I know it’s a bit of a career cliché, but every day is different for the hypnotherapy practitioner.

To give you an idea of the kind of issues you’ll encounter during training, and when you qualify, here are some of the main reasons people seek out hypnotherapists.

“I feel stressed a lot of the time”

We all feel stressed sometimes. The pressures of work, family life, managing finances, even keeping on top of the housework, get to us all at some point. However, for the individual who’s suffering from stress, this feeling is relentless, and it begins to take over so many aspects of their lives.

“How can I manage my anxiety?”

Again, there’s a difference between feeling anxious and having anxiety. The former is part of life (and indeed, it’s often helpful in short doses), but the latter is a recognised psychological condition that can be truly debilitating.

Many of my clients come to me because they have anxiety. We offer psycho-education to clients about the neuroscience of anxiety, anger and depression which helps to ‘normalise’ how the brain works. Solution-Focused Hypnotherapy combines hypnosis with solution focused brief therapy to work towards replacing the anxious and negative thoughts and behaviours with positive, future-focused ones.

“I think I’m overthinking…”

Negative forecasting and overthinking are key traits of anxiety – and these are the ones that keep us up at night. Too much negative forecasting leads to a vicious cycle of overthinking – anxiety – overthinking – anxiety and so on; as hypnotherapists we work with the client in a non-directive way, to help them to empty that stress bucket and reduce hyper-vigilant states.

“I’ve been diagnosed with depression”

Solution-Focused Hypnotherapy can have benefits for people who struggle with mild to moderate depression. The therapeutic alliance is about working in partnership with your client, going at the client’s pace, and using solution-focused techniques to help your client identify the next small step toward a preferred future.

“I want to stop smoking”

Even though the individual genuinely wants to quit and they understand all the reasons why they should, stopping an addiction can be really hard to do.

But… as trained hypnotherapists, you’ll be able to help your client ditch their cigs in a single two-hour session.

“I need to lose weight but can’t seem to get started”

A balanced diet and exercise are the key to a healthy weight – we all know this (and most of us have tried a diet at least once!). However, lack of motivation or comfort eating can be caused by psychological factors, whether that be stress or boredom or something else. In our partnership working, the client has the opportunity to discover alternative ways of coping, helping to empty the stress bucket, and allowing a sense of clarity to emerge. This can pave the way for the client to focus on moving toward their goals.

“I’m scared of flying”

Or spiders. Or exams. Or dentists. Many people have phobias, and you’ll come across a lot of these during your career. They’re caused by the brain perceiving something to be a threat, and it’s pretty tricky to get your protective brain to change its perspective!

Depending if there is any additional general anxiety, it normally takes around three sessions to help a phobic client achieve their goal. Using the trance state, and by using techniques borrowed from Neuro-linguistic programming, that long-haul flight suddenly becomes possible.

“I can’t sleep”

Insomnia can be truly miserable for the individual. Lack of sleep affects every aspect of life, makes people feel physically ill, and prevents the brain from running its overnight programmes (which are essential to keep stress levels manageable).

There is often some stress or anxiety related issues going on. We work using Solution-Focused techniques. The client also receives a copy of a hypnotherapy audio to listen to every night.

And those are just some of the issues you’ll come across as a qualified Solution-Focused Hypnotherapist! Every day is different – and always rewarding.