One cancer patient said hypnosis helped him mentally overcome his illness by imagining chemotherapy killing cancer cells.
Faye Roberts, 46, from Southend, discovered a lump under her right breast while taking a shower in March 2023.
Battle – Faye Roberts of Southend (Image: SWNS)
The next week, she went to the doctor and had an ultrasound and biopsy.
That same day, Faye received the shocking news that she had stage 3 breast cancer, which had spread to her chest.
Fay said she used hypnotherapy (recording scripts to put her in a hypnotic state) to get through her diagnosis and treatment, and said her mental health had greatly improved.
Love – Faye and family (Image: SWNS)
Fay, a hypnotherapist from Southend, said: “When I got the diagnosis I fell into a really dark place.
“Stage 3 was very shocking and upsetting for me. I started hypnosis on myself.
“I wrote a script that visualized the chemotherapy working and killing the cancer, and hearing that really helped me get out of that dark place.
Hard – Faye undergoing cancer treatment (Image: SWNS)
“I was scared to undergo chemotherapy, so I wrote a script to help me visualize chemotherapy and what it did for me.”
Faye then underwent five months of chemotherapy starting in April 2023.
She said hypnotherapy helped her treatment because she was able to “visualize the effects” by watching the chemotherapy attack cancer cells.
She said: “I was very worried because I didn’t know how I would react to the chemotherapy.
“That scared me, so I tried to change my way of thinking. I wrote a script to visualize the cancer disappearing with chemotherapy.
Smile – Faye beats cancer (Image: SWNS)
“I think that helped because I could feel it working. The lump didn’t seem to be getting any smaller, but I stayed positive.
“It wasn’t until after the last chemotherapy session that I felt it getting smaller.”
Faye then underwent surgery to remove the tumor in November 2023.
A few months after the surgery, it was discovered that the cancer had spread to her axillary lymph nodes and had to be removed in December 2023.
She said: “The pain after the surgery was very painful.I used hypnotherapy to help me get into a better frame of mind.
“It helped me a lot because I felt like I was in control of my recovery.”
Faye then underwent 20 radiation treatments, and in February 2024, she rang the bell to signal that she was cancer-free.
She said: “It was a really emotional moment. I cried. It was a year of treatment.
“I told the kids they’re great. They’ve been struggling throughout this time, and I want people to know there’s something that can help them.
“I was in a very dark place after going through all this myself, so hypnotherapy really helped me.
“It really helped me get out of a difficult situation with diagnosis and treatment.”
