One of the questions that I am often asked is how will therapy work with me. I have a lot of information on my website about the process but it never hurts explaining it further.
Like many types of therapy, the first session is an exploratory one. For me to understand what brought you to contact me, what are the issues you are seeking to address and to ultimately learn more about yourself. I am always keen to make the experience one as personalised as possible so the more I know about what troubles you and what change you want, the better.
For yourself, it is also an opportunity to learn more about me as a therapist. No questions are silly ones, like whether you can be hypnotised or about my qualifications. This relationship only works if we are both in tune with one another and there is trust between us.
We talk then about a treatment plan. Hypnotherapy is an outcome based therapy and therefore is expected to be finite, to have an end. That’s the reason why I harp on about goals so much, as that is essential for us to set at the start. The treatment plan is essentially the path we will take to get to that goal and for your problem to be resolved with satisfaction.
Now, is it possible that we start without a clear definition of a goal? Yes, that’s not entirely uncommon. People often come to see me with a problem rather than an objective in mind. Saying that you don’t want to feel x is not a good enough goal. Sometimes, these can be easily turned around into positive statements, like feeling y, but whether that is a good goal or not it really depends.
So the first session can also be focused on talking through what a good goals may be, so when therapy actually starts it has a clear target outcome. If that’s needed, I will use a variety of coaching techniques so we get to something tangible to work towards.
But we will always try to get you to trance on your first session. You will learn how to hypnotise yourself so you can take a skill home with you to practice. And the more you do practice, the stronger will the treatment plan be when you return, as you gain familiarity with the process and maintain the motivation for change high.
If this sounds a little like homework it’s because it is, sorry. Nothing too onerous but continuing to work on your goals in between sessions is a good thing. It can even shorten the time to achieve those outcomes and the plan we discussed before, so that’s hopefully a good incentive to do it.
Hope this is helpful and that it gets you ready to take that next step. Changing your life is at your reach, contact me and let’s discuss how.
