Desiree Holmes Scherini is an award-winning Board Certified Master Clinical Transpersonal Hypnotherapist, NLP practitioner, Life Coach, and Reiki Master. She’s the author of “Journey to Joy – The Written Path” and creator of The Intuitive Insight Process. With a range of certifications and training, including Past Life and Life Between Lives Spiritual Regression, Desiree offers a client-centered approach to bring about positive change. Recognized for her contributions in hypnotherapy, she’s been awarded the “Outstanding Transpersonal Contribution” by the National Association of Transpersonal Hypnotherapists. MysticMag has the pleasure
You have an impressive array of certifications and training in various therapeutic and healing modalities, from hypnotherapy to Reiki. Can you share how these different methods complement each other in your practice and how they benefit your clients?
Yes! I like to think of my multiple areas of training and certifications as tools in my toolbox for working with clients. With every certification I earned I found my work with clients easier and more successful. I am lucky that I began with a degree in Psychology which provides me with an informed understanding of human nature. However, only continued study of therapeutic and healing modalities has allowed me to be effective.
To answer your question more specifically, I integrate the tools, depending on the individual clients’ goals. Some clients prefer very clinical approaches, some would like a deeper spiritual process, some would like the whole bag of tricks! I work with them in the way that they respond best. So, I may begin with a session of life coaching which includes talking, creating a plan and goal strategy. Then I may use hypnosis to help the subconscious mind program for the goal. This might be followed by a spiritual or intuitive session that accesses support or guidance from a higher power.
You are recognized as a Top Hypnotherapist in the Washington DC area. Could you tell us about some of the most common challenges or issues that clients seek your help for, and how does your approach address these issues?
Although I get a variety of clients with a variety of challenges, many here in the Washington DC area are young professionals looking for support and inner work on life choices. Work and relationship choices and decisions, and self-care challenges (weight loss, exercise, and habit change) Many are at a point of identifying their “purpose” and living authentically. I also have many virtual clients from far away, yet I find these same issues are common.
My approach addresses each client individually, even if, on the surface, the issue is the same. Often what appears as an issue of simple public speaking anxiety, for example, is tied to a negative childhood experience. So, one client may simply need a few tools and hypnosis for success, another may need to resolve a deeper source that stands in their way of success.
You offer unique services such as Past Life Regression and Life Between Lives Spiritual Regression. How do these techniques work, and what kind of insights or healing can clients gain from exploring their past lives and the spiritual realm between lives?
I will try to offer a short answer to a topic that is so big! As a hypnotherapist the process I use with the client to access a Past Life, or even their Life Between Lives is quite similar to a current life Childhood Regression. For those who don’t speak “Hynpo-Speak” – a Childhood Regression is a hypnotic process that helps the client go back to retrieve memories from their childhood that may be consciously forgotten. A Past Life Regression simply goes back beyond this lifetime (although, not quite that simple).
Life Between Lives is an extended immersive hypnotic process that takes hours. It is a journey into the non-physical realm of the spirit world. It is a visit to the “time” before this current incarnation, where a deep understanding of the purpose of this current lifetime can be found. Clients who experience a Past Life Regression often find much understanding and relief around issues. Those who experience the Life Between Lives Spiritual Regression often have a beneficial life changing experience, similar to those who have had a near death experience, without the near-death part!
(I explain both of these processes in much more detail on my Youtube/podcast show “Intuitive Journey with Desiree”)
Reiki is often described as an energy healing practice. Could you explain what benefits Reiki offers to individuals seeking healing or relaxation?
The practice of Reiki, as we know it, began in the early 20th century as a spiritual practice. However, I would posit that the practice of directed energy “healing” is as ancient as life itself.
If we consider the life force of all living things, we find it is energetic. Electrical and electromagnetic forces work within us to maintain life and health. Our brains work on electrical signals from bio-chemical reactions. As well as the rest of our living system. We are energetic beings, and there is unseen energy all around us.
Reiki is a modality, practice, of becoming an open channel for the energy around us to flow through the practitioner to the client. With “clearing” processes and intentions to be a conduit of the energy for the benefit of the client. The practitioner directs Reiki Energy to the client. It acts as a sort of “self-healing substance” as it is naturally drawn to where it is needed. This leads to a rebalance of the client’s energetic flow and client’s usually report immediate positive effect, and sometimes even healing of physical ailments.
There are so many things we cannot explain! Reiki can be used on plants, and even non-living equipment that works on electricity. I practiced this once on my son’s printer when he was about to buy a new one after it hadn’t worked for a month. After a Reiki treatment it worked fine, and still does!
A positive part of practicing Reiki is that the practitioner is not drawing from their own “life energy” (as is true in some other modalities). As the Reiki Energy flows through the practitioner they also benefit, as opposed to being drained.
NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) is another area of expertise you possess. How does NLP help individuals transform their thinking and behavior, and in what situations is it particularly effective?
NLP is a modality that has many parts. I primarily use it in conjunction with Hypnosis. Also, in my Life Coaching sessions I find it useful. The element of NLP that I use the most is word choice. During hypnosis I make suggestions that the client has asked for to arrive at their goal.
Words have power! One of the elements of NLP is choosing positive and powerful words that motivate, encourage and lead to satisfaction. NLP teaches us to use the word that describes what you desire as the “action” or “outcome” word. Our brains will focus on the descriptive word (adjective), not the qualifying word (adverb). For example, if someone is working on their weight and good health, it is better to say and hear “I am slender and healthy” rather than “I am not fat and sick”. Using visualizations of the desired outcome taking the place of the old state is another valuable NLP tool during hypnosis. These same tools can be used by clients themselves with just a little training and practice.
How do you tailor your methodology to the unique needs of your clients?
As I mentioned in a previous answer, I have a toolbox that I pull from, sometimes in the spur of a moment! Each client is unique, and I value having many options to use, either alone or by combining them. With every new client I do an intake session where I get to know them. I learn their belief system, their challenges, their personality and more. This helps me create a recipe of modalities that they will best benefit from.
If you would like to find out more about Desiree, visit https://www.transhypnotherapy.com/index.html