Frequently Asked Questions

Hypnosis in general can be loosely defined as a state of inner concentration. In fact humans move into hypnotic states all of the time. Have you ever been driving down the road thinking about the day and as you refocus outwards, you think to yourself: I don't even remember driving the last few miles...? You were just in a hypnotic state. Luckily our Unconscious mind is there to guide us. 

Hypnosis focused on healing, utilizes the power of the unconscious to access inner resources and clear issues that are "stuck" there. Because most of our issues are stored in the unconscious, hypnosis utilizes how the Unconscious operates to break the negative pattern and move forward towards health. This is often why talk therapy struggles to get to the underlying belief or initial event that all the symptoms stem from because the client simply can not access the unconscious in the waking state. And most of the time, the issue has been buried so deep, the conscious mind is unaware of its origins at all. But the unconscious remembers and can show you exactly what you need to clear. 

You may have heard the word "unconscious" before. Maybe it was used in the context of being knocked out, or asleep, or under a particular drug. The unconscious in the simplest sense is the part of our mind that stores everything (memory) and preforms learned behaviors automatically. Your unconscious is responsible for keeping your heart beating, you breathing, and any of those automatic behaviors you don't have to "think" to do. It is also responsible for applying anything learned in life automatically, so again you don't have to take time to think about how to do it. For example: when you walk up to a door and see a door knob, you do not have to stop and think about how the door knob operates. You automatically preform the action of twisting and walking through the doorway. 

 Issues arise when behaviors or beliefs are programmed into us, especially as a child, that are faulty or maladaptive in some way and thus continue to play out in our lives when we don't need that response anymore as an adult. At the end of the day, the unconscious is there to protect us by acting rapidly, so we do not have to "think" about everything we come in contact with. Hypnotherapy is the art of knowing how to access the automatic "program" and re-write it! 

The unconscious mind is the part of your mind where everything is stored that you do not have conscious access to. This can be seen like the 1's and 0's of a computer code. The code runs everything on the computer but you would haven no idea what it is just by looking at it. This is the hard programming that runs most of what we do in a day. This is also the area where events that we have no recollection of (for one reason or another) are held. 

The term "subconscious" is often used in place of the unconscious mind by other systems. However, I consider the term subconscious to describe the state of awareness that is in the medium between the unconscious (stored data) and consciousness (awareness). This overlap area is where the imagination is at work and the main area where you will be in the hypnotic state. The subconscious is able to take information from the unconscious and present it to us in a symbolic form to help us understand. It is also the "area" where it can take something that is not in your immediate awareness and bring it up to memory. For example- if I say "imagine an apple".... your subconscious mind can take the information stored about an apple and bring it up to your conscious mind. Maybe this is an image, maybe it also brings up the taste, and maybe it also brings up an experience you had with an apple- good or bad. This is also where dreams can be experienced. 

The conscious mind is everything you are currently aware of. This is usually experienced as thoughts and thinking, focusing on external stimuli, or turning your attention to something specific. So if you were to remember the apple, you are turning your awareness and consciousness  to the subconscious mind to focus on the memory of the apple. Our conscious mind typically can only hold so much information at any given moment, so it is severely limited in its capabilities. It also can not access the unconscious mind unless specific techniques are employed. Most mainstream therapies really only work with the limited conscious mind. Whereas hypnosis uses techniques to utilize the power of the unconscious via the subconscious mind. 

"Trance" is a term used where your awareness becomes hyper focused. For professional athletes this can be seen as a "flow state" where their focus is external but they are hyper aware of the flow of actions they are taking. It is often described as having no thoughts and just allowing the actions to move through them without consciously having to think at all. 

Hypnotists use this term to describe the inner state of focus. This is where you are hyper focused inwardly and thus do not even register the external environment or noises. This internal trance state allows one to gain access to the subconscious and unconscious mind. There are different levels of trance from light trance, to deep trance. Light trances are akin to closing your eyes and talking while visualizing something internally but are still aware of what is around you and are still conscious of the external environment. 

A medium trance is moving into a scene internally and really feeling as if you are there. You are still aware of the external but the focus is so heavily in the scene you are not focused on the external unless you consciously make an effort to refocus outwards. This state is very relaxing and although you are in control at all times, many find it very dream like after the fact. This is the state we utilize the most often for sessions. 

A deep trance is what you may have seen in the stage hypnosis shows. This state is typically characterized as an almost somnambulistic state where the participant is completely unaware of the external environment and is highly suggestible. This state may almost appear as if the participant is asleep and not consciously aware at all. This state is rarely used in hypnotherapy.

A typical session lasts around one hour, but typically I ask about 2 hours to discuss before and after the session. The session itself can run longer depending on what we are trying to accomplish as well. I also offer a rapid form of hypnosis that only really requires 30-45 minutes and only requires light visualization not requiring deep processing.

No! Although it is preferred a session is done in person, it has been found that video chat has worked just fine. If you have a very busy life, or live in a different location, or even feel more comfortable at home at first... a video chat online could work for you. The only thing required is an area where you will be undisturbed for the duration of the session. Details can be discussed via e-mail or phone.