Hypnotherapist aims to help people discover more fulfilling lives

Hilary Leehane, consulting hypnotherapist, originally trained as an industrial designer — someone who develops concepts for manufactured products. The job would have combined art, business and engineering. However, six months after graduating, she developed a severe sleeping disorder that threw her imagined life “off the tracks,” she says.

“Among the doctors I saw and medications I took, the single most effective treatment I found was hypnosis.”

The Little Britain resident, who recently opened State of Mind Hypnosis in Lindsay, has been qualified as a practicing hypnotherapist for the past two years.

She says the most common reasons for visiting a hypnotherapist are anxiety and weight loss. “Luckily, it only takes a few sessions to release most anxieties and my weight loss program has been very successful,” she says. Many people also use hypnosis to explore their spirituality, another side of the work she enjoys.

Leehane says she has treated people “who have suffered paralyzing anxiety (and) have stepped back into really dynamic lives,” from quitting smoking to feeling like their lives are moving in the right direction.

While many people think hypnotherapy is like what they see on stage or in movies, Leehane says that’s not it at all. “My clients would tell you that they go into a state where they are more relaxed than they have ever been. They are aware and awake the whole time. We have conversations back and forth and they release all their limiting beliefs about themselves.”

State of Mind Hypnosis is located at 84 Russell St. W. Learn more at somhypnosis.com or call 705-313-9079.