On 6 February the Psychology department took Year 12 and Year 13 students on a trip to see the famous clinical hypnotherapist John Clifford speak at a workshop in London Zoo.

It was a full day of workshops and included talks on a range of phobias from the common to the unusual, their symptoms, triggers and treatments. The group was also introduced to the well-established ‘ZSL Friendly Spider Programme’ as a case study.

Students also had the opportunity to take part in a hypnosis therapy demonstration. The clinical hypnotherapist performed techniques that have been scientifically proven to reduce stress in the presence of a spider – a fear that is also know as arachnophobia.

It was an extremely entertaining day, with interesting lectures that were highly relevant to the course.