Modern, solution focused hypnotherapy and psychotherapy in Belfast that focuses on where you want to be, not on the past. I specialise in helping people with anxiety, stress and sleep problems.
Helping people with stress and anxiety is my specialist field, and solution focused hypnotherapy can help with much more.
Stress and pressure are everywhere. Hypnotherapy can help with anxiety, including panic attacks and agoraphobia.
Find out more →Lying awake or waking early robs you of precious sleep. Hypnotherapy can help you relax and sleep better.
Find out more →A single session of about an hour and a half, with a full month money-back guarantee.
Find out more →Cutting down on drinking, weight, cravings and the habits you'd like to leave behind. Change comes from your own commitment, and hypnotherapy can support you along the way.
Find out more →Hypnotherapy can help lift your mood and build confidence and self-esteem.
Find out more →From spiders, water and flying to public speaking or heights, hypnotherapy can help you feel calmer about the things you fear.
Find out more →Stress and the gut are closely linked. Hypnotherapy can help you feel calmer and more in control.
Find out more →Living with pain is exhausting. Hypnotherapy can help you relax, ease tension and feel more able to cope day to day.
Find out more →Exams, driving tests, sport, presentations, interviews. When nerves get in the way of what you can do, we focus on how you want to feel on the day, so you step in calmer and more confident.
Find out more →Anxiety is the body's alarm system switching on when there is no real danger: a racing heart, worried thoughts, trouble switching off. Panic attacks and agoraphobia are forms of it.
It can feel like being on edge all the time, avoiding things you used to enjoy, or feeling that worry is running the show.
We look at what calm, confident you would be doing, and use relaxation and hypnosis to help turn the volume down on the alarm so the thinking part of your brain can take back the wheel.
Stress is what happens when the demands on us feel bigger than the resources we have, at work, at home or both.
You may feel tired but wired, irritable, short of patience, or that your stress bucket is always full.
Sessions help you notice what is already going well, build small positive habits, and give your mind regular deep relaxation, so pressure feels more manageable.
Lying awake, waking in the early hours or never feeling rested is very common, especially when stress builds up.
Nights can feel long and days foggy, and worrying about sleep can make sleep harder still.
Hypnotherapy can help you relax and sleep better. The nightly relaxation recording can become a welcome part of winding down.
Everyone has low patches. Sometimes they hang around, and our confidence and self-esteem take a knock too.
You may feel flat, lose interest in things, or doubt yourself more than you used to.
By focusing on what you would like to be different and the small positive steps you can take, hypnotherapy can help lift your mood and build confidence and self-esteem.
A phobia is a fear that is out of proportion to the actual risk, from spiders and water to flying, heights or public speaking.
Just thinking about it can set off anxiety, and you may plan your life around avoiding it.
We work on how you would like to feel instead, and use relaxation and imagery to help you feel calmer about the things you fear, at a pace that suits you.
Cutting down on drinking, eating habits and weight, cravings, nail-biting and other patterns can be hard to shift on willpower alone.
Habits often feel automatic, especially when you are stressed or tired.
Change comes from your own commitment. Hypnotherapy can support you by reducing stress, strengthening your motivation and helping you focus on the person you want to be.
Most smokers want to stop, and many have tried before.
Cigarettes often feel tied to routines, stress and habit rather than enjoyment.
A single session of about an hour and a half, focused on your reasons for stopping and your life as a non-smoker, with a full month money-back guarantee. As with any habit, your own commitment matters.
Stress and the gut are closely linked, and many people notice their digestion is worse when life is stressful.
It can be uncomfortable, unpredictable and worrying, which adds to the stress.
Hypnotherapy can help you feel calmer and more in control.
Living with ongoing pain is tiring, and pain and stress tend to feed each other.
You may feel tense, worn down, or that pain is shrinking your world.
Hypnotherapy can help you relax, ease tension and feel more able to cope day to day.
Exams, driving tests, sport, presentations and interviews all matter, and nerves can get in the way of what you know you can do.
You might go blank, overthink, or feel your body tense up at the worst moment.
We focus on how you want to feel and perform on the day, using relaxation and rehearsal in your mind, so you can step in calmer and more confident.
“Lighter, like some of the burdens have been lifted away.”
James, Belfast
Hypnotherapy isn't a magic wand. It works best with your full participation, which is why I work with clients who are committed to change.
A no-obligation chat of up to 30 minutes to talk about what you'd like to change.
An hour together on your goals and how the brain creates negative patterns, drawing on current neuroscience. Some people notice a difference after this first session.
Relaxation, visualisation and focus on your preferred future. Each session includes a free MP3 download to support you between sessions.
Solution focused hypnotherapy is a talking therapy combined with hypnosis. It draws on research in neuroscience to help people make positive changes, often in a relatively short time.
Rather than going over and over the problem, we talk about what you want instead. What would be better if things had improved? What would you notice first? Small, realistic steps toward that picture are where change starts.
When stress builds up, the more primitive, protective part of the brain takes over. It can only think in terms of fight, flight or freeze, so we feel anxious, low or stuck. When we are calmer, the thinking part of the brain comes back online and we cope far better.
I often describe stress as a bucket that fills up through the day. Sleep, and especially dreaming, helps us empty it. Positive thinking, positive action and positive interaction with others help keep it from overflowing. Hypnosis gives the mind a deeply relaxing chance to do the same.
Hypnosis is a natural, relaxed state, a bit like the moment before you drift off to sleep. You stay aware and in control the whole time. Most people simply describe it as very relaxing.
Change happens because you want it to. It works best with your commitment, and I will be with you each step of the way.
Short-term memory is like a computer's memory: it can only hold so much at once. Long-term memory is like the hard drive. It takes a little while to put things there, but once they're stored, they stay for a long time.
Sometimes little bugs get in and stop it running well. They can feed anxiety, low mood and fears, and make us feel quite miserable. Hypnotherapy can help you clear out those bugs and feel more in control.
Hi, I'm Andrew, a solution focused hypnotherapist and psychotherapist. I trained as a mental health nurse and I'm also a qualified social worker, and I've spent 37 years working in mental health and social care, much of it in the NHS. That's where my interest in hypnotherapy began, when I saw how powerful it can be in helping people take back control of their lives.
I qualified in Solution Focused Hypnotherapy with CPHT Belfast in 2018 (the Clifton Practice diploma, with a minimum of 450 hours of teaching and supervised practice), and I now run Binary Hypnotics from Mount Merrion Avenue in Belfast. I mainly help people with anxiety and stress, as well as sleep problems, phobias and habits they want to break.
Solution focused means we spend our time on where you want to be, not on going over the past. Since 2021 I've also been a hypnotherapy supervisor and a senior lecturer at CPHT Belfast, where I now help train new solution focused hypnotherapists. I've worked as a training consultant for an NHS trust and as a personal tutor at Queen's University Belfast.
I have suffered for over 10 years with poor sleeping, and in early 2018 I experienced a serious episode of anxiety. The impact was instantaneous: after 1 session I was sleeping better (even with my severe skepticism!) and had been provided with helpful tips and advice on how to cope with stressful situations.
Claire · BelfastHad 2/3 hypnotherapy sessions with Andrew to try and help me with my anxiety. I also listen to a relaxing recording he sent me as often as I need in order to help me drift off to sleep. I feel I am standing taller with a more positive outlook on life again. Thank you Andrew for your professionalism, you have been a great help and would recommend you to anyone.
Madelaine · NewtownbredaAndrew's hypnotherapy always makes me feel better. Less anxious and stressed. Lighter, like some of the burdens have been lifted away. Happier. I thoroughly recommend it.
James · BelfastIf you feel a session has not been of benefit, I will give your money back. For stopping smoking, I offer a full month money-back guarantee.
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Read the articlePanic attacks feel frightening, but they aren't dangerous. Here's what's going on in your body, simple things that help in the moment, and how solution-focused hypnotherapy can loosen panic's grip.
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Read the article All blog postsIf you're wondering what it's really like, you're not alone. Here are the questions I'm asked most often. If yours isn't here, just get in touch.
Ask me a questionNo. Hypnosis is a natural, deeply relaxed state, a bit like the drowsy moment just before you drift off at night. You are aware the whole time and can hear everything I say. Some people feel so relaxed they lose track of time, and that's perfectly normal.
No. This isn't stage hypnosis. You stay in control throughout, and nobody can make you do anything that goes against what you want. My role is simply to guide you into relaxation and help you focus on the changes you've chosen.
Most people can relax into hypnosis, because it's a state we all drift in and out of naturally, such as when we're absorbed in a book or daydreaming on a journey. It helps to be open to the process and to want to make changes. There's nothing you need to do 'right'.
Most people simply describe it as very relaxing. Your body may feel heavy or light, your breathing slows, and your mind becomes calm and focused. Afterwards people often say they feel refreshed, as if they've had a really good rest.
Hypnosis is a natural state and you stay aware throughout. I'm a qualified solution focused hypnotherapist (DSFH, HPD), a member of the Association for Solution Focused Hypnotherapy and the National Council for Hypnotherapy, and fully insured.
Everyone is different, so it depends on you and what you'd like to change. Stopping smoking is a single session of about an hour and a half. For other things, we'll talk about it at your initial consultation and review your progress together as we go. Hypnotherapy works best with your commitment, so I work with people who are ready to make changes.
No. Solution focused hypnotherapy looks at where you want to be, not at going over what went wrong. We spend our time on your goals, what's already going well and the small steps that move you forward.
Yes. As well as my clinic at 2C Mount Merrion Avenue, Belfast, I offer online sessions and home visits. Appointments are by arrangement, including evenings and weekends.
It's a no-obligation phone chat of up to 30 minutes. You can tell me a little about what you'd like to change, ask any questions, and we can decide together whether hypnotherapy feels right for you. There's no pressure to book.
The phone consultation is free. The initial consultation is £40 and each session after that is £60. Concessionary rates are available, so just ask. If you feel a session has not been of benefit, I will give your money back, and for stopping smoking I offer a full month money-back guarantee.
Fill in the short form below to book your free, no-obligation consultation, or simply to ask me a question.
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