Hypnosis & Hypnotherapy FAQs: Hypnosis and Therapy Centre

Hypnosis is a state. Hypnotherapy is the work we do once you’re there!

Hypnosis is a natural, trance-like state similar to what it feels like when you meditate. It happens to all of us every day without us even realising it. Have you ever driven somewhere and not remembered the full journey, yet arrived safely? Or found yourself lost in a daydream, completely unaware of time passing? That’s hypnosis. It also happens naturally in those few moments just before you fall asleep at night.

It’s a gentler experience than most people expect. You can open your eyes, shift position, cough or scratch without affecting the process at all. You are aware the whole time and in full control.

Hypnotherapy is the therapeutic process that takes place within that state. In a therapy setting, that natural openness is used intentionally. It allows us to communicate with the subconscious directly, helping to shift the beliefs, patterns and associations that are actually driving the problem. To put it simply: hypnosis opens the door. Hypnotherapy is what we do once we’re through it.

This is why so many people come to us having already tried counselling or talk therapy. They understand their problem. They can explain it in detail. They just can’t seem to change it. That’s because understanding something consciously and resolving it are two very different things. The subconscious is where the pattern lives, and hypnotherapy is one of the most direct ways of reaching it.

Most people’s first image of hypnosis is a swinging pocket watch, or someone on a stage clucking like a chicken. That’s stage hypnosis, and it’s entertainment. What happens in a therapy room is completely different.

Hypnosis is a natural state of focused relaxation where your conscious, analytical mind takes a step back and your subconscious becomes more open and receptive. You’re not asleep. You’re not under anyone’s control. You’re fully aware of everything around you the entire time.

Think of the feeling just before you drift off at night, where you’re not quite awake but not quite gone either. Or the experience of being completely absorbed in a film, unaware of time passing or the room around you. That’s close to it. These are natural hypnotic states we all move in and out of every day without realising it.

In a therapeutic setting, we use that state intentionally. It allows us to work at a deeper level than conversation alone can reach, communicating directly with the subconscious where habits, fears, beliefs and patterns are actually stored. That’s where the problem was created, and that’s where it gets resolved.

Hypnotherapy is very different to stage hypnosis. You will not be asked to do anything you don’t want to do. You cannot be made to act against your values or your will. Hypnosis requires your full consent and cooperation. Rather than giving someone power over you, its purpose is to help you feel more in control of your own life.

It’s not magic. But once someone experiences it, they often feel like it is. Feel free to read more about hypnosis.

Not at all. You’ll be relaxed, sometimes deeply relaxed, but you’ll be fully aware of what’s happening throughout. Most people are surprised by how normal it feels. Some even wonder if it worked because it wasn’t dramatic. It wasn’t meant to be dramatic. The results are, though.

No. This is the stage show fear talking. In a therapeutic setting, nobody can make you do or say anything you don’t want to. Your values, your judgement and your sense of self stay completely intact. If anything, you’re more in control during a session than you would be after a glass of wine. Nobody should have power over you. That’s a principle we hold firmly.

Yes. It’s a naturally occurring state that your brain moves through every day, usually just before you fall asleep or when you’re deeply focused on something. Used in a therapeutic context by trained practitioners, there are no risks. The only thing you’re doing is relaxing and allowing your mind to work the way it was always meant to.

Most people describe it as deeply relaxing, similar to meditation but without the effort of trying to clear your mind. Some feel a pleasant heaviness. Some feel light. Some don’t feel dramatically different at all. What almost everyone notices is that things feel clearer and calmer once the session is over. The feeling isn’t the point. The shift is.

Fiachra and Caitríona Morrison are the founders and clinical directors of the Hypnosis and Therapy Centre, and they are husband and wife. Fiachra has been working in this field since 2004 and over that time has developed a distinctive approach to resolving anxiety, addiction, phobias, habits and other issues that goes well beyond what most hypnotherapy offers. Caitríona is a senior hypnotherapist, life coach and mindset coach who brings her own lived experience to the work. She has been through many of the challenges she helps others with, and that honesty comes through immediately when you speak with her.

Between them they have worked with thousands of clients across Ireland and internationally, from people dealing with everyday anxiety to those who had been struggling for decades without finding anything that helped. They work with each client one to one, and have a genuine passion for helping others. You are never just a booking to them. That’s not how they operate.

If you’d like to know more about their background and approach, or read their reviews, you can read more on our About page.

Rapid Mindset Recoding is something we developed ourselves. It’s a process for resetting the subconscious patterns that are driving someone’s behaviour or holding them back. If you think of a belief as a programme running in the background of a computer, Rapid Mindset Recoding is how you rewrite it. It’s fast, it’s practical and the changes tend to ripple out into areas of life beyond whatever the person originally came to us for.

We go into a little more detail here, but it is important to understand that it doesn’t really need to make sense. Similar to a mechanic fixing a car. You trust the process. Or you trust a physio to know the exercises needed to heal accordingly.

A few things. Fiachra and Caitríona have been doing this since 2004, and over that time they’ve developed their own methodology. It’s a multi-therapy approach that draws on hypnosis, conversational hypnosis, Thought Field Therapy, NLP, Rapid Mindset Recoding and other techniques, used in the combination that works best for the person they are working with.

But the bigger difference is the philosophy. Most approaches either focus on managing symptoms or on talking about the past for as long as it takes. We do neither. We go to the root of what’s causing the issue and resolve it at the subconscious level. We also don’t believe change has to be slow. Most of our clients notice a real shift after the first session. That’s not because we’re doing something extraordinary. It’s because we’re working where the problem actually is.

We’re also a multi-award winning clinic, but honestly the reviews say it better than any award does.

We use whatever works. Hypnosis is our primary tool because it’s the most efficient way we know of accessing the subconscious. But we also use conversational hypnosis, Thought Field Therapy, Psych-K, NLP, mind coaching and other approaches depending on what someone needs.

That’s one of the major benefits of working with Caitríona or Fiachra. With over 20 years of experience and training across multiple disciplines, they are not limited to one approach. The technique always follows the person, not the other way around. What matters is the outcome, and everything we do is built around getting you there.

Quicker than most people expect. A lot of our clients have been struggling for years before they come to us. They’ve tried other things. They’re sceptical. And then after one or two sessions something genuinely shifts. We don’t say this to over-promise. We say it because it’s what we see consistently. Once someone stops fighting themselves and we resolve what’s actually driving the problem, the instinct can do what it always knew how to do.

Our Masterclasses are exclusively open to past and current clients.

Each session covers a different topic in personal development and mindset, things like obsessive thinking patterns, negative self-talk, managing stress and anxiety around busy periods, and how to continue growing beyond the work you’ve already done. They’re designed to reinforce what shifted during the programme and keep that momentum going.

You’ll also continue to have access to Fiachra and Caitríona after your sessions are complete. If something comes up or you have a question, they’re there. The Masterclasses themselves include a dedicated space for questions, so you’re never left without somewhere to turn.

It’s one of the things that makes our approach different. The work doesn’t just stop when the sessions end.

The first session is partly a conversation and partly the work. We spend time understanding what’s going on for you, what you have already tried and what you actually want to feel like on the other side. Then we move into the session itself. You’ll be guided into a relaxed state and we’ll begin working at the subconscious level. Most people leave the first session already feeling different. Lighter is the word we hear most often.

Sessions run for approximately 60 minutes, whether you’re attending in person or online. Everything is designed to be straightforward and efficient from start to finish.

Nothing complicated. Come as you are.

If the session is online, it helps to be somewhere quiet where you won’t be interrupted. A comfortable chair and a pair of earphones are all you need. You don’t need to be in a particular headspace or arrive feeling calm. Most people don’t. Some arrive feeling anxious, sceptical or unsure whether any of this will work. That’s completely fine. None of that affects the process. Some clients have even done sessions in the quiet of their car, away from their kids!

The one thing that does make a difference is being genuinely open to change. Not certain it will work. Not even particularly optimistic. Just willing to try. If you have that, everything else takes care of itself.

Most programmes run between three and five sessions, depending on the person and what they’re working on. This is something Caitríona or Fiachra will discuss with you from the start, and you can always add sessions if you feel you’d like to continue.

This is one of the most common things people ask after their first session, and it’s almost always a good sign.

Hypnosis isn’t dramatic. There’s no moment where the lights go out and you wake up changed. Most people feel deeply relaxed, sometimes pleasantly heavy or light, but fundamentally still themselves and still aware. Some feel very little difference at all during the session itself.

What tends to happen is that the shift becomes clear afterwards. Things feel a little quieter. A thought that would normally have pulled at you doesn’t quite land the same way. Something that felt urgent feels manageable. It can be subtle at first, and then you realise it’s not subtle at all.

If the session felt like nothing happened, wait and notice. The answer is usually there within a day or two.

It’s a 22-minute call with Caitríona, Fiachra or a member of our team. No cost, no obligation. The point is for us to understand what’s going on for you and for you to get a sense of whether this is the right fit. Within that call, we can usually identify what’s actually driving the issue and explain how we’d approach it. Most people leave the call knowing whether they want to go ahead, and knowing they’ve already been heard properly.

If you would like to take the next step and find out more, fill out your details via our 22-minute Private Breakthrough Call form.

The majority of our sessions take place online, and feedback consistently shows they’re just as effective as attending in person. Often more so, because people are in their own environment and tend to relax more easily. All you need is a pair of earphones and somewhere comfortable to sit. We use Zoom, WhatsApp or phone, whatever suits you best. We work with clients all over Ireland and internationally.

If you’d prefer to come in person, our clinic is based at the BD Gym in Kimmage, Dublin. There is parking available on site. If you’re travelling by public transport, the easiest way to plan your journey is via the Transport for Ireland journey planner at transportforireland.ie.

Our usual programmes are always one to one. That’s intentional. The work is personal, and what someone needs in a session is specific to them. A group setting doesn’t allow for that level of focus or flexibility.

Our couple’s programmes are of course done in groups of 2!

That said, we have run group sessions in the past for certain issues and occasions, and we do run a monthly Masterclass programme which is open to past and current clients. If you’re interested in either, just mention it during your Breakthrough Call and we’ll let you know what’s available.

Yes, and it’s one of the things we work with most. We have been helping people with anxiety and panic attacks since 2004, from those experiencing mild, background worry to people who struggle to leave the house or function at work. If you’ve tried other approaches and found that nothing has stuck, that’s not a reflection of how serious your anxiety is. It’s a reflection of where those approaches were working.

Anxiety and panic attacks are not random. They’re the instinct doing its job too aggressively, responding to a perceived threat that isn’t actually dangerous. The discomfort is real. The physical symptoms are real. But the pattern driving them is something that can be changed.

The problem isn’t the anxiety itself. It’s what’s underneath it. Once we resolve that pattern at the subconscious level, the anxiety settles. Not because we’ve suppressed it, but because it no longer has a reason to fire the way it was. Most clients notice a shift after their very first session.

It can, and it does. If you’ve tried patches, gum, apps or willpower and found yourself back smoking within weeks or months, you haven’t failed. You’ve just been working on the wrong part of the problem.

Most quit-smoking approaches focus on the physical addiction to nicotine. That’s only half of it. The other half is the psychological dependence, the associations your subconscious has built between a cigarette and relief, reward, or comfort. Until that part is addressed, the pull remains. That’s why so many people quit on the surface but never really feel free.

We work with the subconscious to remove the underlying need that the cigarette was filling. When that need is resolved, the cigarette loses its pull. It’s not about white-knuckling through cravings. It’s about reaching a point where the craving itself no longer makes sense.

We’ve worked with people who have smoked for decades, including clients who were smoking up to 80 cigarettes a day. Most of them are surprised by how little resistance they feel once the work is done. That’s the point.

You can read more about our stop smoking programme, and the very different approach we take.

Yes, but not in the way most people expect. We’re not counting calories or telling you what to eat. That’s not where the problem lives for most people.

If you’ve tried diets and found that they work for a while and then stop, or that the weight comes back, or that you find yourself in the kitchen at night doing something you promised yourself you wouldn’t, that’s not a willpower problem. That’s a subconscious pattern doing exactly what it was built to do. Diets work on behaviour. They don’t touch what’s driving it.

What we focus on is the relationship with food rather than the food itself. Emotional eating, late-night habits, the pull toward food when you’re stressed, bored, anxious or low. These aren’t random. They’re the instinct reaching for something that gave relief in the past. Until that underlying need is addressed, the pattern tends to return, or get replaced by something else entirely.

When we work at the subconscious level, the relationship with food shifts naturally. The cravings lose their intensity. People find they’re eating differently without it feeling like restriction or effort. Many of our clients describe something they hadn’t expected: they actually start enjoying food again, without the guilt that had followed them for years. That’s the difference between managing a behaviour and actually resolving what caused it.

Yes, and it’s one of the areas where we see some of the most noticeable shifts. Low confidence rarely feels like one single thing. It shows up as self-doubt before a meeting, avoidance of situations where you might be judged, the sense that everyone else seems to have it figured out and you’re somehow behind. It affects work, relationships, social situations and the quiet inner voice that follows you through the day.

What most people don’t realise is that even those who appear highly confident don’t necessarily feel it. Confidence is less an inner state and more a reflection of the beliefs you’re operating from. And those beliefs, the ones that say you’re not capable enough, not good enough, not the kind of person who does things like that, were almost always formed early in life, before you had the ability to question them.

We work to resolve those beliefs at the source, not to give someone a pep talk or a list of affirmations. When the belief shifts at the subconscious level, the behaviour follows naturally. You don’t have to try to feel more confident. You just do.

One thing we notice consistently is that the change in how someone carries themselves after a few sessions is often spotted by the people around them before it’s fully registered by the person themselves. That’s how real it is.

Yes. Phobias are learned responses. The subconscious created an association between something and danger, and it has been protecting you from that thing ever since. The logic is always well-intentioned, even if the response is disproportionate. We help the subconscious update that association. It’s often faster than people expect. We’ve worked with people who had lifelong phobias resolve in two or three sessions.

Yes, and poor sleep is one of the most common things we see, often arriving alongside anxiety, stress or general exhaustion that someone has been carrying for a long time. Many of the people who come to us have already tried everything: sleep apps, melatonin, sleep hygiene routines, sometimes medication. They’re still lying awake at 3am with a mind that won’t stop.

The reason most sleep solutions don’t stick is that they treat sleep as the problem. In most cases it isn’t. It’s a symptom. Insomnia, broken sleep, waking with anxiety in the early hours, the inability to switch off at night: these are almost always signs of an overactive nervous system that hasn’t been given permission to settle. Until whatever is keeping that system activated is addressed, the sleep remains disrupted.

We work at that level. When the underlying cause is resolved, sleep tends to follow naturally, without effort or medication. Most of our clients notice a significant improvement after their very first session. Some describe it as the best sleep they’ve had in years.

It’s also worth knowing that when sleep improves, other things tend to improve with it. Energy, mood, anxiety levels, mental clarity. The work rarely stays contained to just one area.

Good. Scepticism is sensible. We’d rather you come in with questions than come in credulous. What we’d say is this: read the reviews from people who came in just as sceptical as you are now. Look at what they say weeks later. You don’t have to believe it will work for it to work. You just have to be willing to try.

Because most things work on the surface. They address the behaviour without addressing what’s driving it. If you’ve been trying to deal with anxiety, addiction or a habit through willpower, conversation or medication alone, you’ve been working at the conscious level. The problem isn’t there. It’s in the subconscious. That’s where we work. It’s a different level of the same machine.

Everyone can be hypnotised. You’ve been in that state today, almost certainly. The daydream you had earlier. The drive where you arrived and didn’t remember the last few junctions. That’s the state. We’re not asking your mind to do anything it doesn’t already know how to do. We’re just using it intentionally.

We discuss costs directly with you during the Breakthrough Call once we understand what you need. We don’t list a one-size-fits-all price because our programmes are tailored. What we will say is that we ask the question we always ask: what is the cost of doing nothing? For most people who come to us, they’ve already spent years and sometimes significant money on approaches that didn’t resolve the issue. We’re confident in what we offer and we’re honest about what it takes.

We accept payment via Stripe and bank transfer, and payment plans are available in certain cases. If cost is a concern, just mention it on your Breakthrough Call and we’ll find the best option for you.

Generally not by VHI, Laya or similar health insurers. Hypnotherapy isn’t currently registerable with IACP or the bodies those insurers recognise.

Depending on your employer or personal policy, you may be able to claim it under self-development, mental health, or coaching benefits. It’s worth checking your policy. And if not, we come back to the same question: what is the cost of doing nothing?

Mention during your call and we can discuss what’s appropriate. Our primary client base is adults aged 18 and over, but depending on the situation and the age of the young person, we can advise on what’s available, or point you in the right direction.