Pioneering The Concept – Therapy Through Hypnosis
INTERVIEW WITH
DR. NATALIE CANDELA
CERTIFIED HYPNOTHERAPIST, TRANSFORMATION COACH, QHHT PRACTITIONER
Q: Hypnotherapy is still considered new as a therapy. Can you tell us what types of issues it can address?
A: Hypnotherapy is a behavioral therapy, so its focus is on changing our behaviors in the most beneficial and efficient way. We briefly identify the reasons and causes of behaviors just to know what needs to be cleared, but we do not dwell on the hurts of the past. Instead we focus on the way a person chooses to be now, and help make those changes.
Q: But doesn’t that sound almost too easy? After all, a lot of stuff might have happened in the past to bring us “here,” and it sounds like you are almost dismissing its importance.
A: For most of us, the present is definitely dictated by our past. In fact, about 90 per cent of our behaviors are simply subconscious programs formed in the past that are running without our ongoing input. Just think about how you would react if your in-laws criticized you, or if a car cut you off on a highway. You are likely to react to these situations in your usual manner (whatever that is) which was formed sometime in the past.
Our reactions are so well defined by our past that you could say we are sleepwalking through our present. Hypnotherapists help people rewrite their subconscious programming toward something that serves them better. I can compare it to shifting from regular dreaming to lucid dreaming: In regular dreaming, we don’t know that we are in a dream and have no control over the outcome of the dream. In a lucid dream, we are aware that we are in a dream and can choose its direction.
People who choose hypnotherapy might become aware that they have been following a “life script” without any control over it, and want to begin to rewrite their script.
Q: So if lucid dreaming (or knowing that you are asleep) is the second step, is there something that comes after that?
A: Awakening, I think; awakening to the true reality. To me, it is the realization that not only can we be the editors of our previously written script, but that we are its original and only authors. And that makes us incredibly powerful.
Q: Is that why you called your company Awakened Hypnosis, because you want to bring people to that reality?
A: Yes, ultimately. I use hypnosis simply as a tool; it is just one of the tools I use, but the goal is to help awaken people to whatever level of reality they are ready to experience. Some people are only ready to make minor editorial changes and are not ready to rewrite their destiny, and that is completely fine. I know that everyone who comes to me is a powerful creator whether they know it or not, and I treat them as such.
However, I believe that people have a divine right of a free choice, and I work with my clients on whatever level they are comfortable. I do not force anyone to believe a certain reality, but instead adjust what and how I say to what the client is able to accept.
Q: Is there a certain degree of manipulation in this?
A: No, at all. My intention is always to help the clients achieve their goals, so finding the right language is very important. I use NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming); Kappasinian suggestibility testing; and basic observation, to determine the best approaches. I never want to talk “over” someone, so my intention is merely to meet my clients where they are, and take them comfortably to where they want to be.
Q: I know that you have a spiritual approach to your work. Can you speak about that?
A: Yes, I believe that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. I believe that we are made in the image of our Creator, which is Love (and not a stereotypical old white man). This means that we have imprints of divine love and compassion within us. We have been endowed with a free will, however, so we can choose to activate those imprints or not, and there is no judgment from the Creator about that.
As spiritual beings, we are powerful creators, but we choose to forget our true identity while being human, simply to allow for a wide range of experiences. My true passion is in helping spiritual beings awaken to their true nature and reconnect with their divinity. My assignment in this life is to be a catalyst for people’s awakening. I have two “threes” in my birth date (12 and 3), and three means catalyst.
When I was seven years old, I became very committed to the goal of being a teacher. It became the only thing I wanted to be. And since that time, I have always identified myself as a teacher. I have been connected to the field of education all my life, and I believe that being a teacher has been my soul’s path for a very long time.
Q: Do you mean more than this lifetime?
A: Oh, definitely. Many more.
Q: You are referring to reincarnation, of course, and a lot of people are beginning to question if reincarnation is real and if we have lived before (or will again). What is your perspective on it?
A: The idea of reincarnation can become reasonable if we use spiritual common sense. If you were an actor, for example, and acting was your passion, would you be satisfied with taking only one role and then resting for the rest of your life? Unlikely. So why would a spiritual being with a passion for experiencing life live only once? As spirit, we exist outside of time and can go through multiple experiences simultaneously. However, our conscious minds are very linear and have difficulty understanding quantum reality. Remembering all of our lives would be mentally and emotionally overwhelming and would get in the way of living our current lives. Therefore, we are very limited in what we perceive. It’s like we only look at a tiny speck of paint, which is in reality part of a huge canvas. As a result of not seeing “the whole picture,” we often don’t perceive relationships that exist between seemingly random things in our lives. For example, why are we surrounded by certain people? Why do we repeat certain relationship patterns? Why do we go through certain difficult experiences? Why do we have unexplained fears or unexplained attitudes towards people and things?
Expending our perspective can help us understand things about our lives that previously made no sense. For example, I have had clients that came in with a long-standing grudge against a close family member, who completely and easily forgave that person after having a flash of insight into the bigger picture. Many of us are affected by the subconscious memories of our experiences outside this lifetime. Often such memories show up as phobias – fears that have no rational explanation. But such memories can also present themselves as our passions, interests, preferences, talents, which may all be influenced by more than just this lifetime. Think about the children born today displaying talents of master mathematicians, musicians, writers, etc. at the age when most of us hadn’t even begun to learn the ABCs. If we are to accept ourselves as timeless beings who have countless planetary experiences, then common sense would tell us that those experiences are bound to spill into each other if only at the subconscious level.
Q: So what is the best way for us to reconnect with our past?
A: It is usually done through a hypnotic regression. I go beyond a regular regression, though, and use Quantum Healing Hypnosis Technique (QHHT), which was developed by Dolores Cannon. It provides people with a powerful way of not only experiencing lifetimes outside
Q: Is it enough just to remember your past life to make dramatic changes?
A: Not necessarily. It is usually the reframing of a perspective or the clearing of an outdated energetic connection that makes a difference. A skillful hypnotherapist can take the information that becomes available in the regression and guides the individual with questions or suggestions toward the needed change. As a transformation coach, I also work with people in a conscious state to complete the transformation. Some of the things I do in a conscious state are ceremonial clearing, intention and goal setting, building of coherence, practical manifestation techniques.
Q: It sounds like people can experience profound changes in their lives as a result of this work, but many people are concerned about being hypnotized, or rather being un-hypnotizable. Does that happen?
A: That’s a question that everybody asks, isn’t it? The truth is that trance is such a natural state for us that we all experience it on a daily basis, at least those of us that sleep. If you want to know what being in hypnosis can feel like, think back to a time when you were about to fall asleep, and, while your conscious mind was still awake, you were welcoming a pleasant sensation of drifting off. Trance is a very relaxed state, in which your conscious mind is awake but relaxed, allowing for the doors to the subconscious to be open. If at any point, though, something happens that alarms the conscious mind, it can step forward and stop the experience. The person is always in control. After all, my intention is always to empower my clients and awaken them to their true selves.
