Hypnotherapy – the way to change your life

Hypnotherapist and transformational coach Mary Paleologos gives advice on how to love yourself and change your limiting beliefs


There are a lot of negative thoughts that come to our minds when we hear the word hypnotherapy.

‘It’s just another trend’; ‘it’s for celebrities’; ‘you may not wake up’, ‘you may discover something that will turn your life upside down’; ‘it is for rich people’; ‘it’s a scam’; ‘does it really do anything?’ and so on.

The same thoughts crossed my mind until I had a rejuvenating and relaxing experience with clinical hypnotherapist Nadia Celine and until I got to speak to Mary Paleologos, a Melbourne-based clinical hypnotherapist and transformational coach, and on occasions a writer for Huffington Post’s The Blog.

A lovely woman with an open mind, Mary managed to overcome her personal struggles by finding goodness and creating her own reality, ‘by taking life in her own hands’, as she tells Neos Kosmos.

Fascinated by the human mind, she uses her skills to help people. She focuses on women of every age who experience mainly body image problems, eating disorders, anxiety, depression, food and smoking addictions and other self-image related issues.

“I discovered that the key to it all is finding one’s sense of self from the inside. It’s not a long process as long as you work with me, in order to deal with your beliefs and thoughts and change them at a deeper level. For example, a lot of women with weight issues are emotional eaters and cannot control their weight. They eat to suppress emotions because they don’t want to deal with them. We deal with them together from the source and once they see it, it is no longer an issue. It all comes from loving yourself.

All hypnosis is self- hypnosis, Mary explains, with her role being facilitating a safe and comfortable space for the person to open up, heal and transform their life.

“I am only here to help you see the power you have within you and find your own way. A lot of people have been used to being put down and a lot of their issues stem from childhood.

“What the hypnotherapy does is, it relaxes you. It is our beliefs and emotions that are running our life’s show, therefore I use a few different techniques to help clients change their limiting beliefs. Sometimes people have uncomfortable feelings or negative beliefs that they are not aware of, so we go into their subconscious mind and recall a memory, reframe it in a positive way and they come out feeling lighter and positive. The negative emotion connected to the event is no longer there and they feel a sense of peace. This is how we naturally start to act differently, since 90 per cent of the way we operate is derived from our subconscious mind, the rest is our conscious mind,” Mary tells Neos Kosmos.

For those sceptical about the dangers of hypnotherapy and that you may not wake up, Mary says the person is not asleep during hypnotherapy but simply in a very relaxed state.

“You are in full control, just very relaxed and can hear everything I say, the subconscious mind takes positive suggestions to enhance yourself. After the session, you are fully refreshed, relaxed and haven’t felt like that for a very long time. When you get rid of the anxiety, that’s when you come back to your natural joy. It is simply another way of relaxing, just like meditating.”

Mary also teaches self-hypnosis, which shows people how to relax in a meditational way. After years of experience, she says hypnosis helps people get in tune with their heart and intuition, with their higher self, or their yperego.

So who is hypnotherapy for and why should we try it out? If you want to heal from things that have been holding you back in life and reach your full potential – whether in career, relationships, or simply stand taller with pride, then you need to free your mind first, Mary says.

“Why in the world are we here? Surely not to live in pain and fear! If you don’t transform from your pain it will be wasted.”

Speaking from women’s perspective, hypnosis can also help women with work related issues. But more importantly, in cultures like Greek, where generations of women have been brought up to believe in sacrifice and giving themselves to and for others, hypnotherapy teaches the importance of loving one’s self.

“Women who work in the corporate world (in a man’s world) think they have to be aggressive, when it’s really not their true nature. A female’s true nature is to be kind, but kind does not mean weak.

“I find that women in demanding jobs have the pressure to perform and that’s even the case with women who are married who have given everything to their husband and kids, so eventually they have lost a part of themselves. Firstly, you need to love yourself before you give love to others. The Greek culture is very much around that, our parents believed in sacrifice and putting up with circumstances, when in fact only if we are happy will our kids bloom too. Usually there is something missing in our hearts, which compensates by living through our kids. But if you don’t do things that bring you joy you’ll resent your kids and your marriage.

“To have a fulfilling life you have to BE, to have a sense of self. It’s OK to look beautiful, but the real essence of a woman comes from within.”

On a challenging personal journey for 20 years, Mary feels that all her struggles were not for nothing. She is now passionate about helping people, and using her journey and gifts to inspire and support others to transform their lives.

To other women, Mary sends a message that they are not victims of their circumstances but creators of their own lives.

“There are two energies in the world; love and fear. Many times we do things that come from fear, like, for example, pretend to be super-confident because we fear what others think of us. I say take off the mask and become vulnerable and be your authentic self!

“Social image has become important to us because we don’t think we can create our own life, and that we need someone else to give it to us or give us validation about who we are. For example, women are told by society that we have to be a certain weight and look to be acceptable. What are we teaching our girls? Being obsessed with their image? That who they really are is how they look to others on the outside? How suppressing is that? We all have gifts – if you believe in yourself and what you do and it’s your passion then you can offer your gifts to the world. I empower people to use their gifts.

“You can’t control what others do, but you can control your feelings and your attitude to the circumstance. We love blaming one thing or another, but I say – take control!”

For more information visit www.meta-morphosis.com.au