I'm Barry Thain, and I'm a Clinical Hypnotist.
Most of my time is spent with private patients*. Elsewhere on this site you will find an indications of some of the conditions that can be treated using hypnotism, and a few brief case stories.
I expect my diary would be fuller if I pretended hypnotism is a miracle cure, but it isn't. I get a lot of calls from people who have been desperately troubled, psychologically or physically, for decades but who expect to be made well in an hour. I don't blame them. I'd want to be sorted as quickly as possible too.
I use hypnotism to give a patient a new, preferable way of responding to a particular stimulus; a new way to behave. That can be done astonishingly quickly in many cases. But a new pattern of behaviour has to compete with the old one. If the old behaviour has had years of practice and reinforcement you can expect it to be much stronger than any new pattern I help you to create. Those new patterns have to be exercised and strengthened. It isn't about bringing 15 years of anxiety disorder onto my couch and walking away forever to be cool, calm and composed a couple of hours later. You get homework. You get a minimum of three sessions. You get to participate fully in your recovery. If you expect someone to wave a wand and make you well in minutes, you need a magician rather than a clinical hypnotist.
That's all very po-faced, isn't it? I've seen a girl who had an anxiety disorder so bad she couldn't go to a cashier at the bank for fear she would be judged, who organized a rock concert after her first session here. I worked with a consultant physician whose blood pressure was 140/99 and we got it to 122/78 in three sessions. I saw a boy who did no GCSEs because his brain overcooked in exams, and three sessions got him through his A-Levels. It's great when that happens, but it isn't always possible to have such an impact so quickly. It's a pity, but it's a fact.
For enquiries and appointments call 020 8948 2439
or email bt@mindsci-clinic.com
*Some people don't like to be called 'patients' and prefer to be thought of as clients, some as visitors, (which just shows how important language is). Even therapists have a hard time making their minds up about which words to use. Some hypnotists call themselves guides, and the people they treat, subjects. I am a hypnotist. The person I treat is a patient, the person who pays is a client. Thus, when a mum brings me her daughter for thumb sucking, the girl is the patient but the mum is the client. As I see people primarily to help them get better in some respect, I think of them primarily as patients.