Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy: What It Is, What It Isn't, and How It Can Help
Hypnotherapy is one of those practices that tends to provoke an immediate reaction — curiosity, scepticism, or a vague image of a swinging pocket watch and a man in a cape. Before anything else, let's set the record straight.
What Is Hypnosis?
The word comes from the Greek húpnos, meaning sleep. And hypnosis does look a lot like sleep from the outside — which is probably where the confusion begins. But from the inside, it's something quite different: hypnosis is a naturally occurring state of altered awareness and perception.
That might sound mysterious, but it's actually something you already experience every day, in various forms and degrees, without thinking about it. When you're absorbed in a good book or film and lose track of time. On a long motorway drive when you arrive and barely remember the last twenty minutes. When you're exercising and enter a kind of focused flow. When you drift off into a daydream. In each of these moments, you're still aware of your surroundings — the room, the road, the gym — but the usual noise and distraction have receded into the background. Your attention has narrowed around one thing.
That's all hypnosis is: a natural human state in which the mind becomes more receptive and focused.
What makes this therapeutically useful is that, in this state, new ideas, perspectives and suggestions are received differently — with less resistance, and more openness. Just as the emotions you feel watching a fictional film are entirely real even though the story isn't, the mind in hypnosis responds to imagination and suggestion as though they carry real weight. Skilled hypnotherapists use this to help people shift long-standing patterns, change how they relate to difficult experiences, or develop new ways of thinking and responding.
In practice, a hypnotherapist typically induces this state through guided relaxation — bringing you to that in-between place somewhere between waking and sleep. From there, using suggestions, metaphors or imagination-based exercises, they work with you to address the specific areas you want to change: reducing anxiety, managing pain, breaking a habit, building confidence, or processing something difficult.
It's worth being clear that hypnotherapy is a collaborative process. You are conscious and responsive throughout. The therapist's role is to guide and offer — you decide, at every stage, what you take in and what you don't. You do most of the actual work, even while sitting comfortably with your eyes closed.
Because it works on a psychological level, it matters that you choose a practitioner with proper training, who works within recognised protocols and belongs to a professional body with a code of ethics. Hypnotherapy is a gentle approach — but it's not a casual one.
Myths, Misconceptions, and What's Actually True
"You're asleep during hypnosis"
Some hypnotherapists use words like "sleep" or "drift off" — partly by tradition, partly because it invites the body's natural relaxation response. But hypnosis isn't sleep. You remain aware and focused for most of the session. The large majority of people report being fully conscious of everything that happens throughout.
"The therapist controls your mind"
This one, we can thank stage hypnosis and Hollywood for. The reality is the opposite of what they'd have you believe. You cannot be made to do anything against your will under hypnosis. Yes, you're more open to suggestion — but you retain your free will entirely. For a suggestion to take effect, you have to be willing to engage with it, to imagine it, to allow it to resonate. You choose to follow the therapist's voice. You choose how deeply you relax. You choose whether to respond to a suggestion or not. No one can hypnotise you against your will, and no one can make you say or do anything embarrassing or harmful — during or after a session.
"What if I get stuck in hypnosis?"
No one has ever been stuck in hypnosis, any more than anyone has ever been stuck in meditation, sleep, or a daydream. Hypnosis is a temporary mental state. In the extremely unlikely event that the session were interrupted, you would simply drift into natural sleep and wake up normally. To date, not a single verified case of anyone becoming "stuck" has ever been reported — which, given how widely hypnotherapy is practised, is rather reassuring.
"Being hypnotisable means you're weak-minded"
The reverse is true. Responsiveness to hypnosis requires the ability to sustain focused attention, follow complex instructions, engage the imagination actively, and stay motivated and curious about the process. These are signs of cognitive flexibility and mental engagement — not weakness.
What Can Hypnotherapy Help With?
Hypnotherapy is used today for a wide range of difficulties, and research increasingly supports its effectiveness in a number of specific areas:
Anxiety and anxiety-related conditions — including generalised anxiety, panic attacks, phobias, insomnia and post-traumatic stress
Acute and chronic pain management
Sleep difficulties
Stress-related and psychosomatic conditions
Harmful or addictive behaviours — including disordered eating, smoking, and alcohol dependency
It's also increasingly used alongside other therapeutic approaches, where its ability to work at a deeper, less conscious level can complement and accelerate what talking therapy alone might take longer to reach.
What to Expect From a Session
If you've never had hypnotherapy before, knowing what's likely to happen can make a real difference to how comfortable you feel going in.
A first session typically begins with a conversation — about what's brought you, what you'd like to change, and any questions or concerns you might have. There's no pressure to go straight into hypnosis; that initial discussion matters, both for building trust and for tailoring the work to you specifically.
When we move into the hypnotherapy itself, you'll be invited to settle into a comfortable position — usually seated or semi-reclined — and guided into a state of relaxation through my voice. You won't be asked to do anything unusual. Most people describe the experience as deeply restful, a little like that pleasant heaviness just before you fall asleep, while remaining aware of everything around them.
From there, depending on what we're working on, I might use guided imagery, metaphor, direct suggestionor conversational hypnosis — always within a framework we've discussed together. Sessions typically last around 50 minutes.
Afterwards, most people feel calm and clear-headed. Some notice a shift quite quickly; for others, changes emerge more gradually over the following days. Either is completely normal.
My Approach to Hypnotherapy
If you are specifically looking for hypnotherapy, that can be the focus of our work. We will agree together on the approach that feels right for you and what you would like to work on.
As an integrative therapist, I also use hypnotherapy as one of the tools within a broader counselling process when I feel it could be helpful and you are open to it. Hypnotherapy doesn't have to be an either/or: it can be the main focus of our work, or it can sit alongside other therapeutic approaches.
Whatever the format, I don't see hypnotherapy as a magic fix or a “one session and you're sorted” solution. Meaningful change is rarely that simple. We will take the time to understand where you are, what you would like to work on and what might be getting in the way. Any hypnotherapy we use will then be tailored to you and integrated into our work with purpose, rather than relying on a generic script or a one-size-fits-all approach.
I offer hypnotherapy in West Hampstead and Paddington/Lancaster Gate in London, as well as online. If you'd like to find out whether it might be the right fit for you, get in touch — I'm happy to answer any questions before you decide to go ahead.
