More Psychotherapists and Psychologists should combine their treatment methods with hypnotherapy, according to Counselling Psychotherapist and hypnotherapist, Dr Karen Phillip.

“Psychotherapy or Psychology and hypnotherapy should all be taught together,” says Dr Phillip.

“I would struggle to separate using both. I believe clients do not obtain the best result, nor fast enough, by using one type of therapy.

“My aim is to enable my clients to move as fast as possible onto a renewed life, feeling happy, empowered and focused.

“After working for nearly 10 years as a Counselling Psychotherapist I wanted to find a way my clients could improve faster.

“Most arrived with depression, anxiety or hurtful life event issues.

“I read about hypnotherapy and how wonderful it was to dissolve past trauma and issues while empowering the individual and adjusting their thoughts to be more positive and focused.

“That was 12 years ago, and I have loved watching people’s lives change even faster ever since.”

Hypnotherapy is a natural relaxation process designed to make your mind more receptive to positive suggestions while releasing negative feelings.

“It aids the mind’s ability to rapidly integrate new skills, strategies and strengths.

“It is an alternative healing method that is used to create subconscious change in the form of new responses, thoughts, attitudes, behaviours or feelings.

“Hypnotherapy gently releases blocks and fears, creating a new inner belief to make changes in the way you think, feel and behave.”

While hypnotherapy was first recognised as a beneficial therapy hundreds of years ago, recently, it has become increasingly popular within the mainstream community in recent years.

“We have come a long way in therapeutic treatment,” says Dr Phillip.

But the combination of psychotherapist/psychologist and hypnotherapist qualifications is not common, which is unfortunate according to Dr Phillip.

“While some Psychologists or Psychotherapists claim to use hypnotherapy, unless they are minimum two-year Diploma trained, they have likely done an online or short course.

“This fails to teach the intricacies of true hypnotherapy techniques.

“It takes time to learn and time to practice.

“Anyone claiming to be a hypnotherapist should be a member of one of the Australian Hypnotherapy Associations, if not, beware.”

Dr Phillip says being a counselling psychotherapist and clinical hypnotherapist, equips her with a larger toolkit of modalities to use to benefit each client.

“It broadens my ability to help people faster which is what they need.

“After a hypnotherapy session, which I usually do after one or two counselling sessions, you can see and hear the difference in the person almost instantly.”

As an example, Dr Phillips sites a client who was suffering anxiety, who after completing her ten psychology sessions under her mental health plan, remained struggling.

“We discussed during her first session a little of her past and the trauma she had experienced as a child was still infringing on her adult life.

“I used hypnotherapy session next where I performed a timeline therapy combined with a therapy to disassociate from past events and experiences, to give her back life control, to move into today and look forward instead of remaining stuck in the past.

“After the session, this lovely young woman opened her eyes and looked at me with astonishment and she smiled so brightly.

“She said she had not been able to smile for a long time; she said she felt lighter, relaxed and happy for the first time in almost ever.”

“This is a common story.”

Dr Phillip says there is still relatively little understanding about how hypnotherapy works, with many people confusing it with hypnosis.

“Many still think it is like the stage show type of work but hypnotherpay is a therapeutic guided relaxation to enable the therapist to access the deepest part of the subconscious mind that stores our beliefs, behaviours and thoughts.

“We can never make a person do anything they do not want to do.

“We can however, aid them to achieve what they want and need utilising the power of their own subconscious mind.

“Research has proven time again the incredible benefits of hypnotherapy.”

A high-quality hypnotherapy course takes between 18 – 24 months to complete and covers a range of theory-based lessons and practical sessions.