New to counselling or hypnotherapy?

If you haven’t been to a counsellor or hypnotherapist before, or simply want to find out more about my approach, this is the page for you.

How does counselling, hypnotherapy & stress management work ?

Lifestyle Therapy counselling and hypnotherapy is located in Altrincham, Cheshire, South Manchester and is based on respect for your life experience so, as your counsellor and hypnotherapist, I won’t tell you what to do and won’t criticise or judge you. You have a safe, confidential space to talk, explore, heal and grow. My role is to help you understand your areas of difficulty, gain relief from present symptoms of stress, anxiety, lack of confidence or unwanted habit patterns and develop resources to cope in the future.

What’s the difference between counselling and hypnotherapy?

Counselling provides a way of identifying the problem and how it impacts on your life. People come for help because they are stressed or have a problem, like relationship issues, not sleeping, workplace stress, lack of confidence, no motivation. As your counsellor I help you deal with the symptoms, eg. not sleeping, stress, anxiety and then to understand the causes behind them. Counselling asks questions, maybe challenges the answers because often people feel or think in a certain way because that's how they've always been. In your sessions you have a safe environment in which to consider other ways of thinking, responding and often afterwards I hear people say, ‘I never thought of something in that way’.

Hypnotherapy looks at the unconscious part of problem, how it originated and has been subsequently reinforced over time.  Hypnotherapy therefore helps you heal the origins of the problems and many people find that they start to feel better very quickly.

How does hypnotherapy work?

Many people are concerned about being hypnotised because they think they may lose control. But trance or hypnosis is a perfectly natural state that we all experience daily, like being in a boring meeting, shopping or driving the car and you can't remember how you got there! If you need to be alert you are, otherwise you drift off, go on autopilot or daydream. With hypnotherapy, your eyes are closed and your mind becomes more inwardly focused. As a hypnotherapist I provide you with the opportunity to use your unconscious mind to process what you need to process, you're aware throughout and you'll be able to remember the session afterwards.

Will the sessions be confidential?

Everything we talk about during the counselling session is confidential, just between you and me. Carefully protecting the confidential basis of counselling is an essential part of my role. Only very rarely can confidentiality not be kept, such as if you're in danger or someone close to you is at risk of serious harm. Then we will discuss how other people, such as your GP, could be involved, but this is purely for safety reasons, and hardly ever happens.

What happens at the first session of counselling and hypnotherapy?

The first session lasts approximately two hours.  During the first hour we discuss your case history; why you’ve come and what you want to achieve from counselling and hypnotherapy. We discuss what avenues may help, like relationship counselling, ways to manage stress, techniques to help. There are opportunities to address your thinking, ask some thought-provoking questions and help you gain insights.  We then discuss how next to proceed.

Often the second part of the session uses hypnotherapy as a means of healing the unconscious roots to the problem and commiting to living more positively in the present. Many people find that they benefit very quickly, feel really relaxed, like a weight has been lifted off their shoulders. This first session costs £110.

Subsequent sessions usually last about 90 minutes and cost £100.

To find out more about working with me at my Altrincham, South Manchester practice, please contact me at any time by phone or email, with no obligation to make an appointment.

Altrincham, Cheshire, South Manchester, Counselling, Hypnotherapy, Stress Management, Relationship Counselling, Workplace Stress, Confidence, Self-esteem, Abuse, Marriage Counselling, Motivation, Counsellor, Hypnotherapist, Live Life Well