MA, CH
Oak Park
(708) 524-9103
GOrlandoMA@aol.com
Hypnotherapy, Wellness Consultant, Reiki Master

Services

Describe your services:
Hypnotherapy for health enhancement, personal growth, smoking cessation, weight reduction, fears, anxiety, stress management, sports/golf improvement, decluttering, sales motivation, self-esteem, support for various medical conditions and to move through “stuck stuff.” Hypnosis will feel very familiar and comfortable to you, similar to deep relaxation, meditation and guided imagery. It is more deep, it’s guided and you are always in control. Therapeutic hypnotherapy is not at all what you see on movies, cartoons or stage. I use a biofeedback device to give me and the client feedback showing the relaxation response and the depth of hypnosis. It’s fascinating, interesting and effective! I am also a Wellness Consultant and Reiki Master. In addition I use Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), Transformational Healing Method (THM), NLP, meditative techniques and some effective techniques to access spiritual awareness and healing. Reiki energy healing sessions are also available, and offer a way to allow healing without a lot of words and processing. I offer a free email newsletter with helpful hints and a list of my class offerings.

How does your healing modality work?
Your mind is very powerful since it is created by a Source greater than yourself, and we tap into great wisdom, support, goodness and healing. Hypnosis is a shift in mind-state (to alpha and theta states) where we connect with the subconscious mind, the part of your mind that runs your body, the place where your habits live, the place where your emotions reside. Through hypnosis your subconscious mind becomes available and more receptive to accept new positive suggestions to manifest the desired and deserved changes in your life. The subconscious mind is a missing piece in conventional therapy. When the subconscious mind picks up a suggestion, change can happen quickly and easily. We can also connect with the Superconscious mind, that place where wisdom, peace, enlightenment, forgiveness, compassion and love reside. I act as a facilitator for your process. I love my work and get wonderful results with my clients. I feel blessed because I attract great clients who have the desire to change. Even though hypnosis is mind-based, we also connect with body, emotions and spirit, too. It’s a holistic modality… gentle, yet powerfully effective.

How do you see your services evolving over the next three years?
I am working more with the Superconscious mind, getting to the core spiritual issues that can offer a client great relief and transformation. Since I am also trained in Complementary Medical Hypnotism, I see my work going more into some specialty health areas, and am looking to work within an Integrative Medical center to offer my skills to a greater audience. I currently work with clients to help panic/anxiety, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), fears and phobias, surgery prep, insomnia, diabetes and pain reduction. I also love working with kids and am intrigued with various ways to help kids with fears, self-esteem and performance issues. They respond so well to hypnosis and EFT!
Top

Benefits

What are the benefits/results people see?
People know it’s working because they see/feel positive shifts with their issues. These include stress reduction, smoking cessation, relationship enhancement, weight loss, blood pressure reduction, IBS symptom reduction, pain reduction, improved sleep, release of panic, anxiety, fears, bad habits (nail biting, etc.), diabetes support, performance and learning enhancement, confidence and self-esteem building. The vast majority of clients experience positive results. With any medical issue I need a referral from the treating physician.

Why do people come to see you?
Clients are pulled to me because they are intrigued with hypnosis and have heard how very effective it is. I also get a lot of referrals from previous clients and local physicians and therapists. Clients are grateful that I am skilled, genuine, caring, non-shaming and experienced. I also have a great sense of humor. I see private clients and also do groups for weight loss, smoking cessation, stress reduction, and golf/sports performance enhancement. Many people see me for these issues. Others see me for issues mentioned above. I also see teens, and children age seven and older.

Who is an ideal client?
A person who wants positive change and is willing to be involved in a process to work on their issue. Also, it’s important to listen every day to the hypnosis CD created in the sessions and to do the other mind-body techniques in order to facilitate positive changes. Many people come to hypnosis after gaining awareness about their issues in therapy and then seek a modality to break through these issues. Even though hypnosis is very powerful, it’s not a magic pill, so I ask for a three-session minimum from clients. Most people see some positive change within this time span.

What makes you different/good at what you do?
I have 25 years experience in the holistic health and personal growth field. Because I also have experienced pain in my own life and have been drawn to a search for health, wholeness and healing, I am very compassionate. People quickly feel comfortable with me.
Top

Philosophy/Approach

Describe your healing philosophy:
As my Italian grandmother said, “Ev’ry body gotta some-a-ting.” And I believe that healing is possible. We are complex and mysterious beings comprised of body, mind, heart and soul. With hypnosis we tap into the power of the mind, created by a Source greater than ourselves. And through the mind we also tap into spirit, emotions and body. I love that I found a healing modality that is so holistic, non-invasive, supportive and powerfully effective.

Describe your style or approach:
Supportive, facilitative, caring, engaging. The hypnosis process, and the biofeedback after the session, is very interesting, relaxing, effective—and fun. Reiki energy healing is another way to support the client.

Why do you do what you do?
I was led to the healing arts several decades ago as a call to something deep within. I decided on hypnotherapy as a specialty since I made such breakthroughs in my own issues by seeing a hypnotherapist during a particularly dark time of my life, including a difficult health issue.
Top

Education/Background

Education/Training:
- Master of Arts from DePaul University, Chicago, IL as an Educator and Consultant in Holistic Health Promotion and Alternative Medical Therapies
- C.H. (Certified Hypnotherapist) from the Leidecker Institute, Elgin, IL
- Also certified in Complementary Medical Hypnosis through the National Guild of Hypnotists, Nashua, NH, 2002
-Continuously training in Emotional Freedom Techniques since 2001
- Certified in the Transformational Healing Method (TM), 2002
-Certified in Holographic Memory Resolution (TM), Level !!, 2005
- Certified as a Reiki Master, 2007

Years Professionally Practicing:
I’ve been in the holistic health field since 1981 and have been a certified hypnotherapist since 2001. I received my Master’s degree in 1998. I have 26 years experience in the holistic health field as an educator, consultant, workshop leader, facilitator and writer.

Contributions/Publications:
As a faculty member of the National Guild of Hypnotists Convention, August 2003, 2005, 2007 and the Mid-America Hypnosis Conferences, 2003 -06, I get an opportunity to help train my colleagues in the hypnosis field. I am interviewed in the new book by Iris Krasnow called “Surrendering To Yourself: You Are Your Own Soul Mate.” This third book in her trilogy came out in spring, 2003. Iris was intrigued with my own personal and spiritual process and my work as a hypnotherapist. Iris has been a guest on Oprah, and her other two books were bestsellers. Also, in 1986-87 I did wellness and natural food consulting within the medical practice of noted author Christiane Northrup, M.D., in Maine, author of “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom” [in which I am mentioned by name] and “The Wisdom Menopause.” My thesis advisor was Bruno Cortis, M.D., local holistic cardiologist, and author of “Heart and Soul.” I was mentored for over two years by Rev. Dr. C. Scot Giles, nationally and internationally for his work in complementary medical hypnosis, especially for his successful work with cancer patients through his hypnosis program at LaGrange Hospital in LaGrange, IL.
Top

What to expect

Describe a typical session:
The first session includes an intake time of15 minutes, an introduction explaining what hypnosis is and isn’t, and doing suggestibility testing. (Of over 2,000 people that I have tested individually and in groups, only several were not suggestible at all.) Then we have the hypnosis session using the biofeedback monitor, with the client seated in a very comfortable reclining chair with their eyes closed and great relaxing music in the background. They have a relaxing job! The hypnosis lasts about 25 minutes or so. I make a CD of the session for the client to listen to at home for additional support and to facilitate change more quickly. We take a few minutes to wrap up the session and talk about the experience, including viewing the biofeedback graph to show the body relaxation response and see which hypnosis level was achieved. Subsequent sessions would include discussing their progress and issue(s), sharing a mind-body technique to help facilitate the change, doing some style of hypnosis and wrapping up.

How long is a typical session?
The first session is 75 minutes. Other sessions are an hour or longer if the client desires this extra time. An exception is smoking cessation. This is a four session process which spans four and a half hours. It includes an educational aspect of learning healthy new habits, tips and techniques to support the quit, helping to remove cravings, thoughts and urges and busting up some myths about smoking.

Describe your office or treatment room:
I have a comfortable quiet home office in the Ridgeland Historic District of Oak Park. I am also associated with Integrative Therapies Medical Center, the integrative medical practice of Carlos Reynes, M.D., in River Forest. In addition, I do group hypnosis at Integrative Therapies, The Park District of Oak Park, Gottlieb Hospital ’s Health and Fitness Center in Melrose Park for their members and for the public, and at other hospitals and businesses for their employees and the general public.

How should someone prepare for a session?
Be open, relaxed and arrive on time with your intake form completed and Client Bill of Rights signed. (I send these out to the client in advance). Important!! Please refrain from wearing perfumes/fragrances of any kind (even in lotions and hair products) since I have an intolerance to these chemicals, and avoid caffeine for at least three hours before our session.
Top

Logistics

Office hours/days of the week:
I have day and evening hours, Monday - Friday. My evening hours are at 6:30pm and 7:45pm.

Fee Range
$100 per hour hypnosis session. The first session is 75 minutes and is $125. I ask for a three-session minimum commitment for all clients. You may pay for all three sessions at once. I do ask for payment in advance of scheduled appointments. More than three sessions are often needed and desired if the issue is complex. Longer sessions are also available and prorated. I prefer to be paid by check or cash, but do accept VISA/MC. (Note: Weight loss is a process. A client can choose the three sessions or contract for six sessions at the reduced package price of $495. Smoking cessation involves four sesssions, several of them are longer sessions. I now have a more economical way of doing the smoking program. It’s a $395 package. Call for details. Additional sessions may be needed.

Reiki sessions are $85 hour.

Take Insurance?
No, because insurance companies normally do not reimburse for hypnosis. I give a professional receipt which a client can submit to their insurance company.

Cancellation Policy?
Yes, I require 24 hours notice of cancellation, as is customary. I do charge for missed appointments, as is customary. This is my livelihood.
Top

Closing Comments

What else might someone want to know about you?
In my first career I was pulled to spiritual ministry as a church musician. I also taught children how to play piano and was an elementary music teacher (Pre-K through 8th ). My life would not have been complete without this work. I have been in Oak Park most of the time since 1975 and am involved in my community. I am married to a great guy, our relationship offering us much opportunity for growth! I love to laugh and sing and am proud of having many long-lasting friendships.
Top