Gaining popularity as one of the most effective therapeutic evidence-based tools available today, hypnotherapy has been recognised since 1950s.

Hypnosis is a deep state of relaxation during which positive suggestions are made to the subconscious mind, bringing about beneficial changes. You will feel peaceful as your conscious mind rests. This is the overly critical part of the mind which often prevents you from making the changes you wish to make.

The subconscious mind controls habits and other things that we do automatically. It is fueled by our emotions and imagination. The subconscious mind also contains memories of everything that we have ever experienced. During hypnosis, your subconscious mind is very focused, allowing learning to happen quickly.

Hypnotherapy is not about mind control. In hypnosis the mind is very receptive to new ideas and open to suggestions which encourage more sensible, balanced and helpful attitudes. Dealing with an unconscious problem through conscious processes (like talking) has limited effect. Trance work goes to where the change is required.

Hypnosis is…

• the process of inducing/facilitation trance.

• one of the most effective evidence-based therapeutic interventions.

• not therapy in itself, it is absorbed or directed attention.

• a state of heightened awareness

• state that may appear trance like

• a delivery vehicle for useful messages to the mind that the person couldn't otherwise take onboard.

Strategic Psychotherapy is a solution-oriented brief therapy focusing on ‘how' you make choices and behave. Rather than focusing on the problem, this approach enables the therapist to pinpoint what you’re not able to observe within yourself in day-to-day life. We’re able to identify and suggest changes in cognitive behaviours.

Hypnosis paired with strategic psychotherapy is a very targeted therapeutic approach that goes after the components part that make up part of the problem. Strategic therapy pays close attention to, and seeks to change, the process by which people create and maintain their problems (Young, G. 2019). Positive change resulting from strategic psychotherapy can be very rapid compared to other approaches.

NLP stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming, a name that encompasses the three most influential components of human experience: neurology, language and programming. Neuro-Linguistic Programming describes the fundamental dynamics between mind, language and behaviour.

NLP is also a model of how individuals structure their unique experiences of life.

NLP is the art and science of excellence, derived from studying how the best people in any field attain outstanding results. These outcomes are invariably achieved through advanced skills of communication and self-leadership, and can be learned by anyone to improve their effectiveness both personally and professionally.

NLP embodies the attitude of curiosity with people. How do they do what they do? Not “why”. (If you knew “why”, you wouldn’t come to therapy!)

It is also about modelling skills: looking constantly for excellence in the world so you can model it and use it.

NLP is about always increasing the choices you have, knowing that we learn by acting and experimenting, not by thinking about it.

The focus of psychology has been on finding meaning and reasons for a person's problems and behaviours, asking why rather than how.

Traditional talk therapies focus mainly on why the client has the problem. People sometimes spend literally months, even years, in therapy recounting seemingly endless stories of abuse, trauma, depression and addiction.

Strategic therapy (what I do) is the opposite of traditional therapy. It plays close attention to, and seeks to change, the process by which people create and maintain their problems. Research conducted by Stand

Clients are immediately empowered with hope for labels, conditions and ways of being that they thought they would never be able to change, that they were perhaps even hereditary. Clients quickly learn that they have more control over the situation than they think they have. And also, to identify when they do and do not have control.

Each session begins with a pre-talk which covers some therapy housekeeping, confidentiality, your intake form as well as answering any questions you have after reading the FAQs.

A short interview will follow which will unpack the patterns surrounding your problem as well as identify specific goals you want to achieve. Together we will discuss a treatment plan and then begin to target the problem areas. Depending on the nature of the issues you present in the session (which are sometimes different to those on the form), I may use a combination of techniques including: Hypnotherapy, NLP, Time Line Therapy, Coaching questions and exercises.

Coaching clients often have multiple aspects of their lives that need to be addressed that they need to discuss - career, purpose, relationship, spirituality, parenting, health, stress management, goal clarity and staying on track for success.

This change process involves the application of many techniques and if requested, diagnostic tools to help you gain better insights in your performance and personal preferences. Hypnosis may be used as part of your treatment plan if you there are deeply rooted issues that need to be shifted.

Clinical Hypnotherapy and Strategic Psychotherapy is not meditation or visualisation - these help you feel better, but won’t change debilitating patterns. I don’t use pre-written or off-the-shelf scripts but I do prepare before your session and afterwards to ensure your treatment plan is closely aligned with the outcomes you want, plan the psychoeducation that will be delivered and set tasks for you to focus on between sessions.

What you experience may appear ‘simple’ but it is in fact a complex technique that is adapted to each individual . No two sessions are the same and you can contact me anytime via email between sessions.

Hypnotherapy: With policies and cover limits being subject to change, it’s best to check with your Health Fund regarding rebates for Hypnotherapy prior to your consultation. 

Coaching: Generally speaking coaching sessions are tax-deductible if related to your career development. It’s always best to check your individual circumstances with your accountant. Some clients have their employer support their financial investment towards coaching, for development purposes.

Clinical hypnosis is a powerful and clinically endorsed approach that improves outcomes with children and families. Children are more willing to transport themselves internally to the hypnosis experience. It is a gentle, less intrusive technique, compared to talk therapy which requires the child to relive the content of their problems over and over again.

Ultimately the goal is to move away from using the recording, they internalise the messages and ultimately they become their own. During hypnosis, kids and teens are afforded the opportunity to block out the outside world and get reconnected to their true selves and all the resources they have to tap into.

As an ICF certified coach, I like to teach goal setting early to get kids thinking about skills gaps and action plans to achieve their goals and do better in all aspects of life.

Many people feel an immediate shift after just one session. However, as you will learn in the process, there are multiple patterns that make up your problem which need to be unpacked and addressed in seperate sessions. On average, clients need 3-5 sessions.

Some people are worried they won’t be able to go into trance because they are too strong, disciplined, analytical.

Most people can go into hypnosis but not in the same way. There are many methods to induce trance. Each time you have a session you will find the process easier.

There are some mental health conditions and medications which may impact your suitability. For this reason, we ask all clients to complete the intake form prior to their session.

You are completely in control the entire time and cannot be manipulated to do anything against your will, no matter how deeply you experience trance. In fact, hypnosis is a hyper-attentive state so you are very much aware of all your surroundings and everything being said.

Recent research that describes the key aspects of hypnosis that distinguish it from other psychotherapeutic approaches, argue that hypnosis occupies a unique niche among clinical interventions, and claim that a substantial body of evidence supports its use across a gamut of psychological conditions. Some figures put forward suggest that after 6 sessions, hypnotherapy is 93% effective compared to 38$ effective for 600 sessions of psychoanalysis (a talking therapy), and 72% effectiveness of behavioural therapy (i.e. CBT) after 22 sessions.

Sources:

• Lynn, S. J., Cardeña, E., Green, J. P., & Laurence, J.-R. (2022). The case for clinical hypnosis: Theory and research-based do’s and don’ts for clinical practice. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 9(2), 187–200.

• Alfred A. Barrios, Ph.D, American Health Magazine, 2006, Vol 6 Meridian Peak Hypnosis.

This is now deemed unethical due to risks around false memories. The idea that you need to understand your past to make sense of your present isn't valid for hypnotherapy. You will spend little time in the past during hypnotherapy.

Hypnosis is effective because it bypasses critical thought and therefore resistance. Hypnotherapy is effective wherever the mind participates:

• Behavioural Change: habits, addictions, phobias

• Performance Enhancement: Sport, Management, Stress Management, Study skills, Concentration, Memory

• Pain Management

• Anxiety based complaints

Other areas:

• Anaesthesia

• Post operative healing

• Pain management

• Recovery trauma

• Cancer - manage anxiety and expediate recovery.

All hypnotherapy sessions are recorded for you to keep and re-listen to as instructed to reinforce key messages. They are yours to keep so feel free to listen for a reminder or top-up whenever you need it. Recordings are tailored to your specific needs and story and not scripted or “off the shelf” .

Hypnosis is initiation of trance, the ideal state or vehicle for delivering therapy. During Hypnosis you are more susceptible to taking on positive suggestions in your heightened state of awareness.

Hypnotherapy is the application of therapy models once the client is in trance with completely focussed attention.

People experience hypnosis differently. I normally experience a very deep state of trance where the answers to my problems become incredibly obvious. You don’t need to be “deep” in trance to get an effective result - that is a misconception. Even in light trance, you are more internally focussed than you would be in your normal waking state. People mostly feel deeply relaxed and focussed without all the “noise”, their muscles relax, all tension dissolves and they can take a break from talking and trying to analyse every detail.

Just like sleep or being fixated on a movie you are watching, you will return and you can end the session whenever you want. You will feel very relaxed during hypnosis and will be an active participant in your session.

You don’t have to however, many experienced a deeper form of trance, focus and relaxation with their eyes closed. A large part of brain is devoted to managing visual processing. When your eyes closed, a lot of the brain is made redundant and the main input is Hypnotherapist’s voice, which then channels your focus. Where appropriate, I use other NLP and trance techniques that require your eyes to be open so it just depends on your issue and preferences.

NLP is used as a method of personal development through promoting skills, such as self-reflection, confidence, and communication.

NLP can assist people to achieve work-orientated goals, such as improved productivity or job progression.

More widely, it has been applied as a therapy for psychological disorders, including phobias, depression, generalised anxiety disorders or GAD, and post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.

NLP combined with Psychotherapy & Hypnotherapy allows for the learning of new skills and more effective processes, creating better strategies and building a resilience to arm the mind with agility aligned with better processes that lead to better outcomes and more success in all aspects of life.