I was contacted this week by someone looking for help with low self-confidence. The lady told me that I’d been highly recommended to her by a previous client but she quickly added that she was a bit worried about hypnotherapy because it all sounded a bit “weird” to her. When I asked her what specifically she was worried about she told me she was fearful of being “out of control” and that she might not be “susceptible”. Those are worries I’ve heard often before because hypnotherapy often gets mistaken for stage hypnosis although they’re definitely not the same. I won’t swing a watch or click my fingers, I don’t cast spells to make you cluck like a chicken or make you do anything you don’t want to.
Cognitive Hypnotherapy is a modern, evidence-based approach which is at the cutting edge of therapy. It can help people who want to overcome unwanted thoughts, behaviour or emotions and to motivate people who are stuck and feel unable to move forward to become the best possible versions of themselves.
Worrying that you’ll be out of control is an interesting point because if you’re interested in seeing a hypnotherapist it’s almost certainly because there is an element of your thinking, behaviour or emotions that you perceive as already being outside of your control. This means that our work together becomes snapping you out of that lack of control mindset and enabling you to take back your own control.
If you’re doing or thinking something that’s stopping you from living the life you want, you’re almost certainly already susceptible to unconscious internal thought processes. By becoming more conscious of them and learning the right tools to deal with them you’re becoming less susceptible and more powerful.
Working with me isn’t a passive exercise that requires you to be susceptible, it’s something we work at consciously together.
The success of therapy depends very much on having the right relationship between the client and the therapist. So if you’re considering seeing someone it’s really important to have a meaningful conversation with them and then ask yourself, do you like them and trust them. A good therapist knows this and will spend plenty of time listening to you and explaining how they work. Phone around until you find the one that feels right for you.
You obviously want to find the therapist that will suit you best so you should check if they have the Hypnotherapy Practitioners Diploma (HPD) which is considered to be the gold standard and is the only externally verified qualification in the UK which conforms to the National Occupational Standards for Hypnotherapy.
They should also be registered with The Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC) and comply with their code of ethics and public protection policy. The CNHC was set up with government support to protect the public by providing a UK voluntary register of complementary therapists. CNHC’s register has been approved as an Accredited Register by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care.
