Clinical Hypnotherapy

Contact Dr. Dug and she will send you a screening questionnaire. If she thinks that what you are seeking is a good fit for her services, she will schedule an initial session.

Dr. Dug provides clinical hypnotherapy treatment to any patient with verbal skills. That typically means that patients must at least be toddlers with typical language development. For children under the age of 15, parents will stay in the room during the hypnosis (for teenagers over the age of 15, they will decide whether they want their parents in the room or not). This is not only for the comfort of the child (and the parents!), but also so that parents can remind the children of the hypnosis skills they can use in between sessions. Dr. Dug gives priority scheduling to BIPOC and LGBTQI+ individuals.

Clinical Hypnotherapy treatment can end at any point at which the patient is satisfied with the symptom improvement - this is typically between 2-12 sessions. The patient is also welcome back for a booster session in the future.

No, patients retain self-determination during hypnosis. When a patient is in a hypnotic trance state, they have the ability to speak and move. In fact, patients can pull themselves out of a hypnotic state whenever they want.

No, although adults certainly can look asleep when they are hypnotized. However, research clearly indicates that brain waves show wakefulness when hypnotized. In Dr. Dug's experience, no matter how deeply the person appears to be asleep, when Dr. Dug lets them know that the hypnosis is over, patients can immediately open their eyes.

The legal requirements differ from state to state; however, there is a general lack of regulation and therefore, people call themselves hypnotists or even hypnotherapists even though they have little-to-no legitimate training. One strategy for patients is to determine if a provider 1) earned a degree and official state license in a healthcare field and 2) received training from one of the sites approved by the American Psychological Association (i.e., American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, ASCH; Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, SCEH; The Milton H. Erickson Foundation; New England Educational Institute; Harvard Medical School; West Virginia University; Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Pennsylvania Psychological Association).

There are certain situations in which hypnosis should be approached with caution (and sometimes avoided), such as when patients have mental conditions with severe symptoms (e.g., psychoses, suicidal ideation, certain personality disorders, trauma, debilitating depression/anxiety). Dr. Dug may tell you that she cannot provide hypnosis due to your current symptoms or that you must be actively engaged in psychotherapy with another provider at the same time as hypnosis with her. Patients coming to Dr. Dug for medically-related hypnosis should already be engaged with medical providers for their condition and have notified their medical providers that they are going to engage in hypnosis. Dr. Dug requires that patients give her permission to share progress notes with their other relevant healthcare providers.

There are clinicians who do use clinical hypnotherapy for memory work; however, this is controversial because our memories are incredibly malleable and not completely trustworthy. Further, if those memories are from childhood, there is also the concern that the memories stored within the concrete and limited perceptions of a child could be inaccurate. Also, please note that if you are ever going to be engaged in any kind of legal proceeding, having a history of hypnotherapy for memory work can potentially be used against you.

Fortunately, hypnosis with children has been shown to be even more effective and more quickly effective than hypnosis with adults. Children have more cognitive flexibility and imaginative skills, allowing them to easily access the parts of their mind that are integral to hypnosis.

For child patients, Dr. Dug treats any mental challenge that is causing undue distress or impacting the child's ability to function. This may include: phobias, fear of medical procedures, school avoidance, test anxiety, acting out, etc. Dr. Dug also provides treatment to help with GI disorders and chronic pain.