Flexible Support
Pay as you go
£100
consultation, then £150 per session
- £100 consultation
- £150 per session
- eGuides not included
It started with a prescription. Now it feels like the tablets are running the day, not you.
Painkillers after an injury. Sleeping tablets through a hard year. Something for anxiety that was only ever meant to be short term. Most people who come to me with a prescription drug problem never set out to misuse anything. They followed advice, the medication helped, and somewhere along the way it became something they could not go without.
I help you with the psychological side of that dependence, the cravings, the checking of the clock, the fear of running out and the anxiety underneath it, working alongside your GP's reduction plan rather than instead of it.
Prescription dependence is quiet. It rarely looks like the picture people have of addiction, which is one reason it goes on for so long.
You count your tablets and worry about the gap before the next prescription.
You take more than the dose on the label, or take it sooner than you should.
You have asked more than one doctor or pharmacy, or bought medication online.
You feel anxious, low or unable to sleep when a dose is late.
You have tried to cut down on your own and it did not hold.
You tell yourself it is fine because a doctor prescribed it.
If two or more of these feel close to home, you are not alone and you are not weak. Dependence on these medicines is common, and it is something you can get support to change.
Some prescribed medicines are dependence-forming, which means the body adapts to them over time. The main groups are opioid painkillers such as codeine, tramadol and co-codamol, benzodiazepines such as diazepam, "Z-drug" sleeping tablets such as zopiclone, gabapentinoids such as pregabalin and gabapentin, and some antidepressants. Public Health England's 2019 review found that around one in four adults in England had been prescribed at least one of these medicines in a single year.
The body adapting is only part of the picture. The medication often starts to do an emotional job as well, taking the edge off stress, switching off a racing mind at night, or giving you a break from pain that has worn you down. When a tablet is doing that job, stopping it leaves a gap, and the mind pushes hard to fill it. That pull is what my work is aimed at.
Please do not stop or suddenly reduce a prescribed medicine on your own. Coming off benzodiazepines, Z-drugs, pregabalin, gabapentin or opioid painkillers too quickly can cause serious withdrawal effects, and with some of these medicines that can include seizures. Any reduction should be planned and supervised by your GP, prescriber or a local drug and alcohol service, usually as a gradual taper.
Hypnotherapy does not replace that medical care and does not manage physical withdrawal. What it does is support you psychologically while you follow your reduction plan, so that the cravings, anxiety and old habits have less hold on you.
If you ever have a seizure, severe confusion or hallucinations, chest pain, or thoughts of harming yourself, call 999. For urgent advice that is not an emergency, call NHS 111.
If you have not spoken to your GP yet, that is fine. We can talk about how to raise it on our first call.
My approach is built on The Darren Carter Method™, and every programme is shaped around you rather than taken off a shelf.
We work directly on the urge itself, so the automatic pull towards the next dose loses its grip.
Many people started or stayed on medication because of anxiety, stress or poor sleep. We work on those, so the tablet is no longer the only thing holding things together.
The timing, the checking and the rituals around your medication are habits in their own right. We loosen them.
Recovery lasts when you see yourself as someone who does not need the tablet to get through the day, and that is the heart of the work.
Sessions can be timed around your GP's reduction plan, so you have support at the points you need it most.
Where anxiety or sleep is a large part of the picture, you can read more on my anxiety and sleep pages.
A relaxed, confidential conversation about what is going on and whether I am the right person to help.
We look at your history with the medication, what it does for you, your GP's plan, and what you want life to look like on the other side.
Every session is 90 minutes: 60 minutes of hypnosis and 30 minutes to talk through what's changed and what's next. You can read more about how long a hypnotherapy session lasts.
You receive a recording of your session to listen to three to four times a week, and I keep in touch between sessions to see what is working and what is still sticking.
Sessions are in person at Markham House, 20 Broad Street, Wokingham, RG40 1AH, or online across the UK by Google Meet.
Pay as you go
£100
consultation, then £150 per session
3 sessions
£495
Total value £775, you save £280.
4 sessions
£625
Total value £1,000, you save £375.
Klarna available at checkout. Online sessions cost the same as in person.
You do not need to have everything worked out before you get in touch. We can talk about the medication, your GP's plan and the psychological support that may help.
100% confidential. I usually respond within 24 hours.
Open any card to explore the part that feels most useful right now.
Dependence can develop even when medication began as appropriate treatment. The body adapts, while the mind learns to connect the medicine with relief, sleep, calm or getting through the day.
Checking the time, counting tablets and worrying about the next prescription can become a powerful routine. Hypnotherapy works with those automatic associations rather than asking you to rely on willpower alone.
Medication may have become linked with managing anxiety or being able to sleep. Addressing those needs gives the mind safer ways to respond as you follow your medical plan.
Any reduction must be supervised by your GP or prescriber. Sessions support the psychological side of that process, including cravings, routines and fear about coping without the medicine.
Darren Carter is an Advanced Clinical Hypnotherapist who works within professional standards, is fully insured and provides confidential support in Wokingham and online.
Darren's approach is calm, practical and non-judgemental. Read more and meet Darren before deciding whether to arrange a call.
Find the support page closest to what you are experiencing.
You do not have to have it all worked out before you get in touch. Book a free, confidential phone call and we can talk about where you are, what your GP has suggested, and how I can support you. If you would rather just get started, you can book your consultation directly online.
