Questions and Answers

What is hypnosis?
Hypnosis is a technique for relaxing you in a very profound way. As you let go of physical tension, worry, and strong emotion, your whole being opens to a level of peace, love and wisdom that is inside of you but is normally hard to access because of preoccupation with tension, worry, and emotion.

Why does hypnosis work?
Hypnosis works because it accesses whole brain awareness. Most of the time we don't get better, when deep - seated beliefs and emotions are in our way, because we're analyzing the situation from the angle of our conscious minds. We rehash the problem repeatedly without expanding the data. Through hypnosis we approach problems from a right - brained perspective. While relaxed, the healing force that dwells within us, whatever we personally name that force, tell us a healing story. It doesn't seem to matter if it's a true story. All that matters is that the story helps us to release trapped emotions that are causing us problems and that it helps us imagine ourselves getting better.

Will I know what is being said while I'm hypnotized?
Hypnosis for health, unlike stage hypnosis, evokes the healing force within you and requires active participation. Though relaxed and dreamy, you respond aloud to questions and are aware of everything being said. Sometimes the task - oriented conscious mind wanders, out of boredom, when listening to positive messages, but the subconscious mind continues to listen.

Can all people be hypnotized?
I've found most can, although, for some, it's not particularly productive. However, not everyone feels successful at first. People are afraid to let go of control. Some of that comes from watching those silly stage hypnosis acts. They're afraid I'll have them clucking like a chicken. But a bigger fear is that they will blurt out some deep dark secret - something terrible they don't even know about that's lurking inside them. They'd rather pretend they're okay - even though this fear shows that they secretly suspect they're not.

How do you work with someone like that?
I address their fears through talking, and then usually just help them relax the first session, without taking them too deep. Hypnosis is very relaxing physically. People commonly think they'll be unconscious and only I will know what they've said - and that's frightening. The truth is people are normally aware of everything they are saying. I also let clients like this set the pace for descending the stairs to the subconscious mind. One man took 20 minutes to take 4 steps - - then his wall went down and he started sobbing.

What will I find inside of me?
Within your deep mind, everything that has ever happened is recorded. Some of it is unimportant, like what you had for breakfast October 1 when you were 5. Some of it is heartwarming, like the smell of your mother as she cradled you. Painful experiences that you were unable to process at the time are held in memory until you are strong enough to deal with them. Your subconscious mind is also where your dreams are stored. If you can't find purpose in life through your conscious mind, be assured that the wondrous dreams that will give your life meaning are waiting beneath the surface.

Do you do past-life regressions?
Yes, but not all people believe in past lives. I believe that when our intention is to get to the root of a problem, the subconscious mind tells us a healing story. Just as children identify with characters, we connect with characters in these stories and are able to see our problems in a new light and find freedom. Whether the story actually happened is unimportant.

Do I have any control over what I find? What if there's something that would destroy me or my loved ones if I remembered it?
Your only conscious control is through your intention, which is very powerful. In working with clients, I always begin by clarifying the intention of the session, such as to get to the root of a particular problem or to access a particular ability. If the client is focused on that intention, refusing to waste energy wondering if it is possible but simply intending to accomplish the goal, then this is the most powerful framework. I personally also like to place this intention within the context of prayer, because I believe that engaging the higher power makes the whole process more effective and soulful.

Beyond intention, there is no conscious control. However, we all have an inner guidance system. People have varied ways of describing it: God, an angel, an inner healer, intuitive wisdom. What always happens is that you discover in the inner realm exactly what you are ready for. If there is a traumatic memory buried, you will remember it only when you are strong enough and only if you need to remember in order to grow.

As for the fear that it will destroy your family, you are in control of what you do with anything you discover. Supposing you do remember some kind of abuse by a parent, we don't stop there, leaving you with the pain of that memory. Our work together continues, leading you to create healing for the child that experienced the hurt. Once that healing is accomplished, true forgiveness becomes possible. You actually may end up closer to the parent because previously there was a subconscious chasm in place. Just because you don't know on a conscious level doesn't mean you don't know what happened.

What about false memories?
I'm afraid if I start poking around I'll create a memory of sexual abuse because I think, on some level, that I'm supposed to.
Assuming that you trust your therapist to guide you in an open - ended way, there is no reason to assume this will happen. It is true that sexual abuse is very much in the collective consciousness now, and that is a good thing. In the past, it happened all the time and nobody spoke of it. Now, as a society, we are becoming aware of its frequency, causes, and terrible legacy. But within the context of hypnosis, your conscious mind, that is thinking about all that, lets go of thinking. The therapist guides you in a very open ended way, saying things like "You're walking down a hall, with many doors lining it. One door opens to a room where your inability to keep a job first began. Open the door and tell me the first thing you notice." Clients' responses are widely different.

I have found that the subconscious mind can communicate both literally and symbolically. Sometimes the client will describe a dreamscape and, at other times, regress to something that really happened in an earlier time. It may be something the person consciously remembers, but now examines with more wisdom. Or perhaps, though aware of the incident, the individual may be unaware of some still unexpressed emotion that needs to be released now. When the client enters a dreamscape, the therapist just follows the lead, asking intuitive questions and helps the person resolve issues on a symbolic level. For example someone who doesn't take time for self - nurturing might walk into a room of dying plants. In taking time to water them, the client understands on a deep level the importance of attending to needs of the self.

It is also important to realize that just because many people were sexually abused, this is not a universal experience. What is common to each of us is that, no matter how loving our parents were, none of us got all of our needs met fully all of the time, and that's exactly what we all wanted.

Many people worry about even exploring hypnosis for fear they'll find out the parents they think are so loving are actually horrible people. Occasionally people do remember terrible things their parents did that they had repressed. Most often, however, people remember times that their parents just weren't there for them. The parents may have been preoccupied with work or other siblings or maybe were just not able to show affection. This doesn't seem traumatic to an adult but the child registered it as a trauma.

Why dig up old pain through hypnosis instead of getting on with life?
Getting on with life is impossible if you're dragging past hurts like a ball and chain. Whether or not you remember what happened to you, whether or not you think it was serious, you can tell the past is haunting you if there's a pattern to current problems. If pain in your life follows a familiar theme such as abandonment, rejection, or abuse, there is probably a connection to something painful in your early life. While you can manage the difficulties of the present, you will not end the pattern and get on with a happy life until you deal with the original wound. Hypnosis is the most effective tool I know for doing that.

I have been warned to avoid hypnosis because it opens a person to the powers of darkness.
Is that true?
My experience is that people commonly find a safe place within - like a meadow, a river, a rock, or a tree. In that safe place, they often meet God. I define God as a presence that radiates unconditional love and possibility. The imagination may clothe that presence as a religious figure, a radiant light, a grandparent, a childhood pet, or a wild animal. What's important is that they experience a level of love and safety that was unimaginable before. Once they know they are lovable, loved and safe, they can do anything!

I have never witnessed anyone being assailed by an evil force. People do, however, journey into darkness. It is the darkness of their own fear that hinders them from accepting parts of themselves. For example, someone may be afraid to face the vulnerable self or the angry self and so hides that part in the shadows of denial. Hypnosis is a vehicle that allows a person to bring the light of love to these rejected parts. Love does the healing.

Does hypnosis relieve stress?
Absolutely! Hypnosis is so relaxing that, for most people, the most difficult part is returning to everyday awareness. Through hypnosis, the client learns self - calming techniques and usually finds a well of deep peace inside. This "well" may display itself in imagery or may simply be a profound feeling of well - being. This is a powerful antidote to the many stresses of modern life. People often leave my office feeling that, although nothing in their outer world has changed, they now have the confidence to handle the challenges that face them.

Can hypnosis help with physical problems?
My clients have often gained insight about emotional issues that are expressing as physical symptoms. In my book, Magic Child, in chapter 2, I share many stories that illustrate how this works. I have occasionally seen dramatic changes in physical symptoms even without addressing emotional issues. For example a woman had been hospitalized for 2 weeks in her 5th month of pregnancy because she couldn't stop vomiting. Nothing the doctors tried had controlled her problem. She had one session of hypnosis and the symptom stopped and never returned.

Can hypnosis help with weight loss?
Absolutely. Diets and exercise fail because conscious decisions are less powerful than subconscious motives. If you're stuffing food, a hidden part of you is stuffing feelings of shame, anger or grief - and is afraid to stop stuffing. This is usually a child self who needs help facing something hidden from your conscious mind.

For example, a woman who came to lose weight discovered, under hypnosis, that she had not resolved the childhood sexual abuse she had experienced as completely as she thought. Hypnosis revealed that she blamed herself and blamed God. She felt essentially undeserving and unsafe. Her difficulties losing weight were because she couldn't feel safe thin. She didn't trust herself or anyone else. And because she felt undeserving, she didn't matter enough to herself to set healthy boundaries - whether it was around food and exercise or with other people's demands. She was a living doormat.

Hypnosis allows you to connect with the part hiding inside all that weight. With your help, the inner self no longer feels alone and can now make healthier choices. Hypnosis also motivates you with subconscious images of your success. In the above example, this woman learned to love and trust herself and set firm boundaries. She lost weight and gained self - esteem, took control of her life, and started enjoying life more. Her marriage got much better too. Hypnosis is not a quick fix but it is a powerful tool for permanent weight change and more!

Can hypnosis help people find true love?
Yes, because it helps you learn to love yourself and that's the first step in finding or fostering true love in a partner. Through hypnosis you can face the parts of yourself that you have difficulty accepting, the feelings you could never express, the experiences you have tried to forget. Because hypnosis bypasses the judgmental mind, you can experience compassion, forgiveness and self - acceptance. This creates a gentleness inside that is attractive to others. Also, in hypnosis, you typically find a figure - most often your adult self - who becomes a good parent to the child - self who got hurt. This parent - self will help you to set the boundaries you need to set as well as make you feel safe enough to take down your walls.

Not only does hypnosis provide a means for you to find a partner, it helps you to change the close relationships in your life. Through these journeys you learn to love yourself so you naturally set more appropriate boundaries, start leading the parade of those who want to treat you well, and make distinctions between the people in your life in the present and who they used to be or who they remind you of. All these steps lead to vibrant, joyful, present time relationships.

What about meaningful work - do people figure out better jobs through hypnosis?
Sometimes they can discover the kind of work that they feel excited about - or in some cases find a way to achieve non - work related dreams that they've been afraid to try. Hypnosis takes you off the well - worn path of thoughts that you usually think: what you know, what you think is possible, what you think you should do, and takes you into the realm of imagination and inspiration - where anything is possible.

Chapter 11 of my book, Magic Child, has many examples of journeys that helped people realize their dreams. Here are a couple of examples.

A man in the pipe manufacturing business, remembered in hypnosis that he had always wanted a ranch where he could raise Springer spaniels. He got very excited when he thought about this idea and began planning ways to make it happen.

My husband went for hypnosis to be able to do his music again - after 20 years of keeping it in the closet while he worked for a living. In hypnosis, he saw himself as a baby - someone unable to get over the fences, or obstacles, in his way. But then his imagination showed him a way past those obstacles. The baby could ride a gazelle. A few weeks later he'd formed Gazelle Corp., set up a home studio, and written a song. 12 years later he's produced 5 CDs and is working on #6.

How can hypnosis help with New Year's resolutions?
People all want to experience safety, love, health, financial security, meaningful work, spiritual connection, joy and peace. Specific goals are chosen in the hopes of enhancing one or more of those basic needs. The trouble is that we often fail to recognize how our goals are connected to those basic needs.

For example, Getting in shape is probably the most common New Year's resolution. A woman who came to lose weight discovered, under hypnosis, that she had not resolved the childhood sexual abuse she had experienced as completely as she thought. Hypnosis revealed that she blamed herself and blamed God. She felt essentially undeserving and unsafe. While she thought her goal was to experience health, that goal threatened her more basic need for safety. That need had to be addressed first.

Another woman wanted to stop procrastinating and move forward on her goal to start a new career. Under hypnosis she discovered that she was afraid of disrupting the lives of people she cared about by taking a new direction. It turned out that fear was connected to her experience when her parents got divorced.

How do I choose a hypnotherapist?
In my opinion, your intuition should be your strongest guide. Hypnotherapy is a skill that is relatively easy to learn, but it is also an art. There are three qualities that, in my opinion, enable a therapist to operate at the highest level.

The ability of the practitioner to listen to his or her own inner guidance is critical. There are many points in the process of the hypnotic journey where the right question makes all the difference in the direction a client takes, or where knowing whether to prod or keep silent is important. No textbook contains such answers; only the therapist's own inner voice. If the therapist is not accustomed to listening within, that voice will be hard to hear.

Personal integrity is the second quality that affects the therapist's skill. As a client, you have to be able to trust this person to guide you honestly and not take advantage of your unguarded state. Someone who does not behave professionally or whose personal life is out of integrity, is not the ideal choice. Most therapists, of course, are honest professional people. Integrity is a quality of wholeness that we all work towards. The greater one's sense of personal integrity, the more inner power is available because the person is more whole. Talk to people who have worked with this therapist before, or simply trust your intuition.

The third important qualification is that the therapist has faced his or her own inner shadows. This doesn't mean that the person is in line for sainthood, simply that he or she is experienced in facing the fears that lurk within. When I lead people to face old pain, most are terrified. Nobody stuffs emotion unless they're afraid of it. Because I have done extensive emotional work, I absolutely know that whatever they fear is finite, despite the feeling that it is overwhelming and unending. I absolutely know the joy and freedom and peace that await on the other side of this encounter. That knowing allows me to be a steady guide. If I were just as afraid of the inner world as my clients, I would cautiously steer them away from the danger spots where the richest treasures are buried.

Intuition and integrity are inner qualities that are not certifiable by credentials. Training programs for therapists vary widely in terms of the inner work that a trainee experiences. Talk to the therapist in advance of making an appointment. Trust your feelings. Is this someone you trust to guide you in deep emotional waters? Is this someone to whom your soul is drawn? Let your answers to such questions guide you to choose wisely. Then trust the process.

Are you available to work with me?
Depending on my schedule, yes. I have found that I am able to use hypnotherapy with clients all over the world very successfully on the phone. I have never met many of my clients in person, but they report that their lives have changed for the better.

You can email or phone to make an appointment, and pre-payment is required. Phone sessions are for one hour, unless you schedule a longer time, and are payable by credit card or check, mailed in advance.

My FEE.

The cost is $100 per hour, and you are expected to call my office at the appointed time. Missed phone appointments are not refundable, as I have that time blocked out for you. You will receive a full refund if you cancel with at least a 24 hour notice.