Virtual Hypnosis
My name is Michael Conrad. I'm a retired psychologist, specialized in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and a still current hypnotist since 2000. Now offering virtual hypnosis sessions, first one free, thereafter $100 per session. Talking with me as a retired psychologist is also available and explained on my experience page.
The mind controls the body. If it is your mind that is making you feel physically sick or mentally unbalanced, then it is your mind that can make you healthy again. And when your willpower isn't working effectively, then hypnosis will help. However, don't expect years of what you're going through to disappear in one session. Several sessions may be necessary. There is no such thing as a one visit cure just as there is no such thing as one pill from a bottle of pills is all you need.
My hypnosis sessions can lessen and even eliminate symptoms such as ptsd, depression, stress, anxiety, and personal as well as professional exhaustion and burnout. Hypnosis is also very effective in eliminating a dependency for nicotine, alcohol, illegal drugs and pain meds like opioids without experiencing withdrawal pains.
What exactly is hypnosis? The word hypnosis was originally created to describe the process you put yourself through in order to fall asleep, named after the Greek god Hypnos, the god of sleep. It's lying in bed and letting go of all the thoughts and stresses of the day, eventually limiting your thoughts to how warm the blanket feels around you or how soft the pillow feels beneath your head, and without even realizing it, you drift off to sleep.
Hypnotized was originally called mesmerised. You are mesmerized when you can focus your attention on something to the point where you are oblivious to everything else going on around you. It's also called tunnel vision. Named after Franz Mesmer, the creator of the mesmerizing techniques everyone has mislabeled as hypnosis.
Franz Mesmer's theory is this. By focusing your eyes on an object (visual tunnel vision) while focusing your hearing on the sound of someone's voice (audible tunnel vision), the more mesmerized you become, at which point a part of your mind becomes willing to accept suggestions, but only if they're coming from someone you trust and if you were leaning in the direction of those particular suggestions in the first place. Think of a hypnotist/mesmerist as a motivator who helps you stay on a path that you've already taken.
The confusion all began in 1843 when James Braid noticed that when clients had created tunnel vision and were mesmerized, that they exhibited the same sleepy "look" that one had when going to sleep. So he changed the word from mesmerized, which is the "focused" look, to hypnotized, which is the "sleepy" look. But he eventually saw his mistake, that they weren't sleepy at all, so he tried to change the word back to mesmerized, but by then the word hypnotized became so popular, thanks to movies, that he gave up trying.
Knowing this, here is what to expect. Your hypnotist, or mesmerist, will ask you to focus your eyes on a particular object (visual tunnel vision) while focusing your hearing on only the sound of his voice (audible tunnel vision). If you have followed instructions, then your eyes will appear blurry, out of focus, distant. This is a hypnotic state of mind, or more precisely, a mesmerized state of mind. Oddly enough, this is the point where your mind becomes open to outside influences, but only if they are coming from someone you trust. He will then give you suggestions that you are willing to accept in order to experience change for the better.
Can everyone be hypnotized? NO. About 15% of the world's population's brains are wired differently. Another 10% either don't trust the hypnotist, are afraid of the unknown, simply cannot relax, try too hard or are easily distracted by everything going on around them and therefore can't create the necessary tunnel visions.
Who, then, can be hypnotized? Daydreamers, artists, musicians, actors, athletes, deep thinkers, introverts, puzzle solvers, gamers, visionaries and the like. Anyone who has a very vivid and creative imagination.
A brief history here. In the beginning, various hypnosis techniques were only used by medical doctors, especially during war times before the invention of morphine, which primarily calmed injured soldiers, put them into deep REM sleep during unfortunate amputations, and also limited infections and quickened recovery. Many years later was when non-medical people used their very limited knowledge of hypnosis to create stage shows for entertainment purposes only, while leaving the true medical effectiveness of hypnosis to real medical professionals.