Does hypnotherapy really work?

It is absolutely possible to have a major shift in one session, especially with smoking, but often if you have been dealing with an issue for years or decades, it can take some time to uncouple the old habits and build new connections. In our initial discussion, I will provide my best estimate for the number of sessions. Most issues allow tangible results in 3-6 sessions. I offer a price break at 6 sessions to support this. Often people feel a powerful shift and a desire to move deeper and truly transform their lives, and I offer 12-session packages with an even greater break. Many clients like to drop in every month or two for the refresh and support.

Hypnotherapy can assist with hundreds of issues. The most common include: sports performance improvement; injury recovery; anxiety; social anxiety; test anxiety; insomnia; fear of flying or driving; fear of public speaking; nail biting; hair pulling (trichotillomania); teeth clenching (bruxism); chronic pain in back, shoulders or neck; IBS; fibromyalgia; creative blocks; career success; procrastination; motivation; quitting smoking; losing weight; study habits; concentration; positive self image; menopause and perimenopause symptoms.

Yes, you can click the link throughout the site to set up a free 20 minute Zoom, or feel free to call/text me at 808-987-5535 or email droppingintopower@gmail.com.

Hypnotherapy is about giving you more control, not less. With therapeutic hypnosis, you are always in control of your experience. You agree to allow me to guide you into a focused learning state, and to receive positive suggestions to improve your life. Most people are aware of the words spoken. You will receive an audio of the hypnotic portion of our session to listen to and reinforce the suggestions. This recording also allows you to feel confident that everything I say aligns with our agreed upon goals.

If you are considering hypnosis, you are likely hypnotizable. Another way of referring to hypnotizability is “suggestibility” or “cognitive flexibility”. Roughly 15-20% of people are highly suggestible, and about 60% are average. Within that 80%, people have different ways of receiving information. I use a system devised by Dr. John Kappas to assess not only the degree of suggestibility, but the way you take in information, to personally craft suggestions that will be most effective for you. If you are worried that you are in the 20% that is not likely hypnotizable, reach out to me and we can discuss. It is highly unlikely that you would be interested in experiencing hypnosis if you were in that 20%, as extreme skepticism is often part of the resistance.

According to Dr. David Spiegel, Associate Chair of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Director of the Center on Stress and Health at Stanford University, three main physiological functions occur in the brain in hypnosis.

This particular description is a recap (not a transcript) of an interview from The Proof with Simon Hill from January 22, 2024. You may enjoy Dr. Spiegel’s other interviews which are widely available on Youtube, or even trying his hypnosis app, Reveri.

1.  Heightened Focus: You turn down activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (dorsal side) which allows you to focus. Studies have shown highly hypnotizable people have more GABA activity. GABA, gamma aminobutyric acid, is an inhibitory transmitter that is stimulated by anti-anxiety drugs and by sedative hypnotic drugs in the benzodiazepine class. Hypnosis is your personal pharmacy that can help you shut down anxiety and help you control pain.

2.  Disassociation: Experienced meditators turn down activity in the other - back part of the anterior cingulate cortex, the default mode network. That is the part of the brain that is active when evaluating yourself, your own inner critic, and what others think of you. In meditation, activity goes down, and you have the sense, over time, of getting over yourself. Hypnosis is similar, but with a more focused and possibly rapid outcome. The more you engage in hypnotic activity, the more you turn down activity in that region, so you see very rapid cognitive flexibility with respect to that activity. In other words, as the judgmental voices get shut down, you are able to feel and imagine yourself doing new behaviors, in new ways, and, in a sense, being a new person.

3.   Connectivity: The third thing in hypnosis is that you have more connectivity between your executive control region, the frontal cortex and the insula which is a mind body relay, so you can very effectively control things in your body that you wouldn't think you can control. This includes controlling pain, and even mimicking bodily functions like digestion, when imagining eating.

There are hundreds of clinical studies about hypnotherapy’s effectiveness for issues including stress, pain management, smoking cessation, irritable bowel syndrome, sleep, and so very much more. Below is a link to a white paper synopsizing and citing major studies written by Bruce Bonnett, Senior Staff Instructor at HMI College of Hypnotherapy, Harvard Law School Graduate, Past President of Hypnotherapists Union Local 472.

https://hypnosis.edu/medical/

Here are links to recent studies on Pain and Anxiety. I am happy to guide you to links on issues that interest you.

Pain:

Pascaline Langlois, Anaick Perrochon, Romain David, Pierre Rainville, Chantal Wood, Audrey Vanhaudenhuyse, Benjamin Pageaux, Amine Ounajim, Martin Lavallière, Ursula Debarnot, Carlos Luque-Moreno, Manuel Roulaud, Martin Simoneau, Lisa Goudman, Maarten Moens, Philippe Rigoard, Maxime Billot,

Hypnosis to manage musculoskeletal and neuropathic chronic pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis,

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Volume 135, 2022,

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S014976342200080X

“These findings suggest that a hypnosis treatment lasting a minimum of 8 sessions could offer an effective complementary approach to manage chronic musculoskeletal and neuropathic pain.”

Anxiety

Valentine KE, Milling LS, Clark LJ, Moriarty CL. THE EFFICACY OF HYPNOSIS AS A TREATMENT FOR ANXIETY: A META-ANALYSIS. Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2019 Jul-Sep;67(3):336-363. doi: 10.1080/00207144.2019.1613863. PMID: 31251710.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31251710/

“At the end of active treatment, 17 trials produced a mean weighted effect size of 0.79 (p ≤ .001), indicating the average participant receiving hypnosis reduced anxiety more than about 79% of control participants.”

Please visit our services page to learn more about hypnotherapy and breathwork sessions and packages.

All sessions also include a recording of the hypnotic portion for you to listen to and reinforce at home.

Both. I enjoy seeing clients in person and have an office in Kona inside Miranda Chiropractic above Costco. Hypnotherapy is also very effective over Zoom. I simply ask that you create a private environment free of distractions for our session so you can get the maximum benefit.

Session Location: Via Zoom or In Person at Lunapule Professional Plaza, 75-127 Lunapule Rd., Ste 3A-1, Kailua Kona, HI

A child’s safety and welfare are my main concern. I am happy to work with kids over 10 for issues like sports improvement, test anxiety, confidence, and focus. For deeper more emotional issues, a child psychologist is more appropriate. In some cases, I can work in tandem with a child psychologist, with their referral.

Your health and welfare is my main concern. If there is any chance of a medical etiology, for instance, for severe headaches, we need to be sure you have ruled out any medical reason for the headaches. If you are coming for management of a chronic condition like back, neck or shoulder pain, we need to be sure there are no contraindications for hypnosis. Think of it has having a team on your side.

No. Unfortunately, at this time, standalone hypnotherapy is not covered by insurance. In some cases, psychologists or therapists who are also trained in hypnotherapy may be able to take insurance.