The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the American Council of Hypnotist Examiners.

by Anna Kato

The word sanctuary originated in the 14th century according to Webster’s Dictionary and meant the most sacred part of a church. This meaning is still understood and used. Over time, the word has come to mean a place of refuge and safety. During my training, I was introduced to the idea of using the concept of sanctuary in hypnotherapy. The concept appealed to me because I suspected that clients would recognize that they have autonomy over their experiences from the onset of their sessions.

Most of my clients see me to develop greater confidence in various settings or to learn how to approach situations assertively rather than angrily. Some want to find new and effective ways to deal with stressors, tension, or fear. Others may wish to pass an exam or speak a language more fluently. A few clients wish to have help managing pain, especially when it is accompanied by emotional distress. When I meet new clients, I provide a typical pre-talk. Then, I ask if they might enjoy experiencing hypnosis while being in a place where they feel peaceful and safe, a place no one else can enter without their permission. I explain that the place can be a real place or a place they imagine. I don’t use the word sanctuary in every instance especially if the word could hold a religious connotation for a client who is not religious or with a client whom I sense would be uncomfortable with the word. Often, I tell them that the place might be somewhere they love and feel most themselves. One person said, “Oh. You mean my happy place.”

I am intrigued, even moved, by the beauty of clients’ sanctuaries. Their sanctuaries have included places such as a transparent bubble anchored underwater, or meadows ringed by a forest, or a grove of trees near a pond or stream, or river. Some clients choose to remain in the meadow sitting or lying on sweet grasses often among flowers, sitting on soft soil, or on sand. Others enter the water near their meadow to sit on the bank with their feet in the water. Some clients float on their backs as they look up at the sky, then return to the bank for the duration of the session. Some swim a distance from shore for short time then pause to relax on a boulder in warm sunlight as the session progresses. Others enter their sanctuaries by taking a walk on a trail leading to a favorite beach where I conduct the session. Another client created a small cottage for herself where she could sit comfortably, looking out a window at various times of day enjoying the light during her sessions. Occasionally, she would leave the cottage to sit among trees. A client whom I have seen over time situates himself outside near a fruit tree with his cat.

When clients tell me that they would enjoy entering hypnosis in their sanctuaries, I usually begin sessions with a short induction consisting of focused breathing and deepeners followed by an invitation to go to their peaceful, safe place. When they arrive there, I ask them to describe the place in as much detail as possible. Then, the client begins to accomplish the goal or intention for the session right in their sanctuary. On one occasion a client placed herself on a cloud, moving through the sky in morning sunlight. I decided to ask her to rest on earth for a time because she seemed slightly unfocused. She agreed and placed herself in a forest against a fir tree where I conducted the full session.

Near the conclusion of a session. when clients have left the initial location of their sanctuary, I invite them to retrace the steps of their journey to return to the place where they began. When it is time to re-alert clients, I ensure that they have time in their sanctuary to savor their experience in that place. I like to use a sentence I learned from Katherine Zimmerman: “Take all the time you need in the next clock one minute” so they can savor their feelings in their safe, calm place. The minute can become two or three minutes depending on the client’s level of relaxation or reluctance to return to full awareness. I suggest that clients can enter their sanctuary whenever they wish just by taking two or three deep breaths and envisioning themselves there. I make sure that the client is fully alert when I conclude the session. Sessions usually last about an hour.

One client has given me permission to share his perspectives on sanctuary and to describe details of his experiences. I am grateful to him for his consent.

Aidan (a pseudonym) is in his forties and resides in northern California. He is a wildlife biologist specializing in research on wild birds. He is also a massage therapist. He sought hypnotherapy to assist him in gaining confidence to drive on freeways after experiencing a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI). He felt at ease driving his truck off-road but was anxious about driving on the freeway where other drivers can be unpredictable. When I asked him during our preliminary conversation if he would like to enter hypnosis in a calm place, a sanctuary, a place of his choosing where he could begin to regain his confidence with freeway driving, he replied affirmatively.

Session 1: After a brief induction of breathing and deepeners, Aidan placed himself in a clearing in the forest where off road driving is comfortable for him. He wasn’t driving much at that time and missed driving in the woods. He reported feeling resistant to driving on the freeway. He told me while in hypnotic trance that his body felt tense, especially when he remembered driving on asphalt. His head hurt, and neck muscles felt tight. I assisted him to access the emotions associated with the physical tension. He said that the emotions felt like a sort of garbage he no longer needed or wanted. He disposed of the garbage in a magical pond that can digest garbage without ecological consequences, kind of like if Oscar the Grouch was a pond. After discarding the garbage Aidan noticed that his body felt relaxed, not tense. He noticed reddish light around the tops of trees and said that the moon was in eclipse. He also noticed a bird’s flight feather. The feather was an unusual opaque teal color and to his amazement, as a long as a bus. He was surprised that he knew he could take a ride on the feather. The feather seemed magical to him. He could maneuver the feather well, especially to execute a 180-degree turn. At that point, he imagined himself in the forest clearing again, and enjoyed relaxing there for a minute. I re-alerted him and ended the session. He scheduled a second session for a week later.

Session 2: After the induction and deepener, Aidan located himself in the middle of a sunny meadow. He sat on the widest rock among other rocks. He said he felt relaxed and happy and was surprised to be aware of flowers; this was not something usual for him. The flowers included Yarrow, Queen Ann’s Lace, Lavender, Lovage, and a silvery-white Lavender. He felt a sort of energy exchange with the flowers and wanted to simply enjoy the experience and “get out of his head.” He was quite clear about wanting to be quiet and enjoy his experience. When he was ready, I re-alerted him. He scheduled a next session for two weeks later.

Session 3: Aidan’s sanctuary was again the forest clearing. His truck was nearby. He said that he was remembering negative thoughts that undermined his confidence. I asked him to imagine himself reading those remembered thoughts and to “see” them written on a white board, especially the thoughts that undermined his confidence about driving on the freeway. He read the written thoughts, then erased them completely. He then imagined hearing negative thoughts from a recording that undermined his confidence with respect to freeway driving. He turned down the volume until he no longer heard the thoughts. Then, he became aware of hearing negative thoughts that he perceived within himself, his inner critic. He turned off the internal critic, silenced it, and accepted my suggestion that his confidence instantly improved whenever he turned off the noisy thoughts broadcasted by his inner critic. Next, he imagined a time when he felt incredibly confident. I used a 1-5 count to assist his subconscious mind to retrieve the confident feelings and to be aware of how his body and mind felt at the core of those confident feelings. I suggested that he breathe into the feelings, experience the feelings, and expand them. I also suggested that he trust himself to allow that confidence to reside within him and that that confidence is always with him. He then said that he was ready to imagine driving on a specific freeway. He asked his brain to remind him to balance driving with rest. He experienced some sadness as he drove and felt tearful. I asked him what he wanted to do with the sad tears. He wanted to let them go and placed them into a bag that he devised especially for them so that he could dump the bag of sad tears into the water of the delta. He observed himself taking a freeway exit to return off road to his sanctuary in the forest clearing. He rested there for a brief time, and I re-alerted him to end the session. He said that he felt calm and scheduled a third session two weeks later.

Session 4: Aidan had driven short distances on the freeway between appointments. During this session his sanctuary was the forest in the afternoon in sunny, yellow, bright light. He noticed a California Oak tree with some of its roots touching cool water. The Oak seemed settled and strong. He described the tree’s root formation looking something like a human brain. He felt ready to imagine himself driving on the freeway and remembered that he could do so effortlessly before the MTBI. I suggested that he allow messages of competence and confidence to flow freely from his body to his brain and from his brain to his body. I reminded him that he could create the outcome he desired—to drive on the freeway with optimal trust in himself. I invited him to feel that trust in his mind and body and, when he was ready, to feel the trust in his hands, too; the hands that steered the car so adeptly and confidently. To anchor his feelings of confidence, I suggested that he touch the back of his right hand with his left, applying slight pressure to the right hand for about 30 seconds, seeing himself driving as he did so, then remove his fingers to let his hands rest naturally at his sides. I directed him to repeat this several times and suggested that he do the same whenever he wanted to so that he could remember how able he was to drive on the freeway, confidently, easily, expertly. I alerted him sufficiently to give him a quick rest. He resumed the hypnotic trance easily, and while in a deeper trance again, imagined himself taking a photograph of himself driving on the freeway comfortably and easily. He reduced the image to a wallet sized photo so that he could retrieve it easily any time he wanted to see himself driving on the freeway ably and happily. He also pictured keeping the feather with him, providing him with what he described as a felt sense of calm confidence. Aidan felt ready to drive on the freeway, increasing short drives to longer drives. He did not schedule another appointment but let me know that he was able to drive about 120 miles, rest overnight and return home the next day.

Some months later, Aidan scheduled and appointment because complex situations in his life seemed to impinge on his confidence, creating within him feelings of anxiety. During this session, Aidan located himself on a mountain top where he could see the tops of other mountains in the distance. Colors were vivid–twilight colors of mauve, purple and navy blue. He was aware of ethereal music that seemed to be everywhere, surrounding him. He said that the music signified that the beautiful sound, sounds of the earth and earth beings are always there. The music signified “slow down; get back in touch with the feather.” The edges of the feather became a “perfect color,” a purple twilight color, creating an “envelope of calm.” He laughed and said that his truck needed new speakers, something totally practical. After giving Aidan time to enjoy his confidence in the twilight on the mountaintop, I re-alerted him. He left the session telling me that he felt at ease, confident, peaceful, and capable.

When Aidan and I talked about his experiences in hypnotherapy for this article he told me that beginning a session in his place of sanctuary allowed him to trust hypnosis as a process that felt natural, easy, and made sense. He told me that it created for him a parallel experience to that of driving: Beginning at home, having an adventure, and returning home. He said that he experienced hypnotherapy as “lived experience” though separate from everyday life. In each session he noticed how images were vivid, especially colors. Aidan can drive for several hours on the freeway now, whenever he chooses to or needs to for his work. He follows his neurologist’s advice to rest overnight if the drive is a long one. When the actions of other drivers on the freeway seem especially unpredictable or aggressive, the feather is present. He experiences its presence as a “felt sense of safety,” akin to having another person in his truck with him. The color of the feather changes to a purple-silver if he notices that he is becoming anxious. With the presence of the feather, he can become “totally relaxed,” almost like he used to feel about driving anywhere before the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

I enjoy assisting people to realize their potential. After retiring as a teacher educator from University of California, Davis, and working in collaboration with colleagues in teacher preparation at California State University, Sacramento, I decided that I wanted to pursue certification as a hypnotherapist. Hypnotherapy is a practical and efficient way of gaining a deeper understanding of ourselves and of making beneficial changes in our lives. It helps us to value ourselves, and to value the intricacies of our lives–even the difficult times.

I am especially adept at assisting people to improve academic performance, to teach with increased clarity and focus, to alleviate test anxiety, to reduce stress, to improve self-esteem and to increase confidence, to enhance creativity, and reduce pain, particularly chronic pain. https://wiseravenhypnotherapy.com/