About Toni
Toni McGuinness has been involved in self-development and personal performance since the early 1980s. She developed her coaching career by training in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), becoming an NLP Master Practitioner (with Richard Bandler and Paul McKenna).
She has also qualified in Clinical Hypnosis and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and is a full member of The British Society of Clinical Hypnosis.
When in trance the conscious, rational part of the brain is temporarily bypassed, allowing the 'subconscious' part of the mind, which influences our mental and physical wellbeing, to become receptive to the therapeutic suggestions. These beneficial suggestions reflect the goals and aspirations of the client with regard to his/her specific problem. These are discussed and agreed to between client and hypnotherpist before going into trance. The client is fully aware on a conscious, rational level of everything he/she experiences.
While in trance the mind is in a heightened state of concentration and clients often report being very focused and alert mentally, yet feeling extremely relaxed physically. This allows the agreed suggestions to penetrate deeply into the clients psyche, beginning the changes the client is looking for.
The subconscious mind is the repository of all our values, and beliefs as well as our sense of identity, as its primary goal is our survival. Therefore all our experiences, memories, decisions, habits and behaviours are stored as information to be used to that end. The subconscious is also a vast reservoir of our strengths and knowledge which often goes unrecognised by us, on conscious day to day level of existence.
The hypnotherapist acts as a guide through the maze of all this subconscious information, using hypnosis as a natural and effective method, of unleashing our hidden resources, potential and capabilities, enabling a change in our unwanted habits, limiting beliefs and behaviours, finding inner resolutions to our problems and concerns.
The first step in a hypnotherapy session is to establish rapport with you, the client. This is where you and the hypnotherapist get to know one another and for you to explain about your concerns. A full explanation of hypnosis is provided and any questions you may have about hypnosis can also be discussed, so that you are fully prepared for your trance experience!
The therapist also takes a detailed record of your clinical history. This discussion enables us to build trust and confidence between us, as feeling safe, comfortable and secure with the therapist helps you to relax more deeply into the trance.
The therapist discusses and helps you to formulate your goals and outcomes, in a simple and positive way. You are encouraged to play an active role in achieving these and you will have homework assignments, to maximize the benefits of the sessions with the therapist. These assignments generally take no more than 15 minutes a day, but make all the difference to realizing your outcome.
You will be sitting in a comfortable armchair and the therapist will talk to you in a calm, relaxing voice. You may be asked to imagine walking down a country lane, or stare at a fixed point or listen to the sound of the therapist's voice. You will also be taken through a relaxation process and to deepen the trance, the therapist may count you down from 10 to 1 or ask you to imagine walking down a flight of stairs. You will have a pleasant feeling of relaxation, but still be aware of your surroundings and the therapist's voice.
The number of sessions depends on the problem or symptom and your individual circumstances. Some people with a problem such as nail biting, or with a desire to stop smoking, can be successfully treated in one session. Others issues, such as panic attacks can take longer.
If you are being treated by a medical practitioner, you will be asked to contact your GP for their permission to treat you. This is to ensure that the hypnotherapy does not interfere with any medications you might be taking currently.
Some of the conditions that can be treated with Hypnotherapy are
