You may have heard of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT); a foundation of modern psychological therapy which empowers you to tackle unhelpful thinking and improve your wellbeing, and you’ve probably heard of hypnotherapy too. But what about cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy (CBH). CBH combines CBT with hypnosis; bringing these powerful disciplines together to equip you with the tools you need to tackle a wide variety of challenges in your life. This twin approach helps you to achieve change at the very deepest levels and can equip you with skills that will help you to manage challenges throughout your life.

How does cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy work?

Cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy is the main evidence-based approach to hypnosis. Rather than focusing on the notion of hypnotic trance, CBH places the emphasis on psychological factors like imagination, suggestion and expectation. Your brain is an incredibly powerful tool and can be your greatest attribute or your biggest enemy. Sometimes your mind shapes your thoughts and behaviours in ways which can be unhelpful, and the reinforcement of these loops can be damaging and cause ongoing psychological issues such as stress, anxiety, depression, phobias, and low self-esteem. CBH uses the power of your mind for positive change and empowers you to find the solutions to the challenges you face by enabling you to be fully aware of the link between your thoughts, feelings and behaviours. It works on the conscious and subconscious and helps you make positive decisions at a deep, unconscious level. This means you can make sustainable changes to the way you think, feel and behave by converting unhelpful, negative beliefs and thoughts into positive and empowering ones. Hypnotherapy works by allowing you to be focused for periods of time on the thoughts and experiences you’d like to be having. It brings your conscious mind and subconscious mind more closely in sync so that you can make truly meaningful change. By placing you into a deep state of relaxation, we will work together to help your mind absorb new information so that you can develop the tools you need to make positive changes. By relaxing, thinking positively and picturing your goals, hypnosis can help you to progressively adjust habitual feelings and behaviours. Studies have shown that using hypnotherapy alongside CBT can increase the success of treatment by as much as 70%.

What does a CBH session look like?

Effective CBH relies on close collaborative working between the therapist and client and gaining a clear understanding of your unique challenges is a crucial first step. The key to the success of hypnotherapy lies in your ability to understand the interaction between your thoughts, feelings and behaviours and this makes it hugely important that you share as much information as possible. We’ll talk about any specific challenges you face and how your life is affected by these. This will help us to establish your goals and design a treatment plan together so that we can measure your progress against this as we move forward. We’ll then set about embracing this extremely powerful tool to help you take control and make real and sustained changes in your life. Through CBH, you will become more aware of your emotions and behaviours so that we can tackle the ones you feel are most unhelpful to you or are holding you back in your personal life. The number of sessions you need will depend on you and your situation. Some people get what they need after just a couple of sessions, while others need more. In between sessions you may need to complete tasks at home. This may include self-hypnosis techniques to help you to continue to benefit from the treatment.

How can cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy help me?

This powerful technique can be used to great effect for:

• Treating anxiety and depression
• Improving self esteem
• Become more assertive
• Managing stress
• Stopping smoking
• Tackling fears and phobias
• Changing habits

Though CBH is extremely effective in targeting the specific challenges listed above, many people find that the awareness they are able to develop during this treatment gives them skills they go on to use for the rest of their life; helping them to build their resilience and bolster their mental wellbeing.