Understanding Clinical Hypnotherapy: How It Works, How It Compares, and How to Get Started
Hypnotherapy—Healing Hype or Legit Support?
When most people hear “hypnosis,” their minds jump to swinging watches, stage shows, or movie tropes about mind control. But clinical hypnotherapy? That’s a whole different story—one rooted in science, therapeutic practice, and the power of the subconscious mind to heal and rewire.
If you’ve ever felt stuck in old patterns, overwhelmed by anxiety, or weighed down by something you can’t quite name, clinical hypnotherapy might be the gentle-yet-powerful approach you’ve been missing. Let's explore what it really is, how it works, how it compares to other popular therapies like EMDR and ART, and how to find the right hypnotherapist for your journey.
First, Let’s Clear Up the Myths
MYTH: "I’ll lose control under hypnosis."
Nope. You’re not asleep, unconscious, or under anyone’s “spell.” In fact, clinical hypnotherapy relies on your active participation. You’re fully in control—just in a deeply focused state where your brain becomes more receptive to insight, healing, and suggestion.
MYTH: "Hypnosis can’t help with trauma or root issues."
Actually, clinical hypnotherapy can absolutely explore root issues—just like EMDR and ART. Through techniques like regression or float-backs, clients can safely revisit early memories, experiences, or body sensations that may hold the origin of present-day symptoms. This isn’t about re-living trauma—it’s about reprocessing it in a safe, contained way, using the subconscious mind's natural healing potential.
MYTH: "You have to be super suggestible or 'believe in it' for it to work."
Clinical hypnosis isn’t stage magic—it’s a state of focused attention and brainwave entrainment (typically in the theta or alpha range), similar to meditation or deep mindfulness. Most people can access this state with proper guidance. It’s about openness, not gullibility.
🧠 In fact, research has shown hypnotherapy can be effective in treating anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and trauma-related symptoms (Hammond, 2010; Yapko, 2011).
What Is Clinical Hypnotherapy?
Clinical hypnotherapy is a therapeutic approach that uses focused attention, guided relaxation, and subconscious exploration to promote healing and change. Under hypnosis, the client enters a deep state of calmness and focus—similar to the moments right before sleep or during deep meditation—where the conscious mind steps back and the subconscious becomes more available for exploration.
In this state, the brain slows down, typically into theta or alpha wave activity, which enhances access to memories, internal narratives, stored emotional responses, and deeply ingrained beliefs. The therapist works collaboratively with the client to guide them through targeted suggestions, metaphors, or inner visualizations that can lead to new insights, emotional resolution, and behavioral change.
Key therapeutic techniques may include:
Direct and indirect suggestion (to shift inner narratives)
Regression or float-back work (to identify and reframe root causes)
Parts work or ego-state dialogue (to integrate conflicting internal beliefs or needs)
Somatic awareness (to shift body-stored responses)
Resource building (for increased safety and regulation)
📚 Hypnotherapy has empirical support across a wide range of applications. A meta-analysis by Montgomery et al. (2007) showed that hypnosis significantly reduced pain and distress in medical procedures. It’s also been shown to enhance the effectiveness of CBT in treating depression and anxiety (Kirsch et al., 1995).
Hypnotherapy vs EMDR, ART, and Talk Therapy: A Technical Comparison
While clinical hypnotherapy, EMDR, ART, and talk therapy may all be used to support healing, they each have their own unique approach and mechanisms. Here’s how they differ—and where they overlap:
Clinical Hypnotherapy focuses on belief change, emotional integration, and accessing the root causes of distress. It works by guiding a person into a deep state of calmness and focus where the subconscious becomes more accessible. Through imagery, suggestion, metaphor, and sometimes regression or “float-back” techniques, the therapist helps shift old patterns, stored emotional responses, and limiting beliefs.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a structured trauma treatment that helps desensitize distressing memories and reprocess them using bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements or tapping). It’s highly effective for trauma, anxiety, and attachment wounds, and is often used to restructure core beliefs tied to early experiences or traumatic events. EMDR uses a dual attention approach—keeping one foot in the memory and one in the present—to safely reprocess stuck material.
ART (Accelerated Resolution Therapy) is similar to EMDR in that it uses eye movements, but it’s known for its speed and clarity. It focuses heavily on visual imagery and often includes voluntary memory replacement or “rewriting” what is stored in the brain’s emotional memory networks. ART tends to be more directive and is especially effective for people who want results quickly with less verbal processing.
Talk Therapy, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), narrative therapy, or psychodynamic approaches, relies on verbal processing, reflection, and insight to create change. These methods can support behavior change, increase awareness, and shift beliefs over time. While talk therapy can access the subconscious to some degree—especially when working with metaphors or dreams—it typically focuses more on conscious awareness and insight-driven change.
In summary:
All four approaches aim to resolve distress and support personal transformation, but they do so through different routes. Hypnotherapy, EMDR, and ART tend to work more directly with the subconscious and emotional memory systems, while talk therapy works more with the conscious mind and meaning-making processes. Many clients find that a combination of these approaches offers the most comprehensive support.
During clincial hypnotherapy, the therapist guides the client into a calm and deeply relaxed state.
Before You Begin: What to Know
You don’t have to “believe in it” for it to work. It’s not about belief—it’s about accessing parts of your mind that already exist.
You won’t be unconscious or unaware. You’re relaxed, but still very present.
It’s a collaboration. The best results come when you and your hypnotherapist work together to target what’s keeping you stuck.
It works well in combination. Hypnotherapy can be used on its own or integrated with other modalities like EMDR, CBT, or narrative therapy.
What About Dissociation?
If you experience dissociation—like feeling foggy, disconnected, emotionally numb, or “not all there”—you’re not alone. Many people with trauma histories experience dissociative symptoms, and understandably may worry about entering a trance-like state.
The good news? Clinical hypnotherapy, when practiced by a highly trained and trauma-informed professional, can actually support greater integration, not worsen dissociation. In contrast to spontaneous dissociative states that feel disorienting or fragmented, the hypnotic state is focused, guided, and purposeful. It can help bring coherence to internal experiences, gently reconnect parts of the self, and reduce emotional overwhelm.
In fact, several trauma experts consider hypnotherapy an appropriate and effective method for stabilizing and integrating dissociative symptoms—when used with clinical attunement and a phase-based approach (Phillips & Frederick, 1995; van der Hart, Nijenhuis, & Steele, 2006). Research has also shown that while hypnosis and dissociation share some features (such as deep states of relaxation), hypnosis may increase awareness and control over one’s internal experience (Cardeña, 2000).
At Bloom Narratives, our clinical hypnotherapist, Lesley Evans, is experienced in working with dissociative symptoms and takes a client-led, safety-first approach to all sessions.
How to Choose a Clinical Hypnotherapist
Choosing a hypnotherapist is a little like dating: connection, safety, and trust matter. Look for:
✅ Clinical training (not just weekend certification)
✅ Trauma-informed approach
✅ Experience with your concerns
✅ Warmth, clarity, and ethics
Meet Lesley Evans, Clinical Hypnotherapist at Bloom Narratives
We’re proud to offer hypnotherapy with Lesley Evans, a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and Therapist with years of experience helping people gently explore and heal what’s beneath the surface. Lesley brings a calming presence, grounded wisdom, and a strong clinical background to help you shift the internal patterns that keep you stuck.
Whether you’re managing anxiety, recovering from trauma, trying to build self-worth, or just ready to break free from old emotional loops—Lesley can guide you through it with care and clarity.
Final Thoughts
Clinical hypnotherapy isn’t about tricks or mind control—it’s about turning inward and using the brain’s natural capacity to heal, process, and transform. If talk therapy hasn’t quite cracked the code for you—or you’re curious about a gentler, more subconscious-based approach—hypnotherapy may be exactly what your healing process needs.
Want to explore it further? Let’s talk. You deserve support that meets you where you are—and guides you where you want to go.
References
Brown, D. P., Scheflin, A. W., & Hammond, D. C. (1998). Memory, trauma treatment, and the law. W.W. Norton & Company.
Cardeña, E. (2000). Hypnosis and dissociation: Close relatives or distant cousins? Contemporary Hypnosis, 17(4), 191–197. https://doi.org/10.1002/ch.201
Hammond, D. C. (2010). Hypnosis in the treatment of anxiety- and stress-related disorders. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 10(2), 263–273. https://doi.org/10.1586/ern.09.140
Kirsch, I., Montgomery, G., & Sapirstein, G. (1995). Hypnosis as an adjunct to cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy: A meta-analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63(2), 214–220. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.63.2.214
Montgomery, G. H., David, D., Winkel, G., Silverstein, J. H., & Bovbjerg, D. H. (2007). The effectiveness of adjunctive hypnosis with surgical patients: A meta-analysis. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 104(6), 1639–1645. https://doi.org/10.1213/01.ane.0000261253.66864.86
Phillips, M., & Frederick, C. (1995). Healing the divided self: Clinical and Ericksonian hypnotherapy for post-traumatic and dissociative conditions. W.W. Norton & Company.
van der Hart, O., Nijenhuis, E. R. S., & Steele, K. (2006). The haunted self: Structural dissociation and the treatment of chronic traumatization. W.W. Norton & Company.
Yapko, M. D. (2011). Treating depression with hypnosis: Integrating cognitive-behavioral and strategic approaches. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 59(3), 327–343. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207144.2011.580090
