Can you tell us about your background before becoming a hypnotherapist?

I was involved in the health and fitness industry until my mid-20s when I moved to Leicester. I was a bodybuilder, personal trainer, and nutritionist, helping men and women look and feel good. This obviously had a positive effect on their mental health, but in those days, mental health wasn’t discussed as openly as it is now. After moving to Leicester, I changed industries completely. I went into various sales roles and started a business in property, which I’m still involved in today.

Did these roles influence your approach to working with people?

Absolutely. In both my fitness and sales roles, I spent a lot of time talking with people from different backgrounds. For some reason, people would just warm to me and open up, telling me about their problems. I ended up being like a friend, uncle, and counsellor to many of my clients. But there wasn’t much I could do for them apart from listen and offer some friendly advice.

How did you first get introduced to hypnotherapy?

During Covid, when my business was on hold and I had to stay at home, I happened to come across some hypnotherapy training courses. I had experienced hypnosis in the past as a client, and I was keen to spend my time off work learning something new. I didn’t realise at the time that I would end up loving it so much, and becoming so good at it.

You’ve studied with top trainers and completed over 300 hours of training. What’s one key lesson or approach you learned that still influences how you work today?

I would say I’ve learned to keep it simple. Across all my hours of study, I’ve come across so many different approaches to therapy. Some are extremely complex and it’s easy to get them wrong. I’ve taken the best of what I know, created my own way of working, and can achieve results simply and quickly without overcomplicating things.

In therapeutic terms, I would say Parts Therapy (also known as Internal Family Systems) is my go-to technique. There’s always a conscious part of us that wants X and a subconscious part that wants Y. When there’s a conflict between our intellect and our emotions, it’s almost impossible to consciously make changes, because emotion will almost always win. This is exactly where hypnosis really shines.

Related Read: The Internal Family Systems Model - IFS Institute

A client once experienced relief from chronic shoulder pain in just one 40-minute session. Can you walk us through what happened and what that moment meant for you professionally?

I started my hypnotherapy studies with the Jaquin Hypnosis Academy. When I was just four lessons into the course, they held a special training event for Freddy Jaquin’s “The Arrow Technique,” which is a specific protocol to alleviate pain. On the course, which had around 100 students, I connected with a lady in her 60s named Rosemary. She told me about her shoulder pain that had been bothering her for a few years, and I felt a strong need to help her, even though I was only four lessons in and hadn’t done a full session with anyone yet, something told me I needed to work with her.

It turned out Rosemary had a disabled daughter, Beth, who would always rest her head on her mother’s shoulder, which caused the pain. Sadly, Beth had passed away a few years prior, but the shoulder pain remained. Doctors had confirmed there was no physical injury, it was just chronic pain that Rosemary had been managing for years.

So I took this on as my first ever session. From our consultation, I realised there was nothing physically wrong with her; there was no reason for her to hold onto pain. However, I could see she was holding onto the grief of losing her daughter. I truly believe a lot of chronic pain has an emotional root cause. Pain is a signal to indicate injury or physical trauma. Once the injury has healed, the pain does not need to remain.

I hypnotised Rosemary, spoke to the part of her subconscious responsible for the pain, ran the Arrow Technique, and guided her subconscious to release her grief. She was able to love her daughter and remember the good times, while being free of negative emotions from the difficult times and any lingering sadness in her memories. When she emerged from hypnosis, the pain had gone. I’ve kept in touch with Rosemary, and to this day, her pain has never returned.

That moment showed me just how powerful hypnosis can be, how much I loved doing this work, and I knew immediately that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

How did the opening of your Leicester clinic shape your ability to help clients both locally and internationally?

I initially started working from home over Zoom. As my reputation grew locally, more people started to request in-person sessions, especially as things started returning to pre-Covid norms, and some people tend to prefer in-person interaction.

So, I opened the Resest my Mind clinic and now have clients who will travel up to two hours to see me, though generally there’s no need - the work I do online is just as effective as what I do in person. I also have clients in the USA, India, New Zealand, and Australia, to name a few.

What’s the most memorable transformation you’ve witnessed?

There have been a few occasions where I’ve worked with clients dealing with severe mental health issues, such as deep depression and extreme anxiety. One client in particular stands out. She was so anxious about seeing me - even though she wanted my help- that she genuinely thought I was going to attack her. She had been a victim of domestic abuse in her marriage and assumed all men behaved in the same way.

Part of me wanted to cancel the session, but another part knew she truly needed help. At one point, I even felt a bit unsafe during the session, as I had never encountered anyone reacting in this way before. But I kept my composure and worked to the best of my abilities.

After just three sessions, this client was a completely different person. When our work concluded, she even gave me a hug and said, “Thank you Rahul, I don’t know what came over me when I first met you. It’s like I was a different person to who I am now. I will forever be grateful that I found you!”

Moments like this remind me why I do what I do. It’s incredibly rewarding to witness people reclaim their lives.

What’s your go-to method for getting to the “real issue,” beyond the surface symptoms, and how has that evolved over time?

Great question, but with a not-so-simple answer. Quite often, the issue isn’t really the issue. For example, someone might think they need help for insomnia, but the real cause could be trauma they haven’t released, which makes them feel anxious at night and prevents their mind from resting.

Sometimes, it’s about re-educating the client consciously, helping to show their perceived issue isn’t the root cause. From there, I work with the subconscious using trauma clearance techniques. Often, the “real issue” resolves itself through that process. In some cases, regression work is needed, but I approach this very lightly so the client doesn’t have to re-live past trauma. Instead, they can revisit events just enough to release the associated emotions safely.

You work with all types of client. Are there client stories or age groups that particularly inspire you or present unique challenges?

The people who present the biggest challenges are those who show resistance to hypnosis. Some simply don’t want the change work, there might be a secondary motivation they’re not aware of, or they’re attending because someone else pressured them to get help.

Working with kids comes with its own challenges too. Sometimes the parents want help for their child, but the child isn’t on board. I tend not to work with children under the age of eight. I think young children should work with a specialist in that area.

What’s the first thing people experience when they book an initial session with you? It starts with a free 20-minute consultation, right?

Yes. This means the first thing they experience is a friendly voice that offers a space for to them speak openly and without any judgement. This is a very informal chat just to build some initial rapport and let the client tell me about their issue and ask any questions.

I don’t accept all clients, as if I feel I can’t help someone or they are better with a different therapeutic style, I tell them that. The initial call is just as important for me as it is for them.