There’s something quietly magnetic about hypnotherapy—a space where science meets mystery, and where the stories we tell ourselves can begin to shift in profound ways. Often misunderstood, sometimes reduced to stage tricks or cinematic myths, hypnotherapy in its true form is far more nuanced: a dialogue with the subconscious mind, where deep-rooted patterns, beliefs, and emotional responses are gently brought into awareness and reshaped.
We were excited to sit down with Katelyn Redwood, whose work offers a grounded yet intuitive approach to this often-misinterpreted field. In our conversation, she shares how hypnotherapy works beyond the surface—how the subconscious mind, which makes up the vast majority of our internal world, continuously maps our experiences and pulls us toward what feels familiar, even when it no longer serves us. Her perspective reveals why real, lasting change doesn’t come from force or willpower alone, but from creating new internal experiences that the mind can recognize as safe and aligned.
Katelyn also speaks about the subtle artistry of her sessions—from guiding clients into deeply relaxed, highly receptive states to using imagery, language, and suggestion to support meaningful transformation. Whether working with anxiety, self-esteem, habits, or emotional patterns, her approach is less about fixing and more about reconnecting people to a deeper sense of wholeness.
This conversation invites you to look beyond the misconceptions and step into the real magic behind hypnotherapy—where transformation unfolds not through control, but through trust, familiarity, and a profound shift in how we experience ourselves from within.
POH — Frank: Katelyn, can you take us back to the beginning—what was the moment or turning point that drew you so strongly toward hypnotherapy? Was there a specific experience in your life that made you trust or feel called to this modality?
Katelyn: When I moved to Los Angeles in 2008, I remember driving past HMI College of Hypnotherapy and just finding it interesting that hypnotherapy was something someone could actually become formally trained in. I knew nothing about it, and didn’t think about it again for years. I grew up a professional musician, and music was my livelihood for most of my life. I reached a point where I wanted to diversify to create more stability for myself, but didn’t know what I could do that would feel meaningful and fulfilling in the way that music has always been. I spent over a year uncertain of what that thing could be.
My niece came to visit during this time, and from out of nowhere she asked, “If you HAD to do something else, what would it be?” and from somewhere within the answer emerged, “Maybe in another life I’d be a hypnotherapist.” I still didn’t really know what that meant, but my answer surprised me enough to ignite a curiosity about it. I’d already come to believe that our lives and experiences are a reflection of our internal worlds, but the more I learned about the subconscious mind and the opportunity hypnosis gives for the landscape of the mind to shift, the more excited I became. I enrolled in HMI about a month later.
POH — Frank: What were some of the most impactful teachings or modalities you explored there?
Katelyn: Right off the bat, HMI’s program dives deeply into the fundamentals of what creates a hypnotic state, and what happens to the mind when we’re in that state. The basics are extremely important, and HMI’s clear delivery of this information was critical for me to build the confidence to use this tool to help other people.
What also stood out to me was the segment we did on Neuro-Linguistic Programming, which teaches us to use the language of the mind (imagery) to change how we feel about things. It’s something anyone can do with practice, and I use NLP concepts in my daily life. I went on to advance my understanding with NLP practitioner certification training.
HMI’s program is really quite extensive. In addition to developing knowledge and techniques in hypnosis, you learn counseling skills, crisis intervention, laws and ethics, and more.
POH — Frank: How do these different approaches influence your work today?
Katelyn: There are many ways to approach a person’s presenting issue. All of these techniques ultimately point to the same thing: communication with and influencing the subconscious mind.
The approach for a session is influenced by what the client brings into the room that day. I don’t necessarily go through the list of tools in my box before beginning a session. I aim to let whatever the client brings to the session bring forward in me the technique and language to use in that moment.
POH — Frank: How important is formal certification and training in a field that many people still perceive as somewhat “mystical”?
Katelyn: It may be considered mystical by some, but perhaps better defined as “mysterious.” We don’t know everything about the subconscious mind, but we do know that it exists and plays a significant role in our survival and the overall lived experience of our lives.
There is still mystery in many fields of study, but there is also theory and scientific data from which we approach the mysterious aspects. If you intend to help shape someone’s internal reality, and you want to do this safely and with care, the more training you have, the better outcomes you will have.
It’s similar to having solid training in musical theory, scales, cadences, timing, etc. An intimate knowledge of the inner workings of something means you can play with ease.
HMI is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training, which is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Their clinical hypnotherapy program is a full year, including a six-month supervised internship, plus an optional second year to satisfy a Mind-Body Psychology associate’s degree, and practitioners become certified by the American Hypnosis Association.
I’m sure there are plenty of shorter programs or retreats that offer their own definition of a “certification,” which is why a prospective client should always look at who the certifying body is, and what the requirements of being certified by that organization are.
POH — Frank: For someone completely new to hypnotherapy, how would you simply explain what it is and how it works?
Katelyn: Hypnotherapy works with the subconscious mind, which is most of the mind (approximately 88%). The subconscious mind is constantly identifying your experiences and creating associations. As it does this, it is building an internal map of what reality is and who we are within it. Once the subconscious mind becomes familiar with something, it has a tendency to pull toward that familiar thing. The subconscious mind associates familiarity and predictability with survival. Even if we consciously know a belief or a behavior is not in our best interest, the subconscious pulls us to what it knows. In order for the subconscious mind to support the change we consciously desire, we must create an experience for the mind that aligns with the outcome we want. The mind doesn’t differentiate between a real and an imagined experience, so as we create an imagined experience of the outcome we want, the mind becomes familiar with that outcome. Familiarity means safety to the subconscious mind. As the mind begins to feel safe with the new story, it pulls less forcefully toward the old story, then eventually actively pulls you towards the new familiar story.
POH — Frank: You describe the conscious mind as only a small percentage compared to the subconscious—why is working with the subconscious so key for lasting, long-term change?
Katelyn: Because the conscious mind is a small percentage of the mind, the tools of the conscious mind alone are not enough to win a tug-of-war with the subconscious mind. The conscious mind does have a lot of valuable tools—logic, reasoning, critical thinking, willpower, to name a few. But these tools alone cannot overpower the influence of that 88%, which is motivated (by survival) to keep things as they are. For lasting change, the subconscious must become familiar with what we’re working toward. As this happens, the mind starts to perceive information differently. It organizes things differently. The change begins to sustain the new story by itself, because the mind automatically begins to translate information around you into something that supports the new story it has learned.
POH — Frank: What actually happens during a session—what does a client experience step by step?
Katelyn: On the surface, the first session is about getting to know one another, honing in on a clear picture of what the ideal outcome would look and feel like, explaining what hypnosis is, doing suggestibility testing to help determine how a client learns, and then moving into hypnosis to induce a state of deep calm and relaxation. What is also actually happening in that first session is that the new client is becoming overloaded with information. They’re in a new place, meeting a new person, talking about things that often have a strong emotional element, they’re concentrating on my explanations of the mind and hypnosis, etc., and all of this serves to overload their conscious mind.
The first step to entering a hypnotic state is overloading someone consciously. When the conscious mind becomes overloaded, it becomes disorganized and, as a result, creates easier access to the subconscious. After a hypnotic induction, the first session is about relaxing a client as deeply as possible. When a client is in a deeply calm and comfortable state, it is a highly resourceful state for learning, which is ultimately what they’re doing. Once a client is in this state, we can use imagery, direct suggestions, metaphors, storytelling, etc., to create an experience that supports the client’s goals.
Some clients experience a state that is similar to sleep. Many others experience mind wandering. Everything in this spectrum is normal and workable. After emerging from hypnosis, most people feel very deeply relaxed, perhaps lighter, or more hopeful. I’ve had a few clients describe it as “a massage for your mind.”
POH — Frank: From a scientific or psychological perspective, what is happening in the brain during hypnosis?
Katelyn: When in hypnosis, the brain moves from active beta-waves to more relaxed frequencies: mainly increased alpha and theta waves. This state allows for deeper relaxation and higher suggestibility. Clients who wear bio-feedback rings report that the data reflected during our sessions registers as being asleep.
POH — Frank: There’s often mention of breaking through the “critical mind filter”—can you explain that concept in a relatable way?
Katelyn: The job of the critical filter is to protect the current associations held in the subconscious mind. We can think of this kind of like the doorman at a club. It’s the job of the doorman to decide who matches the desired demographic of the club, and allows those people to come in, while those who don’t are turned away. Overloading the conscious mind is kind of like creating sudden commotion outside of the club, which distracts the critical filter. During that time, we can sneak someone in who might not have been granted access.
POH — Frank: What kind of research or clinical evidence supports hypnotherapy today?
Katelyn: The number of clinical studies on the effectiveness of hypnotherapy in many areas is plentiful and growing. A great place to start for a summary of some of these studies is Bruce Bonnet’s White Paper on Hypnosis for Medical Issues. Clinical data also support the use of hypnosis for habit modification and helping to manage a variety of mental health issues, including anxiety, stress, and PTSD.
POH — Frank: What are some of the core hypnotherapy techniques you use most often in your sessions?
Katelyn: For most sessions and presenting issues, I use a mix of guided imagery, direct/literal suggestions, desensitization, and future-pacing (having the client imagine themselves in a future situation having a different outcome). I also use techniques derived from Neuro-Linguistic Programming. My style is also influenced by Eriksonian hypnosis, as I prefer a more conversational approach and tend to use confusion as a tool for induction or to deepen the state of my client.
POH — Frank: Can you walk us through the stages of hypnosis—induction, deepening, suggestion, and emergence—and why each is important?
Katelyn: Typically, hypnosis looks like this:
- Overloading the conscious mind—this happens in the pre-induction portion of a session, where a client recalls experiences and feelings from the week prior. In a first session, all of the new information of coming to a new place and into a new experience overloads the client as well.
- Performing a hypnotic induction—we continue to overload the conscious mind by either mildly stressing the body with something like an eye fascination, stressing their mind by speaking rapidly or saying things that are a little confusing or don’t make a lot of sense, or even just constantly guiding their attention to several things at once. This is followed by the sudden invitation to let go of all effort, which leads into a progressive relaxation, then finally a phrase to anchor and reinforce a hypnotic state (like “Deep Sleep”).
- Deepening—there are many techniques we can use to deepen a client. Some of these deepeners take a direct route into further relaxation. But sometimes a deepener is designed to pull the client forward a little, to create a little stress again, and then eventually drop them deeper than they were before.
- Suggestions—suggestions invite the mind to experience something a little differently. As I mentioned earlier, suggestions can be made through guided imagery and storytelling, but they can also be literal and direct. Structuring effective suggestions for a client depends on their suggestibility type, which is simply how someone learns. Some people respond very quickly or easily to a direct suggestion, whereas others will be turned off by it and require a more indirect approach.
- Emergence—sometimes clients don’t realize how deeply they were hypnotized until I count them up and out of hypnosis. This is the easy part. I’ll generally precede it with a last suggestion that the subconscious mind knows how to pursue the outcome we’re going for, and is always working in the background to bring the client closer to it, which means the suggestions that work best for them will continue to strengthen without any conscious effort. After coming out of hypnosis, clients tend to stay in a light state for a short period. I recommend taking a short walk after hypnosis, and thinking of it like waking up from a nap.
POH — Frank: How many sessions does someone typically need to see meaningful results, and what determines that timeline?
Katelyn: Unsurprisingly, there is a lot of variation in the timeline of when and how results appear. I tell all my clients to plan to commit to at least 6 sessions, but presenting issues with a deeper root cause take a bit longer. Depending on how deep the root of the problem is, and how many other barriers need to be addressed to get to the root, sometimes I see clients for many months before everything comes together in the form of the outcome we discussed during their first session.
Sometimes a client responds very quickly. This can largely depend on a person’s suggestibility type. There is a group of people we call somnambulists who fall into hypnosis very quickly and easily, and tend to respond to hypnosis very quickly as well. I’ve had many occasions where someone comes in for a fear or unconscious habit, and we see significant improvement or total resolution within 1–2 sessions. Those aren’t the norm, but it absolutely does happen.
There is another group that we refer to as intellectuals. This group tends to need more time and a “back door” approach. If a client isn’t responding by tackling the presenting issue directly, we’ve got to find back doors to the problem, approaching it further upstream. This takes longer because we are actually addressing many things at once.
For clients who see me for pain relief, we focus on decreasing sensation. The relief happens in the moment, in the session, so the change in sensation is immediate. But teaching a client to do this themselves can take several sessions.
POH — Frank: Thank you for your time, and the healing modalities you offer.
Photo credit: Luke Miller, Cottonbro, Diva, Gottapics, Iamwymin, Janmesh Shah, Patrick Nizan, Pixabay, Rafael Santos
