My therapies include techniques from Psychotherapy, Psychology, Clinical Hypnotherapy, Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Coaching.
Click on any of the following for more information on treatment.
Hypnosis has been around for centuries in one form or another. There are many myths and misconceptions about what hypnosis is and what it can do, most of which are dramatised on film or television. Clinical Hypnotherapy as a means of treatment has also been around at least 200 years and has proven to be a very helpful means of treating conditions such as Depression, Anxiety, Phobias, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Psoriasis, Eczema, Migraine, High Blood Pressure (Hypertension), Eating Disorders, Addictions, Behavioural Problems, Relationship Issues and many more. In fact, the effects of illnesses such as Heart Disease, Arthritis, Cancer and Diabetes can all be helped by Clinical Hypnotherapy. This is not to say that these illnesses can be cured by Hypnotherapy, however the stress, anxiety and depression that often accompanies these illnesses can be treated, which in turn has a positive effect on the illness itself.
We all experience trance states several times during every day such as staring into space, concentrating so intently that we are unaware of our surroundings or just when we wake on a Sunday morning and just ‘drift’. During the Hypnotherapy session the Therapist will get you to relax both physically and mentally with some calming music and evocative words, then the Therapist will make suggestions to your subconscious about how you can think differently about certain circumstances, and how that will help you to change your behaviour for the better.
You will be in a trance, which means that you will be very relaxed, but you will be aware of everything going on around you. You may end the session at any time, and you will always be in total control.
Definitely not. You will be in total control, and your mind has the power to make decisions about your behaviour. It is only the power of choice that can make Hypnotherapy work.
Every session, be it for anxiety, depression, addictions, medical conditions or any other reason there is an optional hypnotherapy treatment included. It’s not compulsory however most clients gain a great deal of benefit from it. A hypnotherapy treatment usually lasts 20-25 minutes. See my professional fee list.
Often when we think of Psychotherapy we often think of dark Victorian rooms with a leather couch and a bearded Psychiatrist smoking a cigar and delving into the deepest recesses of our minds. Although there is still an element of those practices, I practice what is known as Solution Focussed Brief Therapy (SFBT). This form of therapy is similar to what is known as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and is based on the fact that it is detrimental to the Client to force them to relive traumatic past experiences over and over. It is far more constructive to look to the future, to see the solution rather than trying to find the problem and looking for blame or reasons. The other aspect of SFBT is that it is, as the name suggests, brief. A treatment plan of SFBT should take no longer than about 10 or 12 sessions, which means that it is less costly, positive results occur sooner and there is no emotional reliance on the Therapist by the Client. Finally, SFBT involves input and activity from the Client, which accelerates healing by actually doing something positive. SFBT works well and used in conjunction with other therapies such as Hypnotherapy and NLP gets positive results quickly. See my professional fee list.
NLP evolved from the work of eminent Hypnotherapists in the 1970s, and is the science of creating excellence by modifying thinking and behaviour to imitate successful behaviour. The mind thinks in language, so therefore the way we speak to ourselves affects the way we think, and the way we think affects the way we behave. For example, if you say “I must not forget my keys”, the words that are prominent are ‘forget’ and ‘keys’, but if you say “I must remember my keys”, the prominent words are ‘remember’ and ‘keys’. So which version is more likely to create the desired result?
“Forget keys” or “Remember keys”?
NLP will help anyone wanting to achieve excellence in their lives, whether you want to advance your career, win in sport or business, be more successful in relationships, be the best you can be in any walk of life, or simply live life in a positive, enjoyable and healthy manner.
Most top sports men and women and many top business executives use NLP techniques to achieve greatness, and that is often what separates them from the rest.
I offer group or individual sessions separately or in conjunction with other Therapies. These sessions are usually tailor-made to suit the individuals. See my professional fee list.
All businesses from large multinational corporations to small entrepreneurial companies or individuals need to ensure that they have three fundamental elements in order to succeed and remain successful; A desirable product, a workable plan, and a skilled and motivated workforce. I specialise in element number three and am able to provide the workforce with key skills to enable them to achieve their highest level of potential whether it is the Chief Executive, a Salesperson, a Manager or an Office Worker. My programme can be suited to all levels of experience and seniority and any occupation.
Some of the courses I run are:
I also offer one-to-one coaching and mentoring for workers
As all courses are tailor made to suit the individual or organisation, costs vary, so please call and we will be delighted to discuss your requirements. See my professional fee list for more information.
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When we feel ‘stressed’ owing to pressures of work, home life or other factors, we find that our sleep patterns change, we become ‘grumpy’ and short tempered. We enjoy life less and this adds to our anxiety. Modern life demands a great deal, and everyday pressures can get the better of us and we feel ourselves becoming overloaded. Some turn to cigarettes, alcohol or even drugs as a means of releasing the tension. Of course, this is just painting over the cracks, and the underlying causes remain, hidden by chemical substitutes. In fact, these substitutes actually make things worse. Anxiety is, simply put, a fear of the future, of what might happen, rather than what has happened. This means that we ourselves are creating this fear, it is an invention of the mind, no more, no less.
Everyone has an upper limit of stress tolerance, and from your normal, stress-free life it takes a lot to reach this limit, but without proper sleep patterns and keeping this stress level low, the step to ‘overload’ is a short one and this is when anxiety attacks, nervous breakdowns and stress-related illness occurs. Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Eczema, Psoriasis, High Blood Pressure, Insomnia and many more illnesses are made worse by Anxiety.
Hypnotherapy will certainly help you to reduce Anxiety by understanding how it occurs and learning relaxation and focusing techniques. Trance states also reduce anxiety by helping to create positive thought patterns.
To reduce Anxiety or Anxiety-related illness, you will typically have between six to twelve weekly sessions in which we will explore the causes and triggers of your anxiety and then develop strategies for preventing and dealing with it.
You may also enjoy a short hypnotherapy treatment in each of the sessions to relax you and allow the mind to ‘settle’. See my professional fee list.
It is normal to be afraid of certain things such as a venomous snake, or a gun pointed in your face, but many of us have fears for no real reason. For example, if you are afraid of the dark, you know that the ‘dark’ can’t harm you, so why the fear? Phobias are fears that have no reasonable basis, and are almost always associated with some form of psychological trauma experienced in the past. Anxiety will make the phobias worse, which in turn makes you more anxious. It is a vicious circle which has to be broken in order to set you free to enjoy life without fear. In Clinical Hypnotherapy we are able to help you to reprogramme the fear out of your Unconscious Mind and gain Intellectual Control over your emotions. Immersion Therapy allows you to experience small steps towards gaining confidence and coping with your fears, to the point where you will be completely cured. Relaxation Techniques will reduce the Anxiety levels and break the chain of fear.
‘Needle phobia’ is very common and has been a huge problem during the ‘Covid era’ as the vaccination programme is rolled out. It has been suggested that ‘needle phobia’ may be a partial cause of some people not allowing themselves to be vaccinated, putting themselves and others around them at risk.
Treatment for phobias usually take place over a period of six to eight weeks with a weekly session. Success rates are very high.
Everyone feels down from time to time, perhaps following a disappointment, a sad event in our lives, or perhaps just a general feeling of having the ‘blues’. This is perfectly normal, and we usually get over it when something else occurs, cheering us up, and lifting the gloom. Sometimes however, a more serious event, such as the loss of a loved one or a major life-changing event such as serious illness, job loss or relationship problems affect us by making us feel depressed and anxious. This can also be normal provided that we can cope with it and move on. If we can’t cope, then we need to seek assistance in getting back on track, and living healthy mental lives. Sometimes your Doctor might prescribe tablets that will make you feel better, sometimes this is not enough, and you need to understand what is making you feel depressed, and more importantly, how to act and think differently. I practice what is known as ‘Solution-Focussed Brief Therapy’ which means that we do not spend too much time delving into your past, spending months, or even years trying to analyse you, but rather I take you as you are and help you to understand your depression and to develop a positive strategy for a healthy and successful future.
My usual treatment for Depression involves between six to twelve weekly visits where we can put into place strategies and actions to lift your mood, create positive thinking and help your mind to discover that depression can be turned into happiness. Although we may discuss elements of the causes of your depression, we will be more focused on the future and how you can reshape it.
We all get angry from time to time, living in the modern world with all its hustle and bustle and life is often lived at a frenetic pace. We have deadlines to keep, things to do, obligations to fulfil and at times we can simply feel overwhelmed. Some people deal with this well by letting off steam in various ways such as through sport, socialising, enjoying a break from the pressures of life, but for some people it’s not that easy and when things get too much they simply boil over into a rage and in many cases lose control and say or do things which they later regret. Often it is those closest to us who bear the brunt of angry outbursts and this can cause problems in relationships at home, in the workplace or socially. In some cases, individuals can lose control and act in ways that are completely alien to their usual behaviour, which can have dire consequences, such as in cases of ‘road rage’, or domestic violence. All anger is related to anxiety and by treating the anxiety and utilising strategies for coping with stress most people can easily overcome anger issues.
Typically, an Anger Management treatment programme will consist of six to eight weekly visits of an hour where we will discuss the causes and triggers of your anger and put in place strategies to avoid or deal with the anxiety.
We all have negative thoughts from time to time, but sometimes individuals have thoughts that are not only negative, but are also intrusive and repetitive. It’s perfectly acceptable to be dedicated to a certain behaviour, such as say being on time or keeping your weight down, or perhaps washing your hands, but when the behaviour becomes so important that it puts other, more important behaviours aside or affects the individual’s health then that is Obsessive-Compulsive Behaviour ( sometimes referred to as OCD).
Typical types of OCD are frequent hand washing, counting everything, checking to see if the door is locked or the gas is turned off over and over again, all with the intrusive thoughts that if you don’t complete these tasks, something bad will happen. The result is that many people suffer for years from OCD and may have failed relationships and careers as well as poor health. OCD is associated strongly with high levels of anxiety and typically, these intrusive thoughts and obsessive behaviours can be dealt with within six to eight sessions of Psychotherapy and Hypnotherapy which will bring these behaviours under control and give you the skills to keep the negative thoughts at bay.
In all relationships there are times when we don’t see eye to eye. It is inevitable that given the pace and complexity of modern life, relationships can sometimes be last in line when investing time and effort. Sometimes we just become comfortable and take our relationships for granted and forget how important our loved ones are to us. This is easily done and all too often it seems as if it is too late and the only option is to end the relationship and move on. Often this is later regretted and it is too late. If you are having difficulty with a relationship and would like help in seeing a way forward, then Psychotherapy can help. Of course this relationship does not necessarily have to be romantic in nature, friends, family members and work colleagues can all benefit from this therapy. We endeavour to make no moral judgements therefore Clients of all orientations are treated the same.
The duration of the therapy depends on the complexity and progress made, however it is usual for between six and eight one hour sessions to get to where you want to be.
I also run courses called ‘Dealing with difficult people’ which helps clients to cope with and even thrive in areas that were previously ‘conflict situations’. These courses are group events of no more than 10 delegates and last two days. See my professional fee list.
In the course of a lifetime we are often so busy at trying to build a career, personal life, social life, pay the mortgage, have a family and enjoy ourselves that we don’t take time to step back and look to see if the way our lives are going is what we really want. Many people get to a stage in their lives when they suddenly realise that they are running out of time to achieve the things they once dreamed about. Perhaps they have achieved greatly in some facets of their lives, but failed in others. Discovering aspects about yourself, creating dreams and setting into motion the actions that will help you achieve those dreams is what Life Coaching is all about, whether it is at work, at home or in some other area of your life. It may be that you want to reach the top of your profession, meet and marry the partner of your dreams, manage your weight, live healthily, be happy, write a bestseller, be rich, be famous, get a degree, it doesn’t matter as it is all in your grasp but unless you can plan and put into place actions that will help you work the plan, it will always be just a dream.
I my practice I use the methods and techniques of NLP, Psychotherapy, Clinical Hypnotherapy and Mental Conditioning to give you what you need to make it happen.
The number of weekly visits that you make to me varies with each individual, however, between six and eight one hour sessions works well with a monthly session to follow up and monitor progress. See my professional fee list.
Everyone knows the devastation that smoking causes to health, not only smokers, but to the loved ones they leave behind or are forced to watch them die a premature, slow and painful death. Smoking interferes with the chemicals in the brain, restricting the flow of Serotonin, the naturally occurring chemical that helps us to cope, motivates us and gives us feelings of satisfaction. No wonder, then that lack of this chemical leaves us depressed, anxious and irritable-until we get the next fix of nicotine, of course. Between the Tobacco companies, the Inland Revenue and the Pharmaceutical companies, billions of pounds flow their way each year. I think they like you to smoke!
Smoking is like any habit (I prefer not to call it an addiction), it is controlled by the unconscious mind, which behaves like a child, wanting something even though it knows it is damaging. (Try telling a four-year old they can’t have sweets when they have them within reach!). The cycle of inhaling smoke, the absorption of 600 chemicals, 30 of which are cancer-causing, the depletion of Serotonin in the brain, and the need for the brain to have any chemicals rather than none can only be broken by the Intellectual mind asserting its dominance over the emotional mind. This is achieved by Hypnotherapy whilst the two minds are in a trance state, and they are both focussed on one single thought- that smoking will kill you.
A typical ‘give up smoking’ session will last about two hours and a follow up consultation within 6 months, if required. Smoking cessation treatments are very successful. See my professional fee list.
Food is nice; we have a huge array of foods available to us to choose from and to suit our every taste. Food is also more than just sustenance, it is an integral part of our social fabric, and not just the eating, but these days also the cooking. Couple this with the busy and comfortable lives modern people live and you can see why Obesity, Anorexia and Bulimia have become the biggest risk to both physical and psychological health in the U.K. today. We have all heard about the type 2 diabetes ‘tsunami’ that will strike within the next ten years and the impact on the NHS.
Shops are full of diet foods, diet books and diet aids and the media bombard us with programmes about weight management, yet the problem gets worse. The fact is that we are programmed through thousands of generations to eat sweet, fatty and salty foods as these were what our ancestors needed for survival. We are attracted to these products like a moth to a light bulb.
The only way to manage your weight is to eat sensibly and to take exercise, but in order to achieve this, if you do have a weight problem, is to reprogram your unconscious mind to believe that you do not need the extra cream bun, or that you ‘must’ finish the chips on your plate, even though you are full. Food addiction is unlike any other, as you are forced to sample the very thing you are addicted to several times a day. That is why only a complete reframing of your view towards food will help you overcome the cravings. Having a healthy weight should not be about torture, it’s just the way you think about it.
At my practice over a period of twelve one hour weekly sessions you will receive Clinical Hypnotherapy to reprogram your unconscious craving. Goal setting and strategies to deal with your eating disorder is also a key part of the treatment.
I also run a 10 week group therapy course which consists of 10 one-hourly sessions attended by between 5 to 8 Clients. The sessions involve Weight Management lectures, relaxation and group Hypnotherapy sessions. Many clients enjoy group therapy as it creates a camaraderie between the Clients which helps with motivation.
See my professional fee list for more information.
The biggest sporting superstars all have one thing in common other than being the very best in their field and that is that they all use the techniques and methods found in NLP , Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy. Read any autobiography of a top sportsperson and you will find references to goal setting, visualisation, emotional control and many other methods for achieving greatness.
Whether you are 12 years old, 21,32 or 64 years old, you can only achieve your true potential by utilising these methods. Some people do them instinctively, others need to be taught, however one thing is certain; they are the navigation instruments that will get you to your destination. Of course, not everyone is destined for greatness as a lot depends on potential, but the only way to find out is to make the effort. You may be a club player who wants to be better than the other club players, or you may want to run, swim or cycle your personal best; you won’t do it just by training your body, you need to train your mind, because much of competitive sport is played in the mind.
I understand how motivation, focus, emotional control and a host of other techniques can make the difference between winning and losing or by being the best you can possibly be. More and more sportspeople besides their coaches, use personal trainers to keep fit, nutritionists to keep healthy and are now realising that Mental Conditioning is as important as talent. The world is full of talented losers.
I offer individual and group sessions to sportspeople of any sport, individual or team. We provide Mental Conditioning to any age from 12 years old upwards and any sport at any level.
We can also give presentations at your local club. See my professional fee list for details.
Stress and Anxiety are major contributing factors to many illnesses. This is a well known and accepted fact and has been for many years, yet very little is done to help alleviate symptoms of certain illnesses by reducing Anxiety. It is documented, for example, that patients who receive Clinical Hypnotherapy prior to major surgery in order to reduce Anxiety experience less pain and recover quicker, spend less time in hospital and are less likely to experience postoperative complications. Hypnotherapy can help with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Psoriasis, Eczema, Migraine, Incontinence, and many other medical problems. Hypnotherapy has also been shown to be helpful as a complementary therapy in patients with Cancer, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Arthritis and other serious illnesses even the effects of ‘Long Covid’ can be eased.
When we are stressed or anxious, the body’s defence system becomes less effective, leaving us open to illness and infection. If you are already ill, the anxiety increases, further weakening your defences, making you more ill, or delaying your recovery. By reducing the anxiety levels, the mind allows the body’s defence system to do its work and recovery takes place. See my professional fee list for more information.
Clinical Hypnotherapy is excellent for complementing conventional medical treatment, however it is important that the Client understands the limitations of the therapy. The Client should always consult with their Doctor before changing their medication regime.
Yes, many Clients have experienced the benefits of pain management and a number of Clients use Clinical Hypnotherapy prior to Dental treatment or minor surgery.
Psychotherapist & Clinical Hypnotherapist
I work at the Therapy Rooms in Chippenham for individual clients, however for groups and specialist sessions I will meet clients at their workplace or at home. Please see my professional consultation fee list. Call 07808 716010 or email me for more information or to book an appointment.
