What is hypnotherapy?

Hypnosis has a lot of myths around it, mostly from stage shows and films. The reality is simpler and far more useful: hypnotherapy is a well-researched way of changing the automatic responses that willpower and logic alone have not shifted. This page explains what it is, what the evidence shows, and what happens when you come for a session.

The conscious and unconscious mind

The nature of the mind is a big subject, so this is a simplified map, but these are terms you will hear during sessions.

Your conscious mind

This is the part of you reading these words: the part you think of as "me". It is logical and analytical, it tries to make sense of the world, and it tends to do one thing at a time. You can think of it as a critical filter between your inner world and everything outside.

Your unconscious mind

Sometimes called the subconscious, this is everything that goes on outside your awareness. It runs your breathing and heartbeat, stores memories, shapes dreams and handles many tasks at once.

It also tries to protect you, and it reacts before you have had time to think. Usually that is helpful. Sometimes it gets things wrong: nobody chooses to have a phobia, and many habits and automatic reactions form without our ever deciding on them. Knowing better, consciously, often makes surprisingly little difference. That is where hypnotherapy comes in.

What is hypnosis?

Hypnosis is a relaxed, focused state of attention that will probably feel familiar. If you have ever been lost in a daydream, absorbed in a film, meditated, or noticed that drifting feeling between waking and sleep, you already know something of what it is like.

You are not asleep and you are not unconscious. You can hear everything, you stay in control, and you can open your eyes and stop at any time. Most people find it deeply relaxing.

What is hypnotherapy?

Hypnotherapy is the use of hypnosis for a therapeutic purpose. In that relaxed state the critical, analysing part of the mind quietens, which makes it easier to work directly with the automatic responses underneath.

For example, an out-of-proportion fear may go back to an experience you have half forgotten, or one that mattered more than you realised at the time. In hypnotherapy we can find where a response comes from and help your mind adopt a calmer, more useful way to respond.

Hypnotherapy isn't only about problems. People also use it for personal development: to feel more confident, more motivated or more creative, or to get clearer about what they want. See what hypnotherapy can help with.

What the research shows

• IBS: UK clinical guidelines (NICE) recommend hypnotherapy as an option for persistent IBS, and the British Society of Gastroenterology says gut-directed hypnotherapy may be an efficacious treatment for IBS symptoms. See IBS.
• Anxiety: a 2019 review of 17 controlled trials found people who had hypnosis reduced their anxiety more than about 79% of people in comparison groups. See anxiety.
• Surgery and medical procedures: a 2021 review of 50 randomised trials found hypnosis reduced distress and pain and the amount of medication people needed. See surgery and medical procedures.
• Menopause: The Menopause Society (2023) recommends clinical hypnosis as an evidence-based non-hormonal option for hot flushes and night sweats. See menopause.

The evidence is stronger for some issues than others, and each treatment page says honestly what the research shows for that issue.

What happens in a session?

Your first session

The first session starts with a longer conversation. You can ask questions and settle in, and Tim gets a clear picture of what is going on, your background and what you want to change. That lets him tailor the work to you. There is no one-size-fits-all script.

You then experience hypnosis for yourself. This usually includes some focused breathing (mindfulness), a gentle hypnotic induction and guided instructions you can repeat at home.

Later sessions

Further sessions are shaped around your needs. Depending on what you bring, Tim may use techniques such as regression or timeline work to revisit memories in a safe, controlled way, at a pace that feels right for you. Not every problem has its roots in the past, so sometimes the work is about changing an unhelpful pattern and putting a healthier response in its place.

Sessions can also work on beliefs that hold you back, and on getting clearer about what matters to you. Read more in how it works, or see the FAQ.

Who you will work with

Tim Dunton has over 20 years' experience and is a member of the General Hypnotherapy Register (GHR), an Advanced and Ericksonian Hypnotherapist, and a Master Practitioner of NLP trained by its co-founders, Richard Bandler and John Grinder. He sees clients at 9 Coldbath Square, Farringdon, London EC1R 5HL, and online. More about Tim.

Hypnotherapy works alongside medical care. Please see your GP about any medical condition, and keep taking prescribed medication unless your doctor advises otherwise.

The research

• NICE guideline CG61 on IBS (2008, updated 2017), recommendation 1.2.3.1. NICE
• Vasant DH et al. (2021). British Society of Gastroenterology guidelines on the management of irritable bowel syndrome. Gut 70(7):1214–1240. PubMed 33903147
• Valentine KE, Milling LS, Clark LJ, Moriarty CL (2019). The efficacy of hypnosis as a treatment for anxiety: a meta-analysis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis 67(3):336–363. PubMed 31251710
• Holler M, Koranyi S, Strauss B, Rosendahl J (2021). Meta-analysis of hypnosis in medical procedures (50 randomised trials). Clinical Psychology Review 85:102001. PubMed 33725512
• The North American Menopause Society (2023). The 2023 nonhormone therapy position statement of The North American Menopause Society. Menopause 30(6):573–590. PubMed 37252752

Individual experiences vary.