Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate
-Carl Jung
What is Hypnotherapy?
Hypnotherapy is the clinical application of hypnosis in psychotherapy. Hypnotherapy requires specialized training, and involves a skillful integration of clinical hypnosis and mindfulness techniques. It is an evidence-based treatment based on historic practices.
I am a Clinical Counseling Hypnotherapist, certified in a 100-hour trauma-informed training in clinical counseling hypnotherapy. This is a program solely for mental health professionals, so they can learn how to offer hypnosis in a clinical setting to treat mental health concerns.
What does Hypnotherapy treat?
Clinical counseling hypnotherapy has been shown to treat a wide variety of mental health conditions, including:
- Mood & emotional difficulties
- Low self-esteem
- Social anxiety
- Feelings of shame
- Sleep difficulties
- Support for chronic pain
- A doctor’s referral note for hypnosis for pain management is required
- Stress relief
- Anxiety & phobias
- Fear of Public Speaking
- Depression
- Trauma
- Developing internal resources
What are the results of Hypnotherapy?
Focused Intensive Work with Hypnosis
Hypnotherapy is available in a traditional weekly or biweekly format. I also offer Hypnotherapy Intensives. My Hypnotherapy Intensive focused on inner child healing and healing childhood trauma helps with:
- Improving self-esteem
- Increasing a sense of inner peace
- Quieting the inner critic
- Increasing feelings of wholeness
- Getting in touch with inner resources & the “wise self”
- Cultivating self-compassionate inner dialogue
This Intensive treatment is currently available through Smart Therapy as a specialty treatment. Contact me to find out more information.
Hypnotherapy for Trauma and Inner Child Work
Working with Vulnerable Parts
Because hypnosis creates a focused state of awareness, it can be a powerful tool for exploring and healing early life experiences. Inner child hypnotherapy helps you reconnect with younger parts of yourself that may have been ignored, shamed, or left unsupported.
Through this work, clients often:
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Meet their younger self in a safe, supportive way
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Offer compassion, reassurance, or protection that was missing at the time
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Release outdated self-blame or shame
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Strengthen the adult self’s ability to nurture and protect these vulnerable parts
This process can be deeply moving and often leads to lasting shifts in self-esteem, emotional regulation, and relationships.
How Hypnotherapy Fits Into Depth Therapy
In my practice, hypnotherapy is rarely used in isolation. It’s integrated with depth therapy approaches like Jungian therapy, schema therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and emotion-focused therapy. This combination allows us to work with both symbolic and emotional material, connecting the conscious and unconscious layers of your psyche.
By weaving hypnosis into the therapeutic process, we can explore imagery, archetypes, and dreams, work through emotional blocks, and help you access your own inner wisdom. This makes hypnotherapy not just a symptom-focused intervention, but a gateway to deeper self-understanding and transformation.
Why Hypnotherapy Can Be So Effective
Traditional talk therapy works primarily through conscious insight, but many of our core beliefs, emotional patterns, and coping strategies are rooted in the subconscious mind. Hypnotherapy allows us to access this deeper layer more directly, bypassing the mental “filters” that can slow or block change.
In a hypnotic state, the brain is more receptive to new information, meaning you can replace outdated patterns with healthier ones more quickly. For example:
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A client with social anxiety might reframe a core belief of “I am not safe around others” into “I can be myself and still be safe.”
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Someone struggling with self-criticism might strengthen an inner voice of compassion that supports rather than undermines them.
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A person processing trauma might reconnect with their sense of agency and wholeness.
Beyond addressing symptoms, hypnotherapy often opens the door to deeper, long-term benefits that ripple into many areas of life...
Benefits Beyond Symptom Relief
Life enhancement in addition to symptom reduction
While many people first turn to hypnotherapy to address specific symptoms (like anxiety, sleep issues, or phobias), the benefits often extend further. Because hypnotherapy works at both conscious and subconscious levels, clients frequently report a stronger sense of alignment between their thoughts, emotions, and behaviours. This alignment can translate into greater confidence, creativity, and resilience in daily life.
Another benefit is the ability to access imagery, intuition, and symbolic meaning in ways that feel more vivid than in standard talk therapy. For some, this opens up a renewed sense of imagination and inner guidance. For others, it provides practical breakthroughs, such as improved stress regulation, more balanced relationships, or a healthier inner dialogue.
Hypnotherapy can also strengthen the mind-body connection. By calming the nervous system and shifting core beliefs, it becomes easier to reduce physical tension and support overall wellbeing. Over time, clients often find that the skills and inner resources developed in sessions (such as grounding, self-soothing, and self-compassion) become accessible outside of therapy as well. These ripple effects are part of why hypnotherapy is considered such a powerful complement to depth-oriented psychotherapy.
Is Hypnotherapy Right for You?
Hypnotherapy may be a good fit if:
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You’ve tried traditional talk therapy and want to go deeper
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You struggle with self-criticism, anxiety, or unresolved grief
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You feel “stuck” in patterns you can’t change through willpower alone
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You’re curious about integrating mindfulness-based and mind-body approaches into your healing
Whether used in short-term focused work or as part of ongoing therapy, hypnotherapy offers a unique way to access the deeper roots of your challenges and create lasting change.