A holistic approach: Helping through hypnotherapy in Mitchell - Daily Republic

"The changes are long lasting," Fox said. "This gets to the core of why whatever behaviors a person is dealing with are there."

Heart-centered hypnotherapy involves a person being placed into a "hypnotic trance" or an altered state of consciousness. The hypnotic trance is far from what commonly is depicted — where a person is asked to do potentially embarrassing things in front of crowd, all while in an "altered-state."

Always wanting to bring hypnotherapy to Mitchell, the pair added it to their services at Dakota Counseling in December. Since then, the two counselors have been able to help several clients through the process of hypnotherapy.

Hypnotherapy can be used to treat a wide variety of issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, weight problems, grief and stress, Anderson said. But according to both Fox and Anderson, it does not matter the severity of a person's behavior for the holistic method to have a positive effect.

"Hypnotherapy sessions are hopeful," Fox said. "It combines all that I have learned in the 30 years I have worked as a counselor. The goal is for people to go on and live their life relieved of whatever issues they were dealing with."

The therapeutic process

During an hour-long heart-centered hypnotherapy session, a client is induced into a trance state by staring at a spot on the ceiling. The client will close his or her eyes and be asked by a therapist to imagine a calm place, Anderson explained.

Then, Anderson or Fox will ask a client to think of a recent memory, such as being embarrassed at work in front of coworkers. The client will then be asked to remember the first time they ever felt embarrassed as child.

"We work with that inner child to do some healing work," Anderson said. "To help the person come up with a new conclusion about themselves."

While a person is in a trance state they are thinking using their subconscious. Using the subconscious brain, the person is able to determine where the deepest healing needs to take place, explains Fox.

"The brain remembers the emotional part of an event," Fox said.

During the session a client is asked to release any emotions or feelings by yelling or squeezing into a pillow or hitting a punching bag. The session concludes with a healing component where a client is asked to hold a stuffed animal, which is supposed to represent his or her inner child.

The aim is to encourage a client to self discover where certain beliefs he or she may have about themselves originate from and what positive changes can be made to change those beliefs.

Anderson and Fox attended a six-day intensive hypnotherapy training in August 2016 in Chicago and are currently enrolled in a two-year internship program to earn advanced certification from the Wellness Institute, based in Washington. During the next two years both will attend eight five-day sessions in Wisconsin to learn more about the practices of hypnotherapy.

As they continue their training, the pair will continue to put their therapeutic practice to the test in Mitchell.

"It addresses the mind, body and spirit," Anderson said. "That is why it works so well."

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