About
Hello, I'm Martin
​I'm a Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist (CBH) supporting people struggling with anxiety, worry, or stress in person or online.
You can find more details of the approach I take therapy below but the most important aspect is the starting point - the relationship that we will build over the course of working together.
My aim centres on creating a safe, accepting, and non-judgemental space where you feel comfortable sharing your story. We work together to understand and explore the challenges you face, their significance and meaning to you, and ways you can make lasting change in your life.
My qualifications
I have a higher diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy (CBH) which is accredited by the National Council of Integrative Psychotherapists (NCIP).
I am a member of the NCIP [REG. Number 362620] and follow their code of ethics.
Outside of my private practice, I also volunteer with a bereavement charity, supporting bereaved people with their grief.
My approach to psychotherapy integrates CBT, mindfulness and hypnosis to support you in making positives changes to your life.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is widely regarded as the most evidence-based form of psychological therapy available today. It is not a single technique but a diverse tradition comprising many approaches (such as ACT or REBT).
The Core Principles
CBT is a structured skill-based approach that focuses on the "here and now" of your current situation. It is your thoughts (cognitions) which determine, to a significant degree, how you respond to things. It is typically your interpretation of an event, rather than the event itself, that causes your distress.
Our work together is a collaborative process. We work as a team to understand your vicious cycle where unhelpful thoughts lead to painful feelings and unhelpful actions, which then reinforces the initial negative thoughts. You are encouraged to learn to identify these thought patterns, test them, and acquire the coping skills necessary to become your own therapist to ensure changes you make last longer after our 1-1 support has finished. Hypnotherapy and Mindfulness are fully integrated to support this process.
Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy is the clinical application of hypnosis and is used to support and help bring about change in your thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
Hypnosis is, at its core, a state of heightened responsiveness to suggestion. This is achieved by using your own ability to focus your attention, use your imagination and being open to the positive things being suggested to you.
In theory anyone can use the skills of hypnosis and it is something that can be learned with or with the guidance of a therapist. The way I like to explain this is to ask “have you ever got hooked on a negative thought…” and “has that thought then maybe spiraled to more negative thinking, triggered anxious feelings, led to you imagining worse case scenarios or reliving past events?”
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We can see this as a type of Negative Self-Hypnosis - your attention and imagination being focused on negative ideas or negative self-suggestions - which in turn has an impact on your thoughts, feelings and actions. Now, we flip this on its head and use that skill you already have, which you may be very well practiced at, but focus it on realistic, beneficial changes, imaging facing situations in new and more positive ways, with positive self-suggestions, about how you think, feel and act.
Mindfulness
At the heart of mindfulness is developing a frame of mind that is open and accepting rather than judgmental or reactive.
Sometimes we can get hooked on our thoughts, whether that’s worrying about something that has happened or fearing something that might happen. The thoughts can feel intense, real and impact our feelings, the physical sensation of our bodies, and socially in the way we respond to others around us.
By practicing mindfulness, you learn active acceptance. This means allowing unpleasant feelings (like anxiety or tension) to come and go freely, letting go completely of any struggle against them or attempts to suppress them. By creating distance between you and your thoughts you will learn to step back, become more self-aware and able to stay in the present moment.
The powerful negative thoughts you experience, like constant worrying or fearing the future, can be thought of as a kind of unwanted ‘Negative Self-Hypnosis' that locks your attention down. Mindfulness therefore can be viewed as acting as 'de-hypnosis', helping you break that spell and consciously choose how to respond.