FAQs

Hypnosis is a focused, relaxed state where your mind is less busy and more open to new ideas.

You’re not asleep. You’re not out of it.
You’re tuned in — like when you’re deep in a book, a show, or a daydream — but on purpose.

In that state, we work with the settings part of your mind: the old scripts, habits, and reactions that run in the background.

My approach is interactive hypnosis: you’re talking, noticing, and choosing what fits your life right now. You don’t have to be deeply relaxed, asleep, or unaware for hypnosis to work. In fact, the type of hypnosis I practice is interactive. You’ll be speaking, engaging, and consciously participating as your brain drops into a theta state where real change happens.

Almost everyone can be hypnotized. It’s a natural state your mind already enters regularly — driving on autopilot, zoning out in the shower, or deep in a project.

Hypnosis FAQ: Many expect to “zone out completely” or forget everything. In reality, you’ll feel calm but awake, aware of your surroundings, and fully in charge.

Your honest feedback during the session helps your mind respond precisely, making the work far more effective.

No. This is not stage hypnosis.

You will not cluck like a chicken, spill secrets you don’t want to share, or do anything against your values.
You stay awake, aware, and in charge the whole time.

You can:
✓ Talk
✓ Ask questions
✓ Say no
✓ Stop the process at any time

If anything feels off or you’re unsure, you can say that too — and we adjust.

My job is to guide you.
Your mind is always in charge of what it keeps.

That’s completely normal.

We start with what’s happening now — your sleep, stress, or spirals — and only explore past patterns enough to understand your mind’s protective habits.

Your mind chooses how much to reveal, often giving us side doors, body sensations, or hints instead of full memories.

This is safe, supportive, and tailored to your comfort.

It’s different, but it can sit alongside both.

→ Therapy often focuses on your past, story, and diagnosis.
→ Coaching often focuses on goals, mindset, and action.
→ Interactive hypnosis focuses on how your mind reacts right now — and teaches it a new way.

We work with:
→ Old safety habits and responses (freeze, fawn, fight, run)
→ Everyday situations (co-parenting, work, money, relationships)
→ The part of your mind that keeps pulling you back into old loops

We’re not replacing therapy or medical care.
We’re changing how your mind responds while you live your actual life.

Because most mindset work never gets past the part of your mind that’s already exhausted.

You can repeat “I am enough” or “I’m calm” all day.
If the settings part of your mind is still running “I’m behind,” “I’m not safe to slow down,” or “People always leave,” your body won’t buy it.

Affirmations and mindset tools are like talking to the front desk.
Hypnosis lets us talk to the back office that actually runs the show.

In hypnosis, your mind is calmer and less defensive. That makes it easier to:
→ Retire old scripts that don’t fit you anymore
→ Install more accurate, supportive ones
→ Help your body feel the new story, not just hear it

After that, affirmations and mindset tools have somewhere real to land.

They stop feeling like lies and start feeling like reminders.

Often, yes.

Many of my clients:
✓ Are in therapy
✓ Take prescribed medication
✓ Work with other professionals

Hypnosis here is not medical treatment and not a replacement for therapy.
It’s a supportive tool that helps your mind get on your side so you can use everything else you’re doing more effectively.

If you’re under care, you can always talk with your provider about adding hypnosis.

If you are in crisis or dealing with active, severe mental health symptoms, you’ll want to be under the care of a licensed mental health professional first. Sometimes we’ll pause or delay hypnosis until you have the right support in place.

Most of my clients are already carrying a lot — work, kids, court, aging parents, relationships.

Sessions are usually about 90 minutes, and we meet every week or every other week, depending on the program.
Between sessions, I give you short, simple practices that fit into real life — often just a few minutes a day, not an extra hour of homework.

You don’t have to be perfect.
You just have to keep showing up honest and willing.

Hypnosis can help with the inner side of your life — how your mind responds to what’s happening.

Some common themes I work with:
→ Anxiety, overthinking, and burnout
→ People-pleasing, guilt, and resentment
→ Boundary setting and saying “no” without shame
→ Co-parenting stress and post-divorce loops
→ Perfectionism and “never enough” pressure
→ Identity shifts (empty nest, career change, new relationships)
→ Fear of visibility or being “too much”
→ Old hurts that still run the show

If it lives in your inner world — your thoughts, reactions, memories, and stories — we can usually work with it.

Most clients describe it as:
✓ Deeply calming
✓ Surprisingly normal
✓ Like a very honest conversation with their eyes closed

A typical session:
✓ We talk about what’s coming up for you right now.
✓ I guide you into a calmer, more focused state.
✓ I ask questions while you notice pictures, memories, body sensations, or simple thoughts.
✓ You describe what you’re experiencing in your own words.

As we go, we follow one simple core process:
✓ Find what’s really driving your reactions.
✓ Keep the parts of you that still protect and support you.
✓ Update the old settings that keep you stuck.
✓ Become more like the version of you that actually fits your life now.

When we’re done, we come back to regular conversation and debrief what stood out, what shifted, and what to notice over the next few days.

You’re present the entire time.
Many people leave saying, “That felt shorter than it was,” or, “Oh wow, that was powerful.”

You’re not wrong to feel skeptical.

Most high-functioning midlifers who find me have already tried:
→ Therapy or coaching
→ Books and podcasts
→ Mindset tools and journaling
→ Routines, retreats, or “just be more positive”

Those can all help—but a lot of them stay in your head.
They make sense in the moment, then vanish when life gets loud.

Hypnosis is different because we work with:
→ The patterns your mind runs on autopilot
→ The old safety habits (freeze, fawn, fight, run)
→ The part of you that reacts before you even think

We’re not treating just the symptoms (overthinking, snapping, shutting down).
We’re updating the system that keeps those symptoms alive.

It’s not magic. It works best if you’re ready to:
→ Be open to seeing your patterns
→ Try small, real-life shifts between sessions
→ Let your mind learn a new way of keeping you safe

You don’t need to fix yourself.
We’re teaching the part of your mind that’s been running the show to work with you, not against you.

Everyone is different, but many people notice something shift after the very first session:
✓ More calm
✓ Better sleep
✓ Less spinning on the same story
✓ A little more space between trigger and reaction

Deeper change usually happens in layers.

That’s why my main 1:1 program, Shifted in Sixty, runs for 60 days.
Across that time, we keep looping through the same core principles:

Find → Keep → Update → Become

Session by session, your mind:
✓ Finds what’s really driving your reactions
✓ Keeps what still protects you
✓ Updates the patterns that keep you stuck
✓ Helps you become more like the version of you that actually fits the direction of your life now

We’ll choose a few simple markers together (like sleep, spirals, or boundaries) so you can see your progress instead of guessing.

That’s actually how many people arrive.
You don’t need a perfect goal or a tidy sentence.
You just need to know that something isn’t working anymore — your stress, your reactions, your sleep, your relationships, your inner world.

Part of our work is getting clear on what “better” looks like for you now — and then teaching your mind to support that.
You don’t have to clean anything up first or know how to explain it perfectly.
You can show up exactly as you are — clear, confused, or somewhere in between — and we’ll sort through it together at a pace that feels right for you.

Hypnosis is generally considered safe when practiced by a trained professional.

It is not mind control.
You stay aware, in charge, and able to pause or stop at any time.

But this work is:
→ Not emergency support
→ Not psychiatric or medical treatment
→ Not a replacement for therapy or prescribed care

If you’re in active crisis, experiencing suicidal thoughts, or dealing with untreated severe mental health symptoms, the first step is a licensed mental health provider or emergency support.

We can always explore hypnosis later, when things feel a bit calmer and you have the right professional support around you.

A lot of my clients work with me online via Zoom, from the comfort of their home.

If you’re local to the Madison, Wisconsin area, limited in-person options may be available. We can talk about what fits best for you during your Exploration Call.

The cleanest next step is to book a Shifted in Sixty Exploration Call.
On that call, we’ll:
✓ Talk about what you’re facing right now
✓ Get clear on how you want your mind and life to feel instead
✓ Walk you through what the Shifted in Sixty experience is actually like
✓ Answer any questions you have about hypnosis, support, or logistics
✓ See whether Shifted in Sixty or another option is the right fit — emotionally, practically, and financially

I’ll never push you into a “yes.”
The goal is a clear decision either way, and less time paying the cost of staying stuck.