Hypnotherapy
Clinical hypnotherapy at Living Waters Counseling LLC — a safe, evidence-based approach to healing the mind and body.
When most people hear the word "hypnosis," their mind jumps to a showman swinging a pocket watch or commanding someone to cluck like a chicken. Although this is entertaining, clinical hypnotherapy couldn't be further from that image. It is a scientifically supported, professionally administered therapeutic tool — one that trained psychologists and counselors have used for decades to help people overcome trauma, break destructive habits, ease chronic pain, and reclaim their mental well-being. At Living Waters Counseling LLC, we are proud to offer clinical hypnotherapy as part of a comprehensive, trauma-informed approach to healing.
Dr. Ron Llewelyn, is a clinically trained hypnotherapist and trauma specialist with deep expertise in dissociation, ego state work, and complex trauma. With a psychology doctorate and specialized hypnotherapy training, Dr. Llewelyn brings one of the most sophisticated skill sets in the Salt Lake Valley to this profoundly effective modality. Whether you are struggling with unresolved trauma, persistent anxiety, a phobia you can't seem to shake, or a habit that has resisted every other approach — hypnotherapy may offer the breakthrough you've been looking for.
Dr. Ron Llewelyn, is a clinically trained hypnotherapist and trauma specialist with deep expertise in dissociation, ego state work, and complex trauma. With a psychology doctorate and specialized hypnotherapy training, Dr. Llewelyn brings one of the most sophisticated skill sets in the Salt Lake Valley to this profoundly effective modality. Whether you are struggling with unresolved trauma, persistent anxiety, a phobia you can't seem to shake, or a habit that has resisted every other approach — hypnotherapy may offer the breakthrough you've been looking for.
What Is Clinical Hypnotherapy?
Clinical hypnotherapy is a guided therapeutic process in which a trained clinician helps a client enter a state of focused relaxation and heightened receptivity — commonly called a "trance" — in which the conscious, analytical mind steps back and the subconscious mind becomes more accessible. Within this state, therapeutic suggestions, imagery, and processing techniques can be delivered with greater depth and effectiveness than is typically possible in a standard talk therapy session.
Here are some of the most important things to understand about clinical hypnotherapy:
Clinical hypnotherapy is a guided therapeutic process in which a trained clinician helps a client enter a state of focused relaxation and heightened receptivity — commonly called a "trance" — in which the conscious, analytical mind steps back and the subconscious mind becomes more accessible. Within this state, therapeutic suggestions, imagery, and processing techniques can be delivered with greater depth and effectiveness than is typically possible in a standard talk therapy session.
Here are some of the most important things to understand about clinical hypnotherapy:
- You are always in control. You cannot be made to do, say, or reveal anything against your will. The hypnotic state is cooperative — it works only because you allow it.
- Hypnosis is a natural brain state. It is not mysterious or supernatural. It closely resembles the focused absorption you feel when you are deeply engrossed in a book, driving a familiar route on "autopilot," or drifting in that pleasant space between wakefulness and sleep.
- It is scientifically grounded. EEG and neuroimaging research has documented measurable changes in brain activity during hypnosis, including altered activity in the default mode network, the anterior cingulate cortex, and areas linked to attention and self-processing.
- The American Psychological Association (APA) recognizes hypnotherapy as a legitimate, evidence-based therapeutic intervention for pain, anxiety, trauma, and behavioral change.
- It is not stage hypnosis. Stage hypnosis is entertainment — a performance that relies on showmanship, social compliance, and pre-selected highly suggestible volunteers. Clinical hypnotherapy is conducted by a licensed clinician in a private, confidential therapeutic setting with your wellbeing as the sole focus.
What Hypnotherapy Can Help With
Clinical hypnotherapy has a remarkably broad therapeutic application. At Living Waters Counseling, it is most commonly used to address the following concerns:
Hypnotherapy and Trauma: A Powerful Combination
Trauma is not simply a memory of a bad event — it is an experience that has been encoded in the body and the subconscious in ways that bypass ordinary conscious reasoning. This is precisely why so many trauma survivors find that traditional talk therapy, while helpful, doesn't fully resolve the symptoms. You can know intellectually that you are safe, and yet your nervous system keeps responding as if you are not.
Hypnotherapy addresses this gap directly. By working at the level of the subconscious mind — where traumatic memories, conditioned fear responses, and fragmented self-states are stored — hypnotherapy allows for processing and healing that simply cannot occur through conscious verbal recounting alone. Hypnotherapy will not be started until you feel safe and trust with our providers. We can also provide safety precautions at your request. For example, it can be recorded or you can have a loved one in the session.
Trauma lives below the level of words. Hypnotherapy is one of the few tools that can meet it there.
Clinical hypnotherapy has a remarkably broad therapeutic application. At Living Waters Counseling, it is most commonly used to address the following concerns:
- Trauma and PTSD — Accessing and reprocessing traumatic memories stored beneath conscious awareness
- Anxiety and panic disorders — Reducing the subconscious fear responses that fuel anxious thinking and physical symptoms
- Depression — Uncovering and reshaping core negative beliefs and emotional patterns
- Chronic pain management — Using subconscious suggestion and imagery to alter pain perception
- Phobias and irrational fears — Desensitizing the subconscious fear response to specific triggers
- Habit change — Smoking cessation, overeating, nail-biting, and other entrenched behavioral patterns
- Sleep disorders and insomnia — Quieting the overactive mind and establishing healthier sleep-state patterns
- Dissociation and ego state work — Communicating with and integrating dissociated parts of the self
- Performance enhancement — Overcoming performance anxiety, building confidence, and optimizing focus
- Grief and loss — Processing complicated grief and unresolved emotional pain at a deeper level
Hypnotherapy and Trauma: A Powerful Combination
Trauma is not simply a memory of a bad event — it is an experience that has been encoded in the body and the subconscious in ways that bypass ordinary conscious reasoning. This is precisely why so many trauma survivors find that traditional talk therapy, while helpful, doesn't fully resolve the symptoms. You can know intellectually that you are safe, and yet your nervous system keeps responding as if you are not.
Hypnotherapy addresses this gap directly. By working at the level of the subconscious mind — where traumatic memories, conditioned fear responses, and fragmented self-states are stored — hypnotherapy allows for processing and healing that simply cannot occur through conscious verbal recounting alone. Hypnotherapy will not be started until you feel safe and trust with our providers. We can also provide safety precautions at your request. For example, it can be recorded or you can have a loved one in the session.
Trauma lives below the level of words. Hypnotherapy is one of the few tools that can meet it there.
Will I lose control during hypnosis?
No. This is a common misconception about hypnotherapy, and it is definitively false. You are not asleep, unconscious, or under anyone's "control." You are in a state of focused relaxation in which you remain fully aware and fully capable of stopping the session at any time.
What does hypnosis feel like?
Most clients describe it as deeply relaxing — similar to the feeling of a very deep calm or the relaxed, drifty state just before falling asleep. You may feel a comfortable heaviness in your body, a narrowing of external awareness, or a sense of inner calm. Most people are surprised by how natural and comfortable it feels.
Can everyone be hypnotized?
Most people — roughly 85–90% — are capable of entering at least a light hypnotic state, which is sufficient for therapeutic work. A smaller percentage of individuals are highly hypnotizable and can access very deep trance states. A small minority find it difficult to experience hypnosis. Dr. Llewelyn assesses hypnotic responsiveness during the early phase of treatment and adjusts the approach accordingly.
Is hypnotherapy the same as stage hypnosis?
Not at all. Stage hypnosis is a form of entertainment that relies on social pressure, showmanship, and pre-selected volunteers who are motivated to perform. Clinical hypnotherapy is conducted by a licensed mental health professional in a private, confidential setting for the sole purpose of your healing. The two share the word "hypnosis" but are otherwise entirely different experiences.
How is hypnotherapy used for trauma?
Trauma is often encoded in the subconscious and body in ways that resist conscious verbal processing. Hypnotherapy allows Dr. Llewelyn to work with you at the subconscious level — accessing traumatic material, facilitating reprocessing, working with dissociated parts of the self, and installing corrective emotional experiences — in ways that talk therapy alone cannot always reach. It is often combined with EMDR and Brainspotting for a comprehensive trauma treatment approach.
Does insurance cover hypnotherapy sessions?
Living Waters Counseling LLC accepts most major insurance plans. Hypnotherapy sessions are billed as psychotherapy services and may be covered depending on your plan and diagnosis. We recommend calling your insurance provider to confirm your specific benefits.
Can hypnotherapy be conducted via telehealth?
Yes, hypnotherapy can be done via telehealth; however, Dr. Llewelyn finds that it complicates the session. If conducted via telehealth, headphones are recommended.
What does Hypnotherapy look like At Living Waters Counseling
Every hypnotherapy session at Living Waters Counseling follows a structured, clinically guided arc. Here is what that process looks like:
1. Induction
Dr. Llewelyn guides you through a gentle relaxation process — breath work, progressive muscle relaxation, or visualization — to help your mind shift into a calm, receptive state.
2. Deepening
The relaxation is gradually deepened using imagery or counting techniques, allowing access to subconscious material that is typically shielded by the analytical conscious mind.
3. Therapeutic Work
This is the heart of the session. Depending on your goals, Dr. Llewelyn may use therapeutic suggestion, guided imagery, age regression, ego state (parts) work, or trauma reprocessing techniques.
4. Emerging
You are gently and safely guided back to full wakefulness — alert, refreshed, and oriented. There is no grogginess or confusion.
5. Integration
Dr. Llewelyn discusses the session with you, anchors insights, and connects the work to your broader treatment goals.
1. Induction
Dr. Llewelyn guides you through a gentle relaxation process — breath work, progressive muscle relaxation, or visualization — to help your mind shift into a calm, receptive state.
2. Deepening
The relaxation is gradually deepened using imagery or counting techniques, allowing access to subconscious material that is typically shielded by the analytical conscious mind.
3. Therapeutic Work
This is the heart of the session. Depending on your goals, Dr. Llewelyn may use therapeutic suggestion, guided imagery, age regression, ego state (parts) work, or trauma reprocessing techniques.
4. Emerging
You are gently and safely guided back to full wakefulness — alert, refreshed, and oriented. There is no grogginess or confusion.
5. Integration
Dr. Llewelyn discusses the session with you, anchors insights, and connects the work to your broader treatment goals.
Phone: (801) 921-7854
Office Address: 5296 S Commerce Drive, Suite 206, Murray, UT 84107
Service Area: Murray, Salt Lake City, West Jordan, Sandy, Midvale, and throughout Utah via telehealth
Telehealth: Available statewide across Utah — HIPAA-compliant video sessions
Insurance: Most major insurance plans accepted
Living Waters Counseling LLC | 5296 S Commerce Drive, Suite 206, Murray, UT 84107 | (385) 235-3799
Clinically Trained Hypnotherapist & Trauma Specialist | In-Person & Telehealth Available