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Clinical Hypnotherapy for Physical Health and Performance Support in Skipton & Online

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Professional, ethical and safe hypnotherapy - clinically led by Christopher Hardy, a Registered Mental Health Nurse with 20 years of experience working in NHS mental health services

✓ NMC Registered Mental Health Nurse

✓ 20 years NHS Experience

✓ Fully Insured

✓ Enhanced DBS Checked

Physical Health and Performance Support in Skipton and Online: An Evidence-Based Approach

At Asclepieia Hypnotherapy and Wellness, we believe that physical health and performance support should be grounded in clinical evidence, professional ethics, and a deep respect for individual safety. In an era where "wellness" can often feel synonymous with exaggerated claims and unverified methods, we provide a practical, realistic alternative. Led by a Registered Mental Health Nurse with 20 years of NHS experience, our clinic bridges the gap between traditional clinical care and the transformative potential of therapeutic hypnosis.

Hypnotherapy as a Complementary Clinical Tool

Hypnotherapy is not a replacement for medical psychiatric care, but rather a powerful, evidence-based complementary therapy. It is a collaborative process that uses focused attention and deep relaxation to help you explore new perspectives and develop healthier cognitive patterns.

The validity of hypnotherapy is well-supported by leading UK health and psychological bodies:

• The British Psychological Society (BPS): The BPS has formally recognised that enough clinical evidence exists to suggest hypnotherapy is an effective adjunct for managing anxiety, stress, and insomnia, as well as enhancing the outcomes of weight management programmes and smoking cessation.

• The NHS: While not typically available on the health service, the NHS acknowledges hypnotherapy as a legitimate method for habit change and symptom management. They specifically recommend seeking practitioners with a professional healthcare background, such as nursing or psychology, to ensure safe and ethical practice.

A Grounded Space for Recovery

Inspired by the ancient Greek Asclepieia, sanctuaries designed for rest, reflection, and recovery, our Skipton clinic offers a modern, structured environment where your mental wellbeing is the primary focus. By combining extensive NHS mental health expertise with safe, professional hypnotherapy, we provide a space where you can feel heard, supported, and empowered to make meaningful, lasting change.

Whether you are managing the pressures of daily stress, navigating anxiety, or looking to break a long-standing habit, our approach remains the same: no gimmicks, no myths - just professional, ethical care tailored to your unique needs.

Our Physical Health and Performance Services in Skipton, surrounding areas and Online

We help adults and young people across Skipton, North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Lancashire (including Keighley, Ilkley, Steeton, Silsden and Barnoldswick) and anywhere in the UK via online sessions with practical, solution-focused hypnotherapy, with problems including:

Pain management (page under construction)

Evidence-based, nurse-led support to help you manage the ongoing and long-term psychological impact of pain.

Stress related physical symptoms (page under construction)

Evidence-based treatment for stress-related physical symptoms including muscle tension, headaches, fatigue and digestive issues.

Smoking and Vaping cessation

Work towards quitting smoking or vaping for good. Using an evidence-based supportive structure that helps you to overcome the psychological and physical barriers that have kept the habit going.

Symptom management for immune system/chronic illness (page under construction)

An evidence-based and complementary approach to strengthening the immune system and helping with the management of chronic disease by reducing stress and regulating inflammation.

Each programme is tailored by Chris, for you. Sessions are 1-to-1, confidential, and designed to deliver meaningful and measurable results - working at your pace.

Irritable bowel syndrome (page under construction)

Evidence-based treatment for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). NICE recommended treatment (CG61) in cases where the client has not responded to traditional diet, lifestyle, and medication changes after 12 months.

Sleep and Insomnia

Evidence-based support to calm the mind, reduce night-time worries to establish healthier sleep patterns, so you can enjoy deeper, more restorative rest.

Performance Management (page under construction)

Evidence-based support to manage performance anxiety. Whether you are preparing to speak publicly, the first dance at your wedding, an exam or a sporting event.

About Christopher Hardy BSc (Hons) DipPSN RNMH

Christopher Hardy is an NMC Registered Mental Health Nurse (NMC PIN 09F0389E - verify registration on the official NMC register) with more than 20 years’ experience in the NHS. Throughout his career he has supported individuals and families through anxiety, depression, trauma, addiction and crisis situations.

This clinical background gives him a unique advantage as a hypnotherapist: he understands not just the theory of the mind, but how real mental health challenges present in everyday life. At Asclepieia, you receive hypnotherapy that is professional, compassionate and genuinely safe – delivered by someone who has spent two decades caring for people at their most vulnerable.

Hypnotherapy for physical health and performance: an evidence-informed perspective

Physical health and psychological health are often separated in conversation.

In reality, they are deeply interconnected.

Pain, sleep, stress, fatigue, tension, gastrointestinal symptoms, recovery, confidence, and performance are all influenced not only by the body itself, but also by attention, expectation, learning, stress physiology, and nervous system regulation.

That does not mean physical symptoms are “all in the mind”. Far from it.

It means that the brain and body constantly influence one another, and that psychological interventions can sometimes support meaningful improvements in physical symptoms, coping, rehabilitation, and performance when used appropriately.

This is where hypnotherapy may have a role.

Not as a cure-all, and not as a replacement for medical treatment, but as a complementary, evidence-informed approach that may help some people manage symptoms, improve self-regulation, and optimise performance-related processes.

A clinically grounded approach matters

When discussing physical health and hypnotherapy, it is important to stay firmly within the evidence and avoid exaggerated claims.

The NHS describes hypnotherapy as a complementary therapy that may help with certain conditions or symptoms for some people, while emphasising that it should not replace conventional medical care. (nhs.uk)

That distinction matters because physical symptoms require proper assessment.

Persistent pain, fatigue, gastrointestinal symptoms, sleep problems, or changes in physical functioning should always be appropriately investigated medically where indicated.

As a Registered Mental Health Nurse with nearly 20 years of NHS experience, including work in patient safety and adult mental health services, Christopher Hardy’s approach is grounded in careful assessment, professional boundaries, and evidence-informed practice.

That means:

• recognising when symptoms require medical input rather than hypnotherapy

• understanding the interaction between stress physiology and physical symptoms

• avoiding pseudoscientific explanations or overpromising outcomes

• and working collaboratively within appropriate limits of practice

In physical health work especially, credibility depends on restraint, transparency, and clinical judgement.

What the evidence says about hypnotherapy and physical health

The evidence for hypnotherapy varies considerably depending on the condition being studied.

Some of the strongest evidence relates to:

• pain management

• irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

• procedural anxiety and medical settings

• sleep and stress-related symptoms

• and aspects of performance under pressure

Pain management

Pain is now understood as more than a simple “damage signal”.

Contemporary pain science recognises that pain perception is shaped by attention, emotion, expectation, previous experience, and nervous system sensitisation.

This is one reason psychological approaches can influence pain outcomes.

A systematic review published in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews found that hypnosis showed meaningful effects in both acute and chronic pain conditions, particularly when integrated into broader treatment approaches (Thompson et al., 2019).

Similarly, the British Psychological Society notes that hypnosis has demonstrated effectiveness in some pain management contexts, particularly procedural pain and chronic pain support. (bps.org.uk)

Importantly, this does not mean hypnotherapy “cures” pain conditions. Rather, it may help modify pain perception, reduce distress associated with pain, and improve coping and nervous system regulation.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

One of the better-established clinical applications of hypnotherapy in the UK is IBS.

NICE guidance for IBS acknowledges that psychological interventions, including hypnotherapy, may be considered for people whose symptoms persist despite standard treatments. (nice.org.uk)

Gut-directed hypnotherapy has been studied extensively, with research suggesting benefits for symptom severity, pain, bloating, and quality of life in some patients (Ford et al., 2009).

This is particularly relevant because IBS involves complex interactions between the gut, autonomic nervous system, stress responses, and brain–gut signalling.

Stress physiology and physical symptoms

Many physical symptoms are worsened by chronic stress activation.

Muscle tension, headaches, sleep disturbance, gastrointestinal symptoms, fatigue, jaw clenching, elevated physiological arousal, and autonomic dysregulation can all become reinforced over time.

Research suggests hypnosis may help reduce physiological stress responses, including autonomic arousal and stress-related activation (Hammond, 2010).

In practice, this may help some people access calmer physiological states more reliably and reduce patterns of chronic overactivation.

Hypnotherapy and sleep

Sleep difficulties sit at the intersection of physical and mental health.

Poor sleep affects immune function, pain sensitivity, mood regulation, concentration, cardiovascular health, and recovery.

Hypnotic techniques focused on relaxation, attentional control, and reducing cognitive arousal may help some individuals with stress-related insomnia symptoms (Cordi et al., 2015).

Again, this is not positioned as a replacement for evidence-based insomnia treatment such as CBT-I, but it may function as a supportive adjunct in some cases.

Performance enhancement and human functioning

Hypnotherapy is not used only in healthcare settings. There is also evidence suggesting it may support aspects of performance where attention, confidence, physiological regulation, and automaticity are important.

This includes:

• sport performance

• public speaking

• examinations and academic performance

• musical and creative performance

• and high-pressure occupational settings

The mechanisms involved are thought to include attentional control, reduced performance anxiety, mental rehearsal, expectancy effects, and improved self-regulation.

A systematic review in Sports Medicine found evidence that hypnosis may positively influence athletic performance, particularly where psychological variables such as confidence and anxiety management are relevant (Lundqvist et al., 2022).

In elite performance environments, psychological state matters.

Physiological over-arousal, self-monitoring, anticipatory anxiety, and attentional disruption can all impair execution under pressure. Hypnotherapy may help some individuals reduce those barriers and improve consistency of performance.

Understanding what hypnotherapy is — and is not

There is a tendency online to present hypnosis as mysterious or transformative. The evidence suggests something more grounded.

Hypnosis is generally understood as a state of focused attention combined with increased responsiveness to suggestion and altered patterns of cognitive processing.

Neuroscience research suggests hypnosis may influence brain systems involved in:

• attention

• salience detection

• expectation

• pain processing

• and self-referential awareness

These are highly relevant systems in both physical symptom experience and performance contexts (Landry et al., 2017).

That does not make hypnosis magical - it makes it a potentially useful psychological tool for influencing processes that are already known to shape health and performance outcomes.

Why professional background matters

Hypnotherapy in the UK is not a statutorily regulated profession. Training standards and clinical understanding can vary substantially between practitioners.

That matters particularly when working with physical symptoms, because symptoms can reflect underlying medical conditions, medication effects, neurodevelopmental differences, trauma responses, or mental health presentations that require appropriate recognition and referral.

Chris’ NHS background provides a clinically informed framework that prioritises:

• safety and appropriateness

• evidence-informed practice

• understanding of biopsychosocial models of health

• careful assessment and formulation

• and clear ethical boundaries

This approach is deliberately grounded rather than sensationalised.

What hypnotherapy may help with

Where appropriate, hypnotherapy may support people experiencing:

• stress-related physical tension

• chronic stress and burnout patterns

• sleep difficulties

• IBS and stress-sensitive gastrointestinal symptoms

• procedural anxiety

• chronic pain support

• headaches linked to tension or stress

• performance anxiety

• confidence and focus under pressure

• habit-related behavioural patterns affecting health

Particularly where symptoms involve strong autonomic, attentional, or conditioned components.

A balanced and responsible approach

The strongest position on hypnotherapy is neither scepticism nor exaggeration.

It is balance.

There is credible evidence that hypnotherapy may help with some physical health symptoms and aspects of performance functioning, particularly where stress physiology, pain perception, autonomic regulation, attention, and conditioned responses are involved.

At the same time, responsible practice means recognising limitations, avoiding inflated claims, and ensuring physical symptoms are appropriately assessed and treated medically where necessary.

That is ultimately what evidence-informed complementary care should look like: careful, ethical, clinically grounded, and focused on supporting meaningful improvement where appropriate.

References

British Psychological Society (2020) Hypnosis and pain management. Available at: https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/hypnosis-and-pain-management

Cordi, M.J., Schlarb, A.A. and Rasch, B. (2015) ‘Deepening sleep by hypnotic suggestion’, Sleep, 37(6), pp. 1143–1152.

Ford, A.C., Talley, N.J., Schoenfeld, P.S., Quigley, E.M.M. and Moayyedi, P. (2009) ‘Efficacy of antidepressants and psychological therapies in irritable bowel syndrome: systematic review and meta-analysis’, Gut, 58(3), pp. 367–378.

Hammond, D.C. (2010) ‘Hypnosis in the treatment of anxiety- and stress-related disorders’, Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 10(2), pp. 263–273.

Landry, M., Lifshitz, M. and Raz, A. (2017) ‘Brain correlates of hypnosis: a systematic review and meta-analytic exploration’, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 81, pp. 75–98.

Lundqvist, C., Lindner, P. and Gustafsson, H. (2022) ‘Hypnosis in sport and exercise psychology: a systematic review’, Sports Medicine - Open, 8(1).

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2008, updated 2017) Irritable bowel syndrome in adults: diagnosis and management (CG61). Available at: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg61

NHS (2026) Hypnotherapy. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hypnotherapy/

Thompson, T., Terhune, D.B., Oram, C., Sharangparni, J., Rouf, R., Solmi, M., Veronese, N. and Stubbs, B. (2019) ‘The effectiveness of hypnosis for pain relief: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 85 controlled experimental trials’, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 99, pp. 298–310.

Written by Christopher Hardy BSc (Hons), DipPSN, RNMH (NMC Registered Mental Health Nurse, PIN 09F0389E)

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Asclepieia Hypnotherapy and Wellness, The Divergent Space, 6 Victoria St, Skipton BD23 1JE

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Company number 17167132
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Registered office: 15 Princes Drive, Skipton, England, BD23 1HN

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