Covid-19, isolation, connection, video calls and hypnotherapy

I am writing this - my first Hypnotherapy Directory post - to tell anyone out there who is struggling to cope with the anxiety of these uncertain times, that I am still here and ready to help. If you are trying to find a way out of whatever cycle of emotion or behaviour that you feel stuck in, then l would like to explain how I can work with you over the internet to help you find your way out.

Online hypnotherapy

Let me tell you about online hypnotherapy over video call. For starters, I am no computer whiz. Far from it. The technical side of things is not complicated at all. Trust me, if I am saying that, it really can’t be. So, if the technical side of it is so easy, why was I not confident about it? Let me explain.

I have always enjoyed going to my office to meet ordinary people like me. I have loved hearing about these ordinary people’s extraordinary lives, because here’s the thing; everyone has a unique story. I have loved that sense of connection and compassion I feel when people talk honestly about what they are struggling with. I enjoy it because, no matter how challenging the individual’s experience is, whilst listening I know that I can offer them a way forward, to guide them out of their stuckness. I enjoy it because I am good at it. I make a difference. Life doesn’t get more satisfying than that.

I value the quality of connection and transformation these one-to-one sessions have afforded. So, it felt like an unnecessary risk to work remotely, through video. I doubted that it would be possible to get such a good empathic connection with clients through a smartphone or computer screen. I wondered how well I would be able to work without seeing every detail of the flickers of facial muscles that communicate the emotions of the person before me. What if I couldn’t see those tiny changes to the breathing or the sudden stillness in the body that tell me so much about how my clients are responding to my questions and suggestions? I had become very sensitive to all of these visual cues over the last 22 years and worried that without all of them I would not be so effective, that I would miss an important response.

It took a request from someone in another part of the world to make me brave enough to try my first video call session of hypnotherapy. I had been recommended to her and it didn’t feel right to refuse this request for help. I do believe that when someone approaches you for help, there is a reason why they have asked you and no one else. The universe knows what it is doing when it places someone on your path. And anyway, she was used to online meetings with her colleagues, so she wasn’t fazed by conducting the session over the internet. Her confidence gave me confidence. It’s infectious you know.

So, we connected through Messenger text chat initially, arranged a time for the session and at the allotted time I called her with Skype, simply because that was what she preferred.

At first, it did feel strange. I felt myself concentrating hard in an effort not to miss any detail of what and how she was communicating. I was very conscious of the thousands of miles that separated our physical bodies. But then as time went on, I began to relax, and my therapist instinct took over from my conscious thinking brain. By the end of the session, I wasn’t thinking about the fact that she was the other side of the world anymore and I felt just as much connected as if she were in my office in Huddersfield.

This session and subsequent sessions were amazing and satisfying and I have now learnt to fully relax and enjoy meeting with clients online. I have continued working with other clients, via the internet, in various locations around the globe and these sessions have also been incredibly successful.

So how did I manage without all those clear visual cues?

Around five years into being a hypnotherapist, I became aware of a kind of psychic connection that happens during sessions. I am not talking about communicating with those that have passed, but of an inner knowing of what the client is thinking, feeling, remembering or needing without them saying a word. Since then, I have got used to having these 'sense impressions' of my clients’ experience. But now, during video calls and with less reliance on visual cues, I have become more sensitive to that invisible connection that exists.

This first online session made me realise, even more than ever before, that we are beings of energy that are sensitive to each other in so many unseen and unheard ways. I found that instead of seeing physical and emotional reactions in detail as I do in other face-to-face consultations, I felt them. At one point I experienced a strange sensation in my chest, and I told my client that. This was exactly what she was feeling at that moment and finding that out helped me to identify something important and achieve the transformation I expect in my sessions.  

If you think about it, I am sure you will have experienced this same connection with others in your life. For instance, have you had the experience of someone popping into your head to be immediately followed by receiving a text from them? Or you wonder what your partner would like for tea and the first thought you get is the right one? It’s easy to put these things down to coincidence but the more you clear your mind of thoughts the more you notice these impressions.

In these times of physical separation, remember that we are connected in mysterious non-physical ways. When we think of others, I am convinced they feel it on some level. And of course, there is always the internet too. What a powerful combination and crikey do we need it now!

If you are struggling to cope mentally or emotionally with something, a habit you wish to break, a goal you wish to achieve or anything else you think I may be able to help you with, then give me a call, send me a text or an email. Connect with me, I’ll help you with the technology if you need it and let’s see where it goes.  

If you would like further help with a qualified hypnotherapist offering online or telephone sessions, try our online search tool.