Hypnosis is a state of altered awareness during which our subconscious mind is more open and receptive to suggestions that are given. We drift in and out of different levels of awareness many times a day, absorbing information on a subliminal level as well as a conscious one. It’s a dream like state. Your hypnotherapist will work with your imagination to help you to achieve your goals.

Every individual is unique and different. Some people say that their body feels like a lead weight, others say they feel as though they're floating away. Most people will agree that it's a lovely feeling because they are more relaxed than they have ever been before.

You will be aware of everything that is happening and being said the whole time, however you will be so deeply relaxed that you may find yourself drifting into different levels of awareness. You may forget some of the things said to you consciously, but your subconscious mind remembers everything it needs to. Your subconscious mind is active throughout and it is this that your therapist is working with.

That depends how deep in hypnosis you are, but generally most people do remember either everything or certain parts of the experience. You will find that suggestions which have been given to you in hypnosis will resurface in your conscious thinking mind after your hypnosis session and these will be the thoughts that produce changes in your behaviour or way of thinking and feeling.

Psychoanalysis gives a complete explanation of a complicated behaviour pattern. It deals with the material of the unconscious mind, which, through special time consuming techniques, is brought into the patient's consciousness so that they can deal with it.
Hypnoanalysis reveals the cause of a patient's particular reaction to a given set of circumstances. It deals with awareness below the level of consciousness. Hypnoanalysis is a speedier method of therapy. It is the difference between a broad plateau and a pin point. A complete psychoanalysis takes time, years in some cases. Hypnoanalysis can takes hours or less.

Not necessarily. All London hypnotherapists have slightly different approaches, but if the cause of your problem is a repressed memory (one that you are unable to remember consciously), then bringing it back into conscious awareness can help you to view the problem from a different perspective and feel differently about it. If you find the idea of revisiting old memories painful then your therapist can help you to dissociate from them so that you can remember the experience without experiencing the emotions associated with them.

No, you won't say or do anything at all that you don't want to. If you were given suggestions that you didn't morally agree with or were against your values, you would come out of hypnosis or disregard the suggestions.

No one has ever remained in hypnosis indefinitely. Even if something were to happen to the hypnotherapist halfway through the session, you would still 'come out' of the trance state once rapport is broken.

The only side effects are the beneficial ones of feeling more relaxed afterwards and feeling more positive about whatever it was you sought hypnotherapy for. Hypnosis is a perfectly natural state.

Hypnosis requires cooperation between two people. Your therapist will show you the way and you can choose if you want to go there or not. Anyone can resist hypnosis during a session and it won't work. If you are not prepared to accept that hypnosis could benefit you then you are not ready for it yet.

All Hypnotherapists must belong to a professional association (e.g. The General Hypnotherapy Register / Member of The Hypnotherapy Directory etc.) in order to be eligible for Professional Indemnity Insurance.

You can, if they are related issues. However because hypnosis requires a complete focus of attention it is better to concentrate on one problem at a time. People wishing to lose weight (for example) would be given suggestions for nutritional motivation and exercise. People wishing to stop smoking (for example) who are afraid of doing so in case they gain weight can be helped with the correct approach. This is because many of us experience 'symptom substitution' - we can substitute one addiction for another. Your therapist should have the skills to recognize if this is the case and deal with the issue at its core.

It depends on the issue that needs to be addressed:

Smoking cessation normally requires a single session which would cost £450 for a weekday appointment.

Weight loss treatment programmes vary depending on the individual client and start at £380 per session.

The initial telephone consultation is free.

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