I am a full-time family doctor (GP) based in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. After many years of conventional medical practice, I realised that although drugs and surgery do have a place, in many medical conditions the most important factor in recovery is the mental attitude of the patient.

I started using hypnosis in my general medical practice about 15 years ago and have had the privilege to study with some of the world’s best medical hypnotists and have developed my own philosophy, style and techniques.

I have recently been carrying out a programme of research, in conjunction with the University of Edinburgh, into the use of hypnosis in family medicine.  I have a particular interest in the use of hypnosis in depression and with funding from the Chief Scientist’s Office, Scotland, have completed a randomised trial into the use of our programme of Positive Mental Training in the treatment of depression.  The results are very encouraging for this as an effective self-help treatment in depression.

Hypnosis keys us in to our own intuitive ability to heal, which we have lost in our hectic busy lives. If an animal is sick, you don’t need to tell it how to get better, it intuitively knows what to eat and when it needs to rest. We also know this but to access this part of our brains we need to be in a special relaxed state In this state we can plant positive messages which reset the “software” in our brains. This can be used to relieve anxiety, depression phobias, heart disorders, sleeping problems, panic attacks, skin disorders, bowel disorders, and to help us stop smoking and lose weight.

Emotions have a purpose for us; they look after us and take care of us by telling us when to be careful and when to relax. When we feel bad we do not know exactly where our bad feeling is coming from. All we know is that we feel bad. There may be many possible sources for our bad feeling, and we may think we know the source, but our conscious mind does not know where the feeling is coming from. Usually the source is an unconscious trigger, which we did not register consciously. Our unconscious mind always knows exactly where our tension came from and what the triggers are. So hypnosis allows the unconscious mind to sort out our problem for us. We all have a simple set of tools in our minds to help us sort out problems, so that, for instance, in our sleep, we sort out our problems using our past experiences to help us. To do this we need access to positive memories, but when we feel bad our brain only allows us access to negative memories. So hypnosis allows access to deep relaxation, to a depth we normally cannot achieve, which gives us a positive mindset and allows our unconscious mind to access positive memories, and make the learnings required to sort our current problems for us.

There is nothing obscure or dangerous about hypnosis. It is a way of strengthening commands and ideas by inserting them at the most receptive time for the brain. It is not magic but a recognised medical technique.

Clinical Hypnotherapist & Nutritionist

BSc(Hons), MSc(Edin) Health Promotion, Hypnotherapy Practitioners Diploma ( HPD), Practitioners Diploma in Neurolinguistic Programming ( PDipNLP), member of British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis (BSCAH).  

I have been involved in the field of promoting health for the last 25 years and now specialise in promoting health through hypnotherapy, biofeedback and nutrition.

I have worked as a Clinical Hypnotherapist for 5 years integrating many years in my specialist field of health promotion (addictions work), with biofeedback, hypnotherapy and neurolinguistic programming (NLP).  I was the principal clinician in an NHS research project, with Professor Mike Ford, comparing the use of hypnotherapy and biofeedback for the treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), developing and delivering the treatments.  I collaborate with Alastair Dobbin, my partner, developing and promoting Positive Mental Training, incorporating health promotion principles of empowerment and enablement, supporting people’s abilities to help themselves. I am researching into the effectiveness of using this programme to promote positive mental health in the workplace, with healthy volunteers, to boost resilience and protect against stress as part of my PhD in Health Psychology with Edinburgh University. 

Previously I have successfully founded, and sold, an organic food company, and have worked and lectured in nutrition & health promotion.  I have extensive experience in the areas of stopping smoking, weight loss, and workplace stress.  I live in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, am married with 3 children and like to keep fit, play music and watch films.

We all have within us enormous personal resources and by using hypnosis we are able to access these to help ourselves.  This can help us solve problems and relieve tensions that may appear insoluble or intractable to our conscious mind. However sometimes there are certain skills, for example confidence or relaxation, which we may not have enough of, or may not have at all.  With hypnotherapy these skills can be rapidly acquired, helping us overcome obstacles and achieve our goals.  The state of hypnosis, can be described as deep relaxation promoting an altered state of consciousness, and is a safe, natural state. Biofeedback is another tool that can teach you how to balance the nervous systems in the body, thereby promoting relaxation and physical calm.  This is excellent for stress management and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).  This technique is widely used in USA. Clinical hypnotherapy is a powerful tool to harness the inner strength of the mind. Using a combination of hypnosis, NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming), relaxation and visualisation, hypnotherapy is one of the most rapid psychotherapies available. By being aware of our diet and daily nutrition we can identify ways in which to maximise our health and wellbeing. ‘We are what we eat’ is a well-known cliché but we are also the product of what we have eaten in the past. Looking after our body is an important part of promoting wellbeing in our minds; as is looking after our mind, through promoting positive thoughts, is an important part of promoting physical wellbeing. The mind and body are intricately linked through numerous feedback systems and promoting harmony in mind and body comes from understanding this connection.