Sleep
Online hypnotherapy for insomnia and poor sleep
Hypnotherapy can help you relax and may aid sleep. Online, you learn to let go in your own home, where the sleepless nights actually happen, and there is no journey afterwards to undo the calm.
How hypnotherapy helps with sleep
Hypnotherapy can help you relax and aid sleep. A 2015 meta-analysis found hypnotherapy shortened the time it took people to fall asleep compared with having no treatment (Lam et al., 2015), and a 2018 review in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found positive results in 58% of the 24 studies it examined (Chamine et al., 2018). The research is still developing, but it points the same way as my own experience with clients.
Sleep is a strange thing: you can't make it happen, you can only stop getting in its way. Trying harder makes you more alert, and dreading another bad night becomes the very thing that keeps you awake. Hypnosis works with the part of the mind that lets go, and it also gives us a way to deal with the worries and stress that crowd in once the lights go off.
What we can work on
- Switching off a busy, replaying mind
- The dread of bedtime and the clock-watching that follows
- Getting back to sleep after waking in the small hours
- The stress, anxiety or low mood that surfaces at night
- A simple self-hypnosis routine for bedtime
- Making peace with lying awake, so it stops feeling like an emergency
Why online works especially well for sleep
Poor sleep is a problem that lives at home, so it makes sense to work on it there. When you learn to relax deeply in your own surroundings, that feeling is easier to find again in the same house a few hours later. After an in-person session you'd have a journey back through traffic and noise. Online, you take off your headphones and you are already where you want to be.
Clients often tell me they go deeper online than they expected, with my voice quiet and close in their ears and nobody else around. I also offer early-morning and evening appointments, which suits people whose days are already stretched by tiredness.
What a course looks like
- A free consultation. 15–30 minutes by phone or video to talk through your sleep and what you've tried.
- Your first session. We look at your nights in detail, what keeps your mind busy and what a good night would look like, then you have your first experience of hypnosis.
- The sessions that follow. Deep relaxation, plus work on whatever is keeping you awake, using Ericksonian hypnotherapy and NLP.
- A bedtime routine to keep. Self-hypnosis you can use in bed every night.
Sessions are an hour, by Microsoft Teams or Zoom. After 7 hours (usually five sessions), any further sessions for the same issue are £97.50 an hour: see my halve-fees promise. See how online sessions work for the practical side.
Questions about sleep and online sessions
Should I have the session lying in bed?
I usually suggest a comfortable chair or sofa instead. You relax just as deeply, you stay awake enough for us to talk afterwards, and your bed stays a place for sleep. Put your device on something steady so I can see your head and shoulders.
Can I book an evening session?
Yes, evening and early-morning times are available, so you can fit sessions around work. Leave a little quiet time afterwards rather than jumping straight on to a screen.
What if I fall asleep during the session?
It happens occasionally and does no harm. I'll notice on camera and gently bring you back. Most people stay pleasantly aware throughout.
Do I need to stop sleeping tablets, or see a doctor first?
Keep taking anything prescribed and talk to your GP before changing it. If you snore heavily, stop breathing or gasp at night, or wake unrefreshed however long you sleep, please see your GP too, as some sleep problems have physical causes.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Format | Online by Microsoft Teams or Zoom |
| First step | Free 15–30 minute consultation |
| Fee | £150 per hour; see fees |
| Typical course | Usually around five sessions (7 hours) |
| Session length | 1 hour |
Who you'll be working with
I'm Tim Dunton. I've worked as a hypnotherapist and coach for more than 20 years, I'm an Advanced and Ericksonian Hypnotherapist and a Master Practitioner of NLP trained by Richard Bandler and John Grinder, and I'm a member of the General Hypnotherapy Register. More about Tim.
The research
- Lam TH et al. (2015). Meta-analysis of hypnotherapy for insomnia. Complementary Therapies in Medicine 23(5):719–732. PubMed 26365453
- Chamine I, Atchley R, Oken BS (2018). Systematic review of hypnosis for sleep. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine 14(2):271–283. PubMed 29198290
Individual experiences vary. See everything I can help with on what can be treated.
15–30 minutes by phone or video, no obligation. Or call 07923 495558.