{"id":1089,"date":"2025-06-03T17:39:26","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T16:39:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/doze\/?p=1089"},"modified":"2025-06-06T15:50:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T14:50:24","slug":"how-hypnotherapy-can-help-you-sleep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/doze\/2025\/06\/03\/how-hypnotherapy-can-help-you-sleep\/","title":{"rendered":"How hypnotherapy can help you sleep"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Swinging clocks. Mind control. Memory erasure. Clucking like a chicken on demand. Hypnotherapy has long been surrounded by an air of mystery and more than a few myths. But the reality is far calmer. When it comes to sleep issues, hypnotherapy is gaining quiet respect among those who struggle with insomnia and broken rest. Rather than a loss of control, hypnotherapy offers a focused, relaxed state where the mind can become open to guided suggestions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexandra Vessay, a hypnotherapist who has worked with over 25,000 clients, defines hypnosis as \u201cfocus plus instruction\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Alexandra Vessay has been practicing hypnotherapy for 11 years<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cWhat you’re really doing is walking somebody through their own internal processes, their own feelings, their previous experiences, through the imagery that they have in their minds, through the pictures in their heads. Holding their attention and giving them instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hypnosis is typically described as a state of consciousness in which a person is intensely focused on a specific issue, reducing their peripheral awareness. Which is why individuals often appear in a trance-like state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Alexandra, sleep is one of the few areas where \u201creal value\u201d lies in \u201creally\u201d hypnotising someone, so they feel as though they are in an \u201caltered state\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The aim of sleep hypnotherapy isn\u2019t to send someone to sleep during the session itself. Instead, it works by addressing any negative thoughts, stressors, or anxieties an individual may have related to sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accredited hypnotherapist, Owen Lewis, with over a decade of experience, describes hypnosis as a \u201cdeep state of comfort\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s all to do with the subconscious mind, and supporting people to bypass their subconscious mind in a productive way.\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Both Owen and Alexandra stress the importance of tailoring therapy to each client and recognising the individuality of each hypnotherapist’s practices. A hypnotherapist typically begins by trying to build a wider picture of the client and the issue they are struggling with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cYou’re really taking a person as a whole and looking at everything that’s going on in their life.  Because the chances are, if you can pull out the stress, solve the anxiety, including the fear of going to bed, which then becomes a thing for people who’ve developed insomnia. Then sleep will take care of itself\u201d, says Alexandra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This fear, she adds, is one of the biggest disruptors of sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey become anxious that they’re going to be lying awake for hours in the middle of the night. They’re anxious that they’re not going to be okay tomorrow, which is a huge thing.\u00a0It’s what if I can’t cope tomorrow?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the key principles in Alexandra\u2019s work is helping clients move away from the idea that sleep is something they have to \u2018try\u2019 and do. Instead, she reminds them that \u201cthe body sleeps you\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Owen Lewis is a qualified Master Hypnotherapist and Master Neuro Linguistic Programming Practitioner <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

She also aims to challenge any pre-existing beliefs an individual may have about their sleep, suggesting there’s an exact correlation between how you identify yourself and how you perform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople will tell me \u2018oh I’m a terrible sleeper, I’m a poor sleeper, I’m a light sleeper, I’ve never slept well\u2019 and it’s like they brought it into being because they’re anticipating a poor night’s sleep. They believe they won’t sleep well, and as a result, that’s what happen.\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owen often uses a common hypnotherapy technique: visualisation. \u201cOften what I’m asking people to do is visualise the whole process of them going to have a successful night’s sleep, seeing themselves going to bed and knowing that they’re going to be waking up successfully.\u201d he says\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also provides his clients with recordings that reinforce what was covered in their session. While many people instinctively listen to these before bed, Owen recommends listening to them during the day as a preparation for an individual’s sleep hygiene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whilst these tactics may not work for everyone, interest in it as a natural approach to sleep support is steadily growing. \u201cI help a lot of people to sleep, it’s one of the most common issues in my clinic\u201d, says Alexandra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She attributes this rise partly to people being more reluctant to take too much medication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBig things on the market, like Zaleplon, will tend to zombify somebody and have big side effects. So what they’re actually most worried about comes true. A lot of people are worried that they won’t be okay the next day, and then they’ll take a drug, a heavy sedative, and they’ll find that they can’t keep their eyes open.\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more stories about sleep medication here:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n