About me and other FAQs

Resolved Hypnotherapy Reading, led by Paul Hughes BA Hons, ADip Hyp (NC), MNSHP, CHFP, UKCP.

Nobody grows up wanting to be a therapist. How did it happen to me?

Fireman? Policeman? Astronaut? Doctor? That’s the kind of thing I was thinking about as a kid. Becoming a psychotherapist and hypnotherapist wasn’t an option. I barely knew they existed.

When the idea first came to me, the idea of becoming a therapist, I wondered why it had. What had I done in the past to suddenly cause me to wake up thinking that I could train in such a career?

It wasn’t a choice. It was a logical progression.

I realised that I’d spent a working lifetime helping people. I’d spent years working as a care assistant – not knowing what else to do – and had worked with people with disabilities, alzeheimers, the elderly and those with acute mental health problems. I’d loved doing that.

I’d spent years teaching, helping students to make the best of themselves.

I’d spent years trying to make the best of my own self.

It all made sense. Hypnotherapy / psychotherapy wasn’t such a strange choice after all. I’d had hypnotherapy in Reading for smoking and was amazed at its power. I’d had counselling for other issues and was impressed by the compassion and skill of that awesome counsellor. I’d spent a lifetime listening, helping, showing compassion and now it was time to train in how to do it professionally myself. I’ve never regretted it. I love it!

I am in the fortunate position of having a job which I love completely. If I were to win the lottery tomorrow then I’d still keep doing it. Helping others to resolve their problems is one of the best decisions I ever made.

I am now pretty much as fully in control over my own life as anybody can hope to be. I now help others to do the same, to take back control.

Training to provide Hypnotherapy in Reading, Oxford, London, Thame and Wallingford

It was these experiences which led me into training as a hypno-psychotherapist. I wanted to be able to offer that same warm, professional and ethical care which I’d received.

So, I did my research and I deliberately chose the most rigorous training available, because I knew that my future clients would deserve the best. I graduated from the National College of Hypnosis and Psychotherapy with a Distinction.

I took my training seriously. I took no shortcuts. I read, practised and devoured information for four solid years.

I am now completing a masters degree in child and adolescent psychotherapy. I had extensive experience of working with adolescents and teenagers already. I needed formal training in order to be able to help the increasing numbers of people who wanted me to help with their younger children. I’m now working with children of five years and up on a regular basis and love it.

Psychotherapy and hypnotherapy aren’t regulated professions. I have seen the damage which poorly trained ‘professionals’ can inflict upon vulnerable people. I still wince when I hear of people attempting to work with conditions and age-groups without the necessary training and qualifications.

I wanted my clients to be confident that they were seeing the best-trained hypnotherapist / psychotherapist in the region. They, you, deserve no less.

Would you like some help from a national award winner, distinction graduate and trainer of hypnotherapists?

Whilst training I won the John Beilby Prize (as the nation’s best NCHP student) and Founders’ Award. I am a member of UKCP, recognition of the fact that I trained with one of only four hypnotherapy training organisations which they judge as being sufficiently rigorous in their training. My former trainers invited me to train them and I did so for a few enjoyable years. Given my teaching background I sometimes give training to counsellors on how to work with conditions such as ASD.

UKCP is a member of the government’s gold standard accreditation body: the PSA. My hard work during study will be reflected in the way I will work, alongside you, in order to resolve those problems which brought you here.

I’m also currently studying to become a child and adolescent psychotherapist. I see a great number of young people and regret that I have to refuse to see some of those whose parents come to me for help. They’re either too young or in too great a degree of difficulty for my skills and experience. Well, this won’t be a problem for much longer. I look forward to being able to work with children of any age and to help them with no matter what might be the problem.

What could you do next?

If you’ve read this and would now like to contact me for more information about hypnotherapy in Reading, Thame, Wallingford or Oxford then please contact me by clicking:

HERE

If you’re looking for help with hypnobirthing then this is one of the few areas in which I’m not at all qualified to work. I’d recommend that you get in touch with Clare Burgess, another hypnotherapist in Reading, for this purpose. You can find her site by clicking on this sentence.

Paul Hughes is accredited by UKCP

Hello there. Here’s the FAQ section:

Thanks for coming to this page. I know you’ll have a lot of questions and so I thought I’d answer a few of them here. I hope they help. Feel free to call and ask more if you’d like to.

What are your terms and conditions?

I’m glad you asked that question… I commit to ethically sound and professional service. In agreeing to see me you agree to the following conditions. Click here to read them.

What is hypnosis?

Well, some people say that hypnosis is a different state of mind. Some people say it’s a matter of narrowing or broadening focus. Others point to beta, gamma and alpha waves within the brain and how they are different when a person is hypnotised. Ask ten hypnotherapists and you’ll have ten different answers. It works therapeutically but there is no single and scientifically established definition.

Hypnosis is possibly best described as being a complete immersion within an imagined experience. If you can imagine yourself sucking on a lemon, vividly enough, you’ll salivate and feel the sting of the juice in your mouth. That is a hypnotic phenomenon.

You might imagine yourself in some perfect place, feeling the sun on your skin and the smell of the sea. Hypnosis isn’t relaxation per se but it can be relaxing. I see no harm in helping people to learn how to relax more effectively.

It can be mistaken for sleep because many clients will emerge from this state feeling as if they recollect nothing of the experience. Others experience it as being akin to a deeply engrossing daydream.

I like to explain it as being, in its deeper states, akin to that moment when you’re half asleep and half awake. It resembles, in particular, those delicious few moments in the morning when you’re drowsing and dipping in and out of little dreams.

However you experience it, it can be incredibly lovely.

Can anyone be hypnotised?

It’s my experience that anyone can be hypnotised. For some it’s a skill to be learned and for others they just sink into it without any trouble at all. It’s my belief that anyone can be hypnotised and that it’s for the client and the therapist to find the best way in order to encourage it to happen.

Some people take a little longer to allow it to happen. Those who have been abused in the past and those who have control issues will commonly take a couple of sessions to allow themselves to go into the deeper states. That’s OK. In my experience the work we’ll do doesn’t depend on being able to access absurdly named states such as ‘Esdaille’ or ‘somnabulism’. If you get there then that’s awesome. If you don’t, you’ll be just as likely to achieve your ambitions. In over ten years of working I have never found the depth of the hypnotic state to be a key factor in the client’s progress.

Will I be clucking like a chicken?

Nooooooooo! Nobody has ever left my room clucking like a chicken, barking like a dog or behaving in any strange way – unless feeling relaxed is a strange state of mind. I’m not in control of you, you are. When you’re hypnotised you remain fully in control and could get up and leave at any time.

However, if you would like to cluck like a chicken but find that a lack of confidence is holding you back, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.

So, how does hypnotherapy help?

People get in their own way, they tell themselves that they can’t do it or are too scared to try. Hypnosis removes that level of resistance. People can learn to use their imagination in positive ways and people can learn to access desirable emotional states from previous experiences and then superimpose them upon problem situations.

A skilled therapist can make use of the state of hypnosis to help people to find their own answers to their difficulties. You do know the answers, you just don’t know you know them yet. I can help you to find the answers and to make them stick in real life.

Of course, hypnotherapy isn’t the only tool in my box. I’m a trained psychotherapist (as opposed to those who give themselves the name because they spent a weekend on the topic as a part of their ten-month hypnotherapy training) and make good use of mindful approaches to emotional regulation too. Most of my clients come to me with serious problems which have sprung from a problematic past. Hypnotherapy can’t teach you emotional regulation but psychotherapy, mindfulness and hypnotherapy together could.

Why do you call yourself a hypno-psychotherapist?

Because I am! The average session of formal hypnotherapy will last about 20 minutes or so. For the rest of the time what do we do? Do we just chat or do we use that time therapeutically? I have been trained to use other forms of counselling and psychotherapy in order to make the best use of time out of hypnosis.

I’ve become particularly fond of gestalt, solution-focused and Inner Child forms of therapy. Acceptance and Commitment therapy is also a big theme in my work. Psychodynamic and person centred approaches have also become big influences. Over time the way I work evolves and changes. Over time I see more clients who require individualised forms of psychotherapy. I’m trained to do whatever works for you!

Inbetween sessions you’ll often be listening to recordings of our sessions but you’ll also be taught how to use other strategies which promote therapeutic change. You needn’t choose between counselling and hypnotherapy. With Resolved! Hypnotherapy you’ll have the best of both.

So, how long is it going to take?

Pretty much everyone asks that question and the answer is always the same: as long as it
takes. Every client, every history, every difficulty is unique. There are a million variables in every client and so I don’t simply use the same strategy for everyone.

If someone comes to me for smoking cessation then it may be just a habit they’ve picked up and wish to drop. If so it’ll take two sessions. If someone comes to me for smoking but is also incredibly anxious and smoking forms a part of their psyche – in their view – then it may take a little longer and other work may have to be done first in order to ensure that smoking remains a part of that person’s history.

If someone comes to me because they’re depressed, have OCD, suffer IBS or panic attacks then their personalities and their problems are infinitely variable. I simply wouldn’t trust anyone who told me that ‘I can sort that for you in X sessions’. There are no guarantees in this line of work.

What? No guarantees?

I’m afraid not. No doctor can guarantee that you’ll recover from cancer. No physical trainer can guarantee that you’ll one day win the marathon. What I do guarantee is my skill, ethical behaviour, professionalism and an unending faith in you, both as a person and in your ability to change and progress. I think I’m great at building relationships with clients. The quality of the relationship we build will be crucial to your success. Ultimately, however, your success is down to you.

Ultimately the proof of my work is in the number of referrals I receive and in the number of Google reviews people choose to leave for me. Both are healthy and I’m proud to have so many people referring me to their friends and family.

So I don’t need you?

Nope. My clients never need me. They only think they do. You have the answers, you have the courage, you have the resources you need. If you don’t believe me then that’s why you need me – to teach you that you don’t need me.

My eldest daughter used her stabilisers (on her bike) for ages after she no longer needed to. She merely thought she needed them.

I’ll give you the faith to strike out on your own and achieve your goals. I’ll help you to find your own answer.

You know the answers, in the subconscious parts of your own mind. I’ll be more than glad to help you to find them.

When we have finished our work together you’ll be glad you’ll came but you’ll also realise that you never really needed to come to begin with. You always had every strength and quality you ever needed. I’ll have simply helped you to acknowledge and harness them in the pursuit of your goals.

Give me the best reason why I should come and Resolved Hypnotherapy Reading.

OK, you should consider coming to see me because I now receive half of my clients through personal recommendation. My clients go out and send their friends and family. Having a lovely website is a good thing but having former clients go out and convert others to hypnotherapy is a whole lot better. People across Reading, Wallingford, Oxford, London and Thame are sending me their loved ones for help.

What better reason do you need than that? My former clients are sending their loved ones to see me too. I’m very grateful and proud that they have that degree of confidence in me.

So what do I do now?

I’d like you to simply call me. Sure, we can communicate by email (and I’m happy to) but it takes a whole lot longer and when we speak you’ll soon find out that I’m warm, personable and thoroughly positive about you.

Call me on 07786 123736 / 01183 280284 / 01865 600970 / 020 7193 9331 whenever you’re ready. Otherwise, simply email me at paul@resolvedhypnotherapy.co.uk

Learn more about me and have some FAQs answered.