Hypnotherapy FAQs

Being in hypnosis is quite unspectacular. Hypnosis is a natural phenomenon which we encounter every day. It occurs when we are looking out the window with a far-away look in our eyes, it occurs when we are reading a really good book and forget everything around us, and it occurs when we play a computer game and don’t notice how quickly time had gone by.

We can go in and out of hypnosis quite easily: if someone calls our name, we ‘snap out’ of this daydreaming state, and if no-one interrupts us, we can remain in it quite happily for a longer time.

Hypnosis is a gentle state of relaxation and focused attention.

No. You feel quite normal (often disappointingly so!) and remember everything that I said or what you said. You know exactly where you are, but you will feel more relaxed and perhaps less inclined to move your arms or legs.

This has happened to several of my clients over the years. Some clients were even snoring, but they still had stopped smoking/stopped nailbiting/reduced the amount they ate. This is because, even if your conscious mind is switched off while you are asleep, your subconscious mind is always listening. it is for this reason that surgeons have to be careful what they say while a patient is under general anesthetics – even though the patient is chemically sedated, they will still take in subconsciously what is being said during the operation.

Only people who are drunk or below-average intelligence will experience difficulties going into hypnosis. I have been working as a hypnotherapist since 1986 and have not had anyone in that time who was not able to go into at least a light state of relaxation and focused attention (= hypnosis).  The depth of hypnosis you go into does not affect the results you are getting. I often have someone who tells me in a disappointed voice that they didn’t feel that they ‘went under’ in the session, only to walk away and stop smoking or feel more relaxed in their exam. So even though they did not feel hypnotized, they still got the results!.

Everyone can remember something from the past, no matter how unimportant. You may remember what the house looked like where toy lived as a ten-year old; you may remember your school building or parts of your route to school. These are good starting points which will lead on to more memories. It’s a bit like looking at an old photograph of yourself. As you see the outfit you are wearing, it reminds you of which party you wore that outfit to and what happened at the party. One memory links to the next one.

No. A great number of problems go back to events that you remember anyway, but have forgotten how much they affected you at the time. Sometimes, people remember events under hypnosis that they had not thought about for a long time, but once they have recollected these events from the past, they are amazed how they could have forgotten them.

Yes, you will because we are working on your memories together. Your job is to tell me what you remember and my job is to help you work through it, using visualisation and other methods, so that by the end of the session, you have changed the way you feel about what happened. This in turn frees you up  to move forward in you life, become more confident and change what you want to change to lead a happier and more contented life.

This varies from person to person. With suggestion therapy, it can take between 1 and 6 sessions, with analytical hypnotherapy, it usually takes between 6 and 12 sessions.