and it’s my job as a hypnotherapist to find a technique that works for you. I have additional training in ADHD and Autism so understand how neurodiversity can affect hypnosis.
Sometimes I work with clients who spend a lot of their time in a dissociative state and they may correctly identify that hypnosis doesn’t feel that much different to parts of their day to day consciousness. Hypnosis can help them to identify dissociation and to learn to manage their consciousness in their daily lives by helping them recognise and move out of dissociation.
Is there anyone who shouldn’t be hypnotised?
Although we move in and out of altered states of consciousness naturally, there are some situations where hypnosis might not be suitable.
A stage hypnotist might be more cautious than a hypnotherapist, and a hypnotherapist with additional qualifications in mental health, psychology, medicine, or therapy may feel they can work with conditions a hypnotherapist who just has their hypnotherapy diploma may not.
Your GP should be able to confirm if hypnotherapy would be suitable for you. In general though, if moving between brain states and entering deep hypnosis might cause you symptoms it’s probably best to not attempt it. Reasons for this could be conditions which cause extreme fluctuations of mood (if you are currently in a deep depression or a mania or recently/ regularly experience mixed states) or conditions which cause brain seizures. The Royal College of Psychiatrists suggest hypnotherapy is not suitable for psychosis.
Types of Hypnotherapy
There are many different styles of hypnotherapy, just like there are many different styles of talking therapy.
Not all hypnotherapists will work in the same way.
Just like it’s not important to know what kind of therapy your talking therapist is trained in, it isn’t always important to understand what style of hypnotherapy your hypnotherapist uses.
But here’s a rough guide to some of the terms you might hear:
Clinical Hypnotherapist:
This refers to treating the symptoms of a condition and is usually the option when working with medical problems (alongside traditional healthcare)
Integrative Hypnotherapist:
With Integrative Hypnotherapy the Hypnotherapist is also drawing on other skills and training they may have within psychology, coaching, or counselling.
Analytical Hypnotherapist:
With this kind of Hypnotherapy additional analysis will take place to understand the root causes of a problem and help to solve them.
Transpersonal Hypnotherapist:
This is focused more towards the humanist and spiritual, exploring the subconscious and motives in a deeper way.
Suggestion Hypnotherapist:
Whilst all Hypnotherapists will be trained in Suggestion Hypnotherapy, many will use other techniques too. With Suggestion Hypnotherapy the focus is on suggestion alone.
Cognitive Behaviour Hypnotherapist:
Cognitive Behaviour Hypnotherapists may also be trained in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and will focus on the behaviour and coping strategies.
Parts Therapy:
This is a specific technique which looks at accessing different “parts” of your personality to reduce conflict in your behaviour and needs.
What’s my style?
I refer to myself as an Integrative Hypnotherapist because I have a wide range of experience and knowledge. I will always draw on my psychology and therapeutic training when working with clients, because it’s part of my knowledge base and I instinctively want to create the best possible environment for you to create the changes you seek.
My work is holistic and I want to work with the imagery and metaphor which is closest to your belief system - to speak the language of your subconscious. For this reason I believe where spirituality is important for my client it should be incorporated into their sessions if they would like it to be.
I lean heavily into parts therapy, regression, and transpersonal theory. My work is about the root causes, but also focused very much on approaching everything with positivity, support, and comfort.
