As more marginalized people seek counselling, a hypnotherapist steps in

Bria Miller has sat in the offices of white therapists and had them cry because of what she told them. She says many don't understand the trauma she's experienced as a queer, black and Indigenous woman with a complex family history.

So she tried something new.

Miller turned to Amanda Rekunyk, a Halifax hypnotherapist who is queer and Indigenous and is founding a non-profit called Balanced Generations, which is aimed at making wellness services available to marginalized Nova Scotians.

"Hypnotherapy very much feels like trying to understand ourselves better," said Miller, who found it was similar to talk therapy, "but not necessarily in the Eurocentric linear fashion that we're used to."

The push to bring hypnotherapy techniques to more people comes as others who work with marginalized Nova Scotians say there is an increase in people needing help, and mental health-issues are becoming more complex.

Stress and social media

Valerie Bobyk, the executive director of the Family Service Halifax Association, which provides counselling on a low-to-no cost basis, said her organization helps more than 1,400 individuals, couples and families a year.

"Pretty well 100 per cent of our community clients who walk in our door are marginalized in some way," said Bobyk.

She blames the change on social media and increasingly stressful work environments.

The wait-list for counselling at the association is four to six weeks long. Bobyk said often they're the only option for people who are marginalized and can't afford non-subsidized mental-health services in Halifax, which can run $150 an hour or more.

'No barriers to wellness for anybody'

As a single mother with low-income, Rekunyk said she faces a lot of the barriers she's trying to dissolve. The cost of her service will be on a sliding scale that depends on the client's income.

"There should be no barriers to wellness for anybody," said Rekunyk, who also has a background in child and youth counselling and is originally from British Columbia.

Hypnotherapy involves guiding patients into deep relaxation, and then making suggestions Rekunyk said are for the client's subconscious to process. The technique is used, she said, for both physical and mental health, breaking and creating habits and calming nerves.

Rekunyk also stressed that she doesn't treat physical pain that hasn't been examined by a doctor in case it needs medical attention.

Simon Sherry, director of clinical training in Dalhousie University's Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, said evidence shows that hypnotherapy tends to work for relief from mental and physical pain.

But, he said, more research is necessary before that's proven.

Exactly how it works is still a bit of a mystery, he said, but people see results depending on their susceptibility to hypnosis.

"From a scientific standpoint there seems to be sustained interest and enthusiasm about the application of hypnotherapy to certain problems," Sherry said.

He thinks hypnotherapy is likely most effective as an add-on to other therapies.

Intergenerational trauma

For Miller, Rekunyk's client, hypnotherapy is an alternative to talk therapy that she especially recommends for people who are LGBTQ, two-spirit, black, Indigenous, and people of colour.

In her sessions with Rekunyk she addressed back pain as well as intergenerational trauma that's been passed down through the women in her family.

She said the sessions helped her navigate pain differently and release shame about her identity that she had been holding since adolescence.

Miller said her grandmother was skeptical when they spoke about hypnotherapy.

"She was like, 'You don't have any control when you're hypnotized. Why would you do that?' That's not actually the case."