I practise brief, solution-focussed therapy using cognitive, behavioural and hypnotic techniques.
Brief, solution-focussed therapy does not overly concern itself with the past and believes that while understanding the past can be interesting and sometimes helpful, it is usually not enough to change how we feel and act now. I aim to relieve problems as quickly and effectively as possible and some people only need one session to achieve the results they want. Few people require more than five. We will agree on your goals and set about achieving them. You can expect positive results after every session.
The three main techniques I apply are cognitive, behavioural and hypnotic. Cognitive therapy is about looking at how we think about the world -- we can sometimes think our way into problems that would not otherwise exist. Behavioural therapy is about how we behave because we can sometimes act in ways that are unhelpful. Someone who is depressed is likely to stop calling their friends, for instance. Changing how we behave can change how we feel. Hypnotic work lets people change how they feel about a situation. If someone is terrified of a situation, they are unlikely to be able to cope with it very well.
When used together, these three techniques allow you to change the three key areas of any problem: How you think about it, what you do about it and how you feel about it.
Patients themselves know how well they are feeling so I give you as much control as possible to choose when and how often to come, although I am always happy to offer advice. Generally speaking, if a problem is relatively isolated, i.e. it has not spread and affected other parts of someone's life, one or two sessions are usually enough. Problems such as phobias, smoking, poor sleep, IBS, etc. would usually fall into this category. Where a problem is affecting several aspects of someone's life, more sessions might be required. This is commonly true for severe depression and severe drug dependency, for example. Even in this case, though, the number of sessions is unlikely to exceed five to ten, depending on the individual person.
I practice near Hove town hall (map and full address here). Sessions last around 2 hours. I charge £60. I may suggest whether or not you should come again but that is entirely up to you. You can go away and 'road test' yourself for a few days or so and then give me a ring to let me know how you are getting on. If you need to continue improving, we can plan another appointment then.
Call me on 01273 732690 and I'll be happy to answer any questions you have about hypnosis, hypnotherapy, or how to best go about solving emotional problems.