Hypnosis

What is Hypnosis?

Hypnosis is a state of deep physical relaxation in which the participant is able to bypass the critical factor of the consciousness to access their subconscious mind. It empowers the individual to reveal their own hidden wisdom and to activate self-healing, without the limitations of every-day consciousness. Hypnosis is successful in working with current life issues regarding inter-personal relationships, trauma, weight-loss, pain management, and smoking cessation, as well as several other conditions. Because it offers a state of relative calm in the individual, it can provide a safe space for clients to work with traumatic memories without being overwhelmed by them.

What to expect?

Participants can expect the first session to last anywhere from 2-3 hours. It will roughly break down to an hour to conduct a thorough intake and assessment of goals, an hour to describe the process and how hypnosis works, and 50 minutes to an hour of actual hypnosis. During the initial intake, please be prepared to share your case history, along with a list of all current medications and dosages. Any additional follow up sessions will only last 50 minutes. All you need is a willingness to participate and a desire to heal a certain area in your life.

How many sessions will I need?

Most issues only need one session. However, depending on the complaint, some clients may need one or two additional follow-up sessions. If there are several symptoms or issues you are working on, think of it as a session per symptom.

Can anyone be hypnotized?

Have you ever found yourself so enthralled with a book or movie that you are moved to an emotional response—perhaps tears or laughter? Congratulations you are hypnotizable! All hypnosis is self-hypnosis. It is the client choosing to stay in that state, to suspend disbelief and to have an experience. Just like if you were watching a really good movie, even if there were distracting noises around you, you could stay in the movie—much the same with hypnosis. While it could take you a while to get to a state of relaxation, and focus, everyone is hypnotizable if they choose to be.

Will it work?

I wouldn’t be practicing hypnotherapy if I didn’t truly believe in its power to transform and change the lives of my clients. Most people try to make changes in their lives purely with will power, consciously choosing to try a different path. But for anyone who has ever tried to quit smoking or tried a diet with willpower alone, it can be very challenging. Hypnosis, on the other hand, works at the level of the subconscious, where our belief systems reside. Think of it as rebooting your hard drive on a new operating system. It can be highly transformative very quickly.

Is it safe?

Yes, absolutely. You can choose to come out of hypnosis at any time. Remember, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. If at any time you feel it is too much or you can’t handle the experience, simply choose to open your eyes to emerge yourself.

Can hypnosis block a memory?

I do not encourage working with memory blocking, even for traumatic events. Hypnotherapy is aimed to alleviate current symptoms and to heal past traumas, but it is not a practice of forgetting the past. That said, it is not so much that you will forget things, but you may find that troubling memories become less prominent in your day-to-day thinking as you heal after hypnosis.

Can I record a session?

Recording is permitted in past life therapy sessions; however, I do not recommend it during hypnotherapy and followup hypnotherapy appointments. This helps the client to stay aligned with the new subconscious programming and aids in preventing over-analysis from the conscious mind.

Can I sit in on my child’s sessions?

All of my sessions, with the exception of couples and family counseling, are one-on-one. If the client is aware of someone else in the room, they can suppress information or halt the hypnotic process.

What’s the difference between meditation & hypnosis?

Hypnosis achieves a similar state of relaxation and calm as meditation. Similarly, both practices offer a beautiful way to bridge the subconscious and the conscious. However, hypnosis is much more goal oriented and clients’ will be working with the hypnotherapist towards achieving a specific change in their conscious lives.

Can hypnosis be done virtually?

Yes. Because all hypnosis is self-hypnosis, it’s very possible for this practice to be done virtually.