Hypnotherapy is the process of using hypnosis to interact with the subconscious mind in an open-reflective process to create positive change in your life. 

There are many styles and applications of hypnotherapy. They all have several things in common: (1) a strong desire to change, (2) a state of deeply relaxed focus, and (3) language and visualization in relationship to emotions.

I practice clinical hypnotherapy and transpersonal hypnotherapy, incorporating NLP.  Clinical hypnotherapy techniques help free your mind and body of bad habits and generate motivation for change. Transpersonal hypnotherapy works at a more holistic level, so that you feel more congruent and in sync with your highest self.  Clients who have a sense that there is more to life than their material self or who have a spiritual or meditation practice tend to respond very well to transpersonal hypnotherapy.  NLP is a science of communication and how the brain stores information.

My work is present and future focused.  What that means is, we only spend as much time on your history as is necessary to see you living life with more ease, effectiveness and joy now.

Hypnosis is simply a state of relaxed focus. It is a perfectly natural state. In fact, we all enter an alpha brainwave state at least twice a day: once when we’re falling asleep, and once when we’re waking up. That pleasant floating, timeless state between dreaming and awake is a trance state. When you experience what seems like a full hour’s dream during your 9-minute snooze-button, that’s also a naturally occurring trance state.

There are many examples of naturally occurring trance states in our daily lives.  Driving, watching TV, listening to music, being deeply engaged in a favorite hobby or activity to the point where we reach Flow state.  All of these are naturally occurring altered states of consciousness.  They are safe, natural and common.  They are all various levels of trance. 

Some people leave their first hypnotherapy session saying, “I wasn’t hypnotized – I knew what was happening the entire time!” Well, yeah!  Hypnosis is not a state of amnesia or of no awareness. In fact, the opposite is true: hypnosis is a state of very heightened awareness and focus.

Hollywood has perpetrated many myths about hypnosis, and not remembering anything from the hypnosis session is one of those myths. Only under special circumstances would a person forget everything from a session.

I refer any serious psychiatric or mental health problems to a qualified psychotherapist or psychiatrist. If you are coming with a medical issue, your treating physician will usually prescribe hypnotherapy for pain control, insomnia, stress reduction, trauma relief, etc.  

Similarly, addiction, clinical depression and similar problems need to be treated by doctors and psychiatrists who can, at their discretion, prescribe hypnotherapy as a supplementary treatment.

This is probably the most common question I hear.  My response: only if you want to!

So, you’ve seen probably seen a stage show where a hypnotist made people do all these crazy or embarrassing things. Or, maybe your ideas about hypnosis come from movies & TV.  A stage hypnotist carefully selects his subjects (watch how many volunteers he has sit down, and how nervous he looks if there aren’t at least 60 people in the audience to choose from), and he selects people he knows WILL cluck like a chicken. They will because somewhere inside them is a part that loves to entertain. And they will do it because, deep down inside, they don’t believe there is anything wrong with clucking like a chicken.

Hypnosis can not make you do something that is against your morals or ethics. In fact, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis.  No hypnotist can make you do something that you really don’t want to do. That’s why some people can be hypnotized to stop eating too much chocolate and yet they still binge. You have to want the change, agree with the change, and then hypnosis in the hands of a skillful, experienced hypnotherapist is an instrument for helping make that change better, faster, and permanent.

Myths about hypnosis, perpetuated by Hollywood movies, urban legends and fiction, lead people to think all kinds of things about hypnosis, including that it’s somehow dangerous. Some people have heard that you can go into trance and not wake up. Others that the hypnotist can make you do things against your will. These things are untrue. You are always in control, always able to “come back” to full waking state at anytime if you want or need to. The number one job of the subconscious mind is to protect you, and it is always on the job.

Please note that hypnotherapy is not a treatment or cure for mental illness such as suicidal depression or psychosis.  These diagnoses need to be treated by a trained psychiatrist. 

This is another Hollywood myth.  You are always in complete control, you can hear what’s going on and you can accept or reject any hypnotic suggestions that go against your values and ethics at any time. Hypnosis is nothing but a state of deep focus and heightened awareness. It is a natural state that you enter at least twice a day (while waking up and while falling asleep) and probably many more times than that.

I always ensure that clients feel safe and comfortable throughout their session.  If at any time you are in trance and you wish to be fully awake, you can just say to yourself “Awake Now” and open your eyes.

There is more to changing a serious habit like smoking than just a few hypnotic suggestions. In the simplest terms, the person must really want the change, and they must have a replacement for smoking. Hypnosis can be used to curb the cravings and find a healthy, effective replacement, and then it can be used to help flip the subconscious over to the new, healthy habits.

While sitting in a room with 50 other people in a seminar, or listening to a stop-smoking CD can work, it is usually much more effective to have personalized sessions with a hypnotherapist, who can customize the approach, language and replacement suggestions to match your lifestyle and circumstances.

Please note that I only take on ‘stop smoking’ clients as part of a wider program, for example if someone is coming for motivation to generate improved vitality and health.

You are already naturally skilled at hypnosis – you enter trance state several times per day! 

Hypnosis is a powerful life skill in today’s world. We are surrounded by so much stress through work, school, relationships, the media, life in general. Self-hypnosis, at the most basic level, is wonderful for de-stressing, calming, and restoring a vitality and smooth energy to your body. It provides a sense of control and connectedness to your mind, body, and spirit that supports personal freedom, confidence, clarity and effectiveness.

After becoming more skilled in self-hypnosis, you’ll find that it can help you maintain motivation, creativity, vitality and peak performance. It will help you make clear decisions. It is incredibly powerful to be able to discover what your subconscious beliefs and patterns are and be able to change them at will. You can literally design your life!  And remain more calm and centered in day to day life. You can strategize your patterns and beliefs to steer you towards your highest goals and purpose, and to your personal vision of success.

I offer a life-changing 4-6 session program for learning self-hypnosis that you can adapt to almost any situation, for the rest of your life.

During a hypnotherapy session you have the advantage of being able to communicate with your subconscious in a dialogue. Affirmations don’t elicit direct responses from the subconscious; they only seek to speak to the subconscious.  Hypnotherapy also address complexities, seeking out the root cause of issues, that affirmations don’t speak to.

A post-hypnotic suggestion is also different than an affirmation: effects tend to be more direct, more specific, and more immediate when using post-hypnotic suggestions. 

There are some similarities of language between affirmations and hypnotherapy.  Both are always expressed in the present tense, and in the positive. Affirmation is great as  ‘homework’ between sessions, but deeper work requires hypnosis or NLP techniques.

Hypnotherapy is a short-term, solution oriented therapy.  I work with clients in a collaborative manner to help them find and implement solutions that align with their goals and highest purpose while realistically addressing current life circumstances.

 It’s best for us to have an exploratory phone conversation to discover what the best program is for you. There’s no such thing as ‘one size fits all’.  Every person is unique and each session is tailored to a client’s specific goals and circumstances.

The length of a program varies depending on what your goals are, and how many sessions are required for you to experience resolution and freedom around the issue you’ve arrived to let go of.

Occasionally an issue can be resolved in 3 sessions.  Most often clients come for 5-7 sessions.  Occasionally clients visit weekly for up to 3 months to resolve more complex problems.

A hypnotherapy session lasts around 1 hour, apart from your 1.5 hour intake session.

A Past Life Regression session is 2.5 to 3 hours.

Contact me for a complimentary 20 minutes exploratory session by phone or Skype and we can discuss what’s best for you,  here.  You will receive a short questionnaire in your booking confirmation email so that we will get the most out of our discovery time. 

This  is a question I am asked often.

The short answer is, Yes, you can set up an exploratory session for a friend, partner, child and so on.  But for hypnotherapy to be effective the client has to have a genuine desire for change.  Otherwise it’s a waste of time and resources on both our parts, and I’m in the business of being effective and supporting healing and positive change.

Now, that’s different from someone feeling conflicted.  If someone is conflicted they are in the process of shifting at some level.  Often we can get the parts of the mind that are in conflict to come together, to clasp hands so to speak, and to make a joint decision.  If the decision is in the client’s best interest and we are a fit, then they are welcome to continue coming until the issue is successfully resolved.

Skype and phone sessions can be just as effective as in-office sessions.  Just be sure that you are in a quiet, peaceful location where you will not be disturbed by outside noise, pets and people in your home.

When you book a Skype or phone session, you will contact me at your scheduled appointment time.  Just as when you arrive in the office, I will ask you a series of questions to ascertain how to best help resolve your issue and to most effectively guide you to a state of safe, blissful trance.

An mp3 recording of your hypnosis session will be emailed to you after your session.

That’s easy!  Follow the link to schedule your free exploratory session, here.

A welcome email explaining how to get the most out of this session will arrive in your booking confirmation.  We will have a 20 minute conversation by phone or Skype at the scheduled time.  Then you can see how my skills and services can benefit you in achieving your goal for freedom or change, and see if we are a personality fit.

If we decide to move forward you will receive a link to the bookings calendar and set up the number of sessions agreed upon.  It’s best to have the sessions at the same time every week.