Clinical Hypnotherapist & NLP Practitioner
The mind is where
real change lives.
Most people who come to see me have already tried everything else. The diets, the willpower, the apps, the therapists, the advice from people who mean well. They’re not lazy or weak. They’re just trying to fix something at the wrong level.
The thing is, your conscious mind knows exactly what it should be doing. It’s the unconscious mind that’s running everything else. That’s where real change happens, and that’s where I work.
I’m Helen. I’ve spent 30 years working with people across regional NSW and more than 15 of those as a therapist. I’m currently completing a Master of Neuroscience, because the more I understand about how the brain actually works, the better I can help you change it.
Based in Ballina & Goonellabah
NSW Far North Coast & Online Australia-wideMy story
I didn’t plan to become
a hypnotherapist.
I grew up in Dubbo and spent the best part of three decades working across regional NSW, mostly with people who were doing it tough. Youth work, community services, juvenile justice. I was a caseworker, a program coordinator, a team leader. I worked with young people who’d had every reason to give up on themselves, and mostly they hadn’t. That taught me more about resilience than any qualification could.
What I kept noticing, with the young people I worked with and later with adults, was that insight alone wasn’t enough. You could help someone understand exactly why they were doing something self-destructive. They’d nod, genuinely get it, and then go and do it again the following Tuesday. Knowing something consciously doesn’t change what your unconscious does. That gap fascinated me.
That gap is what led me to hypnotherapy in 2009. I trained, qualified, and started seeing clients at Goonellabah Medical Centre, where I’ve been based ever since. I live in Ballina now with my husband and our two daughters, which means I’m lucky enough to be doing work I love in a place I genuinely love. Being inside a GP practice matters to me too. It means working alongside other health professionals, operating to clinical and ethical standards, and taking the whole person seriously.
I’ve added qualifications over the years, Master NLP Practitioner, Advanced Ericksonian Hypnotherapy, and more. And I kept asking why. Why does this work? What’s actually happening in the brain? That curiosity eventually led me back to university, where I’m now completing a Master of Neuroscience. The more I understand the machinery, the better I can help you change it.
What I believe
Things I’ve come to know
after 30 years.
These aren’t slogans. They’re the things that have been proven right over and over again, with hundreds of real people who were stuck and then weren’t.
Your struggles aren’t your fault
Your behaviour and emotional responses are unconscious programs. You didn’t consciously choose them. Most of them were installed before you were old enough to have any say in the matter. That’s not weakness. That’s just how brains work.
Willpower alone doesn’t work
You can’t think your way out of a pattern your unconscious mind is running. Willpower is a conscious-level tool fighting an unconscious-level problem. It’s like trying to fix the factory by arguing with the receptionist.
Understanding why is the beginning
When people understand what’s actually been happening in their mind and body, the shame tends to fall away pretty quickly. Most people describe it as a huge relief. And change is faster and sticks better when you know the reason.
The goal is for you not to need me
I’m not interested in creating dependency. I want to give you tools, understanding, and new unconscious programs that run automatically. My job is done when you’ve got everything you need to stay there without me.
Change can be quick
People often come having spent years on the same problem. Hypnotherapy and NLP work at the level where the problem actually lives, which means change can happen far faster than most people expect.
You can change anything
That sounds big. But the brain is plastic. Patterns are learned. And learned patterns can be unlearned or replaced. Every client I’ve worked with who was fully committed to change has changed.
Trauma shaped you. It didn’t sentence you.
Yes, significant experiences in childhood can rewire the brain. That’s real, and it matters. But here’s what I don’t believe: that it makes you broken, or that it will keep impacting you for your whole adult life. Trauma leaves a pattern. And patterns can be changed. The capacity and the strength that got you through it in the first place? That’s still in there too. That’s actually what we build from.
How I work
Not a one-size-fits-all
trance script.
There are hypnotherapists who read a script to every client regardless of what’s actually happening for them. I’m not one of those. I ask a lot of questions. I want to understand your specific pattern, your history, and what your unconscious has been trying to do for you. Then we build something that fits you.
I combine Clinical Hypnotherapy with Neuro-Linguistic Programming because they work together in a way that neither does alone. Hypnotherapy gets us direct access to the unconscious. NLP gives us precise tools to change the specific patterns, beliefs and emotional responses that are running the show. Together they’re genuinely powerful in a way that still surprises me sometimes, even after 15 years.
And because I’m studying neuroscience, I can explain the brain science underneath all of it in plain English. What’s actually happening when you feel anxious. Why you reach for food at 9pm. Why you freeze before a difficult conversation. That understanding changes how people relate to their own experience, and that shift alone can be huge.
Always individual
No two programs are the same. Your history, biology, triggers and goals shape everything we do together.
Evidence-informed
Grounded in clinical research, trauma-informed practice, and the latest neuroscience. Not mysticism, not magic.
Practical and lasting
The goal isn’t just to feel better in sessions. It’s to change the underlying program so the new behaviour runs automatically.
What I help with
- Weight loss & relationship with food
- Quit smoking & addictions
- Anxiety, panic & phobias
- Stress & overwhelm
- Depression & low mood
- Confidence & self-worth
- Performance & public speaking
- Grief & loss
- Sleep & insomnia
- Chronic pain management
- Trauma & PTSD (alongside medical care)
Not sure if what you’re dealing with is something I can help with? The free initial consultation is the right place to start. No obligation.
Book a free consultationQualifications & training
The credentials behind
the work.
Every qualification listed here represents real study, real supervised practice, and a genuine commitment to knowing more than the minimum required.
Clinical & therapeutic training
- Master of NeuroscienceUniversity of New England (currently studying)
- Master Practitioner, Clinical HypnotherapyThe Mind Academy, 2012
- Advanced Ericksonian Hypnotherapy Certification2014
- Clinical Hypnotherapy2009
- Master Practitioner, Neuro-Linguistic ProgrammingThe Mind Academy, 2012
- NLP Practitioner2009
- Diploma of Modern Hypnosis, NLP & Life CoachingThe Mind Academy, 2012
- Mental Health First AidACE
- Brief Solution Focused Counselling
- Therapeutic Crisis Intervention2023
Education & community background
- Graduate Diploma of Experiential Learning & DevelopmentVictoria University, 2006
- Workplace Training & Assessing, Certificate IV
- Information Technology, Certificate IV
- Partial Bachelor of Social ScienceSouthern Cross University
- Community WelfareTAFE
- AuthorThe Seven Enemies of Weight Control — published on Amazon
- 30+ yearsWorking in community, youth and therapeutic settings across NSW
- 15+ yearsClinical practice at Goonellabah Medical Centre, working alongside GPs
Published Author
The Seven Enemies of Weight Control
Helen’s book explains the seven real reasons most people struggle to lose weight and keep it off. The hormonal, metabolic, psychological and behavioural forces that conspire against even the most determined effort and what to do about each of them.
Get it on Amazon
What to expect
What working with me
actually looks like.
Free initial consultation
We start with a no-obligation conversation. You tell me what’s going on. I ask questions. We work out if this is the right fit and what a realistic program looks like for you specifically.
Honest conversations
I’m not going to tell you what you want to hear if it’s not true. I’ll tell you what’s actually happening, why, and what I think will work. That honesty is part of the process.
In-person or online
I see clients face-to-face at my Ballina clinic and at Goonellabah Medical Centre. I also work online with clients across Australia. Online hypnotherapy is fully effective — many clients prefer it.
Real, lasting results
I’m not interested in you feeling better for a week. The work is designed to create permanent change at the unconscious level so that new patterns run automatically, without effort.
Ready to work on something
that actually matters?
The free initial consultation is the right place to start. We talk. No scripts, no pressure, no obligations. Just an honest conversation about what’s going on and whether I can help.
Book Your Free Consultation