Anne Bayati is a mum to three teenage children, with a husband and two dogs. She lives in Penshurst, where she enjoys walking her dogs and spending time with her family. So far, so normal you may think, but Anne has quite a story to tell.
“I began my career in the travel industry, as cabin crew, within a tour operator and BA ground staff, which is so far removed from where I am now,” she laughs.
“I left BA to start a family and then decided to train to become a midwife.” She qualified in 2010 and went on to work predominantly within hospital settings before she was introduced to hynobirthing in 2016.
Anne completed further training in hypnobirthing and birth trauma resolution therapy as she wanted to learn more techniques in order to help more people with other personal issues, not just those expecting a baby. She qualified in 2017.
‘For a client to be able to face their fears and to feel how they want to feel is the ultimate aim’
“I love what I do and gain great satisfaction from seeing children and adults resolve issues which have been affecting their lives in some way. I have moved away from clinical practice and my main role now is as the lead midwife for hypnobirthing within the local NHS Trust, where I teach couples and also midwives.”
In tandem with this Anne has been seeing clients on a one-to-one basis, initially at her home, and now at her own therapy room, based at Salomons Estate in Tunbridge Wells.
“I never thought for one moment I would be working now as a hypnotherapist but I have recognised that throughout all the careers I have done, it is always with people and in a supportive role. So helping people to feel better about themselves and their lives seemed like a natural progression for me.
“Having fallen into hypnosis quite by accident, supporting a couple who were hypnobirthing at the local hospital, it made me realise how powerful the mind was and how, when it was in the right place, the body and the mind worked so well together.
“This ignited an interest in me to learn more about the mind and hypnosis, having seen its benefits during birth, and what could be achieved when using it to resolve other issues such as anxieties, fears and phobias.”
In terms of what clients usually want to achieve from a course of Anne’s sessions she responds: “They normally want a solution to their personal, emotional or habitual issues which are affecting their life in some way so that they can feel better about themselves, their school life, work life and home life.
“Avoidance is commonplace when exposure to the trigger causes negative emotions in a person so for a client to be able to face their fears and to feel how they want to feel is the ultimate aim.”
Anne is trained in both hypno analysis and solution-focused hypnotherapy. This means she is able to encourage the release of negative thoughts and emotions related to past events or memories before she starts to introduce more positive thoughts and feelings moving forward.
“I feel that you often have to release the emotions and feelings surrounding events which have happened in the past before you can begin to introduce how that person truly wants to think, feel and act.
“This is not necessary for every issue a client presents with as quite often I work with just the here and now and the future. For example, through my work with children I take a solution-focused approach, introducing positive suggestions to bring about change. Trust and rapport are extremely important to me, especially with a younger person, so to make the session as relaxed and comfortable as possible is crucial.”
She says hypnosis and hypnotherapy have many misconceptions and myths attached to them. “Many think it is mind control and that I would be able to tap into a person’s deepest, darkest secrets. This is not the case. The client has all the control; I only offer suggestions and if the mind does not want to go there, it won’t.”
‘I have recognised that throughout all the careers I have done, it is always with people and in a supportive role’
She goes on to say that another misconception is that many people think they are asleep during a session. “This is incorrect. You feel very drowsy and in a daydreamy state but your subconscious mind is actually very alert and therefore is very open to what I am suggesting, which is why it works so well.”
Anne recently won a gold award at the Kent Health and Beauty Awards for her work. She says that she is over the moon with her win. “The award has given me such a personal boost and a recognition of the positive work I do with children, teens and those struggling with birth trauma.
“I often do not spend the time reflecting on my achievements as I am always busy focusing on the people I help, but this has made me stop, take notice and acknowledge that I do make a difference. I feel honoured to have won it.”
But this prestigious win does not mean Anne will be resting on her laurels any time soon. In fact she feels she has lots more to achieve: “It saddens me when I hear about the increase in children and teenagers struggling with poor mental health. I would like them to be able to access support in order to feel better about themselves and their lives.
“I believe hypnosis and hypnotherapy can be very beneficial for young people and so my focus and commitment is to connect with schools, colleges and universities in order to provide hypnosis workshops during times of high anxiety such as the exam period or during the transition from primary to secondary school or onto university. I would like to do regular talks focusing on emotional wellbeing and to educate more people in understanding and recognising that hypnosis and hypnotherapy is a valid therapy and why it works so well.
“When a client comes to see me, I am actually de-hypnotising them. Their limiting beliefs have hypnotised them to believe certain things because of everything they have been exposed to throughout their life, from something a parent may have said, to something they have read or watched on TV. The memories remain intact but the emotions attached to them have gone and their limiting beliefs are challenged so they start to create new beliefs, a new way of thinking and feeling.”
www.annebayatihypnotherapy.co.uk
What is hypnotherapy?
Hypnosis is a naturally occurring state of mind. We enter a trance-like state regularly such as when we daydream, when absorbed in a book or film or when we deeply relax.
Hypnotherapy is the use of various techniques to enable change in a person. Deep relaxation slows down the busy conscious mind to allow the subconscious mind to come through. Here is where we hold all our limiting beliefs which can affect our thoughts, our feelings and our behaviours.
By using various hypnotherapy techniques, a person can begin to release the negative, limiting beliefs and introduce a new way of thinking, feeling and behaving. Through repetition, the mind trains itself to think and believe differently.
Hypnotherapy can resolve many issues in a relatively short space of time. It seeks out the root cause of a problem, which may involve the release of many layers of limiting beliefs. It is gentle and often uses the imagination, making it an ideal therapy for children.
