Elizabeth Newton

At Fresh Leaf Hypnotherapy, I believe change should feel empowering, not overwhelming. While traditional hypnotherapy often revisits the past, Solution Focused Hypnotherapy (SFH) approach is different. It’s modern, practical, and designed to help you move forward with confidence.

What Makes Solution Focused Hypnotherapy Unique?

• Future‑Focused: We don’t dwell on past traumas. Instead, we help you build the life you want.
• Evidence‑Based: SFH blends neuroscience, CBT, NLP, and Solution Focused Brief Therapy with hypnosis.
• Empowering: You’re not a passive participant — you’re an active partner in your own transformation.
• Efficient: Because sessions are goal‑driven, clients often notice results faster than with traditional methods.

Why SFH Has the Edge Over Other Hypnotherapy Styles

The Fresh Leaf Hypnotherapy Difference

• Safe, Supportive Environment: A calm space where you can focus on solutions, not problems.
• Tailored Sessions: Designed around your personal goals — from reducing anxiety to boosting performance.
• Practical Tools: Strategies you can use in everyday life, not just temporary relief.
• Sustainable Change: Build resilience so improvements last long after sessions end.

Common Issues that Respond well to SFH

• Anxiety and stress management
• Confidence and self‑esteem building
• Phobias and fears
• Weight management and healthy habits
• Sleep improvement
• Performance enhancement (work, sports, exams)

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy isn’t just another style of hypnosis — it’s a modern, empowering toolkit for lasting change. At Fresh Leaf Hypnotherapy, we’re here to help you move forward, not look back.

Ready to turn over a new leaf? Book your no obligation consultation today and discover how Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can help you achieve your goals.

Far too often I hear how problematic phone addiction is. Whether it’s a client being aware they are squandering free time aimlessly scrolling or checking their phone late into the night or, be it the impact of a spouse or teenagers’ phone addiction. And aside from being hugely useful, there is more to our smartphone use than simply convenience. Every notification, scroll, or buzz triggers a burst of dopamine, the brain’s reward chemical. These are unpredictable rewards — sometimes there’s a message, sometimes not — create a powerful variable reinforcement loop, the same mechanism behind slot machine addiction. Over time, this rewires the brain’s reward circuits, making phone-checking an automatic reflex rather than a conscious choice.

Fortunately, research shows that changing your environment is more effective than relying on willpower alone. Here are five neuroscience-informed, evidence-based ways to physically reduce phone use — and the proven benefits your brain experiences when you do.

1. Keep your phone out of sight and out of reach

Even a silent, face-down phone reduces available cognitive capacity. The mere presence of your device activates attention and reward networks, pulling mental energy away from tasks. Keeping your phone in another room while working or studying significantly restores focus and working memory.

The benefit: When freed from constant micro-distractions, the prefrontal cortex — the brain’s center for focus and reasoning — regains efficiency, improving attention span and decision-making.

2. Charge your phone outside the bedroom

Blue light exposure from screens delays melatonin release, disrupting sleep cycles. Poor sleep increases dopamine sensitivity, making you more vulnerable to compulsive behaviors. Charging your phone in another room supports healthier sleep and reduces nighttime scrolling.

The benefit: Better sleep enhances emotional regulation and cognitive control, both essential for resisting impulsive behaviors. People who reduce late-night phone use report significantly lower anxiety and higher morning focus.

3. Create phone-free zones

Habits are context-dependent — your brain associates places with actions. If you always use your phone at the dining table or in bed, those environments become automatic cue triggers. Designating certain areas as “no-phone zones” breaks that link and weakens the habit loop.

The benefit: People who adopt “digital boundaries” experience measurable gains in well-being and life satisfaction, feeling more socially connected and less stressed.

4. Add friction with physical barriers

Self-control improves when we add small barriers between impulse and action. Try storing your phone in a drawer, bag, or time-lock box during work blocks. The brief delay re-engages your prefrontal cortex — the brain’s center for focus and decision

The benefit: After as little as one week of reduced use, participants in controlled studies report increased mindfulness and improved mood, suggesting that the mental energy freed from phone interruptions can be redirected toward more fulfilling activities.

5. Replace the physical habit

The brain also craves the tactile stimulation of holding a phone. Cognitive-behavioral strategies suggest using “sensory replacements” — like a journal, stress ball, or cup of tea — to satisfy the motor urge without triggering dopamine-seeking behaviors.

The benefit: Substituting screen time with mindful or sensory experiences (like reading or walking outdoors) promotes serotonin and oxytocin release, which enhance calm and emotional balance. Over time, your brain begins to associate peace — not stimulation — with daily moments of rest.

The Payoff: A Rewired and Balanced Mind

When people intentionally reduce smartphone use, the brain begins to rebalance its reward system. Studies show improvements in attention control, emotional regulation, and overall mental well-being. Participants who limit phone use to 60 minutes per day report lower stress, reduced FOMO, and higher life satisfaction.

This isn’t about rejecting technology — it’s about reclaiming your attention, peace, and presence. The brain’s plasticity means that with small, consistent changes, it can unlearn the hyper-stimulated patterns of smartphone addiction and rediscover calm focus.

When you step away from your phone, you don’t lose connection — you rediscover it, within yourself and with the world around you.

If you are concerned about your phone usage and have tried the above, Hypnotherapy may provide alternative strategies that might be able to help you break the cycle. Do get in touch if you would like to find out more. 

References

• Duckworth, A. L., Gendler, T. S., & Gross, J. J. (2016). Situational strategies for self-control. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11(1), 35–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691615623247
• Fredrickson, B. L. (2013). Positive emotions broaden and build. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 1–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-407236-7.00001-2
• Harvard Medical School. (2015). Blue light has a dark side. Harvard Health Publishing. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blue-light-has-a-dark-side
• Hinsch, C., Sheldon, K. M., & Schiefer, D. (2022). Digital detox: The effect of limiting social media use on well-being. Computers in Human Behavior, 127, 107044. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.107044
• Johannes, N., Veling, H., Verwijmeren, T., & Buijzen, M. (2021). Smartphone restriction improves well-being and decreases stress: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial. Computers in Human Behavior, 122, 106845. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106845
• Kushlev, K., Proulx, J., & Dunn, E. W. (2016). “Silence your phones”: Smartphone notifications increase inattention and hyperactivity symptoms. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 1(4), 482–491. https://doi.org/10.1086/687262
• Ward, A. F., Duke, K., Gneezy, A., & Bos, M. W. (2017). Brain drain: The mere presence of one’s own smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2(2), 140–154. https://doi.org/10.1086/691462
• Wood, W., & Neal, D. T. (2007). A new look at habits and the habit-goal interface. Psychological Review, 114(4), 843–863. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.114.4.843

Hypnotherapy is often associated with interventions such as weight loss, stopping smoking and overcoming phobias but it also has powerful applications to low mood, stress and anxiety. In fact, most of my current remit is helping clients move away from periods of very low mood, including Depression, extreme burnout and generalized anxiety. For a number of reasons, the modern world is more challenging than it ever has been, our devices make us constantly reachable, social media leads to ever increasing levels of comparison yet loneliness is on the rise, ‘the news’, most of it currently very concerning is never too far from our fingertips and generally the expectations of us from industry, education and technology can leave us feeling left behind. It is no surprise at all that mental health continues to be a very hot potato spanning all ages and life stages.

Thankfully, solution focused Hypnotherapy offers clients the opportunity to create positivity, order and clarity regardless of the landscape they currently find themselves in and to quote one recent client, ‘seeing the light at the end of the tunnel can feel very empowering’ . Using goal-based questioning specifically tailored to you, a Solution Focused Hypnotherapist will coach you into taking small, positive and actionable steps. Drawing on knowledge from Neuroscience, Psychology and Hypnosis, the Solution Focused Hypnotherapist puts you in the driving seat of your change. And if this sounds a little daunting, fear not, every session is paced to suit you. After a series of sessions it is not uncommon for clients to feel more motivated, better rested and better able to calmly do life and to quote another client, ‘better able to handle the lows and enjoy the highs’. So if you would like to step away from the funk that has been your mood lately and see a different perspective, please get in touch to book a consultation to discuss how Solution Focused Hypnotherapy may help you.

It’s fascinating to think that our mental health is not just linked to the things we do and the thoughts we have, but also the state of our gut! It’s widely known that exercise, spending time with good people, having satisfying jobs and interests make us feel happy and positive and that sitting behind all of that is our mushy grey mass of neurons that we call the brain that is constantly wiring and rewiring itself in reaction to the above. But in addition to all that, there is an interesting and emerging field of research exploring how the gut impacts the way that we feel at a psychological level. It adds a whole new dimension to the expression ‘listen to your gut!’ 

Our gut and brain are in constant communication through our gut-brain axis. Each influencing each other via the vagus nerve to maintain the body in a state of homeostasis. The emerging evidence is that our gut bacteria and the by-products they produce, affect mood, cognition, and behaviour by regulating hormones and neurotransmitters. They may even affect our immune system by increasing the quality of immune cells produced in the bone marrow and even whether we feel full or satisfied after eating. A diverse gut flora with a range of different strains of bacteria achieved via a ‘psychobiotic diet’ (that is characterized by prebiotics (high fibre items such as oats, onions, garlic, beans and whole wheat), probiotics (such as fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi) and low inflammatory items such as sweets, fast foods and sugary drinks has been found to lowered perceived stress. Other studies have shown that a ‘Mediterranean diet’ with low inflammatory foods and high probiotics is associated with lowered risk of depression. Furthermore, a  study carried out in the Netherlands by Steenberg et al 2015 concluded that a probiotic supplement was linked to lower cognitive reactivity and better mood.

A large-scale review article by Ruo-Gu Xion et al in 2023 showed that a psychobiotic diet could have the potential to prevent and help manage anxiety, depression, ASD and schizophrenia and potentially help alleviate some of the side effects of antipsychotic medication. Interesting stuff! The review also found that certain spices, some medicinal herbs, fermented dairy products and a higher daily intake of fruit and vegetables had protective effects against anxiety and depression and could possibly lower inattention in ADHD children.

More research is certainly needed in this area and I’m confident there will be much more to come, but it really is exciting to think that some healthy additions and omissions from our daily diet and/or a multi-strain pro and prebiotic supplements may actually positively affect our mental health. We really are what we eat!

I often hear this when I explain what I do as a Hypnotherapist and as the 10th October is World Mental Health Day, I’ve been thinking about how people generally view Hypnotherapy. It seems Hypnotherapy has quite a good reputation for helping people stop smoking (everyone seems to know someone who quit through Hypnotherapy), or for phobias (again we all seem to know someone who couldn’t get on a plane or handle a spider alone before Hypnotherapy) and for losing weight. However Hypnotherapy as a therapy for helping people with their mental health seems much less mainstream.

The ironic thing is that this is most of what I do on a daily basis. I work with clients who are immobilised by Anxiety- whether this be a teen who is unable to get to college to study alongside peers because of social anxiety or an older person who is too afraid to have an important conversation with a loved one because they are afraid of the consequences. I meet clients who are depleted by low mood and depression and who find it a struggle simply to get out of bed and dressed for the day, let alone fly off to the sunshine in an airplane! I also meet clients so dominated by intrusive negative thoughts about themselves that undermines their confidence and self-esteem and prevents them taking the  progressive and forward-focused steps they’d like to take in their careers, relationships and personal interests. And I meet the poor sleepers, the comfort eaters, the obsessive social media or doom scrollers, the problematic drinkers, the hair-pullers, nail-biters, the shopaholics and the shouty parents with tonnes of guilt. So yes, I very much definitely work with clients to improve their Mental Health!

The good news is my approach as a Solution Focused Hypnotherapist can be hugely effective for all of the issues above. Simply head over to my testimonials page to hear from some of my previous clients.  Testimonials | Fresh Leaf Hypnotherapy

So, if you are considering Hypnotherapy, we will begin with a no obligation consultation. This can be either in-person or face to face. Should you decide to progress, we will then begin Hypnotherapy sessions together and will work at your pace. There will never too much pressure, criticism or judgement and for these reasons a Hypnotherapy sessions feels like a safe-space in which you can be comfortable to make the changes you need.

Today, the 19th September is Youth Mental Health Awareness Day and I feel it is especially important to encourage conversations about mental health in this demographic. Not just today but every day. So let’s start by considering what exactly is ‘mental health’? It’s a term we hear a lot and for many, it conquers descriptions of mental-ill health such as depression, anxiety, stress, psychosis and all of their associated negative behaviours. But surely there is more to mental health than merely the absence of these states?

Question any young person today and you may hear ‘free from depression, free from anxiety’ when talking about mental health. But from exploring what defines mental health in the therapy room, a recurring theme underlying most peoples’ best hopes from Hypnotherapy sessions seems to be a balanced state of self. Imagine the image of a set of weighing scales that can, from time to time, be tipped in either direction as a result of a life event(s), trigger or chemical imbalance. We may remain in this ‘tipped’ state for minutes, hours or days whilst navigating the situation. Sometimes we are aware we’re there, sometimes we are unaware until afterwards, but in time, we will swing back to the middle again to return to our place of balance. Balance being, a sense of control, capacity, autonomy and clarity.

Many of us have our ‘hacks’ for returning to this state of balance and some of us are quite expert at it. Be it going out for a run, walking away from a situation, reaching out to a friend, picking up an old hobby, a digital detox or even something bolder yet, solution-focused like a change of relationship, house or career. Mental health therefore isn’t simply feeling happy and positive as some may imagine it, oozing confidence, charisma and self-discipline, but instead, having resilience, adaptability and a solution-orientated attitude to achieve our equilibrium in the face of all of those unexpected twists and turns that life will inevitably throw at us.

For the youth of today and tomorrow who navigate life in a fast-paced and uncertain world, it is therefore essential to nurture mental healthiness by becoming experts in their own life hacks and strategies for coping. To be relentless problem-solvers and solution-finders and to have the confidence to reach out beyond themselves for reassurance, guidance and support as they fine-tune these life skills. It is always a pleasure to partner with my clients to help them return to their place of balance and to discover their path to a more peaceful and purposeful sense of being using solution-focused hypnotherapy. Not only that, but to acquire skills and knowledge to set them up for a lifetime so that they can better enjoy the highs and cope with the inevitable lows. Hypnotherapy via Zoom also means that whatever the constraints around your time and location, it is always possible for us to work together. If you would like to explore how Hypnotherapy may help you, either in-person or remotely, please get in touch to book your without obligation consultation.

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It’s Monday morning, I’ve survived the school run and I’m prepping for my first client of a busy day with an oversized coffee. I’m hugely short on sleep as I’ve been up in the night trying to sort out a technical issue with my email which is definitely, not my thing! I have a slightly wretched feeling after doing no exercise aside from pulling out a few weeds in the garden, as I have spent the weekend taxiing my children to various fun parties. I have eaten convenience food, drunk a few glasses of wine and am certainly not, my ‘best self’ on this bright Monday morning. Suffice to say, I have a fair to middling water line in my ‘stress bucket’.

Yet tonight is the night I am going to throw myself literally in the deep end. In to a big, deep lake! Open water swimming, with the moon as our nightlight!

“It’s going to be fun!” they say. “Yes” I said, but that was last week!

I have borrowed a friends’ floaty thing, I have Amazon speed-ordered my head torch and dusted the cobwebs off a lesser spotted wetsuit. I have also told virtually everyone I know that I’m going to swim in a lake at bedtime. Committed- yes!

No big of a deal. Right?! For some people. But a sizable deal for me! My primitive emotional brain kicks in quickly on Monday morning with its’ pessimistic outlook for my evening- lets’ recap the rhetoric:

1. Wetsuits are not my thing. This is the WRONG wet suit!
2. It will be TOO cold. I don’t do cold very well as my circulatory system has been unplugged with the passage of age! Thermal shock, perhaps drowning!
3. Can I REALLY swim that well?! Yes I can hold my own in water but my primitive brain is vindictively reminding me of a traumatic, near drowning incident in my 20s in shallower, WARM water!
4. Weeds- a devil plant that actively seek out ankles and pull people to their murky depths. I remember hearing about weeds
5. Fish- Anyone that knows me well knows that fish are absolutely not my thing. Less so than wetsuits, cold and drowning. After a successful hypnosis intervention many years ago where my phobia was substantially lessened (thank to my friend Paul Milham Hypnotherapy) my primitive brain reminds me of the size of some over the monstrous carp that would definitely enjoy living in a big lake like this. And Pike, the duckling devouring demons with teeth, well they may like the look of my pink toes desperately wriggling around in the moonlight. (Should have bought lake shoe thingies from Amazon- oh dear, too late now!)

“I could just cancel, watch telly, have an early night”… the primitive brain whispers to me throughout the next 10 hours of my day.

Thankfully a great day seeing lovely clients and delivering copious amounts of hypnosis (it’s what I do) distracts me nicely away from most of the above until the evening rolls round and it’s time to gather myself, say goodbye to the kids mid bedtime routine shenanigans (cue look of horror notable “Mum, you are doing what?!”) and trot to my friend’s, with my bag of alien things, who has kindly agreed to give me a lift.

I am pleased to say I am not writing this from beyond a watery grave. I survived and revelled in the smug feeling of doing it, with a hot chocolate and a very large marshmallow, all toes present, around a lovely warm camp fire. Definitely different for me, for a Monday night!

The worst case scenario DID NOT happen. The negative forecasting of the primitive brain was absolutely, superbly wrong. I could COPE with the cold. I could CHOSE to ignore the feeling of the weeds and I could chose to FOCUS on looking for the moon, my stroke and pushing on with my Lycra clad friends rather than what may be lurking beneath me.

Yes the wet suit was the wrong one. (Can they shrink in the cupboard?) But a bit of discomfort was nothing I couldn’t cope with.

I had overridden my primitive brain. The noisy, negative, Neanderthal, scaredy- cat that just had my safety and social blushes in mind. Whilst my primitive brain had been conjuring false futures for me, what it hadn’t planned was a punctured tyre on the drive home down a dark country lane at a very late hour! Just goes to show how wrong our thoughts can be!So what strategies did I find helpful to overcome self-sabotage?

1. I told lots of people I was going to do it
2. I organised to travel there with a friend
3. I visualised myself enjoyably doing it, and played this positive, best-case scenario like a film reel with a start, middle and end, in my imagination a couple of times in the preceding days
4. I challenged negative thoughts with logic, getting the Executive brain back online
5. I focused on the end goal- how proud I would feel afterwards

If you are thinking about doing something a little out of your comfort zone perhaps these methods may help you. Complementing the above with Hypnotherapy can be a great way of quickly pushing forward a goal and turning it from an idea in to a reality.

During these uncertain times, many of us feel disconnected from ‘normal life’ as a consequence of not doing the things we normally do and not seeing the people we normally connect with for such a protracted period of time. The practical arrangements of working, socialising, shielding, educating and exercising from home, clustered with a small group people (or in isolation) have left many of us feeling lonely, sad and anxious about the future. It is no surprise then, that mental health is in the spotlight by Government Ministers, education leaders, parents and teachers and why many therapists are concerned about the impact of the virus on sleep, addiction and stress-related ill-health.

But, in the darkest of times there can be hope, realisation and rediscovery. It has been a personal pleasure working with clients during lockdown. I have been fortunate enough that my personal circumstances allow me to continue offering sessions via Zoom with new and existing clients. The stories of achievements I hear, of coping and adjusting to a ‘new normal’ have been truly inspiring and as is often the case, I remain in awe of clients. Their resourcefulness, their creativity and their unshakable attitude to make things better. But it doesn’t always start off like that and sessions with me involve redefining needs and expectations then putting in place a manageable future plan – however tenuous that future is. This combination of coaching and goal-setting along with trance, which acts as a catalyst for change, means that clients can and have been, emerging from the Coronavirus pandemic with a very different outlook.

Aside from the obvious advantages of meeting in a virtual way at the moment, online sessions are focused, effective and time-efficient for the clients. So whether you are exploring Hypnotherapy for low mood, agoraphobia, anxiety or sleeping problems, the trancework feels even more comfortable, as it is conducted in your home, on your own familiar bed or sofa . You also get access to your own Hypnosis audio recording to play after the session. Finally, online sessions are currently offered at a reduced price so not only are you saving on fuel, time and risk, you are saving money too. That said, I’m really looking forward to welcoming you back to the Practice, hopefully in the near future.

As a Psychotherapist, one of the areas of brain science I get most excited about is that of Neuroplasticity. This daunting word is actually the concept of the brains’ ability to change and it is fantastically inspiring stuff! This organ has such a propensity for growth and survival, that even following significant brain trauma where large areas of the brain have been severely damaged, it can regenerate itself to a point.

Until about 15 years ago, Scientists largely believed that the brain and personality was pretty much fixed and stable and Personality Theory was in my opinion, overly emphasised in Psychology Degree courses, categorising and labelling ‘personality types’. But relatively recent advances in Neuroscience have shown that the brain is adaptable, like plasticine and it can change throughout our life.

An everyday example of Neuroplasticity is learning a new skill. Remember that first driving lesson? Certainly, for me there was almost too much to take in, the clutch, the steering wheel, changing gear, let alone navigating busy London roads. In that first lesson I remember thinking it impossible I’d ever be able to do all of it at once. Yet here I am, many years later, tootling the kids around in the middle of rush hour, debating with both of them about whether the song on the radio is ‘cool’ or not whilst simultaneously thinking about what we’re having for dinner, whether my youngest has brought home their reading book and keeping an eye on the cyclist 200 meters ahead. I am NOT thinking about what my feet and my hands are doing. That’s automatic now. I have wired in pathways in my brain related to that skill which is ‘driving’. But it took practice, repetition and time to establish those pathways. It also helped that I wanted to learn in the first place.

Its’ the same with most of the ways we think and many of our behaviours and decisions. The more we do a specific ‘something’, we create a pathway for that ‘something’ in the brain. Whether it be snacking when we feel stressed and worried, biting our nails when we’re concentrating on a task or perhaps thinking about what we feel confident and willing to do. As the chemicals in our brain travel down a familiar route, they flow across the same synaptic gaps in between brain cells as they did last time and the gates at the end of the brain cell open more readily in response to those chemicals. Quite literally, a structural path is formed which gets stronger and more resilient the more we repeat it. So much so, that its’ difficult, inconceivable even, to act or think in a different way. Essentially the brain repeats what is familiar and follows the path of least resistance and…..tah dah, a habit is formed. Imagine pouring water down a brick wall. The water flows down grooves in the brickwork it has carved out over many rainy days.

The good news is that we really can make Neuroplasticity work in our favour to achieve something new. Even if this something new is to go to the gym more often, make a cup of tea rather than open a bottle of wine or simply be kinder to ourselves or others. The second piece of good news is it’s never too late to do so. Whilst children and teens have an enviously plastic brain, we can still influence the connectivity of our grey matter well in to late adulthood. In fact, my oldest client in her early nineties surprised herself in discovering she’s a great watercolour artist! Not only that but she CAN be assertive and self-confident, much to the amusement and support of her family and friends.

This, self-directed Neuroplasticity is why people chose my approach as a Solution Focused Hypnotherapist. We use our sessions to create the optimal environment for breaking down old unhelpful pathways and building new, albeit fledgling, helpful ones. Indeed, we can even generate new brain cells if clients are up for the challenge! With intent, repetition, practice and time for nature to do its physiological thing, it really is possible to rewire your brain!