Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What will happen?

Brief details will be obtained from you over the telephone and an appointment will be arranged for you to attend for an initial assessment, which normally lasts 1-1½ hours. The aim of this meeting is to gain information about the difficulties that you are experiencing, how they are affecting your life and to explore possible treatment options. Follow-up sessions will then be arranged to commence the appropriate therapeutic intervention for you. These follow-up sessions normally last from between 45 minutes – 1 hour.

If you are attending for hypnotherapy, no formal hypnotherapy will usually take place during the first session as it is critical to gain a detailed understanding of your problems so that hypnotherapy and NLP techniques can be specifically tailored to your problem – this is where we differ from many schools of hypnotherapy. The information gathering process, however, can help many people to look at their problems from a different perspective and some people even report a change after this session.

Q. How many sessions will I need?

The number of sessions that you require will depend upon the nature of your problem. Some people find that the advice given within the initial assessment has provided them with the relief and reassurance that they were looking for. Others will require a course of sessions and the number of likely sessions will be discussed with you within the initial session and reviewed thereafter.

Q. Will what I have said remain confidential?

As professional therapists we are legally bound by a professional Code of Conduct which requires that we keep information on you confidential. In exceptional circumstances, however, this rule is broken when we consider the health or safety of an individual to be in danger, as we have a duty to pass this on. In such cases, we would discuss these concerns with you to gain your understanding of why further help is required and how it will be beneficial for you.

Q. If I am having Hypnotherapy will I go into a deep trance?

No. The trance that is used in Cognitive hypnotherapy for a therapy session, is usually light. You will probably be able to hear most of what is said to you or you may find yourself just drifting off to someplace pleasant. It is similar to the state that you may find yourself in just before you drift of to sleep at night or you are driving a well known route, perhaps to work, and arrive without being fully aware of the details of the journey.