What happens during a session?
We would first discuss what you want to gain from hypnotherapy and what you have tried so far. There is usually no need to go over painful past traumas in detail - unless you want to. If you are in agreement, you will experience a taste of hypnotherapy.
Hypnotherapy is very much a collaborative one. The days of being told 'you will sleep and when you wake you will not remember anything' are long gone. You are the one making the changes you need and hypnotherapy will help you do this by reducing the amount of internal and external distractions which have kept you from your goal.
An important aspect of the session is to continue the process at home - this might be taking home a CD to listen to (sometimes a recording of the session), reading a recommended book, or perhaps writing in a journal. Research has shown that this can help a great deal to reinforce positive outcomes.
If more than one session is needed, this would be mutually agreed, either at the end of the first session when the next appointment would then be made, or by follow up phone or email. Obviously, everything discussed is always held in complete confidence.
How many sessions will I need?
Most people want a fast and permanent solution and sometimes that can be achieved with just one session, although it depends on various factors including motivation, determination and how long the problem has existed.
Sometimes only one session is needed and sometimes up to twelve. For most people, six sessions is about right.
Studies have shown that the process can be speeded up with 'homework' (usually listening to a CD or reading a recommended book) between sessions.