Most people have all sorts of ideas about hypnosis, usually gathered from the press and entertainment, including movies and stage hypnosis - totally understandable but mostly wrong...
What then is hypnotherapy you ask?
Hypnotherapy is the use of hypnotic techniques (hypnosis) to utilize states of deep relaxation. Durring this state, the therapist assists clients to understand their issues and concerns in order to enhance self-growth and personal effectiveness. The Hypnotherapist facilitates physical, emotional and/or mental health in individuals who fail to respond to other therapeutic interventions. Hypnotherapy focuses on the causes and effects of symptoms, unravels the causal mysteries of physical, emotional and behavioural symptoms to reduce and/or eliminate them.
Hypnotherapy helps change attitudes, which is the key to changing behavior. With hypnotherapy, the client is empowered, and made independent enough to solve his/her own problems. With the help of hypnosis a person can change behaviors that would otherwise seem difficult, if not impossible, to change.
Contrary to popular belief, hypnosis is not a state of deep sleep. During hypnosis, clients experience enhanced state of awareness and remain fully aware and in total control of their surroundings and situation.
It is important to note, however, that hypnotherapy is not talk therapy, and does not include advising, diagnosing or prescribing. That would be the domain of other professionals. The primary aim of hypnosis itself is self-healing, and self change. The hypnotherapist’s job is to assist the client to achieve those natural states of mind where healing and change best happen. Hypnotherapy is especially useful for tapping into that awesome power of the human mind and one’s inner resources.
How does it work?
Hypnosis works by altering our state of consciousness in such a way that the analytical left-hand side of the brain (also known as the conscious), is turned off while the non-analytical right-hand side, (known as the subconscious), is made more alert. The conscious control of the mind is inhibited, and the subconscious mind awakened. Since the subconscious mind is a deeper-seated, more instinctive force than the conscious mind, this is the part which has to change for the client’s behaviour and physical state to alter.
Have you ever found yourself daydreaming or concentrating on something that the world around you just seemed to disappear? If you answered “yes”, then you were in a state of natural hypnosis. We experience it every day of our lives while driving, reading an interesting book, intensely watching a movie, etc.
How can hypnotherapy help me?
Hypnotherapy can be applied to many psychological, emotional and physical problems. It is used to relieve pain in surgery and dentistry and has proved to be of benefit in obstetrics. It can shorten the delivery stage of labour and reduce the need for painkillers. It can ease the suffering of the disabled and those facing terminal illness, and it has been shown to help people to overcome addictions such as smoking and alcoholism, eating disorders, weight management and stress, to name a few.
Children are generally easy to hypnotize and can be helped with nocturnal enuresis (bedwetting) and chronic asthma, whilst teenagers can conquer stammering or blushing problems which can otherwise make their lives miserable.
Phobias of all kinds lend themselves well to hypnotherapy as well, and anyone suffering from panic attacks or obsessive compulsive behaviour, and stress-related problems like insomnia, may benefit. Conditions exacerbated by tension, such as irritable bowel syndrome, psoriasis and eczema, can be addressed using these techniques.
It is very important that the client wants to change some behavioural habit or addiction and is highly motivated to do so. Client must want the treatment to work, and in order to do so, must establish a good clinical rapport with the therapist.
Whatever your goals are, hypnosis can help you achieve them more easily and more quickly. Many people don’t realize the awesome power that their subconscious mind has over their lives. The causes of so many “bad habits” are rooted in memories or perceptions that may be forgotten by the conscious mind but retained in the subconscious. Hypnosis helps to access the subconscious mind and effect the desired changes more easily and more quickly.
When choosing a Hypnotherapist, it is important to be sure they are affiliated with a reputable association such as the Association of Registered Clinical Hypnotherapists (ARCH)
“Our subconscious mind is an amazing mechanism and while being extremely complicated, it holds all the tools necessary for self-healing.
Joanna's roots go back to Eastern Europe where non-traditional wellness and healing techniques are far more integrated into the social fabric and day to day life than commonly found in North America. As a result of this early exposure and acceptance of alternative strategies to healing the mind and body, Joanna began researching different healing modalities.
She has researched and practiced elements of psychology, spirituality and alternative healing modalities such as Reiki and Hypnotherapy for over 12 years. All this has led her to focus her attention exclusively on the benefits associated with hypnotherapy.
This included crystallizing her talents through formalizing her education in the field of hypnotherapy and ultimately earning her title as a Registered Clinical Hypnotherapist. Joanna completed the Master of Clinical Hypnotherapy programme with the Crossroads Training Institute where she graduated with over 250 hours of practical experience. In addition, she has earned specialty certifications in Hypnoanaesthesia & Pain Management and Time Line Protocol Therapy.
Joanna assists her clients in overcoming their personal barriers by drawing upon compassion and a strong technical foundation which includes advanced root causation techniques such as Regression Therapy, Ego States Therapy (also known as Parts Therapy), and Time Line Protocol Therapy. These powerful techniques focus on the root cause of client's issues and as a result, have a lasting effect as compared to "suggestive therapy" (reading scripts), which tend to be less effective and not permanent.
Joanna's practice is founded on the core belief that each individual holds the tools to change their lives for the better and her role in this ongoing process is to empower clients to find those tools from within. Her environment is free of judgment, creating an extremely effective therapist-client relationship thus accelerating the healing process. Her specialty is working with trauma, self esteem issues and weight management.
Joanna is a professional member of Association Of Registered Clinical Hypnotherapists (ARCH) Canada and serves on the Board of Directors.
She has founded the ARCH Mentorship Group and is the key liaison and mentor to clinical hypnotherapists in the Lower Mainland.
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