I’d long been curious about hypnotherapy and the possibility of eliciting therapeutic change without having to relive every trauma. I was drawn to its potential to reach beneath the surface and help people shift from within.

The idea that, instead of draining the lake and wallowing in the mud at the bottom, pulling out every old tyre and cutting yourself on broken bottles, you might navigate the lake by floating on its surface. The sun gently warming your face, the breeze rustling through the trees, creating tranquil songs of peace. You ask the lake to kindly send you what you need, and find that it can, and it will.

While training as a hypnotherapist, I was working in a therapeutic community with children and young people in the care system, many of whom carried deep emotional wounds and lived with constant uncertainty.

One evening, a young boy I was supporting, just 11 years old, was having a particularly difficult night. His distress escalated into destructive behaviour, and he ended up cutting his ear open. After a trip to the hospital and a few stitches, he returned home agitated and panicked. He was terrified he wouldn’t be able to sleep, convinced he’d roll over onto his injured ear and reopen the wound.

I sat with him, listened, and, out of a desire to help, but with little confidence at this stage, I offered to hypnotise him. He agreed.

I guided him into a deep trance and, using the language of imagination and suggestion, told him I was gluing his good ear to the pillow so he couldn’t roll over. Then, unusual for hypnotherapy, but right for this moment, I gently led him into a deep sleep. He slept peacefully the entire night.

In the morning, he woke absolutely delighted, beaming, calm, and in wonderful spirits. The transformation was deeply affirming. It wasn’t just about calming an agitated child, though that was a phenomenal result in itself, it was about witnessing the mind’s incredible capacity to respond to suggestion in a hypnotised state. It affirmed everything I was learning in my training and deepened my commitment to this work.

That night confirmed for me that hypnotherapy holds a very different quality to traditional therapies. It’s not an either-or situation, each has its place, and many people find healing through one or both. But hypnotherapy offers something distinct, a way of working with the subconscious that can bypass resistance, awaken inner resources, and create change in ways that often feel magical.

Since then, developments in neuroscience continue to unfold, and our understanding of neural plasticity and neural pathways has only deepened my appreciation for what makes hypnotherapy such a powerful resource. It’s not just about symptom relief, it’s about rewiring patterns, unlocking potential, and putting unwanted behaviours and emotional responses in the past. Hypnotherapy helps create new, positive trajectories that can transform the future.

As a practising hypnotherapist, I’m very excited about the future.