Breaking the Taboo: 8 Things You Should Know About Hypnotherapy

I know what you’re thinking: Hypnotherapy? That must be some woo-woo stuff. Uhm… no. Hahah.

For me, having a brain tumor also meant confronting my very own shadows, or what some people call demons. It led me to multiple therapy sessions, a life coach, and eventually hypnotherapy.

I met hypnotherapist Shanti de Ron in 2024 during a period when I was trying to release core beliefs and behaviors that kept me stuck. By then, I had already tried EMDR and grief therapy. Those methods helped, but I still felt there was something deeper to uncover, something underneath the patterns I couldn’t seem to break.

Today, I feel free and more at peace with myself because of hypnotherapy.

Still, when I tell people I’ve been hypnotised, I often get strange looks. Yes, I was hypnotised. And yes, it led me to the source of my shadows.

Hypnotherapy remains taboo in many cultures and communities. We often see it as a last resort rather than a powerful first step toward healing and self-understanding. That’s exactly why I want to shed some light on it.

I spoke with my hypnotherapist to better understand this method of healing and to break the stigma surrounding it.

Here are 8 things you should know about hypnotherapy.

1. Many hypnotherapists arrive at this work through their own healing journeys

Shanti didn’t begin her career in psychology. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Horticulture Engineering and once ran her own business. But a rare autoimmune illness changed the course of her life.

After being told by doctors in multiple countries that her kidney function was at 29% and would continue declining until she needed a transplant, she entered a deep period of grief. Then one day, she decided her story would be different.

“I decided my kidney would be the exception,” she told me. “I chose every day to believe it could heal.”

Through radical lifestyle changes, mindset work, and deep emotional healing, she gradually improved her kidney function over several years, eventually reversing it to 74% and putting the illness into dormancy. Wow.

During that process, she became fascinated with the connection between mindset, energy, emotions, and physical health. She spent three years researching hypnotherapy before training professionally.

Today, she works as a clinical hypnotherapist, helping others uncover the subconscious patterns that shape their lives.

2. Hypnotherapy isn’t mind control, it’s guided access to your subconscious

For someone who has never heard of it before, hypnotherapy can sound mysterious or even intimidating.

Shanti describes it simply: “Hypnotherapy is a state where the rational mind relaxes so the subconscious can speak freely.”

We naturally enter hypnotic states every day when we fall asleep. Hypnotherapy intentionally guides you into that state so you can access thoughts, memories, and beliefs that usually sit beneath our conscious awareness, beneath what she calls our “operating system.”

In hypnosis, you’re not unconscious or out of control. Instead, you’re deeply connected to your inner world, without the walls you’ve built to protect yourself.

3. The biggest misconception: you can get “stuck” in hypnosis

One of the most common fears people have is losing control or getting stuck in hypnosis.

“That’s not possible,” Shanti explains. “You cannot be hypnotised if you don’t want to be. And you cannot get stuck.”

Hypnotherapy is very different from stage hypnosis, like the entertainment shows where volunteers appear to lose control. In therapeutic hypnosis, the client is always aware and can return to full alertness at any time.

Think of it as guided inner exploration to help you, not mind control for entertainment.

4. What’s happening in the brain during hypnosis?

During hypnosis, brain activity shifts. The logical brain quiets down while the subconscious becomes more active. This makes it easier to access memories, emotions, and beliefs without the usual mental filters.

You’re never forced to do anything against your will. “The client does the work,” Shanti says. “I guide them through it, but I cannot do the work for them.”

5. Why do people seek hypnotherapy, and why is it often a last resort?

People come to hypnotherapy for many reasons: anxiety, emotional triggers, repeating patterns, anger, self-doubt, unexplained fears, or simply feeling stuck in life.

But interestingly, most don’t come first.

“About 95% of my clients come when they feel desperate,” Shanti says. “They’ve tried everything else.”

Our healthcare and social systems often focus on managing symptoms rather than addressing root causes. When you have a headache, you get a pill to stop the headache. Rarely do we investigate the deeper cause.

We’re also taught to think logically and suppress emotions rather than explore them. Many of us grew up hearing “stop crying,” which we internalised as: my emotions are not valid. Over time, unprocessed experiences shape our beliefs and behaviors without us realizing it.

Some behaviors we carry aren’t even ours; they’re adopted from family, culture, or environment.

Hypnotherapy works by addressing those root causes at the subconscious level.

6. What people fear before their first session

The biggest fear? Losing control.

“Most people spend their lives rationalising emotions,” Shanti explains. “But emotions aren’t logical; they’re meant to be felt.”

Many people worry they won’t be able to relax or that nothing will happen. But once they understand how hypnotherapy works and feel safe in the space, those fears usually dissolve.

Trust plays a major role. Clients need to feel comfortable, understood, and emotionally safe before going deeper.

7. What actually happens during a session

A first session usually begins with conversation and education. Clients learn how subconscious patterns are formed and how daily habits reinforce them.

Many experience “aha” moments before hypnosis even begins. From there, the process helps clients explore the root of certain beliefs or emotional responses. Often, they discover that a single experience or moment from the past shaped how they see themselves today.

Progress looks different for everyone. Some people need a few sessions; others may need more. The pace depends on how deep someone wants to go and how ready they are to confront what surfaces.

“It’s their therapy,” Shanti says. “I respect their tempo.”

8. Men and women often approach hypnotherapy differently

According to Shanti, women still make up the majority of her clients, and that’s not surprising. Women are often given more permission by society to express emotions and seek help.

Men, on the other hand, are often raised to suppress or rationalise their feelings. Being emotional is still not widely accepted for men in many cultures. Yet men are emotional beings, too.

“So by the time they reach adulthood, they don’t always know how to express what’s happening inside of them,” she explains.

The men who do seek hypnotherapy are often in leadership or high-pressure roles. Some don’t initially come for hypnotherapy itself, they simply want a safe, neutral space where they can talk and understand themselves better.

Ultimately, hypnotherapy isn’t about being emotional or logical. It’s about being human. And regardless of gender, anyone willing to look inward and understand their patterns can benefit from the process.

So… why consider hypnotherapy sooner rather than later?

Hypnotherapy makes the invisible visible. It helps people understand the subconscious beliefs and emotional patterns that quietly shape their lives. When those patterns become visible, they can finally be released or rewritten.

“If you understand yourself earlier,” Shanti reflects, “you may prevent yourself from reaching the worst version of your struggles.”

She told me she often wishes she had known then what she knows now. “In my twenties, I was saving, changing, and adapting myself for my father. Today, I am a completely different version of myself because of what I know.”

Instead of being a last resort, hypnotherapy can be a powerful first step toward awareness, healing, and self-connection. And perhaps the most important reminder: Your mind isn’t working against you. It’s always trying to protect you based on what it has learned throughout the years.