Can a hypnotist make me do something against my will? 

The answer is no. Making someone do something involves coordinating a series of actions. Coordination is managed by areas of the brain that are not responsive to hypnosis. Therefore, it is impossible that a hypnotist makes you do something against your will. 

As a trained hypnotherapist and psychotherapist, I use hypnosis purely to enhance therapeutic gains. 

What happens during a session?

Sessions last 60 minutes. As a rough guide, we will spend time discussing your issue, using certain techniques to help you move towards your solution state. When relevant, I will prepare a hypnotic procedure to help you access unconscious memories or resource states and engage your unconscious mind to integrate your progress.

Is it safe to use with children and adolescents?

Hypnosis is a state of absorption where you enter a different reality. It can occur spontaneously, like during day dreaming, reading, watching a film, storytelling or playing games. These states are familiar to children. Therefore hypnosis can be effective with children and adolescents, provided that it is adapted to their level of understanding and needs and that they are consenting to having therapy.

Are there any contraindications?

As with any form of complementary therapy, please consult your GP to verify that you have no contraindication to hypnotherapy. Hypnosis alters brain wave frequencies, which can affect individuals with a history of epilepsy or psychotic episodes. In the first session, we will discuss your medical history to ascertain that using hypnosis is safe and appropriate for you.

How do different psychotherapeutic approaches differ?

My approach is integrative. This means that I draw from the knowledge that different schools of therapy contribute to our understanding of the formation and structure of the self, and how it operates. In a nutshell...


Developmental psychology

Is concerned with studying the many factors, individual and environmental, that influence the development of our Central Nervous System, beginning in utero into childhood and adolescence. Different fields of study separate between the functional processes such as perception, attention, memory, language, emotional regulation, while other fields are concerned with neuro-biology and genetics . Our developmental trajectory is divided between typical development such as emotional, social, cognitive, sexual and identity formation, as well as atypical developmental pathways into Autism, ADHD, Au-DHD, learning difficulties, certain communication difficulties and the neurobiological legacy of developmental trauma.


Rogerian, humanistic, also called client centred therapy

Considers the client-therapist relationship as central to the healing process. The relationship is built on the principles of unconditional positive regard, congruence and empathy, to allow clients' to develop greater agency.


Psychodynamic therapy

explores early life relationships and how they influence the maturation of our attachment system and the way we relate to others and how we see the world.


Cognitive behavioural therapy

Assumes there are four levels of experience: body sensation, emotion, cognition and behaviour. All affect each other. Focusing on one level can promote overall change. For example increasing physical activity increases serotonin release, which is associated to a more positive mood state, in turn influencing thoughts.


Systemic therapy

Assumes that individuals are members of a different social systems: a family system, a community system, a national system, cultural system and so on. These systems evolve across time, and the individuals adapt and transition through different stages of life. When stress and pressures affect the system, this may be experiences and expressed at the individual's level.


Compassion and mindfulness based therapy

advocate for a shift in attitude, based on the understanding that suffering is part of life. In order to decrease suffering, they teach us to become witness, according the principles of non-resistance to what is, paying mindful attention to here and now, with non-judgemental openness, compassion, letting go of expectations, flexibility and least effort. Grounding ourselves in the moment and developing our sense of observation can help regulate emotional states, and develop self-awareness of our automatic responses.


Gestalt therapy

also focuses on experience here and now, to develop greater awareness of sensations and emotions felt in the body. The therapeutic relationship is central to exploring different aspects of the individual’s self, encouraging awareness and integration of aspects of self that have been split or disowned.


Jungian psychology

is essentially positive, assuming that we strive for growth and that psychological difficulty is an opportunity for learning. Jungian psychology accounts for the collective evolutionary dimension of our self. Our personality is organised according to traits, each measured along a continuum of opposites, for example introversion and extraversion. Individuation involves the re-integration of opposite aspects of our self and those relegated into our shadow.


Solution focused therapy

involves identifying the desired future outcome from therapy, and steps to move towards it. The focus is on the future rather than the explaining the past.


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