Transcription – How Hypnosis Works : Erika Flint, BCH, CPHI from Cascade Hypnosis Center

Hi everyone, I’m Erika Flint. I’m a board certified hypnotist with the National Guild of Hypnotists, which is the oldest and largest hypnosis professional organization in the world. I’m also a certified professional hypnotherapy instructor and I’m the owner of Cascade Hypnosis Center in Bellingham, Washington. I’m here today to tell you a little bit about hypnosis.

What Is Hypnosis?

Hypnosis can help you make big changes in your life, and hypnosis works even when everything else has failed. But what exactly is hypnosis? Because there’s a lot of misperceptions about what hypnosis is.

Hypnosis is a normal and natural state of mind. It’s a state of focused awareness. You’ve probably been in hypnosis hundreds, maybe thousands of times in your life already and not even realized it.

Common Examples of Everyday Hypnosis

Here are a couple common examples of everyday hypnosis. One is when you’re driving the car and you end up at your destination and you realize you don’t remember the last few exits on the freeway or the last few minutes, the last 30 minutes or so. That’s a normal and natural state of hypnosis. You see, you were thinking about something else and your subconscious mind knows how to drive the car.

Another common everyday example of hypnosis includes when you’re watching a movie and it’s a good movie and you’re really into the story, and maybe even somebody comes in the room and says “Mom, Mom” or calls your name, or “Dad, Dad,” but you don’t hear them because you’re really focused on the movie. That’s another common example of everyday hypnosis.

A third one is when time is just flying by, right? So you’re focused on something else. You are maybe working with your hands, you’re in the garden, you’re working in the shop, you’re painting, drawing, listening, playing to music, something like that, and time is just flying by. So these are all normal examples of everyday and common hypnosis. As you can see, it happens every day. So you’ve probably been in a state of hypnosis many times in your life. It’s normal, it’s natural, and it’s safe.

Who Can Be Hypnotized?

Another common misperception is that only certain people can go into hypnosis, and that’s not true either. As a matter of fact, anybody can go into a state of hypnosis that has the ability and willingness to follow instruction. And your hypnotist really has no control over you whatsoever. As a matter of fact, you can’t go into hypnosis—nobody can make you go into a state of hypnosis if you don’t want to. So it’s really more about you taking control of areas of your life that you want to take control back again. The hypnotist serves more as a guide or a coach helping you make those big changes in your life.

What I Help People With

Now, the thing that I help people with at Cascade Hypnosis—the thing that hypnosis is used for—includes things like weight loss. I help a lot of people lose weight, so about half my clientele, half the people who work with a hypnotist and hypnosis, are there to lose weight. And it works really powerfully. There’s a reason why there’s so many people there losing weight: because it works. And what we do is we help you create a new relationship with food, and get motivated to do the things that you already know that you need to do. People start feeling better right away, hopeful right away, losing weight right away, and it’s more consistently losing a couple pounds a week.

The other thing that I help people with is stop smoking, working on habits, maybe substance abuse, that type of a thing, or nail biting. Helping people focus with performance enhancement and sleeping healthier. Helping people with pain management. Another interesting thing that I’ve helped people with is helping to find lost items. I also work with kids, with teens. Hypnosis can be used for a variety of things.

Getting Started

If you have a question about hypnosis, make sure that you contact the office. Our number is 360-392-8723. You can contact me at cascadehypnosiscenter.com.

The experience itself: the first time that you come in, we’ll talk for a little while. We come up with a customized, individualized plan that’s just for you. And after we do that—because all sessions are customized, private, and individual and customized just for you—and after we do that, then we do some hypnosis.

When people leave that first session, it’s really amazing because they leave with hope, and sometimes that’s what people have lost. You know, they’ve tried so many different things to help them with whatever it is that they’re struggling with, and nothing seems to work, so they feel stuck. Well, they come into hypnosis and, you know, hypnosis is different, so you can expect different results with hypnosis.

Then you’ll come back, and you come back the week later. The sessions are successively more powerful every time you come in. They get more and more powerful. The insight is deeper. The learning and understanding is greater.

Classes and Training

The other thing that I do at Cascade Hypnosis Center is we teach classes there. So I teach classes on self-hypnosis, on stress relief. I teach classes on other things like healthy sleep and athletic performance, that type of a thing. And I also am an instructor, so I teach people how to be hypnotists, which is really amazing. I love that.

Hypnosis Consultations

I also offer hypnosis consultations. Those are offered every day. Those are 60 minutes long. You can do them oin person, or over zoom. And that gives you an opportunity to ask us any questions, ask me any questions, or any of the other hypnotists that work at Cascade Hypnosis Center questions about hypnosis, how it can help you, and learn specifically more about the process.

Like I said before, we see on average people for five to six sessions, so it’s not very long. I mean, you’re going to start feeling better in a few weeks. And you know, hypnosis works when everything else has failed, and that’s what I love about it, because it really provides that hope and it helps people make big changes in their life.

My Story

I’m honored to do this work. I got into the business of hypnosis for personal reasons. I experienced big change in my life, and then I pursued a career in hypnosis, and I’ve been doing it ever since. I absolutely love this work, love being part of that change in people’s lives. And I hope to see you in the office or the classroom sometime soon.

Again, I’m Erika Flint with Cascade Hypnosis Center for training and services in Bellingham, Washington. Thank you.