What's the difference between Hypnotherapy and Talk Therapy?

The primary difference between Hypnotherapy and Talk Therapy is that Hypnotherapy has specific methods that allow it to directly access the subconscious or un-conscious mind.  There are different statistics reported, but it widely understood that the sub-conscious or un-conscious mind amounts to approximately 95% of the mind power and that the conscious mind relates to approximately 5% of the mind power.

The unconscious mind concerns itself very much with the past and it holds all the memories (mostly unconsciously held) of all our experiences since we were conceived.  It’s the place we store our beliefs, emotions, feelings, and values systems and these deeply held attitudes have a powerful effect on how we experience life in general, how we behave and how we value ourselves. This is the place in the mind where the guilt, shame, fear, self-questioning, anxiety and pain comes from.

The conscious mind concerns itself very much with the present. It’s our lateral thinking mind, it’s our pragmatic and planning mind, and it’s our analytical mind.  It’s very much fixed upon planning and getting ahead in life.

 There’s a rule of the mind that states, emotion will always defeat logic!  What that means is our unconsciously held beliefs will sabotage our conscious efforts. This explains why our decisions to do better, to stick to healthy boundaries etc usually end up with us reverting to previous behavioural patterns.

The unconscious mind is basically the big boss and controls our responses and behaviours to everything in life, no matter what ideas the conscious mind might have.

95% versus the 5%!  

You might see at this point the importance of specifically working with the un-conscious mind!

Both Talk Therapy and Hypnotherapy have value and are working towards the same goals, that is, they both seek to improve our mental and emotional health, and they both work on the same issues sort of presenting issues.

Hypnotherapy, however, taps directly into the un-conscious mind and works towards unearthing the root cause of a specific issue.  This is achieved through the recall of memories associated with where one first began to feel unlovable, or unworthy, for example.

Most of our acquired belief stem from our early childhood experiences and it’s these negatively acquired beliefs that we bring with us into our adult lives that sabotage and destroy our beliefs about ourselves and life.  

 Hypnotherapy is usually more short-term and generally achieves a swifter result.

 In talk therapy the client attends weekly for an agreed amount of time initially and that can be extended, depending on the issue and progress.

As with any therapy, there is no guarantee of a positive out come and therefore it's important to become as informed as you can be before making any decisions about what modality you choose.

Deciding on the best fit for you is an important part of the  process.  If you are new to therapy, I would encourage you to explore many different therapies and therapists until you find something that feels like the best fit for you.

Your transformation is dependant on you putting in the groundwork!  And a good client/therapist fit is essential for any positive outcome.

For your information here's how I work.

In my practice, I like to do all the hypnosis work in one day, so there’s no need to keep taking time precious time out from your busy life.

 My clients initially work with me for about 4 hours.  In that time, I take a comprehensive case history so I can really get to grips with the issues my client is facing.  We then work together, like a couple of detectives, seeking to identify the primary belief that we want to reframe and transform.   Once the client feels ready, I put the client into hypnosis (which incidentally is not scary at all.  Most clients report it feels very relaxing) We then begin the exciting journey of identifying the origin of the acquired belief and then we begin discrediting it and reframing it.  It’s a very interesting experience and many insights are gained just from this part alone.

Once we’ve achieved what we need to do and towards the end of the appointment, I record a bespoke hypnosis audio for each client that is specifically designed to replace a negatively held belief with a new empowering and positive belief.

The client is required to listen to that audio every single day uninterrupted for approximately 28 days to deeply embed the new and empowering belief that will set you free.

The transformation comes from the in- session work and it continues right throughout the listening period.

We then meet again after 28 days to discuss progress and any next steps necessary.

All my appointments are held remotely. I have worked with over 500 clients from all over the world and online hypnotherapy gets the very same exciting results as in person.

Hypnotherapy is cutting edge therapy, it gets extraordinary results, and it doesn’t require repeated visits to therapy.  

Deep seated issues may require more than one appointment.