Frequently asked questions
Fifteen questions, answered without embellishment.
Some of the answers below are shorter and blunter than people expect. That is deliberate. Where the honest answer is “no” or “it cannot be predicted”, saying so is more useful than dressing it up.
Part one
About trauma
Questions 1 – 2. Select a question to read the answer.
In psychological discussion, the word usually refers to the lasting effect a difficult experience can have on a person, rather than to the event itself. That distinction matters, because it explains why the same circumstance does not affect everybody the same way.
Whether an experience has a lasting effect appears to be influenced by its nature, how the person understood it at the time, how much threat or safety they felt, previous experiences, the support available afterwards, and everything else happening in their life. Not every stressful experience is trauma, and not every emotional difficulty has its origin in a past event.
No. People can respond very differently to similar experiences. Some notice effects immediately; others feel largely unaffected at first and notice difficulties weeks, months or years later. For some, what they experience changes shape over time.
This variation reflects circumstances, personal history, available support and context. It is not a measure of strength of character, and comparing your response to someone else's is rarely a useful exercise.
Part two
About the approach and sessions
Questions 3 – 7.
It describes an attitude to practice rather than a specific technique. It means working on the understanding that a person may have had difficult experiences, and that this can affect how they feel, respond and engage with support — whether or not those experiences are ever discussed.
In practice it shapes ordinary details: how consent is obtained, how much choice a person has, how clearly things are explained, and how readily the pace is adjusted.
One caveat is worth stating. “Trauma-informed hypnotherapy” is not a universally standardised or regulated treatment category. There is no single syllabus behind the phrase, and the words alone guarantee nothing. What they describe is an intention — and you are entitled to test whether it is met by asking questions.
No. Hypnotherapy may not be suitable for every individual or every concern. Suitability depends on personal circumstances and should be considered individually rather than assumed.
Things that are taken into account include:
- Your individual circumstances, including stability and current pressures
- The specific concerns you are experiencing
- Your personal history, including previous experiences of therapy
- Any existing professional support already in place
- Your goals and expectations
Where hypnotherapy does not appear to be the right approach, that will be said plainly. Read more about suitability.
Most of it is conversation, which surprises people who are expecting something more dramatic. A first session in particular is largely about understanding your circumstances and answering your questions.
Where guided work does take place, it may involve:
- Focused attention on something specific
- Relaxation, allowing the body's stress response to settle
- Guided imagery, at a level of intensity you set
- Therapeutic suggestion framed around goals you have agreed
What is proposed is explained beforehand rather than sprung on you, and methods vary between practitioners and between individuals. You can speak, move, ask a question or end the session at any point.
Hypnosis is generally described as an experience involving focused attention and increased absorption. It should not be presented as a state in which another person gains complete control over someone — that idea comes largely from stage performance and fiction.
You cannot be made to do or say something you do not wish to. You can decline a suggestion, ask a question, open your eyes, or end the session. If any of that feels uncertain, it is a reasonable thing to ask about before starting.
No. Despite the name, hypnosis is not sleep. People generally remain aware of the room and of what is being said, and most remember the session afterwards.
Descriptions of the experience vary a great deal. Some people find it deeply relaxing. Others find it entirely unremarkable and spend the session wondering whether anything is happening. Both are ordinary, and neither indicates that something has gone right or wrong.
Part three
Claims, limits and medical care
Questions 8 – 14. These are the answers that matter most, and the ones most often misrepresented elsewhere.
No — and it should never be marketed as though it can. Hypnotherapy cannot erase memories, and any advertising that suggests otherwise is making a claim it cannot support.
Work can focus on how a person is affected now, on responses they have noticed, and on goals they have chosen. None of that requires removing or rewriting what is remembered.
No. Memory does not work like a recording that can be located and replayed. Recollection is reconstructive, and it can be influenced by mood, expectation, information acquired afterwards, and how a question is put.
A state of focused attention and heightened suggestibility does not improve accuracy. It can increase a person's confidence in a recollection without making that recollection more reliable — a particularly unhelpful combination, since confidence is what people use to judge whether a memory is true.
Hypnosis is therefore not presented here as a method of memory recovery, and memory recovery is not encouraged or offered. Read the fuller explanation.
No such claim is made on this website, and it should not be made anywhere else either.
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a clinical diagnosis that only an appropriately qualified professional can make. Trauma-focused treatment may involve a range of different evidence-based approaches depending on the individual's needs, and decisions about that belong with qualified clinicians.
If you think you may have PTSD, assessment by a qualified mental health professional is the appropriate next step — not a hypnotherapy booking.
This cannot honestly be predicted in advance, and any number given before meeting you describes a package rather than a response to your situation.
It varies with what a person is working on, their circumstances, and how they respond — none of which can be assessed from a website. What is reasonable is that the question is revisited openly as things progress, including the possibility that continuing is not the right call.
No. Hypnotherapy is not a substitute for medical, psychiatric, psychological or emergency care.
Where such care is indicated it should be pursued, and hypnotherapy should only ever be considered alongside it rather than instead of it. Physical symptoms in particular should be assessed by a doctor rather than assumed to have a psychological cause.
Do not start, stop or change prescribed medication without consulting an appropriately qualified prescribing healthcare professional.
A hypnotherapist is not a prescriber, does not assess medication, and should never advise you to reduce or discontinue anything you have been prescribed. Stopping some medications suddenly can cause withdrawal effects or a return of symptoms.
If you have questions or concerns about a medication, including a wish to come off it, those questions belong with your prescriber, who can advise on whether and how that can be done safely.
Please mention it at the outset. Existing care from a doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist or counsellor takes precedence and should be discussed openly rather than worked around.
Receiving other support does not automatically rule out considering hypnotherapy, but it is an important part of the full picture and may change what is appropriate. In some situations the sensible course is to raise it with your existing professional first.
Part four
Getting in touch
Question 15.
By mobile or email, whichever you prefer:
- Mobile: +91-9326115588
- Email: hypnotherapy28@gmail.com
An enquiry form is also available on the contact page. There is no obligation attached to an enquiry, and no expectation that you will have decided anything before making one.
Ask it directly. Questions about the approach, its limits, the process or whether it is appropriate for your circumstances are all welcome, including sceptical ones.
If your question concerns a medical or mental health matter — symptoms, diagnosis, medication, or immediate safety — please direct it to an appropriately qualified healthcare professional rather than to a hypnotherapy enquiry.
Please note
The answers on this page are intended for general educational purposes and should not be considered a substitute for medical, psychiatric, psychological or emergency care. Hypnotherapy may not be suitable for every individual or every concern. Do not start, stop or change prescribed medication without consulting an appropriately qualified prescribing healthcare professional.
Related pages
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Questions are welcome before anything is arranged — including questions about whether this approach is appropriate for you at all.