Cognitive Calm
Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy
Everyone feels stuck at some point in their lives – you are not alone in this, but sometimes it can feel as though you are.
You often know what you ‘should’ be doing to help yourself, or what you’d like to be doing, but that gap between knowing it and doing it seems vast. You can bridge the gap and unlock your potential and combining principles of cognitive behaviour therapy and hypnotherapy can be a really effective approach to make lasting change. This is why I started to work with CBH as it really helps to bring the knowing and the doing together.
Integrating these two modalities, I take a holistic approach to help you work out what’s keeping you stuck and together, we find solutions that fit in with your life. Research shows that combining hypnotherapy and CBT can achieve longer lasting change. It makes implementing these changes feel so much easier.
I can help you to…
- Relax – learn to rebalance your nervous system and release mental, emotional and physical tension
- Reframe – benefit from cognitive therapy to explore alternatives to the unhelpful thought patterns that might be keeping you stuck, or contributing to feelings of overwhelm
- Reset – benefit from behavioural therapy and hypnosis to make the changes that you want to make
“When we are no longer able to change a situation we are challenged to change ourselves.”
Viktor E Frankl
What is Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy?
It’s an evidence-based therapy that can help you to understand yourself better and support you to make lasting, realistic changes.
Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy uses:
- cognitive techniques to help you recognise unhelpful thinking patterns, release these and reframe them with more rational and helpful thoughts
- behavioural strategies to enact your helpful thought patterns in real life, as well as change old behaviours in favour of new ones
- hypnotherapy to promote relaxation, motivation and to provide opportunities for your imagined rehearsal of implementing changes in your thoughts, feelings and behaviour
How these three elements are woven into your sessions and treatment plan is flexible and responsive to your needs, depending on what’s keeping you stuck. We are complex creatures so issues rarely exist in isolation, either in how they present or what drives them.
Whilst not a quick fix, CBH can help you to overcome your issue more quickly than other talking therapies, takes a problem solving approach and places you at the centre.
What is it used for?
CBH is well suited to addressing sub-clinical issues, for example: disordered eating, rather than an eating disorder; or social anxiety, rather than severe anxiety. Other contra-indications exist – see FAQ for details.
I treat the person, not just ‘the issue’ but I’m often asked whether CBH can help with phobias, weight loss, exam / driving test anxiety, procrastination … And the answer is yes, it can. See here for more.
What does a session look like?
Sessions are held online, via Zoom.
Each session will begin with a discussion which informs our therapeutic goals for the session. Other features will be included as required:
- Psychoeducation to help you understand your issue
- Cognitive and / or behavioural activities to identify and agree helpful changes
- Hypnosis to empower new beliefs / support behavioural change (audio file shared with you)
- Hypnotic skills training to aid relaxation, sleep, mindfulness
- Discussion and agreement of therapeutic goals and tasks for before next session
- Personalised slides and materials shared with you
Key Features of Therapy with Cognitive Calm
- Non-judgemental, calm and empathic therapy from a qualified, insured and professionally registered cognitive behavioural hypnotherapist
- Online sessions – no need to travel or take extra time out of your day
- 1:1 responsive treatment programmes created and paced for you using evidence-based approaches and techniques
- Free personalised hypnotherapy and relaxation audios to support you in between sessions – yours to keep
- Coping skills taught to support you in the future
- Holistic approach to help identify the root cause of your issue, resulting in more effective, targeted therapy
- First session 90 minutes so you can feel benefits from day 1
Testimonials
‘Elspeth was incredibly supportive and non-judgemental which made it easy to feel that I could be open with her. I found the different exercises that Elspeth and I worked through to be a really useful package of tools to help me make a change in my life.’ F
‘… I feel I have made significant progress … and have noticed a considerable improvement in my confidence and reduction in anxiety when facing situations that previously provoked it. I was [previously] unaware of the powerful impact that Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy can have in helping to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviours. I wish I had accessed therapy sooner instead of trying to manage my anxiety on my own for so long. ‘ J
‘Communication was professional but warm and empathic. Treatment and interventions were entirely tailored to me and truly personalised. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend working with Elspeth – I loved her holistic and thorough approach – and I now have additional, effective tools that I will continue to use in my daily life and routine.’ A
‘I have found that this has not just been useful in addressing one issue but is something I have incorporated into my life to help with a number of different things.‘ E
‘Elspeth is a good listener and reflected week on week what was happening and checking how my progress had been. She was able to readily adapt sessions as required.‘ G
‘I found Elspeth to be an excellent source of encouragement and support. She is a very good listener who took the time to thoughtfully respond to my concerns and responded in a non-judgemental manner. The audios Elspeth provided are delivered with a calm and soothing voice making them a relaxing experience. I would have no hesitation recommending Elspeth to friends and family who are looking for a professional and kind natured therapist.’ H