‘NOW, QUACK LIKE A DUCK’

You may picture a swinging pocket watch and being on stage quacking like a duck when you think of hypnotism. It’s hard not to. But while it may be funny to watch a grown-up getting in touch with their inner poultry, let’s just say stage hypnotists haven’t really helped hypnosis with its positioning as a therapy.

Beyond the silly is the fear and/or cynicism associated with it. Some consider hypnotism almost as a form of possession, worrying that you can be hypnotised into doing terrible things, whereas others see it as entirely fake: a big money-making scheme that simply doesn’t work.

‘If you look at the literature, hypnosis is a part of many cultures,’ says psychotherapist and certified hypnotherapist Dr Sherin Bickrum. Also a trained hypnotherapist, Jeanie Cavé, clinical psychologist and owner of Impact Therapy