A Carlisle-based hypnotherapy business is moving from strength to strength as it expands into a new office space.

Light in the Dark Hypnotherapy is on a mission to help people 'get their sparkle back' by offering solution-focused hypnotherapy which includes a mixture of talk therapy and hypnosis.

Owner Christine Courtney can support clients with a wide range of concerns such as anxiety, depression, phobias, addictions, PTSD, and smoking. 

She said: "Solution-focused hypnotherapy is based on the fact that everybody has what they have inside. We all have a way of finding our own steps to heal ourselves.

"So, what we do is we focus on the future rather than going back into the past."

By focusing on good things that have been happening in a person's life, they feel better and Christine is able to help them think on the next steps to continue to make positive and uplifting changes. 

She then uses hypnosis to make suggestions that will nurture their confidence and optimism.

The reality of hypnosis is nothing like the movies and tv shows, Christine isn't going to wave a watch in front of a person's face or make them do something silly.

They're in a deep state of relaxation where they're aware of everything going on around them but they can get up and walk away if they're uncomfortable.

"I actually sit here and I draw the brain on a board, and I show them everything that's happening and how it works and why it works," said Christine.

"And then after that, if they're happy with that, to give it a try, then we start with the therapy."

Christine originally qualified and practiced hypnotherapy in Canada but decided to move back to the UK when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

When she came back to the UK, she undertook further training in Newcastle to qualify in solution-focused hypnotherapy.

But, it's an ongoing process of learning and undertaking research to understand how best to treat people.

She said: "Even though I was certified, I'm still learning. It is a year now, since I was certified, but I'm forever learning because of scientific research, so I read and read and read.

"So I was still seeing people in Canada online and I was finding that my solution-focused work was working quicker than what I was doing with the others. 

"I thought, right, I'm going to take a leap of faith. I'm going to get myself a little office, which I did, and I want to really make a go of it."

Light in the Dark Hypnotherapy has been operating out of its new base at the Carlisle Enterprise Centre for a couple of months now.

You can find out more by visiting the website: lightinthedarkhypnotherapy.com