A Natural Approach to Change, Growth & Healing

BY CHRISTINE HANLON

Approximately 95% of brain activity is unconscious, including habits, emotions, selfimage, cognitive biases, beliefs and values. Tannis Butters explains that hypnotherapy is like an upgrade of the brain’s personal software system, helping to lay down new and helpful neural pathways. It brings the unconscious and subconscious in sync, leaving individuals feeling more in control, balanced, and peaceful.

As a certified clinical hypnotherapist and mindset coach, Butters specializes in working with adults dealing with high levels of stress, anxiety and trauma, helping to restore balance for mental and physical wellbeing. She takes a mind-body approach that recognizes the link between thoughts, attitudes, behaviours, and physical health.

“The quality of our thoughts has a very big impact on the quality of our life,” says Butters, who has seen that impact first-hand over her 25 years of leadership and coaching. In 2019, she added a hypnotherapy designation to her skillset and opened her practice.

Dispelling the notion that hypnosis involves giving over control of one’s mind, Butters explains that clinical hypnotherapy is about gaining control over mind and actions by aligning conscious and unconscious thoughts, beliefs, and behaviours. In hypnosis, a person enters a natural AlphaTheta brain wave state associated with higher levels of awareness, focused concentration, creativity and learning. This makes it easier to release unhelpful beliefs, experiences and behaviours in less time and with less resistance. The hypnotherapist guides the alignment process, helping individuals navigate healing, personal growth, and transformation.

Marrying hypnotherapy with mindset coaching enables Butters to work more effectively with the conscious as well as the subconscious. “I guide people on how to create a mindset of gratitude, possibility, and mindfulness – every day, not just during hypnosis,” she says.

Some people who come to her are navigating change in their lives, such as a shift in relationship status or career. “They are asking, what does this stage in my life mean and how do I adapt?” explains Butters, adding that fear and discomfort are a natural response to the destabilizing nature of change.

Other clients want to address recent or past trauma stored in their mind and body. “Many of our core beliefs and interpretations are formed in our early years,” says Butters. “We hold onto them even if they no longer serve us.” By helping to bring awareness to unconscious programming, Butters guides her clients into new and healthier ways of thinking and behaving, helping them build selfconfidence for higher levels of self-fulfillment.

“Guided hypnotherapy helps you clear your mind and get under the hood of specific issues,” she notes. Butters has helped people with everything from the challenges of upcoming surgery, post-surgical healing and childbirth to managing chronic pain and improving their sleep.

“Many people come to me because they want to feel like themselves again,” adds Butters.

“Some clients come on a regular basis as a commitment to themselves to take a break, relax, and clear their mind. They leave feeling refreshed and ready to deal with life’s challenges.”

After a free initial consultation, clients have access to 50 to 70-minute customized hypnotherapy and coaching sessions in-person or online. Hypnotherapy can be safely and effectively combined with other forms of treatment, including cognitive behavioural therapy and medication. Butters prides herself in being an empathetic practitioner who creates a safe and supportive place for her clients. “All judgment is left at the door,” she says. Hypnotherapy and mindset coaching are available to people of all life stages, and backgrounds. She brings to her practice lived experience related to adoption, addiction, abuse, LGBTQ dynamics, toxic workplaces, divorce, and blended families.

Part of a professional telehealth team at Open Mind Health (www.openmindhealth.com), Butters is also an executive member of the Manitoba Hypnotherapists’ Association.

Guiding people through hypnotherapy into a relaxed, focused state of mind and to achieve the outcomes they desire has allowed her to build on her extensive coaching experience. The combination makes it easier for clients to integrate tools that bring about clarity, positive change, and mental fortitude.

“Helping people realize that they can start to feel better in a short period of time is very rewarding,” says Butters. “It’s never too late to find forgiveness, develop self-love, or reach for a goal or dream.”

Find Tannis Butters at thehypnosiscoach.ca