Leanora Babb-Benjamin: Rewiring Minds – Why My Success Empowers Journeys

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Meet Leanora Babb-Benjamin, a Clinical Hypnotherapist whose mission is to help individuals overcome stress, anxiety, and other challenges through the power of the mind. With a background spanning risk consultancy, legal advising, and project management, Leanora brings a unique and empathetic perspective to her practice.

Through personalized sessions that cater to each client’s specific needs, she ensures an effective and adaptable therapeutic approach. Whether it’s in-person or online consultations, Leanora strikes the perfect balance between personalized experiences and accessibility, making sure her clients feel supported and empowered throughout their transformative journey.

With a commitment to continuous learning and staying up to date with the latest research, Leanora ensures that her solutions are evidence-based and impactful, empowering her clients to embrace positive change and achieve lasting results.

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Leanora, as a Clinical Hypnotherapist, you address a wide range of issues from stress and anxiety to pain management and sports performance. How do you ensure that your therapeutic approach remains effective and adaptable for the diverse needs of your clients?

Ensuring that the therapeutic approach remains effective and adaptable for the diverse needs of clients requires knowledge, skill, and a client-centred approach. Some of the strategies I use to achieve this are:

Initial Consultation: An assessment is made of the client’s needs, goals, and challenges before hypnotherapy sessions are started so that I can understand their circumstances and tailor their treatment to address their specific issues.

Being Flexible: I use a wide range of hypnosis techniques, such as direct suggestions, visualizations, and reframing, so that I can use the most appropriate techniques for the client.

Having an individual induction: Induction is the process of guiding a client into a hypnotic state. People respond differently to various methods, so having a variety of techniques will be helpful so that you can choose which one will resonate with the client.

Being culturally sensitive and diversity aware: I am sensitive to cultural and religious diversity and will provide an open and safe environment where the client feels comfortable and understood.

To have open and honest communication—this helps with building rapport and a strong therapeutic alliance where clients are encouraged to express their feelings and concerns.

Measuring Outcomes: Feedback from clients to ensure they are on track and making positive changes.

By using these strategies, I can create an adaptable and effective therapeutic approach that caters to the diverse needs of clients and promotes positive and lasting change.

It’s fascinating to see how you offer both in-person and online therapy sessions. How do you strike a balance between the personalized experience of face-to-face sessions and the convenience and accessibility of online consultations?

Striking a balance between the personalised experience of face-to-face sessions and the convenience and accessibility of online consultations requires careful consideration and adaptation of therapeutic techniques. Before starting the online consultations, an initial consultation would be conducted to understand the client’s needs.

Also, building rapport is essential for both online consultations and face-to-face sessions where eye contact is established, body language is gauged, and the client is actively listened to.

The approach can also be adapted to suit online consultations using visualisations and guided imagery. Technology can also be used to enhance the online consultation by incorporating pre-recorded audio. Although online consultations may have potential distractions, these can be countered by the client finding a quiet and comfortable space.

If there are technical issues, I ensure that there is a backup plan in place to reschedule the session or provide telephone support to ensure continuity.

Many people struggle with low self-esteem and fears, which can significantly impact their personal and professional lives. Could you share a success story where your hypnotherapy techniques played a pivotal role in helping a client overcome these challenges and achieve a positive transformation?

I had a client who had general anxiety issues and imposter syndrome. They got anxious prior to giving presentations, even though they had done this many times before.

This was causing my client to become stressed. Gentle hypnotic inductions were used to help the client reach a deep state of relaxation, and during this state I was able to access their subconscious mind, where the root causes of the client’s low self-esteem resided.

Past experiences were identified that had instilled these beliefs, and these were gently addressed over time through positive affirmations. The client was encouraged to recognise their unique strengths and accomplishments, which helped them break free from their negative self-doubt. They are now more confident about their abilities and know their self-worth.

Another client had a spider phobia, and their reactions, by their own admission, were completely disproportionate. They would spend a long time trying to figure out how to deal with spiders and would not deal with them on their own.

The client was unable to accept an invitation to Australia because of the phobia. Guided imagery and visualisations were used to help the client reframe their thoughts about spiders.

This created scenarios in their minds where they felt safe and in control while encountering spiders but replaced their fear with empowerment, turning fear into a more balanced response.

The client now understands why they behaved the way they did and is now able to move away from this emotional response to a more logical, sensible one using their intellectual brain. The client’s behaviour and thought processes have changed, and they are now confident about going to Australia.

As a practitioner in the field of hypnotherapy, how do you address any misconceptions or scepticism that potential clients may have about the efficacy of hypnosis as a therapeutic tool?

Initially, by having face-to-face conversations and gaining that trust and rapport that are so crucial to the success of the therapeutic relationship. In addition, having clear and accurate information about hypnosis being used as a therapeutic tool with explanations as to what it is, how it works, and what it is not, thus dispelling common myths and misconceptions.

This provides clients with a better understanding of hypnosis as a safe and evidence-based therapeutic technique. The initial consultation would allow clients to ask questions and express any doubts, so that any fears that they may have would be allayed.

I also adopt a client-centred approach, so the client’s concerns and questions are listened to and dealt with empathetically. This fosters a supportive environment for the client.

The client’s specific needs are catered for, and the sessions are tailored according to their circumstances. I would also emphasise to clients that they are active participants, and that success relies on their willingness to engage in the therapeutic journey. This empowers them to take ownership of their own healing process.

I would mention client testimonials to reassure them, build confidence in the process and alleviate scepticism. So, by creating an open environment where potential clients feel comfortable, this builds trust and lays the foundation for a successful therapeutic relationship and positive outcomes for the client.

Your work includes supporting clients in smoking cessation. Smoking addiction can be incredibly challenging to overcome. Can you describe some of the unique strategies or methods you employ to help individuals successfully quit smoking and maintain a smoke-free lifestyle in the long term?

When dealing with smoking cessation, I work with clients to identify the specific triggers that lead to their smoking behavior, which can be emotional, environmental, or social, so that the client becomes aware of their smoking patterns. 

Clients are helped to challenge and reframe their beliefs about smoking, which addresses any limiting beliefs they may have about the difficulty of giving up smoking or the perceived benefits of smoking. By reshaping their thoughts and beliefs, clients can develop a more positive and empowering mindset towards quitting.

Guided imagery and visualisations are used to help clients imagine themselves as non-smokers, living a healthier and smoke free life. This helps them to create a strong mental image of success making it easier for them to work towards their goals.

I also empower clients by encouraging self-confidence and self-control by using suggestions to strengthen their ability to stop smoking successfully and to overcome any challenges.

Post-hypnotic suggestions are also used to give specific instructions to the client’s subconscious mind to resist the urge to smoke, which remain effective after the sessions have ended.

Giving up smoking successfully is an ongoing process, but hypnotherapy can help clients stop smoking and create lasting changes in their behaviour and attitude, leading to a healthier and smoke-free lifestyle in the long term.

What motivated you to transition from working as an Associate Project Manager in the corporate world to becoming a Clinical Hypnotherapist, focusing on providing solutions for clients with issues such as stress, anxiety, and depression?

Prior to becoming an Associate Project Manager, I worked as a Solicitor who sued local authorities on behalf of tenants who lived in properties that were in a profound state of disrepair. 

In addition, I volunteer for two charities, one which delivers food to the local community and the other that teaches English to refugees, so I have always done something to help people. This time, still continuing in that vein of helping others, I wanted to do something more holistic, so I decided to train as a Clinical Hypnotherapist. 

This opened me up to an amazing world that showed that everything we do is controlled by our minds and that once we understand how the mind works, we discover why we do the things that we do.

Powerful stuff. Everyone with a pulse will suffer from stress and anxiety at some stage in their lives; some people go on to get depression. Hypnotherapy has been proven to alleviate the symptoms of stress by getting clients into a deeply relaxed state to reduce tension and ease stress.

Seeing people change their outlook from negative, self-limiting beliefs to one of having a happier, more positive outlook on life is as pleasing as it is humbling.

As a Clinical Hypnotherapist, you mention that you work together with clients to help them find a better version of themselves. Could you share a particularly inspiring success story where your approach led to significant and sustained behavioural change for one of your clients?

A client had presented themselves as being anxious and not sleeping properly, as well as having a lack of self-belief and imposter syndrome. They found it difficult to acknowledge the good work that they did and had difficulty accepting praise, even from people they had done work for.

They lacked confidence in putting themselves forward for work and did little to promote themselves.

Throughout several sessions, it was explained to the client how the brain worked, why they had these negative thought patterns, and what they could do about it.

Also explained was the importance of relaxing and getting a good night’s sleep, along with various metaphors that were used to provide positive messages for the client to take on board going forward. Each session was used to completely relax the client and provide them with positive messages. 

Over time, the change in the client became evident as they became more confident in being able to showcase what they could do and, as a result, won additional profitable work from their newfound confidence. They were also sleeping better and less anxious.

The client is now a confident individual who is in a much better place than when they started therapy. They had gotten a new job, sought and obtained positive feedback from their peers on the work that they did, and did not feel shy about asking for testimonials. They appeared to be more confident within themselves and networked to promote their talents.

Your professional journey includes experiences in various fields such as risk consultancy, legal advising, and project management. How have these diverse experiences influenced your approach to hypnotherapy, and how do you integrate different perspectives into your practice?

I would like to think that my diverse experiences have influenced my approach to hypnotherapy by making me more culturally sensitive so that I can tailor my approach, accordingly, ensuring clients from different backgrounds feel comfortable and understood and that the process becomes more relatable and effective.

I also believe that I am empathetic and understanding, having encountered clients with various life challenges and thus having a compassionate and non-judgmental approach to their issues.

In addition, I have respect for different viewpoints and lifestyles, which makes for an inclusive and accepting therapeutic environment. I also try to remain mindful of unconscious bias during sessions, helping to ensure that the client’s experiences are free from any personal bias.

Integrating different perspectives in the practise is important for providing effective and client-focused treatment, and this is done, inter alia, by having continuous education to stay open-minded and adaptable as well as understanding how cultural factors may influence a client’s attitude and experience towards hypnosis.

I also encourage open communication and collaboration with clients, which encourages an inclusive therapeutic relationship.

In addition, supervision or consultation from experienced colleagues provides valuable insights and support when dealing with complex cases. Finally, I think that it is important to regularly reflect on matters in order to see how things can change and improve, which will lead to my growing as a practitioner.

The services you offer are targeted towards individuals dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. How do you ensure that your practice remains empathetic and welcoming to clients, creating a safe space for them to open up and work towards positive change?

I ensure that I remain empathetic and welcoming to clients, which is important when building trust, by actively listening without judgement so that they feel that their feelings are validated. Clients often share personal and vulnerable experiences, so they need to feel assured that they won’t be judged.

I adopt a client-centred approach to tailor the sessions to the clients’ own needs and experiences. I build trust with clients over time and, of course, maintain confidentiality.

When clients are anxious during the session, the emotions felt are normalized, which helps them know that their feelings are understood. Having clear, effective communication is key, as this enables clients to ask questions and for me to explore deeper into their thoughts and feelings. All of these strategies will enable clients to feel supported and empowered as they work towards positive change.

Mental health and well-being have gained more attention and importance in recent years. What steps do you take to stay updated with the latest developments and research in the field of hypnotherapy and behavioural change, ensuring you provide the most effective and evidence-based solutions to your clients?

Staying updated with the latest developments in hypnotherapy requires continuing education through webinars and seminars to get access to the latest research and advances. also joining professional organisations that allow access to resources and publications.

I also have the option to follow online resources from membership websites as well as blogs and forums, attend conferences, and take academic courses. Networking and engaging with other hypnotherapists are also good sources of valuable information and knowledge, as is speaking to experienced practitioners via consultation and/or supervision.

Having a variety of ways to stay updated means that I can provide the most effective and evidence-based solutions to clients that will promote positive and lasting outcomes.

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