By the end of last year I’d gotten myself into a real state about job interviews. I’d had four interviews for jobs that I really wanted quite close together and each time I’d feel really nervous beforehand, almost to the point of needing to be physically sick. Each time it had gotten worse and worse and I’d experienced more and more negativity and anxiety in the lead up. When I saw Orla’s poster I thought that maybe hypnotherapy could help with this, and that I’d give it a go. I was also hopeful that it might help me become a bit generally healthier, maybe do a bit more exercise, and start smoking and drinking a bit less.

As it turns out, the actual benefits of hypnotherapy have been so much more wide-ranging than this. I’ve developed a totally different and much more positive mentality. I’m much more aware of when I start to think negatively, and I have a range of techniques and methods I can use to guide myself away from this. I’m not dwelling on stuff anymore and I feel like I have much more control over what I am thinking about and how I am feeling. I’ve also started fitting in a lot more — yoga, sport, regular Skype conversations with close friends who’ve moved to different countries, biweekly music composition sessions with a good friend here in Bristol, all things which as a busy father of 3 young children, had somewhat fallen by the wayside. And I’ve started playing piano, something I’ve always wanted to do, ever since I was a child.

Most astonishingly, perhaps, I’ve completely given up smoking, which at the start of the sessions wasn’t even an intention of mine! I was a pretty dedicated smoker, and had kept at it despite time spent in hospital with pneumonia where I had been told that my lungs were scarred from it. Yet somehow, when I came down with the flu and had to stop for a little while, it just seemed relatively easy and natural, with the improved way I was feeling generally, not to start up again. And I’ve managed to keep it going for ages now, despite some quite stressful personal and family situations, despite pressure from others and despite spending time with friends who still smoke.

I haven’t actually had the chance to apply all of the methods I learned in hypnotherapy in a job interview situation just yet, but I’m pretty sure that the approach would work very effectively. After all I’ve already used the techniques in two different quite specific, high-pressure, potentially very stressful situations, and had great results.

The first situation was just a regular trip to the dentist. I had however been hugely fearful about visiting the dentist for many years, once not visiting for ten years in a row because of this, and recently cancelling the two previous appointments. Using the techniques learned in hypnotherapy, I not only actually managed to get myself to turn up for the appointment, but also managed to calm and reassure myself while I was in the waiting room, so that I felt much less stressed out than I would ordinarily have done, and much more in control.

The second situation was a more frightening one – I was told that I needed to be referred to the cancer team after an assessment of a mole on my neck, and then had to undergo quite invasive treatment, as the mole had to be surgically removed while I was still conscious, and then this was followed by weeks of waiting to find out whether or not it was cancerous. Thankfully it wasn’t, and of course this is a huge relief! I’m so glad though that I had the hypnotherapy techniques to help me stay calm, and to not get too drawn into a spiral of negative thinking during that period of intense pressure and worry. I found everything I had learned about the human brain and the ways in which it is possible to manage your own thought patterns extremely useful during this difficult time. Having been through such a challenging situation and stayed relatively calm and positive throughout, I am certain that I can use the same techniques to great effect the next time I am preparing for a job interview, and also while I am actually in the room talking to the interviewers.

(Stephen, 38, Higher Education Professional)