Pick and Mix Therapies!

Of course, hypnotherapy is an excellent solution to a lot of different issues, but some therapists believe that combining hypnosis with other approaches makes a powerful tool that can help clients even more effectively, or help clients for whom hypnotherapy alone might not be the right approach. Here, three of them talk about their experiences and the therapies they throw into the mix.

The interviewees:


Angela Rossiter
(Angela Rossiter
Therapeutics)
Nick Davies
(Warwickshire School
of Hypnotherapy)
Mariea Sweeting
(Soul Minds
Hypnotherapy)

What therapy do you combine with hypnotherapy?

Angela - Psycho-sensory Techniques and Principles, often known as Psy TaP, a holistic therapy blending lots of established techniques, many of which have strong neuro-science based processes.
Nick - My own development, BLAST Technique™. Basically BLAST™ treats PTSD and trauma, by processing the way it is stored physically in the brain.  The process is permanent and I offer a guarantee that if they can get the trauma back I will treat it for free, I've not had one person take me up on this in over 10 years!
Mariea - I combine Hypnotherapy with Reiki. Hypno-Rei is a way of helping clients relax deeper into Reiki; it enables them to go deeper and they benefit more from the session. I have worked on cancer patients, and those with emotional issues, such as depression, addictions.

Which did you train in first?

Angela - Hypnotherapy
Nick - Hypnotherapy back in 2006
Mariea - Reiki to Master Level

Why add the other?

Angela - I attended a CPD course and saw a demonstration of Psy TaP, I was amazed at the speed of the change in someone who had had a severe phobia for most of her adult life.  The change took place within 5 minutes; it was an 'eyes open' experience, with a group of about 10 people viewing the process and the tutor talking us through it at each stage.  At the time I didn’t understand it at all, but knew that I had to find out more.
Nick - I felt that Hypnotherapy was ineffective in treating trauma, and mostly unconsciously encouraged repression of the event. I developed BLAST™ after seeing how effective EMDR was with trauma, but thought that was still slow so decided to research until I found a faster set of tools.
Mariea - I had hypnotherapy for my own issues years ago, which helped, as I was a healer before even training in Reiki, I could see the benefits of training. 

How does it work when you use them together?

Angela - Clients like the speed of the change, but are often surprised to find that something that has affected them for so long can be removed from their life in such a short space of time.  Often you can see the surprise as they look around for the ‘thing’ that they have been struggling with for years.
Nick - I make a series of bilateral movements with a pen (the client follows this with their eyes keeping their head still). The process utilises 'eyes open' trance to embed suggestions, leaving the client trauma-free usually after a few minutes. Once the client has had their trauma processed with BLAST™, they are already in a very relaxed state and open to suggestion, so I'll normally use a more rapid hypnotic induction and create a wonderful future for them, asking them how different things will be now the trauma has gone.
Mariea - I have used this since I qualified, as I was already a Reiki Master. I get clients on therapy couch and use Hypnotherapy to relax them to theta level, making sure I tell them that I will count them out when we are finished. Then use Reiki healing as usual, and count them out to a normal state of awareness.

What’s the advantage of that over hypnotherapy on its own?

Angela - Speed is the key thing.  Significant life changes can take place in less than 5 minutes.  A hypnotherapy session straight after Psy Tap allows time for the client to come to terms with the massive changes that have happened for them, and allows me to future pace and confirm the benefits of the session that they will carry with them for the rest of their life.
Nick -  Hypnotherapy alone in my experience is a very ineffective tool for processing this kind of trauma.
Mariea - The advantages are that clients who are nervous about either, get a 'taster' of both. They get a deeper Reiki Session, which enables healing. I can talk to them as I would during a hypnotherapy session, taking them to parts of the body that i.e. where the pain is, to that they can allow the 'healing white light' to wash away the pain. I find nervous clients find this more 'acceptable'.

How do the clients react?

Angela - Clients are astounded, sometimes there are tears of relief whilst others look bewildered.  In training, we were advised to ask clients to write down how their difficulty affected their lives, what did it stop them from doing, what would they be able to do when it was gone.  I ask all clients to do this and afterwards show them their own handwritten words.  Most of them look at the paper as if they knew nothing about it - or that it wasn’t even theirs.  Some say they don’t remember it being that bad, and are surprised at what they have written down, whilst others say that it must have been written on a particularly bad day for them! 
Nick - The clients mostly laugh afterwards, which sounds unusual but a sign of relief normally after living with it for a number of years, they all report that they feel great afterwards.
Mariea - My clients love it and say they have never had healing like it.

Have you had any issues or ‘interesting experiences’ combining them? (Bearing in mind client confidentiality)

Angela - I had a client referred to me with severe anger management problems.  I asked him to write down how it affected him, how his anger affected his life and those around him and how it would feel to be without this difficulty.  I could see that he was looking confused as I asked him to follow me through the Psy TaP process.  At the end of the session and after a huge release I showed him his own words about his unwanted behaviour.  For the next 30 minutes, he cried, and cried, and cried.  I then commenced a hypnotherapy session so that he could go home a little more relaxed and less red-eyed.  I was informed that in just one session I had changed that man’s life.  A further session had been booked for the following week and I advised him that this was no longer necessary as the changes were permanent.  He said that he wanted that session as he thought he might need it.  I had no doubts in my mind that the changes were permanent, but agreed that he could have one last hypnotherapy session.  The following week he confirmed that he didn’t need it and instead spent his session time telling me about his new life and how everybody had immediately noticed changes in him from family members to work colleagues and even people at his local gym.
Nick - Yes, in the last few weeks, I've used it to remove traumatic experiences that have held people back from success. One person called me to say they'd just received £25,000 that week, and another saying they'd been asked to be the public 'face' of the international blue-chip company they work for but were having promotion difficulties!
Mariea - I have had a few incidents, as I used to volunteer at a charity when I first qualified. I was treating carers with emotional and physical issues, at times they had cancer. One lady asked me to go to see her at home, as her cancer had spread and she wasn't able to get to the centre. I obliged, as I knew her time was nearly up. I talked her through the Hypno-Rei and I could see her body relaxing totally. I treated her for about an hour, when I brought her back, she told me that she had feelings in areas that she hadn't felt for 10 years (sexual), and felt a popping in that area, followed by a warm glow. She told me also that she could see her cancer and had it was like a laser attacking it.  She knew she was going to pass and it helped her come to terms with it.   It made a big impression on me. 

Anything else you think might be of interest to our readers?

Angela - Whilst CPD is a requirement for those that are registered and insured, I think it is imperative that we continue to grow and develop along with learning new techniques.  There are so many courses available, and it can be time-consuming identifying which is the right one for you, or what might be financially viable at the current time, but adding new tools to your toolbox allows you to help more clients in different ways, along with networking and meeting new therapists and potential friends.
Nick - If you want to learn this technique, my next course is being run Saturday and Sunday 10th & 11th June 2017  in Coventry, you can find out more here.
Mariea - I think it is important to discuss with clients the benefits of combining both and the fact that, for me, I will be having some physical contact or my be using my hands to hover over them, just in case they inadvertently become more awake.  I tell them they can wake up at any time. I think proper training is most important in both disciplines, as you have to have the understanding and knowledge to be confident to combine them both.
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Interviewer: is an experienced hypnotherapist and hypnotherapy trainer. She is the author of Their Worlds, Your Words and has co-written the Hypnotherapy Handbook, both of which are available from Amazon.
Find out more about Debbie's services on
Yorkshire Hypnotherapy Training - multi accredited hypnotherapy practitioner training, taster days and foundation levels.
CPD Expert - accredited CPD and other therapy training (online and workshops options), expert and qualified hypnotherapy supervision


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