Hypnotherapy, whether in-office or live, online, always starts with you. It rests on the personal relationship between you and your therapist. Communication, compatibility and trust are the required foundation for that relationship. However, face to face meetings are not a necessary ingredient for a successful hypnotherapy experience.

Does Hypnotherapy Work Virtually?

The short answer is yes. Before the pandemic many local clients came into my office for sessions but I’ve also been doing live, online, phone and video based sessions for years. Here is one very successful story of a client who was helped.

The client was a manager for a large tech company in Silicon Valley who was required to travel for business. Her finance also wanted to take her to Europe and South America for fun. Problem? She was afraid to fly because she was scared of people (or herself) vomiting. This is actually not an uncommon fear. Over a series of 6 sessions we figured out where that fear came from – an incident in her childhood - and worked to help her release that fear. All sessions were conducted live, online and I never met her face to face. She was able to easily travel for work and she and her boyfriend have now visited several countries.

Another successful client who was helped with online hypnotherapy actually lived locally. However, after a long day at the office, she wanted the freedom to do sessions while at home. She was working on improving her health and landing her dream promotion at her company. Through hypnotherapy and positive affirmations, she succeeded at both. Her promotion enabled her to work worldwide and have the flexibility she needed to be able to focus on her health.

6 things that you can do to make your virtual therapy sessions more effective

1. Consider using a therapist not in your area but who may be a good fit for your issue. Virtually it doesn’t matter where the therapist actually is.

2. Test the technology before your first scheduled session. Desktops, laptops, cell phones, with cameras all can work.

3. Get to know your therapist by engaging in a pre-session consultation call.

4. Choose and prepare your home environment so that you have a quiet, comfortable location. Typically my clients use bedrooms or offices, for the hypnosis part they use a recliner, a bed or a couch.

5. Schedule your session for a time when you will have control of your environment. Make sure it is quiet and you know you will not be interrupted.

6. During the session, focus on using verbal cues instead of non-verbal ones. For example, your therapist may not know that a question or topic is making you nervous because she will not be able to see that your legs are fidgeting. Be clear and honest with your therapist about what you are feeling. It will be harder for her to read non-verbal cues.

Here are a couple of articles if you’d like more information about online or virtual sessions:

Does Online Therapy Work? https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/201911/does-online-therapy-work

Virtual therapy: What is it? https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/virtual-therapy

Why Your Shrink Wasn’t Offering Virtual Therapy Until Now https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/05/virtual-therapy-pandemic/611551/

Personal transformation through hypnotherapy offers an effective, comfortable and drug free choice for overcoming fears, changing habits, improving health, and achieving self-development goals. With online hypnotherapy you can access your personal hypnotherapist from the convenience of your home anywhere around the USA. To schedule a free, private online consultation please call 1-818-929-4944.