BG hypnotist uses hypnosis to help people with health issues

Several years ago, Battle Ground resident Connie Osborne was at a county fair with her niece who went up on stage to be hypnotized by a performing hypnotist.

“He (the hypnotist) said a specific word and out of the blue she yells out, ‘the British are coming, the British are coming,’” Osborne said. “It was right then that I had that ‘aha’ moment and I started wondering if I could take hypnosis and use it to help people overcome those barriers they struggle with.”

Osborne, 60, is a certified hypnotherapist and said she has been interested in hypnosis for about 10 years. She holds a Master of Education degree and has a background in educational counseling as a grant specialist. Years ago, she had been working in community colleges with at risk students, and said she always had a hard time with some students who seemed like they couldn’t quite get over a “speed bump” in their lives.

After becoming interested in hypnosis, Osborne went to work for Positive Changes in Beaverton. As she became more and more interested in hypnosis, she decided to enroll in the Northwest Hypnosis Institute in Portland. She is now registered in the state of Washington as a mental health counselor and hypnotherapist, and is also a member of the National Guild of Hypnotists.

On April 1, Osborne opened her practice, “aNewYouHypnosis,” at 318 E. Main St., Suite 104, in Battle Ground. Although she offers hypnosis to clients for a variety of reasons, she said she is really focusing right now on using it as a tool to help people quit smoking and to help with weight loss.

To help with these different things, Osborne first offers a 30-minute consultation for free, during which she takes a look at what her clients’ needs are and looks at what behavior they are trying to work on. Then she moves on to the hypnosis. Osborne said if someone wants to quit smoking, she has two different programs available. First, there are some people who can come in for hypnosis one time and stop smoking immediately. Some people, however, benefit from coming more, so Osborne might suggest a few sessions and also make tapes for the client to take home with them.

The process works basically the same way with weight loss. During a client’s last session with her, Osborne will go through a grocery list with them, helping them visualize themselves shopping and buying good foods. That way, when they go to the store, they have those images embedded in their mind.

“Everyone leaves feeling so good,” Osborne said. “That’s the thing with hypnosis, it makes you feel absolutely wonderful. Then I plant the positive suggestions and I always give a few extra ego boosters, make them (clients) feel confident in themselves and emit love all around them.”

“A lot of people are worried that if they let someone put them under hypnosis, they won’t know what they’re doing or what’s going on,” she said. “That’s the fallacy, you are always aware of your surroundings, what’s being said to you. If anytime someone tried to go against your conduct, your morals, you would wake up and say, ‘nope.’”

Osborne said one of her main goals is to simply educate people on hypnosis, as it often gets a bad rap.

“I listen to these ads on TV for smoking and weight loss suggesting all these drugs with all these side effects,” she said. “I’m standing here saying, ‘hypnosis.’ Do you want to quit smoking or lose weight? Hypnosis. It’s so many things for so many people trying to improve their lives.”

Since April, Osborne said she’s had about 15-20 clients at “aNewYouHypnosis.” She currently lives in Battle Ground after moving her family there from Southern California about eight years ago, although she grew up in this area. She has two grown children and two grandchildren.

Osborne’s office is open Mon., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Tue.-Thu., 6-9 p.m.; and Sat., 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Those wishing to visit the office on Saturdays do not need an appointment. The office is closed on Sundays. To set up an appointment for a free 30-minute consultation, call Osborne at (360) 281-8456.