A practical guide to how I work with clients – in person or online.
If you’ve never experienced hypnotherapy before, you might have all sorts of ideas about what happens. Perhaps you’re wondering if I’ll make you go to sleep, if you’ll know what’s happening, whether you’ll be in control, or even if you’ll be able to ‘do it’.
Whether we work together in my therapy room in Maidstone or online, it all starts in exactly the same way – with a conversation.
Before we even think about hypnosis
I offer a free, no-obligation consultation call so we can have a chat about what’s going on and what you’d like some help with.
That first conversation gives us a chance to explore where you are now, what you’d like to be different and whether this feels like the right time for you. It’s also about us getting a feel for each other. Therapy is personal: you need to feel comfortable with me and the way I work, and I need to feel that what you’re looking for is something I can appropriately help you with.
There’s no obligation to take things any further.
You don’t have to tell me everything
You only ever need to tell me what you feel comfortable sharing.
I don’t necessarily need your entire life history or every detail of something you’ve experienced. What I need to understand is what’s causing you a problem now and, ideally, what you’d like to change.
Sometimes people worry that therapy will mean reliving difficult experiences in great detail. That’s not how I work. We work at your pace.
So what actually is hypnosis?
Although we tend to think of hypnosis as something unusual that happens in a therapy room, it’s actually a completely natural state.
Think about that point when you’re waking up in the morning: you’re no longer properly asleep, but you’re not quite fully awake either. Or the reverse at night, when you’re drifting towards sleep but you’re still aware of what’s happening around you.
You might also recognise it when you’re daydreaming, completely absorbed in a book or film, or driving a familiar route and realising you don’t consciously remember every part of the journey.
Hypnotherapy makes purposeful use of that natural ability. I help you move into a more focused, inwardly directed state that we can then use therapeutically.
Hypnosis isn’t something I do ‘to you’
I can guide you into hypnosis, but I’m the facilitator. You remain aware of what’s happening, you can hear me and respond to me, and you remain in control. You won’t suddenly do or say something you don’t want to.
It’s something we do together.
There’s no single way that hypnosis feels. Sometimes you might feel very deeply relaxed and absorbed. Another time you may feel much lighter, more aware of the room around you or as though you could open your eyes at any moment.
That’s absolutely fine.
You don’t have to be in a really deep state of hypnosis for hypnotherapy to be effective. We can do really useful work at a lighter level too. Going ‘deeper’ doesn’t automatically mean we’re doing better work.
Particularly the first time, I like to give you plenty of time to settle into it. There’s no rush to ‘get you under’. In fact, I tend to take the scenic route.
How does the work develop?
Everyone is different, but there is usually a natural progression to the way we work together.
I normally start with suggestion therapy. While you’re relaxed in hypnosis, I’ll use positive suggestions to support the changes you’re looking to make. I’ll also usually give you an audio to listen to between sessions. And yes, this is part of your homework!
As our work develops, I’ll use visualisation, imagery, stories and metaphor. What we’re imagining isn’t really the important bit. It’s what your mind is able to do with it that matters.
As you become more comfortable with hypnosis, with me and with the way we work together, we can move into more dynamic methods of hypnotherapy.
We don’t rush to this stage. It’s one of the reasons I work with clients over a package of sessions rather than offering one-off hypnotherapy appointments. It gives us time to get to know each other, helps you become comfortable with hypnosis and allows us to build on the work.
Sometimes people notice changes really quickly. Other things take a little longer.
There’s no prize for getting there fastest. We work at your pace.
Online or in the room?
Hypnotherapy works just as well online as it does in person. Some people like coming into my therapy room and having a separate space away from everyday life. Others prefer being comfortable at home, live further away or simply find online sessions more convenient.
What matters much more than where we are is the relationship we build and your involvement in the process.
Ultimately, you’re the one making the change
I sometimes joke that hypnotherapy can feel a little bit like magic.
Change can sometimes happen surprisingly quickly – even with something you’ve been carrying around for a very long time. When that happens, it can certainly feel pretty magical.
But it’s not magic in the sense that I wave a magic wand and your problem disappears.
I’m not doing hypnotherapy to you.
I bring my training, experience and a range of different techniques. I help you understand what we’re doing and why, guide you through the process and support the work. But you’re an active part of it.
You don’t need to know how to ‘do’ hypnosis. You don’t need to be brilliant at visualising. You don’t need to know which technique you need. And you never need to tell me anything you’re not comfortable sharing.
You simply need to want to make a change and be willing to engage with the process.
I’m there to facilitate, guide and support you.
But ultimately, you’re the one making the change.
And that’s something no magic wand can do for you.
