Frequently Asked Questions

Our work together and your data is confidential, with the following exceptions:

• If any confidentiality is inconsistent with the safety of any members of the public (this includes the client, family members, or myself as a coach)
• If any disclosure is demanded by court order or legal requirement

Please see the CNHC Code of Conduct, Ethics and Performance for more details

In compliance with GDPR regulations:

• Client data is stored digitally and password protected. Data is kept for 8 years beyond the date of your last appointment, so that you can have access to your recent health records, should you need them.
• Children’s data is kept until their 25th birthday and 17 year-olds’ data is kept until their 26th birthday
• Should you wish to see the content of any records, or other data collected, this can be arranged upon request
• Your disguised case notes may be used as the basis of a case study for the purposes of supervision, training, or marketing. “Disguised” means that your name will be changed to preserve your anonymity and your contact details will not be used.
• For full information see the CNHC Code of Conduct, Ethics, and Performance

Please see my Privacy Policy for full details

I only provide Hypnotherapy for adults.

I work as a coach with children and young people (under 16) and vulnerable adults only after written consent is obtained from an adult with parental responsibility. It is the choice of the parental person (and the child) whether sessions will take place in the presence of a person with parental responsibility.

Yes, I have given online and phone sessions many times, with just as much success as in-person sessions

I offer each client a (20 minute) free ‘Get to Know Me’ session before therapy/coaching begins. During this session, and the initiation of therapy/coaching, we have an opportunity to work together to gain an understanding of the likely duration. We can, of course, revisit the question of the length of therapy at any point.

Anecdotally, I can tell you that most clients begin to experience results within 1 session. Beyond that my clients have gained everything they require from therapy in ranging from 2 to 50 sessions (but rarely more than 15). However, this is what the evidence indicates according to my approach and specialism:

Working in an integrative way, I am able to use and combine a broad repertoire of methodologies and approaches. This flexibility can help to keep the number of sessions required somewhat lower.

Evidence suggests that 24 sessions are adequate for integrative psychotherapists working with depressive symptoms to fulfill clients’ preferences and goals.

For clients with Generalised Anxiety Disorder 14 2-hour sessions of integrative psychotherapy had significantly reduced symptoms for 18 participants.

For clients with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder research indicates that integrative psychotherapy takes “15 to 20 sessions are required for 50 percent of patients to recover as indicated by self-reported symptom measures”, with some preferring to have 20 to 30 sessions to ensure a more thorough outcome.

Clients “with co-occurring conditions or certain personality difficulties may require longer treatment (e.g., 12-18 months) for therapy to be effective”.

I act within the limits of my knowledge, skills and experience. I will refer clients (with their agreement) on to another practitioner, or healthcare professional if necessary.

Please see the CNHC Code of Conduct, Ethics and Performance for more details

• I am a member of the British Association of Therapeutic Hypnotists & NLP Practitioners, which was the first properly constituted body for Professional Hypnotherapists in the U.K.
• I am registered with the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council, who are accredited by the Professional Standards Authority
• I am a member of the General Hypnotherapy Register
• A member of the National Society of Talking Therapies (NSTT)
• I am a member of the British Psychological Society

A Stage Hypnotist uses hypnosis to entertain an audience. They use suggestibility tests to find the most suggestible people in an audience, with whom they will then work for the remainder of the show. They then capitalise on the trust, openness and willingness of the suggestible audience members to instruct them to do remarkable things, such as forget their name, stick their hands to the table and so on. For stage hypnosis to work, the audience member must trust the Hypnotist.

A Hypnotherapist uses hypnosis to help their clients change their thinking, emotions and behaviours to achieve something they desire.

As a Hypnotherapist I work with whomever enters the door, or logs on and they become suggestible because they have come for a very important and personal reason, because we have already connected and established some rapport (during a free consultation), because they trust that I can and will help them and because they want to help themselves.

No, in Hypnotherapy you actually regain control of thinking, feeling and behaviour which has been acting independently of your desires for (often) some time. You are free to stop proceedings and leave at any time.

No, if you are asleep, you are asleep. Hypnosis is a trance state, somewhere between waking and sleep. It has never happened, but if for any reason you do fall asleep, I will gently wake you up. I may from time to time use the command “sleep”. If I do, I make it clear what “sleep” means in this context.

The only exception would be self-hypnosis for better sleep audios pieces. The very purpose of these is to guide you to sleep.