Hi, I'm Helen
Hypnotherapist for Anxiety
I’m a qualified hypnotherapist with a Professional Diploma in Hypnotherapy, and I specialise in helping people understand and overcome anxiety, stress and the thought patterns that can keep them feeling stuck.
My interest in the mind and body became very personal through my own experience of anxiety.
I remember what it felt like to be in a constant state of anxiety, feeling controlled by my thoughts and uncomfortable physical sensations. I felt trapped. Because I didn't understand why I was feeling this way, I became even more fearful. I worried that I would feel like this forever.
What I didn't understand at the time was the anxiety cycle.
My repeating, fearful thoughts were continually sending signals of danger to my body, creating more anxiety sensations, which then made me more frightened and led to more anxious thoughts.
Once I began to understand what was happening, everything started to change.
I learned that I didn't have to fight my thoughts or be frightened of them. I could allow thoughts to come and go, recognise the ones that weren't helpful and begin choosing different ways of thinking.
Alongside this, I learned how to calm and regulate my body, move more, relax, and create more positive emotional experiences.
Gradually, I stopped feeling controlled by my anxiety and started to feel free.
From nursing to hypnotherapy
Before becoming a hypnotherapist, I worked as a nurse for over 20 years, caring for sick and premature newborn babies and supporting their families through some of the most difficult and emotional times in their lives.
I loved the human side of nursing, listening, understanding, reassuring and helping families feel calmer and more at ease when they were facing uncertainty.
Those years taught me a great deal about people, emotions and the importance of feeling heard and supported. Looking back, I can see how naturally those skills have carried into the work I do today.
Over the last four years, I've had the privilege of working with many people using hypnotherapy alongside CBT techniques and the additional skills I've developed through my training and experience.
Seeing people make positive changes in their lives has made me even more passionate about this work.
I’m now on a mission to help others who may be feeling the way I once did, trapped in anxiety, controlled by their thoughts and frightened that things will never change.
How I can help you
I particularly specialise in helping people who feel stuck in an anxiety cycle.
Perhaps you have an overactive mind, a body that constantly feels on alert, irrational fears or habitual patterns of worry that seem to take over before you even realise what's happening.
You may have become anxious about feeling anxious. You might avoid things you'd really like to do because you're worried about how you'll feel, or feel as though your emotions are controlling your life.
And perhaps the most frustrating part is simply not understanding why you feel this way.
I understand that feeling.
My aim is to help you understand what is happening in your mind and body, recognise the patterns that are keeping you stuck and develop new ways of thinking, feeling and responding.
I also work with stress, sleep and confidence, as well as IBS and the relationship between anxiety, stress and the gut-brain connection.
My approach
My approach is gentle, calming and very solution-focused.
I don't believe you need to spend endless amounts of time going over every problem or searching for reasons why you feel the way you do.
Instead, we focus on where you want to go and how you want to be.
Hypnotherapy can help you work with the automatic thoughts, habits and patterns that have developed over time. I combine hypnotherapy with CBT techniques and the skills I've developed through my training and experience to help you recognise unhelpful thinking patterns and begin responding differently.
I believe our thoughts are incredibly powerful. They influence how we feel, what we do and, over time, can become familiar patterns that happen almost automatically.
But thoughts can change.
You can learn to notice your thoughts without automatically believing or reacting to them. You can learn to choose more helpful ways of thinking and develop greater awareness of how your mind and body work together.
I also believe that emotions are a completely normal part of being human.
The aim isn't to never feel anxious, sad, stressed or uncomfortable. It's to understand your emotions, feel safer with them and develop the skills to handle them without feeling controlled by them.
Hypnotherapy and IBS
I have recently undertaken specialist training in hypnotherapy for IBS because I understand that IBS can be a very personal and sometimes difficult subject to talk about.
The connection between the brain and the gut is fascinating, and anxiety and stress can interact with the way we experience and respond to gut symptoms.
My approach is to work alongside the wider gut-brain picture, helping you address anxiety, stress and the patterns of thinking and responding that may be contributing to your experience.
My aim is to give you a safe, comfortable space to talk about what's happening without embarrassment or judgement.
What I want for you
Ultimately, I want you to feel hopeful.
I want you to understand that you are not broken and that feeling anxious doesn't mean you will feel this way forever.
You can learn to understand your mind.
You can learn to regulate your body.
You can learn to handle your emotions.
And you can begin to make choices based on how you want to think, feel and behave, rather than automatically following old patterns.
One of the most rewarding parts of my work is seeing the change in people as they begin to realise that they aren't stuck.
Clients often leave our sessions feeling lighter, more positive and hopeful about what's possible. They begin to step into a different version of themselves, one based on how they want to think, feel and behave.
That is why I love what I do.
And a little bit more about me...
Outside of my work, I'm a mum to four wonderful boys, who bring so much joy into my life.
I love moving my body and regularly enjoy classes at the gym. I also sing in a choir, which makes me incredibly happy.
Being outdoors, getting fresh air and looking after my body through healthy food and movement are also important to me.
I believe looking after ourselves is about the whole picture, our mind, our body, our emotions and the way we live our everyday lives.
After spending more than 20 years caring for others as a nurse, I feel incredibly privileged to now help people understand themselves better, feel more in control and create positive changes in their own lives.
If you're tired of feeling controlled by anxiety and ready to discover a different way of thinking, feeling and being, I'd love to help.
Helen Bell