HypnoTrading a practical guide to using hypnosis and NLP to improve your trading performance

HypnoTrading
A practical guide to using hypnosis and NLP to improve
your trading performance

Catherine Stott BSc, DHP, Clinical
Hypnotherapist


HARRIMAN HOUSE LTD
18 College Street
Petersfield
Hampshire
GU31 4AD
GREAT BRITAIN
Tel: +44 (0)1730 233870
Email:
Website: www.harriman-house.com
First published in Great Britain in 2016
Copyright © Catherine Stott
The right of Catherine Stott to be identified as the author has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Design and
Patents Act 1988.
Print ISBN: 978-0-85719-503-6
eBook ISBN: 978-0-85719-504-3
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library.
All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the
Publisher. This book may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or
cover other than that in which it is published without the prior written consent of the Publisher.
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that information in this book is accurate, no liability can be accepted for any

loss incurred in any way whatsoever by any person relying solely on the information contained herein.
No responsibility for loss occasioned to any person or corporate body acting or refraining to act as a result of reading
material in this book can be accepted by the Publisher, by the Author, or by the employers of the Author.


CONTENTS
About the author
Preface
Introduction
Part One. An Introduction to Therapeutic Techniques
Chapter One. Hypnosis, Psychotherapy and the Trader
Part Two. Trading Challenges And How To Deal With Them
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter

Two. Common Client Issues
Three. Understanding Your Trading Challenges
Four. Coping With Losing Trades
Five. Stress and Anxiety
Six. Negative Self-Talk
Seven. The Role of Fear

Part Three. Personal Development
Chapter Eight. Visualisation – Aiming for Success
Chapter Nine. Affirmations
Chapter Ten. Modelling Success

Chapter Eleven. Boosting Confidence and Motivation
Chapter Twelve. Mental Preparation and Discipline
Chapter Thirteen. Your Future
Chapter Fourteen. Finding a Suitable Hypnotherapist
HypnoTrading courses


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Catherine Stott studied at the University of Reading, where she obtained a degree in
Psychology. She then went to work as a human factors psychologist at a science and
technology company. Her focus was predominantly on training and designing training
systems for human use. Following this she trained as a Clinical Hypnotherapist at the
Royal Berkshire College of Clinical Hypnosis (RBCCH), obtaining a Diploma in
Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy.
Catherine is fully trained in hypnotherapy, suggestion therapy, hypnoanalysis,
psychotherapy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), and Emotional Freedom Technique
(EFT). She is a Licentiate of the Association of Professional Hypnosis and Psychotherapy
(APHP), a member of the National Council of Hypnotherapy (NCH) and one of the
first hypnotherapists in the UK to become registered with the Complementary and Natural
Healthcare Council (CHNC). In addition to this she is also a member of the British
Psychological Society.
Catherine first began working with traders in 2010 and has developed an in-depth
knowledge of trading psychology as well as how hypnotherapy, NLP and EFT can help
traders with the challenges they face.


PREFACE
What this book covers
Trading is a minefield of psychological and emotional challenges that are often
underestimated. It is usually only once you have started trading that you realise how

mentally and emotionally involved you become and notice the complex relationship that
develops between the trader and the trade.
This book provides you with a set of tools to help you deal with some of the common
psychological issues in trading. You will be introduced to hypnotherapy, neuro-linguistic
programming (NLP) and Havening as three key therapies that can help you change your
mindset and how you cope with the challenges of trading and the trading environment.
Specifically, this book covers four main overarching challenges that traders face:
1. Coping with losing trades
2. Stress and anxiety
3. Negative self-talk
4. The role of fear.
It also looks at areas for self-development:
1. Using visualisation for success
2. How to write affirmations
3. Modelling success
4. Boosting motivation and confidence
5. Mental preparation and discipline
6. Building your future

Who this book is for
This book is for all traders who want to change how they trade and improve their success.
Whether you are a novice trader who wants to trade well from the start or an
experienced trader who wants to tweak your self-belief or motivation, this book is for
you. It will be useful for traders who want to:
1. Improve their trading consistency
2. Stick to their trading plan
3. Overcome fear
4. Learn how to deal with losing money

5. Take the leap from part-time trader to full-time trader
6. Trade with a calm and positive mindset
7. Have better mental preparation for trading
8. Reduce how much they lose when trading
9. Have better decision-making skills

How this book is structured
This book is broken down into three sections.
The first section will introduce you to three types of therapy: hypnotherapy, NLP and
Havening. You will learn the basic concepts and theories behind each and the basic steps
needed for self-hypnosis.
The second section outlines common trading issues and then moves on to cover in depth
four key areas of challenge for traders. These are: coping with losing trades, stress and
anxiety, negative self-talk and fear.
The final section contains more general self-help discussion. Specifically, it covers using
visualisation, how to write affirmations, building confidence and motivation, modelling
success, mental preparation and discipline.
The book concludes with advice on how to choose a hypnotherapist should you want
more help.
Within each chapter, you will find a number of activities and techniques that encompass
hypnotherapy, NLP or Havening. These are designed to help you address the challenges
that have been identified. You will be guided through each technique step by step so that
you can practise it and use it correctly.
The techniques are designed to provide you with a toolkit of psychotherapeutic
approaches that you can use as often as required to help you create the changes you
want. You will find that some suit you more than others and you will learn how to adapt
the techniques outlined to address a variety of areas, both within and outside of trading.

How to use this book
To make the best use of the book, firstly read through each chapter and each activity

before you start. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time. There is no need to rush
and, although it will be tempting to move straight to the chapters that you think apply to
you the most, work through each one in turn. You can repeat each activity and technique
as often as you want or need to.
Once you have completed all the activities you can then dip into the book in the future,
using the relevant techniques when needed. Once you are familiar with the book and the
activities, you’ll be able to bookmark those that you want to return to so you can practise
and use them as often as you need to.
Within each chapter, you will see the following:


Text in italics indicates an activity where you should make notes. Perhaps use a
notepad specifically for the work you complete in this book; it will help you to keep all
of your notes in one place.
TIPS! Specific tips are displayed in bold.
Techniques
Practical techniques are displayed in boxes. They are written in a straightforward, step-by-step manner.


INTRODUCTION

Y

ou’ve picked up this book and you are flicking through it. Clearly, you think you need
some help breaking down some of the psychological challenges of trading.
Do you lack discipline? Are you annoyed at yourself for letting fear get in the way?
Perhaps you have a great trading strategy but for whatever reason you don’t follow it.
Perhaps you can’t stop yourself from exiting trades too early and you experience both
elation that you have made a profit, and frustration you didn’t stay in as long as you
intended and missed out.

If you have these problems when trading then HypnoTrading can help you.
HypnoTrading is not your typical trading psychology textbook. It goes a step further than
describing problems – it guides you step-by-step through a number of self-help solutions.
You will discover the power of hypnosis and how to use self-hypnosis with neuro-linguistic
programming (NLP) and Havening, a modern psycho-sensory technique, to master your
trading issues, help you make better trading decisions, perform in a calm and consistent
manner, and go on to improve your trading life.
I have been working with traders since 2010, when I was first approached by a trader
who wanted to use hypnotherapy to help control his reactions to losing trades and
improve his levels of discipline.
Working with this client, I became intrigued by trading issues and the similarities to
gambling, and I soon knew that I wanted to work with traders as a specialism. From this
point on, I began to develop my knowledge of trading psychology.
I quickly realised there was a common set of themes that seemed to appear in my clinic
as I saw more and more traders: discipline (or lack thereof), fear, stress and how you
react to losing trades, to name but a few. I realised the huge number of home-based
traders out there in the world and the demand for my services began to grow.
Having seen the brilliant effects that hypnotherapy has had on my trader clients, the next
logical step was for me to write this book, to bring hypnotherapy and NLP techniques to a
wider audience of traders. I want to pass on some of my knowledge and make
hypnotherapy accessible to more traders.
This is a practical book. It is all very well knowing, for example, that you experience
anxiety whilst trading, but this book shows you how to identify those anxieties and their
impact and how to overcome them. This is hugely important for every trader because the
psychological elements of trading are well known and well documented, but there is very
little material that deals with how to develop yourself psychologically to deal with trading
and achieve better results.
The aim of this book is to help you develop your success as a trader, become more
consistent in your approach to trading and address larger psychological elements within
trading.

You can find out more about me and my practice in Wokingham, Berkshire, on my


website: HypnoTrading.co.uk


PART ONE. AN

INTRODUCTION TO
THERAPEUTIC TECHNIQUES

T

rading is full of complex emotional states. There is uncertainty, lack of control,
volatility and fast-paced change to contend with. It is no wonder many people find
this difficult emotionally.
HypnoTrading offers a number of approaches that you can use to help overcome the
psychological barriers holding you back or influencing how you trade. In Part One, you will
find an introduction to the various techniques that you will become acquainted with as
you progress through the book.
This introduction does not provide you with an in-depth understanding of each therapy –
you don’t really need that in order to use the techniques successfully. The intention is to
provide you with an insight into the therapies so you understand the basic principles, why
these techniques can work for you and how they can help to improve your trading style,
techniques and ultimately success. You will learn:
1. A brief history of hypnosis and hypnotherapy, what it is and how to self-hypnotise.
2. An overview of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and how this can be combined
with hypnosis to improve your trading.
3. An introduction to Havening, a relatively new psycho-sensory technique that can be
used to cope with stress, anxiety and getting over psychological blockers and losing

trades.
4. How these techniques can be used by traders to deal with the issues they face.


CHAPTER ONE.

Hypnosis, Psychotherapy and
the Trader

Introduction

T

his chapter begins by introducing you to hypnosis and hypnotherapy, what they are
and how these techniques help traders. You will need to understand these basic
elements to use the techniques outlined later in the book. The following topics are
covered:
1. Hypnosis and hypnotherapy
2. The science behind hypnosis
3. A brief history of hypnosis and hypnotherapy
4. Recent scientific advances in hypnotherapy
5. Self-hypnosis
6. Psychotherapy and NLP
7. Havening: unblocking emotional barriers
8. How hypnotherapy and psychotherapy help traders

1. Hypnosis and hypnotherapy
There is much mystery, myth and scepticism surrounding hypnosis and hypnotherapy.
Hypnotherapists have worked hard to ensure hypnotherapy is reputable, governed and
understood.

Hypnosis is a naturally arising state of mind that occurs in many people on a daily basis,
for example during a monotonous drive on the motorway, when watching a movie or
when we drive a familiar route and can’t remember the journey afterwards. At these
times when we are deeply relaxed or highly focused, our conscious mind goes into a
neutral state and our subconscious processing takes over. This means our subconscious
mind is more accessible.
Hypnosis itself is not a therapy, although one could argue that the relaxing properties of
hypnosis are very healing. The therapy side comes when a trained therapist works with
the subconscious part of the mind to treat various emotional, physical and mental
ailments and create beneficial changes in a person.
Once direct access to the subconscious mind is possible through hypnosis, certain
therapeutic techniques, such as NLP, can then be used to initiate change within the client.
This is more effective than using the techniques alone, because you are working with the
subconscious part of your mind, which is the part of you that stores the rules of your


environment and your beliefs, desires and attitudes.
Recent research has revealed that hypnotherapy is a tool that has many useful
applications – so much so that the NHS now employ hypnotherapists, universities fund
research into hypnotherapy and mental health charities deploy hypnotherapists to work
with various mental health issues.
In short, hypnotherapy is an evidence-based therapy that has changed many lives and it
could change yours too.

2. The science behind hypnosis
There is much curiosity surrounding what actually happens when someone is in a
hypnotic state.
There is a scientifically proven change in brain activity in a state of hypnosis. Extensive
research using electroencephalographs (EEGs) demonstrates a boost in the lower
frequency brainwaves associated with dreaming and sleep, and a reduction in higher

frequency brainwaves associated with being awake.
Neurological research shows that activity in the right hemisphere of the brain is increased
during hypnosis – this is the side of the brain associated with the subconscious mind. At
the same time, the activity in the left hemisphere (the logical, conscious side of the
brain) is reduced. This supports the concept of the subconscious becoming more
accessible through hypnosis.

3. A brief history of hypnosis and hypnotherapy
Historically, hypnosis or various forms of it are well documented. For example, there are
ancient Egyptian documents suggesting mass hypnotic states during certain ceremonies
and hypnosis-like descriptions of healing in Hindu texts.
Western history marks Franz Mesmer as an important person in the history of hypnosis in
the 18th century. Mesmer’s work is a defining point because it was the tipping point from
an occult view to a scientific view of hypnosis. Mesmer was the first person to suggest a
rational base for the effects of hypnosis healing many ailments.
In the 19th century interest began to focus on understanding the effects of hypnosis and
how they could be applied in real life. Most notable in this time period was the physician
James Esdaile, who pioneered its use in the medical field, and James Braid, who
researched the physical and biological levels of hypnosis. By the end of the 19th century,
their evidence-based work led to hypnosis being accepted as a valid clinical tool for use in
medical settings and universities.
The 20th century led to a movement of hypnosis away from the clinical setting to
becoming more widely available in private practice to the general public. The style of
hypnosis and hypnotherapy moved from direct suggestions to indirect suggestions based
on language patterns.
At the centre of this development was Milton H. Erickson. Erickson is the most well-known


hypnotherapist and Ericksonian hypnosis is still taught and used widely today. He shaped
how hypnosis is taught and the way it is used in both the medical and the therapeutic

environment.
Very importantly, work in hypnotherapy began to move towards understanding how
hypnosis can be used to ease psychological issues such as stress, anxiety and weight
problems.

4. Recent scientific advances in hypnotherapy
With funding made available for hypnotherapy within universities, the scientific study of
hypnosis is making huge advances and hypnotherapy is moving forward as a credible and
widely available evidence-based therapy.
For example, Peter Whorwell, Professor of Medicine and Gastroenterology in the School of
Medicine at Manchester University, discovered and developed a method of treating
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) using hypnotherapy. This method is perfect for those who
have no medical cause behind their IBS and teaches clients how to influence and control
their gut function. Hypnotherapy for IBS can relieve all symptoms of the condition,
whereas medication can only ever relieve a few.
Hypnotherapy has also been used to aid pain management in cancer patients, reduce
anxiety and improve sleep. Research into hypnotherapy for depression is also showing
positive results.

5. Self-hypnosis
Many of the techniques outlined in this book are separate to self-hypnosis and can be
used without it. However, as hypnosis allows direct access to the subconscious part of
your mind, using self-hypnosis will improve the success of the techniques. Before we go
on to discuss the psychotherapeutic techniques in detail, this section outlines two very
effective methods of self-hypnosis.
Hypnosis is induced in situations where you have a focused state of mind or you are
deeply relaxed. This is great news for traders because it means that you can be in selfhypnosis whilst you are trading and thus use that focused attention to heighten your
trading skills and make better trades. It also means you can use hypnosis before and
after trading to relax, de-stress and make positive changes to your mental attitude,
psychology and trading success.

I use the techniques outlined in this section, as well as many more, to help traders take
control of their lives and start trading more productively, to react better to inevitable
losing trades and to make greater profits. Follow the instructions in this book and practise
these techniques and you will see an improvement in your trading ability. Taking
shortcuts, not taking it seriously or skipping bits will negatively affect the results you see.
If you really want success, you have to work for it and earn it.


The principles of hypnosis
The basic principles of hypnosis are as follows:
1. All hypnosis is self-hypnosis. In a therapeutic setting you cannot be hypnotised if
you don’t want to be and thus you always choose to go into hypnosis.
2. There is so single hypnotic feeling. Many people assume that when you are in
hypnosis you must feel different, out of control somehow. This simply isn’t the case.
Some people feel no different at all and don’t even realise they are in hypnosis.
Others feel like they are floating or sinking, or warm or cool, and some experience
tingling sensations. All of these are right and normal.
3. You create change. Whether you are using hypnosis on your own or you see a
hypnotherapist like myself, you are the one doing all the hard work to create
change. This also means you are in full control at all times and can go into or come
out of hypnosis whenever you like. This also means you have to want to create
change.
4. There are different levels of hypnosis. Some people will only ever achieve a light
state of hypnosis, whereas other people can go into very deep levels of hypnosis.
Does it matter? Not really. Even in a light state of hypnosis you can create fantastic
changes. For many, it just takes a few sessions before they can allow themselves to
go deeper into hypnosis and become even more relaxed.

Preparing for self-hypnosis
I will now outline two different techniques to induce or ‘get into’ hypnosis. There are

many different methods you could use, but I have chosen to highlight two very effective
ones. You will find one method that suits you best and works for you. Whilst it is
important to practise both methods, don’t focus on those that aren’t working for you in
the long term; focus on what works well for you and what feels good.
The best place to start is preparation. Although you can use hypnosis almost anywhere, it
is important to be on your own. Somewhere relaxed and quiet, where you won’t be
disturbed. Turn off your phone, wear comfortable clothes, and make sure you are warm
or cool enough.
Whilst learning and developing your skills in self-hypnosis, use a room with a comfortable
chair, sofa or bed where you can sit or lie down. Try to keep your arms and legs
uncrossed so you don’t get uncomfortable part way through. Give yourself time. You’ll
need at least half an hour to guide yourself into hypnosis and work through your chosen
topic.
Finally, prepare in advance what it is you’d like to work on. Whether you just want some
time to relax and re-energise, or you want to put a bad trade behind you, or you want to
improve your winning trades – it is important to know the goal of your session to avoid
becoming distracted.
Read through each method first before practising it so that you don’t have to stop to re-


read this section or think too much about what you are doing. This is easy, it’s natural
and you can’t get it wrong.

The importance of a ‘safe place’
Once you are in self-hypnosis and before you start working on your goals, you’ll need to
create a safe place. This safe place is just a place in your mind where you feel
comfortable, in control and a place where there is only you and your thoughts. Some
people create a living room area, other people have a beautiful garden or a golden
tranquil beach. Your safe place can be somewhere you have been before that is special to
you or where you felt relaxed, or it can be created from your imagination.

Create it in your mind’s eye now – think about the colours you can see, the sounds you
can hear (e.g. waves, silence, birds tweeting), whether you can smell anything, what you
feel (e.g. warm or cool breeze), how the bed or the chair feels as you touch it.
This is invoking all of your senses and will help you gain a deeper state of hypnosis. It will
also help you work with the senses that appeal to you most. For example, many people
find it hard to create an image in their mind. So instead, they use smell, sounds or
thinking about how something will feel when touched. You will usually have a dominance
in visual, auditory or olfactory (smell) processing and you can adapt all of the techniques
in this book to work specifically for you, depending on which it is.
Here is a basic method for creating your safe place. You can use this quite successfully on
its own, or you can adapt it as you wish.
Creating your safe place
Imagine a staircase with ten steps leading down, covered in a soft carpet in your favourite colour and design. At the
bottom of the staircase is a door to your own special room, a room where nobody can go but you. Now count from
ten down to zero and with each number take another step down that staircase, becoming more relaxed, and when
you reach zero you’ll be outside that door to your room.
10, 9
8, 7 – thinking about how soft the carpet feels
6, 5 – halfway down, feeling safe and secure
4, 3
2, 1 – just one more step to zero
Picture that door in your mind now. How does it look? Think about the texture of the handle. When you are ready,
move inside the room. It’s warm, softly lit, looking exactly how you want it to look. Take a moment to make it
really vivid in your mind, thinking about how it feels, how it smells, and how it looks. This is a room where you can
make wonderful things happen for yourself, just by imagining them.
In the room is the most comfortable chair you’ve ever seen. Just go over to it and sit down, relax and let your
mind do all the work now as you create positive change for yourself easily. Nobody wants anything from you,
nobody needs anything, just relax…

Progressive relaxation

Progressive relaxation is very simply taking the time to relax each and every part of your
body. Follow this relaxation by guiding yourself into that special room and you will find


yourself deeply relaxed and able to make confident and positive changes to achieve
success.
Below is a script that you can follow until you get used to doing it on your own. For the
first few times, just focus on learning to relax. Once you have guided yourself into your
safe place, you can either spend some time enjoying being very relaxed or simply open
your eyes to end the session.
When you are feeling confident with being in hypnosis, you can pick one activity or area
to work through whilst in hypnosis. Each activity in this book has been designed so that
you can use them both in and out of hypnosis. However, once you’ve mastered hypnosis,
I am confident you will always choose to use it as you will find that it brings quicker and
more effective results.
Progressive relaxation
Step 1: Close your eyes. Take five nice, slow, deep breaths in, breathing out slowly each time. If you can, focus
on slowing the out-breath down so it lasts longer than the in-breath. For example, breathe in for the count of four
and out for the count of six.
Step 2: Think about a colour you find relaxing. It might be a bright warm colour, a pastel colour, or a deep velvety
colour. This is the colour of relaxation and as it moves over each part of your body, it will help you to relax it.
Perhaps you can see it or perhaps you have an awareness that it is there in your mind.
Step 3: Think about the top of your head now. Move down slowly to focus on relaxing the muscles of your face:
your forehead, eyes, cheeks, mouth and jaw muscles. Just let the skin settle and smooth out. Focus on breathing
gently, easily. Bring that colour or that relaxing feeling down into your neck and shoulder muscles, down through
your arms to the tips of your fingers.
Now relax your chest, moving through to your stomach muscles, into those deep muscles either side of your spine.
Just let them go lazy.
Think about this feeling moving down your hips and into your thigh muscles, relaxing through your knees, your calf
muscles unwinding and letting the tension just drift away as you think down into your ankles and feet.

Your whole body is feeling relaxed, easy, lazy even.
Step 4: Guide yourself into your safe room.

Eye fixation
The eye fixation technique is a quicker method for dropping into hypnosis. This is a
Marmite technique in that some clients find it really easy to get into a wonderful state of
hypnosis, whereas others feel that although they are in hypnosis, it’s perhaps not as deep
as they’d like. Practice makes perfect! Once again, don’t forget to create your safe room
once you are deeply relaxed.
Eye Fixation
Step 1: With your eyes open take five nice, slow, deep breaths in, breathing out slowly each time. If you can,
focus on slowing the out-breath down so it lasts longer than the in-breath. For example, breathe in for the count of
four and out for the count of six.
Step 2: Pick a point on the wall or the floor and stare at it. Keep your eyes focused on that point and just keep
looking at it. Try to avoid blinking. You’ll notice your eyes begin to feel a bit tired or strained. You may find that your
eyelids feel really heavy as if they want to close. This is good. Just keep staring at that point you have chosen.


Notice your eyelids feeling heavier and heavier.
Step 3: Once you are struggling to keep your eyes open, allow your eyelids to close and as you do, breathe out
and notice how relaxed and wonderful it feels now that your eyes are closed.
Step 4: Now that you are relaxed, keeping your eyes closed, guide yourself into your safe place.

Ending your self-hypnosis session
You cannot get stuck in hypnosis, but it is important to have a method of gradually
bringing yourself back into your day. Coming out of hypnosis abruptly can be
disorientating. A simple method is to count back up from one to five when you are ready,
opening your eyes on the count of five, or you could visualise yourself swimming
underwater and coming to the surface and opening your eyes wide awake.

Warning
Hypnosis is a perfectly normal and natural state. But it is a state of relaxation and
therefore it is important to make sure you are somewhere safe. You must never practise
hypnosis whilst driving or operating heavy machinery, or when you are responsible for
looking after other people.

6. Psychotherapy and NLP
‘Psychotherapeutic techniques’ is an all-encompassing term that includes any therapeutic
techniques that work on your mind in some way. These may include elements of
cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), reflection and
talking therapy. This book is primarily focused on NLP so the majority of techniques that
you’ll use come under the heading of NLP.
NLP is used by hypnotherapists across the world to help create change and improve their
clients’ lives. It can be used as a standalone technique or it can be combined with other
therapies. When combined with hypnotherapy it can create fantastic and permanent
changes.

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)
Your world revolves around you and, whilst you probably won’t change the world, you can
change your perception of it. NLP helps you do that and do it quickly, increasing your
ability to be successful in whatever you want to do.
NLP has its origins in the 1970s when linguist John Grinder and mathematician Richard
Bandler wanted to know why some people are really good at some things and find them
easy, whilst others aren’t so good and find them hard. They decided to investigate the
difference between someone who is competent at what they do and someone who is
excellent at what they do. The results of this research led to the development of a variety
of techniques that now come under the umbrella of NLP.
NLP is comprised of three main aspects:

1. Neuro – the way we use our senses and translate experience into conscious and
subconscious thought processes.
2. Linguistic – how we use language to describe and categorise our world to
understand our experiences.
3. Programming – our patterns of thought and behaviour. Humans repeat patterns
of behaviour to create rules and shortcuts to process their environments.
Regardless of whether a person’s ability or excellence is down to nature (genetics) or
nurture (practice), NLP techniques are designed to help people develop and enhance their
mindset and behaviours and turn their competencies into excellence, no matter what they
are doing.
NLP proposes three main elements to a skill or behaviour: what the person does, what
the person thinks and what the person feels. This book uses those elements, combined
with other psychotherapeutic techniques, to help you achieve positive changes and meet
your potential as a trader.
That can mean going from being able to apply the practical knowledge of how to trade to
trading well all the time. It can be the difference between knowing you need to control
your emotions whilst trading and doing that in practice.
Fundamentally, the NLP techniques outlined in this book are aimed at helping you to
change the way you perceive specific events within the trading environment and your
state of mind. This means you can change the way you process a losing trade, or you can
reduce the fear that you feel. After all, fear usually stems from our thoughts and causes a
physical and emotional reaction. If you change your thoughts and your reactions then you
can change your behaviour.
When you learn to trade, you are taught how to trade, how to analyse the charts, and
what you should feel when you trade, which is nothing (a lack of emotion). You are not
taught how to think about the information presented and how to feel about the risks you
are taking each time you trade. This is where NLP can help you restructure the way you
approach trading from a psychological viewpoint as well as a practical one.
The techniques outlined in this book were not created by me and I do not claim that they
were. I have chosen to include them because they are techniques that I use with my

hypnotherapy clients to help them achieve massive changes in their lives, both in trading
and in other areas.

7. Havening: unblocking emotional barriers
There are occasions when we don’t know why we behave in certain ways or have certain
feelings or emotional blockers. Sometimes, hypnotherapy or NLP alone can resolve those
issues without needing to delve internally, but sometimes we need to address the
underlying causes in order to create the changes we want.
There are a variety of ways you can do that. Hypno-analysis or regression therapy is one
method – it is not something that can be or should be taught in a book like this, but you


will find more information on this in the section on finding a therapist. Another approach
to resolving the underlying emotional elements is to use Havening.
Havening is a psycho-sensory technique that you can use to help resolve feelings and
behaviours. It is a fairly recent therapy and one that has been developed from a scientific
approach. The next part of this chapter outlines the basics of Havening and how you can
use it to resolve past emotional issues.
You can self-haven or you can seek out a skilled therapist who uses Havening with their
clients. One notable therapist is Paul McKenna, who uses Havening for a variety of client
issues.
Before I go on to talk more about Havening for emotional blockers, it is important to note
that you can use Havening for fear, stress, anxiety and coping with losing trades. So like
hypnotherapy, it is multipurpose and you can use the guidance I give you to practise the
use of Havening in different ways.

The power of touch
Havening is a breakthrough psycho-sensory and healing technique developed by Dr
Ronald Ruden. It is particularly good for working with emotional and psychological
trauma.

Putting it very simply, Havening uses the power of touch to release serotonin (the brain’s
happy hormone) and this combats the stress hormones released when thinking about or
experiencing something you find traumatic, stressful or upsetting. Havening can combat
this in minutes.
Event Havening combines repeated touch to various parts of the body with various eye
movements and visualisation. Havening points are based on a mother’s touch and are
hardwired into our bodies and brains. This touch is then combined with eye movements,
visualisation work and counting to break down the associations with unhappy feelings and
memories. The most effective Havening points are:
The area under the eyes and across the cheeks. Imagine wiping away tears – this
is the action you would use.
The palms of your hands. You would rub them as if wiping or washing your hands.
The shoulders down to the elbows. You stroke from the top of the arm down to the
elbow.
The specifics of how to use Event Havening will be outlined in the chapter on fear and
you’ll learn how to apply this technique to other issues as well. Havening is most
frequently used outside of hypnosis and is complementary to it. However, it is possible to
go into self-hypnosis whilst Havening and this is an excellent technique for resolving
underlying issues.
For more background information on Havening, visit havening.org.


8. How hypnotherapy and psychotherapy help traders
Trading success comes down to several elements: excellent methodology, execution and
decision-making, intertwined with excellent emotional and psychological control. Of all
these, I believe mental preparation (psychological control) and emotional balance are the
most important elements. The reason that many traders fail to be a success, whatever
success means to them, comes down to:
An inability to make a decision and stick to it
Anxiety and stress whilst trading

Poor mental preparation before trading
Not following their methodology and being inconsistent on approach
Negatively reacting to losing trades and being unable to let go of those negative
emotions
Letting fear get in the way
Hypnotherapy and NLP can help you to combat these problems. This is because hypnosis
allows you to access that subconscious part of your mind where change can be created
quickly and easily. These changes can be made with a variety of psychotherapeutic
techniques which will be outlined in the following chapters. This will provide you with an
excellent set of tools that you can pick and choose from to help you achieve positive
change and success. I have been working with traders since 2010 and I use these
techniques, as well as many more, with my clients and see amazing results.
Many trading books that you read or well-known successful traders that you might listen
to will tell you that if you are emotionally weak you shouldn’t trade, or that you should be
able to trade without any emotion. I disagree. Emotions are a reaction to what is
happening in our environment and this should not be ignored. However, you can easily
learn to manage your emotions. Successful traders do not trade without emotion, they
just manage emotion differently. Hypnotherapy, NLP and Havening can help you harness
your emotions, control them and put them to better use.
***
Now that you’ve learned self-hypnosis and have an understanding of the main styles and
techniques used in this book, you can move on to working on your trading challenges.


PART TWO. TRADING

CHALLENGES AND
HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM

P

art Two is designed to help you identify your trading challenges and the potential
psychological reasons behind them. You will learn to analyse your trading pitfalls and
use a variety of techniques to combat them and improve your trading success.
In particular, it covers four of the most common psychological blockers in trading. These
are: stress and anxiety, negative self-talk, fear, and reactions to losing trades.
This part of the book is very practical and I suggest you take time to work through each
chapter. You will need to make notes as you work through the activities. Please ensure
you read through the instructions for each activity and technique in full before starting it.
The topics of Part Two are:
1. Common client issues
2. Understanding your trading challenges
3. Coping with losing trades
4. Reducing stress and anxiety
5. Getting rid of fear
6. Negative self-talk


CHAPTER TWO.

Common Client Issues

T

he purpose of this chapter is to introduce you to the wide variety of practical,
emotional and psychological challenges that traders face. This will help you to start
identifying the behaviours you display that may be affecting your trading success.
Whilst there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach, these trader errors are usually caused by
fear, anxiety, a lack of confidence and how you react to the trades you take. By
understanding the mistakes you make, you can start to identify why you make them and

then use the techniques outlined in later chapters to help resolve the behaviours.
Most technical or practical trading errors stem from decision-making and other
psychological aspects that inevitably influence how you trade and the decisions you
make.
Psychological barriers cause huge problems for traders – from novice home-based traders
to successful full-time professionals. No matter how skilled you are or the extent of your
trading knowledge, if you can’t overcome the psychological challenges of trading then you
will not meet your full potential and you will continue to make mistakes over and over
again.
The issues covered are:
1. Lack of review
2. Focusing only on potential profit
3. Not controlling risk
4. Losing too much money
5. Lack of planning
6. Unrealistic expectations
7. Panic or revenge trading
8. Compulsive trading
9. Lack of routine
10. Too big a point value

1. Lack of review
It is incredibly important to review every completed trade, whether you win or lose. Quite
often, when you review losing trades you will notice an indicator as to why you shouldn’t
have taken that trade, or you will understand other decisions you could have made. It is
equally important to look at what you did right when you win.
There are a number of possible reasons why traders do not review their trades:


1. Lack of time. Schedule in some time every day to review trades, just as you

already make time to check charts before you trade.
2. Avoidance. Some traders may not realise they are using avoidance techniques.
Perhaps they don’t want to admit they made a mistake or don’t want the reality of
money lost to be staring them in the face. Start identifying why you avoid reviewing
your trades, then brainstorm methods to address these reasons.
3. Ego. Whether it’s to protect their self-esteem or because they believe they know
what they are doing, a trader’s ego can seriously impede their success. You need to
believe in yourself, but also understand the need to keep learning. You have to
invest time in developing your knowledge. We all teeter on the brink of problems
with self-esteem at times and losing trades can obviously emphasise that feeling of
low self-worth. However, by avoiding reality you are setting yourself up for a bigger
fall later. In fact, this is the perfect opportunity to reframe the issue – instead of
avoiding analysing failed trades and knowing you have not done well or made a
silly mistake, choose to think of it as learning and developing. You will review your
trades, understand what happened and be in a better position to make decisions
and act on them in the future.
4. The ‘know it all’ attitude. If you blame everything and everyone else you are not
accepting responsibility for your own performance. Recognise that you need to
continue to learn and develop your skill. Until you admit this to yourself, you will be
unable to improve as a trader.

2. Focusing only on potential profit
Successful traders analyse charts and make calculated decisions on what they hope to
achieve and what they believe will happen, and how much they are prepared to risk
losing. They might risk 1% of their portfolio and set in place a stop loss or other strategy
to limit the downside. This is all part of a long-term trading plan.
However, many traders make the error of focusing on short-term ‘what if’ or ‘if only’
scenarios and find themselves feeling desperate as they think about how much money
they could make if the market direction turns again. This leads to them staying in trades
too long and, instead of taking a managed loss in keeping with a plan, they incur a loss

that then seems devastating.
This focus on how much they could be making can lead to negative behaviour such as
revenge trading and trying to punish the market, or jumping into trades desperately
trying to recoup losses.
Successful traders focus on a long-term plan, not short-term profit.

3. Not controlling risk
I have noticed a tendency among my clients to forget to move a stop loss to break-even
point on a trade, or to fail to consider this as a possibility.


I was working with a trader who repeatedly incurred losses that were beyond what was
acceptable to him. I asked about the possibility of moving the stop loss to break-even
during the trade, or other ways he could protect any profits made.
My client was genuinely astonished I’d asked such a thing. His mindset was focused on
only two outcomes: profit and loss. There had been no consideration of making decisions
live, during the trade.
We worked together on developing a confident attitude and empowering him to make
decisions and think differently about the information in front of him. The change was
instant and he stopped making huge losses and began to keep hold of his profits in trades
that would otherwise have turned negative because he adapted his method and attitude
to make better decisions. This client learned to take control of the trade rather than
letting the trade control him.

4. Losing too much money
This point is very similar to the one above. Many traders lose too much money. The
problem is not that they are losing trades – after all, that’s a fact of trading. It’s that the
amount of each loss is unacceptable to them, yet they feel unable to do anything about
it.
There will be times when losses will be extreme and unpredictable, due to a sudden

event or piece of news that was completely unexpected. On the whole, though, you can
take control and make decisions about what you are prepared to risk. Losing too much
money on a regular basis can affect your self-esteem, cause negative self-talk, increase
stress and anxiety, and influence further poor decision-making. For some, this is a sign of
self-sabotage, where they are subconsciously making bad decisions – perhaps deep down
they don’t believe they deserve success, or that they haven’t earned the money.
One client I worked with really struggled with the feeling that she wasn’t actually working
by trading and so hadn’t earned her money. Her family had raised her to believe you
have to work hard for money to earn it. She didn’t see trading as a proper job and felt her
profits weren’t really earned so she didn’t deserve to make money. So instead she lost
huge amounts!
Within a few weeks she had changed her attitude and realised she did work hard when
trading and did deserve to make profits. Upon this realisation, her decision-making
changed and almost instantly she began to make better profits and smaller losses, before
going on to earn back her initial investment.

5. Lack of planning
Trading plans and strategies don’t have to be complicated or long-winded. However, you
do need to have one in some form. This will help you focus your mind and your decisionmaking.
Trading is your business and any good business owner has a strategy, goals and