Hypnotherapy for anxiety and stress
Clinical Hypnotherapy for anxiety and stress
Hypnosis for stress, anxiety, sleep issues and more.
I am an experienced Registered Clinical Hypnotherapist BA Hons (Oxon) DSFH HPD MNCH (Reg) CNHC practising Solution Focused Clinical Hypnotherapy in Bristol and online.
It is such a privilege to be able to help my clients ease their stress and anxiety, improve the quality of their sleep, and calm distressing phobias. I often reflect on how lucky I am to be in a profession that supports individuals of all ages and walks of life to start to take back control, and regain their sense of calm, confidence and purpose.
Hypnotherapy sessions available online and face to face
I am delighted to work with clients either online or face-to-face at The Family Practice, in Bishopston, Bristol.
Online sessions with me are generally via Zoom, although I’m very happy to work with you over the phone or via another platform if more convenient. It is great to be able to offer high quality care to all my clients, wherever they are located.
I have recorded the video below in Zoom to show you exactly how I appear on a screen during an online hypnotherapy session. I explain how to make the most of an online therapy session, and give some top tips on how to choose the right therapist for you.
Who do I help?
I love to work with everyone: professionals to help them sleep better, manage stress, and improve their capacity to lead with calm, confidence and impact; elite athletes to improve performance; doctors, researchers, and teachers struggling with anxiety and depression; students and young people seeking to overcome self-doubt and exam nerves; mothers returning to work; and retirees struggling with their own personal set of challenges… and of course so many more. Click here for a list of examples or email me at amy@amyarmstrongcoaching.com.
Why Hypnotherapy?
Clinical hypnotherapy is a modern, evidence-based approach to help clients achieve the positive changes they seek to their thoughts, perceptions, feelings, and behaviours.
This gentle, skilled talking therapy combines hypnosis with practical, accessible insights from leading brain research explaining how the brain works, why we can suffer as we do, and what we can do about it.
What is Hypnosis?
Hypnosis is the induction of a natural, deeply relaxed state, where our internal resistance and concerns are suspended, and we are able to achieve a gentle but focused attention on the positive outcomes we seek. In this state we are open to suggestions to increase our capacity to take action to achieve the changes we wish for, whilst always remaining in control and being able to choose what we want or don’t want to think or believe.
A Solution-Focused Approach
As a clinical hypnotherapist, I am solution-focused in my approach, helping clients identify their desired outcomes for our work together, rather than encouraging them to ruminate on the problems and issues which have caused them so much pain in the past, and brought them to see me.
I support clients to develop their capacity to relax and enjoy the benefits of hypnosis, and also draw on best practice from a range of established sister-disciplines including cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), positive psychology, mindfulness, meditation, solution focused therapy, and neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).
Evidence of how hypnotherapy can help
Clinical Hypnotherapy has been recognised by the British Psychological Society as beneficial in a wide range of conditions. A recent Clinical Review of research by the British Medical Journal found “there is good evidence from randomised controlled trials that both hypnosis and relaxation techniques can reduce anxiety.” It goes on to confirm “hypnosis enhances the effects of cognitive behaviour therapy for conditions such as phobia, obesity, and anxiety…. [and is] of value in asthma and in irritable bowel syndrome.” (Vickers & Zollman, ‘Hypnosis and relaxation therapies,’ BMJ 1999;319: 1346-1349).
The neuroplasticity of the brain and positive, lasting change
As your hypnotherapist, it is my responsibility to work with you to create an environment in which you can do your best thinking. The natural neuroplasticity of the brain means that with repetition of new ways of thinking and behaving, new neural pathways grow and strengthen, changing at a cellular level the way we experience the world.
Hypnosis enhances this work, reinforcing our ability to build on our strengths, and take tiny manageable steps towards our desired outcomes. I will support you to connect to and strengthen your understanding and capacity to do things differently and achieve positive, lasting change.
“Working with Amy has enhanced my life in so many different ways.”
Before I began working with Amy, I was exhausted and in an extremely fragile state physically and emotionally having become a single parent with a young child. As we worked together she helped me understand what was happening in my life and how my brain was reacting to these stresses. She helped my come up with achievable strategies to move forward in small achievable steps. I loved the theory, science and neurology that Amy explained clearly and repeatedly during our sessions. Now, nearly 2 years on, I regularly sleep for at least 7 hours a night, which I can’t ever remember doing before and have a whole bucketful of strategies to manage the stresses that try and interrupt my now happy life.
I wholeheartedly recommend Amy’s work and know that I wouldn’t be the person I am now without the work we did together.
What should I expect in a typical hypnotherapy session?
I offer all clients a free initial consultation, to give you the opportunity to get a flavour of how I work, and for me to understand how you would like hypnotherapy to help you. There will be no hypnosis at this session;
Each subsequent session will be up to sixty minutes long.
Typically, we will start with finding the positives from the week: even if it has been terrible, I will support you to identify the strengths and resources you have used to get through it.
We will explore how the brain works, why we can struggle as we do, and what we can do about it. I will help you find practical and manageable – usually tiny, yet important – solutions, to build momentum and move you towards your chosen goals.
We will finish each session with a relaxation trance: using gentle music, restful language patterns, and positive images and metaphors, I will guide you to a natural, relaxed state and support you to start to find and embed the positive changes you seek in your thinking and behaviours.
Do watch the video above, to give you a flavour of how it would feel to work online with me.
How can I help you today?
Call or text me direct on 07557 911 606 or email amy@amyarmstrongcoaching.com.
I see clients online, usually via Zoom or the phone.
For face to face sessions, I run a busy clinic at The Family Practice, 116 Gloucester Road, Bishopston, Bristol BS7 8NL.
I can help with:
Low confidence and self-esteem
Exam performance
Public speaking
Weight management
Price
£67 per session (£52 for concessions and low income); or payment in advance of £640/£490 for ten sessions.