In the 90's I was working in language teaching and management in Further and Higher Education when I started to notice how stressful my working life had become. I worked long hours, my colleagues were resistant to change and some behaved in negative and challenging ways. I’d always relied on my walking and yoga to stay sane and healthy and I felt I needed more help to remain calm. I did a short course of hypnotherapy to learn relaxation and self hypnosis techniques and have never looked back.
I decided to change my career, took courses in NLP, coaching and hypnotherapy, took the plunge and became self employed in 1997. The only thing missing was I was no longer teaching.
I enjoy helping people make changes in their lives and realise their full potential in sport, work and their personal lives. After being a successful hypnotherapist with a busy practice for eight years I finally started to train the next generation of hypnotherapists in 2005, combining my two passions of helping others and teaching.
I continue to learn and attend conferences and specialist courses such as hypnotherapy for easy childbirth, IBS, OCD, pre and post natal depression and have also trained as a Mindfulness teacher.
I like to use a tailor made approach to seeing clients, whether individuals or groups in organisations and companies, children, young people or adults, sports people and have developed a special way of helping problem gamblers. I also enjoy delivering resilience and leadership courses.
As well as training the next generation of hypnotherapists I deliver training internationally to my colleagues on a range of issues, deliver supervision and assess the new generation of therapists.
I have held a directorship at NCH (National Council for Hypnotherapy) and a post as specialist advisor for confidence and continue to encourage newer, less experienced hypnotherapists through supervision.
Hypnotherapy, mindfulness and teaching continue to influence my life for the better. Sometimes I don’t feel as if I am working as I work in an area I am passionate about. If only self hypnosis were taught as part of the National Curriculum I am convinced the children of today would grow up happier and healthier.
For those of you interested in qualifications and my competence to be a hypnotherapist and trainer of hypnotherapists, to be a supervisor and deliver continuing professional development internationally, I have the following:
Why don’t I use testimonials from clients?
On my website, you will not find testimonials from clients. When I am training students with the UK Academy, I discuss with them the vexed question of testimonials, usually under the heading of ethics. I like to remind myself why my opposition to testimonials is still important and relevant.
Testimonials are not like reviews on TripAdvisor, where the review is in the control of the reviewer and can be either negative or positive. Interestingly, testimonials are only ever positive, as they are in the control of the practitioner and are, to my mind, meaningless.
What guarantee do you, the client, have that the testimonials published are from real people? Hypnotherapists have a duty of confidentiality in our code of ethics, and it has been known for practitioners to fake their reviews.
Relying on testimonials means using an imprecise, subjective measure to make an important choice. Why not do some thorough research instead? Check whether the hypnotherapist is on the NCH list, registered with the CNHC (which shows they have been trained face-to-face, as much training nowadays is delivered online, which is not ideal for hypnotherapists), or listed on the Hypnotherapy Directory. Then consider how long the practitioner has been accredited, their experience, and their background.
Meaningless boasts such as “I am the best” or “I see more clients than others in the area” are merely evidence of the practitioner’s ego, and are not relevant to their ability to help you.
Please make an informed choice about your practitioner, particularly as this field is unregulated. There is voluntary regulation through the externally accredited HPD, often regarded as the gold standard. This means there are hypnotherapists who have no external qualifications at all.
I have been practising as a hypnotherapist, NLP practitioner and hypnotic coach since the 1990s. Since 2005 I have also been a trainer, supervisor, assessor and international presenter, with a professional background in education rather than marketing. I am a member of the prestigious Brookhouse Group of Therapists and was one of the first hypnotherapists to achieve the HPD. I undertake regular supervision and continuing professional development. I make no boasts, I simply state my accreditations and long experience in the field.
I have in the past used testimonials from students I have trained to become hypnotherapists. However, some of the same ethical concerns apply there as well.
You will need between 3-8 sessions, although, as you are in control of your own therapy length and intensity you can leave when you feel you can manage without my help. I always tailor make your therapy and give 100%, aiming to work with you as thoroughly and quickly as possible.
An initial FREE consultation of 15 minutes is available for you from Get Mind Fit to see if your problem would be appropriately treated with hypnotherapy. Afterwards, each session lasting around 50 minutes costs £100.
To cover administration costs, appointments not cancelled 48 hours beforehand or no shows may be charged a fee of £50.
I have trained in many different modes of hypnotherapy and other disciplines as I prefer not to stick rigidly to any one branch. If I am helping you make changes in your life I need to be able to change and mix and match too. This way I do not limit my capacity to work in a tailor made way with you. I use a mix of advanced clinical, hypnotherapy, cognitive, Ericksonian and solution focused therapy and pick whichever techniques are best suited to you. So it is fair to say I have a broad brush approach rather than rigidly following one school of thought as clients come in all shapes and are all individuals. All hypnotherapy is solution focused anyway as we all seek a solution to your issues. If you wish to experience regression that is fine; if you wish to have a choice of induction methods that is fine too. Nothing is set in tablets of stone so as to give you the best possible solution to your issues and the quickest, most thorough way of changing your life in whatever way you choose to do so. If I were to follow only one school of thought or techniques I would limit your choices of success.
No; you are in total control of your own thoughts. The hypnotherapist cannot make you bark like a dog or cluck like a chicken, unless that’s is what you wanted to achieve and any good hypnotherapist would not consider those to be viable outcomes.
No. Stage hypnotists sometimes use similar induction techniques to a hypnotherapist, but stage hypnotists are using hypnosis to entertain people and use on stage those members of the audience who can go very deeply into trance and who wish to be famous or have their few minutes of fame.
No, you can move around and talk. This is what children do as they are naturally in trance. Having said that, I notice alot of people who spend alot of their lives in a negative ‘trance’ or state of mind, imagining the worst, resisting change and being stuck in a rut.
Yes if you want to. You only make the transition into hypnosis if you want to.
No, you already know how to do it. You have been doing it since the day you were born
No; there is hypnotic language used by sales people and in advertisements, in politics and meetings but you only accept these suggestions if you feel inclined to do so.
No.
No. Some clients occasionally fall asleep during hypnosis but hypnosis is not sleep
No.