Renaissance Hypnotherapy

28/10/2026

Phobias, Anxiety, Panic Attacks. Have you heard of Charles Darwin?

One of the things I wish more people understood about phobias, anxiety and panic attacks, is that the person who has one or all of these experiences may be amazingly brave. They may also be intelligent, thoughtful and very capable, someone others turn to when life gets difficult, while privately struggling with a fear they find hard to explain.

Having a phobia doesn’t cancel out any of those qualities.

Perhaps you manage enormous responsibilities at work but feel overwhelmed at the thought of seeing a doctor or dentist and needing an injection? Perhaps you’re the person who supports everyone else, yet getting on an airplane feels impossible to you. You maybe even give yourself a hard time over your anxiety or panic attacks even though you understand perfectly well that it’s not your fault, but knowing that doesn’t always change how we feel. A phobia isn’t an intelligence test, and definitely isn’t a measure of your character. A panic attack isn’t a sign of weakness and anxiety doesn’t mean you aren’t courageous.

Do you remember learning about Charles Darwin in school? In 1997, doctors Thomas Barloon and Russell Noyes reviewed Darwin’s writings and biographical accounts and these two doctors proposed that Darwin experienced panic disorder and probably had agoraphobia. We cannot know for certain that it was correct, but it is a published explanation for some of the difficulties he described. We don’t need to settle Darwin’s diagnosis to recognise that two things that might appear to contradict each other, can actually be true at the same time, a remarkable mind and considerable distress can exist in the same person.

Panic attacks can happen to anyone, including people who usually feel confident and cope well. They can involve a sudden rush of fear, a racing heart, trembling, dizziness or a frightening sense of losing control. Having a panic attack doesn’t automatically mean you have panic disorder, which involves a wider pattern of recurrent, unexpected attacks and ongoing worry or changes in behaviour. Phobias, anxiety and panic disorder are different, although panic attacks can occur with both.

Sometimes there is a whole other difficulty that comes with any of these, and that’s the effort involved in trying to hide it from others. Making excuses, planning around it, hoping nobody notices, perhaps telling yourself that you 'should” be able to manage. So let me be really clear, there is no shame in any of this, and you don’t have to earn support by being brave enough.

It’s okay to book a session and feel afraid. It’s okay to say, “I’m nervous even about talking about this,” or “I don’t know where to start.” You don’t need to arrive at an appointment with me feeling calm, confident or ready to tell me everything.

I’m a solution focused hypnotherapist and my sessions are supportive and non-judgemental and provide a space, a way of gently shining a light on an area of ourselves we’ve been keeping in darkness. We can begin with what you’d like to become easier, what matters to you, and the strengths and resources you already bring. In my sessions, we use conversation and imagination, including agreed hypnotic suggestions, to explore and rehearse more helpful responses. I won’t spring any feared object or situation on you, or pressure you into an exercise you don’t want to do. We agree what we’re doing together, and you can pause, change direction or stop. We use the power of our imagination as a force for good, anxiety often feels like endlessly imagining worse case scenarios, I’ll show you how to mentally rehearse things going right, how to mentally rehearse you coping in a way that makes you proud of you.

Hypnotherapy is a complementary approach and results can’t be guaranteed and may vary. If your panic symptoms are new, unexplained or affecting your life, speaking with your GP is important too, because you deserve support. You may already be showing more courage in everyday life than anyone around you realises. But you don’t have to prove that here.

You’re allowed to feel afraid and be supported, exactly as you are.

Feel free to get in touch for a free, no obligation initial consultation so that you can decide if hypnotherapy might be right for you.

Tel: 07950 156729

Email: [email protected]

Photo by Dave McDermott -Unsplash

04/09/2026

Chronic pain can be so exhausting, frustrating and living with pain is a hard road to travel, it can feel isolating too? particularly when other people can’t see your pain.
Pain is influenced not only by what is happening in the body, but by how our brain processes danger, sensation, attention and emotion. To be super clear this doesn’t mean pain is imagined, it’s very real, whether it’s caused by arthritis, ME/CFS, long covid or other conditions, the pain is very real and you’ll find us hypnotherapists to be compassionate listeners.

What might we be able to do to help?
Hypnotherapy can’t treat the pain’s underlying medical cause, always consult your doctor first.
However, research suggests it may help some people reduce pain intensity, distress and pain-related anxiety, while improving relaxation, sleep and your sense of control.
One of our approaches is to teach people self hypnosis, something you can learn quite easily from us. If you’d like to know more please reach out to one of us.

30/08/2026

There are things known, and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.

Always be kind, and don’t assume to know what is going on in someone else’s world, it doesn’t always show on the outside.

If you, or someone you know is struggling, you can contact me on 07950 156729 for a FREE and confidential initial consultation.

21/04/2026

Have you heard this quote? While we think it’s broadly true that what we do today affects our tomorrow, it’s not the whole picture.
Yes the decisions we make, what we choose to eat, whether we take a little exercise, whether we factor in some self care today, all these help us feel a sense of balance and feel like we are being the best version of ourselves. So the future we prefer for ourselves is more likely to happen.

It’s not the whole picture though, this quote might sound like tomorrow’s peace is entirely under our control… and that’s not quite true. Life throws things at us, our health, our circumstance, other people, all these play a role. So if tomorrow doesn’t feel peaceful, it doesn’t mean someone ‘did today wrong.’

A slightly more grounded version might be
‘Tomorrow’s peace is influenced by the actions we take today… and also by things outside our control.’

If you’d like support creating helpful habits, making choices and setting goals that work for you, or if you’d like help choosing your reactions to events outside of your control so you cope and n a way that’s best for you, do feel free to get in touch and see if
or

might be what you’re looking for.

21/04/2026

‘You can do hard things’ have you heard that phrase before?
Here we mean it not in a ‘push through at all costs’ kind of way, and not in a ‘just think positive’ kind of way either.

Think about you, just for a moment,
You’ve got through difficult days,
you’ve handled things you didn’t feel ready for
you’ve kept going when part of you wanted to stop
You have a 100% success rate of getting though the day.
And that isn’t glib, it really matters because it’s too easy to overlook our own strengths.
Talking about your own strengths is something we do in solution focused hypnotherapy sessions.

Sometimes when we think about making a change, whether that’s working on getting rid of a phobia we have,
or stopping va**ng, or doing something that’s just for us, aiming for that goal we have in mind for ourselves, it can feel overwhelming.

And that feeling of being overwhelmed is not because you can’t do it, it’s because your mind is trying to protect you from discomfort, uncertainty, or failure. So the mind says ‘later’ ‘not yet’ or ‘better not to try in case I fail’

And that’s understandable.

But there’s another way of looking at it, if
you’ve already shown yourself that you can get through difficult moments, then you already have the beginnings of what you need now. And the beginnings is all you need to start because change doesn’t have to mean doing something huge or dramatic.

Often it’s much smaller than that, just start with a conversation about what you hope for yourself.
Change starts with just one first step, a moment of doing something slightly differently.

And those small steps count, we don’t need to feel certain we can reach our goal, see the finish line, we just need to start, one small step at a time.

This is where hypnotherapy can be helpful not as a magic switch, but as a way of creating the right conditions for change by
helping you focus your attention,
mentally rehearse what you want instead,
and build familiarity with a different response.

Because doing hard things isn’t about being fearless, it’s about discovering, step by step,that you’re more capable than you first thought.
You’ve got this.

31/03/2026

Every tree once began as a small seed… already holding everything it needed to grow.

Change often starts with the seed of an idea, an idea that has the potential to grow and grow until you reach your goal.

Discover and decide if you think it might help your personal growth.
Contact your local hypnotherapist for a chat?

31/03/2026

🐫You know the phrase ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’ and ‘the final straw’? 🐪
We know one piece of straw isn’t heavy, it’s just if it arrives when the load is already full there’s no room for it.
Some of us did our hypnotherapy training hearing another version of this idea
🪣THE STRESS BUCKET 🪣

Imagine, metaphorically, our mind has a handy bucket and throughout the day all the little and not so little stresses and strains drop into that useful bucket. Emails, deadlines, worries about family, health concerns, everyday responsibilities… all the ordinary things that life brings. Usually that’s not a problem, because when we rest, relax, take a walk, talk to someone, or simply have a bit of breathing space, the bucket uses that relaxing time to empty again.

But sometimes life gets busy, or difficult, or exhausting, and there isn’t quite enough rest and recuperation to empty it so the bucket fills up and up…

And when it’s already close to the top, even a very small thing, a minor frustration, a difficult conversation, a small inconvenience, can make it overflow. Not because that one thing is huge… but because there was simply no room left.

If that idea resonates with you, it might be a sign that your mind has been carrying quite a lot for quite a while.

Hypnotherapy can be a gentle way of creating that space again, helping your mind slow down, settle, and gradually begin to empty that stress bucket, so there’s room again for calm, clarity, and the next steps forward
Contact one of us for a chat if you think we might be able to help.
Details below

27/09/2025

Words Worth Holding Onto is a gentle collection of quotes, reminders and affirmations for children and young people navigating big feelings. Sometimes, the right words at the right time can make all the difference.

NEWLY AVAILABLE to accompany our series on the topic. Only £3.25 until 7 October 2025.
Misunderstood Defiance: the Vulnerable Child Toolkit for Parents & Educators
Electronic download in comments.

09/09/2025

Here’s a gentle few questions to sit with for a moment. Questions that invite us to put ourselves first for a sec, and maybe take a first step towards leading a more pleasant life.

‘Am I living in a way that feels meaningful to me?’

‘Am I making good use of my strengths and skills?’

‘Am I happy with myself, proud of myself or is there a change I might like to make?

Change doesn’t always need to be big, sometimes the smallest step is enough to shift things a little so that we feel things are going in the right direction for us.

Or, if change feels too much right now (and we do understand that) simply pausing to notice this moment with kindness and self compassion can be its own step forward.

You’ve got this 💙

04/08/2025