Hypnotherapy
Sometimes we know what we want to change, but talking about it isn’t quite enough. Hypnotherapy offers another way to work with the thoughts, feelings and automatic responses that can be harder to reach through conversation alone.
What is hypnosis?
Hypnosis is a state of focused, absorbed attention in which the outside world can become less important for a while and your inner experience becomes easier to notice.
In this more focused state, imagery, feelings, memories, associations and automatic responses can become more accessible. That gives us another way of working with an issue — not simply by talking about it, but by engaging more directly with how it is experienced internally.
Different people experience hypnosis differently, and there is no particular feeling you have to achieve for the work to be useful.
How I use hypnotherapy
I use hypnotherapy as a therapeutic way of working with something you would like to change, understand or respond to differently.
We begin by talking together and getting a clear sense of what is happening for you. Hypnosis then gives us another way to engage with the feelings, expectations, associations and automatic responses connected with it — not just by talking about them, but by experiencing and exploring them differently.
The work is shaped around you rather than following a fixed script or formula.
Two ways we might use hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy can be used in quite different ways. Sometimes the focus is clear and practical: there is something you want to change. At other times, hypnosis gives us another way to explore something that feels less straightforward and understand it more deeply.
Focused change work
Sometimes you already know what you would like to be different.
We might work with a particular fear or phobia, smoking, a habit, confidence, performance, or an automatic response that seems to happen before you have much chance to think about it.
In this kind of work, hypnosis can be combined with therapeutic conversation, imagery, suggestion and mental rehearsal to help you experience and practise responding differently.
The emphasis is relatively focused: this is what is happening now, and this is what I would like to change.
Exploratory and analytical hypnotherapy
At other times, you may recognise a feeling, reaction or recurring pattern without fully understanding why it has such a hold on you.
Here, hypnosis can be used more exploratively. Rather than concentrating mainly on changing a symptom, we can become curious about the thoughts, emotions, images, associations and experiences that emerge, and how they may connect with what is happening in your life now.
This kind of work is sometimes described as analytical hypnotherapy or hypnoanalysis. It brings hypnosis together with a more psychodynamic or exploratory way of working: using the hypnotic experience to help us notice connections, meanings and patterns that may be less immediately available in ordinary conversation.
The aim is not to search for one hidden event that supposedly explains everything. It is to give us another way of understanding your experience and seeing what becomes meaningful when we approach it differently.
A note about memory
Experiences or memories that emerge during hypnosis can sometimes feel unusually vivid or convincing. I do not treat that vividness as proof that something happened exactly as it is remembered.
Memory is reconstructive, and hypnosis does not make memory automatically more accurate. What emerges can still be therapeutically meaningful, but we approach it with curiosity rather than treating it as unquestionable historical fact.
What might we work with?
Hypnotherapy can be used with a wide range of experiences — from specific fears, habits and confidence issues to recurring emotional responses, patterns or experiences you would like to understand differently.
Sometimes the goal is clear from the beginning. At other times, what we are working with becomes clearer as we explore it together.
We will talk first about what is happening for you, what you would like from the work, and whether hypnotherapy seems like an appropriate way to approach it.
What happens in a session?
We begin with a conversation about what you want to work on, what you have already noticed about it, and what you would like to be different.
From there, I will guide you into hypnosis in a way that feels comfortable and appropriate for you. The experience itself can involve focused attention, imagery, reflection, suggestion or exploring the feelings and associations connected with the issue.
Afterwards, we take time to talk about what emerged and how it might relate to the change you are hoping to make.
You remain in control
Hypnosis does not take away your awareness, judgement or ability to choose.
You can hear what is being said, decide whether something feels right for you, speak if you want to, and stop at any point.
My role is to guide the process, not to take control of it. You remain an active participant throughout, and nothing meaningful happens without your involvement.
Sessions & fees
Online hypnotherapy session via Zoom
90 minutes · £95
A hypnotherapy session is booked for 90 minutes, but I allow up to two hours in the diary so there is no need to rush the work or bring the experience to an abrupt end.
Some people come for one focused session, while others find that a short series is more useful. We can decide that as the work develops rather than asking you to commit to a programme in advance.
Questions you might have
Practical Information
Online sessions
Sessions take place online via Zoom. You will receive a private link to join the session.
Your space
Choose somewhere private, comfortable and unlikely to be interrupted. You may prefer to sit in a supportive chair or recline somewhere comfortable, provided you are safely positioned and I can still see and hear you clearly.
Internet connection
A stable internet connection is particularly important for hypnotherapy because repeated interruptions can break your concentration and the flow of the experience.
Zoom recommends around 1.2 Mbps upload and download for a one-to-one 720p video call. For hypnotherapy, I recommend having at least 5 Mbps upload and 5 Mbps download available to the device you are using, with 10 Mbps or more in each direction preferable where possible. The higher figures are not Zoom requirements; they simply provide useful extra headroom for a smoother session.
Before your session, it is worth running an internet speed test. Where possible, use a wired connection or strong Wi-Fi, stay reasonably close to your router, and pause streaming, large downloads, cloud backups or other bandwidth-heavy activity.
Connection stability is at least as important as headline speed. Frequent freezing, distorted audio, drop-outs or Zoom's unstable-network warning suggest that the connection may need improving before we begin. Zoom recommends latency of around 150 ms or less, jitter of 40 ms or less and packet loss of 2% or less for good meeting quality, although you do not normally need to measure these yourself.
Camera and device
A computer or tablet is usually preferable to a phone because it is easier to position securely. Set your device somewhere stable where I can see you comfortably throughout the session, and make sure it is charged or plugged in.
Headphones and sound
Headphones can help reduce distractions and make my voice easier to hear, but they are not essential. Use whichever arrangement feels most comfortable and allows us to hear one another clearly. If you use headphones, make sure they are comfortable enough to wear throughout the session.
If the connection is interrupted
Use the bathroom beforehand if you need to, have some water nearby, and let anyone else in your home know that you do not want to be disturbed. Phones, doorbells, notifications and pets can interrupt concentration, so minimise these where reasonably possible.
Safety while joining
Please join from somewhere safe and stationary. Hypnotherapy should not be undertaken while driving, operating machinery, supervising something that requires your attention, or in any situation where becoming deeply absorbed would be unsafe.
Medication, alcohol and recreational drugs
Please do not attend while intoxicated or significantly impaired by alcohol or recreational drugs.
If prescribed medication affects your alertness, concentration or level of consciousness, let me know beforehand so we can consider whether the session should go ahead. You should not alter or stop prescribed medication for the purpose of a hypnotherapy session.
Frequency
Hypnotherapy is often more focused than ongoing psychotherapy. Some people come for a single session, while other issues benefit from a short series of sessions.
How many sessions we use, and how far apart they are, will depend on what you want to work on, how you respond to the process and whether further work seems useful. There is no requirement to commit to a programme in advance.
Recording
With your agreement, I can record the session through Zoom and make the recording available for you to download afterwards.
Because the recording may contain personal and sensitive material, I will explain how it is handled and how long any retained copy is kept before we begin.
After the session
Hypnotherapy can sometimes leave you feeling reflective, relaxed or absorbed in what has emerged. Where possible, allow yourself a little time afterwards before moving straight into something demanding.
Cancellations
If you need to cancel or rearrange a session, please give at least 24 hours' notice. Sessions cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice are normally charged in full, although I recognise that genuine emergencies sometimes happen.
Confidentiality
What you share during hypnotherapy is treated confidentially. There are, however, some limited circumstances in which I may need to share information without your consent.
These can include situations where I believe there is a serious risk of harm to you or someone else, where there are safeguarding concerns involving a child or vulnerable adult, or where I am legally required to disclose information.
I also discuss my work in professional supervision. Wherever possible, identifying details are removed, and supervision forms part of the normal professional framework for safe therapeutic practice.
If I ever believed confidentiality needed to be broken, I would normally discuss this with you first wherever it was safe and legally possible to do so.
FAQs
What if I can’t be hypnotised?
Most people can experience hypnosis to some degree, but everyone responds differently. There is no particular depth you have to reach for the session to be useful. We work with whatever level of focused attention and absorption comes naturally to you.
What if I can’t visualise things clearly?
That is completely fine. Some people experience vivid imagery, while others notice thoughts, feelings, memories, bodily sensations or simply a sense of knowing. Hypnotherapy does not depend on being able to create clear mental pictures.
Will I remember what happened?
Usually, yes. You remain aware during the session and most people remember the experience much as they would remember an absorbed conversation or guided exercise.
Can I get stuck in hypnosis?
No. Hypnosis is not a state you become trapped in. You remain able to respond, speak, move and allow yourself to return to ordinary awareness.
How many sessions will I need?
That depends on what you want to work with. Some people come for one focused session, while other issues benefit from a short series. There is no requirement to commit to a programme in advance.
What if something unexpected comes up?
We work with whatever emerges at a pace that feels manageable. You remain in control throughout, and we can pause, change direction or stop if something does not feel right.
Is hypnotherapy suitable for me?
Hypnotherapy may suit you if there is something you would like to change, understand or respond to differently, and you are comfortable working with focused attention, imagination and guided inner experience.
You do not need to know whether you will be “good at hypnosis”. What matters more is a willingness to engage with the process and be curious about what emerges.
This service is not suitable if you are currently in crisis, at significant risk of harming yourself or someone else, experiencing active psychosis, significantly impaired by alcohol or drugs, or need a level of specialist psychiatric or multidisciplinary support that I do not provide.
Because the work takes place online, you will also need somewhere safe, private and reasonably free from interruption. If you are already receiving psychotherapy or counselling elsewhere, please let me know before booking.
If you are unsure whether hypnotherapy is appropriate for what you want to work with, you are welcome to ask first.
Beginning
You don’t need to know exactly how hypnosis will work for you before you begin.
If you feel ready, you can book a hypnotherapy session directly. If you would prefer to talk first, you can book a free 20-minute initial conversation to ask questions, tell me a little about what you would like to work on, and get a sense of whether hypnotherapy feels right for you.
There is no obligation to continue afterwards.