Although I am a clinician myself, I had no prior experience of Clinical Hypnotherapy, so when I was asked to be a guinea pig for the clinic I jumped at the chance. For my own personal interest to see what it was all about, but also from a clinical perspective.
Like many of us who have no first hand experience of hypnotherapy, we base our ideas of what we have seen previously, and my preconceptions were purely based on what I had seen on television. I’m pleased to say my session was nothing like this.
Prior to my appointment I had a number of forms to complete, including a specific form about the problems/concerns/issues I wished to address in the clinical hypnotherapy sessions. Being as detailed as possible in these forms really helps, as it just starts to focus your attention on the problem and gives the practitioner as good insight into the issues you want help with.
During the initial part of the session I was given a background to clinical hypnotherapy and an explanation of what the sessions will involve. Reassurance that I was not going to be made to do anything I didn’t want or ever be out of control or unaware of what was going on. I didn’t even get to lie down!
The session then moved on to a fairly in depth chat about the forms I had filled in and there were some probing questions into my thoughts and feelings surrounding the problem/issue that I had mentioned. We then did a couple of quick imagination exercises to get a sense of what type of imagery I use, apparently I’m more of a physical imagery person than a visual imagery person. Once we had done this we moved onto the relaxation part of the session. This was an active relaxation, so still no lying down, which went on for around 15 minutes, and by the end, even though I was sitting, I had lost nearly all awareness of my legs and feet. As I was bought out of the relaxation I expected to feel quite tired and maybe a bit groggy, but I was actually quite alert.
During my introduction to hypnotherapy I was given some very useful relaxation tips and techniques that I could immediately put into practice. As someone who has never participated in any form of talking therapy before, I was a bit apprehensive about sharing my thoughts/concerns/issues with a stranger, but the session was very relaxed and Penny was very reassuring and easy to talk to. She even managed to quiet my very busy mind, which is something I have never managed to achieve before in an awake state!
If you do have any worries/concerns/problems then Clinical Hypnotherapy is definitely worth a try. It is very different to what you might expect. Go with an open mind and be prepared to relax, but not lying down!
For more information on Clinical Hypnotherapy or any of the other services we offer, please see our website www.thethornburyclinic.co.uk, or contact us on 01454 838366.