How Long Is a Hypnotherapy Session?
The short answer is ninety minutes.
Every session is 90 minutes: 60 minutes of hypnosis and 30 minutes to talk through what’s changed and what’s next. That’s longer than most people expect — and it’s deliberate.
Why ninety minutes and not sixty
An hour sounds reasonable on paper. In practice it forces a choice between doing the hypnosis properly and having a proper conversation, and neither of those is optional.
The hypnosis itself needs room. Settling, deepening, doing the actual work and coming back out isn’t something to hurry, and the parts that matter most tend to happen once you’ve been under for a while rather than in the first ten minutes. Squeeze that into forty minutes because the clock is against you and you get a shallower session.
The conversation needs room too. What’s happened since we last spoke, what’s shifted, what hasn’t, what came up during the week — that’s not small talk before the real appointment starts. It’s how I work out what this session should actually do. A session built on a rushed five-minute catch-up is a session built on guesswork.
Ninety minutes means neither half has to give way to the other.
What actually happens in the ninety minutes
The shape is fairly consistent, though the content is built around you.
How things have been. What you noticed. What worked and what didn’t. If something happened during the week that changed the picture, this is where it comes out — and it often changes what we do next.
You get comfortable and I talk you into a relaxed, focused state. You stay aware throughout — you can hear me, you can move if you want to, and you can open your eyes at any point. It isn’t sleep. It’s closer to being absorbed in something, the way you lose an hour in a book.
We finish with a few minutes of ordinary conversation, so you’re not walking out of the door still halfway in the session.
You don’t have to do anything to make it work. There’s no effort required from you, no technique to master, and no way to get it wrong. That surprises people more than the length does.
Is the consultation the same length?
The consultation runs to around 60 to 90 minutes and works differently, because we’re not doing therapy yet.
It’s a conversation about what’s actually going on, what you’ve already tried, what you’re avoiding, and what you want to be different. That’s what decides the plan — how many sessions, what we work on and in what order. It’s also your chance to decide whether you want to work with me at all, before committing to anything further.
Nothing is asked of you in the consultation beyond talking about where things are now.
How many sessions will I need?
That depends on what you’re bringing, and I won’t pretend otherwise.
Some things resolve quickly. A single specific fear with a clear trigger can move in a small number of sessions. Anything that’s been running for years, or that shows up across several areas of your life at once, generally takes longer, because there’s more holding it in place.
Most people work in a block of three or four sessions, which is why the packages are built that way. What I won’t do is give you a number before I’ve understood the problem — anyone who does that is guessing.
You can see the current session and package prices here.
Are online sessions shorter?
No. Online sessions run for exactly the same 90 minutes, in exactly the same shape.
Everything happens over Google Meet. I send you a link, you click it, and we work as we would in the room. You’ll want somewhere quiet where you won’t be interrupted for the full ninety minutes, and headphones if you have them — they make a noticeable difference, because my voice sits closer and the room around you falls away faster.
Plenty of people mix the two, starting in person and moving online later, or the other way round.
What happens between sessions?
The ninety minutes isn’t the whole of it.
You get a recording of each session to use in between, and on the packages a Client Support Guide to work through. I also stay in touch between appointments, so if something comes up in the days afterwards it gets dealt with then rather than waiting a fortnight for the next slot.
That matters more than it sounds. Most of the change happens in the days after a session, not during it.
Common questions
It’s built as a whole, so yes, plan for the full time. The last half hour is where a lot of the useful conversation happens.
No. You stay aware the whole way through, and you’ll remember the session afterwards.
No. You remain in control throughout and can stop at any point. Hypnosis isn’t something done to you — it’s a state you go into, guided.
You don’t need to be good at relaxing. It’s my job to do the guiding, and people who arrive convinced they’ll be hopeless at it very often aren’t.
Many people notice something after the first session. Others take a few. I won’t guarantee a timescale, because it varies and anyone promising otherwise isn’t being straight with you.
No. You can start with a single consultation and see how things feel before committing to anything further. Packages exist because most people find they want more than one session, not because they’re required.
Ready to talk it through?
If you’d like to ask questions before booking anything, I offer a free initial phone chat — no charge and no pressure. If you already know you want to begin, get in touch and we’ll start properly.
Or call 07562 745 578