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Small moments can leave big impressions

The human mind doesn’t always measure experiences by size.A huge event might come and go, while a small moment from years ago quietly takes up residence in the back of your mind.Our brain can have a tendency to act like an overenthusiastic librarian. It doesn’t always file things under “important” and “not important.” Sometimes it carefully stores a tiny comment from 30 years ago, while forgetting where you put your sunglasses five minutes ago. The truth is, the meaning and the feeli...

Your brain can change

Modern neuroscience has given us a much better understanding of something hypnotherapists have been observing for a long time: the brain is capable of learning and adapting. In other words, we are not issued with a brain at birth and then expected to make do with whatever settings happen to come with it.The brain is constantly responding to experience, environment and repetition. What we think, feel and do repeatedly can become remarkably familiar to it.That helps explain why habits can be so st...

Knowing why isn't always enough

Knowing why isn’t always enoughTalking is a wonderful thing. When it comes to personal change, being able to talk openly about what you’re experiencing can be enormously valuable.Being heard matters. So does making sense of your thoughts, feelings and experiences. For many people, simply having someone listen and help them understand what is going on can be an important part of moving forward.But there is an interesting point that many people eventually reach: you can understand yourself ext...

The soundtrack of your mind: how music and hypnotherapy connect

 The soundtrack of your mind: how music and hypnotherapy connectThere are few things more powerful than music. A song can transport you back decades in seconds. Suddenly, you’re not just listening to a melody, you’re remembering a place, a person, a feeling or a moment you thought you had forgotten.The fascinating thing is that music doesn’t need to explain itself.It doesn’t sit you down and say, “Here is a logical reason why this song makes you feel this way.”It simply connects...

Teenagers, triggers and staying sane

Parenting teenagers is great. Mostly.They're funny, interesting, increasingly independent and, in the blink of an eye, capable of turning a perfectly normal conversation into an emotional obstacle course.I'm a qualified hypnotherapist and I'm also a dad. Sometimes – okay, a lot of times – my teenagers can push my buttons without even trying. A tone, a smirk or the classic teenage “whatever” can have me feeling more wound up than I'd like.It’s easy to blame them. But they're growing up,...

You’re not broken, you just need a different approach

Are you someone who has turned a struggle into an identity?“I’m lazy.”“I’ve always been anxious.”“I’m terrible at making decisions.”“I’m just not a confident person.”Many of us take something we’re experiencing and turn it into a statement about who we are.But if a plant wasn’t growing properly, you wouldn’t stand there and call the plant a failure. You’d look at the conditions. Does it need more sunlight? Better soil? More water? Less water? You’d change the en...

Understanding the triggers we carry as parents (and the buttons waiting to be pushed)

Parenting is one of the greatest adventures a person can experience. It is also one of the best ways to discover emotions you never knew you had.The truth is, children have a remarkable ability to bring our emotions to the surface. Not because they are trying to (although sometimes it sure feels like it); they simply activate parts of us that are already there.A child refusing to listen might trigger feelings of being ignored or disrespected.A child making a mistake might bring up our own fears ...

The goal isn’t to live a life without fear, it’s to stop letting fear make all the decisions

We humans are fascinating creatures.We will happily climb mountains, run marathons, build businesses, raise families and solve incredibly complicated problems… but ask us to make a phone call we’re nervous about and suddenly that phone becomes the most intimidating object in the house.Strange, isn’t it?Avoidance is one of the great talents of the human brain. And by “talent,” I mean something we’ve all become remarkably good at through repetition.Need to start exercising? Perfect tim...

Using humour to calm the mind: what Stranger Things reminded me about hypnosis

Letting my teenage children watch Stranger Things for the first time was exciting for them… and a little nerve-wracking for me. The suspense, the monsters the dark twists, all of it can linger in young minds long after the credits roll.To help them unwind and reset, we followed each episode with a light-hearted comedy. Laughing together erased the scary images, replacing tension with joy and calm before bedtime. It’s amazing to see the power of the brain at work: experiences can be reframed ...