Michael Dempsey

Are you ready for change? I am passionate about helping people achieve their potential; understanding and harnessing the power of the mind. This has given me successful careers in education, the natural sciences and social services. I can now bring my hypnotherapy skills to bear along with my counselling and life experience to help you get where you want to be.

I work with adults and younger people and I can help you gain insight into the roots of your problems, enabling you to effect change. I'm particularly interested in helping clients deal with and remove self-defeating behaviours, compulsions, phobias, relationship issues, unnecessary stress and anxiety, addictions and negotiating major life events. I also enjoy helping people for whom life has lost some of its sparkle and who want to re-enchant their world.

I work with a deep understanding of the integrative, psychodynamic and person-centred traditions and I am flexible, enthusiastic, empathic and non-judgemental. I have a track record of reliability, compassion and achievement.

Contact me and we can have a 15-minute free-of-charge initial chat and let's see if I can help you. If we decide to work together I usually suggest we have weekly, one-hour sessions which we can review regularly. In my experience, once the therapeutic process begins, it can take us on a journey to a destination we never anticipated; that's one of the amazing things about hypnotherapy.

I pride myself on my friendliness, warmth, knowledge, professionalism and personal integrity.

Profile
I am based in Hoddesdon, South East Hertfordshire, and usually work from my consulting room at home but I do home visits.

Free 15-minute telephone initial consultation.

My sessions are 60 minutes long and my regular fee is £60/session. I may offer concessions depending on your circumstances. 

I am also a qualified counsellor. I am a member of the National Hypnotherapy and National Counselling Societies - working within their Codes of Conduct and Ethics.

I have regular supervision and have Professional Civil Liability Insurance.

Testimonials

I was very nervous and unsure about therapy when I first started looking into it. However, I felt so fortunate having referred myself to Mick. From the very first meeting I felt I was in a very safe and secure environment. I came to Mick looking for help with my addictions that could have spiraled out of control; but once we started looking into it, I could see that there were deeper issues which needed working on. With Mick I felt able to talk freely about anything from work, relationships and even my early childhood. This helped me get a better and deeper understanding of my feelings, thoughts and actions, and to make changes. It has been an incredible journey for me and I cannot thank Mick enough for that. I now look forward to what the future has in store. I highly recommend Mick to anyone who feels they have lost their way; let him help you get that spark back as he did with me.

You are not alone. We are not alone. Thank you again, Mick.

Ricky

Dear Mick. Thank you for helping me blow the clouds away!

DO

When I went to see Mick, I had been through years of avoidant, depressive behaviours; struggling with familial relationships and overthinking anything and everything. The world was a gloomy and stressful place. But after reflecting on my life with Mick's guidance, the darkness lifted and life started to offer me opportunities. Mick helped me "play the game of life" - and now I'm winning!

D

I had sessions with Mick when I was finding it hard to keep things together and my personal issues started affecting my work life. With Mick's help I found out I was struggling with things I had been totally unaware of. Together, we began to identify areas of my behaviours and thinking which we could work on and change, and Mick opened my eyes to other exciting possibilities. He was so easy to talk to and I always felt safe, comfortable and listened to. Now, through his insight and methods, I've found solutions and have started to heal and make plans for an exciting future. Working with Mick has had a massive impact on my life and I recommend his services to anyone.

PK

"I suffered with intense anxiety around my speech as a child; always worrying about using the phone or talking to people I didn't know well. It stopped me from going for certain jobs; it kept me shy and I found it difficult to socialize with new people.

It was when I was made redundant due to Covid that I was forced to look for a new job and I realized that I needed to address my anxiety in order for me to move forward. My wife and I looked for a local Hypnotherapist and we were lucky enough to find Mick through the Directory.

From the first initial phone call all the way to the final session he helped me to figure out why I have anxiety and taught me how to manage it. The affect it has had on my anxiety was huge, I can now speak on the phone to strangers without worry, and it has made a huge difference to my life in such a positive way.

Mick made me feel relaxed and safe during treatments and I would highly recommend him to anyone."

"I used to suffer from anxiety without knowing it… for years I would worry and stress over things and they would eat me up inside. I would over-think the smallest of things to the point where I would obsess over it and unless I had a back-up plan, I wouldn't be relaxed at all. To be honest, I don't think I was ever really relaxed.

It all came to a head during Lockdown and being furloughed from work. Without work as a distraction my anxiety really came to the surface and I had my first ever panic attack. Once I started work again it got worse and more frequent with the stress from work making me feel overwhelmed with seemingly no way to get out of it.

I reached out to Mick for help as Mick has previously helped my husband with his anxiety over his speech, so I was familiar with his work and successes. From the first session, Mick made me feel relaxed, calm and safe. I felt I could speak honestly and after our sessions I felt lighter and had a better understanding of why I behaved and reacted the way I did in certain situations.

I had an 8-week plan with Mick, with a mix of hypnotherapy and psychotherapy in our 1 hour weekly sessions. It is now 7 months later and I haven't had a single panic attack, felt overwhelmed or over stressed. The biggest thing I have noticed is that I no longer obsessively over-think things, This has been huge for me as I had done it almost all of my adult life, thinking it was normal.

I feel happier than I have for a long time; I am content with life and now have clear boundaries between work time and home life. I now spend more time on what I want to, rather than being consumed with work all the time. My quality of life is so much more improved and without Mick I don't think I would have got to where I am now.

I highly recommend Mick if you suffer from anxiety, stress or obsessive thinking. His gentle way of working makes the whole process feel comfortable, safe and relaxed."

RH

"Dear Mick,

I want to express my sincere gratitude for all the help and understanding you gave me throughout my therapy sessions.

I came to you when I was in an extremely dark place with my feelings of despair and fatalism regarding the surgery that was looming. I decanted all my thoughts and emotions into you.

You helped me understand exactly why I had these dark feelings and thoughts.

With hypnotherapy and your positive words I became more rational and able to proceed with the much needed surgery which I went along to with fresh confidence and hope. I am absolutely sure had I never found you to help me I definitely would not have had the surgery. May also add that I felt safe and relaxed in your presence. You brought out the best in me.

I will continue to keep in contact as I feel happy each time I leave my therapy sessions.

Thank you again,

CC"