Pain is usually the body’s way of saying something is wrong, for example, alerting you to tissue damage or illness. However, some forms of pain are no longer providing a useful signal from the body. Chronic pain is pain that persists for several months or years. It can be a really debilitating condition, causing stress, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, insomnia and social isolation. However, the subjective experience of pain is far more complicated than the simple signal from the body. It is well known that your experience of pain, and the extent of suffering it causes, is strongly influenced by your thoughts, beliefs, emotional state and focus of attention. Hypnotherapy can be an excellent way to re-programme and reset the mind’s perception of pain – to turn down the intensity of the perceived pain. Importantly, hypno-psychotherapy can also help you cope with the emotional and psychological challenges associated with chronic pain.

Some common causes of chronic pain include:

• Arthritis
• Cancer
• Migraines
• Surgery
• Burns
• Amputation
• Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)
• Endometriosis
• Fibromyalgia
• Multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Sciatica and back pain

If you have a chronic pain condition, it’s important to realise that you don’t have to go through it alone. Working alongside any medical treatment, hypnotherapy can help to reduce your experience of pain and manage your pain-related symptoms. In assisting you, I bring together over two decades of experience, including specialised training in pain management and hypnotic analgesia, with established and effective techniques from, for example, hypnotherapy, meditation, neurolinguistic programming (NLP), stress management and psychotherapy. These combine to form a powerful set of tools to help you feel happier, more comfortable and in less pain.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to book an initial consultation, please get in touch and we can discuss how  I can help you.

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Some research on hypnosis and pain management

• Elkins, G., Jensen, M.P. & Patterson, D.R. 2007. Hypnotherapy for the Management of Chronic Pain. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis 55, 275–287.
• Jensen, M. & Patterson, D.R. 2006. Hypnotic treatment of chronic pain. Journal of Behavioral Medicine 29, 95-124.
• Lynn, S. J., Kirsch, I., Barabasz, A., Cardeña, E., & Patterson, D. 2000. Hypnosis as an empirically supported clinical intervention: The state of the evidence and a look to the future. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis 48, 235-255.
• Patterson, D. R., & Jensen, M. P. 2003. Hypnosis and clinical pain. Psychological Bulletin 129, 495-521.

Mark Witter

Mark Witter MA DHP PhD

A highly qualified and experienced hypno-psychotherapist, creating a safe, compassionate and professional environment to confidentially support your healing and personal development.

Find out more about Mark