Rehearsing and preparing for change: How CBT & hypnosis can help

Changes that involve stepping out of the comfort zone can be very uncomfortable and anxiety-provoking, even when it’s something you’ve chosen to do or looked forward to. Whether it’s a big decision, a social event, or something unexpected, it’s common to become triggered and for the mind to respond with worry, doubt, and a strong urge to avoid it altogether.

Thoughts can start racing, our self-talk can become negative, and you might find yourself thinking, “I can’t cope” or “I’m not ready”. We may start to imagine worst-case scenarios before they even happen, which makes it hard to take the right steps forward, grow and make a change in our lives, making us stuck.

Why change feels so hard

Our minds are wired to prefer what’s familiar. So when something new, unpredictable or uncertain comes up, it can trigger a sense of threat - not just mentally, but physically, too. This is especially true if structure, control, and predictability help you feel safe. Even just thinking about the situation can activate a stress response, sending your body into high alert before anything has actually happened.

The brain does this to protect you. That worry and anxiety is your survival system trying to keep you safe. But it can end up keeping you stuck - avoiding what matters, replaying worst-case scenarios, and doubting your ability to cope. 

This is where cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy (CBH) can help.

How cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy works

CBH combines cognitive behavioural therapy techniques with hypnosis to help you explore what’s keeping you stuck and build new, more supportive responses, while also providing emotional support and teaching about anxiety and how we can cope with it. 

Here’s how CBH helps on multiple levels:

• Cognitive - Recognising unhelpful thoughts and beliefs, then practising more balanced, helpful thinking through talking therapy, learning, and practical home exercises.
• Emotional - Changing the way we think naturally shifts how we feel. This helps us feel calmer when imagining challenging scenarios, making those calmer responses more likely in real life
• Physiological - Training your body to stay grounded, calm, and relaxed during stressful situations, reducing physical tension and stress reactions.
• Behavioural - Understanding how thoughts and emotions influence what we do, practising coping strategies, and mentally rehearsing how we want to respond in different situations.

The more this loop is repeated, the more familiar it becomes. So when the real situation comes up, your system isn’t guessing - it already has a map to follow as it has practised it.

What to expect in a CBH session

Sessions begin with discussions, home tasks and exploring the situation - what feels hard about it, the patterns of thinking, feeling, and action that go into it, making sense of why it happens and what is maintaining the cycle. The focus then shifts onto how we can change it and how you’d like to think, feel and act instead. 

Tools used in cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy

CBH uses a wide range of techniques, including:

Talking therapy and processing

Open conversation is key - talking things through helps you process your experience, make sense of patterns, and feel supported as you work through challenges.

Cognitive restructuring and education

Exploring and challenging unhelpful thoughts and beliefs, learning more about how your mind and body respond to stress. This understanding helps you see the problem more clearly and opens the door for change.

Relaxation techniques

You’ll learn practical tools to calm your nervous system and manage stress in the moment, helping your body and mind stay grounded and balanced.

Coping-to-mastery imagery

You start by picturing a difficult situation - first observing it from a distance, then gradually stepping into it, imagining yourself coping well with it and eventually feeling more confident, resilient and in control. 

Hypnotic desensitisation

Borrowed from CBT’s exposure model, this involves imagining the challenge step-by-step while staying calm and relaxed. It helps reduce overwhelm and rewire your emotional response to that situation.

Imagining different outcomes

Instead of only picturing the “ideal” version, we explore multiple possibilities. For example: “What if things go off track - how do I still manage?” This builds emotional flexibility and self-trust, so you’re prepared no matter what comes up.

Mental looping/repetition

By repeating a scene (e.g. walking into a room, starting a task, speaking to someone), you create mental circuits the brain can follow. These loops become familiar paths, rather than intimidating unknowns.

Why mental rehearsal works

The brain doesn’t always know the difference between something vividly imagined and something real. If you regularly picture things going badly, your body reacts as if it’s already happening. That can increase anxiety and avoidance.

But this process can work in the other direction, too. CBH helps your brain practise feeling calm, capable, and grounded in advance - so when the moment arrives, it doesn’t feel like the first time.

It’s not about pretending everything will be perfect. It’s about giving your mind and body a head start, so they already know what to do when it matters.

Real-world examples of how it helps

People often use CBH mental rehearsal to prepare for:

• Public speaking or social events.
• Medical procedures or appointments.
• Starting a new job or changing routine.
• Difficult conversations or boundary-setting.
• Travel, sleep routines, or entering new spaces.
• Life changes where you feel like you may be unable to cope - dealing with break-ups, fears around being alone, and making a big decision. 

Instead of being thrown in and hoping you’ll cope, you walk through it in your mind first, testing things out, building confidence, and helping your body get used to how it might feel.

Using hypnosis and CBT to mentally rehearse change isn’t just about “thinking positively” or forcing yourself to be confident. It’s about gently preparing your brain and body, while also building resilience and coping tools so when the time comes, you’re not just reacting - you already know what you have to do to cope. 

Think of it like a script: if we rehearse situations positively, instead of the negative default your brain might run, you’ll generally feel steadier and more prepared. With repetition, these imagined experiences become mental reference points. So, when the moment comes, it feels more like familiar ground.

If you tend to get stuck in anxiety spirals or feel thrown off by change, this approach can shift things - from “What if I can’t?” to “I’ve been here before - and I know what to do.”

Reaching out to a therapist who uses both CBT and hypnosis can help you explore this approach together and find what works best for you.