Hypnosis is a natural phenomenon which we experience each and every day. It involves a period of increased suggestibility, meaning our minds are highly receptive to absorbing information from the environment.

Anyone and everyone can benefit from therapeutic hypnosis. In the first session, behavioral tests allow hypnotherapists to identify a client’s specific learning style. By understanding how a client takes in information on a subconscious level, hypnotherapists create a comprehensive and unique plan that caters to the suggestibility, or receptivity, of the client.

Hypnotherapy targets both the conscious mind (12%) and subconscious mind (88%). Conversely, other forms of therapy address and focus on only the conscious mind. Working with the subconscious in addition to our waking mind allows for long-lasting and expedited behavioral changes.

This idea stems from movies, television, and stage hypnosis. Stage hypnotists often pick highly suggestible/receptive volunteers who will adhere to their suggestions by their own free will. Clients in hypnotherapy will never do or say anything that they would usually not in their wide-awake, conscious state.

Contrary to popular belief, the state of hypnosis allows clients to be aware, and often hyper-aware of their state of being and surroundings. There is no truth serum or erasure of memory involved in the therapeutic process.

The anxiety and stress response of the brain is simply when the body senses danger, it releases a burst of hormones. The stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline increases our breathing rate, blood circulation, and metabolism. Without this natural stress response, we would never be alert, focused, or motivated to problem solve.

However, experiencing high levels of stress and anxiety can be just as debilitating. We may freeze when faced with a stressful situation, experience flight when we want to escape from a pattern of thinking or something in our environment, and we may fight or show strong negative emotions when faced with discomfort.

Hypnotherapy for stress and anxiety management involves helping a client identify their triggers or sources of stress and providing tools to mitigate the severity and discomfort of them. A client’s natural anxiety response can be repurposed to help them find their passion and motivation to achieve their goals.

I am a Certified Specialist in Trauma Hypnosis. A common misconception is that hypnotherapy can erase or replace a traumatic event in the mind. In reality, hypnosis allows for unresolved trauma to be processed. To address trauma, clients are provided with the proper tools, techniques, and space to change their neurological and physiological reactions to traumatic events of their past.

Trauma is a universal human experience that takes many forms throughout our lives. Trauma and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) are oftentimes multidimensional and can be deep rooted in the subconscious mind. Unresolved trauma can lead to subsequent mental health obstacles such as anxiety, depression, and addictive behavior.

On a biological level, when a traumatic event occurs we experience a burst of adrenaline and the activation of our fight/flight response. Unresolved memories or event linger in the limbic system, the area of the brain involved in our behavioral and emotional responses. The amygdala of the limbic system dictates how we experience emotions and has no concept of time nor space. Unprocessed trauma of our past is therefore held in the brain and body as if it is happening in the present.

Friendships, romantic partnerships, and family dynamics play a significant role in our personal growth and development. The more time a relationship has to develop between two people, the greater the depth and influence the relationship can have on the inner psyche.

Unresolved anger, frustration, guilt, and disappointment towards someone lingers in the limbic system which activates the fight/flight response. Relationship trauma is often stored in the mind and body which influences how we define and perceive past relationships, how we approach relationships in the present, and how we will present ourselves in future relationships.

It is essential to trace patterns, set boundaries, and facilitate a space for growth in every healthy relationship.

Hypnotherapy allows for clarity of the mind, allowing clients to understand the dynamics of a relationship on a deeper psychological level. Bringing awareness to patterns, behaviors, and emotional charges allows clients to shift their perspective and release both conscious and subconscious negative associations within a relationship.

Habits are our subconscious automatic behaviors. In order to successfully control a habit, one habit requires a replacement habit. Current research shows that the brain is capable of adapting existing neural pathways and creating new ones as we learn and take in new experiences each day. If you’ve ever heard the term neurons that fire together wire together, this means that the more we rehearse a behavior, the stronger our pathways become. Just a few examples of behaviors that can be modified through hypnotherapy are smoking, skin picking, nail biting, study/work habits, test anxiety, and weight loss.

Substance dependency and addictive behavior leads to irritability, mood swings, concentration difficulties, and shifts in our overall well-being. Hypnotherapy is a thoroughly researched tool that allows clients to transform their relationship with addictive substances and behaviors as well as manage discomfort associated with symptoms of withdrawals.

I have a certified Understanding of the Twelve Steps of Recovery and work with recovering clients. description

Fears have an exact origin meaning a specific incident that triggered an ongoing fear response. An example of this is a fear of cats after being scratched by one as a child. Most fears are established in childhood and are considered by the mind to be a logical threat that elicits a rational reaction.

A phobia differs from a fear in that the origin of a stress response to certain stimuli is unknown and cannot be traced to an event. An example of a phobia is being fearful of deep water. Phobias are often associated with the body’s response to low blood sugar which triggers our fight/flight (stress) response in the mind and body.

Finding the distinction between whether a client is presenting a fear or phobia is a key part of the therapeutic process. Through techniques such as Circle Therapy and Systematic Desensitization, clients can discover how to minimize discomfort associated with fears and phobias. The overarching goal is to empower clients to feel comfortable and confident in situations that previously induced fear and anxiety.