About John

I specialises in helping you to master your problems, take control of your stress and be the person you want to be.  I want to give you maximum value!

An interview with John Walker, your therapist.

Q. Okay, so what interested you in hypnosis and hypnotherapy?

After 32 years of employment, my personal circumstances changed quite dramatically and I rather liked the idea of being self-employed. However, I wanted to re-train in something of value that I could offer people.

Over the years I had experienced occasional hypnosis and hypnotherapy and it had worked, although the effect never stayed with me for very long. I was curious as to why that should be because in theory it should work very well, and I knew people for whom it had. So, I explored training for hypnotherapy on the Web and noticed that three letters always appeared alongside hypnotherapy …NLP, and so I investigated what that was about as well. In fact I trained in NLP with Pegasus in the New Forest before I began my hypnotherapy training and completed my Master Certification in NLP during my hypnotherapy diploma course.  

Q. Would you tell us a little about those 32 years employment?

Sure. I left school at 18 and went into the pharmaceutical industry and attended day release courses. I left after five years with a joint honours degree in biochemistry and pharmacology, and moved to London University where I completed my PhD in pharmacology in record time.  Postdoctoral research preceded my return to the pharmaceutical industry for the next 10 years.  My research focused on the areas of allergy and inflammation, and I maintained a strong interest in the brain and how it works.

Q. Interesting - any other life changes?

When I was 38 I became a Christian. A major life change! I left industry and taught pharmacy students at what is now the University of Sussex for a year. I went on to study theology in Bristol and during that time became very interested in personality traits and I trained as a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Practitioner. It’s been an interesting journey!

Q. So how does all this history support your interest in therapy?

I’m clearly interested in people. I think people are amazing and come as a package – body, mind and spirit.  Until recently, modern Western medicine has tended to split that package.  So, physicians have dealt with the body and psychiatrists and psychologists have dealt with the mind. Spirituality has been pretty much ignored. Generally, medicine has been typically interested in biochemical intervention, i.e. medicines.

Over the past 30 years or so, the medical profession has become increasingly supportive of hypnotherapy as an aid to better health. It is non-invasive and complementary to modern medicine. It's even used in the NHS in Manchester. So do ask your doctor for his or her opinion!

I also retain my curiosity and try and learn something new every day!  The ability to learn new things is something that everybody can do and hypnotherapy and NLP provide tremendously powerful learning places.  You learnt how to do whatever it is that troubles you, so you can learn to do something different!

Q. Why should people work with you?

First of all, I've always lived by the principal that you can't take people where you've not been yourself (or similar at least).  I have used other therapists who are experts in my own and other fields to help me clarify issues in my life.  I don't ask you to experience anything I haven’t myself or would not be willing to experience.

Second, I’m totally committed to support and encourage my clients. I love to help them reach their goal and get the results they want.It's easy when you're emotionally distressed to lose focus and resolve. I help people to keep their focus on what they want and work through their various issues until they reach their goal.

Third, I know that good guidance requires an overall view of the battlefield.  I see where you’re coming from, where you are and the way you need to go. Using hypnosis, hypnotherapy and NLP among other models, I will help you build a vision for the future, move beyond your problem into that future you want and win the battle.

Finally, I am a warm, gentle human being, who nonetheless will be honest and forthright with you. I want you to succeed in reaching out into a new, brighter and hopeful future free from all that holds you back.

I am also registered with UKCP, (the United Kindgdom Council of Psychotherapists), as a hypno-psychotherapist. That means that I have regular UKCP supervision, am required to do CPD and, of course, I have full professional indemnity insurance.

Q. And family life?

I have one daughter who never fails to give me great delight, and I live with my wife, without whom Life Choices would not exist, in the countryside just outside Wakefield, West Yorkshire, UK. We have three cats and a dog and we enjoy walking, music, eating, good wine and cider. When time allows, I enjoy turning wood – it’s very therapeutic!