There’s a place inside of you
where nothing is impossible
-Meg Adams
Understanding Hypnosis
Long before hypnosis became a therapeutic tool, there was Hypnos, the ancient Greek god of sleep.
In Greek mythology, Hypnos lived in a quiet cave beyond the reach of the sun. Soft rivers flowed nearby, poppies bloomed at the entrance, and silence filled the air. It was said that all beings—even gods—eventually passed through his realm. Hypnos did not conquer through force. He arrived gently, inviting rest, dreams, and altered states of awareness.
His twin brother was Thanatos, the embodiment of death, while their mother was Nyx, the primordial goddess of night itself. Together, these myths reflected an ancient understanding that sleep, dreams, mystery, transformation, and renewal are deeply connected.
More than two thousand years later, when physicians and researchers began studying what we now call hypnosis, they borrowed Hypnos's name to describe the trance-like state they observed.
The name, however, is somewhat misleading.
Hypnosis is not sleep.
Most people remain aware of their surroundings and can hear everything being said during a hypnotic session. Rather than becoming unconscious, they often experience a state of focused attention—one that feels similar to meditation, daydreaming, prayer, or becoming completely absorbed in a story.
In many ways, the ancient myth still offers a better metaphor than the modern name.
Hypnosis is not about losing consciousness.
It is about crossing a threshold.
The Threshold Between Worlds
Throughout history, myths have described places that exist between one state of being and another:
The crossroads.
The forest path.
The cave.
The underworld gate.
The shoreline between land and sea.
These are liminal spaces—thresholds where transformation becomes possible.
Hypnosis creates a similar kind of inner threshold.
The noise of everyday life softens. The analytical mind relaxes its grip. The deeper layers of memory, emotion, imagination, and intuition become easier to access.
This is not escaping reality.
It is entering a different relationship with it.
What Is Hypnosis?
Hypnosis is a natural state of focused attention and heightened awareness.
Despite what movies and stage performers would have us believe, hypnosis is not mind control, unconsciousness, or surrendering your will to another person. In fact, you've likely experienced hypnotic states many times throughout your life:
Becoming completely absorbed in a book.
Driving a familiar route and realizing you've arrived without remembering every turn.
Losing track of time while creating art, writing, gardening, or daydreaming.
Becoming so immersed in a movie that your body reacts emotionally to what you're watching.
Hypnosis simply allows us to intentionally access this focused state so that we can communicate more directly with the subconscious mind—the part of us responsible for habits, emotional responses, beliefs, memories, imagination, and much of our inner experience.
You remain aware, in control, and capable of ending the experience at any time.
What Hypnosis Is Not
Let's clear up a few common misconceptions.
You Cannot Be Controlled
Hypnosis is not mind control.
You cannot be forced to reveal secrets, violate your values, or do anything against your will. You remain aware of who you are and what is happening throughout the experience.
You Will Not Get "Stuck"
People sometimes worry that they might become trapped in hypnosis.
This cannot happen.
Hypnosis is a naturally occurring state. Even if a session were interrupted, you would simply return to ordinary awareness or drift into a normal state of relaxation.
There Are No Clucking Chickens
Stage hypnosis is entertainment.
The volunteers selected for stage performances are typically highly responsive individuals who willingly participate in creating a fun experience for an audience.
Therapeutic hypnosis is entirely different. It is a collaborative process designed to help you access your own inner resources, insights, and healing capacities.
Unless you have a deep desire to tap into primal animal energy, I will most definitely not be asking you to bark, dance, cluck like a chicken, or forget your name.
How Hypnosis Works
The conscious mind is excellent at analyzing, questioning, and protecting us.
The subconscious mind stores beliefs, emotional patterns, memories, habits, and learned responses.
Sometimes insight alone isn't enough to create change.
You may understand why you feel anxious, why a relationship affected you deeply, or why a particular fear exists—and still find yourself stuck in the same emotional pattern.
Hypnosis allows us to gently work with the deeper layers beneath conscious understanding, where many of these patterns are stored.
Rather than forcing change, hypnosis helps create the conditions for new possibilities to emerge.
How I Use Hypnosis
My approach combines hypnosis with counseling, guided visualization, storytelling, symbolism, mindfulness, and somatic awareness.
I often describe hypnosis as creating a bridge between what you know intellectually and what your body, emotions, and deeper self may still be carrying.
Depending on your needs, hypnosis may be used for:
Deep Relaxation
To calm the nervous system, reduce overwhelm, and create a sense of safety and rest.
Anxiety and Stress Relief
To quiet racing thoughts, reduce emotional reactivity, and strengthen internal resources during difficult seasons of life.
Embodiment and Integration
After emotionally intense counseling sessions, hypnosis can help the body catch up with the insight that has already emerged.
Many clients understand something intellectually long before they truly feel it.
Hypnosis can help bridge that gap.
Pain Management
Hypnotic techniques have been used for decades to support comfort, reduce the perception of pain, and increase feelings of control during physical challenges.
Building Confidence and Self-Trust
To strengthen inner resilience, challenge limiting beliefs, and reconnect with your own wisdom and intuition.
Grief and Life Transitions
To support individuals moving through loss, identity shifts, endings, beginnings, and major thresholds of life.
Mythic and Symbolic Exploration
One of my favorite ways to work.
Through guided journeys and hypnotic visualization, clients may explore inner landscapes, symbolic imagery, archetypes, crossroads, forgotten parts of themselves, or personal stories seeking to be understood.
These experiences are not about predicting the future or receiving external answers.
They are opportunities to engage with the rich symbolic language of the subconscious mind and discover meaning, insight, and self-understanding.
What a Session Feels Like
Most people describe hypnosis as feeling:
Deeply relaxed
Focused
Calm
Dreamlike, yet aware
Similar to meditation
Similar to guided visualization
Some people feel light and floating.
Others feel grounded and heavy.
Some experience vivid imagery while others simply notice thoughts, emotions, sensations, or insights.
There is no "right" way to experience hypnosis.
A Note on Healing
Hypnosis is not something that is done to you.
It is something we create together.
You are not handing over control.
You are learning how to access parts of yourself that may have been drowned out by stress, fear, grief, self-doubt, or the demands of daily life.
My role is simply to guide the process.
The wisdom, imagination, resilience, and healing capacity already belong to you.
Interested in exploring hypnosis?
Whether you're seeking relief from stress and anxiety, support through grief and life transitions, or a deeper connection with your own inner landscape, hypnosis offers a gentle and powerful way to engage with the subconscious mind and the stories it carries.