Healing from Chronic Illness: My Personal Story

My story:
Before I became a certified hypnotherapist, I spent over 10 years battling chronic illness.

When it all started, I was working at my dream job in a biotech lab, traveling, having fun with family and friends, and enjoying life. But one day, a few years into my scientific career, I began experiencing symptoms. At first it started with digestive issues and allergies. Over time, things continued to get worse. Eventually, almost all of the systems in my body were affected and I had to take a leave from work. At my worst, I had racked up 30+ diagnoses involving the immune system, nervous system, the brain, gastrointestinal system, heart, connective tissues, and more. I could only eat a handful of foods, and reacted to everything- smells, sounds, light, and the environment around me in general. I couldn’t really go anywhere or do much except for rest in bed.

It felt so frustrating to see countless doctors, specialists, functional medicine practitioners, and more who were able to give me a diagnosis or a pill but ultimately could not help me feel better. The prescribed medications and supplements, which cost a small fortune, in the end did not provide the lasting relief I so desperately needed.

Eventually, I got to the point where I felt like all hope was lost since my body was reacting to most of the treatment options. I was in this dark pit of chronic illness, anxiety, and mental health challenges. At my rock bottom, during the pandemic, I barely had the energy to get out of bed. I spent many days in the dark feeling just awful. Days and months passed by and each looked the same as the next. Each day was spent surviving the best I could. The only time I left my room was to go to medical appointments. Life felt so dreary and hopeless.

Somehow though, after years of struggling, I finally came to the conclusion that what I was doing wasn’t working for me. I decided in that moment that I was going to do whatever it took to heal and change my life. And let me tell you, the journey to healing was arduous! It was like crawling out of a huge dark pit with no flashlight and no ladder. Just taking each step at a time, silently hoping that I would eventually step out into the sunshine. What happened after that is nothing short of a miracle. I began to connect with the right support, information, and tools, and I was able to heal and get my life back!

My healing journey led me down so many different paths of mind/body healing which all helped me inch my way closer and closer to my goal of being healthy and happy again. I found amazing tools and practitioners and learned about brain retraining, meditation, breathwork, nervous system regulation, trauma therapy, somatics, brainspotting, EMDR, craniosacral therapy, physical therapy, affirmations, acupuncture, energy work, reiki, and many more.

During this time, I also found hypnosis—a tool that opened my eyes to the vast and incredible power of the mind. Hypnosis and hypnotherapy really helped me get in touch with what my mind, body, and soul needed in order to heal. It gave me a way to connect more deeply with myself than I ever had in the past. Because of this, I felt in my heart that it was so important to share this wonderfully gentle yet profound tool with the world, so I went back to school to get my diploma in clinical hypnotherapy.

What I learned during those difficult years of being sick changed everything in my life. I now live with more joy, gratitude, love, and energy than I ever imagined was possible for me years ago. The best part is, I get to keep the promise I made to myself in the dark on one of my worst days. I promised myself that if I ever made it out of chronic illness that I would help others do the same. I feel so grateful that today, I get to live up to that promise. I get to share the incredible gift of hypnosis with others to help them break free from stress, limitations, illness, or fears and create a life they truly love and enjoy… because life is a precious gift meant to be celebrated!

I also send my most deep and heartfelt love and appreciation to all who supported me during this time. The wisdom, kindness, compassion, and understanding they showed me helped me get through the toughest days. They helped bring the real me back from the depths by showing me what hope looked like when I had none, and now I feel so grateful that I get to extend that hope to others.

Recovery was like… a bumpy unpaved stretch of dirt with random twists and turns, and guess what? There’s no map! Each time I would find my footing, I thought “Yay, now things will be smooth sailing!”… but then, I’d take a turn down some weird, windy, unknown road towards the edge of a cliff. Then I’d start going another direction and think “Oh no, am I going backwards?”.
It took some time for me to learn to embrace the ups and downs of life and to know that that’s totally normal and ok. We can’t control everything (or anything really) but we can control where we put our focus. That’s what helps us live our best life.
When stress shows up, we can focus on tending to ourselves and give ourselves space to figure things out. That’s the time to deal with what we can and learn to trust that life will work out the rest.
When the joys and good times show up, we can bring our focus into all the things going right so that we can fully embrace, enjoy, and celebrate them! I think fully embodying that enjoyment is what powers us through the hard times.

As far as taking risks, I think it is impossible to grow or change your life without taking some level of risk. You see, I define “risk” as a leap from the safe knowns in our mind into the “unknown”. Our lives run on our own subconscious patterns, whether we are aware of it or not. In order to change those patterns and change our lives, a certain amount of venturing into unknown territory is necessary. Therefore, anytime we are doing something new and different, we are going into the unknown, and taking a risk, which can sometimes feel scary! However, it can feel a lot less scary when we build ourselves up from the inside and have a support system. That way, when we do go out on a limb and take those risks, we know that everything will turn out for our highest good- no matter what.

When I was severely ill, I had to take risks all the time to change my life. I had to eat foods I knew I was allergic to and change my association to them so that I could build tolerance and actually enjoy them again without reactions. I had to get out of old thoughts and beliefs that I would be sick forever and take the risk of believing that there was a better and healthier life for me out there, even if the familiar knowns were less scary. Basically, I think taking risks is essential in life to change someone’s circumstances.

As a certified hypnotherapist, I specialize in using hypnosis to help people overcome any area in their life where they feel stuck. Maybe they feel like they are not yet living the life they want. This could be due to chronic pain or chronic illness, stress, anxiety, sleep issues, relationship issues, fears and phobias like the fear of flying or driving, nail biting, test anxiety, procrastination, low self-esteem or lack of confidence, weight issues, low motivation, social media overuse, and more.

My goal is to help people build inner strength and resilience to reach their goals. As a hypnotherapist, I help clients get quick and lasting relief from their issues because we work on changing the subconscious patterns that are stuck. We do that by using neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to learn new things or ways of being. And, it’s even easier to learn in hypnosis because we can access the subconscious mind directly. In my practice, I use hypnosis, EFT, guided imagery, inner child work, parts work, neuroscience, and nervous system regulation tools to help clients update their subconscious mind with new ideas, beliefs, and thoughts to achieve their goals. What sets me apart as a hypnotherapist is my empathy and ability to create a warm and nurturing supportive space where clients feel seen and heard. I also know and understand first-hand the true power of hypnosis and know how transformational it really is!

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