Depression, as understood within depression hypnotherapy, is not a passing low mood, nor is it a sign of personal weakness or a condition that sufferers can spontaneously "snap out of". It can destroy lives – not only the life of the sufferer themselves, but also the lives of those close to them.

Depression comes in many different forms, and from a wide range of causes. Some types of depression run in families, indicating genetic pre-disposition or psychosocial conditioning. Other forms can be triggered by organic causes, as a reaction to medication, a chemical imbalance, or result from past experiences and interpretations of those experiences.

The cost of depression in human suffering cannot be over stated. People with depression typically demonstrate persistent sad or anxious moods, experience low self-confidence, negative thoughts, feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, emptiness, guilt and worthlessness. They often display a loss of interest in both activities that were once enjoyed, and in life more generally, demonstrate increased fatigue, have difficulty concentrating, remembering and making decisions. In extreme cases, depression can result in thoughts of death or suicide.

At a physical level, the sufferer can be left feeling exhausted; depression often affects sleep, either difficulty in getting to sleep, early-morning awakening, or a desire to oversleep. It can also affect the appetite leading to weight loss or weight gain. Long term depression tends to lower the immune system and typically results in persistent symptoms such as headaches, digestive disorders and even chronic pain.

But much of this suffering is unnecessary. Appropriate treatment can help most people who suffer from depression. In Western societies, 7 to 12 per cent of men experience diagnosable depression, and 20 to 25 per cent of women. But, many people with depression do not recognise that it is a treatable illness, and so endure life without being diagnosed or receiving help. The first step to getting appropriate treatment is to seek medical advice. Treatment choice will then depend on the outcome of that medical evaluation.

Depression hypnotherapy, a very specific and enduringly effective form of ‘talking therapy’, has been shown to be a highly effective treatment for overcoming depression and helping people find lasting emotional well-being.

Christine Woolfenden employs depression hypnotherapy to help individuals understand the source of their own unique emotional difficulties. Hypnosis is used to encourage relaxation, to focus the attention and then to identify and explore the causes, de-sensitise memories of the past, address the symptoms, and control the physical, emotional and cognitive responses to the triggers as they present themselves in the individual’s life.

Depression hypnotherapy offers people the opportunity to identify and develop their own inner resources to lead a more positive, emotionally fulfilling life, counteracting the negative physical side effects of depression, rationalising self-defeating thoughts and beliefs, re-programming the mind and body to respond positively to situations, people and events, turning problems into goals, building self-confidence and feelings of self-worth and self-acceptance along the way.