I'm Julia Melges-Brenner, C.Ht., and I'd like to welcome you to the virtual home of Quantum Leap Therapy, a form of deep trance healing that utilizes a combination of hypnotherapy, energy work and spiritual counseling. In addition to my hypnotherapy training, I'm an ordained Spiritualist minister, and in my spiritual counseling practice, I've been helping people create what they want in their lives since 1994.
QLT is located on the far west side of Ann Arbor, Michigan. While I do some work via phone and internet and have recordings available at my podcast site, most of my deep trance work is done in person. For those who are unfamiliar, the power in hypnotherapy lies in accessing and purposefully programming the subconscious mind. This is very powerful, for most of what we do every day is unconscious. For example, we don't consciously think about how to open a door; we just have a larger desire to enter a room or building, and as we approach it, our subconscious mind kicks in, making us reach for the knob, turn it a certain direction, pull the door, etc. With most doors, our subconscious minds even instantly compute which way the door will open.
Our subconscious minds do all sorts of things automatically every day. All of them are designed to be helpful, but in some cases, there are much better ways - alternatives that will be helpful but also fit into our conscious goals. For example, if Mary gets an emotional lift whenever she eats candy, then her subconscious mind may try to make her feel better by automatically reaching for candy when she's feeling a little blue. If her conscious goal is to lose weight, then we can give her subconscious mind an alternative habit that will both lift her mood and support her weight loss goals.
Many people have gotten the wrong idea about hypnosis from stage shows or television. Hypnosis is simply guiding someone into an altered state of consciousness, while hypnotherapy is utilizing that altered state of consciousness for a therapeutic aim. People in hypnosis are generally conscious of everything that takes place: they are simply in a deeply relaxed, receptive state, and are thus very open to suggestion on a subconscious level. People go into and out of trance many times each day. For example, have you ever been driving in the car and driven some distance without consciously thinking about where you're going? Most people do this every time they drive a familiar route; part of their mind is driving, while another part is "daydreaming." They are in an altered state of consciousness or light trance state.
While in a state of hypnosis, you can't be programmed to do anything you don't truly agree with or want to do. For this reason, it's essential that anyone seeking help through hypnosis have a sincere desire to achieve their stated goal. So if someone comes in to quit smoking because their spouse has been begging them to do so, and they don't truly want to quit themselves, their subconscious mind will most likely reject any suggestions to quit smoking.
Some people believe that they are too in control or intelligent to make good hypnosis subjects. In truth, studies have shown that the more intelligent and creative a person is, the better a hypnotic subject they will tend to be. It is presumed that this is in large part because hypnosis relies on faculties of imagination, and people who are highly imaginative find it easy to work on this inner landscape. You needn't worry that you won't be able to go into trance, for nearly everyone who wants to be hypnotized and believes it is possible for them to be hypnotized CAN be hypnotized. While you could choose to resist any suggestions that are made, that would defeat the whole purpose.
Research from Harvard Medical School and other institutions provides evidence that through hypnosis, we can gain conscious mental control over the body. In fact, hypnosis has been blessed by many mainstream medical institutions. In 1958, the American Medical Association officially recognized hypnosis as a form of treatment. The American Psychological Association has endorsed hypnosis for a number of years, and in 1995, the National Institutes of Health announced its support of hypnosis for cancer pain and other pain conditions.
I decided to pursue training in hypnotherapy after many months of struggling with a very frustrating medical condition (IBS). I tried everything to get relief, and hypnotherapy was the only thing that really worked. (That condition has since been cured.) I have been amazed by the power of hypnotherapy to quickly and easily resolve just about any problem you can think of. Please see the main page for a list of categories, and if what you'd like to work on isn't listed, don't worry: hypnotherapy can probably help you overcome it too.