FAQ: Build A Better You

When I was working as a hypnotherapist, I was able to witness first hand the incredible transformations that were sometimes brought about by hypnosis related interventions. Several of my clients had lifelong phobias dissolved in a single session.

However, I was aware that for many reasons, some people would never refer to a hypnotherapist. So I decided to write a book which would help people to basically do it themselves.

There are indeed many books about self-hypnosis. Of course I haven’t seen them all and I expect that some are much better than others.

Many such books focus on a particular goal such as weight loss. In my view, when you have learnt the basic techniques of self-hypnosis you can apply it to many different aspects of your life. Thus, I wanted my book to cover the principles of self-hypnosis and then to explain how it can by used for a range of different goals.

My book is also accompanied by MP3 audio tracks providing guided self-hypnosis for the complete beginner. When I wrote this book I was not aware of any other self-hypnosis book with that feature.

Good question, but very hard to give a definitive answer. Basically, it depends on the person and the goal.

Just as in other aspects of life, some people work better on their own and some get more success with help. It is similar to a personal trainer for getting fit – not essential, but many people find it hugely beneficial.

Issues that require a complex intervention are best done with a therapist and my book has chapters for the goals that I think are particularly suitable for self-hypnosis.

Of course, it goes without saying that anybody with severe issues should seek professional help as soon as possible and there is plenty available.

Sorry about that. Please send me an email (see the contact page of this website) and I will arrange to send you links that you can download.

Yes and no. To an extent, everybody uses self-hypnosis many times a day without even knowing it. If you make a mistake and say to yourself “I’m an idiot” you are, in effect, conditioning yourself.

In my book, I explain how to make positive changes to your lifestyle using formal self-hypnosis sessions. I used to do that myself.

However, over the years I have consciously been in and out of hypnosis so often that I no longer need any formal induction. I simply adopt a frame of mind and speak to myself. Sometimes I do it without even realising it.

I do this most often before going to sleep at night. I close my eyes, take a calming breath and then give my subconscious mind some instructions to work on while I sleep. If I need to wake up at a particular time I will give instructions to my subconscious mind and, more often than not, I will actually wake up a few minutes before my alarm clock is set to go off. I have no idea how my mind keeps track of the time but it works.

I must admit though that I am one of the ten percent of the population for whom hypnosis does not come easily. During my hypnotherapy training, I was on a course with 25 other students and it was clear that I was the least receptive to hypnosis. Fortunately, I was trained by one of the masters of hypnotherapy and under his direction I experienced some very deep and emotional sessions that have made a huge difference to my life.

It was a tough decision to leave hypnotherapy. I was trained in the Republic of Ireland and started a practice using a room in my home for therapy.

It takes a long time to build up such a business and I was just getting a good client base when I moved back to the UK. I started a practice in the UK but found it much more difficult to make progress. Unlike Ireland, access to doctors in the UK is free and the population seem to be much more reluctant to pay for health care than in Ireland. The NHS rarely refers patients to hypnotherapists.

I found out the hard way that there are very few people in the UK who can make a living income from hypnotherapy. Every single hypnotherapist I met in the UK was doing it part-time in addition to anther job.

Furthermore, my new home was not suitable for running a hypnotherapy practice so I had to pay to rent a therapy room and travel to and from each session. If you add on all the standing costs such as insurance, memberships, ongoing training, it simply was not viable to carry on.