Hypnotherapy
Many have tried and failed to adequately describe what hypnosis actually is. What I can say about hypnosis is that it is a state of focus, and although profound relaxation is a very common side effect, it is not an essential ingredient of the hypnotic state. It is what you ask your mind to focus on when in this altered state that makes it a useful therapeutic tool. We can use this phenomenon to supercharge your mind’s ability to turn something you imagine into your physical reality. Most people's only experience of hypnosis is watching a stage hypnotist getting people to do silly things seemingly under his spell. As a result, just about everyone who has never experienced hypnosis in a clinical setting has some fears and reservations about what to expect. Before I conduct any hypnosis session, I will answer any questions or concerns you may have to put your mind at rest. Ultimately, if you feel it isn't for you, I can work using a different style of therapy.
Hypnoanalysis
Until BWRT came along, this was my go to tool for complex issues and true phobias. There are two methods I tend to use. Where the presenting problem seems to be the only area of a persons life that isn't ok, then we regress back in time to find the original cause of the symptom. Once found, we work on it and release it. Free associative hypnoanalysis is more useful at unpicking and releasing complex issues that have pervaded many areas of a persons psyche and resulted in multiple issues. This can be a lengthy therapy albeit sometimes it will get a result where nothing else will.
Content free hypnotherapy
Content free hypnotherapy is more or less exactly what it says on the tin, but perhaps some more background about the mind may help explain. When someone comes to see me it is usually because they want to change a negative emotion or behaviour. The person experiencing the "problem" very often has a conscious idea of why they are as they are, and more often than not they will be very much mistaken. This is because the negative emotion/behaviour is a symptom created by the subconscious mind for reasons best known to it alone. Therefore trying to use the conscious mind to solve that problem is a complete waste of time. In content free hypnotherapy, we ask the powerful subconscious to do the work of finding and letting go of what is troubling us/it without having to be consciously aware of the processes at work.
