Hadleigh Hypnotherapy & Counselling

20/03/2026

The idea of existential anxiety has been crossing my radar very frequently recently. It is something that generally affects all of us at some point in our lives, but, because of the nature of its experience, it is often ignored, suppressed and denied.
It’s characterised by an almost-paralysing state of discomfort and fear, usually around issues such as death, ageing, guilt, freedom, failure and a loss of meaning. This unexpected realisation that to be human involves inevitable limitations can really take our breath away.
It’s often at this point that people decide to come for therapy, because the up until now really effective distractions provided by work or play are just no longer successful. Trying to fill the emptiness with food or alcohol has stopped working. Now that these thoughts and the accompanying body sensations have raised their heads, it is impossible to keep pushing them away. But, with the right support, they can be met with, communicated with and lived with.
There are several things that can trigger existential anxiety: World events such as war, pandemics and the climate crisis, an alteration in personal circumstances, like emigration and career change, the death of someone close to us, watching our parents age, “big birthday” milestones or becoming unwell ourselves can all lead to a sense of screeching to a halt, looking around us, as if seeing reality for the first time and asking ourselves “Now what?”
And this is where the paradox happens. Because we can only find true psychological wellbeing (what we might term peace, or happiness) once we have reached this deeply troubling place. Wellbeing has been described as the ability to face the disturbing facts of life, and, as long as we are denying these, we can’t face them, so we can’t be well!
Recognising where we are, acknowledging our freedom to choose, accepting the fragility of our lives enables us to live with authenticity, making the most of the lives that we have.

03/01/2026

Hello,
Someone recently messaged me about accessing hypnotherapy. Unfortunately, I am unable to open your message. Please do head over to my website www.hadleighhypnotherapy.co.uk where you can complete the contact forms, and I will get back to you.
Many thanks.

Hadleigh Hypnotherapy and Counselling in Ipswich Suffolk Make that Change " Do you want to make a positive change to your life? Would you like help with conquering a phobia, stopping an unwanted habit, letting go of anxiety or managing your stress? Maybe you would like to understand past events in y...

23/09/2025

Time well-spent with work and family commitments means that it’s been a long time since I have posted here. As we enter Autumn, with its shorter days, the garden requires a little less attention and I feel more inclined to spend evenings with my books. This has meant that, in addition to altering the balance of my different employments (thus allowing me to see a greater number of clients in my private practice), I have been enthusiastically training in various aspects of both hypnotherapy and counselling.

I am continuing my training with Ali Campbell, not only with the Rapid Inductions Academy (about which I have previously posted), but also with another six-week Masterclass. Between clients, I am accessing these when I can and I can safely say that it is making a really positive difference. I am once again feeling aligned with this aspect of my work and my clients are reaping the benefits.

In addition to this, I have recently qualified with the IARTT as a Rewind practitioner. I have successfully used rewind approaches hypnotherapeutically in the past for relief from phobias, but the IARTT technique can be carried out with my counselling clients. It is exceedingly rapid, generally requiring only one or two sessions, before most people see either a considerable reduction or complete cessation of their symptoms. Research suggests its efficacy in the treatment of PTSD, CPTSD and phobias. (Adams and Allan 2018 Muss' Rewind treatment for trauma: Description and preliminary evidence Journal of Mental Health) I am delighted to be able to offer this therapy to my new and existing clients.

24/05/2025

Sometimes, opportunities or people appear in our lives exactly when we need them to…often before we are aware that they are what we have been looking for.
This was the case for me recently as an advertisement for one of Ali Cambell’s six-week masterclasses appeared in my eyeline. It was half-price, I have heard other hypnotherapists speak highly of his courses, so I thought I’d give it a go…and now I am excited to be embarking on a new leg of my journey as a hypnotherapist,
That two hours once a week was absolutely invaluable, allowing me to understand why I have recently been feeling that I want to be able to help my clients in a different way, that I want to update my knowledge and understanding of hypnosis and hypnotherapy, that I want to offer even more than I currently do. So, I have taken a big breath, rearranged my weekly work schedule, made some financial sacrifices and enrolled into the Rapid Induction Therapy Academy.
It will be hard work, but I love learning. What’s more important is that studying these theories and techniques in great depth will enable me to be the best therapist I can be.

14/03/2025

During the past six months, I’ve had the privilege of working with people who have been bereaved.

These last few months have reminded me of the most important aspect of the work I do; that is, the power of the therapeutic relationship. I use the word “privilege” because it’s the way I feel about the fact that my clients invite me to share with them their vulnerability as they feel their way through a world that is, for them changed forever. I’m astonished and heartened by their resilience and courage whilst we explore together their present experiencing and their views of their future, as they allow themselves the time and space to feel all their feelings and to know themselves to be heard and held within a therapeutic space.

Many, many years ago, when I trained as a nurse in London, we were taught the now very well-known model of grief, with its five stages that people (apparently) move through before emerging at the other side. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, who founded the model, never meant it to be perceived as this linear journey that’s the same for everyone, but this is unfortunately how it came to be seen.
Today, new ways of looking at grief and talking about it have lead to some very much more realistic and helpful models, models that don’t assume that time is a healer, nor that anyone should “get over it by now.”

My Pluralistic practice means I can work with my client’s grief in many different ways, but I always begin by giving them the opportunity to talk at length about their loved one, to let me “meet” them and tell me everything that they want me to know. It’s common for clients to walk me through the events of the loss, often in great detail. This may not be something they have been able to do before and can feel very healing for them.

Unlike the old “time to move on” advice that used to be given (albeit well meant) to grieving people, the idea of Continuing Bonds (Klass, Silvermand and Nickman) suggests that relationships change after death but they don’t end. People don’t want to sever ties with their loved one. In fact, they want to be helped to continue the relationship in a different way that enables them to find meaning in their new, changed future. Similarly, Lois Tonkin’s Growing Around Grief sees grief as a lifelong journey, one which includes the person who has died. There is no saying goodbye to them or leaving them in the past. Whilst the size of my clients’ grief will stay the same, the impact it has on every aspect of their lives will certainly change. By carrying their loved one with them, they can grow around their grief, finding meaning in life despite their loss.

26/01/2025

I recently happened upon a truly fascinating podcast - Tim Harford’s Cautionary Tales. At first glance down the titles list, they seem disparate and unconnected and most of them of little relevance to me personally.
However, the thread running through all of these episodes is that the workings of the human brain, time after time lead us to make mistakes that are at best, inconvenient and at worst, catastrophic. Even when we believe ourselves to be more clever, more clear-sighted, less naïve than others, the majority of us will fall into those same thinking traps that have ensnared so many so easily.
One such tale (Do Nothing, Then Do Less) gave me cause to reflect on myself as a therapist and reminded me that more is not always better. Sometimes, taking a step back so the situation can be viewed differently is helpful, because very often, more is not the answer, but different is!
I’ve applied this principle to my work with people who wish to be non-smokers and non-vapers. Recognising that what was required here was something different, I am in the process of completely re-structuring my therapy programme in this area, offering a single session solution to breaking free from these habits. I’m feeling energised and excited by this change and I’m so looking forward to offering this to future clients.
# freedomfromsmoking

21/12/2024

The Winter Solstice is an important time for me. A time I welcome with open arms and an open heart as the wheel revolves and the sun returns. It feels significant and special.
At the same time, I am minded to cherish every moment, to enjoy all the good with which I am blessed and not to wish the dark months away. Whatever I feel, the world will continue to turn and it is for me to make the most of every second.
I wish that for everyone, wherever you are, whomever you are with, whatever you are doing, there are moments of peace, for these are greatest gifts of all.

02/12/2024

I’m not sure I will ever become completely used to the ending of counselling with a client.
It is such a strange mixture of emotions. A huge sense of humility, that someone has chosen to sit with me and share their joy, their pain, their hopes and their fears. That this person has acknowledged and shown me parts of themselves long-hidden, to tell me their stories as we travel side-by-side for a while.
A feeling of joy and even excitement as I see in their eyes that they consider how their world has changed.
A feeling of, not exactly sadness, but something similar as I realise we are saying goodbye, perhaps for always.
All of this, just after a few short months. This is a relationship like no other and I feel so, so privileged to experience it.

29/10/2024

This fantastic piece of art has been shared with me by one of my clients who, having been seeing me weekly for the last four months, now feels ready for a monthly check-in.
She created this in response to one specific session that we had together, which she later described as a “turning point” in her therapeutic journey. The painting is a work in progress, dynamic and ever-changing, as her perspectives on and responses to various situations alter. If you look closely, you can see the word “courage” – a point at which she felt able to make her voice well and truly heard.
The fact that my client picked up her brushes and made a return to painting during the course of her counselling is immensely rewarding for both of us. The fact that she made her therapy the subject of her art, a tangible expression of her experiencing is something really special.

04/10/2024

The beauty of practicing pluralistically is the collaboration that exists between me and my clients. So, when I am asked if we can try this approach or that technique, provided I am certain that it is a safe and ethically sound choice, then yes, we absolutely can!

And this is why I now have this lovely card deck in my therapy space. Developed from the Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Skills Workbook, each card provides a really accessible and user-friendly way of helping my clients balance their emotions…and in doing so achieve a sense of peace.

22/09/2024

The term “Seven-Eyed Supervisor” conjures alarming imagery that straddles Greek mythology and my career as a therapist!
(See https://www.livingtherapy.co.uk/seven-eyed-model)

However, it does provide a really useful model to describe the workings of supervision, involving seven distinct but interrelated areas of focus for those meetings I have with my supervisors.
These encompass my clients, me (their therapist), my supervisor, the relationships between me and my clients and me and my supervisor, all within the context of the wider system.

I find this so vital to my work. I enjoy my supervision meetings and always come away feeling as if my own eyes have been opened a little further. I also feel supported which, as a therapist in private practice is particularly important, as sometimes this can feel quite isolating.

Supervision is, I believe is not only an investment in my career, but also an investment in my clients. In receiving supervision, my clients can be assured that I reflect on my own work and inner processes with the aim of maintaining ethical and professional practice.

08/09/2024

Many years ago, I bought a copy of Stephen Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”. I am ashamed to say that I read parts of it, found that they made lots of sense to me and then ditched the book (and the entire self-improvement drive) because it all seemed like too much hard work.

As I said, it was many years ago and to be fair, I still find the tone of some self-help books to be terribly self-righteous.

However, Covey’s work recently caught up with me during the course of my other job in secondary education, and is proving to be incredibly valuable, not only for me personally, but also for my clients. In exploring the Circles of Control, Influence and Concern together, we have found many “AH-HAH!” moments. It’s great.

As well as reminding me how and where best to direct my energies, this week has taught me not to dismiss something in haste because I dislike its tone and to keep hold of those self-help books because they might just come in handy one day!