If you’re anything like I used to be, when you hear the word hypnosis, your brain conjures up images of people up on stage being made to bark like a dog or fall asleep at the click of the fingers. If someone had asked me to see a hypnotist, my answer would have been a flat “no”.

That was, up until about 2 years ago.

I was doing a course on eating disorders and digestive health when the speaker outlined a research study that captured my attention. The study compared the efficacy of the low FODMAP diet to gut-focused hypnotherapy for treatment of IBS. I was amazed when I heard that the hypnotherapy was just as effictive as the low FODMAP diet AND it had greater improvements for emotional wellbeing. As someone who deeply cares about people’s relationships with food and tries to avoid elimination diets where possible, I was hooked.

Fast forward a couple of years and I am thrilled to say that I’m a Clinical Hypnotherapist. Since my studies and doing my own hypnotherapy, I can now see that the potential benefits for hypnotherapy aren’t limited to improving gut symptoms, but also for pain, anxiety-related symptoms, sleep, eating concerns and relationship with food, body and movement.

So let me talk you through HOW hypnosis works and dispel some of the myths associated with it.

How Hypnosis Works 

Hypnosis is like a guided meditation. The difference with hypnosis is that we’re choosing to go into a hypnotic state. It sounds a bit woo woo but we actually go into a hypnotic state all the time. And it’s a beautiful state to be in. If you’ve ever been absorbed in a good book or movie, you’re most likely in a hypnotic state.

The difference with clinical hypnotherapy is that we’re choosing to go into it to help solve a problem rather than to escape into a book or movie.

To understand how hypnosis works, we have to understand neuroplasticity. That is, the ability to change our brain and rewire neural pathways.

Many problems seem to happen automatically, like anxiety or overthinking – we don’t choose to be anxious, it just happens!

With neuroplasticity, if it’s something we’re not stoked with we can change our automatic response by changing neural pathways.

To change neural pathways, we need two things

1. To learn something new or get a new perspective on our problem

2. To have a period of rest, relaxation or sleep to help solidify those changes.

With hypnosis, we can do both at the same time. We’re accessing our subconscious, getting a new point of view, AND we are super relaxed while doing it – accelerating that neuroplasticity.

If you’ve ever had a eureka moment in the shower or bath – that’s pretty much what’s happening.

You’re In The Driver’s Seat

One of the key fears that comes up for people is that they’re worried that hypnosis means someone is taking over their mind and can make them do things they don’t want to do. That couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. That’s why it works so much better on people that expect it to work. People are actually SELF-guiding hypnosis.

That speaks to one of my favourite things about hypnosis. Hypnosis rests on a foundational belief that each and every one of us has the inner resources to heal. We all have a wise or higher self that knows exactly what we need.

Yes, there may be knowledge I can impart or skills I can teach. But it’s only when you can connect with your own intuition, needs, desires and knowing that the true healing takes place.

I believe that you have all the internal resources you need to heal and, if you’re open to it, hypnosis might be an exciting avenue to explore just that.

The Details

For hypnotherapy to be effective, I recommend 1 x initial session and 2-6 x review sessions. That’s 3-7 sessions in total. We won’t start hypnosis until our second session as it’s important for me to get to know you first.

After our first hypnotherapy session, I will provide you a recording of the hypnosis. I recommend that you listen to it daily until our second session. Repetition is a key element to accelerating neuroplasticity and listening to your recording is an effective way to do this.

Just like different medications work better for some people than others, hypnotherapy can be more effective for some than others. For certain individuals, hypnotherapy is NOT recommended. I am unable to do hypnotherapy with you if you experience any of the following:

• Severe mental health condition(s) (especially involving suicidality or psychosis such as schizophrenia), borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, dissociative identity disorder, are on anti-psychotics, taking illicit drugs or experience uncontrolled epilepsy or seizures.

Please let me know if you are undergoing any legal proceedings or your home environment is unsafe.

I am not a Psychologist, mental health practitioner or medical doctor and thus recommend that you consult with your medical and mental health professionals.