About Us

Hello! I’m Amit, a qualified Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist who is passionate about helping you achieve the life you want and to assist you in overcoming any obstacles that hinders your progress. I have a particular interest in Fibromyalgia/CFS, pain management, stress reduction and smoking cessation. However, as part of Hypnotherapy, I also cover issues such as  anxiety, phobias, insomnia and other challenges.

I take great pride in making lasting changes to your life.

I do this currently online via zoom.

My Qualifications

I trained for my Diploma in evidence-based Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy at the UK College of Hypnosis & Hypnotherapy in London, which is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and the Register for Evidence based Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy (REBHP).

I am also a certified member of the National Council of Hypnotherapy and an accredited practitioner with the General Hypnotherapy Register. My credentials are available here.

My Story

In 2009, I was under severe stress and what started as stomach pains led to being in pain from top to toe, and consequently, severe anxiety about my wellbeing. I began to experience a myriad of “strange” symptoms, one of which was where my muscles, including my face would twitch involuntarily. My body was covered in rashes, I had teeth that began to decay, digestive issues and depression to name but a few of my health challenges. I had just turned 30, was relatively fit and hadn’t been to a G.P in over 10 years. This was all about to change. I went through the usual steps of being seen by various specialists from gastroenterologists to orthopaedic surgeons and various neurologists. I had a plethora of tests from MRI scans of my back and brain to tests on my gut.  Thankfully, I stopped short of being cut open, which out of despair, I was close to signing up for.

From all the numerous conditions I was suspected of having from M.S to peripheral neuropathy to “it’s in your head”; my brain was fried. Admittedly, I was “hunting” for a diagnosis and then hopefully a cure. I had one private doctor mention fibromyalgia and another chronic fatigue syndrome. (read about them here).  As I had been to so many specialists, I refused to accept the diagnosis.  My own GP unfortunately didn’t know what it was and prescribed me anti-depressants. I was left in a state of confusion but kept up my search for answers.  In hindsight, what is now termed by many as Dr. Google, where you type in your symptoms and google presents you with a list of diseases was not the smartest of moves, especially because it made me more anxious and depressed.   While on my quest for answers however, I suddenly stumbled upon a site where a doctor was on hand to give advice as were other members of this community.  On numerous occasions he would advise me to stop catastrophising.  I felt I was in good hands – he had medical knowledge to decimate my health anxiety. An example was when I started developing bumps at the back of my head. My google searches led me to a few conditions including a brain tumour, or several in my case.  One thing about being in an already anxious state and googling your symptoms almost always results in one thinking they have the worst of all the diseases. Turns out he had a perfectly reasonable explanation for not only this but some of my other woes. Put simply, it boiled down to the bracing of different muscle groups, which occurs because I was on high alert; otherwise known as the freeze response.  You know when you watch that horror film and there is a scene where you know something scary is about to happen? Our nervous system recognises a threat and either runs, fights or in this case freezes. We think by freezing, the “predator” will not see us because it is too big to fight, or we are not quick enough to run. In my case, I could not run from the disease or fight it since I didn’t know what it was. Now imagine this reoccurring in my body daily.  Essentially, whenever I thought I had another disease, I was telling my body to freeze. Continued freezing led to my muscles tensing and eventually hurting. You can get a sense of this by clenching your fist real tight for 2 minutes.  Upon releasing your fist, you will feel pain.  The same was happening to me in various parts of my body, which led to digestive issues and a condition named leaky gut. Read more about that here. If you have any of these symptoms, be sure to get them looked into by a medical professional and do not resort to diagnosing yourself online.  Once anything sinister is ruled out your symptoms may in fact also point to bracing. So in summary my nervous system had gone out of balance due to this continued barrage of fear and anxiety.  I talk about this as if it all makes sense now but at the time I wasn’t so accepting.  I have like many, grown up to think that if western medicine doesn’t have the answers, nobody does. As a result, my brain had a tough time accepting that this was down to me tensing my muscles! What made things harder was that by now I refused to get out of bed, hardly ate, felt sorry for myself, and had these debilitating symptoms.  Things had to change if I was to get back to being me, so I made a concerted effort that I would invest time in applying the Doctors’ techniques and advice.  He recommended a few books to make me understand what I was going through, massages to alleviate the pain, a relaxation technique to reduce the muscular tension, exercise to get the muscles active again and to help me to focus on the here and now as opposed to the past and the present. This together with adequate nutrition, meditation, and a few other things I learnt on the way was the winning formula. Unfortunately, my return to good health did not happen in a linear fashion – it was a case of trial and error and felt more like 2 steps forward, one step back. One of the ongoing issues between massages was that my muscles would tense up, seemingly by themselves. It became apparent that I was still anxious about my health and as a result, my masseuse recommended a Hypnotherapist.  Initially hesitant, I got myself there asking myself ‘what have I got to lose’?

My first session opened my eyes to a whole new world. It became abundantly clear that the stories I was telling myself had a huge impact on my health and wellbeing. He introduced me to the concept of how our words when spoken in the right way, under the correct conditions can invoke transformational changes in our lives.  I was consistently asking myself the wrong questions such as when would I get better? And ‘will I always be this way?’.  I decided I would stop seeing him after three occasions and told myself that it wasn’t helping. However, one day when I lay on my bed, I had told myself that I would play one of the audios he had left me with. Suddenly within 10 minutes, my pelvic area just shot up as if a jolt of electricity had surged through that area. At first it astounded me, but I stuck with it. Soon my body was jolting and in subsequent sessions by myself at home whilst laying down on my back the self-hypnosis routine would cause my arms, legs, head to literally jerk upward or forward as I entered the deepest of relaxations. This diminished over time, as did all my symptoms. This I later concluded was my muscles spasming as they relaxed from the bracing.

It was by using self-hypnosis that also led me to enforce daily habits of yoga, exercise, meditation, and healthy eating, which was the well-rounded approach I needed. In very simplistic terms through telling myself how healthy I was, it led me to act like I was healthy by doing the practices mentioned above, further reinforcing the mental and physical attributes of a healthy person. Don’t get me wrong, the symptoms were real, but the root cause was not biological, it was psychological. I was living in a place of fear and anxiety and to stop the cycle, I had to drastically change my thought patterns. It was my positive thoughts that led me to good health and enabled me to experience profound personal growth.  My anxiety had abated, pain was virtually zero, I was a healthier version of my former self.  Sometimes I would be in self-hypnosis for two and half hours, continuing to listen to various audios and many times in silence with the intention of reaching peak relaxation.  Some profound things happened during this time, including coming out of hypnosis and having a smile as big as a Cheshire cat and feelings of joy and happiness. Now I did have a lot to smile about as I had come back from my own hell, but this smile was different.  It was like happiness had not only knocked on my door waiting patiently to be let in, but rather happiness had smashed the door in and was taking no prisoners.  I can truly say it was a magical time.

I now possessed a set of skills that I wanted to shout about.  I still get emotional when I talk about this subject because I know how it feels when you don’t know the way out. On this journey, I discovered I am an empath who likes to and wants to help people find their way to good health.

Why I became a Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist

It wasn’t however until a decade later that I committed to fulfilling my ambition to help people struggling with conditions such as mine and more. This was due to a combination of self-belief, knowledge and life.  I am a great believer that we all have a purpose on this planet, and I hope that this is mine-to make a positive impact in people’s lives.

I’m so glad to say that over this time I have gained more knowledge and the self-belief that I can make a positive impact in people’s lives using Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy and other non-pharmacological modalities.

One thing I want to emphasise is that whilst I will try my best to give you all the tools necessary to accomplish the goals you have come to see me for, you will have to put just as much effort in. The harder you and I work, the more you are likely to achieve.

I will leave you with a “moment” that I play back to myself if I find things maybe affecting me adversely. It’s a kind of self-hypnosis as it brings back the thoughts and emotions necessary to get me back to homeostasis.

I remember the time when I drove for the first time in several months on a journey I would have normally carried out once a week on a Sunday to see friends who lived an hour away. It had been almost 2 years since I had done this as I was afraid of the pain on longer journeys.   As I turned a corner on one of the winding country lanes, my music was playing a favourite song, the sun shone so bright on my face, and I realised at that moment my life had changed dramatically for the better. I had no pain, and I was so joyous that I punched the air and let out a big “yes” as if I’d achieved what a while ago felt like the impossible. Life was now full of possibilities, life felt magical once more.

This is a core part of my work-to help you realise the endless possibilities that we are capable of, if only we try.  Try we must because there is one sure way of not achieving your goals and that is to not try at all.

I hope that whatever you seek help in, if not me then someone out there can aid you in your journey.