“When you are very, very relaxed, your conscious mind is more passive, allowing your goals and thoughts to go into your unconscious mind.  So when you are more relaxed and accepting we feed it positive statements.”  Slabtown resident Amelia Hasenohrl is the owner of Grand Traverse Hypnotherapy and Counseling.  “There is a myth that people think hypnosis is done to you.  You have to participate, to follow my guidance and to relax.  If you are willing to do that, you can reach a state of hypnosis.”

Hypnotherapy and Hypnosis are one and the same. They are interchangeable terms. However, Hasenohrl uses Hypnotherapy because she is Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and utilizes her counseling skills when she works with her clients to help solve their difficulties and reach their goals.  “I was using this to add to my counseling practice.  I drove to Detroit to get the training, it was very hands-on and intense,” Hasenohrl explains.

Hypnotherapy is an educational communication that flows from your conscious mind to your unconscious mind and allows them both to believe the same message.  Hypnosis is a very quick, easy and effective counseling tool.  It helps clients reach their goals faster, with less struggle. It reinforces their strengths and assists them to focus on Positive Thoughts.

Hasenohrl’s background is dealing with patients who have traumatic brain-injury and physical medical rehab. “A lot of them, after a bad car accident are afraid to drive.  Some of the techniques you use for helping them desensitize to driving are systematic desensitization, cognitive behavior therapy, this kind of thing.  What I noticed is clients improve faster with hypnosis.”  

Hasenohrl believes it has a lot to do with remapping the experience and the way the brain fires the memory “You are refining and revisiting that memory when you are calm and relaxed.  Your body can’t be calm and relaxed and upset, fearful, scared, and anxious at the same time.  If you take the trauma experience and walk back through it in deep relaxation, it changes the way your mind remembers that experience and gives you more control.”

Hypnosis takes you to the same level of relaxation and focus as does deep Meditation. You are in the same brain wave length when in deep meditation as when you are in Hypnosis. Both are deeply relaxing and pleasant. Hypnotherapy utilizes this relaxation state to focus and commit your mind more deeply to your goals by means of positive suggestions. You are always in control when you are in hypnosis. Hypnosis does not change your morals, ethics, or religious beliefs, only the ideas you are wanting to change such as being a Nonsmoker, getting rid of a bad habit, finding and appreciating your strengths, letting go of unwanted pounds, feeling more confident in your abilities, etc.

It is a Healthy and relaxing experience that you are participating in for your own Self Improvement.  “You don’t ever use try when you are trying to do better.   You must start with a positive statement.  In biking I started with ‘all hills are doable,’ instead of ‘I’m going to try to make the hills.’  Now I’m at ‘I always make these hills.’  It’s a positive statement.”  Hasenohrl says your positive reinforcements of yourself are some of the strongest tools you have in your toolbox for self-improvement.  “Always move forward and always focus on what’s good.”

Her early work as a Direct Care Giver and then a Manager of a Residential Facility for people recovering from TBI began her professional experience. She worked as a Case Manager both in private companies and for a major hospital, assisting people to find appropriate resources and treatment. She has had many years of experience in cognitive and physical Rehabilitation programs as a Therapist Counselor with 2 major hospitals: McLaren Regional Medical Center and Munson Medical Center, specifically in the area of cognitive and brain injury rehabilitation. 

“I have the experience you need to help you understand and compensate, with strategy use, your deficit areas and function at a higher level in your life.”

What Does Hypnosis Feel Like?

When you are in Hypnosis, you feel very, very relaxed, as relaxed as when you are asleep, only you are still awake. You are always in control, and aware of your surroundings if you care to be.

Hypnosis can feel like deep meditation, daydreaming, and how you feel just before you fall asleep.

All of these states of mind are similar to what is experienced in hypnosis.We have all experienced daydreaming. When we are daydreaming, we are deeply involved in the scenery of our daydream and although we are aware of our surroundings, being in a classroom for instance, we are choosing not to attend to the classroom around us during our daydreaming experience.

What is Trance or “under” Hypnosis ? 

Trance is that daydream-like state that is induced in hypnosis. It feels very pleasant, carefree and deeply restful. Being in hypnosis trance is relaxing and refreshing, like a great afternoon nap. Being “under” hypnosis, or going “under” hypnosis is the same as being “in” hypnosis or hypnotic trance state. The term “under” is not readily used now because it gives the idea that you are “under” someone else’s control. As you recall, you cannot be hypnotized unless you want to be hypnotized, so you are never “under” someone else’s control, you are as in control as you choose to be when practicing hypnosis.

Slabtown Shores - April 2018