Alternative Treatments for Anxiety: Hypnotherapy [Interview Series]

Alternative Treatments for Anxiety: Hypnotherapy [Interview Series]

Looking for Alternative Treatments for Anxiety?

ZACHARY DODSON, MA, LMHC

Welcome to this blog series on alternative approaches for working with anxiety. In this series, I will highlight professionals and resources that help people who are struggling with anxiety feel settled and calm. Our fifth guest(s) to be featured are Zachary Dodson, MA, LMHC, and Jesse Lyon, LMHC, the creators of Trauma-Focused Hypnotherapy (T-FH). They use Hypnotherapy to help people work through anxiety and trauma.

How, specifically, does your treatment help people struggling with anxiety?

Jesse Lyon, LMHC

T-FH can be beneficial for, but not limited to: anxiety and panic disorders, addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), grief and loss, pain reduction.

How, specifically, does your treatment help people struggling with anxiety?

Clinical hypnotherapy allows clients to tap into the power of the unconscious mind by fixating their conscious mind into a trance-like state. This technique allows clients to process their experiences using metaphors, while being more receptive to therapeutic suggestions. This is very different from your typical talk therapy, as clients do not have to verbalize their experiences during the trance. We put ourselves in trances all the time; think about your daily commutes, daydreams, and social media binges. Formal trance allows you to access this same process for therapeutic benefit.

What is the most effective way you help anxious people feel calm?

The therapeutic process of formal trance is relaxing by nature; it is like a guided meditation, just more intentional. Clients are often fixated on a particular stimulus (auditory, visual, etc.) to begin the induction, while also focusing on their breathing and other senses. Explaining the myths and realities of hypnosis also reduces anxiety.

What type of transformation do you see in your clients that struggle with anxiety?

Clients can glean meaning from their very first hypnosis session. The indirect nature of formal trance allows clients to get what they need from the experience. This process allows them to gain understanding of their present situation by exploring their memories stored in their unconscious mind, without their critical mind blocking.

What motivated you to create Trauma-Focused Hypnotherapy?

Zac has worked extensively with trauma, from sexual assault to military-related PTSD. He also worked with many clients affected by the Pulse shooting. As a result of these experiences, he came up with the idea to merge hypnosis and trauma-therapy. Hypnotherapy allows you to unlock your mind’s potential and heal your past wounds. Jesse has developed a specialty in working with dissociative identity, schizophrenia, sexuality, and sexual identity which tend to be treatment resistant.  Through exploration of alternative treatments for these clients, Jesse began using hypnotherapy to address issues that clients found unable to work through otherwise.  Hypnotherapy allows these clients to engage their unconscious mind that would otherwise block the treatment process.

How long have you been helping people in Orlando overcome anxiety?

Both clinicians have been practicing hypnotherapy since 2015. Combined they have been counseling for over 10 years.

How should people contact you for services in Orlando?

Those interested in learning more or scheduling an appointment can e-mail, call, or text any of the following:

https://www.traumafocusedhypnotherapy.com/

www.facebook.com/traumafocusedhypnotherapy/

Instagram: @traumafocusedhypno

Twitter: @FocusedTrauma

jesse@lyoncounseling.care / www.lyoncounseling.care / 321-430-LYON (5966)

More about Zachary Dodson and Jesse Lyon

Zachary Dodson, MA, LMHC and Jesse Lyon, LMHC created Trauma-Focused Hypnotherapy (T-FH) to help clients process their experiences in a different way in order to reach their full potential. T-FH was built out of the methods and ideas of Milton Erickson (father of modern hypnosis). Erickson believed that clients have all the tools they need for their development within themselves. He also believed that one must look at the client before them and assess what could help them the most, resulting in hypnosis being considered an atheoretical technique. Zac and Jesse are both Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists and Zac is certified with the Florida Department of Health’s 491 board to certify other Clinical Hypnotherapists. 

Want more on alternative treatments for anxiety?

EMDR Therapy in Orlando.

Neurofeedback Therapy in Orlando.

Yoga and Holistic Approaches in Orlando.

ROLFING in Orlando.

Want to learn more about Orlando Counseling services?

Visit my Anxiety Counseling page or my Trauma Counseling page.

Ready to schedule your free 15-minute consultation?

Schedule yours here.

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Mindful Living Counseling Orlando is a trauma healing center. Our Orlando Therapy Services include anxiety therapy, trauma counseling, eating disorder recovery, teen counseling, and healing from toxic relationships. At Mindful Living Counseling Orlando, we use a down-to-earth approach infused with cutting-edge therapies that go beyond traditional talk therapy so clients can heal at the root level and experience lasting change. Feel free to access one of our Guided Meditations to help you feel settled and calm now.