My Journey Into Hypnotherapy

During my childhood, my father possessed a party trick involving hypnosis. This was in the 1970s, an era when hypnosis was predominantly perceived as a theatrical performance on television. Hypnotists were portrayed as showmen persuading individuals to perform silly actions for the amusement of the audience. It was not a practice that was seen as anything more than entertainment.

My father’s hypnotism routine was quite straightforward. He would request individuals to stand facing a wall and concentrate on a specific mark. On the count of ten, he would instruct them to fall backwards, where he would catch them before they hit the ground. Remarkably, people would invariably comply with the instructions without resistance.  I remember my father teaching me how to perform the technique, although over time, I forgot the specifics. Nevertheless, I always found the process fascinating.

In the mid-1980s, I seized the opportunity to embark on an overseas career in industrial engineering and design.  Although I had already left home at this stage, the prospect of this move was daunting. I was working in an industry where I was often the sole female member in my department, and despite having good working relationships with my male colleagues, being the only woman could be lonely and tough. The working hours were long, and opportunities to return to the UK to visit my family were infrequent.

Despite the fulfilling, exciting, and travel-rich nature of my career, typically, I worked six days a week, and as a contractor, my performance was subject to constant evaluation, there being constant pressure to maintain a high level of productivity daily that was crucial to securing the renewal of a contract.  This kind of working environment was always stressful and competitive.

The prolonged working hours, the inevitable socialising after work, and the distance from home significantly impacted my sleep patterns, which made the constant requirement to perform at a high level at work exhausting. My mother, who had suffered from poor mental health and depression for many years, was always interested in alternative therapies, and she was the one who discovered and introduced me to the existence of self-hypnosis cassette tapes.

She encountered these tapes for sale at a café that she frequented at that stage of her life and which promoted wellness and a healthy lifestyle, unusual for its time. Consequently, she bought the tapes for me. There were two tapes, one designed for listening to at bedtime, and the second one, while not a self-hypnosis tape, contained subliminal messages concealed behind pieces of popular classical music. These subliminal messages could be listened to while driving.

I discovered self-hypnosis cassette tapes to be remarkably beneficial and eventually wore them out through constant use. Over the years, I expanded my collection to include Paul McKenna’s CDs. While I did not use them daily, they remained a reliable source of assistance during occasional periods of overwhelming pressure and stress.

When I made the decision to take early retirement, I was unexpectedly challenged by the transition. I had always assumed a seamless adaptation to my new lifestyle, given my frequent relocations and ability to adapt to new situations over many years, but the anxiety and stress of trying to adapt to a completely new life away from my career led me back to hypnotherapy and a desire to learn more about the science behind the practice.

With the advances in streaming technology, I discovered Glenn Harrold’s excellent apps, which also proved highly beneficial, but I still felt that I lacked a real understanding of how hypnosis worked, and over time, my interest in the subject of hypnotherapy deepened.

A family member had consulted a hypnotherapist some years ago and found the process remarkably beneficial. With time on my hands, I decided to delve deeper into the realm of hypnotherapy and its mechanisms, and I discovered that the hypnotherapist my family member had visited had received training from Clifton Practice in Bristol, which prompted me to pursue my own training with them.

The first day of hypnotherapy training was a transformative moment for me, and I realised then that if I had been able to have studied this subject years ago, I would have carried far less stress and found greater peace throughout life’s challenges.

With all the knowledge I have now acquired, my goal is to use my experience and knowledge to contribute positively to the lives of others.  As time passes, I look forward to the day when hypnotherapy is as familiar as mindfulness or yoga—an everyday resource everyone can draw on to create calmer, more balanced lives.