Why I believe change is possible....

As a Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist, I've worked with people struggling with anxiety, phobias, struggling with food and alchohol consumption, insomnia and unwanted habits. Although the reasons people come to therapy vary, the process of change follows many of the same behavioural principles.

Do you ever think to yourself, "Why do I keep doing this when I know it's not helping?"

Our brain's primary function is to keep us alive. This hasn't changed since we lived in caves fighting for daily survival, and it hasn't learnt that we don't live that type of existence anymore. To do this, it constantly scans for danger and, to save time and energy, repeats familiar patterns.

Every time a behaviour reduces discomfort, creates relief or helps us avoid something difficult, the brain learns from that experience. With repetition, this becomes an automatic habit, and this is why change can feel hard, even when you really want it to, because the old pattern has had much more practice.

My Philosophy

I genuinely believe change is possible for anyone who's willing to put the work in. You're never too old and it's never too late.

If you've found yourself here, it's highly likely that you've already tried to change and it hasn't worked for you... yet.

Maybe you've decided this is the last time you'll overthink a decision. The last time you'll let anxiety stop you from doing something. Or it's the last time you'll reach for food, fags or another bad habit that's got you by the claws.

One of the biggest misconceptions about behavioural change is that knowing what to do and having enough willpower will be enough. If it were, most of us would never repeat the things we regret or react in ways we later wish we'd handled differently.

Human behaviour is far more complex than that.

Throughout my work as a Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist, I've seen something time and time again. Once people understand why a certain train of thought or behaviour exists, it begins to make sense. It becomes less confusing and overwhelming, and that's when it often becomes much easier to change.

We all develop certain ways of thinking and behaving. Some of this is learnt during childhood and our teenage years.

Some develops in response to stress or life situations and becomes a habit through repetition as a way of avoiding discomfort, uncertainty or fear.

Over time, those responses become so familiar that they happen automatically.

CBT won't change your past or switch off unwanted thoughts. It's been scientifically proven to help you understand your thoughts and behavioural patterns. You learn to recognise what's been keeping these going and gradually build new ways of thinking and responding. This is reinforced with the homework you practise between sessions.

Hypnosis works alongside CBT at a deeper, subconscious level and can help reinforce those changes, making it easier for new patterns of thinking and behaviour to become established.

The good news is... patterns can be understood and they can be changed, and that is why I believe we can all change if we are willing to put the effort in.

Instead of asking,

"Why am I like this?"

You might ask,

"What is this behaviour trying to achieve?"

Instead of,

"Why can't I stop?"

You might ask,

"What's keeping this pattern going?"

Better questions often help you come up with practical answers, greater self-awareness and the confidence and resilience to create new opportunities for a better life.