If you’re a man who has never sat across from a therapist and has very little interest in starting now, you’re not alone.
A lot of men have spent most of their lives learning to handle things. Fix the problem. Push through. Keep moving. Don’t make a big deal out of it.
So the idea of sitting down every week and talking about your feelings with someone you barely know may not exactly be at the top of your list.
Maybe you don’t want to spend months analyzing your childhood. Maybe you don’t consider yourself particularly emotional. Maybe your life actually looks pretty good on paper and you don’t understand why something still feels off.
But whatever you’re carrying doesn’t disappear just because you don’t talk about it.
It can show up as irritability. A short fuse. Constant tension in your shoulders or jaw. Trouble switching your brain off at night. Overthinking. Drinking more than you’d like. Losing patience with people you care about. Feeling emotionally checked out. Pushing yourself harder and harder but never really feeling settled.
Sometimes you don’t need another conversation about the problem.
You need a way to change the pattern behind it.
That’s where hypnotherapy can be different.
Hypnotherapy uses focused attention, therapeutic suggestion, imagery and other techniques to work with responses that may keep happening automatically even when you consciously know better.
You still talk. You still participate. You know what’s happening.
But talking isn’t the entire intervention.
Not sure hypnotherapy fits how you deal with things?
Hypnotherapy vs. Talk Therapy: What's the Difference?
First, this isn’t about saying one is good and the other is bad.
Traditional psychotherapy can be extremely valuable. Depending on the approach, it can help people understand themselves, challenge unhelpful thinking, process difficult experiences, develop coping skills, improve relationships and manage mental health concerns.
And not all traditional therapy takes years. Approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy can be highly structured and goal focused.
The biggest difference is how the work is done.
Traditional Talk Therapy
- Conversation is usually a central part of the therapeutic process
- May use reflection, insight, emotional processing, behavioral strategies and skill building
- Much of the session may involve consciously discussing what you think, feel and experience
- May explore why a pattern developed and how it affects you today
- Can be short term or ongoing depending on the person and therapeutic approach
- Can provide ongoing mental health treatment for a broad range of concerns
Hypnotherapy
- Conversation helps identify the problem and hypnosis becomes part of the intervention
- Uses focused attention, imagery, suggestion and therapeutic reframing
- Part of the session takes place in a deeply focused internal state
- Often focuses on changing associations and responses that have become automatic
- Often used as a focused intervention around specific goals, although the number of sessions varies
- Can be used for specific goals or alongside psychotherapy and other forms of care
One of the biggest misconceptions about hypnotherapy is that it somehow shuts off your conscious mind so a hypnotherapist can get to the “real” problem underneath.
It’s more nuanced than that.
Human behavior involves conscious thought and automatic learned responses.
You can intellectually understand that something isn’t dangerous and still feel anxiety.
You can know you shouldn’t lose your temper and still feel your body gearing up before you’ve had time to think.
You can know you’re capable and still automatically hesitate when the stakes get high.
Insight doesn’t always change an automatic response.
Hypnosis gives us another way of working with those responses.
The American Psychological Association describes hypnosis as involving focused attention, reduced awareness of outside distractions and an increased capacity to respond to suggestion.
In other words, you’re not unconscious.
You’re focused.
For the man who’s already thinking, “I understand why I do this. How do I stop doing it?”, that difference can matter.
You Don't Have to Be Good at Talking About Your Feelings
Meet Sean Green, Male Hypnotherapist in Los Angeles and Online
If part of what has kept you from trying therapy is the idea of sitting down with someone who may not understand how you approach problems, working with the right practitioner can make a big difference.
Sean Green, C.Ht. is one of our Los Angeles hypnotherapists and works with clients both in person and online.
Sean brings more than 20 years of experience in hypnotherapy and previously served as an instructor at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute, where he was personally trained by Dr. John Kappas.
His style is steady, practical and direct.
That matters for men who don’t necessarily want to spend an hour analyzing every emotion but are willing to look honestly at what’s happening, identify what needs to change and get to work on it.
Sean also understands the work from the client side.
His own experience using hypnotherapy to overcome night terrors and support his recovery from major surgery helped shape the way he works with clients today.
In addition to hypnotherapy, Sean has more than a decade of experience as a Reiki practitioner, giving clients the option of incorporating a more holistic approach when it makes sense for them.
Whether you’re dealing with anxiety, stress, confidence, sleep, unwanted habits, performance issues or a pattern you simply haven’t been able to change on your own, Sean’s approach is focused on helping you understand what is happening and then actually work on changing it.
Prefer working with a male hypnotherapist?
What Happens During a Hypnotherapy Session?
Every session is personalized, but your first appointment generally follows the same overall process.
Your hypnotherapist begins by learning what you’re experiencing and what you want to change.
We look at what the problem actually looks like in your day to day life. When does it happen? What sets it off? How do you usually react? What have you already tried? Most importantly, what would you rather be experiencing instead?
Before hypnosis begins, your practitioner explains the process and answers your questions so you know exactly what to expect.
For an in person session, you’ll then settle into a comfortable recliner with a weighted blanket and headphones to help reduce distractions.
Your hypnotherapist will guide you into a relaxed and highly focused state. You can still hear, think and respond throughout the process.
From there, the hypnotherapy is tailored around the goals you’ve discussed. Your practitioner may use therapeutic suggestion, imagery, reframing and mental rehearsal to help reinforce new ways of thinking and responding where the old pattern once felt automatic.
The hypnotherapy portion of your appointment is recorded for you so you can continue reinforcing the work at home between sessions.
Is Hypnosis Just Relaxation?
This is one of the most common questions we get and it’s a fair one.
Relaxation can be part of hypnosis, but relaxation alone isn’t what makes hypnotherapy work.
A long shower is relaxing. A massage is relaxing. Sitting on the couch after a long day can be relaxing.
None of those things are hypnotherapy.
Hypnosis combines focused attention with therapeutic suggestion. As outside distractions become less important, your attention can become more absorbed in the experience and in the suggestions, imagery and mental rehearsal being used during the session.
That’s the important distinction.
You’re also not handing over control.
You can’t simply be made to reveal secrets, accept ideas you reject or behave against your values because somebody hypnotized you.
You’re participating in the process.
Many men are surprised by how normal and clear headed they feel throughout the session. Rather than feeling “out of it,” it can feel more like becoming deeply absorbed in what you’re doing while everything else temporarily moves into the background.
Experience hypnotherapy in a way that feels calm, safe and empowering.
Does Hypnotherapy Really Work?
Hypnosis is a legitimate therapeutic technique that has been studied for decades.
Research has found promising or beneficial results in a number of areas including some forms of anxiety, pain management and certain medical applications. The strength of the evidence varies depending on what hypnosis is being used for and individual responses also vary.
What we don’t believe in doing is promising that one hypnotherapy session will magically erase a problem or pretending that every person responds exactly the same way.
That’s not how change works.
At HEAL YOURSELF Therapy, the work is personalized around what you’re experiencing and reinforced over multiple sessions because many longstanding patterns require repetition.
The goal isn’t to keep you in therapy indefinitely.
It’s to identify what you’re trying to change, work directly on it, reinforce the new response and pay attention to what’s actually shifting.
For someone who values efficiency and wants a process with a clear purpose, that can make hypnotherapy especially appealing.
Ready to try a more strategic approach?
How Hypnotherapy Works With the Mind and Body
You’ve probably experienced this firsthand.
Stress isn’t just something you think about.
You feel it.
Your shoulders tighten. Your jaw clenches. Your stomach turns. Your breathing changes. Your heart starts beating faster.
Sometimes your body reacts before you’ve even had time to consciously tell yourself that everything is okay.
That’s why we don’t always work with the mind in isolation.
At HEAL YOURSELF Therapy, clients may also incorporate our Neuro Somatic Reconditioning Technique, or NRT, a body based method developed to complement the mental and subconscious work being done during the session.
The goal is to work with both sides of the pattern: the thoughts and emotional responses connected to it and the physical reaction that can accompany them.
Instead of only asking, “What do I want to think differently?” we’re also paying attention to “How does my body respond when this happens and what response do I want to strengthen instead?”
For clients who want a more holistic approach, NRT is designed to help us work with the physical component associated with old patterns while reinforcing calmer and more regulated ways of responding.
In other words, we’re not only looking at how you think about something.
We’re also paying attention to what your body has learned to do when that trigger shows up.
The goal is to create more space between reaction and response so the old pattern doesn’t have to keep running the show.
How Much Does Hypnotherapy Cost?
Your first hypnotherapy session is $250, with follow up sessions priced at $200.
For in person appointments, NRT can be added to a hypnotherapy session for $50.
Payment is collected when you book your appointment so you’ll see the cost of your session upfront.
Still weighing whether this is worth your time?
Frequently Asked Questions About Hypnotherapy
What Can Hypnotherapy Help Me With?
Hypnotherapy can be used to work on a wide range of emotional, behavioral and performance related patterns.
Clients often come to us for help with things like:
- Anxiety and stress
- Overthinking
- Confidence and self esteem
- Anger and emotional reactivity
- Fears and phobias
- Procrastination
- Motivation
- Sleep issues
- Breaking unwanted habits
- Smoking or vaping
- Performance and focus
- Public speaking
- Relationship patterns
- Feeling stuck
- Negative thought patterns
- Self sabotage
- Responding more calmly under pressure
Some people come in because something is interfering with their quality of life.
Others are functioning well but recognize a pattern that’s getting in the way of how they want to perform, feel or show up.
You don’t need to be in crisis to benefit from hypnotherapy.
Sometimes there is simply a response, habit or pattern that you’re ready to change.
Do I Need to Believe in Hypnosis for It to Work?
No.
You don’t have to believe in hypnosis for it to work and being skeptical doesn’t automatically get in the way.
What matters much more is your willingness to get into the process.
Hypnotherapy is participatory.
Your hypnotherapist guides you, but you have to be willing to follow the instructions, use your imagination, focus inward and allow yourself to engage with what’s being suggested rather than mentally standing outside the experience evaluating every second of it.
You don’t need to force yourself to relax perfectly and you don’t need to convince yourself that something extraordinary is happening.
You simply need to be willing to participate.
Plenty of people come to us skeptical.
That’s fine.
We don’t need you to be a believer.
We need you to be willing to work with us.
The people who tend to get the most from hypnotherapy aren’t necessarily the people who believe in it the most. They’re the ones who engage with the process and genuinely want to create change.
Can Hypnotherapy Help If Talk Therapy Hasn’t Worked?
Traditional psychotherapy may use conversation, cognitive strategies, emotional processing, behavioral exercises and other approaches to help you understand and change a problem.
Hypnotherapy adds another layer.
It uses hypnosis, focused attention and therapeutic suggestion to work with responses that may continue to feel automatic even when you consciously understand them.
That distinction can be particularly relevant if you’ve already done a lot of thinking or talking about a problem and find yourself saying:
“I know why I do it. I just can’t seem to stop doing it.”
Understanding a pattern and changing an automatic response aren’t always the same thing.
Will I Remember What Happens During Hypnosis?
Generally, yes.
You’re not unconscious during hypnosis.
It’s common for your attention to become deeply absorbed and it may naturally drift at times. You don’t need to consciously track or analyze every word being said for the session to be useful.
You’ll usually come away with a clear sense of the experience.
We also record the hypnotherapy portion of your appointment so you can listen between sessions and continue reinforcing the work.
How Many Hypnotherapy Sessions Will I Need?
In general, we recommend planning for approximately four to five sessions.
Some people notice changes after their first appointment while other patterns require more repetition and reinforcement.
Think about it this way: if a response has been practiced consciously or unconsciously for years, it makes sense that teaching yourself a different response may require some repetition too.
The goal isn’t to keep you coming indefinitely.
We pay attention to what’s changing and build from there.
Is Hypnotherapy Safe?
Hypnosis is generally considered safe when practiced appropriately by a trained professional.
It’s also important to understand that the kind of focused absorption used in hypnosis isn’t completely foreign to the human experience.
Most of us know what it’s like to become so absorbed in a movie, a book, a drive or our own thoughts that other things temporarily fade into the background.
Hypnosis intentionally uses that capacity for focused attention in a therapeutic setting.
You’re not unconscious and you’re not giving up control.
You can hear what’s happening. You can respond if you choose and you can bring yourself out of the state.
Your hypnotherapist guides the experience, but you remain an active participant throughout.
Hypnosis isn’t something that’s simply done to you. It’s something you participate in.
Hypnotherapy is also not a substitute for emergency mental health care or medical treatment when those services are needed.
What Does Being Hypnotized Feel Like?
For most people, hypnosis doesn’t feel nearly as strange or dramatic as they expect it to.
You may feel very relaxed, deeply focused or unusually absorbed in your internal experience. Some people feel physically heavy while others feel light. Your awareness of what’s happening around you may fade somewhat because your attention is focused elsewhere.
But you’re still there.
You can hear your hypnotherapist. You can think. You can respond.
And if you’ve never been hypnotized before and you’re nervous, that’s completely normal. We explain the process before beginning so you know exactly what to expect.
Can Hypnosis Work If I Have Trouble Relaxing?
Yes.
You don’t need to achieve some perfect state of relaxation for hypnosis to happen.
Focused attention is the more important part of the process.
If your mind wanders, that’s okay.
If you’re analytical, that’s okay too.
Your hypnotherapist works with the way your mind naturally operates rather than expecting you to force yourself into a particular experience.
Does Online Hypnotherapy Work?
Yes. Hypnotherapy can also be conducted online.
Hypnosis doesn’t require you and your practitioner to be physically in the same room. The practitioner is guiding your attention, imagery and therapeutic process in real time.
For an online session, you’ll need a quiet and private space where you can comfortably relax without being interrupted.
Many clients prefer the convenience of doing the work from their own home.
Can I Do NRT Online?
Yes.
For online sessions that include NRT, you’ll need a hook shaped massager that can comfortably reach along your spine and it should be fully charged before your appointment.
Your practitioner guides you through the physical component of the process in real time.
During one phase, you’ll work with the patterns and reactions you want to reduce while using the massager as directed.
Following the hypnotherapy portion, the process shifts toward reinforcing the thoughts and responses you want to strengthen.
You handle the physical component yourself while your practitioner walks you through each step.
Ready to Try a Different Approach?
You don’t need to walk through the door knowing exactly what to say.
You don’t need to have every part of the problem figured out.
And you don’t need to suddenly become someone who loves talking about his feelings.
You just need to know that something isn’t working the way you want it to anymore.
Maybe you’ve tried ignoring it.
Maybe you’ve tried reasoning with yourself.
Maybe you’ve told yourself a hundred times that you shouldn’t still react this way.
But knowing better doesn’t always make an automatic pattern disappear.
Sometimes you need another way of working with it.
If you’re more interested in changing the pattern than spending years talking around it, hypnotherapy may be the focused and practical approach you’ve been looking for.
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