The honest answer is: it depends on how long something has lived in your body, how long you've been carrying it, what it's tangled up with — all of this shapes the pace of the work.

Most women I work with notice real shifts in how they feel, how they're thinking, how they're moving through their days within 6 to 8 sessions. But we follow your rhythm and capacity.

What matters most to me is that change lands in a permanent way. An actual felt difference. The kind that doesn't disappear when life gets hard again. So we don’t rush through, and we honour your process.

I usually suggest we meet every two weeks. This work asks something of your whole system — mind, body, nervous system — and that deserves time to settle and integrate between sessions. Your body often continues processing long after you leave the session. Fortnightly gives it space to do that.

That said, we can adjust the frequency to find what works for you.

Many people have already experienced something similar to hypnosis without realising it. For example, if you’ve ever followed a guided meditation or zoned out during a long drive, you’ve likely entered a comparable trance state of relaxation and focused attention. During a session, you might feel calm and deeply at ease. Each person’s experience is unique, but it’s often described as peaceful and restorative.

Yes — and you likely already do it several times a day without realising.

In Cognitive Hypnotherapy, we work with trance states. But trance isn't what most people imagine. It's not ‘being under’ or giving up control. It's simply a natural state of focused attention that every one of us moves in and out of constantly — like being lost in a movie or the autopilot of a familiar drive to your friend’s place.

You already know how to do this. We just work with it intentionally.

The depth of that state looks different for everyone, and this work isn't about reaching a ‘deep’ level of trance. It's about creating the right conditions for your mind and body to do what they already know how to do: shift, integrate, find a different way through.

You're in control throughout. Nothing happens without your consent, and every session is shaped around you: what you need, what feels safe, what your nervous system is ready for.

Most of us have been taught that healing happens through understanding and that if we can name what happened clearly enough, talk it through thoroughly enough, something will shift.

And sometimes it does but often, not fully.

That's because pain — grief, shame, old fear, the body's long memory of not being safe — doesn't only live in the thinking mind. It also lives in the body, the nervous system, places that existed before language.

This is where I bring in Focalizing — a gentle, body-led approach that listens inward, following the body's own intelligence and wisdom toward what needs to shift, integrate and process.

Focalizing is founded on the understanding that deep, meaningful healing rarely comes from re-living the story or brainstorming solutions to complex emotional issues. It comes from accessing a part of our mind and body that many have lost touch with.

Unlike talk therapy, hypnotherapy works directly with the subconscious mind. While both are impactful, hypnotherapy uses a relaxed, focused state to reach the subconscious, making it easier to get to the root of what’s going on and create positive change. It’s a bit like setting the conscious mind aside to address issues where they truly begin. Hypnotherapy can work well on its own or alongside other therapies, offering a versatile approach to support your growth and healing.

Research shows that the effectiveness of Quest Cognitive Hypnotherapy is greater for the treatment of anxiety and depression than other talk therapies such as CBT used within the NHS. 

A study in the Mental Health Review Journal (September 2015) compared Quest Cognitive Hypnotherapy with national data from the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) and found that 71% of people felt recovered after an average of six sessions, compared to 42% with other IAPT therapies.

Source & more information: https://www.qchpa.com/evidence-based-therapy/

Yes! Working with teenagers is similar to working with adults, and teens are often very engaged in the process. Hypnotherapy can help them build confidence, manage stress, and develop self-regulation skills, which are invaluable during these years.