I remember graduating from Lancaster University with a BSc in Psychology many years ago and believing that was it: I had done my growing and learning. I was fully formed as an adult, fired and glazed, with particular beliefs and behaviour patterns – I didn’t like all of them, but I thought I was stuck with them. I thought that these would be the behaviours and beliefs I would use to face any situation. 

As life continued, change happened and situations presented themselves which required a shift in mindset. Not all of these changes have been easy, and indeed some have been incredibly hard, even when I desired them. Becoming a mum for the first time, losing loved ones, changing jobs, dealing with health conditions. I wasn’t always well equipped to cope well with these situations.

A part of our mind (the security guard in the primitive part of our brain) wants us to believe that all change is scary and that we should just keep doing whatever we’re already doing – even if we don’t like it or it no longer suits us. That fear can easily drive our behaviour more than we recognise. It can feel like rational, objective thought, because we don’t like to feel a disagreement between the primitive, pattern-repeating part of our mind and the innovative, intelligent part – so we rationalise the voice of the security guard into something that feels like a well-reasoned decision.

Hypnotherapy has enabled me to understand when and why I am more likely to repeat unhelpful patterns of behaviour or believe in limitations that don’t really exist, and to recognise when this is happening. It has given me the tools to ensure that I am more often able to access the part of my mind that doesn’t fear change and that can be innovative. It has supported me to make choices that allow me move forward in moments when change has happened to me, and in moments when I needed to make a change

I completed my training with Clifton Practice Hypnotherapy Training in 2021, gaining a diploma in solution focused hypnotherapy. This has given me the privilege of helping other people to recognise what their self-limiting beliefs are and to access all their inner resources to accept – or indeed create – change with positivity, intent and focus. They can then to take meaningful steps towards where they want to be.

Hypnosis and hypnotherapy are endlessly fascinating subjects. I undertake supervision and CPD regularly to continue to develop and stay up to date as an ethical practitioner of hypnotherapy.

Take a look at this explanation to see how I can use solution focused hypnotherapy to help you.