About Us
My Story
Hi, I’m Penny and I’m a Cognitive Hypnotherapist based on the south coast of England. I have always enjoyed helping people, encouraging, supporting and getting alongside them. As I have journeyed through life, I have also learnt how to improve my self-care and reconnect with what is important to me.
When I finished my education, I ended up working in customer services departments of big brand companies. I gained considerable experience of dealing with unhappy and frustrated customers which developed my people skills.
This was great preparation for working in Children’s social care, which I have done for over 20 years. Supporting children and families in different roles has been challenging and a great privilege. My degree in social work has been complemented by training in family therapy and restorative practices.
My years of working with people facing hardship, trauma and loss, as well as my own personal challenges, led to me to train with The Quest Institute. This deepened my understanding of myself and, combining this with my wealth of experience, I am now better equipped to offer services that support people as unique individuals moving themselves forwards.
Start your journey with a free consultation.
CLIENT TESTIMONIAL
"I have been working with Penny on my weight management and it has been a really positive journey. Not only am I eating more healthily, I have also realised how many things I want to do and how my thinking can be changed to help achieve my goals."
CELESTE
What is Cognitive Hypnotherapy?
Here is a short video from The Quest Institute to explain:
The Cognitive Hypnotherapy approach is solution focused and uses NLP, Coaching, EFT-tapping, and Hypnotherapy. Having worked in an evidence-based profession, I was seeking a therapeutic approach with validated research about its effectiveness.
“In September 2015 the Quest Institute research study was published in the Mental Health Review Journal. Using 118 cases measuring the effectiveness of Cognitive Hypnotherapy for the treatment of depression and anxiety, 71% considered themselves recovered after an average of 4 sessions. This compared to an average of 42% for other approaches using the same measures (like CBT).” Taken from the Quest Cognitive Hypnotherapy Practitioner Association (QCHPA) Research page – “QCH Evidence Based Therapy”
People are often concerned about losing control when having cognitive hypnotherapy. However, it is more like a conversation between client and therapist, with the client staying in control at all times. Cognitive Hypnotherapy uses a person’s naturally occurring trance states; at these times we are more relaxed and our unconscious mind works without the conscious mind being active; eg. when travelling, you reach your destination without noticing every detail of the journey. While many clients close their eyes to relax, they can open them at any time and speak whenever they want to.
Cognitive hypnotherapy techniques speak to the unconscious mind, exploring a client’s ‘problem state’ by uncovering feelings, thoughts and memory patterns that created and maintained it. By modifying these patterns, clients are able to move to a ‘solution state’ where they take control and make changes. Find out more on my Services page.
"The only joy in the world is to begin" - Cesare Pavese
FREE CONSULTATION
You might like to use my free 30-minute consultation – by phone or video call – to talk about what’s brought you here and how I might be able to help you.
NEED ADVICE?
“Little by little, one travels far”
(JRR Tolkien)
If cognitive hypnotherapy is something you might like to explore further, why not get in touch to find out more.