Hypnotherapy for New & Early Parenthood
You love them. You're still not quite yourself.
Maybe you cry at things that never used to touch you. Maybe you lie awake listening for breathing that is perfectly fine. Maybe you got through the whole day and cannot remember a single minute of it.
You are not failing at this. Your nervous system has been running on high alert for months, and it has not been given a chance to come down.
I work with a lot of parents.
Not because parenting is a problem to be fixed, but because parenting is a major change. The first few years ask an enormous amount of a nervous system and very few people get the space to process that.
Sessions happen online, in your own home, with your baby right there with you. No childcare to arrange. No getting everyone in the car.
Does any of this sound familiar?
Anxiety that arrived with the baby and never quite left
Checking on them again, and again, even though you know they're fine
Intrusive thoughts about something happening to them
Feeling flat or disconnected when you expected to feel joyful
Snapping at people you love, then feeling terrible about it
Dreading things you used to find easy, like soft play, or the school gate, or driving with them in the car
Not recognising the person you've become since having them
Exhausted but unable to switch off when you finally get the chance
Worrying about a second baby, or about going back to work
What happens in a session
We talk. Not about everything that's ever gone wrong. Solution focused hypnotherapy looks at where you want to get to, the positive things that you’ve experienced lately so most of the conversation faces forwards.
I explain what your brain is doing. Understanding why anxiety shows up the way it does takes a lot of the fear out of it. Most people find this part unexpectedly reassuring.
You relax. The hypnosis part is guided relaxation. You stay aware, you stay in control, and you can open your eyes or speak at any point. It is not mind control and you cannot be made to do anything you don't want to.
Most people describe it as the most rested they've felt in a long time.
Important to Know: This is support alongside your GP, midwife or health visitor, rather than instead of them. If things feel heavier than this, or you're having thoughts that frighten you, please speak to your GP or call 111. Plenty of the people I work with are getting medical support at the same time, and that's a good thing, not a barrier.