Clinical hypnotherapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses hypnosis to help individuals make positive changes in their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Hypnosis is a trance-like state of mind that allows people to bypass their conscious mind and access their subconscious mind. During hypnotherapy sessions, a trained therapist guides the patient into this state and helps them explore their inner experiences, beliefs, and even their memories.

Research has shown that clinical hypnotherapy can be effective in treating a range of mental health conditions, including anxiety disorders, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and chronic pain. A meta-analysis of 18 studies found that hypnotherapy was significantly more effective than no treatment or other psychotherapies for reducing symptoms of anxiety, depression, and PTSD (Cuijpers et al., 2021). Another study showed that hypnotherapy was more effective than cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in treating chronic pain, with hypnotherapy resulting in greater reductions in pain intensity and interference in daily activities (Eccleston et al., 2014).

Overall, clinical hypnotherapy is a promising and evidence-based approach to psychotherapy that can help people overcome a range of problems and improve their quality of life.

Lucie offers Clinical Hypnotherapy to people who want to make changes in their lives but have stumbled and feel frustrated that they cant seem to achieve the changes they want to make. Sometimes this can be offered in combination with IFS or other techniques as appropriate. Sometimes people have a fear that they will not be in control during the session but this is a misconception as the client always retains complete control and will never say or do anything that they did not wish to do.

References:

Cuijpers, P., Karyotaki, E., Reijnders, M., & Purgato, M. (2021). National and multinational meta-analyses of randomized-controlled trials in psychotherapy for anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Depression and Anxiety, 38(6), 565-576.

Eccleston, C., Palermo, T. M., Williams, A. C. D. C., Lewandowski, A., Morley, S., & Fisher, E. (2014). Psychological therapies for the management of chronic and recurrent pain in children and adolescents. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (5), CD003968.