Mariam Abdel-Akher writes about people who Turn to alternative methods to treating their mental illness
Anthony Hallet, a certified consulting hypnotist, started his career as a chainsmoker. He said at first, he was skeptical about hypnotherapy.
“I always knew I needed to quit [smoking]. I tried a lot of different things: the gum, the patch. [Then] I saw a hypnosis show. Someone had mentioned before that I should try hypnosis, but I thought it was a stupid idea. But, then I did some research about it.” – Anthony Hallet, now a certified consulting hypnotist, on his first exposure to hypnotherapy
Hallet then went to see a certified hypnotist, who he said cured his smoking addiction. He said he is only successful because of hypnosis.
Hypnotherapy harnesses hypnosis, which involves putting someone in a state of extreme suggestibility, in order to treat people with mental illnesses and addiction. It’s similar to the hypnotist who performs on stage at Carleton frosh events, but performed by psychologists and trained professionals.
According to the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), it is estimated that 10-20 per cent of Canadian youth are affected by a mental illness or disorder.
Hypnotherapy is becoming an increasingly common way of treating mental health conditions.
Going under
Jean-Roch Laurence, a psychology professor at Concordia University, said the effectiveness of hypnotherapy depends on the person. For instance, if someone is not willing to be hypnotized, then the treatment will not succeed. There are other factors which can also be a barrier to the treatment’s success.
“People vary within both the capacity and process of working memory,” Laurence said. “People who are less hypnotizable have a better working memory, so the attentional system doesn’t have to be as performant.”
Laurence said hypnotherapy should not be adopted instead of medication, that this should never be the case, adding that medical professionals should have the final say.
“Many people think that when they start any type of psychotherapy or hypnotherapy that they can put aside whatever medication they had,” Laurence said. “I think that is a big mistake because one is not incompatible with the other, and you have to wait and see there is improvement before you do anything.”
However, Laurence said hypnotherapy can be very successful with or without medication, adding that he warns people to see hypnotists who are professionally trained.
“There’s been good results with, for example, depression, with control of pain,” Laurence said. “So, there is quite of bit of applications that have been validated.”
Hallet took so much from the experience, he now has his own practice in Ottawa: the Canadian Hypnosis Centre.
Clients of the Canadian Hypnosis Centre had the options of either going to a few stand-alone sessions or implementing ongoing treatment, Hallet said. He added that in order to fully experience treatment, they can’t be resistant.
“Hypnosis is the process of reaching their goals both mentally and physically, and changing their mindset towards negative behaviour or habits, and improving on positive habits or behaviours,” Hallet said. “Ninety per cent of the population can be hypnotized. There’s the 10 per cent . . . that may try hypnosis, but don’t really want to succeed.”
Mixed Success
Kylie O’Connor, a high school student, said she has been struggling with mental illness since she was a child, specifically obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety, and depression.
O’Connor started hypnotherapy as a last resort when she was nine years old to treat her OCD and to “get a break from the thoughts for a while.”
O’Connor said hypnotherapy was an alternative treatment, as the medication she was taking was making her feel numb. However, she said it didn’t work for her at the time and 
the treatment was very expensive.
“It was a really dark room and she would just talk really calmly and put me in a fantasy world, which I didn’t really end up listening to her. I’d either fall asleep or I would not listen to anything she’d say.” – Kylie O’Connor, high-school student on her experience with hypnotherapy
O’Connor still believes that hypnotherapy can work for some people, however she said as at the time, as a young girl with OCD, it wasn’t the
right combination of treatment.
“My thoughts were so loud. I had an open mind [when I first started], but I was more on the side of it not working,” she said.
O’Connor added it might work better for her when she’s an adult.
How are Health Services reacting?
Hypnotherapy is not offered as a service at Algonquin College, according to communications manager Ruth Dunley.
Bonnie Stephenson, assistant director of Health and Counselling Services at Carleton University said in an email that Carleton has had counsellors who were trained in hypnotherapy, but those counsellors had since left.
“All of our counsellors choose from a variety of techniques and approaches that work for them and for the people they are helping,” she said. “Counsellors here are independent clinicians who make choices about how and when to use those techniques.”
Despite not having practitioners of the technique, Stephenson said this is not a position the school has taken discounting the service.
“It is certainly a technique that can be helpful for certain issues, we have made no conscious decisions about it either way. I would say it’s not something that students commonly ask for, but if someone was interested in pursuing it, we would certainly refer them to someone in the community who offers it. We would also discuss other treatment options that we might be able to offer here that might also be helpful.” – Bonnie Stephenson, assistant director of Health and Counselling Services at Carleton
Currently hypnotherapists in Ontario without a degree of psychotherapy or psychology are labelled as holistic healing therapists.
Grace Joubarne, a clinical hypnotherapist in Ottawa, said this label puts people who don’t have these degrees at an unfair disadvantage. She said this equates to them being targeted by Ontario legislation, according to Joubarne. Joubarne is certified as a clinical hypnotherapist, a medical and dental hypnotherapist, and a holistic practitioner, but under the Ontario legislation these do not qualify her to practice as a pyscotherapist. This means she cannot advertise herself as able to treat for mental illness.
Joubarne said in an email that “The College of Registered Psychotherapists (CRPO) is not only marginalizing hypnotherapists, it is, together with the College of Psychologists, monopolizing all mental healthcare treatments and marginalizing all natural, holistic and spiritual practitioners.”
Joubarne said the legislation is not fair to practicing hypnotherapists because the CRPO ultimately makes the final decision on who is legally able to treat those with mental illnesses. She alleges that the members of the College have designed the legislation so they weed out the competition, and do not allow for alternative counselling methods, such as hypnotherapy.
Recently in November 2017, the CRPO made amendments to the legislation. On their website, it says the College is run by “nine professional members elected by their peers.”
It also says the regulations are in place “so you can be assured that your psychotherapist is practicing in a competent and ethical manner.”
In an email, Sabina Hinkel, acting communications manager for CRPO said, “CRPO has developed a list of activities that it deems to be outside the controlled act of psychotherapy and this list includes hypnotherapy. While psychotherapists may do some of these activities, a provider who undertakes them in isolation or in the absence of a formal psychotherapeutic relationship is not practicing psychotherapy.”
Section 8 of the Ontario legislation states, “No person other than a member (of the College of Psychotherapy) shall hold himself or herself out as a person who is qualified to practice in Ontario as a psychotherapist, registered psychotherapist, or registered mental health therapist.”
Hallet said he doesn’t label himself as a hypnotherapist because “there are certain guidelines that I have to follow and . . . there are conflicts with psychologists, psychiatrists, councillors, therapists of that nature. I don’t treat, diagnose, or cure any individuals; I just help them succeed.”
