Myths and Realities of Hypnotherapy

Am I in Control During Hypnotherapy?

This is the most frequent question, and the answer is clear: yes, you are always in control. During hypnosis, you are not in someone else's power. You are simply in a deeply relaxed state of focused awareness — and it is entirely your choice whether you stay in that state or return to ordinary alertness.

Think of it like this: you are reading a book you love. Someone calls your name from the next room. You can put the book down and answer, or you can choose to keep reading. The hypnotic state is like that absorption. You are not trapped. You are simply focused.

In my personal experience, hypnotherapy is a state of deep, pleasant relaxation — and a genuinely addictive one, in the best sense. It gives a profound feeling of wellbeing.

Can I Be Hypnotised?

Most people can enter a hypnotic state if they are willing to relax. The more easily you can relax, the more readily you can enter trance. Hypnotherapy is always conducted with your full consent and cooperation. It is a clinical procedure approached with care, with full awareness of the sensitivity of the concerns being addressed.

According to the British Society of Clinical Hypnosis, it is estimated that approximately 85% of people respond at some level to clinical hypnotherapy. Those who have confidence in the process and who are personally motivated to change tend to respond more readily.

How Does It Work?

Your subconscious mind is a remarkable repository — it holds every file of your life for you to review, understand, and draw wisdom from. It regulates involuntary functions of the body and the habits you carry out without conscious thought. It is fuelled by your emotions, beliefs, and imagination, and it quietly directs much of your behaviour from within.

The subconscious also holds the memories of everything that has ever happened to you. Later in life, it compares current experiences with similar ones from the past, triggering familiar emotional responses — responses that may have been protective at the time but can become limitations in the present, preventing you from finding new, more evolved ways of responding to life's challenges.

You cannot consciously control what rises from the subconscious. But in hypnotherapy, its power is accessed and gently worked with. This makes you more receptive to new ideas, new patterns of thought — and new ways of being. That receptivity can encourage more balanced, grounded, and helpful responses to life, gradually overwriting the old unconscious habits of the past.

Will It Work for Me?

There is no way to know for certain before beginning — but that is true of any form of treatment. What can be said is that most people of ordinary intelligence are fully capable of engaging with this approach. As long as you follow simple guidance, remain open to the process, and maintain a positive orientation, you will become receptive to the suggestions offered — and improvement tends to follow.

As with anything, there is no magic solution. Nothing in this world works for everyone, all of the time. But this method carries a very high rate of success, and since it is completely safe, there is nothing to lose. At a minimum, most people find better sleep and a greater sense of ease. For many, there is meaningful improvement. For some, a complete resolution of the concern that brought them in.

Most people who begin realise very quickly that there is nothing frightening about it. They find that they remain in control throughout. And many come to genuinely look forward to the peace and wellbeing that each session provides.