Fees, booking and common questions

This varies considerably. Some concerns shift in a small number of sessions; others need a longer course. After the first appointment I'll give you my honest assessment of what I'd recommend, and we'll set a sensible plan from there. I don't sell packages or commit you to a fixed number — you book session by session.

The first session is 50 minutes. I spend roughly the first 20 minutes building a picture of what brought you in — the situations, the patterns, what you've tried, what you'd like to be different. From there I explain what I'm proposing for the hypnotic work, and the rest of the session is that work itself. You leave knowing what your situation actually involves and what a reasonable next step looks like.

No. Hypnosis is a state of focused attention, not absence — you remain aware of where you are, you can hear me, you can speak or stop at any time. You cannot be made to do anything against your values. This is the most common worry and the most reliable thing I can reassure you about: people are usually surprised by how present and ordinary the state feels.

Almost certainly yes. Hypnotic responsiveness varies a little between individuals, but the vast majority of people enter the state easily, especially when guided by someone they trust. You don't have to 'try' — I do the work of guiding you in.

Talk therapy and CBT work primarily at the level of conscious thought — analysing, reframing, reasoning through. Hypnotherapy works at the level beneath that, where automatic responses and learned patterns actually live. Both have their place. I sometimes work alongside another therapist; sometimes hypnotherapy is the only thing needed. They're complementary, not in competition.

No. You can book directly without a referral from a GP or any other practitioner.

Yes. A short discovery call is free and gives you a chance to ask whether hypnotherapy is appropriate for your concern before you commit to an appointment. You can request one via the booking system or by calling 03 9853 3221.

Please give at least 24 hours' notice if you need to cancel or reschedule. Late cancellations — less than 24 hours' notice — incur 100% of the session fee, as the appointment time is held for you and cannot be filled at short notice. If something genuinely urgent comes up, please call the clinic and we'll work with you to find a way through.

Some private health funds offer rebates for hypnotherapy under their natural therapy extras cover, but this varies considerably between funds and levels of cover. Medicare rebates are not available for hypnotherapy. Please check with your provider directly before booking to confirm what rebate, if any, you're eligible for.

For some concerns, yes. For others, in-person sessions suit the work better. Rather than give a blanket answer, please call the clinic to talk through your particular situation — we'll give you an honest view of which would suit you.

Telehealth sessions run via secure video call. You'll need a quiet space where you won't be interrupted, a comfortable chair, headphones (recommended for sound quality), and a stable internet connection. You'll receive a link before the session — click it at the appointment time and we begin.

Yes. The length of time you've had a pattern doesn't generally predict how easily it shifts. I've worked with people who had struggled with the same problem for decades and saw meaningful change in a small course of sessions. The work happens at the level of the response, not at the level of how long you've had it.

That's very common. Most people I see have tried something else first — counselling, CBT, medication, self-help, willpower. The fact that those approaches haven't fully resolved the issue often points to where the pattern actually lives, which is the layer hypnotherapy is aimed at. Previous therapy isn't wasted; it often gives us a useful map.