As therapists, we understand that a good night's sleep is crucial for recovery, resilience, and overall health. Struggling with sleep is an all-too-common issue many therapy clients face, of… Read More

Managing time in therapy sessions is important both for you and your clients and it’s one way of setting boundaries. But constantly looking at your watch is going to give the impressio… Read More

In my 20-plus years as a hypnotherapist, I think I’ve heard all the jokes, misconceptions and weird ideas people have about what I do, but today I’m going to look at something th… Read More

You might have noticed that references to the physical, social and emotional benefits of using metaphors in therapy always seem to refer to ‘a well-told story', so this month I’m… Read More

In my previous article, I looked at the pros and cons of launching a client newsletter, and some of the legal considerations to be aware of. [CLICK HERE TO READ IT] This time we’ll thi… Read More

Do you have a client newsletter or are you thinking about launching one? On the face of it these seem like a great idea but, for therapists, offering a newsletter may not be as straightforwa… Read More

Autogenic training is a way to use calm and relaxation to enhance general health and well-being. It was developed in the 1920s by a German cardiologist named Johannes Heinrich Schultz who no… Read More

As hypnotherapists, we know that language is important, and the way we use it in our suggestions and metaphors are often debated in social media groups, supervision and training. However, th… Read More

Having a good website is important, it helps you connect with people and share important information. Lots of therapists make their own websites, at least at the beginning of their careers… Read More

Lots of therapists go for a DIY website when they first qualify, so this month I’ll be looking at some simple steps to making your website as effective as possible. And the first step… Read More

Autogenic training is a way to use calm and relaxation to enhance general health and well-being. It has links to hypnotherapy and, having recently incorporated it into my practitioner course… Read More

In my experience, the most common reason hypnotherapists consider giving gift vouchers is as a means of supporting some local good cause or event, perhaps as a raffle prize. But you may be t… Read More

Safeguarding is something that therapists often talk about, but have you ever thought about exactly what it means? There’s a lot more to it than you might think, and this month I&rsquo… Read More

Stress personalities may be why some people struggle with stress, while others thrive on the challenge or accept life as it comes. And identifying your client's approach to stress can help y… Read More

Until recently, many have argued that there is no specific psychological mechanism by which affirmations might work, other than, perhaps, placebo effect. The placebo effect is, of course, me… Read More

Most of us probably accept that having a will is a good idea, but had you ever thought you should have a separate, professional will? It’s something I have been discussing with my supe… Read More

Why are metaphors so popular as tools for therapy? And how do they really work?Clients rarely turn up at our offices with a single, clear-cut problem that is isolated from the rest of their… Read More

No matter what their presenting issue, every client comes to therapy wanting change. It's up to you as a therapist to help them achieve it, so understanding the process of change can help yo… Read More

Sometimes, when clients contact you they give you plenty of information. Sometimes they don’t. Here are my top tips for responding to the ones that leave you wondering what to say.Good… Read More

When self-harm is mentioned, we usually think of physical harm. However, it's possible to hurt yourself emotionally too, and just as damaging. Those with poor mental health or trauma survivo… Read More

I’m sure you have a lot of tips you can pass on to clients experiencing high levels of stress and anxiety but, this month, I’m looking at some of the more unusual approaches that… Read More

We all know people who sit in class or meetings doodling away on a spare piece of paper. If we're the trainer or speaker, we may even wonder if these people are listening to us. But it now s… Read More

A rose they say, by any other name would smell as sweet. But would you really want to give your true love a bright red phlegm? I know many of my students put a lot of thought into the name t… Read More

You might think that your business is too small to benefit from branding but, if used consistently, it can help everyone to establish themselves with clients and help with your marketing.&nb… Read More

As a therapist, you will probably be familiar with the idea that negative emotions can lead to aggressive words or actions. Often this is because people have an underlying belief that projec… Read More

In a therapeutic setting, clean language doesn’t mean not swearing at your client (although in most situations you should probably not do that either), it means avoiding leading questi… Read More

The AA [1] says that nearly 40% of drivers have experienced driving anxiety (vehophobia) and I have always had a significant number of clients presenting with it. That's one reason I chose t… Read More

As therapists, we are also business owners, and our clients are not just people seeking change but also consumers, so understanding some basic marketing strategies can be useful. The decoy e… Read More

There’s a bit more to it than 'being PC'. Let’s start with LGBTQIA+ There are various permutations of this.  LGBT, LGBT+. LGBTQ etc. In some places, the acronym Quiltba… Read More

We’d probably all like to be greener and many of us are using less paper and more recyclable items in our practices. But did it occur to you that you can recycle your time, effort and… Read More

Do you send a follow-up message or feedback form to your clients after therapy has ended, to check on their progress? Should you? We look at the pros and cons.I would say every good therapis… Read More

When you become a therapist and join a professional body, it is very likely that they will require a commitment from you for life- (or at least career-) long learning. This is usually called… Read More

Phobias are an overwhelming experience of fear and anxiety, triggered by a specific and consciously recognised situation such as spiders, closed spaces or flying. Phobias by definition… Read More

Socrates was a Greek philosopher, the teacher of Plato, and the founder of what is often referred to as the ‘ethical tradition of thought’. We don’t know anything much abou… Read More

It’s one of the big questions when you are first setting up in business – how much should you charge your clients? We’ll take a look at the different ways of setting prices… Read More

Guilt is a negative emotional experience that occurs when we think we have done something wrong or failed to do something right. It’s one of those areas where, as therapists, we truly… Read More

You may have come across the notion of transference, which is a psychoanalytical notion in which someone takes their feelings about one person and transfers them to someone else. The origina… Read More

I sometimes have enquiries along the lines of ‘Can you make me forget my ex/trauma/whatever?’ and I am sure my readers do as well. So, as an ethical therapist, how do you deal wi… Read More

I recently mentioned ‘hypnotic hangovers’ (headaches which happen during, immediately after and/or because of hypnosis) on a hypnotherapist’s discussion group and got a sur… Read More

While this might seem like a simple yes or no question, actually the issue is more complicated than you might think. Let’s look at the pros and cons, and also at how to stop giving adv… Read More

When a client presents for therapy we assess them in a number of different ways. Is this an issue we can help with? Are they suitable candidates for hypnosis? Are there medical issues or med… Read More

In the last year, many of us have chosen – or been forced – to take our therapy businesses online because during lockdowns it was difficult to see clients face-to-face. And, of c… Read More

As therapists, we deal with some difficult situations and clients who have been through bad experiences. Sometimes, naturally enough, they cry when they are telling us about it. Sometimes we… Read More

When you train as a therapist, you generally do so because you want to help people. Maybe you’re the sort that everyone confides in anyway, and you feel you want to make a career of it… Read More

Most therapists go into the job because they want to help people. And it can be hard when you don’t. It can knock your confidence, or make you doubt yourself, especially if you ar… Read More

When you have invested a lot of time, energy and sheer hard work into a hypnotherapy training course it’s easy to have become so enthusiastic about the subject that you expect everyone… Read More

Grief is the response we get to any kind of loss. Although it is often linked strongly with bereavement, there are a number of different griefs that you might need to help clients come to te… Read More

In these challenging times we need to think outside of the box to attract business, so what can we do? We could print flyers and walk the neighbourhoods posting the flyers through the doors… Read More

Until recently, many hypnotherapy courses worked on a ‘continuous assessment’ principle, but the Training Standards which came into force in 2019 say that exams must be held. Thi… Read More

Being a therapist is a wonderful and fulfilling way to earn your living, but it does have two big disadvantages from a business point of view. It’s very dependent on your personal ava… Read More