Solution focused hypnotherapy
I'm Jo, a Solution Focused Hypnotherapist based in Doncaster. Every session is by secure video call, so you can work on your anxiety from home, alongside any care you already have from your GP.
Yes, hypnotherapy can help relieve anxiety. Solution Focused Hypnotherapy pairs practical, forward-looking conversation with the deep relaxation of hypnosis, so the anxious part of your mind gets a chance to settle while we work out what you want instead. This page explains what online hypnotherapy for anxiety looks like with me, what it costs, what the research says and where its limits are.
Anxiety rarely introduces itself by name. More often it turns up like this:
If you saw yourself in a few of those, that is enough of a reason to get in touch. You don't need a diagnosis, or the right words for it, to ask for a call.
When I explain anxiety, I draw the brain as two parts. At the front is the part that thinks things through: it plans, weighs things up and keeps a sense of proportion. Deeper in is an older part whose only job is to keep you safe. It spots danger and reacts fast, and it is not good at telling the difference between a real threat and an overdue email.
When stress builds up week after week, that guarding part steps in more and more often. You feel it in your body before you can name it: a racing mind, a tight chest, a short temper, a night spent awake. None of that means something is wrong with you. It is a protective system working overtime, and the aim of our sessions is to help the thinking part take the lead again.
Each session has two halves. First we talk, using solution focused talking therapy and psychotherapy techniques. Rather than going back over every worry in detail, we look at where you want to be: what would be different on a day when anxiety wasn't running the show, and what the first small sign of that might be. Small, positive changes are the whole point.
Then comes hypnosis. It is a deeply relaxed, focused state, a bit like being completely absorbed in a good film. You stay awake, aware and in control throughout, and you can't be made to say or do anything you don't want to. The relaxation is designed to calm your nervous system and stress response, and it gives the changes we talked about room to take hold.
After your foundation session you also receive a personalised hypnosis audio track to listen to between sessions. For anxiety that matters, because the calmer state becomes something you can return to at home, not only once a week on a video call.
Stress is usually the pressure itself: the workload, the caring, the money. Anxiety is often the worry that keeps going after the pressure has eased, or that arrives with no obvious cause. They feed each other, which is why anxiety and stress sit together on my list, and the approach is the same for both. If your stress has a practical fix, I'll be honest about that too.
A free discovery call
Fifteen minutes by phone. We talk about what's been going on and whether Solution Focused Hypnotherapy feels like the right approach for you. Nothing is booked unless you want it to be.
Your foundation session
An hour by video call to get to know each other. We talk about what's been happening, what you'd like to change and what life could look like when anxiety is quieter. I explain how the approach works, and the session ends with guided hypnosis and your audio track.
Weekly sessions
Relaxed but structured: conversation first, then hypnosis. Weekly works best, so each session builds on the last, and we review how you're doing every time.
Before I became a hypnotherapist, I worked as a radiographer in the NHS for over ten years, supporting people through what could sometimes be challenging or stressful situations. Then I discovered Solution Focused Hypnotherapy for myself, as a client. In my own words, I was amazed by the results, particularly the difference it could make with anxiety, overthinking and sleep, which I was having problems with.
That experience is why I retrained, and it is why I keep sessions relaxed, friendly and non-judgemental. I know reaching out for help can feel like a big step. You can read the full story on my About page.
A 2019 review in the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis pooled 17 trials. On average, people who had hypnosis reported a larger reduction in anxiety than people in the comparison groups, and the difference held in the trials that followed people up afterwards. Hypnosis did better when combined with other psychological approaches than on its own. Solution Focused Hypnotherapy also pairs hypnosis with talking, although that review did not test this approach by name.
It is just as important to say what the evidence doesn't show. NICE's guideline for generalised anxiety disorder and panic disorder recommends talking therapies such as CBT and applied relaxation, and medication. It does not recommend hypnotherapy. In England you can refer yourself to NHS Talking Therapies without seeing your GP. If you have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, those are the routes to talk through with your GP, and hypnotherapy can sit alongside them, never in place of them. Nobody can promise you a result, and I won't.
If you need help now
If you feel unsafe or in crisis, please don't wait for a session. Call NHS 111 and choose the mental health option. If your life or someone else's is at risk, call 999 or go to A&E. Samaritans are free to call, day or night, on 116 123.
Hypnotherapy sits alongside medical care, never instead of it. Keep taking anything you have been prescribed, and speak to your GP before changing it. If what you are living with is depression, trauma, OCD or an eating disorder, please start with your GP: those need specialist care, and hypnotherapy is not a substitute for it. And if anxiety has come on suddenly with physical symptoms, such as chest pain or breathlessness, get those checked first.
| Discovery call15 minutes, by phone | Free |
|---|---|
| Foundation session1 hour, by video call, with your audio track | £65 |
| Each session after1 hour, by video call | £65 |
| Block of five sessionsPaid together | £260 |
Please give 24 hours' notice to cancel or rearrange.
I'm based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, and every session is online by secure video call. There is no travel, no waiting room and nobody to bump into on the way in. You can be at home, somewhere quiet and familiar, which many people find makes it easier to relax.
The first step is always the same: a free 15 minute discovery call. Request a call and I'll ring you back, or call me on 07946 509002. If you'd like to understand the method first, my page on Solution Focused Hypnotherapy explains it without the mystery.
There is no fixed number, because everyone is different. We review how you are doing at every session and decide together whether to carry on. Some people book one session at a time at £65; others choose a block of five for £260 so the weekly rhythm is already in place.
Panic attacks are frightening, and the first time they happen it is worth seeing your GP to rule out anything physical. NICE recommends CBT for panic disorder. Hypnotherapy can help relieve the anxiety around attacks alongside that care, and we can talk through whether it suits you on the discovery call.
Sessions are calm and you stay in control the whole time: you can open your eyes and stop whenever you choose. Talking about what's hard can sometimes bring feelings up, so we go at your pace. If you are under your GP for anxiety, let them know you are starting.
No. CBT helps you notice and change patterns of thinking and behaviour. Solution Focused Hypnotherapy spends less time on the problem and more on what you want instead, and adds hypnosis. They are not either-or: if you are having CBT, you can still have hypnotherapy, and it is worth telling your CBT therapist.
Yes. Keep taking it exactly as prescribed and don't change it without speaking to your GP. Mention it on the discovery call so I have the full picture.
It's why the first conversation is a phone call, so you hear my voice before anything else. For sessions, sit somewhere comfortable where you won't be interrupted. There is nothing to prepare and no right way to look on camera.
Leave your name and number and Jo will ring you for a free 15 minute discovery call. Nothing to pay, and no pressure to go any further.
Appointments are online only. Every session is by secure video call, from wherever you are comfortable.
Or ring Jo on 07946 509002