Unlocking the Healing Power of the Mind: A Guide to Medical Hypnotherapy

With over 14 years of experience as an Acupuncturist and coach, I've treated a diverse range of patients for various illnesses and pains. What I've consistently observed, whether the cases are severe or mild, is the profound impact of our mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being on our experience of pain. 

Recognizing the powerful mind-body-spirit connection firsthand, I decided to specialize my acupuncture practice towards emotional health. This journey led me to become a Certified Hypnotherapist, focusing on Medical Hypnotherapy. 

If you've faced long-term or chronic conditions, you understand how it can reshape your life, affecting relationships, mindset, and daily experiences. When treatments are unpleasant, take time, or when there are no treatments for our illness; it’s not a sign that hope is lost, but rather a sign that we need to look to shifting our experience and gaining tools to do so to help us continue to live our lives to the fullest extent possible. 

This is where hypnotherapy can be an incredibly powerful tool! 

What is Medical Hypnotherapy?

Hypnotherapy is a therapeutic technique that harnesses the power of focused attention and heightened suggestibility to facilitate positive changes in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Rooted in the principles of hypnosis, hypnotherapy goes beyond the common misconceptions often associated with stage performances and delves into a profound and therapeutic exploration of the subconscious mind.

At its core, hypnotherapy involves inducing a state of deep relaxation and heightened awareness, commonly referred to as a trance. Contrary to popular belief, during this trance, individuals remain fully in control of their thoughts and actions. The hypnotherapist serves as a guide, using carefully crafted suggestions to access the subconscious mind—the part of the mind that influences habits, beliefs, and emotional responses.

What Conditions can I Work on with Medical Hypnotherapy?

Hypnotherapy is a versatile tool that can be applied to address a wide range of issues, including but not limited to:

Stress and Anxiety: 

Helping you achieve a state of deep relaxation and teaching you coping mechanisms and skills to work with in real time. Hypnosis teaches relaxation through therapeutic breathing, muscle tension and relaxation, and the visual imagery necessary to experience deep peace. In short, it teaches people who don’t know how to relax, how to purposefully, consciously relax both mind and body. 

Medical & Pain Management: 

Hypnosis is used in medical conditions like chronic pain by alleviating chronic pain and discomfort through altered perceptions and heightened pain tolerance. Research studies have demonstrated the efficacy of clinical hypnosis for pain management in virtually every single medical setting, from treatment for headaches and migraines, arthritis, childbirth, bone, muscle and joint pain, surgical anesthesia and post- surgical recovery, and severe burns. Hypnosis may help some clients to avoid high levels of medications, so they can function cognitively, intellectually, and spiritually at a higher level. 

Behavioral Changes & Habit Control: 

Assisting with breaking undesirable habits such as smoking, overeating, or nail-biting. Several research studies have found that hypnotherapy is effective with pediatric patients who experienced habitual tic dis- orders, habitual coughs, and even breathing difficulties. However, sometimes deep-seeded psychological impulses may require multiple sessions because the habit is so deeply ingrained. 

Phobias and Fears: 

Addressing and resolving irrational fears and phobias through reprogramming the subconscious mind. Hypnotherapy is great for addressing specific phobias because it creates new physical and psychological responses, which allow them to eliminate the old strategy or pattern of thinking that used to cause them fear. 

Sleep Disorders: 

Hypnotherapy offers a valuable approach to addressing sleep disorders by targeting underlying psychological and behavioral factors. Through stress reduction techniques, cognitive restructuring, and the promotion of healthy sleep habits, hypnotherapy aims to alleviate issues such as insomnia, anxiety-related sleep disturbances, and disruptive habits. 

Self-Confidence, Motivation & Bettering the Good: 

Building self-esteem and motivation by instilling positive affirmations and beliefs. Hypnosis can make people feel good. It can give them new perspectives on life, allow them to see the positive side and to reframe things in a productive way. 

In addition to alleviating problems, hypnosis can also be used to make the good things better. This is called generative improvement. 

Not all stress is 'bad.' Like the emotion of anger, stress can often be a positive motivator and energizer. The difference is in perception, and controlling and channeling the stress to make it work for you in these healthy ways.

Hypnosis can be used to target the use of natural stress for focus, to enhance and unleash physical and mental resources, allowing them to become better at sports, to fuel creativity and enhance confidence, to improve academic performance, solidify personal relationships, and deepen general happiness, health, and wellbeing.

What’s a Session Like?

I conduct most Hypnotherapy sessions online, but if you’re local to Marin county we can arrange for an in person meeting. Before we set up an appointment we’ll have a brief Discovery Call where we can discuss your intentions for sessions and I can see if hypnotherapy might be a good fit for you. 

Prior to our first session you will fill out an intake form which details some of your medical history and intentions for our sessions. This form also serves as your first step in your healing journey, because getting clear and honing in your intentions can dramatically affect the outcomes of your sessions. 

Our first visit we will chat about what brings you in, your intake forms and go over any questions you might have about the process. A lot of the work in sessions is actually in the pre-talk, where we get clear on how we will re-frame issues and what you want out of the work. 

Then we will do a hypnotic induction and hypnotherapy process, this can take 10-30 minutes and is usually quite relaxing, although sometimes clients will also experience a release of emotion. 

When we are done I will bring you fully out of the trance state, and we will debrief on the session. You will also receive some tools, activities or processes to practice and do at home, or when your symptoms increase again. 

In general clients will see shifts and progress in about 3-6 sessions, everyone is different and some clients may opt for longer term care, whereas others get the changes they seek in fewer sessions. 

Hypnotherapy is not about having something done to you, or removed from you. It’s about opening up to a possible change, experiencing that change, then taking it home as something you will need to practice and implement to create your new normal. 

What are the Benefits of Medical Hypnotherapy? 

Everyone experiences sessions and results differently, but here are some common benefits my clients have attained or enjoyed as a result of their sessions.

Holistic Healing: Hypnotherapy recognizes the interconnectedness of the mind and body, promoting holistic well-being.

Non-Invasive: Unlike some medical interventions, hypnotherapy is non-invasive and does not involve the use of medications or physical procedures.

Empowerment: By tapping into the individual's inner resources, hypnotherapy empowers individuals to take control of their thoughts and behaviors.

Customization: Each hypnotherapy session is tailored to your unique needs and goals, ensuring a personalized approach to healing.

Finding a Qualified Hypnotherapist

Hypnotherapy is actually an unregulated industry, this means there’s no standardized licensure or testing to qualify oneself as a Hypnotherapist or Hypnotist. The industry is self regulated and has regulatory agencies that approve certain training programs that meet ethical and safety industry standards. I think for medical hypnosis in particular, having a hypnotherapist who has some medical training and experience can be massively beneficial. 

I have been a state and national board licensed acupuncturist since 2010, and have had multiple hypnotherapy trainings including being a Certified Integrative Medical Hypnosis Practitioner by the International Certification Board of Coaches and Hypnotists, Certified Beyond Quantum Healing Practitioner and Timeline Healing Practitioner. I have over a decade of experience in hypnotherapy and past life regression hypnosis and place an utmost importance on safety and integrity for my clients. 

Let’s Get Started!

If you’re curious about how hypnotherapy may help you, let’s jump on a call and chat about it!