Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy, when asked what this is, this is how I explain to my clients… First of all we have to have a good working alliance/relationship or we get on well, I want you to feel you can be open and honest with me and ask me anything you like. If a client comes to me and they are not comfortable then the relationship is never going to work to its full potential, and I want to help my clients to achieve their goals in our sessions. One of the first things I establish with my clients is homework, are they willing to do homework as we won’t reach the goal set if they aren’t willing to do the homework. It is them making the changes and in order for the this to happen, homework is key. And yes, I did say goal because together we are working towards a goal the client has set for themselves. Each client is individual and I treat them this way, what works for one person may not work for another so it is important to get to know the client. Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy works for various things, anxiety, insomnia, smoking, eating, anger, relationship problems… to name but a few. Once we establish why the client has come to me, we work together to establish why they currently feel this way and what we can do to make changes in order for them to achieve the goal they have set for themselves, this is the start of their journey.
Once their goal is established, we set out a plan it’s not set-in stone but having a rough plan gives the client something to work towards. I listen to the client, it’s important to listen in a working relationship. When the client speaks often there are things which are creating their problems, when I listen, I can understand what these are, I may ask them to look at this in another way or take note for another time. Once I have established a pattern in their behaviour, we can work together to change this pattern in order to change the outcome. I can choose to do this using hypnosis, this has to be introduced to the client, they may have previous experience good or bad and I want my clients to understand that this is an enjoyable experience, I will use testers with them in order to make them comfortable and to diminish any misgivings they have about hypnosis. I will make sure they are comfortable and happy with what is going on as we will never achieve the outcome if they are telling me what they feel I want to hear. This again is an opportunity to listen to the client. When I feel that the client is ready and happy and will fully benefit from the hypnosis, we will embark on our first hypnosis session.
The techniques I use in hypnosis are tailored to the client, the client will be advised here that these sessions should be used as homework. Should the client have any questions I am available to them, this is the start of our working journey together in order to change their Cognitions (thoughts) which changes their Feelings (reactions) which in turn changes their Behaviours (outcome).
Welcome to Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy!
