A therapeutic modality that facilitates and deepens the process of psychotherapy. It does not replace psychotherapy. It is best utilized in the course of psychotherapy to allow the work to occur at levels of experience that are not always accessible through ordinary conversation alone. It is experiential, not cognitive.

Utilized from time to time in the course of treatment, if indicated, and only with your permission, hypnosis can help take the work to a deeper, level—where desired changes can emerge more naturally and with less effort.

Milton H. Erickson, MD, widely regarded as the father of modern patient-centered clinical hypnosis, observed that people often suffer not because they lack resources, but because they cannot access their inner resources at the moment they are needed.

Clinical hypnosis is based on the understanding that most people already possess these capacities or the creativity to construct them but that stress, trauma, habit, or fear can temporarily block access to them.

This is a strength-based and non-pathologizing view of psychological distress.

Utilizing hypnosis can facilitate a process which can generally remove a blockage, help reconnect with an earlier time when a problem did not exist, or loead to a discover new solution, organically.

The clinician does not impose solutions; rather, hypnosis helps you find what you need within yourself.

The path of healing, in this sense, is already present.

At a more granular level, hypnosis is best understood as focused attention and absorption—a state often referred to as trance. Trance is a natural human phenomenon. Most people enter trance states regularly: while working deeply on a project, watching a compelling movie, dancing, exercising, playing music, or becoming fully immersed in thought or imagination. In hypnosis, this absorbed, focused state becomes intentional and therapeutic. It is often experienced as a flow state, in which different parts of the brain communicate more fluidly and efficiently, allowing new perspectives, emotional shifts, and learning to occur.

As attention narrows and absorption deepens, mental noise quiets. Worries and habitual conscious concerns recede, allowing for deep relaxation and a widening of perspective.

This creates space for insight, emotional regulation, and new responses to emerge.

How Does It Work…

Hypnosis shares similarities with deep meditation and practices such as Yoga Nidra, but there are significant differences.. During hypnosis, the brain commonly shifts toward slower, integrative brainwave patterns associated with creativity, learning, emotional processing, and integration. Meditation, also can affect the same brain wave changes, but it generally involves learning to observe thoughts and sensations without trying to change them. It is often practiced as a self-directed skill focused on awareness, acceptance, or calm. Clinical hypnosis, on the other hand, is purposeful and guided, by your therapist, who knows your needs and goals. While you are deeply focused and absorbed, your attention is gently directed toward specific goals—such as reducing symptoms, changing long-standing patterns, or creating emotional and physical relief.

Brain-imaging studies show that hypnosis is not just deep relaxation and in fact is different than meditation. Specific reproducible changes are seen on f’Mri’s in hypnosis. The brain temporarily quiets its usual habits of overthinking, self-judgment, and mental chatter. At the same time, areas of the brain involved in imagination, emotion, sensation, and learning become more responsive. This allows change to occur without forcing, analyzing, or trying harder.

In this state of focused attention, many people find it easier to experience new perspectives, feel calmer and more regulated, change how their body responds to stress or discomfort, and integrate emotional experiences in a more natural way.

Clinical hypnosis is not about control or losing awareness. You remain present, able to speak, and aware of what is happening. It simply creates the right conditions for your mind and body to do what they already know how to do—heal, adapt, and reorganize.

Repetition strengthens newly formed neural pathways and supports durable change. Recordings of sessions are often provided for practice between appointments.

Safety and Ethics…

Clinical hypnosis is not mind-control. It does not override your values, force behaviors, or place ideas into your mind against your will. You remain aware and oriented throughout the process.

Hypnosis is not a reliable method for recovering factual historical memories, as memory itself is reconstructive and inherently unreliable. When practiced by a well-trained clinician within the context of ongoing psychological treatment, hypnosis is considered safe and ethical.

Hypnosis Is Good for Your Health…

It relaxes you, can lower blood pressure, enhance immune functioning, reduce the experience of pain and is used in many medical conditions and for pre-procedure or pre-op preparation.

You can learn to do self-hypnosis which can help you for the rest of your life.

Clinical hypnosis has been used effectively for acute and chronic pain, preparation for surgery and medical procedures, migraines and other headache disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety and stress-related conditions, trauma-related symptoms, habitual patterns, and psychosomatic concerns.

Evidence-Based Integrations

Several therapeutic approaches are enhanced when combined with hypnosis, including EMDR, memory reconsolidation–based therapies, and experiential psychotherapies. Dream work may also be particularly meaningful when explored in hypnosis, where symbolic material and emotional meaning are more accessible.