“What therapy??”


When people ask me what I do and I tell them I’m a
hypnotherapist, a typical response is to stare into
my eyes and to exclaim, “Are you going to try to
hypnotize me!” Others just smile in an amused or
incredulous way. These reactions are not so
surprising considering that most people only know
about hypnotherapy from movies and stage shows.
They have seen hypnotists perform tricks that are
meant to entertain their audience, so naturally they
consider hypnotherapy a kind of game.

So what is hypnotherapy? Let’s begin with the word
itself. ‘Hypnos’ means sleep in Greek. And therapy
means the treatment of an illness or a disability.
From a profession point of view hypnotherapy is a
specific healing modality that was developed over
the last 200 years. A great number of brilliant and
dedicated physicians and psychologists have
contributed to hypnotherapy. In the United States
Dr Milton Erickson was a intuitive and perceptive
personality who contributed to this unique
modality. His effective and shrewd methods now
help patients recover from issues that include
phobias, anxiety, eating disorders, addiction,
depression, lack of motivation, low self-esteem,
sexual dysfunctions, traumas, and allergies.

Hypnotherapy was recognized by the American
Medical Association in 1958 and now, fifty years
later, more and more psychologists are including
hypnotherapy as part of their treatment. Today
many psychologists either take training in
hypnotherapy or refer their patients to professional
hypnotherapists.

So how does it work? It’s really quite simple. The
part of your brain you ordinarily use to read, for
example, represents about 13% of your brain
function. This is what is referred to as the conscious
mind. The rest is the subconscious mind. A
hypnotherapist guides you through gentle and
relaxing techniques until you reach a state of deep
relaxation. You are aware of your environment and
retain control of your actions, but the conscious
mind is placed in an “observer” role rather than an
active role. By accessing different brain frequencies
and other parts of the brain, your subconscious
mind can communicate with you and the therapist
about what’s happening under the surface.

Our lives are so busy and full that many emotions
and instincts happen beneath our normal
awareness. Have you ever jumped aside to avoid
being hit by a car without ‘thinking?’ In many case
we react so fast that what we feel escapes the
conscious mind.

Let’s say you want to loose weight. You have an aim
to not eat so much or certain foods and to exercise,
but you keep bingeing on this ice-cream every
evening, and when the alarm clock rings an hour
earlier so you can go walking in the park, you just
turn it off and stay in bed. So what's happening?
There is a lack of sync between your conscious mind
(I’ve decided to do this, I must to this, I shouldn't do
this!) and your subconscious mind (Eating ice cream
makes me feel good; I don’t want to get out of bed; I
have no energy.) has another agenda The result is
that you feel bad about yourself and blame yourself
for your lack of discipline.

The good news is that this self incrimination is
unnecessary, because it’s possible to understand
what’s happening in the subconscious mind and
harmonize it with you conscious mind. It’s possible
to find out why you react the way you do.

Very often, after a session, my clients say something
like “I didn’t remember that that happened when I
was a child!” or, “That really makes sense, but I
never made the connection before!” or “Now I
understand why I’m doing that!”

Though I treat people with serious psychological
problems—psychotherapists refer patients with
issues like PTSD, depression, bipolar disorders—
most of my clients are “normal” people like you and
me; they just want to stop smoking and lose weight
or sleep better. Most of us have vulnerabilities and
some physical or emotional issues, and
hypnotherapy can help us experience more harmony
and well-being in our lives. We all want to have
more balance and happiness for ourselves and the
people we love. Don't you? It is possible.

And if you doubt that you can be hypnotized, ask
yourself: “Do I want to be healed?” “Do I believe it’s
possible? If your answer is no, no sophisticated or
expensive drug, no specialist or expert will be able to
help you. You are the expert.

A famous hypnotherapist, (this famous man’s name)
said, “Hypnotherapy is a
therapy of consent.” This means, if you want to heal
or find a solution to an issue or expand your
possibilities, I can help you. You are ultimately in
charge of your life. You are the expert.  I am your
coach. I am here to help you heal yourself.


Agnès Cartry, Certified Alchemical Hypnotherapist
Call (530) 277-9513 or (530) 692-1638 to schedule an
appointment