Q: What is your cancellation/reschedule policy?

We understand that things happen. However, we must request at least 24-hours notice that you need to cancel or reschedule. If you cancel with less than 24-hours notice and we unable to rebook your timeslot, we reserve the right to charge you for the session. We also request that you be on time for your sessions. If you arrive late, there may not be enough time for your session and we may be forced to apply the cancellation policy.

Question 1

What is "Kappasinian" hypnotherapy?

Accepted Answer

John Kappas attained his orientation to hypnosis from stage practice whose exponents assumed that only half the population could be hypnotized. Through practical experience, Kappas realized that direct suggestion was resisted by the half of the population that is left-brain dominant (analytical). This led Kappas into a lifetime of study of suggestibility, drawing upon personal experience treating tens of thousands of clients. Those cases covered both behavioral and psychological disorders. In recorded training seminars from the seventies, Kappas frequently stated that psychosis was due to hypersuggestibility - a chronic state of hypnosis - that makes the client unable to distinguish real and imaginary experiences.

The dominant factor in suggestibility is brain bilaterality (left/right dominance, generating respectively the "Emotional" and "Physical" patterns of behavior). Kappas saw hemispheric dominance as arising from nurturance, with natural complementarity arising between mother and infant. Preferential laterality carries through to our mature relationships, where we seek similar friends but complementary partnerships. Unfortunately, dysfunctional partnerships tend to exacerbate laterality, leading to alienation. Extending these insights to sexual behavior, Kappas was a successful marital therapist.

Kappas characterized hypnosis as a state of mind - our ideal learning state. Kappasinian therapy is built upon theories of personality development, most respectably the Ericksons' Stages of Development. The stages are extended with accessible theories of the subconscious and mind-body syndromes. These elements are introduced in dialog to increase client receptivity to suggestion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnotherapy

Question 2

What is your cancellation/reschedule policy?

Accepted Answer

We understand that things happen. However, we must request at least 24-hours notice that you need to cancel or reschedule. If you cancel with less than 24-hours notice and we unable to rebook your timeslot, we reserve the right to charge you for the session.

We also request that you be on time for your sessions. If you arrive late, there may not be enough time for your session and we may be forced to apply the cancellation policy.

Question 3

What are your qualifications for being a hypnotherapist?

Accepted Answer

I'm glad you asked.

You can see the complete list on the Credentials Page on Hypnotechs.com.

And, the About Section has even more information.

Question 4

What is "Street Hypnosis"?

Accepted Answer

Hypnosis has been around for thousands of years (that we have a record of). For much of that time, it was only practiced in a very formal, ritualized fashion. In the past 100 years, it started out as a medical treatment, then diverged from that. From there it split into hypnotherapy and stage hypnosis, both of which were pretty rigidly defined and predictable.

But over the last decade or so, a new generation of hypnotists has broken out of those boxes and taken hypnosis to a new and completely uncontrolled environment, the "street". In much the same way you might see a magician performing in a park, these practitioners of street hypnosis perform with no stage and no rehearsal. It's new, fresh and often unpredictable.

Question 5

Can you really be hypnotized?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Hypnosis is a natural state of mind that occurs in most people on a regular basis.

Many people associate hypnosis with a state of deep relaxation, but the process of hypnosis does not have to involve relaxation at all! In fact, one way to induce hypnotic trance is by using a "shock induction", which uses the startle reflex to make the mind open the suggestion.

If you have ever watched a stage hypnosis show and seen the hypnotist shout "SLEEP!" while yanking the arm of a subject, who then collapses in a heap, you have witnessed a shock induction.

Most people can be hypnotized. In general, if you have at least normal intelligence and even a bit of imagination, then you can too.

The process may vary between stage hypnosis and clinical hypnosis, but the end result is the same, a state of heightened suggestibility where hypnotic suggestions bypass the critical faculty and subconscious mind / unconscious mind act upon them.

For most people, the experience of hypnosis is profound. Your heart rate drops and smooths out and your brain activity settles into something closer to an active sleep state than full wakefulness. For many of us, the closest state we have to compare to in daily life is that of "lucid dreaming'. Of course, the hypnotized subject remains in complete control and has an awareness of what is going on around them at all times.

If you'd like to experience hypnosis, reach out to your local hypnotist! We LOVE what we do. You don't need to be seeking some type of behavioral therapy, or need to change something in everyday life. Most of us are always looking for a new hypnotic subject and would be more than happy to gve you a demonstration of the power of your subconscious mind / unconscious mind.

Question 6

Can you diagnose my mental health or conduct psychotherapy?

Accepted Answer

No. Washington prohibits diagnosis and psychotherapy by hypnotherapists.

As a hypnotherapist, I am NOT credentialed to diagnose mental disorders or to conduct psychotherapy as defined in WAC 246-810-010.

"Psychotherapy" means the practice of counseling using diagnosis of mental disorders according to the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), and the development of treatment plans for counseling based on diagnosis of mental disorders in accordance with established practice standards."

I can refer you out if needed, but these things are not particularly useful in the practice of Subconscious Behaviorism or Hypnotherapy anyway.

Question 7

Can someone hypnotize you without you knowing?

Accepted Answer

Yes, no, maybe. I am sorry to start out that way, but it's really tue. Give ma chance to explain.

The problem really lies with the definition of hypnosis.

There's what I do in my office, where there's a recognized "induction" to create an environment where hypnosis can happen. Then using my training, I use certain techniques to advance that state until you enter into and remain in the state that we call "trance", which is the working space of hypnosis. Think of it as kind of like "the construct" that Morpheus teaches Neo to use in The Matrix. It's big, infinite really, and we can fill it with pretty much anything we can imagine. I think we can all agree that is "hypnosis".

However, imagine that you are tired, after a long day of holiday shopping and you are looking for that one last, perfect, gift. You are running out of time, the mall is closing soon when you encounter the nicest salesperson you have ever met. She seems super knowledgeable and she really relates to your dilemma. She's got some great suggestions and she gets you to imagine the scene when you give the gift she has to offer. She describes the joy in face of the person you are giving it to and she tells you a story about how she once got something just as special and how she still cherishes it and thinks goo things about he person who gave it to her. You fine yourself buying what she has to offer, though it's not something you had even thought of before you encountered her.

Were you hypnotized by her? I've had sales training. Heck, I have conducted sales training and I have to say that many of the techniques are mighty close to some of the training I have in hypnosis. Some people call this "waking hypnosis" or "covert hypnosis".

With that in mind, yes, if you consider influencing you to be part of the definition of "hypnosis", the you are influenced or "hypnotized" by advertisements, media, friends and even salespeople all the time.

Question 8

Do you make house calls?

Accepted Answer

Before I opened the office in Duvall, I saw clients by subletting space from a massage therapist and by making house calls. Most clients now come to see me at the office, but I am open to other options.

If you are interested in meeting me somewhere or in me coming to you, I am open to discussion about that. Of course, I will need to charge for travel time and the like, so the session will ultimately be more expensive than a visit to the Hypnotechs office. Please contact me and let's see if we can find an arrangement that works for both of us.

You can contact me via my Contact Page.

Question 9

Are you accepting new clients?

Accepted Answer

If new client introductory appointments are available for you to book, then we are glad to have you!

Click HERE to visit the booking page.

Question 10

What Are Affirmations?

Accepted Answer

Positive affirmations are positive statements that you repeat to yourself in the hopes that they will transfer from your conscious mind to your subconscious mind. They can be related to self-esteem, changing a habit or eliminating negative self talk.

This process of self affirmation can be made as simple as reading the statements off a sticky note on your mirror as you brush your teeth, or made part of a dedicated period of repeating daily affirmations while doing nothing else.

In general, it is suggested that positive affirmations tend to be more successful, especially for beginners or in the areas of self-esteem and self affirmation, so most experts recommend you create them as positive statements rather than negative ones.

Many have pointed out similarities between the power of affirmations, so called "positive thinking" and even the "law of attraction", so whatever your choose to call them, maybe a few positive affirmations are just the thing your subconscious mind has been waiting for to break a habit or start a new one.