How Can Hypnotherapy Help Me?

People often ask me what hypnotherapy is actually for. The honest answer is that it can help with a lot — because it works with the subconscious mind, where so many of our habits, patterns, and beliefs live. Here are four of the most common reasons people come to me, and how the work actually helps.

01 — Stress & anxiety relief

You probably experience worry, stress, or anxiety at least once on any given day. Nearly 40 million people in the U.S. suffer from an anxiety disorder, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, and three out of four Americans reported feeling stressed in the last month.¹

Here are a few ways hypnosis can bring relief:

• Deep relaxation — Hypnosis guides you into a state of deep relaxation, helping you reach a genuine sense of calm and tranquility.
• Positive suggestion — Affirmations offered during hypnosis help shift negative thought patterns and beliefs toward a more positive outlook and a sense of well-being.
• Emotional regulation — You gain more control over how you respond to stressful situations, learning to manage anxiety-provoking triggers and develop healthier coping mechanisms.
• Identifying underlying causes — By exploring the subconscious mind, we can uncover and address the root issues or traumas contributing to your stress.
• Visualization and imagery — Guided imagery creates a mental escape, letting you picture yourself somewhere peaceful and calm, which eases stress in the moment.

02 — Insomnia

Hypnotherapy can help with insomnia by promoting relaxation, reducing anxiety, and improving your sleep patterns:

• Relaxation induction — Sessions begin by guiding you into deep relaxation, easing physical tension and mental stress so sleep comes more easily.
• Stress and anxiety reduction — We reframe the thoughts and emotions tied to sleep, building calmer, more positive associations with bedtime.
• Establishing a sleep routine — Suggestion and visualization help you create a relaxing pre-sleep ritual and a sense of comfort and safety around sleep.
• Reducing racing thoughts — You learn to quiet an overactive mind and create the mental stillness that makes falling asleep possible.
• Rewiring sleep associations — By imagining and experiencing restful sleep, your subconscious begins to associate sleep with relaxation and rejuvenation.
• Enhancing self-regulation — Self-hypnosis techniques give you tools to self-soothe and manage sleep disturbances on your own.

03 — Smoking cessation

Hypnotherapy helps people quit smoking by targeting the subconscious mind and reprogramming the thought patterns and behaviors tied to the habit:

• Addressing the subconscious — We identify and challenge the underlying reasons for smoking, whether that’s stress, emotional triggers, or subconscious associations.
• Behavior modification — New suggestions reinforce the desire to quit and strengthen your willpower and commitment to a smoke-free life.
• Relaxation and stress reduction — Because stress is a common trigger, the deep relaxation of hypnosis offers an alternative to reaching for a cigarette.
• Breaking associations — We break the subconscious links between smoking and particular situations, places, or emotions.
• Reinforcement and motivation — The work builds your self-belief and confidence in becoming a non-smoker, making cravings easier to overcome.

The research here is encouraging:

• In a two-year follow-up of 71 smokers, those who quit with hypnosis were twice as likely to remain smoke-free as those who quit on their own.²
• In another study, 39 of 43 patients remained abstinent from tobacco at follow-up (6 months to 3 years post-treatment) — a 90.6% success rate using hypnosis.³

04 — Confidence & performance

Hypnotherapy is a valuable tool for building confidence and self-esteem, using guided relaxation, focused attention, and positive suggestion to shift your thoughts, behaviors, and emotions:

• Identifying and addressing underlying issues — We uncover and reframe the subconscious beliefs or past experiences behind low self-confidence.
• Building positive self-perception — Guided imagery helps you create a mental image of yourself as confident, capable, and successful, strengthening self-worth and self-acceptance.
• Overcoming limiting beliefs and fears — We replace the beliefs and fears that hold you back with empowering ones, so you can step outside your comfort zone.
• Enhancing motivation and focus — The work strengthens your internal drive, helping you overcome procrastination and maintain a positive mindset.
• Stress and anxiety reduction — Relaxation and visualization help you meet challenging situations with a greater sense of calm and confidence.

And much more

Social anxiety, weight goals, fears and phobias, immune system support, pain management, high performance, well-being, motivation and focus, abundance — and much more. Whatever you’re carrying, there’s likely a way hypnotherapy can help.

Wondering what it could do for you? Book your first session — just $100, held online from wherever you are — or sample a free hypnosis session on YouTube first.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Hypnotherapy is a complementary wellness practice and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Footnotes

1. Emma Pattee, “The Difference Between Worry, Stress and Anxiety,” The New York Times, 26 Feb 2020. ↩

2. C.A. Wynd, “Guided health imagery for smoking cessation and long-term abstinence,” Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 2005; 37:3, pp. 245–250. ↩

3. J. Barber, University of Washington School of Medicine (Depts. of Anesthesiology and Rehabilitation Medicine), International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 2001 Jul; 49(3):257–66. ↩