Hove hypnotherapist sees rise in new clients during pandemic

A registered hypnotherapist has seen a surge in new clients since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bradley DearmanBradley Dearman
Bradley Dearman

Bradley Dearman works in private practice at the 'Practice Rooms' in Hove.

Bradley has had more than seven years of experience working as a hypnotherapist using psychotherapeutic and hypnosis techniques, he specialises in treating anxiety, depression, addiction, trauma, sexual problems, grief, phobias and confidence building.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He said: "Since I moved my hypnotherapy practice to Brighton five years ago I have had a consistent amount of clients and new enquiries from people living in the Brighton area looking for therapeutic help for a wide range of presenting issues such as mild anxiety, suicidal thoughts or the devastating effects of drug or alcohol addiction. This last month the new enquiries from people reaching out to me for Hypnotherapy sessions via phone and, my website and the Hypnotherapy Directory has more than doubled."

According to the Government's Office for National Statistics in June more than two-thirds of adults in the UK (69 per cent) report feeling somewhat or very worried about the effect COVID-19 is having on their life. The most common issues affecting well being are worry about the future (63 per cent), feeling stressed or anxious (56 per cent) and feeling bored (49 per cent).

He added that there are 'drivers' which worsen people's mental health especially during a pandemic.

These include:

- Social Isolation: loneliness, relationship breakdowns, and a shocking increase in domestic abuse; a report by MPs found 16 people, 14 women and 2 children, were killed in the first 3 weeks of lock down, and calls to the national helpline Refuge were 49 per cent higher than usual.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

- Job and financial loss: the stress of losing your job, or worry about money can lead to serious mental health issues.

- Housing insecurity and quality: the threat of losing your home due to lack of income, or your living conditions, for example one in eight households (12%) in Great Britain have no access to a private or shared garden, both can be detrimental to your mental health.

- Working in a front line service: people working in front line services are only human and being exposed to trauma on a daily basis can sometimes have current or delayed mental health implications.

- The loss of coping mechanisms: many people have found ways of improving their mental health that are now unavailable during the pandemic such as: gyms, yoga, massage, therapy, sports, and art or religious groups.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

- Reduced access to mental health services: many health services such as mine have seen an increase in people reaching out for help and support with their mental health, but with limited funding and availability some people may not receive the support they need, if ignored, some mental health issues can lead to serious life threatening emergencies.

He said: "Why hypnotherapy? More and more people are turning to 'alternative' or 'holistic' therapies to resolve their mental health issues such as hypnotherapy, as opposed to conventional medicine, as prescribed medication may have unknown side effects, in some cases it may become addictive, people want the long lasting lifetime effects of therapy rather than the short term fix of pills.

"Hypnotherapy uses psychotherapeutic theories and hypnosis to get to the deep rooted causes behind the presenting issues that are holding people back from living their happiest life. Some people confuse hypnotherapy with 'stage hypnotism acts' or brain washing with pocket watches! I do not have a pocket watch. I form a professional empathetic relationship with my clients and guide them using hypnosis and talking therapy on a therapeutic journey of real change and real results.

"Starting therapy may be daunting, and it definitely isn't easy, it can be challenging, sometimes reliving traumatic events is distressing, so it takes a real desire for change and dedication, but in the end the profound life changing effects are so worth it!"

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Bradley is also a tutor teaching future hypnotherapists on the 'Hypnotherapy Practitioner Diploma Course' in Brighton with Jacquelyne Morison Hypnotherapy Training, the course runs every year from September for ten weekends.

You can find out more about hypnotherapy and the services that Bradley provides on his website: bdhypnotherapy.com