Hypnosis in Psychotherapy with Dr. Sera Lavelle

We had the pleasure of having Dr. Sera Lavelle, who specializes in weight loss, eating disorders, trauma, and relationships, on the Know & Do Better Podcast.

Dr. Sera Lavelle is a clinical psychologist, as well as an expert in using hypnosis integrative therapy for weight loss, eating disorders, anxiety, depression, infertility, and relationship issues. She is the owner of her group practice of esteemed Psychologists at NY Health Hypnosis & Integrative Therapy and will soon be launching her revolutionary app, Be a Better Eater using AI and mindfulness to change people’s relationship with food. She has been featured in Forbes, L Magazine and Allure and helped hundreds of people to overcome difficulties.

The history of hypnosis predates psychotherapy by Sigmund Freud. Hypnosis during that time was used for relaxation and pain management. It also used to be the only way to operate the human body. As we got more aligned with medication, hypnotherapy was less used. Freud used hypnosis back then to treat women with a condition he called hysteria or weird unexplainable symptoms such as phantom arm pain. Hypnosis today is used for psychology, when a patient is feeling stuck they can use it to connect to the subconscious, putting the power back into the patient’s hands.

The whole idea of hypnosis is ambivalent, such as when a person feels as though they are conflicted in what they want and what they do. For example, a person with a binge eating disorder will want to eat healthily but then psychologically break the good habit and eat until they are physically sick.

Contrary to the popular belief, hypnosis can’t make you do what you don’t want to do, it just makes you more aware of your want to change and feel more compelled to do the things you felt stuck on.

Thank you Dr. Sera Lavelle for your perspective on hypnosis, and we hope you have enjoyed reading.

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