Why Choose AHC?

Experience
Operating primarily on referrals, with twenty years of experience in customized hypnotherapy, The Abbotsford Hypnosis Centre is the best kept secret in Vancouver’s alternative therapy community. Owner and principal operator, John G. Le Vae, has successfully helped many clients achieve their goals. With over twenty years of experience, his reputation keeps the phone ringing.

What about Accreditation?
While standardizing and regulating vocational training institutions is necessary and important, there is clearly a difference between a therapist who has just been certified and a therapist who has used their training to practice their craft for many years. Experience, training, and proven, professional results are the most important distinguishing factors in assessing the skill and aptitude of your hypnotherapist; At AHC, reputation, experience, and accreditation are balanced forces.

Customized, Client Centered Hypnotherapy
Each client at AHC receives a fully customized therapy session. Scripting is kept to a bare minimum, as are recorded inductions. These stock scripts and recordings, offering no personalized suggestions, are frequently ineffective in their application especially if the client does not accept the hypnotic suggestions in the way they are offered. Only fully customized hypnotherapy performed by an experienced professional can give you deep, lasting results.

John G. LeVae, C.HT

My earliest experience with hypnosis occurred at the age of nine. My grandfather, Dr. John E. Lukas DDS, used clinical hypnosis with me as part of his dental practice in Abbotsford, British Columbia. In 1991, some thirty-five years later, I founded The Abbotsford Hypnosis Centre in the same location and continue to help my clients achieve success to this day.

Like many of my colleagues, I became interested in practicing hypnotherapy in the midst of an alternate career—in my case, as a machinist and mechanic. Although the physics of fixing heavy machinery were fascinating, it was mainly my lifelong study of the martial arts—specifically Tai Chi and Qui Gong—that brought me to Hypnotherapy. I was already aware of the presence and power of my own subconscious mind through regular practice at the highest levels of Tai Chi, and I became keenly interested in the therapeutic possibilities for performance enhancement in myself and in others.

In 1989, I began full time study and mentorship with president William K. Morgan—who called himself Bill—at the Charles Tebbetts International School of Hypnotherapy. My studies with Bill included the lessons that were imparted to him by the founders of Hypnotherapy: Milton H. Erickson, M.D., Fritz Pearls, and Gil Boyne as well as Bill’s broad experience from work with the US Central Intelligence Agency, and training at institutions in both the USA and England. In 1995, I passed my exam with the Canadian Hypnosis Examining Council to become a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist—with knowledge and practice in over sixty different forms of hypnosis.

In my twenty-five years of practice, I continue to employ the wisdom of Bill’s teachings as my clients reap the rewards. His philosophy, which has become my own, asserts that our afflictions—from unwanted habits, to psychological ailments—are derived from life experiences that create negative hypnotic conditioning in the subconscious mind. When positive re-conditioning is introduced through Hypnotherapy, the results are astounding. For this reason alone, I have never tired of my work and continue to practice with deep respect for my clients and reverence for the potential of the human mind.

FAQ

What is Hypnotherapy?
Hypnotherapy is use of hypnosis to accomplish therapeutic goals, rapidly.

What is Hypnosis?
Hypnosis is a very relaxed, calm, and comfortable state of mind found in various levels of depth between wakefulness and sleeping. Or, for the purpose of hypnotherapy, it is your best therapeutic state of mind. All people experience and use hypnosis naturally without realizing it. Experiences such as: going to sleep and waking up, experiences of deja vu, or driving from point A to point B, and then wondering how you got there.

What cannot be treated with hypnotherapy?
Extreme cases of narcissism, sociopaths, schizophrenics, children to young to be competent with language, and anyone with extreme hearing impairment or dementia are not ideal clients for hypnotherapy.

What can be treated with hypnotherapy?
Hypnosis can treat and accelerate treatments for the same issues that cause us to seek psychologists, psychiatrists, and other forms of traditional therapy and counseling. It can be used alone or as an excellent compliment to other therapy.

Will I loose control?
All hypnosis is self-hypnosis. This means, in all cases, no one can ever be hypnotized unless they want to be. The subject must give permission. Once hypnotized—even to the deepest levels—no one will accept or obey any suggestion or command that they do not like, want, and desire. Once more, the subject must give permission and accept the suggestions offered to them by the hypnotherapist.

The concepts of self-hypnosis and permission are contrary to the illusion cast by the stage show entertainment hypnotist. In reality, it is the subject who is in control at all times, not the hypnotist. In hypnotherapy, the therapist is simply your professional guide who leads you in a focused hypnotic state to subconscious abilities and solutions you desire.

What if I can’t wake up?
There is no need to fear; You are in control of your therapy session at all times. Therefore, you can wake up any time you want to. As long as you are still accomplishing your goals, you will typically remain comfortably in hypnosis until you are finished.

As for this so called phenomena of ‘being stuck in a trance’. Generally this can only occur at the hands of rank amateurs; a hypnotist of little or no experience. An experienced hypnotherapist will be able to employ a variety of techniques to bring you safely in and out of hypnosis.

Are there risks?
It is my opinion that participating in any form of entertainment hypnosis is undesirable and should always be avoided and refused. Likewise, refuse amateurs and people who want to practice or learn on you. The only exception to this is a student working under the supervision of a seasoned professional with at least 15 to 20 years of full time experience.

However, having said all that, when conducted by an experienced professional, Hypnotherapy utilizes hypnotic suggestions that can either be accepted or refused by your mind. As stated in the section Will I loose control? anything undesirable to your wellbeing will be refused so this limits the potential risk and danger to you.

How do I choose a good hypnotherapist?
There are practical and personal aspects to choosing your hypnotherapist. Practical considerations include the following:

Q How many full time years of professional experience at their present location?
A More is usually better.

Q Referrals and reviews; what have you heard about their work?
A Positive customer feedback is important.

Q What techniques are they using to help you achieve your desired results?
A Flexibility to adjust is key.

Generally speaking, pre-recorded audio tracks and/or non-customized scripts will yield minimal results, if any at all. An experienced hypnotherapist can employ and vary a variety of techniques to ensure a successful reception and your intended theraputic outcome.

Other considerations for choosing a hypnotherapist are a matter of personal taste. It is important to enjoy the sound of your hypnotherapist’s voice. Talk to them on the phone prior to your visit. Are you comfortable with them? Do you feel at ease listening to them speak? These personal preferences can play a part in how successful your therapy is overall. Don’t forget to include them in your assessment.

My friend tried hypnosis to quit smoking and it didn’t work. Why?
As with any therapy, there are many variable factors that affect the outcome for the client. Here are some possible reasons for an ineffective therapy:

Ineffective methods were used
• Subliminal recordings that were not customized to the clients preferences
• Venues where multiple clients are sitting in an audience
• Scripts where client specific issues are not addressed
• Inadequate hypnotic techniques were chosen for the issue presented

The Hypnotherapist
• Not enough skill and experience for the issue presented
• Not enough competency utilizing, in either pure or modified form, a vast array of hypnotic inductions and therapeutic methods necessary to create improvisational customized therapies to best suit the needs of each client

The Client
• Mind Set: the client is pessimistic rather than optimistic and success oriented.
• Attitude: the client is skeptical of the efficacy of their chosen treatment rather than open minded.
• Belief in yourself: the client is convinced of failure rather than feeling empowered.

How can I achieve the results I desire?
Besides choosing an experienced, reputable hypnotherpist with whom you are comfortable, and knowing exactly what you want to achieve in your session, your mind set is the most important element within your control. Choosing to commit fully to your chosen course of therapy is an essential part of achieving the results you desire.