Frequently Asked Questions

Cognitive Hypnotherapy is a modern, neuroscience-informed approach that combines NLP, hypnosis, Positive Psychology, EMI, Gestalt and a number of other modalities to update unconscious patterns and help a person live from a place of freedom. Most of our behaviour is driven by: • Limiting beliefs • Unhelpful thinking patterns • Conditioned stress responses • Nervous system dysregulation Through tools and techniques that work with the unconscious mind and practical integration, I help your brain and body create new, more supportive patterns and a clearer, freer way of experiencing life. The focus is on transformation. This approach is particularly effective for: • Anxiety, stress and burnout recovery • Limiting beliefs • Sleep difficulties • Imposter syndrome • Confidence blocks • Performance of all kinds • Leadership pressure • Eliminating creative blocks and stage-fright I have written a blog post talking more about this wonderful therapeutic modality, which you can read here. All About Cognitive Hypnotherapy(https://www.kirstymacdonald.co.uk/post/about-cognitive-hypnotherapy)

There are many people now using the term Cognitive Hypnotherapy and rather unhelpfully mixing it up with CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) or Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy. It would be a mistake to confuse these with Cognitive Hypnotherapy as described below, as they are not the same and have very different levels of efficacy. Cognitive Hypnotherapy, now also known as Quest Cognitive Hypnotherapy (QCH), is a highly effective, research-based modality for change which was developed and is still taught today by Trevor Silvester, founder of the Quest Institute in London. I trained way back in 2010 and have used this method as the basis for my client work ever since. I'm a huge advocate for Cognitive Hypnotherapy as over the years I've seen incredible results in my clients and have experienced them for myself too.

In short, no. CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) is very different. Whilst CBT has been widely adopted by the NHS here in the UK, I’ve had many clients who have had courses of CBT and are still living with their problem pattern. Transformational Therapy using Cognitive Hypnotherapy is a powerful, proven method of change that has its roots in Ericksonian hypnosis, NLP, Positive Psychology and Gestalt therapy, and has integrated many other effective methods of change.

Yes - and with great success. Many people, including high performers, are operating from hidden beliefs such as: “I’m not enough.” “I can’t slow down.” “If I stop pushing, I’ll fail.” “I must hold everything together.” In both Transformational Coaching and Transformational Therapy, I get to the heart of the unconscious drivers behind the thinking patterns that create stress and self-doubt. This is not about forced positivity. It’s about understanding how thought creates experience, releasing old patterns that get in the way, and learning how to operate from clarity rather than pressure.

In our current world, we are all living with a level of stress that our nervous systems just aren't developed to hold. But there's so much that can be done to help both on a mindset level and on the level of your body and energetic self. Prolonged stress can lead to burnout - when the body just says no. Enough is enough. Burnout is rarely about workload alone. It is usually the result of a chronically activated nervous system combined with identity-level pressure. When the body remains in fight-or-flight mode, it affects: • Sleep quality • Hormonal balance • Mood stability • Cognitive performance • Emotional resilience I support my cleints with helping them to let go of the unconscious drivers that keep them going when they most need to rest. "I'm not good enough until..." "I'm not loved unless..." "Things will fall apart without me." Beliefs, fears, perceived realities - these are the things that keep people going when the body is asking for difference. As part of our work together, I incorporate nervous system support including: • Embodied regulation techniques • Breathwork (including pranayama-based methods) • Nervous system recalibration • Identity and belief shifts around success and rest • Sleep support Through this work, clients often report improved sleep, calmer decision-making and renewed clarity and passion for life. This makes the work particularly valuable for executives, founders and creatives navigating sustained pressure.

The answer is that it's an integrated model. Transformational Therapy, which includes Cognitive Hypnotherapy, addresses emotional and behavioural patterns. Transformational Coaching and Executive Coaching, clear what's needed, sharpen clarity and strategic thinking and offer support to create valuable projects. Nervous system work increases resilience and sustainability. Together, this creates: • Calm authority • Clear leadership • Emotional intelligence under pressure • Authentic success I work with creatives, leaders and world-class performers who want to optimise not just results, but internal experience - experiencing a greater resilience, sensitivity and connection to themselves and the world around them.

This is a great question and one that many people ask. It is natural to want to know more. The answer is that it's completely safe and you are always the one who's in control. Cognitive Hypnotherapy is about unlocking trance states you are already experiencing - for example, when you get stuck in a habit or belief that is blocking you and although you consciously know what to do, you just can’t seem to make the change. The depth of trance that I generally use is that which you might experience when you're reading a book and become completely absorbed in the story. You are always in control. The changes occur at your pace and when you are ready for them. I have over 10,000 hours of client work and teaching time and have seen hugely positive results with the people I work with. Clinical hypnosis is a focused, relaxed state of awareness. You remain fully conscious and in control. It simply allows the mind to become more receptive to helpful change. This is not stage hypnosis. It is structured, safe and professionally guided.

This is a great question and also why I offer a free discovery session. I help people let go of what is holding them back and create more of what they truly want — so they can live and lead in a way that feels authentic, successful and deeply aligned. My specialism is working with creatives and leaders, although over the years I’ve supported people from all walks of life who simply feel that now is the time for something to shift. I work with clients across the UK and internationally via online sessions, with limited in-person availability in London and at our retreat centre in Andalucía, Spain. Other locations may be available by arrangement. I work one-to-one and occasionally offer group programmes and workshops. You can book stand-alone therapy sessions or half-day intensives, but most clients choose 3, 6 or 12-month coaching partnerships to experience the full depth of what’s possible with this work. Over the years, I’ve developed a highly effective method of change combining: • Cognitive Hypnotherapy • NLP and WordWeaving (language for change) • Positive Psychology • Executive and Performance Coaching • Nervous System Regulation techniques • 3 Principles Coaching • Mindfulness and meditation practices • Embodiment training • Pranayama breathwork I also draw from the philosophies of Ayurveda, Buddhism and Advaita. I am a 200-hour trained yoga teacher and Yin Yoga teacher. Although I do not teach publicly, this training deeply informs my understanding of the body, the nervous system and sustainable transformation. This is not surface-level mindset work. I work with the conscious and unconscious mind, your body, breath and nervous system to create strategic, research-informed change that integrates mind, body and identity.

My clients include wellness professionals, creatives, founders, CEOs, board-level executives, politicians, artists, performers, teachers, leaders of many kinds and possibly someone just like you. Often, I work with people who are already at the top of their game but know something internally needs to shift. Sometimes they want: • More clarity • A stronger voice • Better decision-making • A sustainable way of leading • To leave a positive legacy • To create something meaningful • To develop a deeper connection to self and others Common starting points include: • Anxiety or stress • Burnout • Clearing limiting beliefs and unhelpful habits • Performance optimisation, including stage-fright and public speaking support • Relationship enhancement • Sleep difficulties • Procrastination • Feeling blocked or stuck This work supports both psychological and spiritual well-being and uplifts your ability to create life in a meaningful and successful way.

Transformational Therapy is different to psychotherapy and other “talking therapies” because in the method I've developed I strongly hold a few key principles of difference: Principle One In any difficult problem pattern, it's our thinking that is the problem. The way we think and the stories we tell ourselves are a result of all our experiences up to this point. Two twins could have the closest experience of life possible, but they are still very much their own people. This is because the input over time is inevitably different and therefore the meaning they put onto what happens to them will inevitably be different too. To get more and more involved in the story is interesting, but not necessary for change. So I'm listening in between the story for how to help it be let go and for freedom to be experienced. This is the key. Principle Two The body, the mind and our energetic body are not separate from each other. They are part of one system that is also part of the natural world. When I hold that as a basis for the work, the change becomes holistic and integrated in a way that can be get to the depths of what's going on and be truly life-changing. Principle Three No igniting memories or experiences without reframing and releasing. I hold this as a very important principle in all the work that I do. Anything that could be re-traumatising is only experienced on the path to complete reframing and releasing. It is not helpful for a therapist to become overly interested in the story (often with the explanation that they're giving the client space to be heard), only to reignite the emotional content and send the client back out into the world at the 50-minute mark with it all swirling around their experience. In my work as a Transformational Therapist, I'm honouring the deeply powerful experience of what it is to be human, whilst protecting the nervous system and ensuring the necessary change work occurs. Principle Four Knowing that mindset change does not have to take a long time. If you knew how to make a change, you would have already. However, with the right tools and techniques, the unconscious mind will tell us where to look for the solution to the problem. It doesn't take long to do this. In one or two sessions, you can be free of something that has been held as a pattern for years. The idea that it must take years simply isn't true. I have seen hundreds and hundreds of examples of this. Principle Five This deals with our nervous system, energetic body and physical body. Once changes have occurred, it is important to create a state where the nervous system and body can catch up. The focus becomes creating alignment with the changes experienced - giving the body a chance to integrate. I generally integrate Transformational Therapy into a coaching model to work deeper into the changes that a client wants and to support both Principle Five and also to allow support and guide what a person can achieve once free of the things that once held them back. Please see the FAQ below for more on this.

Transformational Coaching works at the intersection of transformational therapy, Insight Coaching and Executive Coaching. When I first started working as a Cognitive Hypnotherapist, and later integrating all the other powerful tools and techniques for change, I found that within only a few sessions, the person I was working with had often let go of what they came to see me for - for example, clearing unconscious stressors or a feeling of not being good enough - and then they would finish their sessions and be back in their own life, but without the grounding integrative support that we all need once the large patterns shift. The feedback I was getting was that they wanted to continue to explore with me what it is to be a human with and also create in this world - projects, relationships, parenting, leadership. Some practical and some emotional, some spiritual. So I started offering longer-term partnerships to hold space for what could be created from this place of newfound freedom. Over the years this evolved into a method of working where we do what I call “the clearing” in the first few sessions, where I use my therapeutic toolbox to move any rubble that’s in the way, and then we go into insight coaching work using either an Executive Coaching or Life Coaching model. The beauty of this way of working is that as we go, when we inevitably hit a wall of a limiting belief or behaviour (because being human never stops..!), if the client wishes, we can clear that too. This is deeply transformative work over time that makes a powerful difference to a person’s experience and their ability to live fully and create good things in the world.

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