Learning Hypnosis

These articles walk through the practice of hypnosis from first principles - what it is, how a session is put together, how suggestions do their work, and how to keep the whole experience safe and consensual for everyone taking part. They are aimed at the curious newcomer, though practitioners of any background will find the fundamentals worth coming back to.

What Is Hypnosis?

A clear-eyed look at what hypnosis really is - concentrated attention and an openness to suggestion - along with what it is not.

Working with Suggestions

Suggestions are the heart of hypnosis. How to word them, deliver them, and grasp why some take hold while others do not.

Safety & Consent

The most important article here. Negotiation, awareness of risk, and the habits that keep hypnosis safe, sane, and consensual.

Common Myths

Mind control, blackout, getting "stuck" - the myths about hypnosis that refuse to die, and what the evidence actually says.

Hypnosis for IBS

Beyond the fundamentals: how gut-directed hypnotherapy treats irritable bowel syndrome, and the clinical evidence and guidelines behind it.

Hypnosis for Pain Management

What the evidence really supports: strong results for acute and procedural pain, a more measured picture for chronic pain, and where hypnosis fits in proper care.

Hypnosis for Anxiety & Stress

Moderate-to-large benefits for anxiety symptoms, strongest when paired with CBT - and an honest look at where the evidence still runs thin.

Choosing a Hypnotherapist

Hypnotherapy is unregulated in Canada. How to tell a qualified practitioner from a weekend certificate, the questions to ask, and the red flags to heed.

Stage vs. Clinical Hypnosis

Same phenomena, opposite purposes. Why the stage show fuels the myths - and what actually separates entertainment from therapy.