Hypnotherapy for Insomnia in Adelaide

Is this your night?

• You doze in front of the TV, then feel wide awake as soon as you climb into bed.
• You check the clock and count: “If I drop off right now, I’ll get four hours.”
• At 3am your eyes open and your to-do list starts up. A good night’s sleep feels like a memory.
• Herbal tea, a warm shower, the sleep app. You’ve tried them all.
• By evening you’re already dreading bedtime. That dread has a name: sleep anxiety.

A 2019 report for the Sleep Health Foundation found 14.8% of Australian adults surveyed fit one definition of chronic insomnia. You’re far from alone.

If you snore heavily, wake up gasping or nod off while driving, read the GP note below first.

Why trying harder keeps you awake

After a run of bad nights, your bedroom changes meaning. Your body comes to expect a fight there. So as you lie down, it gets ready for one, and you’re more alert at night than all afternoon.

That reaction sits below thinking, in the subconscious. The harder you push for sleep, the further away it seems. Some people end up with something close to a phobia of bed.

How hypnotherapy can help with insomnia

Hypnotherapy eases the tension that builds around bedtime. In hypnosis you’re in a deeply relaxed state, yet still aware, and you can stop at any time. In that calm, we teach your body and mind that bed is a safe place to let go again.

We also work on the 3am mind, and the thought patterns that switch on when the house goes quiet. Sometimes I use Time Line Therapy or NLP to settle old worries. They work with how your mind files and pictures things. I find them useful.

I’ll give you a few plain sleep habits as well, such as getting up at the same time each day. Good sleep hygiene and steady habits have solid research behind them. The hypnotic work makes those healthier sleep patterns easier to stick with.

The work carries on at home between sessions. You take a recording to play at bedtime, for more restful nights, and I teach you simple relaxation techniques and quick self-hypnosis for when you wake at 3am.

What happens in insomnia hypnotherapy: video or Adelaide

The program is four hypnotherapy sessions, after a free 15-minute phone call.

1. 1A free chat first

   Fifteen minutes on the phone. You describe your nights, and I tell you honestly if this is a good fit. You can also ask me anything about hypnosis, like what it feels like or whether you stay in control.

2. 2Session one

   We trace your sleep story: when it started, what helps, what doesn’t. Then comes your first hypnosis session. You leave with one or two small changes to try.

3. 3Sessions two to four

   Each starts with a short chat about your sleep quality that week, then hypnosis in a chair, eyes closed. We keep what works. You take a recording home to play at night, and learn quick self-hypnosis for when you wake at 3am.

Still deciding? The free call is there to help you decide. Fifteen minutes by phone, whenever suits you.

Or call 0427 218 092

What the research says about hypnosis for insomnia

Sleep trouble also tends to hang around. A 2009 Canadian study followed 388 adults for three years, and 46% still had it at every yearly check. So I see hypnotherapy as a helper for the dread, the busy mind and the bedtime behaviour that keep it going, alongside CBT-I and your GP, not instead of them.

Is hypnotherapy for insomnia safe?

For most adults, yes. Nothing is taken or prescribed. Some people feel a bit sleepy or teary afterwards, and it passes.

Some sleep difficulties have a medical cause, so please see your GP first. That includes sleep apnoea, restless legs, pain, menopause and some medicines. Never stop or cut down sleeping tablets without your doctor. If you have psychosis, or a serious mental illness with no care in place yet, your GP is the right first step. If nights feel unbearable, Lifeline is on 13 11 14.

What insomnia hypnotherapy costs in Adelaide: $1,000

One session at a time is $300. Most people take the four-session program: $1,000 paid at the start, which is $250 a session and $200 less than paying as you go ($1,200).

Most people need four sessions. If sleep has been broken for years we sometimes go to six or eight, at $250 a session prepaid ($1,500 to $2,000 in total), and you will know before we start.

Who you’ll be working with

Ernest McLeod

Clinical hypnotherapist, Adelaide and online

Hi, I’m Ernest McLeod. I’ve been Adelaide’s Hypno Coach since 2012, and a clinical hypnotherapist for fourteen years. My training is in clinical hypnotherapy, NLP and Time Line Therapy. Before that I wrote software for twenty years. I see people by video, or in person by arrangement.

Fellow, Australian Society of Clinical Hypnotherapists (ASCH) · Certified NLP Practitioner · Time Line Therapy® Practitioner · Trainer: AHA-approved CPD courses

To be clear about what I’m not: I’m not AHPRA-registered and I’m not a psychologist. Hypnotherapy isn’t a registered profession here. My memberships are voluntary. I also teach other hypnotherapists. The Australian Hypnotherapists’ Association has approved my smoking, vaping and gambling cessation courses for professional development (CPD). Read more about me