Have you ever felt stuck, like you’re being held back by unseen forces? Perhaps you struggle with anxiety, depression, or bad habits you just can’t seem to break. If so, you’re not alone. Millions of people grapple with these challenges, searching for effective solutions.
In this article, Mystic Mag introduces you to Stephanie C. Conkle, a practitioner who uses hypnotherapy to help clients achieve lasting change. Stephanie has a fascinating story about her own journey to hypnotherapy, driven by a desire to overcome personal struggles and unlock her full potential.
When did you first know that being a Hypnotherapist was your calling and how did it come about?
I have been interested in hypnosis since childhood when my dad would experiment with hypnosis on me (after he was healed from symptoms of chronic insomnia), and from seeing hypnotists on television shows and cartoons. I was told by some people with “authority” and the Church (I was brought up in the South) that it was evil and should not be used, so I became irrationally afraid of it in my teenage years when it should have been the most fun…until I was reintroduced to hypnotism in college by a stage hypnotist.
Hypnosis found me. Not the other way around! I was searching for a purpose for my life and, as soon as I sent that intention out into the universe, hypnotism came a-knockin’ on my door…and when I least expected it. My career in hypnotism began when I wanted to use hypnosis for my own self-development and peace of mind. I suddenly began experiencing a terrible fear of flying after my first child was born, had suffered from OCD since childhood, had mild depression, and mental blocks to success.
After I was finally convinced hypnosis can only be used for good, and that I could accept or reject any commands given in trance, I began using hypnosis to treat not just my symptoms…but the root cause of my problems. Because hypnosis resulted in such great and amazing benefits for me, I began studying hypnotism because I wanted to learn the power behind it to one day help others.
However, it was only a hobby for me for many years after that. I knew how to do street hypnosis (party tricks like getting people stuck to the wall with only their mind), but I wanted to go deeper and really help people who were hurting or struggling with issues like I had been.
Eventually, I became frustrated with my uninspired corporate job and decided to change careers to something that would be beneficial and rewarding to both myself and others. I set the intention for the perfect vocation for me for my life’s journey and waited for the response. I started out life coaching others and thought hypnosis would really be beneficial to them, but I needed to learn it in depth.
I knew hypnosis was something I could do and enjoy for the rest of my life…and something other people really needed. I knew I wanted to help others succeed in life–not just myself! I enrolled in hypnosis school and found out that I already knew a lot about hypnotism from all the self-studying I had done earlier. And I found it came naturally to me once I started practicing on people. My life coaching practice transformed into a hypnotherapy practice very soon after that. I began seeing my first paying hypnosis clients at home in my own living room! From there, I quickly opened my own hypnotherapy and success coaching practice in Alpharetta (now Milton), GA, in November 2008, and then eventually moved to Woodstock and Holly Springs to be closer to home. I get just as much pleasure from it as my clients do.
What services do you offer?
I specialize in PTSD and trauma removal, but I also help with the following:
- Smoking/Vaping Cessation
- Weight Loss
- Confidence
- Self Esteem/Ego Building
- Insomnia
- Public Speaking
- Past Life Regression
- Procrastination
- Eating Disorders
- Peak Performance
- Nail Biting
- Fear of Flying
- Motion Sickness
- Hoarding
- Bed Wetting
- Fear of Spiders
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Self Confidence
- Self Esteem
- Cold Calling
- Sales Excellence
- Memory Retention
- Memory Recall
- Focus and Concentration
- Bed Wetting
- Snoring
- Headaches
- Erectile Dysfunction
- Premature Ejaculation
- Back Pain
- Allergies
- Body Building
- Stress
- Depression
- Anxiety
- PTSD
- Fear of Snakes
- Sports Enhancement
- Dream Building
- Text Anxiety
- Unleashing Creativity
- Pain Management
- Pain Reduction
- Pain Elimination
- Fear of Heights
- Claustrophobia
- Agoraphobia
- mpotence
- Fear of Clowns
- Fear of Animals
- Fear of Failure
- Fear of Success
- Self Mastery
- Self-Hypnosis
- Spiritual Quests
…and much much more!
Could you tell us more about how Hypnotherapy works?
Hypnotherapy works by bypassing the critical part of the mind to access the Subconscious mind–the part of your mind that operates below the level of conscious awareness–and it’s the only place that real and lasting change can happen. For instance, you’re probably digesting food right now without telling your organs what to do or how to do it. That’s an unconscious process. Or you might be putting up emotional walls to protect yourself from people who have harmed you in the past. We all do that to a lesser or greater extent. That is also an unconscious process. Under hypnosis, the practitioner can direct the Subconscious to heal those issues that can’t be logically worked out. It can also alleviate physical, chronic, and phantom pain in much the same way. Anything that is happening at the unconscious level…which is about 95% of the mind (only 5% is conscious control), can be effectively treated in hypnosis.
Does it help with treating Anxiety and Depression?
Absolutely! In fact, anxiety, depression, and PTSD removal are the issues I specialize in. These are rooted in the unconscious and can only be resolved by the subconscious. Traditional talk therapy doesn’t work as well for these issues, and in some cases makes it worse by strengthening the neural network of the trauma and fear response by having the client re-live the telling of their stories. Neurons that fire together wire together. Subconscious bypasses that and disconnects the old neuronal pathways so the trauma response atrophies, and replaces it with positive resource states.
What can a person expect from your sessions?
I customize our sessions to your particular needs, and I take time to really listen to you and figure out what’s blocking you, making you ill, or holding you back. When you come in for your session, you get me and not some assistant or intern. You get the real deal, the expert…me! My methods are proven and so effective that I am confident you will always come back to me for all of your self-development needs, and you will be so pleased with your results that you will refer me to your friends and family.
Hypnosis is quick therapy, and you will feel the benefits of hypnosis after the first session; however, depending on the nature of the symptom I’m working with, the positive lasting effects could take two or more sessions. It solely depends on the individual, so it’s difficult to give an exact number. You just see me until you feel completely well and whole again. What I can assure you is that however many sessions you have with me, that number will be far less than with a traditional therapist. Also, the way hypnosis works are that suggestions are compounded over time. You will get the greatest benefit by seeing me more than once. The brain is layered and I want to ensure that you are completely satisfied before I release you.
Unlike traditional “talk” therapists, you don’t need to spend several months (or years) with me to get positive life-long, life-altering results. They just happen easily and effortlessly when you are hypnotized by me…in a matter of minutes, really. Traditional therapists have clients come in for several months or even years. I’m done with most clients in 3-4 sessions or less. (I really should charge more!)
How long does a session last?
Private sessions typically last 90 minutes for the initial session because I spend time getting your background information and explaining hypnosis to you. However, 60-90 minutes is typical for any session after the first one. (2 hours are automatically dedicated in my calendar once you sign up no matter what the session sequence is.)
I’ve had sessions go over 2 hours…and sometimes 3 hours (when absolutely needed and if I don’t have another client waiting to see me in the lobby). I don’t charge for extra minutes. Conversely, I don’t refund if we go under 90 minutes.
Any session after the first three only lasts 1 hour due to the compounding effect of the hypnosis, so I don’t have to spend as long to get you into a proper trance state. I charge per session, not per hour. I do my best to keep it around 90 minutes, but I allow for the extra padding of the 30 minutes…just in case.
I’m not like a typical therapist who says, “times up” right when we’re about to make a breakthrough. A surgeon wouldn’t say, “time’s up” if they just removed the spleen but haven’t sown up the incisions just because the clock hit a certain mark. So, plan 2 hours regardless. It may only last one hour but plan for two just in case. Make sense?
What happens during a typical session?
During the First Session, I take a complete assessment of your background during the first hour and put you right into hypnosis for the second hour. For this session, the primary goal is to get you feeling comfortable with the hypnotic process and primed for success. You will get to experience how really good it feels to be totally relaxed and, at this time, you will learn the sound of my voice, and your subconscious will begin to entrain to it. I will give you simple suggestions and gentle commands to teach your mind how to allow the hypnotic process to flow and start deepening your levels. I may do some simple tests or convincers and I will teach your conscious mind some simple self-hypnosis, EFT, or NLP techniques that you can do from the comfort of your own home between sessions. I may go ahead and give you gentle commands and suggestions or do some hypnoanalytic work. I may teach you self-hypnosis to do between sessions.
The Second Session is where the magic happens even more powerfully as you have now been entrained to go more quickly and deeply into a safe and relaxing trance. For this session, I put you right into hypnosis and talk to (and listen to) your subconscious mind while your conscious mind is free to take a mental vacation, a holiday, to roam and relax in a nice happy, safe, place of your choosing. I deepen your trance, set in or strengthen mental and physical resource states, and give more complex gentle commands and suggestions. I also set in post-hypnotic suggestions for your health and well-being, and “run programs” for you to feel re-charged, happier, and more energized. We may do deeper hypnotherapy and emotional clearing work if needed. I may anchor in resource states.
The Third Session is typically about following up and strengthening the commands and resource states (if needed). If anything else crops up that needs to be dealt with, related to your prevailing symptoms or not, this is the time I prefer to do it. I also give gentle commands to your unconscious mind for a deeper level of total mind-body self-healing.* For instance, if you are a smoker, I give gentle commands to your body to heal itself* quickly now that you are living a healthier lifestyle.
During this session, we also take an assessment and determine, together, whether or not your symptoms are completely gone or if you need more sessions to remove more blocks. Sometimes more emotional clearing and forgiveness work is needed. The final decision is always yours!
I allow sessions to go over the time allotted if we are making a breakthrough at that moment and I feel it’s important to continue with the flow. Time permitting. I will not charge you for overage should this happen. Please allow for 15 minutes of overage when you schedule your appointments. I leave about a half-hour window between clients for this reason.
What do you love most about your profession?
I love seeing my clients change before my eyes into the best versions of themselves, in a relatively short period. I’ve been doing this work for 16 years now, and it never ceases to amaze me. It’s like watching a miracle unfold before you. My clients are glowing when they finish a session with me, and it really warms my heart and fills me with a sense of purpose. Hypnotherapy is my passion and my clients are my compassion.
