4 Steps to Booking a Hypnotherapy Session

By Amber Light

For people who are seriously considering a hypnotherapist for their needs, but want more information and knowledge on how to do so.

Well, let me just say what you are in for a treat! Hypnotherapy has been around since ancient times, most commonly used for healing and pain relief, and probably even more than we will ever be aware of! Hypnosis actually comes down from the Greeks, with the word hypno meaning sleep, and osis meaning knowledge.

Today hypnotherapy is a healing modality with a wide variety of applications, ranging from smoking cessation to pain relief and even further applications like stress management and achieving your intended goals. Other uses for hypnotherapy may be explorations of the mind including various methods of past life regressions and inner mind work.

However, if this is your first time with hypnosis and hypnotherapy, you may not know what is expected of you or what yourself might expect within your first session. Let me assure you, this is completely normal!

There are some things that you should consider like what motivated you to book a session and what are your reasons for seeing a hypnotherapist, but that will be further discussed further in the content. Just know, that you cannot do anything “wrong” in your first session, however it is beneficial to you and your hypnotherapist to be as thoroughly prepared as possible to make the most out of your hypnosis journey.

Keep reading to be guided into what is expected of you for your first session and what you can expect from your hypnotherapist to make the most out of your first session.

1. Identifying your Therapeutic Needs

At this point, you probably have an idea of what your therapeutic needs are. Otherwise, you probably would not be seeking a hypnotherapist’s services.

It is also possible that you have been given a referral from a psychologist or from an alternative medicine practitioner, but know that neither of those are necessary in order to see a hypnotherapist.

Even so, it is important to understand your own intentions for attending a hypnosis session in resolving your issue or to further your endeavors. Knowing what you aim to accomplish with this service will help you to make the most out of every session, especially your first.

As I mentioned before, hypnosis and hypnotherapy have been around for thousands of years, helping people in so many ways the list is endless. Just about anything you can think of can be aided with hypnosis on a much stronger and powerful level than any other version of ‘therapy’ can provide.

The average success rate for…

               Psychoanalysis:             38% recovery after 600 sessions

               Behavior Therapy:         72% recovery after 22 sessions

               Hypnotherapy:               93% recovery after 6 sessions

                                                        Source: Psychotherapy Magazine (Vol.7, No.1, Alfred A. Barrios, PhD

From addictions to hypno-birthing to releasing affecting traumas to helping aid various medical mysteries, hypnosis can help in a wide variety of applications.

Identify what your needs or reasons are for hypnosis ahead of time. Be as specific as possible, as your hypnotherapist will likely ask you about these in advance or at the very beginning of you first session in order to form a clear goal for the outcome of the session.

Here is an example: Let’s assume that someone who schedules an appointment is coming in to help with their anxiety. They may have been seeing other mental health professionals or perhaps not, but now they are coming to see a hypnotherapist for help.

They want to explore this more deeply, so it would be important for this person to mention all their thoughts and beliefs that they feel help trigger their anxiety. Write down a list of these needs before you arrive to your first session, and you can then also take these notes with you to give or show to the hypnotherapist. If you think it is important and might be a contributing factor to your issue, include it.

2. Choosing the Right Hypnotherapist

I cannot stress this enough. I fully believe that you should do your research and know what or who you are getting. Just like with any other service provider, whether it be your OBGYN or getting your hair cut or the oil changed in your car, all service providers will vary according to experience and clientele. Your hypnotherapist can make a huge difference in your experience, and it is important for you to feel that you have chosen someone that you feel good about selecting for your reasons.  

Actually, the right hypnotherapist can make the difference between a so-so session and one that delivers inspiring results! With this in mind, make sure you take the time to identify the right provider. We are not a dime a dozen, we each have had our own unique training and experiences and beliefs. So it is important for the client to know whom they are going to see. Ask around for suggestions with friends and family, get referrals, you might be surprised by who you know that has already seen a hypnotherapist before.

Another great place to gauge a hypnotherapist is the internet! Search for providers that have posted clinical certification and by which authorities. I have clinical certification from the American Council of Hypnotist Examiners (A.C.H.E.), the oldest training and certification-based authority in the field of hypnosis to date. Their seal is also posted on my website, along with a couple of others for people who are looking to doing their homework on me. Be wary of anyone claiming they have a doctorate in hypnosis, because there is no such thing, and they are simply boosting their credentials to those who are none the wiser. Also, be aware that it is easy to get a ‘certificate’ for just about anything, so if a hypnotherapist is boosting a wall of certificates, that might be something to examine as well. All the research in the world on someone might sound impressive and have good referrals and references, but I still recommend getting on the phone and actually talking to the person one on one to see if they are a good fit for you. Only you, the client, will know based on a simple phone conversation if you think they will be a good fit for you or not.

It is helpful also if the hypnotherapist has client testimonials on their website. I have several on my website for past life regression and smoking cessation, my two specialties!  

3. Have a Consultation

Some hypnotherapists offer a complimentary consultation prior to booking a session, and others might add on an informal consultation at the beginning of the client’s first session.

Either way, ask your potential hypnotherapist if you can have a consultation with them. Some hypnotherapists might charge for this while others might not. This will vary and depend on the provider. At the very least, ask if a provider will take the time to answer some of your questions about your experience. This will also give the client a chance to ask specific questions relating to their therapeutic needs and what the hypnotherapists suggestions might be in relation to those needs.

These consultations are mostly used as a means of gaining your confidence as a client and for the client to become comfortable with the hypnotherapist. Generally, these consultations consist of explaining what hypnosis and hypnotherapy are and how clients benefit from the experience outside of the therapeutic needs. The more comfortable you are with the hypnotist, the more likely you will have a favorable outcome from the session.

Ask hypnotherapists how long they have been working in the field of hypnotherapy. I like to also note that while the more years of experience, the better, this does not necessarily indicate the quality of the hypnotherapist. I have known hypnotherapists who have been in the field much longer than I, and while experiencing their ‘therapy’, some sessions paid for and others as a volunteer client for training purposes, have been disappointed in how they managed the session, both before and after my own training of hypnotherapy. So, my little two cents, go with your gut based on your phone conversation.

If you live in a small town where there is only one or few hypnotherapists that you do not feel comfortable with after your phone consultations, consider traveling outside of your town to find one that your gut feels good with.

For me, I also think this first consultation is important, because depending on the client’s needs, if they are based in any type of abusive situation, I might advise seeing a same gender hypnotherapist for a client based on their phone consultation. For these clients or others that just do not feel would be a good match, a good hypnotherapist has outside referrals that they can send these clients to for support. I personally have another female and male hypnotherapist in my local area that I can refer out to if needed and that they send to me in a similar fashion. 

If you haven’t done so already, check out this post on what to expect in your first hypnotherapy session.

4. Establish Healthy Expectations

The best thing that any client who is about to have their first hypnotherapy session is to go into it with as open a mind as possible. This is truly essential to having the best session possible.

Know that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. Sure, self-hypnosis is a great tool that many people can utilize for themselves. However, it is often much easier, faster, and effective for someone to undergo a hypnotherapy session to achieve the change they want than to do it through self-hypnosis.

Therefore, hypnotherapy is geared towards the client being receptive to the power of the hypnotist’s suggestions and their ability of subconscious exploration. Hypnotherapy, therefore is relying on the power of suggestion and subconscious exploration by the hypnotist. The hypnotherapist will be guiding you through your session verbally, and it is important to feel comfortable with following along. The more receptive you are to the suggestions during the session, the more likely you are to have a productive and inspiring session.

It is also vitally important to monitor your expectations. By going into your first session it will be the be-all and end-all cure to your problems is probably not healthy! And yet, people do it all the time and then are disappointed when their unrealistic expectation does not come to fruition. But the same method goes for approaching your session with skepticism. The more resistance you demonstrate in your first session, the harder it will be to explore the potential hypnotherapy as a healing modality.

Imagine that this first session that you are embarking on the start of your journey to your path of healing. It might very well be that the hypnotherapist recommend that you return for subsequent sessions, but again, that will vary on the client’s agreeableness to the suggestions and how much progress can be made in one session. Some hypnotherapists recommend bundling up several sessions as part of a package deal for a client to invest in, and others may not and may only do session by session. Generally, a hypnotherapist will not necessarily be prescribing a clear “end” to your work together. Hypnotherapy does not exactly operate like that. You may go in for two sessions, or you may go in for twenty, depending on your needs. It might be helpful for you to discuss healthy expectations for your hypnotherapy work with the hypnotist ahead of time.

Making the Most of Your First Hypnotherapy Session

As you prepare for your very first hypnotherapy session, just remember to relax. Hypnotherapy is a healing modality designed first and foremost to help you. The more comfortable and open-minded you can be about it, the better.

Be sure that you choose the right provider for your needs. If possible, sign up for a consultation ahead of your first session to establish expectations and ask key questions. This will always aid in your decision on deciding whether one provider over another is your best option.

If you are interested in booking a consultation with Amber Light, just click here to learn more or call 208-718-2340!