Absorption and imagination play a central role in successful hypnotherapeutic work. To clients, they can sometimes feel like mysterious abilities — something they must actively “do” — which may put them off from seeking treatment. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Every one of us has the capacity to imagine scenarios unique...
If you’ve ever sat in the GP’s waiting room, wide awake at 3am, or curled up on the sofa trying to make sense of your pain — chances are this thought has crept in: “Why is this happening to me?” It’s such a human question, isn’t it? We ask it in frustration, in sadness, in...
One of the hardest things people living with chronic/ persistent pain tell me either in person at my pain psychology clinic in Milton Keynes or online — sometimes in a whisper, sometimes through tears — is this: “I don’t think people believe me.” It’s not just strangers. Sometimes it’s doctors. Sometimes it’s colleagues. Often, it’s...
Today we are beginning a new short series on how personality and individual differences can affect experience and success of therapeutic hypnosis. To establish something as a trait, it needs to be a characteristic which is present in some people but not in others, and may vary in intensity between individuals. It also needs to...
In my pain psychology clinics online, and in-person in Milton Keynes, it’s a question I often hear from people living with chronic/persistent pain, fatigue, or long-term health conditions: “How do I explain this to other people?” Whether it’s colleagues, friends, family — or even your own GP — putting your experience into words can feel...
In the third of our series on Behavioural Psychology in Hypnotherapy, we are going to look at integrating behavioural principles into hypnotic suggestions. As we have seen in the first two blogs on this subject (Behavioural Psychology in Hypnotherapy: Classical and Operant Conditioning and Habit Formation and Techniques for Breaking Bad Habits), conditioning—both classical and operant—forms...
For many parents and caregivers, the school summer holidays bring a mix of joy, dread, and exhaustion. But if you're living with chronic/ persistent pain, that mix can lean heavily toward overwhelm. Let’s be honest – six (or more!) weeks of constant activity, noise, and broken routines can feel daunting even at the best of...
In the second of our series on Behavioural Psychology in Hypnotherapy, we are going to look at habits: how we form them and how we can break the ones we do not want. Rewiring Neural Pathways: How Hypnotherapy Affects the Brain Just as strength training can improve your body, targeted therapy delivered by a professional...
Living with chronic/ persistent pain means you're constantly balancing energy, expectations, and your own limits. Some days, just getting out of bed is a victory. So when someone asks for a “quick favour” or suggests another task you could squeeze in, what happens? You smile. You nod. You say yes—even though every part of you...
For the next three blogs we are going to look at how behavioural psychology is used in hypnotherapy. This time we are going to look at conditioning. What is it and how does it work? The fact that the outside world has an effect on our behaviours seems so obvious to us as to be...
