how i became a hypnotist

or, the origin story (part 1)

last monday, i officially claimed my role of hypnotist by releasing my bespoke hypnosis offerings to the world.

to be honest, i never imagined i’d become a hypnotist. it was never “on the agenda.” i remember an ex-boyfriend telling me that a hypnotist had helped his brother quit smoking. i wasn’t sure how that was possible, but i also didn’t question it or write it off as something strange, or kooky. it was just a curious fact.

a few years later, i began using hypnosis tracks to fall asleep. to be honest, i didn’t truly understand how they differed from guided meditation tracks, but they helped me sleep, so i didn’t care. one of them had a theme: building confidence and believing in yourself. at the time i was preparing to take a leap of faith by moving across the country to portland, OR, and i figured it couldn’t hurt. in hindsight, it definitely helped.

my last christmas in portland, my then-boyfriend’s mother gifted me Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology by Daniel J. Siegel. i’m not sure why exactly she gave it to me, maybe because she knew i’d just received my Reiki II certification and thought i might find it interesting. the “why” behind her choice doesn’t matter to me these days. i’m just happy she gave it to me.

Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology isn’t a typical book. it’s meant to be read nonlinearly. certain words are written in bold or italics and/or marked with an asterisk, indicating that if you go to the glossary, you can find the definition of that term, and if you head to the index, you can find all of the other places that particular topic is discussed in the book. in other words, if you see something that’s fascinating, you can opt out of whatever chapter you’re currently reading to go learn more about that more interesting thing.

i was hooked. did you know that voluntary aerobic exercise can increase neuroplasticity, which can in turn help people recover from trauma more quickly? or that mindfulness literally reshapes the brain, and can improve the function of the prefrontal cortex? there are several different types of mindfulness outlined in the book, but the one that may be the most widely-known (aside from simply observing one’s thoughts as they come and go) is the body scan. simply bringing your attention to different parts of the body with focus and intention for a few minutes of each day can literally restructure your brain.

there is so much that this book has to offer, i would recommend it to anyone. i haven’t even touched on the interpersonal aspects of it all yet. i could share more, but we’d be here all day. my copy of the book is highlighted and marked up and adorned quite liberally with those little post-it flags, as you may have noticed.

if you’re thinking that hypnosis was mentioned somewhere in this book and that’s how i decided that i’d become a hypnotist, i’m sorry to disappoint you.

i did, however, spend a good portion of the summer of 2020 devouring the book, dogearing pages and—as i’ve already mentioned—highlighting passages, and making notes in the margins. i even made an instagram post about the wheel of awareness, but i did not decide to become a hypnotist because of this book, although i did decide to increase my meditation practice because of it.

fast forward a bit to late fall of 2020, i booked myself a tarot reading with Sarah Potter, whose daily card pulls had been providing me with little nuggets of insight from the cosmos for the better part of 2 years. i booked the session for the same reason many people seek the advice & knowledge of a professional tarot reader: i needed a love reading.

Sarah thoughtfully delivered the messages from my guides and the cards and i knew that i was in good hands. before the session was over, she asked if there was anything else that i’d like to discuss. i explained that i’d like to have some career advice, as i was just beginning to offer my 1:1 Reiki and animal communication sessions, but had recently been denied entry to a business incubator in my area because the people running it thought what i was doing was too “out there,” or dare i say, “woo-woo,” to invest in. to say the least, i was feeling a bit discouraged and disappointed.

Sarah suggested perhaps expanding my offerings. somehow, i brought up the book, and expressed my passion for the intersection of science & magick, and Sarah said, “what about hypnotherapy?”

what about hypnotherapy? i thought. i’d never considered it, not even for a second. i didn’t even know how or where to begin, but something lit up inside of me as soon as the words came out of her mouth.

immediately after our zoom call ended, i started googling, “how to become a hypnotherapist,” and i quickly learned two things

1. to be a hypnotherapist, you had to be a therapist.

2. hypnosis and hypnotherapy are an entirely unregulated market in the US (much like Reiki), so i’d be on my own in finding a reputable source to learn from.

i spent a few weeks in hyperfixation mode, trying to learn more about how to become a hypnotist, but pretty much came up empty handed. i let it go for a bit and decided to turn it over to the universe.

months passed, and then years, but the desire to learn hypnosis remained in the back of my mind, like a sort of beacon in the night. i came across a hypnotist on instagram and started following them. they offered classes and mentorship, but something about hypnosis still felt elusive to me. i didn’t pursue certification with them. it was in the back of my mind, but i just never took the leap.

last summer, i came across Désirée Eckert AKA Desmerized, who would become my hypnosis instructor. within a few weeks of following Désirée on instagram, i knew that i wanted to learn from them. when i learned that they were offering their Hypnosis Certification for Healers & Mystics (that’s me!!!), i wanted to jump at the opportunity. but i had just begun working with a mentor, and one of the dates conflicted with my mentorship appointment. i also felt like i didn’t have the bandwidth to add another commitment to my plate. the timing still wasn’t right. i asked Désirée if there would be another opportunity, and she told me that there would be another training this spring.

so i made up my mind. come hell or high water, i would be learning hypnosis in the spring of 2023. and i did. and it is so much more than i ever could’ve imagined.

now i understand how someone can be hypnotized to quit smoking—it doesn’t seem odd or curious, it just makes sense. smoking is a subconscious act (as most of our actions are, really), and hypnosis speaks to the subconscious. i also understand how hypnosis can be used for building confidence, because it is our subconscious that absorbs all of our negative self-talk and all of the messages from things outside of ourselves that say we shouldn’t do this or can’t do that, and it’s the subconscious that we speak to in hypnosis to release those old thought forms and habits of belief and introduce more supportive ones.

i see the whole world differently these days. things are brighter, more crisp and clear. somehow things have fallen into place in a way that i couldn’t have expected.

i thought that each of my Reiki attunements, certifications, and subsequent practices and integrations were immense spiritual awakenings, but nothing could’ve prepared me for the way that hypnosis has altered my perception of reality. except, perhaps, Reiki.

if you’re curious the origin story of how i came to practice Reiki & talk to animals is up next.