Most people who come to see me waited far longer than they needed to. Not weeks. Months, sometimes years. And when I ask what took so long, the answer is rarely about money or time. It’s that they didn’t know what hypnotherapy would actually be like, and the not knowing was enough to keep putting it off.
So let me walk you through it. This is what a first session with me involves, from the first message to the moment you leave.
Before you arrive
It starts with a message, not a form. You WhatsApp me a sentence or two about what’s stuck. That’s genuinely all it takes. Most people then book a free 30-minute call, where we talk about what’s going on and whether this work is the right fit for it.
There is nothing to prepare. You don’t need to have worked out why you are the way you are. You don’t need to bring notes or a tidy explanation. Arriving unsure of how to describe the problem is completely normal, and honestly, it’s often where the most useful first sessions begin.
The first part is just a conversation
A first session doesn’t open with hypnosis. It opens with talking.
I want to understand what the pattern is, when it shows up, what it costs you, and what you’ve already tried. People often arrive with something specific, a presentation they keep avoiding, a habit of saying yes when they mean no, a worry that follows them to bed. Underneath the specific thing there’s usually a pattern that’s been running for years.
You stay in charge of what you share. There is no requirement to revisit anything you don’t want to. After twenty-five years of this work I’ve learned that the nervous system opens doors in its own time, and the work is better for it.
What hypnosis actually feels like
This is the part people are most unsure about, so let’s be plain about it.
Hypnosis is not what stage shows suggest. You are not asleep. You are not under anyone’s control. You don’t say things you didn’t intend to say or cluck like a chicken. All of that belongs to entertainment, not therapy.
What it actually feels like is closer to the state you’re in when you’re absorbed in a film, or in those quiet minutes before sleep. Your attention settles. Your body rests. You can hear everything, you can speak, and you could open your eyes at any moment if you wanted to. It’s simply a state in which the deeper part of your mind, the part that runs the old patterns, is easier to reach and easier to work with.
Most people are surprised by how ordinary it feels. And by how restful it is.
What we work on first
The presenting problem is the doorway, but the work is about the pattern underneath it. Confidence, anxiety, people pleasing, imposter syndrome, a fear that seems to have no logic to it. The first session is where we start finding where that pattern lives and what it’s been trying to protect you from.
Where it fits, I’ll sometimes weave in breathwork, because the body holds these patterns as firmly as the mind does. But nothing is bolted on for the sake of it. The work follows what you bring.
Where this happens
My practice is in Ealing, W5, a few minutes from the Broadway, so if you live or work nearby you can be sitting in a session within minutes of leaving the Elizabeth line. The room is quiet and private. No clinic corridor, no waiting room full of strangers.
If you’re not local, or you simply prefer it, online sessions over Zoom work in exactly the same way. The state of focused rest that makes this work effective travels perfectly well through a screen.
Afterwards
People often tell me they leave feeling lighter, or clearer, or simply tired in the way you’re tired after putting something heavy down. Everyone is different, and I’d be wary of anyone who promises you a fixed timeline.
At the end of the first session we talk honestly about what the work ahead looks like. Some things shift quickly. Patterns that have been running since childhood usually deserve more than one conversation. You’ll never be asked to commit to a long programme on the spot; we agree the next step, and only the next step.
Sessions in Ealing are £125. If Central London suits you better, I also see people in Mayfair, where sessions are £150.
The questions people ask before booking
How long is a session? Unhurried by design. The first session is longer than you might expect, because the conversation matters as much as the hypnosis, and I don’t like rushing either.
Will I remember what happened? Yes. You’re aware throughout, and most people remember the session the way you’d remember any absorbing conversation.
What if I can’t be hypnotised? If you can daydream, lose yourself in music or drift on a train journey, you already move in and out of this state every day. My job is simply to guide it, and after twenty-five years I’ve yet to meet a mind that couldn’t settle given the right pace.
Do I have to talk about my childhood? Only if it turns out to be relevant, and only as much as you choose. Plenty of useful work happens without excavating anything.
Final thoughts
If you’ve been circling this decision for a while, I’d gently point out that the circling is often part of the very pattern you want help with. Waiting until you feel ready is how capable people stay stuck for years.
You don’t need to feel ready. You need one message.