The following stories represent a few examples of some of the clients I have worked with and the problems they have been able to overcome using hypnotherapy. Their true identities all are, of course, confidential. The stories are true, however, and are representative of the kinds of relief that are available to everyone.

Standing her ground. This single mother felt that she was being taken advantage of because she seemed unable to stand up to her teenage sons and authority figures she encountered. She was unable to demand and get the respect that she deserved. Through hypnotherapy, we were able to locate an identity of a noble warrior within her and bring out this quality that she could utilize whenever the situation required. She was able to use this new warrior almost immediately, much to surprise of her sons, her superiors at work and others who thought they could continue to walk all over her.

Insomnia. This young woman in her thirties had hardly ever gotten a good night's sleep in her whole life. As a result, she was constantly tired and was aging much faster than her actual years. She had tried almost every other avenue to resolve her sleep issue -- visiting doctors numerous times, trying different sleep aids, acupuncture, and psychotherapy. During her first session with hypnotherapy, we discovered that as a very young girl, she was frequently assaulted during her sleep by her alcohol deranged mother. After several years of being attacked in her sleep two or three nights a week, she was naturally afraid to go to sleep, not knowing whether she would be assaulted that night. This pattern of fear of the night continued even after she no longer lived with her mother. During the session, we were able to reeducate the subconscious to realize the threat no longer existed and it was now safe to sleep soundly through the night. She recovered physically and emotionally very quickly after this.

Compulsive eating. A middle-aged woman who was seriously overweight was never successful with diets. She would lose weight, but then gain it back again. During a regression into her childhood while under hypnosis, we learned that she was an illegitimate child of an extremely insecure mother. Her mother rejected her because she was perceived as being in the way of the mother's ability to attract the man she was in love with. For the little girl, being rejected and unable to get her mother's love, she turned to food as the only source of comfort that she could find. The little girl would frequently stash food in her bedroom or in the basement, where she was often locked away for many hours at a time. The food at least gave her some momentary pleasure. The food became a partial replacement for her mother's love. Once we identified the source of her compulsion while under hypnosis, we were able to let it go and establish normal eating patterns. With the compulsion removed, the woman was eventually able to get to a healthy body weight.

Pushing away prosperity. This person seemed to suffer perpetual budget crises and unable to find anything other than menial, low-paying jobs. For him, it seemed that nothing ever worked out right. Over the course of several sessions, we learned that this person frequently abused as a child, his father continually and consistently told him that he was no good and would never amount to anything. We also found several past lives, where he was similarly abused and suppressed, and repressed. These patterns were etched in this person's subconscious so that he thoroughly believed he was not worthy or entitled to have a prosperous life because there was something wrong with him. As a result of the hypnotherapy, we were able to release these false beliefs this person had about himself and almost immediately began to see very positive results. His income increased , he was offered a better, higher-paying job and was actually soon to able to establish his own business, which prospered almost from day one.

Can't live with him -- can't live without him. This woman had are real quandary about her husband. They have been married, divorced and remarried twice. They were unable to get along with each other for any length of time, and yet were very strongly attracted to each other. In hypnotherapy, we did multiple past life regressions, where we learned that this man and woman had spent several lifetimes together. The problem really began in a life in the Middle Ages when they first met and fell deeply in love with each other. During that time, they vowed their love for each other for all eternity, but unfortunately, they were each pledged by their families to marry another. Lifetime after lifetime, they were brought together, because of that vow of eternal love that they had made. In the final session, the woman , in a deep trance state was taken before a spiritual council in the higher realms and asked to be released from this vow, realizing that any commitments to another made for all eternity was a foolish commitment. She was released from the vows and shortly thereafter, she and her estranged husband were able to calmly go their separate ways and explore new relationships.

Surgical preparation. A man in his mid-sixties was scheduled to have his arthritic knee you replaced with an artificial one. During two sessions in advance of the surgery, the subconscious mind was coached about the surgical procedure and instructed to cooperate with the surgical team. This meant reducing the amount of anesthetic required, minimizing the blood flow at the surgical site during the procedure, bolstering the immune system, and quickening the healing time. The client was also given a special self-hypnosis tape to listen to every night until the scheduled surgery. The surgeon was less than enthusiastic about having this process done, but also agreed to support it as long it didn't interfere. The surgery team was very surprised on how little blood was lost and how stable and relaxed the patient was throughout the entire process. Recovery time from the anesthetic and from the surgery itself was greatly reduced from average. The total healing time after the surgery was reduced to about three weeks compared to an average of three months for this type of procedure.

Performance anxiety. This professional performer was plagued with high levels of anxiety prior to every performance. This anxiety kept him from being able to perform and his highest level. During hypnosis, he was given several post-hypnotic keywords that he could call upon when ever he felt the need, which would dispel his nervousness and anxiety, allowing him to perform smoothly and calmly.

Low self-esteem. This beautiful young woman had a history of attracting abusive men to her and finding little value in life. She had attempted suicide on three different occasions. In her hypnotherapy sessions, it was discovered that she had been repeatedly sexually abused as a little girl, including by her father. She had been raised in a very strict fundamentalist religious household and was led to believe that the assaults on her were her fault and that she was an evil influence on the adult men around her. These perversions caused her to have established a deep sense of personal guilt and shame, which we were able to release during her sessions. We then established new beliefs validating her true beauty and self-worth. She has since been able to recognize her personal worthiness, beauty and intelligence and has gone on to establish healthy relationships and a meaningful life.

Un-worthiness. This middle-aged woman had a lifelong fear of men and a very low opinion of her self and what she would be able to accomplish. During the course of several hypnotherapy sessions, information would reveal that she had been repeatedly physically and sexually abused as a young child. She had a great sense of helplessness and hopelessness because there was no one to help her a s a child. She held great amounts of limiting emotions about herself. The emotions of fear and shame were released after the subconscious was re-educated to acknowledge that those experiences were not her fault. She was able to adopt a whole new outlook on life and for the first time allow herself to really experience joy and be happy with who she was.

Relief for chronic back pain. This man had been injured some 15 years prior and had been living in chronic pain ever since. He had visited multiple doctors who continued to simply prescribe painkillers to which he had become addicted. The pain pills produced a side effect of severe depression; to counter that, his doctor prescribed an antidepressant, but the antidepressant caused stomach problems. To counter the stomach problems, the doctor prescribed, a heartburn medication, but that medication gave him constipation. He was a real mess. He sought help from hypnotherapy. Under hypnosis, we were able to locate and release the emotional bindings that were the real cause of his back pain. After a single session, he got sufficient relief from his chronic pain that he was able to give up his pain medication and eventually all of the other medications that he was taking as a result of a health-care system that focused on masking symptoms rather than releasing the cause of a problem.