Migraine relief with Hypnotherapy London
Hello, I'm Susannah. I am a fully qualified clinical hypnotherapist and coach with over 22 years of experience, specialising in hypnotherapy for migraine pain and chronic headaches.
I have been awarded the Senior Qualification of Hypnotherapy Practice (SQHP) from the General Hypnotherapy Standards Council (GHSC) and the HPD from the National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH). If you’re looking for migraine hypnosis therapy to ease the intensity or frequency of your migraines, get in touch. I would be happy to support you.
Migraines can be incredibly disruptive, not just because of the pain, but because of how unpredictable and overwhelming they can feel. For many people, the fear of a migraine striking is almost as stressful as the migraine itself. Whether it’s the throbbing pain, visual aura, nausea, or the need to shut yourself away in a dark room, migraines can affect everything from work to relationships to your overall sense of well-being.
Clients often describe feeling like their body is on high alert, sensitive to light, sound, stress, or even certain foods. It can feel exhausting and isolating, especially when you’ve already tried lots of approaches.
I have a specialist interest in hypnotherapy for migraines and chronic headaches. While many factors are involved, stress and nervous system sensitivity play a significant role for most people. My approach works by calming your system, helping you feel less reactive, and addressing any underlying tension or emotional factors that may be contributing to it.
If you would like to learn more about hypnotherapy migraine relief, please get in touch.
Common Reasons to Seek Hypnotherapy for Chronic Headaches and Migraines
- Frequent migraines are disrupting your work and home life
- Medication is not providing adequate relief
- Wanting to reduce reliance on painkillers
- Migraines triggered or worsened by stress
- Tension headaches that build into migraines
- Sensitivity to light, sound or smell during attacks
- Nausea and vomiting with migraines
- Exhaustion and brain fog after an attack
- Anxiety about when the next migraine will happen
- Missing out on social events and family time
- Feeling like migraines are controlling your life
Susannah Saunders
Hello, my name is Susannah. I am a clinical hypnotherapist and life coach in London with over 20 years of experience helping people to enjoy a happier, more fulfilling life. Get in touch to find out more or book an appointment in London today.
NLP, Coaching and Hypnotherapy for Migraine Pain
Migraine hypnosis therapy works by calming your nervous system and reducing the sensitivity that makes you vulnerable to attacks.
When you’ve been getting migraines for a while, your nervous system can become stuck on high alert. Your brain starts to overreact to things that wouldn’t normally be a problem, whether that’s stress, tiredness, certain foods, or hormonal changes. This heightened state means it takes less to cause a migraine.
This is a learned response where your system has become trained to overreact. When your brain perceives a potential trigger, it activates your stress response, releasing hormones that affect blood flow, muscle tension and pain signals. Over time, this becomes automatic.
Hypnotherapy for migraine pain is a great alternative treatment, as it helps by working directly with your subconscious mind to turn down this heightened response. In a relaxed, focused state, we can help your brain learn to stay calmer when it encounters triggers. As your baseline level of tension reduces, it takes more to set off an attack.
In the first migraine hypnotherapy session, we’ll explore your migraine history, your triggers, and what’s been happening in your life. I will then guide you into hypnosis, where we’ll begin calming your nervous system and help you feel more balanced and resilient.
Every hypnotherapy migraine relief programme I provide is tailored to your needs. I usually work with clients for around 4 to 6 sessions, and you can schedule these at a pace that suits you.
Coaching and Hypnotherapy for Chronic Headaches and Migraines Can Help You:
- Reduce how often you get migraines
- Lessen the intensity and duration of attacks
- Release tension in your head, neck and shoulders
- Calm your nervous system
- Feel less anxious about future migraines
- Manage stress more effectively
- Feel more in control of your health
- Rely less on medication
How Hypnotherapy Sessions for Headaches Work
Are you looking for holistic headache relief and migraine prevention?
I combine hypnosis for migraines with NLP and coaching to help calm your nervous system and address the factors that are making you vulnerable to attacks. We’ll look at the specific triggers, stress responses, and tension patterns contributing to your migraines and start to change those responses.
NLP is useful for identifying the anxiety and anticipation that often accompany chronic migraines. If you’re constantly monitoring your body for warning signs or feeling panicked when you notice early symptoms, these thought patterns keep your nervous system on edge. Combining NLP with clinical hypnosis in my bespoke migraine therapy, we can change these responses at the subconscious level and help you feel calmer and more in control.
Coaching helps you explore practical strategies for managing your triggers and building resilience. All of my migraine hypnosis therapy sessions are tailored to your personal situation because migraines affect everyone differently.
Contact me today to book a session
The Science Behind Hypnotherapy for Chronic Headaches
Your nervous system is designed to protect you. When it senses danger, it triggers your stress response, releasing hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones affect blood flow, muscle tension and how your brain processes pain.
In people who get frequent migraines, this system appears to be more sensitive. It’s often a learned response where your nervous system has become trained to overreact to certain triggers. When your brain perceives a threat, it triggers a cascade of changes that can lead to a migraine.
This creates a cycle whereby stress contributes to migraines, and the fear of migraines creates more stress. Logic and willpower can’t break this cycle because it’s happening at the subconscious level, below your conscious awareness.
Hypnotherapy for migraines works by calming the part of your brain that’s driving this overreaction. Research shows that hypnosis reduces sympathetic nervous system activity and promotes parasympathetic activity, (your body’s rest-and-recovery mode). As your baseline level of tension drops, your system becomes less reactive.
Medication addresses symptoms after they’ve started and can have undesirable side effects. If you want to reduce your reliance on medication or are pregnant and looking for natural remedies for bad headaches, then give hypnotherapy a try.
Migraine prevention with hypnotherapy works by changing the underlying patterns that make you vulnerable in the first place.
Symptoms of Migraines
Migraine symptoms vary between individuals but commonly include intense throbbing pain, often on one side of the head. You might experience sensitivity to light, sound or smells, nausea, and visual disturbances known as an aura. Some people get warning signs before a migraine, but others find they strike without warning.
Many people describe needing to retreat to a dark room, unable to function until it passes. Migraines can last anywhere from a few hours to several days and you may feel drained and foggy afterwards.
The unpredictability of migraines creates anxiety for many people. You might find yourself avoiding certain foods, declining invitations, or feeling nervous about being far from home, making symptoms worse and creating a cycle that feels hard to break.
While migraines are not dangerous, the impact on your quality of life can be significant. Many people with chronic migraines report struggling at work, missing important events, and feeling frustrated by their symptoms.
This is where hypnotherapy sessions for headaches and migraines can bring relief and restore your confidence.
What Causes Migraines
The exact cause of migraines isn’t fully understood, but it’s thought to involve a combination of factors, including genetics, nervous system sensitivity, hormones and stress. If migraines run in your family, you’re more likely to experience them.
The nervous system plays a central role. In people who get migraines, the brain appears to be more reactive to certain triggers. This can set off a cascade of changes in blood flow, nerve signalling and inflammation that result in migraine symptoms.
Common triggers include stress, poor sleep, hormonal changes, certain foods, dehydration, bright lights, strong smells and weather changes. For many people, it’s a combination rather than a single trigger, but the same trigger won’t always cause a migraine, which is why it can feel unpredictable.
We don’t need to know the original cause to help you find relief, as migraine hypnosis therapy works by calming your nervous system and helping your brain respond to triggers in a more balanced way.
Is Hypnotherapy Migraine Relief a Quick Fix?
The subconscious mind can respond quickly to positive suggestions, especially when it’s ready for change. Many clients notice improvement after just one or two sessions, but for sustainable relief, it usually takes time to fully calm your nervous system and change the patterns that have built up over time.
If you’ve been getting migraines for months or years, your brain’s responses have become well established. We can start to change them relatively quickly, but it takes repetition for those changes to stick.
Whilst medication can work for some, they can cause extreme fatigue and drowsiness, encouraging people to look for more natural alternatives. In these cases, hypnotherapy sessions are worth trying. I usually work with clients for around 4 to 6 sessions, though some people benefit from more, particularly if migraines have been a long-term issue. This repetition helps reinforce the new responses until they become your brain’s default setting.
Hypnotherapy for Migraine Pain in London and Online
My private London hypnotherapy practice was founded in 2003. I have been awarded the Senior Qualification of Hypnotherapy Practice (SQHP) from the General Hypnotherapy Standards Council (GHSC) and the HPD from the National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH).
For more information on how I use hypnotherapy, NLP and coaching to help you find relief from migraines in my London hypnotherapy clinic or online, get in touch. We can talk through your symptoms, and I can explain how I can best support you.
Contact me today to book a session
FAQs
What is migraine treatment with hypnotherapy?
As an alternative treatment for migraines, hypnotherapy uses relaxation and therapeutic suggestions to calm your nervous system and reduce your sensitivity to triggers. It works with your subconscious mind to change the patterns that make you vulnerable to attacks.
How many hypnotherapy sessions for headaches will I need?
Everyone is different, but I usually work with clients for around 4 to 6 sessions. Some people notice improvement quickly, while others benefit from a longer programme.
How does migraine hypnosis therapy work?
Migraine hypnosis therapy works by calming your nervous system and helping your brain respond differently to triggers. In a relaxed state, we can help your subconscious release tension and reduce the heightened sensitivity that makes you vulnerable to attacks.
Can hypnotherapy migraine relief help reduce my medication?
Many clients find that as their migraines reduce, they need less medication. Any changes to medication should be discussed with your doctor.
Is online hypnotherapy for chronic headaches as effective as in person?
Yes. Many clients find they relax more easily at home, which can enhance the hypnosis. All you need is a quiet, comfortable space and a good internet connection.
What does a hypnotherapy session for headaches involve?
Each session begins with a conversation about how you’ve been and what you’d like to focus on. I then guide you into a relaxed state and use therapeutic suggestions to help your subconscious calm your nervous system and reduce your vulnerability to migraines.
Can migraine prevention with hypnotherapy help with tension headaches?
Yes. Tension headaches and migraines often overlap. Hypnotherapy can help with both by releasing muscle tension, calming your nervous system and addressing underlying stress.
What if I don't know what triggers my migraines?
That’s very common, but luckily we don’t need to know your exact triggers to help you. By reducing your overall nervous system sensitivity, we raise the threshold at which a migraine gets triggered.
Will I lose control during migraine hypnosis therapy?
No. Hypnosis is simply a focused, relaxed state where your mind is more open to helpful suggestions. You remain in full control throughout and can open your eyes at any time.
What if I've tried everything else and nothing has worked?
Many clients come to me after trying different medications and approaches without success. Hypnotherapy for migraine pain works differently because it addresses the underlying nervous system sensitivity rather than just managing symptoms.
Migraine Hypnotherapy Treatment in London & Online
My private London hypnotherapy practice was founded in 2003. I have been awarded the Senior Qualification of Hypnotherapy Practice (SQHP) from the General Hypnotherapy Standards Council (GHSC) and the HPD from the National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH).
For more information on how I can use hypnotherapy to help you ease your migraines in my London hypnotherapy clinic or online, get in touch. We can talk through your symptoms and I can explain how I might be able to help.
For more information or advice on effective treatments for migraines, you may find these links helpful:
What My Clients Say
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