Small steps big changes
Small steps big changes
Depression can feel like a heavy fog, clouding your thoughts, draining your energy and making everyday life feel overwhelming. It’s more than just feeling low, it affects how we think, feel, and interact with the world around us.
If you’re struggling with depression, or supporting someone who is, you might be wondering whether hypnotherapy can help so let’s explore what depression is from a neuroscience perspective and how Solution Focused Hypnotherapy for depression can help you move forward.
Depression isn’t simply a mindset related issue or lack of willpower. It often involves disrupted brain chemistry—particularly in neurotransmitters like:
When you’re stuck in negative thought patterns, the brain’s limbic system, which is the emotional centre, becomes overactive. At the same time, your prefrontal cortex, responsible for rational thinking and decision-making, becomes underactive. This imbalance can make it hard to see solutions, feel hopeful or take action.
Solution Focused Hypnotherapy doesn’t dwell on the past or ask you to re-live painful memories. Instead, it focuses on creating positive change in the present and future. We use the following tools or methods to help rewire the brain for optimism, action and connection:
Positive thinking
At the beginning of each session, clients are asked to share “what’s been good” which plays a vital role in managing depression, both from a neuroscience and practical perspective. Neurologically, this question activates the left prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain associated with logical thinking, optimism, and goal-directed behaviour, shifting you out of the emotionally reactive, survival-focused limbic system.
Practically, it interrupts the brain’s natural negativity bias, which is heightened in depression and causes you to filter out or overlook positive experiences. By encouraging you to focus on small wins or pleasant moments, we begin to retrain the brain to notice and value positive aspects of life, promoting the release of neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. Over time, this consistent focus on what’s going well helps to rewire thought patterns, boost mood and lay the foundation for solution-focused thinking, which are crucial steps in managing or recovering from depression.
Goal Setting
In depression, it’s common to feel stuck or directionless and this in turn impacts motivation. In Solution Focused Hypnotherapy sessions, we work on visualising what life would be like without the problem and we work on identifying small, realistic goals, things that feel manageable and meaningful to you, to move you towards that version of yourself. This process activates the prefrontal cortex and encourages the brain to release dopamine, which boosts motivation and focus. Even tiny goals, like walking to the corner shop or calling a friend, can begin to shift the mental state from hopelessness to momentum.
The 3Ps: Positive Thinking, Action & Interaction
Solution Focused Hypnotherapy focuses on the importance of what we call the 3 P’s:
These three areas are proven to help rebalance brain chemistry.
For example:
When practiced regularly, these behaviours help train the brain to focus more on solutions than problems, which is a powerful antidote to depressive thinking.
In the latter part of each session, you’ll be guided into a state of gentle, natural trance or hypnosis, similar to daydreaming or the feeling you get just before sleep. In this deeply relaxed state, your mind becomes more open to positive suggestions and ideas. The “noise” of daily anxiety quietens down, and the brain’s default mode network, associated with worry and self-criticism, slows down. This gives space for healing, creativity and hope. As a result your brain starts to produce more calming neurotransmitters like GABA and serotonin, reducing anxiety and lifting mood.
This is why many people find hypnosis for depression so effective. Whether you’re facing severe depression or simply feel stuck in a cycle of low mood and negative thinking, take the first step towards regaining control and improving your mood with a free 15 minute consultation to discuss your goals and explore how this approach can benefit you. The purpose of the call is to:
There’s absolutely no obligation, just an opportunity to see if this approach resonates with you.
Book your free consultation today and take the first step towards positive change.