Award winning Inidvidual Hypnotherapy
What is hypnotherapy, how does it work, and what is it like?
First things first…
Before we talk about how it works or what it’s like, we better make sure
you know what hypnosis is, right? So, let me give you a very brief explanation.
Hypnosis is a totally natural (and very common) function of the human mind.
It happens automatically whenever a person’s attention is focused, their imagination is engaged, and they become absorbed in what they’re doing.
Most people don’t even realize that they are actually experiencing “hypnosis” when they are watching a cool movie, engrossed in an interesting book, having a fascinating conversation, or absorbed doing any one of a million things people get so focused on that time seems to “fly by.” In fact, that “time flying by” experience that we all have is a sure sign of hypnosis. It’s actually a hypnotic phenomenon known as “time distortion,” and hypnotists use it all the time.
Hypnosis is fascinating, isn’t it? Well… hypnotherapy is just using hypnosis in therapy.
Yes, hypnosis is fascinating, but…
What’s actually going on inside a person during hypnosis to create changes in how they think, feel, and behave?
Science still has much to learn, and we don’t have all the answers… yet. But research has given us some fundamental understanding of some parts of the picture.
I’ll do my best to explain what we believe so far about how hypnosis works.
A common explanation is that hypnosis influences and works more directly on the vast and powerful subconscious mind (where our emotions, habits, beliefs, and memories reside), instead of just trying to work with the very limited conscious mind.
This explanation is helpful, but it’s also rather superficial.
I’d like to go even deeper and point out what recent research and brain imaging has revealed about the actual mechanics behind the power of hypnosis.
Imagination versus reality…
One vital clue science has recently uncovered is the fact that, in many important ways, the brain does not distinguish between what is real and what is vividly imagined in “hypnosis.” Let me explain why this is so important.
All our body parts need information about what’s going on in the environment to be able to communicate and coordinate, so they can work together to keep us alive. Take your heart, for example. Your heart needs information about what’s going on out in the environment so that it knows when to speed up and when to slow down to best keep you alive.
How does it know what to do? The heart, like all your body parts, gets much of its information from the brain. All your senses… sight, hearing, tactile senses of pressure, temperature, etc. are all constantly sending information to your brain.
The brain’s job is to try to make sense of all that data – to interpret it and give it meaning. What’s going on out there? Are you safe? Is there danger?
The mind-body connection…
This communication and coordination between the brain and the rest of the body is referred to as the mind-body connection. The information flowing via the mind-body connection is interpreted or even modified by the brain.
And because our brains don’t distinguish reality from imagination, it allows our imagination to powerfully influence the whole mind-body system. As far as our mind-body system is concerned, what we vividly imagine is real and is responded to accordingly.
Imagination IS reality…
Here are a few everyday examples of how easily humans respond physically to imagined experiences:
When we have nightmares and we wake up with our heart pounding, breathing heavy, and sweating as though we were running from a real threat…
When our genitals automatically respond whether a sexual experience is real or just played out in our mind…
When we start to salivate when we’re hungry and begin thinking about eating a delicious meal…
It’s important to point out that none of those physical responses are under conscious control. Try to raise or lower your heart rate as you raise or lower your arm. It doesn’t work that way. As any man who’s suffered from erectile dysfunction will tell you, men cannot turn on an erection by “willing” it to be. Salivation is not under your conscious control, either (although you now have a clue as to how to influence these unconscious processes, don’t you?).
Changes from hypnosis go even deeper than this…
… MUCH deeper than heart rate, salivation, or genital blood flow. Numerous studies have clearly shown that hypnosis influences our bodies in countless profound and powerful ways – including altering our blood chemistry, changing our immune system, and literally “rewiring” our brains.
Science has even proven that hypnosis causes changes as deep as or even deeper than our DNA – specifically, how our genes are expressed, an area known as “epigenetics.”
The power of hypnosis may go even deeper than that, we just don’t know yet.
Hypnosis can modify and amplify reality…
Hypnosis allows us to actually change the information flowing through the mind-body system. We can turn messages up or down, even switching them on or off. But even more amazingly, cutting-edge brain scans have also revealed that hypnosis actually AMPLIFIES the mind-body connection.
Pain messages are a great example of mind-body messages being controlled through hypnosis. Pain can easily be turned up or down and even off using hypnosis. In fact, hypnosis is so effective at modulating pain that many, many people have undergone surgery without any form of chemical anesthesia… using only hypnosis! There is a vast amount of evidence demonstrating this to be true.
Now you have a much better idea of what hypnosis is and how it works. Let’s talk about what it’s like to experience hypnotherapy yourself.
Issues Hypnotherapy Can Help With
- Abandonment
- Accelerate Healing (post surgery, etc.)
- Addictions
- Aggression
- Anesthesia
- Anger
- Anxiety
- Assertiveness
- Attitude Adjustment
- Bed Wetting (enuresis)
- Blood Pressure
- Career Success
- Chewing Tobacco
- Childbirth
- Chronic Pain
- Communication
- Concentration
- Controlling
- Cramps
- Cravings
- Creativity
- Death
- Discouraged
- Exam Anxiety
- Exercise
- Forgiveness
- Frustration
- Gagging
- Gambling
- Grief
- Guilt
- Habit Change
- Hair Pulling (trichotillomania)
- Headaches
- Helplessness
- Hopelessness
- Hostility
- Hypertension
- Hypochondria
- Immune System
- Impotence/Erectile Dysfunction
- Improve Health
- Improve Sales
- Indecision
- Infertility
- Inhibition
- Insecurity
- Insomnia
- Irrational Thoughts
- Irritability
- Jealousy
- Loss
- Medication Side Effects
- Memory
- Mistrust
- Moodiness
- Motivation
- Nail Biting
- Nausea
- Nightmares
- Obsessions
- Obsessive-Compulsive
- Overeating
- Overly Critical
- Pain Management
- Panic Attacks
- Perfectionism
- Performance Enhancement
- Post Surgical Recovery
- Post Traumatic Stress (PTSD)
- Phobias
- Premature Ejaculation
- Presurgical
- Problem Solving
- Procrastination
- Public Speaking
- Reaching Goals
- Rejection
- Relationship Enhancement
- Relaxation
- Sadness
- Self-Awareness
- Self-Blame
- Self-Confidence
- Self-Control
- Self-Criticism
- Self-Esteem
- Self-Hypnosis
- Self-Forgiveness
- Self-Mastery
- Sexual Problems
- Shame
- Skin Picking (dermatillomania)
- Skin Problems
- Sleep Disorders
- Smoking
- Sports Performance
- Stress
- Study Habits
- Stuttering
- Substance Abuse
- Surgical Recovery
- Tics
- Tobacco
- Trauma
- Ulcers
- Vaping
- Irritable Bowel (IBS)
- Moles (skin)
- Warts
- Weight Management
- Worry
- Writers Block
So, what is a hypnotherapy session at Boise Hypnosis like?
Ok. Here’s a fairly detailed step-by-step walk-through of how a typical first session will go to help you feel completely comfortable with the process at Boise Hypnosis.
I’ll greet you at the door, and we’ll sit at my desk. I’ll ask you to read and fill out a bit of paperwork (just two pages).
After that, you’ll typically watch a video titled “The Truth about Hypnosis” to correct common myths and misconceptions about hypnosis and hypnotherapy. After the video, I’ll answer any additional questions you might have. I will usually skip the video for clients who have already had positive experiences with hypnotherapy (with me or someone else), have no questions, and feel perfectly comfortable working with me. In that case we can move on.
Next, we talk about your issues and any details you deem relevant. We’ll discuss your personal reasons for wanting a change and explore what success looks like and what potential solutions might be.
When we’re both satisfied that we’re on the same page regarding the problem and desired outcomes, then we’re ready to move on to the next part.
Getting ready to start hypnosis…
Depending on your situation, we may do one or more fun little exercises. These are often useful to demonstrate or “warm up” the skills you’ll use in hypnosis.
At this point, I’ll ask if you’re ready to begin the hypnosis process. I’ll introduce you to my big comfortable recliner chair, I’ll do my best to minimize distractions (silencing cell phones, etc.), and ensure that you’re as comfortable as possible during the process. This includes asking you if you’d like to visit the restroom before we begin, offering you a comfy blanket for your legs if you get chilly, etc.
I do what I can to make it clear that your job throughout this process is very simple: to do your best to follow my instructions and imagine what I am guiding you to imagine.
Now, we’re ready to begin the formal portion of hypnosis.
Let me walk you through the basic phases of hypnosis through which we’ll proceed…
“Induction”
There are many ways I do this but the purpose is the same: to help you relax, focus your attention, and just become absorbed in the pleasant process.
“Deepening”
Here, you’ll focus even more, ignore distractions, further activate the imagination, and become even more absorbed in the process.
“Changework”
This is where most of the transformation happens. Depending on the type of session, this can be as straightforward as directly suggesting to the subconscious mind the positive change(s) you want.
Additionally, there are many other evidence-based processes, tools, and techniques I’ll use to help you get the changes you want as quickly and easily as possible.
Whatever technique we decide on, during this phase you’ll gain insight and understand yourself better; connect to and amplify inner resources; comfortably process trauma; think, feel, and act differently in certain situations; mentally rehearse new skills or habits; and strengthen your self-image and confidence to create and sustain positive changes.
“Exduction”
This is the “exit portion” of hypnosis. It’s a gentle transition from hyper-focused and deeply relaxed to broader awareness and feeling positive and energized.
Invest in Your Success
Part of knowing if hypnotherapy at Boise Hypnosis is right for you is understanding the pricing. I do not take insurance. Much of what I do I learned years ago from two very skilled hypnotherapists who commanded fees of $500/session and $425/session, respectively. My results are very comparable to theirs and are actually better in the areas I specialize. I strive to be affordable and therefore currently only charge $197 for a session. However, clients rarely come to see me for a single session. Most everyone will choose a package and I’ll give you a few reasons why:
The #1 reason people go with a package is so they can get in to see me at a frequency that works best. In most situations it’s best to see me once a week. I do great work and my schedule is usually quite full. If someone comes in for a single session they nearly always love it and want to get in again the following week. But, too often – by that time my schedule is booked up for several weeks (or even months) and they have to wait weeks (or months) to get in to see me again – and that’s frustrating!
Therefore, nearly all my clients will get started with a small package, those sessions are prepaid and so they are scheduled immediately. When you get a hypnotherapy package at Boise Hypnosis those appointments are reserved for you and you can enjoy the peace of mind that you will be able to get in once a week (or whatever frequency works best for you).
Another important reason is that while hypnotherapy usually works really fast compared to other forms of therapy, hypnotherapy is not magic – hypnotherapy is therapy. For most issues, most clients will only need to see me for 3-6 sessions. I generally don’t like to see clients for less than three sessions. It makes sense to most people to have at least a few sessions to work together, to address the issue with a few different approaches, and make sure we’re getting the results you want. And, in my experience, it is the most effective approach.
The third good reason is that clients who go with a package get a discount off the regular rate. One session is $197.
A 3 session package is just $561 [A $591 value. You save $30!] (The best place to start in most cases – except weight loss.)
A 6 session package is only $1062 [A $1182 value. You save $120!] (The best place to start with weight loss.)
Let’s talk… so you can start feeling better right away.
I know you’ve got an important change you want to make. Maybe a few. Go for it!
Your life is not a practice run – you’ve got one life to live. You owe it to yourself and the people you love to make it your best one.
You can do this! And I’ll be there every step of the way to help you succeed.
I trust this information has made you even more comfortable picking up the phone and calling me for a free and confidential phone consultation: (208) 629-5374