Hypnotherapy – The lifestyle package

The lifestyle package is a series of things which improve quality of life. These are:

• Exercise – Exercise has been repeatedly shown to improve quality of life (Conn, Hafdahl & Brown 2009), as well as mental wellbeing (Wang, Tian & Luo 2023) and decreases sensitivity to pain (Belavy, Van Oosterwijck, Clarkson, Dhondt,Mundell, & Owen 2021). Anything someone can do to safely increase their activity levels is likely to have a positive impact on their quality of life. For a lot of people this will have to be done gently and carefully.
• Good sleep – Good sleep is associated with a good feeling of quality of life (Lee, Kim & Chung 2021). Whatever you do to improve the quality of your sleep will translate directly or indirectly into quality-of-life benefits.
• Music – Music has been demonstrated to benefit both cognitive wellbeing and physical health (Viola, Martorana, Airoldi,Meini, Ceriotti, De Vito, M., … & Faggiano 2023). Ensuring that you make time each day to have some music playing for at least 20 minutes will improve your mood in all kinds of subtle ways. The type of music or the emotional feel of the music does not matter, as there is good evidence that even sad music makes us happy. (Sachs, Damasio & Habibi 2015)
• Relationships and sociability – Quality of friendships is positively associated with sense of wellbeing (Pezirkianidis, Galanaki, Raftopoulou, Moraitou & Stalikas 2023). There is a tendency for people to withdraw from social situations when they are burdened with mental and physical challenges. This is a natural response, often due to the illness burden making socialisation seem like one thing too many. In the short-term this is fine and to be respected. However, where there is a long-term illness burden the tendency needs to be challenged. Actively making plans with family and friends will usually reawaken old bonds. New friendships will grow by engaging with the world, such as going to interactive events, like board game nights, or joining activity groups, such as going to a martial arts or joining  a knitting circle.
• Connectedness to nature – People who spend time in natural environments, such by the sea or in woodland experience greater wellbeing and physical health (Antonelli, Donelli, Carlone, Maggini, Firenzuoli & Bedeschi, 2022). Making the effort to spend time in gardens, parks, woodland, at the coast or up a mountain will have a beneficial effect on mood in general.
• Flow activities – A flow activity is one in which you are sufficiently engrossed that time slips pleasantly by. Typical examples include hobby activities, sports and playing a musical instrument. People who engage in flow activities report a greater sense of wellbeing (Sweeny, Medina Huerta, Hawes & Susoeff, 2026). Taking up a new hobby or picking an old one back up again can be greatly beneficial.
• Purposeful living – People who feel they have a purpose in life tend to live longer (Cohen, Bavishi & Rozanski 2016). Further they enjoy generally better mental health (Boreham & Schutte 2023). Identifying what your personal purpose in life is can begin to make everything in life clearer. Try reading Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning or talking it through with a therapist.

People who have lived with chronic conditions frequently find that the burden of illness has led to them withdrawing from many of their activities. This is a natural reaction in the short term, but a trend to be countered as things go on.

What Lifestyle changes to make

Some activities are likely to have greater impacts than others. Exercise for instance, is probably the best thing a person can do for themselves, but it might not be the place a person wants to start. A therapist may prompt thoughts towards activities, looking for the things a person can do, their next natural step. The therapist will look at things like;

• What are you currently doing? – What are the limits on doing more of this?
• What have you done in the past? – This may not be practical anymore, but it may give clues as to the sort of thing that interests you?
• Who have you socialised with in the past? – Exploring this with questions like: Where are they now? Where did you meet? What did you bond over?

By exploring the limits on these we may find opportunities to enhance aspects of your life. We are looking for the elegant options which enhance a person’s wellbeing in multiple areas, for example:

• Attending a walking group can help increase exercise, sociability and outdoor time.
• Going to a dance class is music, exercise and sociable.
• Even going to the gym can be music time as well as exercise, and many people find it quite sociable after a while, especially those who take part in regular classes.
• People who volunteer for charitable work frequently find purpose in this and depending upon the activity it can be social, physical and sometimes outdoors.
• Even hobbies (Flow activities) have their social elements, Conventions and shows (literary festivals, comic cons, quilting conventions etc) where likeminded individuals can indulge their interest in an environment which shares the passion.

The therapist provides an opportunity to think about these which is likely to open out the mind to possibilities it may have shut down to. A hypnotherapist can help take these ideas further.

How does hypnotherapy help with these lifestyle changes

In addition to providing a safe space to explore possibilities the hypnotherapist has skills which may help activates to happen:

• Address limiting beliefs – We all get stuck in thought patterns and with assumptions that we are unaware of. Talking something through can highlight the limitations we put upon ourselves. Deeper change to these may require work such as Parts therapy, EMDR, systematic desensitisation or direct suggestions to challenge the “I’d be too embarrassed too…”, “I don’t have the time”, “if I’m not excellent at it what’s the point” “I’m not the sort of person who could…”, “I’m too unwell to…” and similar. All of which will be, at least in-part, true, but rarely are as absolute as they may feel.
• Goal setting – Once a direction has been agreed upon, setting a specific plan and envisioning conducting that plan can greatly increase the chances of it happening.
• Direct suggestions – Classic hypnotic suggestions to support an activity. Be that to get started, to help get into it once started or whatever is most helpful.

None of these activities or behaviours is in itself likely to make a person feel substantially better, but over time they provide a strong counter to the depression associated with living with a chronic illness.

Matt Krouwel is a clinical hypnotherapist and health researcher with over 25 years experience. He is a member of both the BSCH and NCH.

References

Antonelli, M., Donelli, D., Carlone, L., Maggini, V., Firenzuoli, F., & Bedeschi, E. (2022). Effects of forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) on individual well-being: An umbrella review. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 32(8), 1842-1867.

Belavy, D. L., Van Oosterwijck, J., Clarkson, M., Dhondt, E., Mundell, N. L., Miller, C. T., & Owen, P. J. (2021). Pain sensitivity is reduced by exercise training: Evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 120, 100-108.

Boreham, I. D., & Schutte, N. S. (2023). The relationship between purpose in life and depression and anxiety: A meta‐analysis. Journal of clinical psychology, 79(12), 2736-2767.

Cohen, R., Bavishi, C., & Rozanski, A. (2016). Purpose in life and its relationship to all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events: A meta-analysis. Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine, 78(2), 122-133.

Conn, V. S., Hafdahl, A. R., & Brown, L. M. (2009). Meta-analysis of quality-of-life outcomes from physical activity interventions. Nursing research, 58(3), 175-183.

Lee, S., Kim, J. H., & Chung, J. H. (2021). The association between sleep quality and quality of life: a population-based study. Sleep Medicine, 84, 121-126.

Pezirkianidis, C., Galanaki, E., Raftopoulou, G., Moraitou, D., & Stalikas, A. (2023). Adult friendship and wellbeing: A systematic review with practical implications. Frontiers in psychology, 14, 1059057.

Sachs, M. E., Damasio, A., & Habibi, A. (2015). The pleasures of sad music: a systematic review. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 9, 404.

Sweeny, K., Medina Huerta, J., Hawes, J., & Susoeff, S. (2026). Just keep flowing: A meta-analysis on the relationship between flow and well-being. Emotion.

Viola, E., Martorana, M., Airoldi, C., Meini, C., Ceriotti, D., De Vito, M., … & Faggiano, F. (2023). The role of music in promoting health and wellbeing: a systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Public Health, 33(4), 738-745.

Wang, C., Tian, Z., & Luo, Q. (2023). The impact of exercise on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, 1279599.

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• How much does hypnotherapy cost?
• Do I have an initial consultation?
• What happens in a hypnotherapy session?

But ultimately most people want to know; does it work?

Hypnotherapy for stress – Does it work?

Hypnotherapy is demonstrably effective for treating stress.  A 2017 review of existing studies into hypnotherapy for stress found that most people showed improvements although it concluded that more research was needed (Fisch, Brinkhaus, Teut). Since then, numerous studies have been conducted. These have covered a wide range of specific populations and types of hypnotherapy, including:

• Integrating hypnotherapy with mindfulness, which was found to be effective at reducing stress (Olendzki Elkins, Slonena, Hung & Rhodes 2020).
• Hypnotherapy was found to be helpful at reducing stress in a wide variety of clinical patient groups. This included people with; mental health disorders (Ruswadi, Wennie, Susiani & Masliha2025), HIV ( Setyadi, & Yunita 2018), pregnant women (Kundarti, Pramono and Suwondo 2021), during post operative recovery (Vahedi Ardakani, Kooshki, Oraki,& Kazemi, 2024) and people with multiple sclerosis, both individually (Namarpour Naghani, Dnesh, Asadi Khansari, Fathi, & Mohammadyfar, 2019) and when delivered to groups (Habibi, Naderi, Bakhtiarpour & Seraj 2024).
• For Academic environments. Hypnotherapy has been particularly well demonstrated to be beneficial at reducing student stress (Arfandita & Busmayaril 2025) but has also been seen to help the teachers with their stress (Wagh’s 2024).
• Rangka, Refnadi, Bariyyah, Churnia, Zola, Erwinda, et al (2018), who found hypnotherapy to have an immediate effect on stress levels in study participants.

Overall, it can bee seen that the beneficial effects of hypnotherapy in reducing stress are consistent over varied settings and for different reasons. But what would a hypnotherapist actually do?

How does a hypnotherapist treat stress?

There are many approaches that a hypnotherapist may adopt to help someone who has stress or stress related symptoms. Typically, they would choose the approaches which best suit the presentation of the problem and work for the patient’s outlook on life.

Approaches will often blend hypnotherapy with both psychotherapy and lifestyle changes. Interventions for stress are typically multifaceted with strategies and techniques being layered upon each other to build a swift change which can be maintained over time.

This is likely to include:

• Relaxation work – Both guided relaxation and meditation exercises to give the body a chance to recover.
• lifestyle changes – To give the body and mind more of what helps to counteract the effects of stress, like exercise, music and time outside.
• Reconstructing the psychological frame works which engenders stress – Through discussion the hypnotherapist will look to identify the patterns and beliefs which can cause and maintain stress. Then using hypnotic techniques to help change these.
• Addressing specific symptoms – Where specific symptoms like functional gastrointestinal disorders, flared up skin conditions, and tension headaches are present hypnotic techniques can be used to help reduce these.
• Supplying tools for the maintenance of lower stress living – This can be self-hypnosis exercises, including such things as; relaxation exercises, favourite place and mental organisation exercises.

Hypnotherapy for stress – How many sessions will I need?

This can vary enormously for stress. As a starting point I would usually advise thinking in terms of six sessions and then see where we are at.

If there is a specific symptom present this may require several sessions to manage in itself.

Taking the first step

If you want to take charge of your stress or stress related symptoms why not take the first step and get in touch to book a free consultation. Sessions can be in-person or online.

Matt is a hypnotherapist with over 25 years experience working both online and in-person at his Birmingham (UK) office. He is a doctor of health science whose Doctoral work was into IBS, a condition with a substantial stress element, which is where his deeper interest in stress began.

References 

Arfandita, C. A., & Busmayaril, B. (2025). The Effectiveness of Guidance and Counselling Services through Hypnotherapy in Overcoming Student Academic Stress: A Systematic Literature Review. Electronic Journal of Education, Social Economics and Technology, 6(1), 501-517.

Fisch S, Brinkhaus B, Teut M. Hypnosis in patients with perceived stress – a systematic review. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2017 Jun 19;17(1):323. doi: 10.1186/s12906-017-1806-0. PMID: 28629342; PMCID: PMC5477290.

Habibi, K. E., Naderi, F., Bakhtiarpour, S., & Seraj, K. N. (2024). Effectiveness of Group Hypnotherapy on Stress and Metacognitive Beliefs in Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis.

Namarpour Naghani, Y., Dnesh, E., Asadi Khansari, B., Fathi, M., & Mohammadyfar, M. A. (2019). The effectiveness of cognitive hypnotherapy on reduction of perceived stress of patients with multiple sclerosis. Journal of Psychological Science, 18(80), 957-970.

Olendzki, N., Elkins, G. R., Slonena, E., Hung, J., & Rhodes, J. R. (2020). Mindful hypnotherapy to reduce stress and increase mindfulness: A randomized controlled pilot study. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 68(2), 151-166.

Rangka, I. B., Refnadi, R., Bariyyah, K., Churnia, E., Zola, N., Erwinda, L., Fadli, R. P., Ifdil, I., & Alizamar, A. (2018). The Effectiveness of Hypnotherapy in Reducing Stress Levels. Addictive Disorders & Their Treatment, 17(4), 191–195. https://doi.org/10.1097/ADT.0000000000000140

Ruswadi, I., Wennie, J., Susiani, A., & Masliha, M. (2025). The effectiveness of hypnotherapy in reducing stress among individuals with mental health disorders: A quasi-experimental study with a control group. Jurnal Berita Ilmu Keperawatan, 18(2), 161-172.

Setyadi, A. W., & Yunita, A. (2018, September). The Effect of Hypnotherapy to the Changes of Stress Level to Odha (person who has been diagnosed HIV/AIDS) in the KDS Friendship Plus Kediri. In The 2nd Joint International Conferences (Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 11-18).

Vahedi Ardakani, S. H., Kooshki, S., Oraki, M., & Kazemi, A. (2024). The Impact of Hypnotherapy on Wound Healing and Perceived Stress in Patients Suffering from Abdominal Surgery. Journal of Applied Psychological Research, 14(4), 167-184.

Wagh, P. D. (2024). Effect of Hypnotherapy on the Occupational Stress Among Teachers. Educational Administration: Theory and Practice, 30(8), 869-878.

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• Impairment to cognitive function (often experienced as ‘cloudy mind’).
• Dysregulated mood (irritable, sudden overwhelmed, low mood).
• Changes to libido.
• Becoming socially withdrawn.
• Poor sleep.
• Aches, pains and headaches.
• Digestive upset and changes to appetite.
• Flair ups of skins condition.
• Frequent illness (due to dysregulation of immune function).
• Dizziness, light-headedness.
• Many more

Ultimately, stress can lead into problems such as panic attacks, irritable bowel syndrome, burnout, and depression which can then be further generators of stress.

The Cause of chronic stress

Stress is usually the result of being in heightened state for a prolonged period. The classic for this is doing things which trigger the ‘fight-flight’ response too frequently for the body to recover from its effects. This can be exciting things as well as upsetting ones. Equally, chronic stress can occur by doing something for too long, such as working long hours. This pressure on the body and nervous system means that little imbalances build up.

How stress builds

The initial triggering of the flight-flight system results in;

• Raised heart rate and blood pressure as the body to moves blood and oxygen around more quickly
• Respiratory pathways widen to let in more air
• Non immediately essential functions are shut down – This means digestions functions, reproductive functions and repair functions are decreased.
• The immune system is refocused towards fighting infection through skin injury.

From these changes many of the problems we have noted above can occur; digestive issues, frequent illness.

The Neurological model

The neurological aspect of stress are particularly enlightening. When pressure is encountered the body alters the flow of neurotransmitters. Specifically, some transmitters will be inhibited from moving. This is done to reduce unnecessary stimulation so that the person can focus on getting through the situation. If this is done occasionally, for short periods there is no problem. However, over extended periods this can cause issues, the persons may;

• Build up of neurotransmitters –  At the end of neural pathways an excessive bio-electric charge may build up. This can cause numerous issues, but is most often cited as one of the causes for skin conditions worsening during periods of pressure.
• Feelings of wrongness or emptiness – Because some neurotransmitters are not travelling properly their can be the experience of wrongness, emptiness or hollowness.
• Unsettling neurological download – When a person relaxes, suppressed neurotransmitters will often begin to flow again. This is fine and rarely noticed by people who are only experiencing mild and short term stress. However, people who have long term suppressed neurotransmitters may find this experience more unsettling as it can be intense. Typical examples include the mind suddenly becoming very stimulated as someone lays down to fall asleep at night. A person may get twitches, tingles, pins and needle types experiences from the free flow neurons. This may also be one of the main reasons for post stress collapse.

When a stressor persists the body starts secreting significant amounts of cortisol.

Cortisol – The stress hormone

Cortisol is often identified as the stress hormone as it is associated with the body being in a heighted state for longer. Cortisol works to keep the body ready for a fight flight reaction by;

• Keeping the blood sugar level high by getting the liver to release sugars and suppressing their uptake in certain areas of the body.
• Heightening alertness.
• Suppressing digestion and immune function.

Prolonged periods in a high cortisol state can lead to significant disruption of all the systems of the body, resulting in cascade failure.

Cascade failure

Cascade failure is when the various changed induce by fight flight and cortisol start to cause secondary problems. Two good examples of this are;

• Digestion – The stress response decreases digestion. Often with a start-stop action which results in constipation, diarrhoea or both. These symptoms then disrupt life and cause additional anxiety resulting in further stress, and ultimately more symptoms.
• Neurological – Stress hormones create selected flow of neurotransmitters. Decreasing some and increasing others to heighten mental alertness. However, this alertness can inhibit sleep, reducing a person’s ability to think clearly. Being unable to think as clearly their existing life strategies begin to fall apart but they are too tired to effectively re-strategies. Further stress will ensue.

These are just two examples of what could be dozens of ways in which systems start to create ‘failure’ within a person. Even the sheer variety of symptoms can be perplexing, confusing and ultimately worrying.

Ultimately, stress cascade failure will lead to bigger problems unless something changes.

Presentations of stress

As a hypnotherapist I have encountered various ways in which stress presents in my patients

• The patient feels stressed – This is when a person is aware of tension building in themselves but has yet to develop much by the way of specific symptoms. From a biochemical perspective this is the best time to interrupt stress patterns to prevent them becoming embedded.
• Specific symptom – A person may have a symptom, insomnia, gastrointestinal issue, where stress is a cause or maintenance factor in that condition.
• Collapse / breakdown – When someone has been living or working at their limit for so long that their system simply cannot maintain the pace any longer. They end up off work, often burnt out, usually with symptoms such as chronic anxiety or depression.
• Post stress collapse – This is a form of collapse, but it occurs once major stressors have mostly been resolved. The stress has been kept under control whilst the stressors are dealt. One they are dealt with the person relaxes, and it all floods in.

Hypnotherapy for stress

Dr Matt Krouwel PhD is a member of the NCH and BSCH. His practice is based in Birmingham (UK)

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What is Confidence?

There are many definitions of confidence, for this blog we are going with – Confidence is the belief and feeling that you are safe to take a risk. This risk could be a:

• Social risk – such as speaking up or asking someone on a date.
• Financial risk – making a business deal, starting a company, buying property.
• Physical risk – trying out a new activity or committing to a tackle at 5-a-side.

Whatever it may be, confidence is the results for our life experience filtered through our biology.

• Life experience can teach us that taking risks is rewarding or that it hurts and isn’t worth it. This could be from direct experience or by observing or being taught by others.
• Biology can grant us physical strength, a thick skin or a lack of awareness.

Hypnotherapy for confidence

Hypnotherapy for confidence looks to reduce confidence limiters and enhance access to sources of confidence.

Reducing the impact of confidence limiting life lessons and beliefs- Hypnotherapy for confidence

These can take the form of:

• Single event learnings (traumas) – The person has experienced one or more traumatic events which taught them that life is not safe. These may be incidents of abuse, bereavement, accidents or any number of other things. When the person is aware of them. These may be treated with EMDR, dissociative approaches, in-life regressions and several other ways. Treatment will look to dispel the excessive impact a single event can have on our instinctive assessment of risk.
• Multiple events learning – This is where a person has encountered many upsetting events and challenges but may have little memory of specifics and often a poor memory of childhood in general. Various techniques such as inner child, parts therapy, timeline work and many others can help to process this without having to uncover specific events.
• Internalised beliefs and assumptions (Cognitions) – These are the learnings we took from our experience as well as observing others and being taught by them. Wherever they came from they exist within our minds as assumptions. These will usually be automatic and unconscious. The therapist will help to identify beliefs, help to challenge them and then using various techniques (for example EMDR, parts therapy, direct suggestions and hypnotic CBT) will look to alter them to more effective beliefs.

Increasing sources of confidence – Hypnotherapy for confidence

If you’ve had the chance to read my blog on sources of confidence you will know that there are at least 8 sources of confidence. In brief these are:

1. Winners’ confidence – Confidence due to a history of winning.
2. Competence confidence – Confidence because you know you are good at something.
3. Endurance and coping confidence – Confidence which arises by knowing that you will survive and cope with difficulties and thus often prevail.
4. Ego confidence – The belief, right or wrong, that you are great and what you do succeeds.
5. Habitual confidence – The persistence of confidence beliefs beyond the evidence for them out habits of belief.
6. Size confidence – Confidence due to possessing physical power.
7. Risk taker confidence – Confidence due to reduced awareness and sensitivity to risk and consequence.
8. Group confidence – confidence due to possessing the support of others who you trust.

Several of these can be enhanced by the hypnotherapist, some can provide an immediate boost and others help grow confidence over time.

Short-term confidence boosters

These are techniques which can help access confidence quickly or immediately. However, many of their benefits are short lived so it is important to translate them into real world success and long-term confidence quickly.

• Hypnotically revisiting examples of times of winning and pride can bring those feeling into the present. Imagining future successes can also do this.
• Direct suggestions that encourage a strong ego can boost confidence. If these are used to help recognise existing traits and abilities, they may become long-term sources of confidence.
• By imagining themselves as physically larger than they currently feel a client can become more confident. The use of direct suggestions can also help with this. As with all visualisations the hypnotist will not only call upon their skills to enhance this but is likely to be using knowledge of body language to encourage the client to express their size.
• Various techniques can be employed to give the idea of having a thicker skin or to gently insulate nerve sensitivity, against the buffets and blows of the world.

Long term confidence enhancers

You might call these the slow confidence builders. Less punchy than the short-term boosters but a better investment over the long term

• Suggestions which encourage recognising the presence and value of skills and abilities the client already possesses can help grow confidence. Further, helping the client to recognise the journey and effort they went through to acquire these abilities can help them to recognise deeper strengths they possess. This feeds into the basic belief that they can do what I set out to do.
• Suggestions and mental rehearsal of survival and growth beliefs can nurture long-term endurance, and ultimately confidence. An example of such a belief might be, ‘When I speak at meetings, sometimes my contribution isn’t great and that can be a bit embarrassing, and it isn’t the end of the world, I can cope with being a little embarrassed’. The key to these beliefs is that they should acknowledge the discomfort/challenge of the situation and recognise that this can be coped with or survived.
• Goal setting which includes envisaging overcoming challenges along the way as well as achieving the goal can also helpful.

Dr Matt Krouwel is a hypnotherapist in Birmingham (UK) with over 25 years experience of helping people. He is a member of both the BSCH and NCH.

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If you would like to know about building confidence why not read – Hypnotherapy for confidence 

8 sources of self-confidence?

1.Winners’ confidence – Humans have a competitive urge. When a human competes and wins the so called ‘Winner’s effect’ is triggered. The Winner’s effect is a surge of dopamine, testosterone and drop in cortisol. Dopamine increases motivation to do the activity again. Testosterone physically builds the body. A reduction in cortisol is effectively a reduction in stress. Winning means you feel better, are stronger and want to repeat that experience. This trio of effects builds a sense that you are capable and will succeed.

2.Competence confidence – This is the long-term growth of skill in one or more areas. Some people look to excel in one   area, often a sport or career. This can lead into which Winner’s effect type of benefit (see above). Others look to build competence across a broad range of area, commonly doing well at work, being fit and healthy and having a few    hobbies that they are good at. Whichever strategy is used the lived experience of choosing to get better at something     and then getting better at it gives a strong sense that you can achieve what you set out to do.

 3.Endurance and coping confidence – A fundamental of confidence is that you can overcome cope with challenges and difficulties. Difficulties are inevitable, most confident people instinctively minimise these by thinking of them as    ‘challenges’ and as temporary. However, sometimes challenges cannot be overcome which is when a confident person has a protective psychology. The confident person usually recognises that failing at a task is different from failing as a person.  Further, they will have survival beliefs such as ‘It is bad that I have been unable to do X, but I can cope with this, I will survive having failed at this task and it is not the end of the world’.

4.Ego confidence – This is the most easily adopted and most easily broken confidence. Ego confidence comes from the perception of having power and status. The power and status may be real or perceptual. Power and status rely on others acknowledging your authority or fame, if they don’t, it vanishes.

5.Habitual confidence – Confidence can have a persistence beyond the reasons for it. If a person has had success and achieved, or just lived in a physically, emotionally and socially safe environment for long enough all the assumptions from this will often stay with them even when no achieving or safe. As with all confidence this can motivate further action which allows them to come back to a place of achievement.

6.Size confidence – Physical power is one of the most primal sources of confidence. Those who are physically larger, taller or broader, tend to be more confident. This does not appear to be an entirely straightforward relationship. Often very large people have confidence issues. This may be due to factors such as being targeted for social abuse and feeling different.

7.Risk taker confidence – Some people feel less than most. Something in the integration of their nervous system means that they feel less pain, which includes emotional and social pain. This means that their experience of social, emotional and physical risk-reward is different to most people, with the perceived risk being much lower. As such they tend to take bigger risks. Equally, as they need more stimulus to feel things they are often driven to take these risks. The taking of risks often results in positive outcomes which can result in winner’s confidence (see above).

8.Group confidence – Being part of a well bonded and mutual supporting team, group or family can be a powerful source of confidence, primarily by providing safety. There is safety in being part of a group, others will support you when needed. The safety provided by being part of a mutually supporting group allows people to take greater risks than they may otherwise. Equally, those who identify with a group will often experience the groups achievements as their own, especially if they directly contributed to that success.

To find out how confidence can be grown why not read hypnotherapy for confidence

Matt is a hypnotherapists working in Birmingham (UK) and online . He is member of both the BSCH and the NCH.

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• The patient/client can get to know the therapist – This can be very helpful as it means they are more comfortable when it comes to the hypnosis.
• The therapist can get to know the patient/client – This allows the therapist to formulate the best strategy for the client/patient. Hypnotherapy is more personalised than any other form of psychological intervention and the therapist benefits from a little space and time to work a few things out.
• It provides an opportunity to explain issues like confidentiality and what is expected of you in therapy.

What does a free initial consultation in hypnotherapy look like?

How long is it?

It can be anything from a 5-minute phone call to an hour in the consulting room, this will often vary with the issue being worked with. Typically, I take:

• 5-10 minutes on the phone for smoking and vaping cessation.
• An hour for everything else.

Is it in-person, online or by phone?

Again, this varies from hypnotherapist to hypnotherapist. Typically, I will make a phone call for smoking and vaping cessation and everything else should match how the therapy is to be done. By this I mean; if we are going to meet in-person for therapy, then we should meet in-person for the initial consultation and online if we are going to work online.

Can you skip the free initial consultation in hypnotherapy?

Yes. However, I offer it, and will push for it, for a reason. I will still need to gather the information so most of the first session will be spent on that anyway and it is unlikely that there will be much time left for anything other than an introduction to hypnosis, let alone serious therapy.

To book your free initial consultation in hypnotherapy

Contact Matt on – 0778 909 7741

Matt is a hypnotherapists with over 25 years experience. In addition to his work with patients and clients he has taught hypnotherapy and lectured at medical schools around the world. He is member of both the BSCH and the NCH.

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Hypnotherapy for functional digestive disorders

One of hypnotherapies most well researched, yet least well-known areas to the public, is how effective it is in treating functional digestive disorders. Functional digestive disorders are those where nothing is physically observably wrong, i.e. no tissue damage or unusual masses, and yet the digestion does not work as you would want. The most well know examples are irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional dyspepsia.

Gut-directed hypnotherapy (GDH)

A specific set of techniques have been brought together to treat functional digestive disorders, these are collectively known as Gut Directed Hypnotherapy (GDH) and include:

• Direct suggestions for gut calm, gut health and gut strength.
• Visualisations: these can be the patient’s own imagery or standard ones can be used. In the ‘The River’ imagery is used to send calming imagery to the gut, to flow freely and calmly. In ‘The warm hand’, a warm light is transferred from the hand into the gut, sending a signal directly to the digestion to both clam.
• Desensitisation is used to reduce anticipatory tension around situations and trigger foods.
• Recordings are used to regulatory and frequently reinforce imagery and direct suggestions.

Historically, most of this work has been done in-person and on a one-to-one basis. However, research has found that other ways of conducting hypnotherapy for IBS are not only viable but possibly more effective.

Group hypnotherapy for IBS?

Hypnotherapy has been conducted to groups of people for various issues for years but has never become the normal way of practicing. It may not have caught on because of the additional administrative burden. However, there is good evidence that for IBS work it is associated with better outcomes than individual therapy. Various theorises for this have been forwarded, such as peer support and the effect of group oxytocin bonding, but none have yet been demonstrated scientifically.

So, with group work appearing beneficial to people with IBS, it is natural that ways of reducing the administrative barriers are sought. This is where video conferencing come in.

Online hypnotherapy for IBS

Research has demonstrated no significant difference between the experience of being hypnotised in-person and online (Rasch & Cordi 2024). Further, the outcomes of hypnotherapy for IBS appear to be similar when done in-person and online. Which leads to the question; what happens if you combine group hypnotherapy with online hypnotherapy?

Online group hypnotherapy for IBS

Luckily for us a team working out of Sweden has decided to address this question. A report of a pilot study of gut directed hypnotherapy for IBS which was conducted to an online group has recently been published.  The key characteristic are:

• 51 adult participants, 42 of whom were female.
• All participants fulfilled Rome IV criteria for IBS.
• 8 sessions of live video conferencing therapy were conducted in groups of 6-8 participants over 12 weeks.
• GDH was based on the North Carolina protocol of hypnotherapy for IBS.

Key Results

• More than half were classified as ‘Responders’. A responder was someone whose symptoms reduced by ≥50 points on the IBS-severity scoring system (IBS-SSS). This is a commonly used and generally accepted measure of change which makes a substantial enough difference to be beneficial.
• Median IBS-SSS scores dropped by over a quarter from baseline to assessment 6 months after treatment.
• Other metrics showed a reduction in anxiety and depression and a general improvement in health-related quality of life.

Study limitation

The main limits to the studies generalisability come from it being a pilot study. Pilot studies are usually conducted to see if the evidence justifies the cost of a larger study. As such they tend not to be quite as rigorous as a full study, and a couple of aspects jump out:

• Small population – 51 participants is unlikely to be a sufficiently large sample to get a full representative distribution of people living with IBS.
• No formal control group – A comparison group was used from a previous study. This is not a true comparator as it was not time-synchronous with the treatment group and thus is open to different variables.

Neither of these invalidate the research, they simple caution against over-generalisation. These findings do however represent the highest level of evidence currently available to us and thus current evidence says that group online hypnotherapy is a valid approach.

Group online hypnotherapy for IBS – Implications for hypnotherapists and People living with IBS

The first thing we can say is that as it appears that group online hypnotherapy for IBS is effective and as such is a valid approach. This approach could make hypnotherapy for IBS:

• Easier to access – Hypnotherapists specialising in IBS have tended to be few and far between. By going online those specialisms become much easier for potential patients to access.
• Cheaper to access – By offering group work a hypnotherapist can reduce the price for individual patients.
• Potentially more profitable for hypnotherapists – As groups can be up to 8 participants the hypnotherapist could be offering group entry at substantially less than their one-to-one rate whilst still earning more overall.

Is group online hypnotherapy the way of the future?

From an evidence perspective it is too early to say if group online hypnotherapy for other issues will be effective. However, we may be able to say that it looks like a valid way forward for functional disorders which is justifiable on the reduction of cost and increase accessibility.

Dr Matt Krouwel has a PhD in treating IBS with Hypnotherapy and has been a hypnotherapist for over 25 years.

References

Lövdahl, J., Törnblom, H., Ringström, G., Palsson, O. S., & Simrén, M. (2026). Online Group Hypnotherapy for Irritable Bowel Syndrome—a Pilot Study. Neurogastroenterology & Motility, 38(5), e70328.

Rasch, B., & Cordi, M. J. (2024). The influence of experience and modality of presentation (online vs. offline) on hypnotizability. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1293070.

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Hypnotherapy for Vaping – number of sessions

This can vary depending on the hypnotherapists approach. However, most hypnotherapists are treating vaping as closer to a bad habit than a persisitent addiction. This means that they are taking briefer, more intense, approaches which tend to be 1-3 sessions. Personally, I favour the single session approach for stopping habits like vaping (and smoking). For more information about hypnotherapy sessions in general click here!

The case history

Should you go to a hypnotherapist to become stop vaping then they are likely to take a case history. In addition to some general details about your life they are going to be interested in a few vape related areas such as:

• What caused you to start vaping? – Was it to stop smoking? Was it just because it was the thing to do?
• When and where do you vape – For some people this is all the time (in bed, at work, on planes), but many vapers will have times and places where they are freer with it.
• What are your reasons for becoming a non-vaper? – These may vary from person to person, but common themes are health concerns and issues with the social acceptability of vaping.

Hypnotherapy for Vaping – Hypnotic trance

Hypnotic trance is usually entered by a combination of guided focusing and relaxation exercises. Sometimes a visualisation element may also be present. During the process the hypnotist moves the subjects focus of attention onto their inner mind. The effect of which is:

They enter a sleep like state – This differs from the sleep of bedtime in that the mind remains alert and to a degree aware.  Most people find this state relaxing.

Creating change

Most hypnotherapists will do some combination of:

• Obtain unconscious buy in to change – Most hypnotherapists will look to create acceptance of the change within the unconscious. This is done in several ways from the use of suggestions and metaphors to psychodynamic approaches.
• Deconditioning of habits – This is where the therapist uses hypnotic suggestion or visualisation to overwrite the old habit behaviours with a new response.
• Emphasis benefits and positive future – Through a combination of suggestions and often visualisations patients are encouraged to acknowledge and even experience the future benefits of becoming a non-vaper.

Hypnotherapy for Vaping – Does it work?

Medical research is a slow business and at time of writing I have been unable to find any serious research on this topic. However, my experience with patients has been very positive so far, take this feed back for example from a review :

” I honestly don’t know how he did it, but Matt somehow managed to change my mindset and convince my brain that I no longer needed to vape. It sounds unbelievable, but it worked.” 

Call or email to find out more!

Dr Matt Krouwel PhD is a Birmingham based hypnotherapist who has been helping people with nicotine addictions for over 25 years. He is a member of both the BSCH and the NCH.

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Hypnotic direct suggestions

Put simply hypnotic direct suggestions are:

Simple, direct commands delivered to a hypnotic subject to illicit a temporary or permanent change.

Examples might include:

• “When I awaken you, you will have no memory of what was said.” – a direct suggestion for post-hypnotic amnesia.
• “As a result of the work we have done today you are going to feel more confident.” – A direct suggestion for increased confidence.
• “When you wake up in the morning you will find that you have no desire to smoke.” – A habit breaking suggestion.

Although hypnotherapists will often rely upon other techniques to create change, it is rare that they won’t include some direct suggestions when working with a patient.

Hypnotic direct suggestions as cognitions

A cognition, as seen in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)  may often take the form of  a statement of a belief. It is theorised by some hypnotherapists that direct suggestions represent new cognitions around which beliefs, new behaviours and reinforcing feedback loops will form. If we take the example from above of

“As a result of the work we have done today you are going to feel more confident.”

The suggestion makes the person believe they are confident. In believing they are confident they then behaviour more confidently. In behaving more confidently two things will tend to happen:

1. They will notice themselves acting more confidently, which will tell them that they are more confident, which further reinforces the idea that they are confident. Confidence then becomes a habit.
2. Others react to their enhanced confidence in positive ways. Consciously and / or unconsciously this tells the patient that these ways of behaving are rewarding (they get the date, they get the promotion, they get the respect) and thus they are reinforced.

So, if direct suggestion are so beneficial why do hypnotherapists use other techniques?

Strengths and limitations of hypnotic direct suggestions

As with all approaches direct suggestions have strengths and limitations which make them more, or less suitable in different situations.

The main strengths of the direct suggestion are its:

• Force – Direct suggestions have authority. As such they are easy for hypnotherapists to deliver them emphatically which conveys power.
• Clarity – Direct suggestions have a very clear meaning. They make it obvious when and where an effect will happen, or what a person will be. In this way they focus the hypnotic subject’s resources on to that circumstance.

These characteristic make them especially useful for:

• People who preference clear guidance.
• In theory they may be more suitable when hypnotic subjects enter a deeper trance state as many people argue that the unconscious preferences simple messages.

However, as with all things there are limitations.

limitations

Because direct suggestions are specific, they run the risk of getting it wrong, some of the main ways this occurs are:

• Asking too much of the subject too soon – Many therapy patients require groundwork before making big changes. If the ground work is not sufficient then powerful direct suggestions may not work or their effects may not last for long.
• Misunderstanding the subject’s needs – Should a hypnotherapist give a suggestion that does not match the subject’s life, way of thinking or expectations then things may go as planned. They may resist or reject the suggestion or it may only work in some circumstances. Equally, if it does not fit their life then it may undermine the rapport they felt with their therapist.

Direct suggestions are a staple of the hypnotherapists tool kit. However, many other techniques are used in hypnotherapy  they are not the only form of suggestion. In-direct or permissive suggestions.

Dr Matt Krouwel PhD is a Birmingham based therapist with over 25 years experience of teaching and practicing hypnotherapy . He is a member of both the BSCH and the NCH.

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Many hypnotherapists will use versions of what is called inner child work. There are several formal definitions of the Inner child. Few hypnotherapists use these definitions rigidly. Within the context of hypnotherapy, the inner child is most often represented as:

A part of the mind which has been traumatised. As a traumatised part it has broken off and become separate.

This is sometimes called a wounded inner child. This traumatised part is often represented as a child because it was created by childhood psychological trauma.

• Note – There are joyful and playful variants of the inner child. These are less commonly engaged with in hypnotherapy.

The creation of an inner child through trauma.

An inner child may be created by a single trauma, or several lesser traumas. Children do the best they can with what they have got. What they have to work with is often restricted by society and their lack of life experience. As a result, they tend to adopt strategies which are imperfect. The child will have found a way to protect themselves emotionally from the trauma by separating (dissociating) themselves from the emotional pain. In the process they will have developed an inner child.

How inner child behaviours manifest.

There are two things tend to result from the presences of a wounded inner child:

1. From time to time the Inner child takes over – Frequently this takes the form of meltdowns, tantrums and behaving in a way which matches or mirrors the origin trauma.
2. Coping strategies are adopted – These are often behaviours which allow for the person to move out of their mental pain such as: drug use, excessive eating, self-harm, arguing and fighting. Alternatively, they may be externalised behaviours such as arguing, fighting or vandalism.

How would a hypnotherapist work with an Inner child

There are several likely steps to this process:

• Initial work will be done to ensure the patient is in a strong mental potion for the subsequent work.
• They will access the inner child through the imagination in a hypnotic state. This may be done by eliciting the inner child’s voice or by imagining them them. In this way communication between the patient and the Inner child can be initiated.
• Communication is conducted between patient and the inner child. This may be done to understand the development of the inner child and what it is doing, or reassure it that it is accepted and safe.
• Reintergration will be sought. This may be after a single session or several encounters. The aim of the reintegration is to bring the experience which the inner child developed to help with back into the whole. This allows for the development of a new way of being informed by the wider adult understanding and opportunities.

Does it work?

With the right patient, at the right time, Inner child work can produce powerful shifts which can appear to be almost miraculous. However, with most patients it opens them up to change which will require behaviour change techniques to capitalise upon. Following Inner child work such techniques as…

• Direct hypnotic suggestion.
• Desensitisation.
• Goal setting.
• EMDR.

…may be used to help the patient create lasting change.

Dr Matt Krouwel PhD is a Birmingham based hypnotherapist with over 25 years experience. He has taught hypnotherapy around the world at private institutions and medical schools. He is a member of both the BSCH and the NCH.

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