ABOUT
Hello! I’m Susanne and I am a UK certified Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist specialising in stress reduction and anxiety management. I offer sessions online and also in-person in Reigate, Surrey.
MY STORY​
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Understanding why we feel the way we feel and do the things we do has been an ongoing fascination of mine for as long as I can remember. It is what led me to study psychology, explore philosophy, and delve into a variety of therapeutic and healing modalities over the years.
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These explorations, however diverse, have always seemed to lead back to one recurring principle: that our minds have the ability to shape our experiences, both of ourselves and our lives.
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My approach to understanding the mind was initially informed by two key areas of study. One was a contemporary model of psychology, and the other was meditation practices rooted in yogic philosophy.
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However, despite the benefits I gained from understanding and utilising each of these frameworks, both ultimately led to frustration. Because neither modalities resulted in the tangible, lasting changes I was seeking in my life.
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Psychotherapy could show me where the patterns that were wreaking havoc in my life originated. This was deeply insightful, but it did not lead to significant changes in my default behaviours. Meditation supported my ability to tolerate intense emotions, self-regulate, and find a sense of calm during practice; however, it did not consistently alter my habitual thoughts, feelings, and behaviours outside of meditation.
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I wanted improvements in how I felt and how I responded to certain challenges. I wanted to develop and sustain healthy, beneficial habits and ways of being in the world, and drop the unhealthy, unhelpful ones. I wanted to feel more confident and have a kinder inner dialogue towards myself. But no matter how many hours I ploughed into analysing my past, or clearing my mind and cultivating presence, the changes I was seeking continued to elude me.
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Enter: CBT + Hypnosis
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Discovering Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy was just one of those moments where everything clicked into place.
Because Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a model of therapy that acknowledges that, yes, our past absolutely informs our patterns. But rather than spending potentially decades analysing why our feelings and behaviours are the way they are, it offers practical protocols for effectively changing them.
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The process of integrating evidence-based hypnosis with this style of therapy is what I truly believe has been missing from psychotherapy for so long.
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Practices such as mindfulness and meditation are, of course, hugely beneficial in many wonderful ways. But did you know that once you are in a meditative state, that as well as feeling more calm and serene, your brain is actually perfectly primed to create new neural pathways and networks? And did you know that it is these neural pathways and networks that determine many of our habitual thoughts, beliefs, and behaviours? Well, for a long time, neither did I.
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But learning this was so groundbreaking for me, and using it myself created so many unbelievably positive changes in my own life, that I decided to dedicate myself to sharing this approach to change in order to help others.
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In my practice, I offer a compassionate, collaborative, and evidence-based approach to therapy. I am extremely passionate about helping my clients achieve positive, lasting change in both a practical and profound way. A key part of my personal approach is making these techniques feel as comfortable, accessible and (dare I say it) as enjoyable as possible. I believe that if doing ‘the work’ can become a pleasurable experience in itself, then this can lead to even greater improvements in even shorter time scales.
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