In her exclusive MysticMag interview, Caterina Romano shares her unique journey from a corporate career to becoming a certified hypnotherapist. Discover how her diverse approach, combining hypnosis with Reiki and other modalities, brings transformative results for her clients. Gain insights into Angelic Reiki and explore a session’s flow through energy psychology, where Caterina blends ancient wisdom with modern techniques to guide individuals toward lasting positive change.
How did you get into hypnotherapy and what raised your interest in the field?
I was always curious about how the brain worked, the mind, consciousness, and altered states of consciousness but school didn’t really teach those things at the time. I got my degree in psychology, and I enjoyed the journey but decided not to continue on that route because it almost felt counterintuitive to keep talking about the same problems in the same way for years and expect to find healing that way. Of course, there are countless benefits from psychotherapy but I wanted to explore different ways to effectively move forward from trauma or mitigate anxiety without having to keep talking about it.
I researched hypnosis and got a couple of sessions to experience it for myself, but still chose to get jobs in HR and recruiting because it made sense at the time. I did the corporate thing for years, thinking that’s what life was supposed to be – work at a job that didn’t really inspire but paid the bills, climb that ladder, go on vacation a couple of times a year to break up the monotony, rinse, and repeat. It never occurred to me that I could have a fulfilling life doing something that truly interested me while at the same time, helping others live their best lives. So when I was laid off from my job in 2012 I did what I always did, try to apply for the same type of jobs I knew I could get – but something was different this time and nothing was hitting and it just made me feel even more unmotivated. So I took that time to take a certification course in hypnosis, not thinking I would make a living out of it, I just had the time to learn something new that always intrigued me and maybe I could do some change work on myself in the process.
However, the universe had different plans for me. Shortly after I was certified, a former student of my hypnosis teacher reached out to her saying her business was getting more clients than she could handle and she wanted to interview the recent graduates to find one to work with her. I was hired and that led me to get a tremendous amount of experience in a short amount of time. I would have never had the confidence to start doing this work on my own just being freshly certified but working with her and diving in head first built that confidence to where I now have my own business doing this work and am so grateful for the opportunity she provided. Life works in mysterious ways and I could have never predicted this unfolding as it did. Since then I’ve built a certain trust in the process and continue to be divinely guided by that spark of inspiration to whatever I’m meant to learn next to keep growing and adding value for my clients. I don’t plan to ever stop learning, whether it’s in neuroscience, energy work, esoteric spiritual studies, or something I haven’t even discovered yet. I’m excited to share it with all who are receptive or as fascinated as I am in the space where science meets spirituality.
How do you combine hypnosis with Reiki to get the best results for your clients?
I don’t just combine hypnosis and reiki, I incorporate Neuro-linguistic Programming, EFT, sound healing, spirituality, and everything else I’ve ever learned as it’s relevant to each client at any given moment. Generally, when a client comes in and it’s their first experience with this type of work, I’ll take time to explain what hypnosis is and how it’s a natural brainwave state, etc. and to clarify any misconceptions they may have come in with. I explain self-directed neuroplasticity and how we can use our conscious mind to begin to actively rewire our brain to create a new subconscious pattern that supports the change we want to make. As they’re feeling more comfortable with the process, we will talk about what they came here to work through and I teach them ways they can interrupt habituated patterns that aren’t serving them and connect to a better way of responding. If you can observe a pattern, in that moment you are no longer in it and from that elevated perspective you can make a different choice.
For example, if they describe a trigger that in the past would spark anxiety, while that neural network is lit up, that’s when we would do a pattern interrupt technique, neutralize it, and then light up the neural network of how they would want to feel instead when that trigger presents itself.
Repetition is key and trance is an amplifier. I’ll guide them into trance to reinforce this positive shift because in this state, the brain doesn’t know the difference if they’re actually doing the thing or deeply imagining it – the same sectors of the brain light up. So as they’re feeling more and more comfortable in this new way of being, their brain gets more accustomed to it as well.
Often when we first try to change a habit we experience a bit of resistance as our unconscious prefers things to stay the same, but as we mentally rehearse this new way, we get our conscious and unconscious on the same page so we can benefit from this lasting change even more quickly.
It is also important to uncover any unconscious blocks that may be preventing the shift because, with any habituated way of being, there is always a positive intention or secondary gain as to why it is kept in place. So once we achieve congruence and come up with a way to meet that underlying need directly, we are then free to move forward with the positive change. I provide silence to allow the unconscious mind to make all the adjustments necessary to align them into this new reality as I begin the reiki part of the session.
I also use sound healing instruments such as crystal and Tibetan bowls, chimes, a wind gong, and various tuning forks to assist in breaking up stuck energy and then harmonizing it so they emerge feeling centered, balanced, lighter, and ready to move forward in their new way of being. I used to provide reiki services in separate sessions but in experimenting with ways of combining techniques, I found it most effective to utilize this mind-body-spirit connection. Usually after reiki, you feel wonderful but if you immediately go back to the same toxic ways of responding to the world or your thoughts, your energy is going to revert right back and there you are in the same loop again. That’s why I want to teach people ways to get ahead of it, observe their thoughts before believing them, and do some of the techniques I teach them to interrupt old patterns, and while they’re still in that reiki afterglow, they feel more empowered to keep it up and really build some positive momentum towards lasting change.
What is Angelic Reiki and how is it different from other forms of Reiki?
I am certified in both Usui Reiki and Angelic Reiki to the Master level but have been aligned with Angelic Reiki most exclusively since 2018. I found that Usui Reiki, which is the traditional form most practitioners refer to when they say they do Reiki, differs from teacher to teacher, making it difficult to grasp the nuances. The main difference with Angelic Reiki is that I’m not the one “doing” the healings or drawing the symbols, as they are already integrated in their purest form. I simply hold the space to align with the frequency of the angelic realm for the angels to come in and provide whatever healing will be for the highest good of the recipient. For the most part, I only physically make connection with the shoulders and tops of the feet, and my hands are then intuitively guided through the recipient’s energy field and the reiki will go wherever it needs to go. Also, the attunements are not done by the teacher and the energy does not come through the teacher but instead comes directly through the Angelic Kingdom of Light who is responsible for the healing process without interference by the practitioner.
Can you walk me through an energy psychology session?
As I mentioned previously, my sessions aren’t differentiated by modality, no one has ever come in to just get an energy psychology session. Energy Psychology includes some techniques I’ve learned along the way to interrupt habituated patterns while recognizing the powerful connection between the mind and the body. It combines cognitive interventions with somatic techniques that influence the human bio-energy systems.
There are several different techniques in this field but the one I teach most often is EFT tapping (Emotional Freedom Technique) which is based on the combined principles of ancient Chinese acupressure and modern psychology. It is believed that our energy/anxiety etc. can get stuck in these meridian points so if we tap on these points while focused the feeling we want to release, activating that neuro-pathway, we can dissipate that energy with tapping and intention and neutralize it so it will then be easier to bring our attention to how we would like to feel instead. Once neutralized, I may follow up with a technique like heart breathing to facilitate heart-mind coherence and while in that space, layer in thoughts and feelings of gratitude to raise their vibration so they will no longer be an energetic match to the problem state. It is said that it is physically impossible to be in the state of gratitude and anxiety simultaneously, it is not a vibrational match. So as we raise our vibration with the energy of gratitude, we can align into the solution state and be more open to receiving information we couldn’t access from a lower vibe. Most people are familiar with the law of attraction by now and how like energy attracts like energy and how we have to be at that vibration in order to attract more of the same. Depending on my client’s level of spiritual awareness and understanding of how energy works, I may impart some ancient wisdom from essential hermetic principles or even basic quantum physics to better empower them with the knowledge necessary to navigate through these rapidly ascending times.
To learn more about Caterina and her work, you can visit HEALnewyorkcity.com
