Frequently Asked Questions:

 What is hypnosis?

Whenever our attention is focussed we go into a kind of hypnotic trance. Whereas ‘normal’ awareness can involve being aware of many things, a defining characteristic of the trance state is a single, or limited focus of attention.

For example when you are watching TV you are probably unaware of the sensations of your feet on the floor, the traffic going past, or sometimes even your name being called! This is a vital part of our minds, it means that we can focus on the task which is important at that time and ignore the things which are irrelevant. Deep hypnotic relaxation is simply an extension of our natural ability. You can see this working when you are engrossed in a book or film and someone asks if you would like something to drink. You may have had the experience of not hearing someone at all, or being ‘semi-aware’ that they said something, but having no idea what it was!

Will it work for me?

Everyone has the abilty to be deeply relaxed, some people go into a relaxed state more easily than others. However even in a very light trance those positive changes will still be accessed. Most of the work is done in the conversational - psychotherapy part of the session and the guided relaxation is just driving it home.

How many sessions will I need?

The average client needs between one and six sessions, however it is very dependent on the issue. For a phobia or PTSD one session is likely, for depression it could be a few more.

 How can it work so quickly, I have heard of people being in therapy for ten years and still having problems?

Nia Clowney DHypPsych(UK) uses solution focused therapy. We can think of a tyre punctured by a nail, firstly finding out how it got punctured does not cure it, secondly what caused it? Was it the nail? Ok, but where did the nail come from? It fell from a lorry, so was the lorry the root cause? Well no, not all lorries drop nails, so perhaps it was the hole in the lorry that let a nail drop out, so what caused the hole... and so on, when do you stop and agree that something was the cause? Meanwhile you've still got a puncture and you are not going anywhere. Wouldn't you rather pull out the nail, put a new tyre on, and be on your way to where you want to be going?

Rather than focusing on the root cause, which is a bit of a myth anyway, after understanding the destructive part of your life, Nia will guide you to how you want to live your life and reach your potential!

Why is it so effective?

Because we re-train your unconscious mind to do the things that you really want.So, we can use hypnosis to change this response. We can take deliberate control of the way you feel by relaxing you and  guiding your imagination to things that make you feel good, and then have you rehearse being in the problem situation while feeling  exactly the way you want to feel!

So can hypnotherapists have complete control of my mind?

Of course not! Nia can only help you do the things that you already want to do. For example, she couldn't make you fall in love with your sibling or eat your own elbow!

So what about stage hypnosis?

Extremely hypnotic subjects are carefully selected so they can focus very strongly on their internal states and become oblivious to the outside world.