A hypnotherapist from Sittingbourne says since the beginning of lockdown, more people have been coming forward for help with a wider variety of issues.

Rebecca Kemp who works at the Julie Gamble Clinic on High Street says while requests for anxiety have increased, more people have been asking for help with weight loss, phobias and sleep struggles.

The 44 year-old said: "Before lockdown, I'd say around 60% of my clients came to me for anxiety. Now that has definitely gone up to around 80%.

"But that being said, there are other people who have seen this as a real opportunity to lose weight or overcome a phobia or a fear.

"While they're not at work, people have been thinking about some of the things they want to achieve and hypnotherapy can really help with that.

"I've also seen an increase in slimming requests from people who want to curb their cravings so that when lockdown ends, they can show off their body transformation.

"Sleep has also been a real issue for people. The normal flow of life has been disturbed and so has sleeping patterns and that's been a real struggle for a lot of my clients."

Miss Kemp, from Wadham Place, usually works with clients face-to-face but is now offering her services over Zoom.

She said: "It seems to be working quite well. I'd say the results have been just as effective as they would have been seeing someone face-to-face and my clients have been really open to it.

"The advantage of Zoom is that it's really easy to record the session and I can email it to my clients after so they can benefit long term.

"This has been really good for people struggling with sleep because they can listen to the recording every night before they go to bed."

Miss Kemp says a good way to overcome anxiety is lockdown is to have something to look forward to each day.

She added: "Sometimes just knowing that anxiety is normal and that everyone experiences it from time to time can be helpful.

"I would say get into a routine of some kind and find something enjoyable to do each day, Whether that's P.E with Joe Wicks, watching something on TV or even just going for a walk."

After 25 years of working in a bank Miss Kemp retrained as a hypnotherapist with the help of celebrity Paul Mckenna and hasn't looked back since.

She says she believes an increased awareness of mental health is why they therapy has become so popular.

She added: "Where people are learning more through other peoples experiences, they're starting to find out a bit more about other therapies and how they can help them.

"... this job has taught me that a fear of bananas is actually more common than you would think."

"Hypnotherapy works by accessing the subconscious mind as that's where all the power is.

"People's phobias live in the subconscious and once you access that, you can release everything attached to that fear and it can change people's lives.

"One of the most 'out there' fears someone has come to me with is a fear of pigeons.

"And, this job has taught me that a fear of bananas is actually more common than you would think."

Forget swinging pendulums or the deft click of the fingers you may associate with hypnosis - the key to getting someone to enter a trance is relaxation, according to Miss Kemp.

She said: “We all go in and out of hypnosis everyday so it’s a really natural thing. For example, when you go for a long drive and you suddenly realise ‘how did I get here?’ - that’s hypnosis. Our brains are designed to do it to conserve energy when they don’t need to be on high alert.”

After exploring the problem and how the patient wants to overcome it - for instance an arachnophobic wanting to be able to hold a tarantula with no fear - Miss Kemp explores possible triggers before the hypnosis begins.

She said: “I get them to really relax. This relaxes the conscious part of their mind which is the bit that has all the chatter. It’s the part that questions everything and says ‘no you can’t do that’.

“I tend to use music as it works as a distraction. It’s almost like a guided meditation so I gradually get them into it by getting them to relax their eyes, their hands, concentrate on their breathing, and then I get them to think about a peaceful place taking them deeper into relaxation.

“I then access this subconscious and deal with the issue. Once we are finished, I gradually bring them back up again by counting them in so they are awake and alert.”

“And, I can only talk to them about stuff in their subconscious that they really want to happen otherwise it won’t work.

“Hypnotherapy is a relatively quick therapy in comparison to more conventional types such as counselling. Counselling is really beneficial to a lot of people but it can take longer because it uses the conscious mind.”

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