Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

What is your professional background and qualifications in hypnotherapy?

My professional background was rooted in technology led materials processing. Firstly, in technical Chemistry roles in the pharmaceutical industry. This developed in to operations and managerial roles in the wider materials processing sector. Becoming a Hypnotherapist was a long-term bucket list item which came in to being with the highly acclaimed Diploma in Solution Focused Hypnotherapy (DSFH) from the Clifton Practice Hynotherapy training school – the UK’s leading SFH training school. This accreditation allowed me to seamlessly combine SFH with Positive Psychology to open PERMA Hynotherapy’s doors in 2021.

Each therapist brings elements of their own experience and personality to their therapy practice – which underlines the importance of connecting with the right therapist for you, at this time. My approach is very straight forward. It is rooted in making sure you get a thorough understanding of the knowledge base under-pinning what we’re doing, that you become skilled at applying the techniques effectively to build a strong base on which you can maintain and build your wellbeing long after we finish working together.

Professional registrations require a level of ongoing continual professional development and supervision / mentorship. I am a member of the Association for Solution Focused Hypnotherapy

Additionally, I’m always adding to my knowledge – mainly in the fields of Positive Psychology, the long-term impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences and how PERMA Hypnotherapy can support with post-trauma growth.

While each client is unique, most who ask to work with a Solution Focused Hypnotherapist have commonalities sitting at the root of their challenges. Typically, they are feeling the effects of long-term stress / anxiety (which can manifest an any number of ways – physical and or psychological), they recognise the damaging trajectory they are on (often referred to as a vicious cycle), they have decided to do something about it and are keen to take responsibility for building their life in a better way. This is what you bring to the collaborative approach.

Clients often report feeling better from the moment they make the decision to get the support they need. Choosing the right therapist for you at this time is a continuation of this process. Typically, clients will begin to notice differences within a session or two. Sometimes these are subtle, sometime more obvious. There can be many factors involved so, sometimes it takes a bit longer. So much depends of you starting point, your expectations and how you work with the plentiful content I will send you. Beyond that, there isn’t a right or wrong in terms of how you develop – just what is right for you. In working with PERMA Hypnotherapy, you are laying the foundations for managing your wellbeing for the long term: months, years and decades after our time working with each other. You will do that in your own, unique way.
I’m able to offer a range of customisable fixed session programs so you know up-front fees and timescales. I also offer open ended General Therapy as per the traditional Solution Focused Hypnotherapy model: most clients ask to see me for between 6 and 12 sessions, sometime more. Again, there is no decisive right or wrong answer: just what is right for you.

Yes: indeed, I insist on it.

It is important to both of us that we are able and ready to collaborate to make you PERMAs’ next success story. In the unlikely event that I feel I can’t offer you very good value then I will make every endeavour to help you find the right therapist for you.

Yes – they can be found over here.

A requirement of my professional membership is that client testimonials are genuine. To this end we are required to maintain evidence to this effect. It would be unusual for an accredited therapist to ask directly for a testimonial however they are greatly appreciated when offered.

Yes – This is summarised here:

No.

SFH is a Solution Focused Brief Therapy: ideally suited to those who are ready to implement their chosen improvements. Those looking to explore past issues in depth would be better served by a traditional, counselling approach. These modalities are not in conflict – they just offer different benefits. Often, people reach a point with traditional counselling where they are ready to ‘just move on’ and benefit greatly from a Solution Focused Brief Therapy approach.

No.

While the pasts’ influence is acknowledged, SFH’s stance is to accept your present without reservation and support you in moving forward to your chosen future. One of its key advantages is that it doesn’t re-explore a past which may be damaging. Among the talking therapies, the Solution Focused Brief approach is less invasive than most.

SFH provides a framework which we adapt to suit the situation for any session. We’ll typically start by briefly summarising the changes you have noticed since last time before discussing some underpinning knowledge. This flows to a quick assessment of where you are in relation to where you want to be and identifies some small next steps for you to continue your progress. With that echoing in your mind, we’ll do some trance work (possibly a deeply relaxing guided meditation or perhaps I’ll introduce you to a hypnotic process to support our work.) Once you have returned from trance we’ll recap and discuss any issues arising. After the session, I’ll send you the content for this and / or the next session which will include recordings similar to the trance work we did (NB – live trance is a two-way, ephemeral, communication so live sessions always vary.)

Yes.

One of the underpinning outcomes of Solution Focused Hypnotherapy is for you to further develop your sense of agency: the control you have over the circumstances of your life and your responses to what arises throughout life.

Contrary to what we see in the movies, modern hypnotherapy is about you having more control of your own life: nobody would gain anything for the reverse to happen.

Normally, yes. Sometimes, no – and that’s OK.

Trance sessions are ephemeral – no two are ever the same. The live trance sessions we will do will be a mixture of guided relaxations (which have cumulative benefits) and guided hypnosis processes. You will get a suite of recordings to keep – your own experience will tell you what is right for you at any time: sometimes you will want to work on something specific, others you will simply want to drift in a deep relaxation.

It’s important to remember that a live trance session is a collaboration: rather than it being something someone else does ‘to’ you, it is something you do ‘with’ someone else.

No.

Contrary to the misnomers (hypnosis is not sleep – hence my preference for the term trance) hypnosis activates some parts of our brains while other parts do go quiet. Most of the time a trance session will progress as planned. From time to time a client may fall asleep in which case I’ll simply let them enjoy a quick snooze before guiding them back to the room.

When working on your own (I encourage all my clients to develop their self-hypnosis capabilities), you may fall asleep, enjoy a relaxing 40 winks then wake up normally. Other times – it just won’t happen. This is all just part of the normal learning process. Each trance is its own ephemeral experience.

Notionally, each session is planned for one hour with a roughly half-way split between a solution focused conversation and trance work. I work with a low volume of clients at any time and never book sessions back-to-back. This gives us plenty of time for relaxed sessions and to delve in to the underpinning knowledge content so that you maximise the value from each session.

Most clients opt for one of the customisable fixed session programs. Typically, we would do the first two or three sessions on a weekly basis and often then move to fortnightly sessions. This gives you plenty of time to assimilate and explore the content. Most often, you would have your weekly slot e.g. 7 PM on Mondays for the duration of our time working together, with the flexibility of weekly or fortnightly sessions. Life happens, of course, and we can juggle our diaries to suit our respective schedules. 

I don’t record sessions – the data protection implications alone are a nightmare!

Most session are done over Zoom – unless you’re lucky enough to live in Edinburgh, Scotland, in which case face to face sessions are a possibility.

A session recording will have little value to you: you will get a comprehensive set of written notes covering all we speak about (and more!) and suites of MP3 recorded trance sessions to download and use. So, you will have all the content to keep and revisit whenever you wish.  Even through the time we work together, your life will have moved on and looking back a few weeks, or months, will bring no benefit.

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy is particularly well suited to helping with a wide range of issues. The specific issues which can be helped spans physical (inflammation-based issues: eczema, asthma, IBS), behavioural (hair pulling, nail-biting, binge eating / drinking), psychological (anger, anxiety, depression) and lifestyle issues (weight / physique, sleep, personal development.)

Because we work at a deep, holistic, level, unexpected benefits are commonly reported e.g. a focus on improving physique leading to better sleep and reduced alcohol consumption: a focus on achieving a career aspiration leading to improved interpersonal relationships. As we come to understand the core ‘models’ (each of which articulates key aspects of our functioning) so we come to understand how to move those virtuous cycles to our advantage.

This is specific to each individuals’ circumstances. Given that we work at the ‘root’ level, it is entirely feasible that a range of issues manifesting from a common root e.g. anger outbursts will see improvements. A key concept is to take a holistic approach: brain, mind, body, spirit, and environment. When we’re moving these key aspects of ourselves in the right direction, many individual aspects of our lives are likely to improve with the rising tide.

This will depend on what you want from your sessions.

Classic Solution Focused Hypnotherapy rarely advocates ‘homework’ beyond regularly using the guided relaxation downloads – typically as you drift off to sleep at night. We see noticeable differences between those that do and don’t follow this experience proven advice.

Those working through any of the customisable fixed session programs will receive comprehensive documentation – notes, reflections, exercises, video transcriptions, models, checklists. I alter my approach to suit your needs: some want to use session time for me to introduce the headline topics, while others like to read ahead and use our time together more like a discussion / master class. From a professional perspective, I enjoy exploring new insight and ways of implementing the content.

Yes.

Understanding yourself is a cornerstone of understanding what is right for you. This support moving on to the ‘how’ do I achieve the ‘what.’

My fees, are all-inclusive and straightforward as per the website.

The customisable fixed session programs do come with an inherent discount relative to the general therapy session fee.

Yes.

The majority of sessions are done on Zoom as I work with people across the globe. The only real constraint is matching up our time zones. I work from the city of Edinburgh, Scotland so, my standard time is GMT.

Life happens.

I tend to work with a regular time slot with any client e.g. Monday evenings at 7 pm. From there we can establish the optimal pattern of weekly or fortnightly sessions. More often than not, we’ll do the first two or three session on a weekly basis and then move to fortnightly sessions. With this structure in place, we can adjust to suit our respective schedules. From time to time, something will prevent a planned session from going ahead. Life happens – we’ll reschedule as any other professionals would do.

 

How I Can Help You

Hypnotherapy for Wellbeing

A customisable 10 session fixed fee program taking the best from Solution Focused Hypnotherapy and Positive Psychology to support your sustainable wellbeing. 

General Therapy

Classic Solution Focused Hypnotherapy with a positive Psychology influence: open ended sessions at your pace, your way.

Hypnotherapy for Personal Development

A customisable 6 session fixed fee program to launch your best life applying the best of Positive Psychology and Self-Hypnosis  

Hypnotherapy for Imposter Syndrome

A customisable 10 session fixed fee program taking the best from PERMA Hypnotherapy and evidence based approaches that show you really are worth it and you really do belong here.

Coming soon - Group Hypnotherapy and relaxation sessions

Open ended and highly cost effective introduction to Hypnotherapy for wellbeing and personal development.

Bespoke

I enjoy a fresh challenge. For those looking for something different contact me with your thoughts.

PERMA Hypnotherapy

 

Kevin@permahypnotherapy.co.uk

 

07538 885827

How PERMA Hypnotherapy Can Help You

Wellbeing

General Therapy

Imposter Syndrome

Personal Development

Coming Soon – Group Sessions

Bespoke