Elle had been self-conscious about her weight and her smile, but was too anxious to do anything about it
A stressed mum hypnotised herself into shedding nearly two stone, getting over her paralysing fear of the dentist and finally finding love. Elle Kay suffered from severe pressure from her high-flying job “managing millions of pounds” as the head of service at work.
She had spent years battling her weight, as well as crippling anxiety over having her teeth fixed. The now-41-year-old decided to take action after she had a video call date with a man she fancied and felt self-conscious the entire time.
He ghosted her afterwards. The experience – and a heart scare – pushed Elle, from Ayrshire, Scotland, to try hypnotherapy. What started as an experiment soon turned into a full-blown obsession.
“I used to be so self-conscious about my smile and my weight,” Elle said. “When I smiled and talked, I would try and hide them so I didn’t show the bottom as my teeth were stained and really crooked. I was conscious that the overlapping teeth pushed onto my bottom lip, making it even more obvious.
“The date didn’t even go ahead, we had a video call a few days before we were due to meet. I was really conscious of my teeth the whole time, and I couldn’t stop looking at myself on the camera, trying to find an angle that made me look better.
“I thought I had been ghosted because of my teeth and my weight. I was also conscious of how chubby my face looked when I smiled, so I tried to keep my face straight as it was more flattering. [On dates], I always felt better if we were sitting at a table across from each other on dates, so I was hidden from the waist down.
“I was unhappy in almost every area of my life and knew something had to change.”
Elle, who used to weigh 14.5st and was a size 18, found herself bingeing and stress eating every day. No matter how many apps or diets she tried, nothing seemed to work. She ended up in the hospital after being rushed in with a heart rate of 240bpm when a mental health nurse suggested hypnotherapy.
She said: “I had a really stressful job, managing millions of pounds and hundreds of people. Doctors discovered I had a heart condition called supraventricular tachycardia that was triggered by stress. I’m now on beta blockers, and I’ve been referred for a procedure on my heart.
“This news, on top of my weight struggles and dental care issues, felt overwhelming. While I was in the hospital, someone mentioned trying hypnotherapy to ease my mental health struggles, and I was just blown away. It sparked something inside me. I ordered a few hypnotherapy books and started reading up on the theory behind it.”
Elle spent six months buried in books and recordings, studying the science of the mind and creating custom hypnotherapy tracks to rewire her thoughts. She said: “Before long, I’d signed up to study for a diploma. For six months, I threw myself into it – reading, doing assessments, diving into the material.
“I could feel myself improving with each step. I even started recording hypnotherapy sessions for myself and listened back to them regularly.”
Elle began listening to self-made audio sessions every night, covering everything from emotional eating to her terrifying dental phobia. From there, the changes came thick and fast. With visualisation techniques, calming beats and subconscious affirmations, Elle reprogrammed her own mindset.
She said, “Before going to the dentist, I’d listen to a relaxation audio the night before. That mental shift really helped me get through the appointments. A lot of it focused on visualisation – imagining myself walking into the dentist’s, feeling calm and confident.
“There were also sound patterns designed to slow the brainwaves. It repeated things like, ‘I’m calm, I’m confident, and I enjoy going to the dentist’. For weight loss, I broke it into different parts.
“One was focused on feeling full sooner. I’d repeat things like, ‘It’s powerful to stop eating before you’re too full. I crave protein and healthy choices. Another part was about food preferences – I told myself I wanted light, healthy foods and that greasy foods made me feel bloated and uncomfortable.
“It was all about shifting cravings – feeling full faster, choosing what actually makes your body feel good.”
After a £3,500 dental makeover and losing the weight she’d always wanted to get rid of, Elle can’t stop smiling. She is now a qualified hypnotherapist and runs her own business.
Elle said: “Hypnotherapy often gets a bad reputation – it’s not something that’s widely understood or used. Even my own family were sceptical at first, but now they’re genuinely shocked at how well it works. It’s such a simple practice – you just put on headphones each day, and it really does make a difference.
“I’m now in a committed relationship with a woman, and we plan to live together. I’m much more confident in a relationship now, as I don’t have the hang-ups about my appearance that I used to have. I was always quite anxious about dating people as my self-confidence was low, and I was worried no one would want to be with me long-term.
“But I feel much better, and I’m really happy with myself. I think hypnotherapy is something everyone should do – it’s a game changer.”