Who is Conscious Gardening for?

It's for anyone who is ready - at least 90% ready - to understand where their patterns came from and to genuinely change them. Not just understand them intellectually. Actually change them.

It works particularly well if you've tried other approaches and felt like something was missing. Like you got the insight but it didn't quite land. Like the change didn't stick.

If you're a sensitive, a creative, or a change-maker who knows there's more available to you than you're currently living - this work is for you.

Who is it not for?

This work asks something of you. The session itself is powerful but it isn't passive. Real change requires you to back up the inner work with new actions in your daily life. If the timing isn't right for that, that's okay - but it's worth being honest with yourself before we begin.

Health considerations

Conscious Gardening uses deep hypnosis and gentle regression. For most people this is completely safe. However I'm not currently able to work with anyone with a diagnosis of epilepsy or psychosis with hypnosis - but there are other methods we can use.

If you have a diagnosis of PTSD or complex trauma, please speak with your doctor or psychotherapist before booking. I work in a trauma-informed way and your safety always comes first - I want to make sure this is the right fit and more importantly - the right timing for you.

It's the question almost everyone asks before their first session. And it's a good one.

The truth is that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. You are in your own power throughout. You can open your eyes and come out of the hypnotic state at any time, with no risk and no drama.

In a Conscious Gardening session we move through different types of work, which means you naturally drop in and out of various depths of hypnosis. Most of the time you are in a light state of dual awareness - actively accessing memory, exploring it, working with it. In these states you are present, aware, and in full control of what you engage with.

When we drop into deeper states, that's when I reflect your own healing words back to you. You enter a receiving state - not a passive one, but a deeply receptive one. Think of it less like surrender and more like finally letting yourself be nourished.

You also stay in control of what you share. If something comes up that you'd rather not say out loud, that's completely fine. We can work with the information without you needing to disclose every detail. You will only ever access and share what feels safe to you.

Nobody can suggest or programme anything into you that you wouldn't accept. Hypnotherapy isn't mind control. It's a tool for allowing yourself to change - and your subconscious mind is very much on your side. It's been trying to protect you all along. We're just helping it find a better way to do that.

Nothing is ever forced. I'm incredibly mindful of personal comfort and the pace of change. If you'd like to talk through your own personal safeguards before committing to a session, that's exactly what the free conversation is for.

I love this question. Genuinely.

Most of us first encountered hypnosis through TV stage shows, so it's a completely legitimate thing to wonder about.

Here's the truth: stage hypnosis and transformational hypnotherapy are essentially the same process. The difference isn't the technique. It's the intention.

When someone volunteers for a stage hypnotist, their intention is to entertain. So that's what unfolds. When you come to a Conscious Gardening session, your intention is to heal. And that's what we follow.

Your subconscious is always listening to what you actually came here for. So no - no chicken impressions. Unless that's somehow part of your healing journey, in which case we'll talk.

No. And I promise this isn't just reassurance - it's simply not how hypnosis works.

Hypnotic trance isn't a coma-like state you can fall into and not come back from. It's actually a very natural one. You've already experienced it many times without realising.

Have you ever been on a long drive or a train journey, drifted into your own thoughts, and suddenly noticed you're almost at your destination? That momentary shift where you were lost in your inner world while your body carried on? That's a light hypnotic trance. Completely natural. Completely safe.

In a session you remain aware throughout. You can talk, move, and respond to anything that genuinely needs your attention - a child, a pet, a knock at the door. If you need the loo you simply let me know, we pause, you go to the loo - we carry on.  You're not gone somewhere else. You're just deeply relaxed and turned inward.

Because most of my sessions happen over Zoom, I'm sometimes asked what happens if the internet drops. Simple - you'd just notice my voice had stopped, open your eyes, and we'd reconnect. You can return to hypnosis easily afterwards. No drama.

The urban myths around hypnosis are remarkably persistent. The reality is far less dramatic and far more comfortable - it's a state of deep relaxation, not unlike meditation. The difference is that in this state we can do something very useful with it.

That's a really common experience. And it's worth understanding why this work is different.

Talking therapy has genuine value. Building a slow, safe therapeutic relationship over time is exactly the right approach for some people and some situations. I'd never dismiss it.

But Conscious Gardening isn't talking therapy. We're not processing the past through conversation. We're accessing it directly, at the subconscious level where it actually lives, and working with it there. That's why shifts can happen in a way that might have taken years of weekly sessions to reach through talking alone.

The goal isn't to keep you coming back. It's to get you to the root of the problem quickly, understand it compassionately, and change it. Most people find this remarkably cost-effective compared to what they've spent on other approaches over the years.

For those carrying complex or layered trauma, this work can sit beautifully alongside an existing therapeutic relationship. I'd never suggest replacing your psychotherapist if that relationship is serving you. But Conscious Gardening can go to places that talking therapy often can't reach, and the two can complement each other well. If this is your situation, I'd encourage a conversation with your therapist before we begin, and I'm happy to discuss it on our free call too.

The bottom line is this. You shouldn't need to be in therapy forever. The work should eventually set you free.

I wish I could say yes. But no ethical therapist can guarantee results, and I won't be one who pretends otherwise.

What I can tell you is that the people who get the most from this work come in with two things: genuine readiness to look at what's underneath, and a willingness to take new actions in their life off the back of what they discover. The session opens the door. You still have to walk through it.

Testimonials on this site reflect real experiences from real clients. Your own experience will be your own - shaped by where you are, what you're working with, and what you're ready for.

A note on suitability. Conscious Gardening uses deep hypnosis and regression, which means revisiting past events that may have shaped your current patterns. This is gentle, trauma-informed work - but it does ask you to look inward. Only people in good mental health who feel confident that exploring the past will not negatively affect their wellbeing should take part.

If you or any of your treating practitioners have current or recent concerns about your mental health, please speak with them before booking. Epilepsy and psychosis are contraindications to hypnosis.

If you're unsure whether this work is right for you right now, the free conversation is a good place to start. We can talk through where you are and I can be honest with you about whether I think the timing is right.

Hypnosis isn't pseudoscience or new age mystery. It has deep historical roots in psychology and medicine, and its effects are well documented. People have been using altered states of consciousness for healing since antiquity - we've just gotten much better at understanding why it works.

Here's the simple version.

Your brain operates at different frequencies depending on what you're doing. In your normal waking state you're mostly in beta - alert, analytical, busy. As you relax and drift toward sleep you move through alpha, then into theta. Theta is the dreamy, half-asleep state just before you go under. It's also, crucially, the state in which your subconscious becomes directly accessible.

Hypnotic induction mimics the process of falling asleep while keeping you awake. We guide your brain from beta down into alpha and then theta - and that's where the real work happens.

Sometimes we go even deeper, into what I think of as your inner vault. This is where memories that aren't available to conscious recall can surface. These are often the most powerful breakthrough moments in a session - when something that has been quietly running your life finally comes into the light.

We also go deep into the unconscious wisdom of the body. The body holds its own memory, its own knowing. Some of the most profound shifts happen when we listen to what it has been quietly carrying.

Your mind and body know exactly where they need to take you to solve your problem. My job is simply to help you get there safely.

And here's something that surprises most people: anyone can be hypnotised. It isn't a special gift or a particular personality type. If you can follow simple instructions and allow yourself to relax, you can do this.

So have I. Over the course of a decade I tried three different hypnotherapists to help me overcome a fear of needles. The results were mixed at best.

So I understand this concern from the inside, not just professionally.

Here's what I've come to understand. Not all hypnotherapy is the same. Traditional hypnotherapy often works through direct suggestion - essentially trying to overwrite a pattern without first understanding where it came from or why it's there. For some issues that's enough. For many it isn't.

Anyone can train to use a tool. But there is a vast difference between using a tool for a quick fix and using a tool to create something strong and stable, designed to last.

What makes the difference is understanding. Understanding the different functions of consciousness and how they interact. Understanding what the traumatised or stuck parts of us are actually trying to achieve -because they are always trying to achieve something. They are always trying to help, in the only way they learned how. When we understand that, everything changes. We stop fighting those parts and start working with them.

Conscious Gardening goes further than suggestion. We find the root, we understand it, we honour what it was trying to do, and then we give it something better to do. That's a fundamentally different process.

There's also something worth knowing about depth of trance. A lot of people worry they're not going deep enough, or that because they felt aware throughout it somehow didn't work. Depth of trance is actually far less important than people think. What matters is how deeply your mind has stored the information we're looking for - and your mind knows exactly where that is and how to get there. Some of the most profound sessions I've witnessed have happened in what felt like a very light state.

Shallow roots or deep ones, we can reach them. You're in good hands.

If you've experienced painful trauma, this is a completely valid question.

My honest answer is this: if you have faced significant mental or emotional difficulties as a result of past trauma, I would always encourage you to speak with your doctor or psychotherapist before we begin. Your safety comes first, always.

That said, I want to offer some genuine reassurance.

I have worked with many clients carrying histories of serious mental, emotional, physical and sexual trauma. I also have my own personal history in some of these areas. This work is close to my heart precisely because I know what it is to carry that weight, and I know what it is to finally put it down.

The key thing to understand is this: if we revisit scenes from your past, you are not reliving them. You are reviewing them. There is a profound difference. You are safe, you are supported, and you are always the one in control of how close you get to anything that arises.

I use specific trauma-informed techniques to help you approach difficult memories from a place of safety rather than re-exposure. Your mind will take you back to painful moments not to hurt you again but to show you the meaning you formed about yourself in those moments. That is where the real work is. Because when we can access those meanings, we can change them. And when we change them, we change everything built on top of them.

I hold a safe, compassionate space for whatever you are ready to look at. Nothing is ever pushed. Nothing is ever forced.

If you're unsure whether you're ready, bring that to our free conversation. That's exactly what it's there for.

This is one of the most fascinating questions in this work, and it deserves a real answer.

When memories arise in hypnosis, they often differ from what we consciously recall. That can feel surprising at first. But once you understand what's actually happening, it makes complete sense.

In hypnosis we aren't observing memories as a detached witness. We are experiencing them through the subconscious lens - as we felt and perceived them at the time. That means we don't just see what happened. We see how we experienced it emotionally, what meaning we gave it, and how our sense of safety or belonging shaped that perception.

Psychological research has long shown that even two people witnessing the same event will describe it differently. Perception is always filtered through personal beliefs, emotions, and prior experience. Hypnosis simply brings this principle to life.

The memories that surface are not a factual recording of events. They reflect how we internalised an experience - and especially in childhood, how we may have misunderstood or misinterpreted what was happening around us through not understanding the wider context. That emotional truth is what matters in healing. It reveals the roots of current beliefs and patterns far more usefully than a factual account ever could.

This is also why witness statements obtained under hypnosis aren't accepted in court. What surfaces is deeply personal and filtered through the mind's emotional and symbolic interpretation. And yet it is precisely this subjectivity that makes it so valuable therapeutically.

Many clients find themselves revisiting quiet, ordinary moments. Sitting alone on a childhood bed. A seemingly unremarkable afternoon. It's often in these reflective spaces that we were unconsciously forming conclusions about ourselves and about life. Deciding who we needed to be. What was expected of us. What love and safety required.

Sometimes memories overlap. When similar emotional experiences happened close together, the subconscious may have stored them as one combined memory. This isn't an error - it's simply how the mind organises experience by feeling and meaning rather than by chronology.

Occasionally clients revisit pre-verbal states - being in the womb, or newly born - and find they somehow understand what was happening. The unconscious mind records all sensory and emotional information from the very beginning. Once language develops, it fills in those early recordings with meaning.

So while memories in hypnosis aren't a literal replay of history, they are an emotionally and symbolically accurate reflection of how you experienced life at that time. And that experience is what shaped everything - your beliefs, your behaviours, your responses to the world.

In Conscious Gardening we use these memories to uncover where limiting beliefs took root, and to reinterpret those experiences through the wiser, more integrated understanding you carry today. That shift changes how you feel about the past. And with it, how you move through life now.

This is one of the questions I find most interesting to answer, because the honest answer is: it depends - and understanding why is actually useful.

In my experience, most clients notice some form of change in the days following a session. But the pace and nature of that change is usually dictated by how deeply embedded the problem has been in their life.

When a problem has shaped not just how you feel but how you relate, how you work, how you structure your days and your relationships - when your whole life has been framed around a particular perspective - change naturally takes longer to move through all of those structures. The world around you was built to fit the old version of you. Some of it will seek to keep you there. That's not failure. That's just the nature of deep roots.

I think about pace of change in terms of three types of problems, which I also speak about in the video above.

Resistance is when the subconscious is running a protective behaviour that's keeping you stuck. Once we understand what it's actually trying to do and redirect it, this type of problem can shift quickly. Sometimes remarkably so.

Perspective is subtler. When the problem lives in how you see yourself or the world, change tends to arrive gradually - becoming more obvious over time as you notice yourself responding differently, thinking differently, choosing differently.

Deep roots are problems that have been present for a long time and have shaped significant structures of your life. These require time, care, and more holding. For these I usually recommend a larger container of work so I can guide you properly through the process rather than leaving you to navigate the shifts alone.

The free conversation is a good place to talk through which of these feels most like your situation, and what kind of support would serve you best.