Hypnotherapy
When part of you feels ready for change and another part feels stuck.
Clinical hypnotherapy in St. Louis, MO for anxiety, trauma patterns, confidence, limiting beliefs, habits, and lasting personal change.
Sometimes your mind can feel like it’s working against you rather than for you.
Often you know what you want to change, understand the patterns that are getting in your way, and genuinely want something different, but still find yourself returning to the same thoughts, habits, or reactions.
You may tell yourself, “I know what I need to do, so why don’t I do it?”
You can understand something logically and still struggle to feel or act differently.
Clinical hypnotherapy can offer another way to work with those patterns.
At Radiant Awakening, I use personalized hypnotherapy to help adults explore deeply ingrained patterns, strengthen more supportive beliefs, and create greater freedom in how they think, feel, and respond. Hypnotherapy can be used on its own or integrated into psychotherapy, depending on your goals and needs.
I provide clinical hypnotherapy in St. Louis, Missouri, from my office in the Central West End. I can also provide it through secure telehealth for clients throughout Missouri and those living in PSYPACT states.
What is hypnotherapy?
Hypnotherapy is an approach that combines hypnosis and traditional psychotherapy with a licensed mental health therapist. Hypnosis is a state of focused attention that allows the mind to become more receptive, which helps support meaningful psychological change.
During hypnosis, you are not unconscious or asleep. You remain aware and in control. You can hear what is happening, communicate with me, and choose whether to engage with what we're exploring. Hypnosis is not mind control, and you cannot be made to do something that goes against your values or wishes.
Rather than losing control, many people experience hypnosis as becoming more intentionally focused inward.
In that focused state, we can work with thoughts, beliefs, imagery, emotions, and patterns that may be difficult to shift through conscious effort alone.
Hypnotherapy can be particularly helpful when you find yourself thinking:
“I know this isn't true, but I still feel like it is.”
“I understand why I do this, but I can't seem to stop.”
“I want to feel more confident, but something keeps holding me back.”
“I keep falling into the same pattern even though I want something different.”
“I want to stop being so hard on myself.”
“I want my mind to feel calmer.”
Hypnosis can help identify where you are stuck in meeting your goals. It also helps you to bring your subconscious on board with the changes your conscious mind is trying to create. Hypnotherapy creates freedom from deeply ingrained patterns.
How does hypnotherapy work?
Your thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and behaviors don't develop in isolation. Over time, experiences can shape the assumptions you hold about yourself, other people, and what is possible for you.
Some of those patterns are helpful. Others may continue long after the circumstances that created them have changed.
Hypnotherapy uses focused attention, relaxation, therapeutic imagery, and carefully chosen language to help you engage with those patterns in a different way.
Rather than simply telling yourself to “think more positively,” we explore what you actually want to believe and experience. We then use hypnosis to practice those changes in a way that feels meaningful to you.
Your conscious mind remains involved throughout the process.
You choose the direction of the work. You remain aware. And you remain in control.
What can hypnotherapy help with?
Hypnotherapy can be a useful therapeutic tool for a range of concerns, particularly when you feel stuck in patterns that you'd like to change.
Depending on your goals, hypnotherapy may support:
Anxiety + Overthinking
If your mind tends to spiral, anticipate problems, or repeatedly revisit the same thoughts, hypnosis can provide an opportunity to practice a different relationship with those thoughts and cultivate greater calm and perspective. If you're interested in developing skills to let go of anxious thoughts, my approach may also incorporate mindfulness and meditation.
Low Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence
You may intellectually recognize your strengths while still carrying a deep sense of inadequacy or self-doubt. Hypnotherapy can help you explore the beliefs underlying those patterns and strengthen a more supportive relationship with yourself.
Negative Self-Talk and Self-Criticism
For people who are constantly judging, second-guessing, or criticizing themselves, hypnosis can provide a way to practice more compassionate and empowering internal messages.
If you struggle with persistent negative thoughts about your body or appearance, hypnotherapy can help you explore the beliefs and internal messages that shape how you see yourself. Hypnosis can help you find more confidence and comfort in your own skin. If body image concerns are affecting intimacy or sex, sex therapy may also be a useful approach that can be integrated into your overall treatment plan.
Body Image
Stress + Feeling Overwhelmed
Hypnosis can provide a focused opportunity to slow down, settle your attention, and practice accessing a calmer internal state.
For some clients, hypnotherapy can be thoughtfully integrated into trauma therapy to support emotional regulation, self-compassion, confidence, and other aspects of healing.
Hypnotherapy is not a replacement for comprehensive trauma treatment when trauma symptoms require specialized psychotherapy. If trauma or PTSD is a primary concern, I can help determine whether hypnotherapy is an appropriate part of your treatment or whether another approach should be the initial focus.
Trauma + PTSD
Sometimes you genuinely want to make a change but feel disconnected from your motivation or keep getting pulled back into familiar patterns. Hypnotherapy can help you clarify what you want and strengthen your sense of agency as you move toward it.
Motivation + Personal Change
Unwanted Habits and Behavioral Patterns
When you repeatedly fall into a habit even though you want to change it, hypnosis may help you explore the thoughts, emotions, and automatic patterns connected to that behavior.
What is a hypnotherapy session like?
If you've never experienced hypnosis before, it's completely normal to feel curious—or a little unsure—about what to expect.
A typical session may include:
1. Clarifying Your Goal
We'll begin by identifying what you want to change and what would feel different if the work were successful.
2. Preparing for Hypnosis
I'll explain what we're doing, answer any questions, and help you settle into a comfortable and focused state.
3. Guided Hypnosis
I'll guide you through a personalized hypnosis practice using focused attention, relaxation, imagery, and therapeutic language related to your goals.
You remain aware throughout the process and can communicate with me at any time.
4. Reflection and Integration
After the hypnosis practice, we'll talk about what you noticed and what stood out to you. We'll identify a practical focus for the time between sessions.
When appropriate, I may also invite you to audio record our personalized hypnotherapy practice so you can listen to it between sessions.
I also teach self-hypnosis, giving you a practical skill you can continue using independently to support calm, confidence, and intentional change.
My Approach to Clinical Hypnotherapy
I am a licensed psychologist and trained hypnotherapist, and I approach hypnosis as a clinical therapeutic tool—not as a one-size-fits-all technique.
There are no generic scripts in my hypnotherapy practice.
Before we begin hypnosis, we'll take time to understand what you're hoping to change, what has been keeping you stuck, and what you want your life to look and feel like instead.
The imagery, language, suggestions, and themes we use are personalized to you.
This matters because meaningful change isn't simply about replacing one thought with another. It's about developing an experience that feels believable, relevant, and connected to your actual life.
My background in psychotherapy also allows me to look beyond the surface behavior or thought pattern and consider the larger context—including your history, relationships, emotions, values, and the ways you've learned to protect yourself.
Depending on your goals, hypnotherapy may be the primary focus of our work or may be integrated with other approaches such as mindfulness, trauma therapy, or psychotherapy.
Clinical Hypnotherapy vs. Stage Hypnosis
If your only experience with hypnosis has been seeing it portrayed on television or watching stage hypnosis, you may have some understandable misconceptions about what clinical hypnotherapy is like.
Clinical hypnotherapy is very different from stage hypnosis.
Stage hypnosis is designed for entertainment. Clinical hypnotherapy is used within a therapeutic relationship to support a person's psychological goals.
In therapy:
You remain aware of what is happening.
You remain in control.
You can communicate throughout the experience.
The process is collaborative rather than performative.
The hypnosis is tailored to your individual goals.
The work is grounded in a broader understanding of your psychological needs.
My role isn't to make you do something unusual or surrender control. It's to help you use focused attention in a way that supports the changes you want to make.
Why work with a psychologist for hypnotherapy?
There are many people offering hypnosis, but clinical hypnotherapy is different from simply receiving a generic hypnosis recording or working with someone whose training is limited to hypnosis techniques.
As a licensed clinical psychologist and trained hypnotherapist, I bring more than hypnotherapy training to the process.
I have over a decade of experience supporting adults with trauma, anxiety, relationship concerns, self-esteem, life transitions, and other psychological challenges. I'm also trained in mindfulness and meditation, and I am a certified sex therapist.
This broader clinical background allows us to consider whether hypnotherapy is actually the right approach for you rather than assuming hypnosis is the answer to every problem.
If another therapeutic approach would better support your goals, I'll tell you that, too.
My goal is not simply to help you enter hypnosis. It's to help you create meaningful change in your life.
Hypnotherapy in St. Louis + Online
I provide clinical hypnotherapy for adults in St. Louis, Missouri from my office in the Central West End.
Hypnosis sessions can also be just as clinically effective if done online.
I offer secure telehealth hypnotherapy sessions in Missouri and over 40 states. You can see the participating PSYPACT states I am able to practice in by clicking here. If you're interested in online hypnotherapy, we can discuss whether telehealth is an appropriate option for your needs and location.
Hypnotherapy may be worth exploring if:
You understand your patterns intellectually but still feel stuck in them.
You want to change persistent self-critical or negative thoughts.
You struggle with confidence or self-esteem.
You feel caught in habits you'd like to change.
You want to feel calmer and less overwhelmed.
You want to work with limiting beliefs in a more experiential way.
You're interested in learning self-hypnosis as a tool you can continue using on your own.
You're curious about hypnosis but want to experience it within a professional therapeutic relationship.
You don't need to know exactly what kind of therapy you need before reaching out.
We can talk about what's been happening, what you'd like to change, and whether hypnotherapy feels like a good fit.
Is hypnotherapy right for you?
Frequently Asked Questions about Hypnotherapy
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No. Clinical hypnosis doesn't mean giving up control to your therapist. You remain an active participant and can choose whether to engage with what is being suggested. You can also end the exercise at any time.
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There isn't one universal experience. Some people feel deeply relaxed, while others experience focused attention, vivid imagery, changes in their sense of time, or simply a feeling of being absorbed in the exercise. You remain aware and able to communicate throughout the experience.
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There isn't one standard number of sessions. The appropriate frequency and length of treatment depend on what you're hoping to change, how complex the concern is, and whether we're incorporating hypnotherapy into broader psychotherapy. We'll develop a plan based on your goals rather than following a predetermined package.
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You don't need to figure that out on your own. A free 15-minute consultation is an opportunity to talk about what you're experiencing, what you'd like to change, and whether hypnotherapy or another therapy approach would be the best fit for you.
Ready to
explore hypnotherapy?
You don't have to keep fighting the same patterns alone.
If you’re curious about hypnotherapy and how it can support lasting change, I invite you to schedule a free consultation.
It’s completely normal to have questions. We’ll explore your goals together to see whether this approach feels like the right fit to you.
