Help with intrusive thoughts
The thoughts people are most ashamed of are the ones most likely to be meaningless. Distress is not evidence of intent — it is evidence of the opposite.
Why the worst thoughts feel the loudest
A thought that horrifies you gets flagged as important, which guarantees it returns. The horror is the amplifier. People who genuinely intend harm do not lie awake terrified of their own minds — that fear is the clearest sign the thought is ego-dystonic.
- Violent images about people you love
- Sexual thoughts that feel repugnant
- Blasphemous or taboo intrusions
- Constant mental checking of whether you meant it
The work is on the response, not the thought
We do not try to delete thoughts — that reliably backfires. We change what happens after one arrives: the checking, the confessing, the avoidance. Hypnosis lowers the arousal that makes intrusions stickier in the first place.
Saying it out loud, once, safely
Many clients have never told anyone. Being able to say the content plainly, to someone who does not flinch, is often the single biggest relief of the first session.
Common questions
Will you report me for what I say?+
Confidentiality has limits, which are explained in the first session, but distressing intrusive thoughts are not a safeguarding matter — they are a recognised clinical presentation.
Does this mean I have OCD?+
Sometimes. If the pattern is clearly OCD, that will be said plainly and, where a specialist pathway fits better, you will be told.
Will I have to describe the thoughts in detail?+
Only as much as is useful. Naming the theme is often enough to work with.
Say it out loud once
A free, confidential fifteen-minute call — nothing you say will shock this room.