Thank you for making the courageous choice to explore your inner world more deeply. I am honored that you have chosen me to guide you on your personal journey.
In preparation for our sessions, please explore the frequently asked questions below. If you have specific questions that are not addressed below, please reach out. My intention is for you to arrive at your first session feeling at ease with the process and ready to take the first steps on your own pathway to transformation.
Here are client intake forms for you to fill out before our first session:
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How does Hypnotherapy (or Applied Shamanic Counseling) work?
A: Both of the above listed methodologies are unique tools that lead us to the same place – the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is your own personal knowledge keeper and the place where everything you’ve ever known or experienced is stored. With the assistance of the spoken word (Hypnotherapy) or a repetitive sound such as a rattle or drumbeat (Applied Shamanic Counseling), people are able to let go of their analytical mind and connect with their own inner guidance in the subconscious mind.
My role is to guide clients in the journey of connecting with their own inner wisdom and exploring the bountiful information available within. This space reveals deep insights that address soulful questions around topics such as the source of power loss, the cause of anxiety or depression, why unwanted patterns continue to repeat in their lives, or even more existential questions such as life purpose. Sometimes clients encounter past trauma and have found that unpacking that trauma provides valuable information. In these cases, I guide the client toward healing the trauma, which often has long-lasting positive effects.
During any session that involves an altered state of consciousness, the client is always fully aware of what is happening. You’ll have the option to leave the altered state at will, and you are always able to remember everything that happened afterwards.
Suggestion Hypnosis is what most people think of when they think about hypnotherapy. Suggestion hypnosis most commonly occurs in a single session and is treated as a quick way to make a change. During the session, I will lead you into a trance-like state and then read a script which incorporates some predetermined suggestions to address the presenting problem. These suggestions to the subconscious mind are integrated and alter the patterns or habits that you are wanting to change.
Suggestion Hypnosis can be a very effective, remarkably quick way to make a change in your life; however, most people find that the habit or pattern they desire to change is a result of a deeper issue and arises again in some form. For this reason, I recommend Depth Hypnosis for long-lasting change.
Depth Hypnosis is a healing modality created by Isa Gucciardi, PhD. It is based on the principles of Hypnotherapy, Transpersonal Psychology, Buddhist Psychology, and Shamanism. This model is non-dogmatic in nature, and anyone, regardless of spiritual background, can benefit from the techniques used in Depth Hypnosis. For more information, please go here.
Depth Hypnosis is a holistic healing modality and considers one’s entire life history. This method enables clients to look deeply at the root causes of presenting problems and alter their relationship to those underlying causes. This method will facilitate a much deeper and more thorough change than Suggestion Hypnosis. However, as insights are learned with Depth Hypnosis and healings occur, Suggestion Hypnosis can be layered into the session to deeply integrate the changed relationship. This two-part approach has significant benefits for clients.
Often, people fear that during hypnosis they will see something that they don’t want to see. If your intention in engaging with the work is to find truth that will bring you to a deeper resonance with yourself, your experience in the sessions will provide you the pathway to transformation. Your body will reveal that which is beneficial for you to know and understand so you can heal within this capacity.
Q: Who might benefit from Hypnotherapy or Applied Shamanic Counseling?
A: Modern life is inherently difficult. We find ourselves existing at a fast pace with layers of habituated learning we’ve cleverly employed to survive. Yet, little of the modern human existence brings us regularly into our natural, blissful state of feeling at home in our own skin. My practice is rooted in the belief that what’s happening in our outer world is a direct reflection of what’s happening in our inner world. Therefore, we start the journey of personal transformation by exploring within.
Depth Hypnosis or Applied Shamanic Counseling can improve a number of symptoms including, but not limited to, the following:
Feeling a lack of personal power or not experiencing your full potential
Questioning your soul’s purpose or life purpose and your personal calling
Needing assistance through life transitions (e.g., childbirth, marriage, divorce, career changes, end of life)
Creating a more organized and balanced personal energy system
Feeling amplified emotions of anxiety, depression, anger
Processing traumatic events and experiencing life-lasting healing
Exploring imbalances in the relationship with self as manifested in eating disorders, body image issues, addiction
Desiring to change habits that aren’t serving you
Seeking assistance in understanding reoccurring dreams
Q: What can I expect from Depth Hypnosis or Applied Shamanism sessions?
A: During our introductory 15-minute consultation, we will explore your current situation, and I will develop a recommended approach specific to your needs. In general, the most effective plan is weekly sessions to start, with a minimum of three sessions. We can work together to design a schedule that works for you.
When we first begin working together, the standard session is 75 minutes. Once we establish a relationship, if we are not doing altered state work, 50-minute sessions can be useful. Altered state work requires a 75-minute session.
Session 1: We will talk about your story via guided conversation. In addition, we will discuss the inspiration for our working together and what you are hoping to achieve with our sessions.
Session 2: Depending on what we established in session one, we will likely engage in your first guided hypnosis or shamanic journey session.
Session 3: The deeper work begins to address the concerns/issues/challengers you are experiencing. The path from here is very personal, and in this session clients usually find the beginning seeds of truth and healing, and start to have a deeper understanding of the root causes of their symptoms. Often problems present like an onion—layer by layer—each layer is exposed over time, when you are ready. Most clients require six to nine sessions to come to resolution about a specific challenge.
Q: How can I prepare in advance for a Depth Hypnosis Session?
A: The week before we meet, I encourage clients to pay attention to their dreams, as they are a gateway to the subconscious. Before going to bed you might plant the seed of a specific question that you are exploring with the intention of gaining insight through your dream. Place a journal and pen beside your bed so that when you wake you can record anything that you remember.
If you have a regular meditation, journaling, or journey practice, write down insights from those experiences in your journal as well. Any information that comes to you in any state that sticks with you can be helpful to record. Don’t worry about trying to decipher any meanings at this point. We’ll use this as a jumping off point in our session.
Please refrain from any drugs or alcohol as substances that alter your state of consciousness for a minimum of 24 hours prior to our session. These substances will be counter to our work together.
Q: What should I bring with me to my session, or how should I prepare my space if having a remote session?
A: If you are having an in-person session , please arrive a few minutes before the start of your session so that you can tune into the present moment. There is a lovely shaded garden outside of my office as well as a back deck for you to unwind both before and after your session. Once we begin altered state work, it can take 10-15 minutes to really “land” from the session. Therefore, I recommend blocking out some additional time at the end to restore in the garden, if possible.
Please bring a journal with any notes that you’ve made in advance of the appointment. Many people find it helpful to have a journal to collect key insights gained during or after their session as well. Also, please bring a bottle of water (in a closed container), as energy work can be draining, and water is the best form of restoration both during and after the session.
If we are working together in a remote session, please create a space that you can be in, quiet and uninterrupted, for the full amount of time. Make sure you have excellent internet/wifi or phone service so that you can get the most out of our session. Ideally, it is a space that has a natural resonance of peace and comfort for you.
For remote sessions, please have your journal and water nearby. Kindly remember to schedule time after your session to “land” at the end of the session. If you have access to nature nearby, that’s the best way to re-ground after our work together.
Finally, regardless of the format of our session, I invite you to drop into a space of trusting your own intuition—a belief that you are exactly where you are supposed to be right now, and to honor that you have made a courageous choice to explore your own inner depths. This perspective allows the journey ahead to be one filled with curiosity, inspiration, and life-changing healing.