Hypnotherapist

“You’re getting sleepy, you’re getting veeery sleepy….” goes a line from a Saturday morning criminal cartoon. But it might also be a Hypnotherapist speaking (minus the creepy voice and swirly cartoon eyes, though). As a Hypnotherapist, you say these words to put a client under hypnosis, a method you employ to improve their health and happiness.

The job of a Hypnotherapist is like that of any other Therapist. You work with your clients to achieve the goals they’re aiming for. For some people, these goals are definite and concrete, like quitting smoking. But for others, the general objective is to improve their overall confidence and feelings about life.

Some clients hope to uncover and deal with deep issues that they aren’t able to admit or handle, like sexual or child abuse. For the most part, hypnosis is used in combination with other therapies. So you might uncover something from a client while they’re hypnotized, but deal with it through other forms of therapy—talk or art therapy, for instance.

Your sessions begin much the same way as any therapy session. You find out from the patient what issue they hope to deal with or uncover, and then get to work. There are different ways of bringing a patient into a trance, which is simply a period of time when a person becomes so concentrated they aren’t distracted by outward thoughts or experiences.

While they’re under hypnosis, you might ask them questions or make suggestions. The purpose is to access their subconscious mind and truly change their way of thinking.