What will it be like to have hypnotherapy?

Many people feel worried or a bit off by the thought of hypnotherapy. Not surprising really when we consider how it is presented as entertainment in the media. The truth is, there’s nothing to fear and hypnosis in therapy bears little resemblance to that you see on screen. You’re in control at all times.

Here’s how and why we work with hypnosis in therapeutic coaching:

So much of what makes us who we are in adulthood is down to experiences in early childhood, resulting in assumptions taken as ‘true’ and stored conveniently in the unconscious mind to save our brains the energy of needing to figure it all out over and over again. This is partly what makes our model of the world. Everyone has one and everyone’s is unique.

When you come to therapy, you can only get so far by ‘thinking about’ the way things are for you. If something is locked safely away in your unconscious then no amount of willpower or analysing is going to help change it. It’s simply unavailable to the conscious mind.

To work for real change we need to go deeper, to the rich world of the unconscious. There’s so much more information available there. This is the seat of emotional wisdom, your instincts, your connection to yourself, your body intelligence; all the good stuff we can work with. But, here’s the thing, your conscious mind acts as a gatekeeper. In order for it to move aside and allow us access to those deeper layers, we need to develop some trust and rapport.

Hypnotic work in therapeutic coaching is simply a light, gentle trance and a narrowing of the focus to the felt experience in the body. We achieve this by use of gentle hypnotic language and inducing a state of deepening relaxation. In doing so, we allow the conscious mind to get out of the way and simply notice what the unconscious is offering. It may be feelings, images, words, sounds and may or may not make any logical sense at all. But by noticing and allowing space for this, it’s amazing what the body can reveal, release and ultimately heal.

Rather than conducting a full session of pure hypnosis, it tends to be woven into the sessions and blended with the other modalities of therapy. It is usually conversational. You may spend part of the session seated with your eyes closed, if you are happy to do so. Or perhaps you’d prefer to keep your eyes open and gently focussed on a particular spot in the room. You won’t feel ‘hypnotised’ in the way you may expect to and you can choose to ‘come back to room’ at any time you want to. You’ll find you are fully present to the experience and will remember the details just the same as in a normal conversation.

I hope that helps satisfy curiosity, set some expectations and alleviate any worries you may have about embarking on your therapeutic journey.

If you have any questions please do feel very welcome to contact me.