General Q & A

What Is Clinical Hypnotherapy?

When you are hypnotized, you are not asleep or in an eerie unconscious state. You are in a natural trance state, aware of everything that is taking place. Even after being brought out of hypnosis, you can recall what took place during the session.

Trance is a very normal, natural state that most of us experience every day. Trance happens when you are daydreaming, or driving a car and realize that you must have been in some kind of “zone” since you either arrived or missed your destination without realizing how it happened exactly. Another example of trance is when you are mesmerized by a conversation or something you may be seeing or hearing. Someone could have tried more than once to get your attention until you have “snapped out of it.” Clinical hypnotherapy, meanwhile, occurs when the trance state is guided and utilized for a purpose.

The previous examples of trance are considered light or “waking” hypnotic state. In both cases, the conscious part of your mind is distracted or extremely focused, allowing the subconscious part of the mind to become more active.

During a hypnotic session, your natural state of trance is utilized to elicit congruency or changes that you’ve asked for and desire. The state of clinical hypnotherapy for therapy creates “selective thinking.”  You are guided to bypass the critical faculty of your consciousness in a safe manner to avoid negative, unhelpful, over critical thinking. This allows you to believe whatever you want to believe wholeheartedly when you feel it is safe and advantageous. Your unconscious mind—the parts of your brain in control of automatic processes—responds to make the changes happen.

While you are in trance, your critical faculty (the part of you that considers safety, logic, and consequences) is still present. It’s never knocked unconscious, blocked, or put to sleep. Negative thinking and over-analytical or critical thinking becomes subdued as your mind relaxes and thinks more positively. Imagine a guard dog who is relaxing when he feels safe enough to rest. The moment he saw, heard, smelled, or felt anything he felt was worth his attention, he would become alert and engage immediately back on guard. Your mind always retains its duty to keep you safe even if you feel relaxed.

When your mind knows it is safe to do so, you respond to ideas that are determined to be important, beneficial, and desirable. Selective thinking disappears if doubt or fear enters in the process so you can stay safe. 

Am I Hypnotizable?

The answer is “Yes!” …well for about 90% of people, the answer is “yes”. We all go in and out of trance every day because it is a naturally occurring state. It occurs just before you fall asleep, as you are waking up, when you daydream or become mesmerized by something like a campfire, work of beauty, a movie, book, or piece of music. Your mind already knows how to reach a hypnotic state because you have been doing it your entire life whether you knew it or not. 

Your ability to be hypnotized and thus the degree of success you will experience with clinical hypnotherapy depends primarily on your willingness, motivation, expectation, and ability to follow my directions. The more you can trust your therapist and follow her instructions, the easier it will be. The only difference between an unintentional trance state and hypnotherapy state is that I am leading you into that state and guiding it purposefully so we can utilize it to help you achieve your goals.

You may go into a trance more easily or quickly than others who need a little more practice being guided to learn the skill. Most of the time, when someone believes they cannot be hypnotized, that belief comes from a lack of knowledge or misinformation of what clinical hypnotherapy is or from a fear of loss of control. In instances where someone just has a sheer refusal against the hypnosis process, hypnotherapy will not be successful and should not be engaged in. 

What If You Can’t Bring Me Out of It?

There is no danger of a person failing to come out of a hypnotic state. In fact, it would be impossible to remain hypnotized indefinitely. Even if the hypnotist left the office while an individual was in a hypnotic state, there would be no danger. The person would drift off into a natural state of sleep and would awaken after they were rested or sensed there was a situation that demanded their immediate full attention.

What If I Wake Up and Don’t Remember Anything? 

You won’t “wake up” because you won’t be “asleep.” You’ll be aware of what’s always going on around you. You may be aware of drifting off into other thoughts and feel like you didn’t hear some of what a hypnotist said. And that’s okay because your subconscious was paying attention and noting everything that was said the entire time.

Will I Do Something Against My Will? 

When you are hypnotized, you are aware of all suggestions given to you, and you will not do anything that you are opposed to doing. (Also, as an ethical and licensed practitioner, I would never suggest a thought or behavior or broach a prompting of something we had not already discussed and agreed upon beforehand). However, if something is suggested or prompted that doesn’t suit your feelings or needs, your critical faculty would engage to ignore the suggestion and/or bring you out of the hypnotic trance.

What are some of the general wellness benefits of hypnotherapy? 

There are many positive side effects of hypnotherapy afterwards that increase as the days and the weeks go by, including relaxation, improved sleep quality, increased self-confidence, and overall heightened self-esteem. You may also experience the “halo effect,” which is a wonderful, euphoric feeling of positivity afterwards. Typically, clients report that they sleep better at night and are more relaxed during their daily life after a clinical hypnotherapy session.

Are There Any Side Effects to Using Clinical hypnotherapy? 

Yes, just as with any therapy, there are side effects, however, Hypnosis done by a trained clinician is known to be a safe, complementary, and alternative mental health treatment. Be aware, however, that hypnosis may not be safe for some people with severe mental illness. Harmful reactions to hypnosis are rare, but they may include dizziness, headache, nausea, drowsiness, anxiety or distress, and sleep problems. Most of these side effects can be avoided or mitigated with proper use of therapeutic tools during the session. Still, however, side effects do occur. Some clients may have vivid dreams the night after a session. These are generally good dreams, however, if a hypnotist did not take care to integrate your conscious and unconscious mind very well before closing the session or if issues still needing resolution are seeking to be addressed, the pleasantness of a person’s dreams might depend on that. 

Can I Speak During Clinical hypnotherapy? 

Yes, absolutely. Most people enjoy the feeling of relaxation so much that they prefer just to listen, however, sometimes the hypnotist will ask the client to respond verbally to questions or use a finger to indicate “Yes” or “No” or to answer brief questions. 

Is Clinical Hypnotherapy Considered Credible by The Medical Community? 

In the United States, the American Medical Association officially recognized clinical hypnotherapy as a treatment adjunct in 1958. Today The Mayo Clinic endorses clinical hypnotherapy for the treatment of Cancer, Anxiety, IBS, Fibromyalgia, Acid Reflux, and many other medical needs when facilitated by a trained, licensed, hypnotherapist.

Does Clinical Hypnotherapy Really Work?

Yes, clinical hypnotherapy certainly does work! There are many scientific studies that evidence the effectiveness of clinical hypnotherapy especially for addressing and overcoming significant mental health issues such as PTSD/ trauma resolution, anxiety and fears, depression, OCD, ADHD, learning disorders, pain management, sexual dysfunction, and of course assists with behavioral modifications to address addiction recovery, smoking cessation, hypertension, weight management, and much more.

Clinical hypnotherapy helps you gain control of your subconscious mind where our automatic responses come from. This applies to bodily processes, emotions, and habits. You gain power when you have aligned your conscious and subconscious wills to reach your desired goals to your fullest capacity.

How Many Sessions Will It Take? 

You are unique as an individual which means there is no magic number as to how many sessions it may take to work on/resolve an issue(s). The general answer however is that clinical hypnotherapy typically helps you achieve your desired results in 2 to 12 sessions, with many people seeing results in as little as 2-4 sessions. Many clients choose to schedule regular periodic clinical hypnotherapy sessions to promote ongoing health and wellbeing after finding how well it works. Clients also find that with repeated sessions, hypnotherapy becomes increasingly effective in addressing a variety of aspects of life and your overall mental health well being.

How Soon Can I Expect to See Results? 

Clinical hypnotherapy typically offers the results you desire within 2 to 4 sessions and in some cases up to 8 or 12 sessions. It is also important to note that results may vary depending upon your issue and the number of sessions undergone. Also, the time the results take to become obvious or consciously known to you can vary. 

For example, using clinical hypnotherapy for weight loss:  Take two clients who are seeking support for weight loss. With the first client, who has no underlying mental health issues, in 2-3 sessions they will learn to make simple, consistent, healthy changes in eating and activity habits (through the hypnosis process). In this instance, they will typically experience 1 to 2 pounds of weight coming off a week or 4 to 8 pounds a month – but, again, this is not something you would not notice immediately. Conversely, a second client with a primary goal of weight loss who has multifaceted issues causal to their unhealthy eating / behavioral habits, the weight loss is seen as one theme but with many other mental health components underlying, it may take more sessions and time to see and feel results. 

However, with all this said, the effects of clinical hypnotherapy typically do begin immediately. For instance, being hypnotized is a pleasant experience in and of itself and it typically results in an immediate sense of well being accompanied by peace, relaxation, and excitement. When hypnotherapy is utilized for behavioral changes and to address addiction issues, changes are more likely to be experienced more immediately. 

How Often Does Someone Need to Be Hypnotized for It to Remain Effective? 

Suggestions are always given for continued reinforcement at every session. You can also choose to benefit from audio copies of your session as well as a post-session consultation and when used in combination with psychotherapy. Additionally, just as one does with a dentist to prevent plaque and tooth decay, they go in for regular “check-ups.” In this sense, it is often helpful to do follow up “check-ups” to maintain progress as well as keep you functioning at your best.

While working through your course of treatment, sessions are usually booked 1-3 weeks apart depending on your schedule, goals, and clinical recommendations. For longer-term maintenance, sessions can be scheduled as you feel is necessary.