Healing with Hypnotherapy: Smith Opens New Practice to Help Others Overcome Mental Obstacles – Mitchell Republic

MITCHELL – One patient at a time, Chelsey Smith uses hypnotherapy to help people overcome life’s obstacles.

Whether it’s improving learning abilities in children and adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), helping a spouse cope with an abusive relationship, or quit smoking, Smith’s hypnotherapy has helped Mitchell area residents overcome a myriad of issues that plagued their lives. .

“I put people in a relaxed state and work on singular issues at a time,” Smith said. “Suppose someone comes along and struggles with procrastination and wants to know why. We go back to the basic childhood memories that are locked away in their subconscious, and look at that from an adult perspective to understand how that childish logic is what they unknowingly operated on.

While Smith’s hypnotherapy practice is the first of its kind at Mitchell, it has been gaining momentum in recent months. Since she opened Heartfelt Healing Hypnotherapy in November, Smith said business started to take off within a month of her opening, thanks in large part to satisfied patients who referred others.

The positive results Smith’s hypnotherapy provided to Mitchell-area residents can be seen in Jeanie Morgan, a Mitchell woman who lost her then 9-year-old daughter, Iszabella “Bella” Morgan, in 2012 to a drunk driver. After a session with Smith, Morgan said she was “in shock” at how much she had “let go” of the trauma she had suffered from the tragic incident.

“I had so much guilt that I couldn’t save my daughter from a drunk driver, and I was so relieved to get that guilt out because I know I’m a good mother and would do anything to my children. I left her space feeling almost like I was lighter, full of life,” Morgan said. “It was an incredible breakthrough in my life.”

Before opening her practice, Smith found herself on the receiving end of hypnotherapy. After losing her mother, Vickie Lynn Prusha-Young, in early June, Smith said she was looking for ways to cope and get over the trauma of losing her mother.

That’s when she turned to hypnotherapy, which she said was a “life-changing” moment.

“I’ve struggled with complex trauma, debilitating depression and anxiety. I’m very open with my story and all the issues I’ve faced,” Smith said. my grief in a way that helped me make sense of everything I was going through.”

For Smith, helping others in the community through her hypnotherapy practices in her healing room at 515 W. Havens Ave. is one of the ways she “keeps her mother’s legacy alive”. Smith’s mother, Vickie, spent much of her life as a case manager at the Dakota Counseling Institute before she died of heart and lung disease in June.

The 29-year-old therapist recently received extensive training to become a Certified Rapid Transformation Therapist. Through her certification and training process in Florida, she learned to practice psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and neurolinguistic programming, to name a few of the areas in which she specializes.

Smith noted that there are distinct differences between hypnotherapy and traditional mental health counseling. What makes hypnotherapy different, Smith said, is identifying the root causes of the problems people face and developing ways to “get rid of” them.

“What’s different here is you bring the issues, we look at them and see how it’s affected your life, thank him for what he’s done and then get rid of it,” she said. declared. “I’ve had people who have struggled with debilitating depression and anxiety all their lives, and nothing has made sense. But when they get that peace and that moment of recognition to see the underlying belief , it is as if the world opened up to them.

Although hypnotherapy is a relatively new method for many people in the region who are looking for ways to overcome life’s obstacles, she said the type of hypnotherapy methods she offers are popular in other parts of the world. countries for decades, especially for professional athletes.

Professional golfer Tiger Woods and former NBA player Shaquille O’Neal are among the top professional athletes in the world who have turned to hypnotherapy to improve their performance. Smith said the benefit of hypnotherapy for athletes is its ability to “identify” areas of their performance that need improvement and then understand why a mental block exists in their mind.

“Let’s say a basketball player is having trouble making free throws, and he can’t figure out why. We understand why,” Smith said. “A lot of professional athletes and celebrities use hypnotherapy, not traditional counseling. , as it can rewire their thinking to give them the mindset they need to achieve their goals on the playing field.”

With the increasing prevalence of ADHD and ADD, Smith said hypnotherapy has shown “promising results” for people struggling with this mental disorder. Since opening her practice, Smith said she has provided people with ADD and ADHD with effective ways to improve their academic and job performance.

“I love working with people with ADHD and ADD because when you can get them to recognize how different their brains are, their lives change instantly,” Smith said. “I am able to teach them to prioritize things and work with their unique brain to achieve their goals in class or at work.”