My Approach
What is hypnosis, and how does it work?
If you’ve ever sunk into a chair after a long day and felt your mind go quiet and your body finally let go, that soft, floating place between waking and sleep, you’ve already experienced the threshold that hypnosis works with.
Many researchers associate this state with slower brain rhythms. It’s a place where new perspectives can land without the usual resistance of the analytical mind, where the body finally exhales and something long held begins to shift.
I’ve been guiding people to that threshold through yoga and somatic practice for years. Hypnosis gave me a more precise language and a more intentional set of tools for what was already happening.
What hypnosis is:
At its core, hypnosis is a process of communication. Through carefully chosen words and presence, we enter a more relaxed, receptive state together, one where it becomes easier to consider new ideas, perspectives, and ways of being. The shift happens in you, not to you.
What it isn’t:
It is not sleep. It is not mind control. It is not performance. You remain aware and in full control throughout. You don’t go somewhere else. You go somewhere quieter inside yourself.
Why it helps with pain, grief, and stress:
Emotional and physical pain share something important: they both live in the body, not just the mind. Anxiety arrives as a clenched gut, braced shoulders, a racing mind. Grief tightens the chest. Persistent pain carries fear and loss layered inside it. Knowing why you hurt doesn’t always stop the hurting. Hypnosis works where understanding alone can’t reach.
What the research shows:
Hypnosis has been studied for decades. Meta-analyses show it can reduce pain, especially around medical procedures and, with regular sessions, for chronic musculoskeletal and nerve pain. It also shows benefits for anxiety and stress, and promising results for depression and sleep. The National Institutes of Health notes good evidence for IBS.
You don’t need to believe in hypnosis for it to work. You only need to be willing to slow down and listen inward.
Training:
ICBCH Certified Professional Hypnotist, with certificates in Pain Control Hypnosis, Nerve Pain, and Future-Proofing Anxiety.
Inner Listening
Feel like your body is speaking a language you can’t understand?
Inner listening is a gentle way of paying attention to what your body already knows, noticing sensations with curiosity rather than judgment.
How it helps: When we stop fighting what we feel and listen instead, the body often softens, and new understanding or relief can emerge on its own.
What it feels like: Slow, quiet, and kind. I guide you to notice what’s there, and you go at your own pace.
Training: Drawn from Focusing, a body-based listening practice developed by Eugene Gendlin. Focusing training in progress.
Breath & Body Practices
Tried to “just relax,” and it didn’t work?
Your body may need a different door in. Simple breath and movement practices speak directly to the nervous system, without needing to think your way there.
How it helps: Slow, steady breathing is one of the most direct ways to shift the body out of alert mode. Gentle movement helps you feel at home in your body again.
What it feels like: Accessible and adaptable, with no yoga experience needed. These are tools you take home and use anywhere.
Training: Over 25 years of embodied practice, 10+ years teaching trauma-informed yoga with Sea Change Yoga, 5 years leading weekly Breathing & Meditation classes, and AAAI Certified Personal Fitness Trainer.
Ready to begin?
You don’t need to know which approach is right for you. That’s what our first conversation is for.
Book a free 15-minute consult
Results vary. These practices are not a substitute for medical or mental health treatment.