It is the original"talking cure", the treatment of emotional and psychological disorders, unwanted habits and undesirable feelings, using psychological techniques alone. The aim of all such therapy is to help clients find alternatives to their present unsatisfactory ways of thinking, feeling or behaving. This approach can also help clients become more accepting of themselves and can be most useful in promoting personal development and unlocking inner potential.

There are many forms of psychological therapy but hypnotherapy is distinctive in that it addresses the client’s subconscious mind. In practice, the hypnotherapist requires the client to be in a relaxed state, frequently enlists the power of the client’s own imagination and may use a wide range of techniques, from story telling, metaphor or symbolism to the use of direct suggestions for beneficial change.

Analytical techniques may also be employed in an attempt to uncover problems originating in the client’s past or therapy may concentrate more on a client’s current life and presenting problems.

Regardless of the techniques employed, perhaps the most important thing is that a client should expect to feel comfortable and at ease with their therapist. For this reason it is recommended that a single session only is initially booked leaving the client subsequently free to decide if they wish to proceed with more.

The client is at all times in control and can bring him or herself out of the trance state at any time (see also FAQs for more information on this).

Unlike many other psychological therapies, hypnotherapy is generally considered to be a fairly short-term approach in which beneficial change, if it is to occur, should become apparent within a relatively few sessions.

Healing by trance state (or an altered state of awareness) is among the oldest phenomena known to man and is found, in one form or another, in virtually every culture throughout the world.

Although such altered states have been known for thousands of years, the term “hypnosis” (from the Greek “hypnos”, meaning “sleep”) was coined in 1840 by Dr James Braid, a Scottish physician. It's not, in fact, an accurate description as the hypnotic state is, in most respects, entirely dissimilar to sleep.