CPD Event title: When Clients Feel It’s All Too Much: Working with Overwhelm, Distress and Emotional Regulation in Hypnotherapy
Brief Description Of Event:
A practical, experiential 4-week training designed to help hypnotherapists confidently work with emotionally overwhelmed clients.
Do you ever find yourself second-guessing your direction when a client becomes overwhelmed mid-session, or perhaps more commonly, when they seem generally unable to gain traction with their problems?
You might notice that despite their intellectual understanding, they remain emotionally stuck, unable to process their feelings or focus on solutions. In these moments, it isn’t just about “fixing” a temporary distress; it’s about recognising that the client’s internal capacity has been exceeded. This course teaches you how to identify when the “clinical work” must shift from processing to general stabilisation as a necessary foundation for change.
Most training covers techniques well, but says relatively little about the clinical reality of working with clients who cannot stay within their “window of tolerance.” This course is designed to move you beyond protocol-led practice and help you develop the clinical thinking skills needed to respond flexibly in complex, emotionally nuanced moments.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
– Identify overwhelm as a specific capacity state and recognise the maintenance cycles that keep clients stuck in distress
– Assess a client’s unique regulation capacity and formulate their stabilisation needs
– Use hypnosis to establish internal and relational safety as a foundation for deeper work
– Apply a clinical decision framework to judge when to stay with difficult emotions and when to pull back
– Identify overwhelm as a specific capacity state and recognise the maintenance cycles that keep clients stuck in distress
– Assess a client’s unique regulation capacity and formulate their stabilisation needs
– Use hypnosis to establish internal and relational safety as a foundation for deeper work
– Apply a clinical decision framework to judge when to stay with difficult emotions and when to pull back
– Navigate the transition from stabilisation to safe emotional processing
– Use hypnosis for emotional processing
– Use reflective practice and nervous system awareness to inform in-session decisions and protect professional wellbeing
– Use reflective practice and nervous system awareness to inform in-session decisions and protect professional wellbeing
Course Structure
Live online, 4 weekly sessions × 2.5 hours (10 hours total)
We meet weekly for four sessions, allowing you to apply concepts in your real-world practice between meetings and bring your reflections back to the group.
Week 1: The Phenomenology of Overwhelm – We move beyond “feeling stressed” to explore overwhelm as a specific capacity state. You will learn to identify the maintenance cycles, biological and psychological, that keep clients stuck in distress and understand why cognitive “top-down” approaches often fail when the nervous system is overloaded.
Week 2: Stabilisation as the Intervention – Clinical work requires a solid foundation. We look at how to assess a client’s unique regulation capacity to build a clear formulation of their needs. We will explore how to use hypnosis to establish the internal and relational safety required before deeper work can even begin.
Week 3: Processing Emotions Safely – One of the most challenging decisions in therapy is knowing when to stay with a difficult emotion and when to pull back. You will learn a clear Decision Framework to navigate this “clinical edge.” We’ll explore the transition from stabilisation to processing, using hypnosis to help clients experience what they have previously avoided
Week 4: Clinical Decision-making, Integration and Your Own Nervous System – We integrate the work into a cohesive treatment arc, from assessment through to integration. You’ll also learn how to navigate the “arriving overwhelmed” scenario and, crucially, how to use reflective practice to protect your own professional wellbeing and sustainability.
Week 2: Stabilisation as the Intervention – Clinical work requires a solid foundation. We look at how to assess a client’s unique regulation capacity to build a clear formulation of their needs. We will explore how to use hypnosis to establish the internal and relational safety required before deeper work can even begin.
Week 3: Processing Emotions Safely – One of the most challenging decisions in therapy is knowing when to stay with a difficult emotion and when to pull back. You will learn a clear Decision Framework to navigate this “clinical edge.” We’ll explore the transition from stabilisation to processing, using hypnosis to help clients experience what they have previously avoided
Week 4: Clinical Decision-making, Integration and Your Own Nervous System – We integrate the work into a cohesive treatment arc, from assessment through to integration. You’ll also learn how to navigate the “arriving overwhelmed” scenario and, crucially, how to use reflective practice to protect your own professional wellbeing and sustainability.
Sessions include live demonstrations, skills practice, and reflective exercises, with structured integration activities between sessions.
Date of event: Sept 14, 21, 28 & Oct 05, 2026
Duration of Event: 4 days, 7.00pm -9.30pm
Venue for event: Online
Name of trainer: Sarah Mortimer
Tel bookings:
Email bookings:
Website: https://www.bristolhypnotherapy.co.uk/emotions-hypnotherapy-cpd
Cost of Course: Launch Cohort Pricing – Early Bird: £147 (until 13th July); Standard Price: £197
Additional Information:
- For qualified hypnotherapists or advanced students
- – Places limited to allow discussion, reflection, and practical skills development
- – Participants receive handouts including frameworks, reflection prompts, and technical guides