A different kind of journey
Subconscious thoughts can change behaviour
For Verity Vale, hypnotherapy provides patients with a “tool in their toolbox,” which can be used to help with mental health and psychological issues.
Hypnotherapy is where a patient enters a trance-like state to help motivate them toward a goal or change certain behaviour patterns. These can include anything from anxiety and depression to a smoking habit.
Despite having hypno in its name, hypnotherapy patients aren’t being hypnotized; they are still aware of what’s going on around them and have complete control over their session. Vale says people compare it to daydreaming.
“The conscious part of your brain switches off. Your subconscious just sort of goes on a journey,” she says. “When it’s in that state, the problem solving happens because you’re able to relax.”
Unlike some other forms of treatment, Vale, a solution focused hypnotherapist, doesn’t focus on the past.
“We focus on the solution,” says Vale who opened her practice, Verity Vale Hypnotherapy on Spring Garden Road in Halifax last month.
“I give them the tools and help guide them.”
When thinking of these new solutions, Vale helps patients build new “pathways.”
“That’s what I like about it; it is so positive,” she says. “We’re letting the memories grow over and building these new pathways.”
Originally from the United Kingdom, Vale used to practise a couple nights a week. Most of her time was spent as a police detective with the Serious and Organized Crime unit.
While the two jobs were quite different, Vale says she found a connection between them.
“In an environment like that, it can be quite taxing on mental health,” she says, adding she always took part in wellness panels at her detachment.
When being asked about what else drew her to the field, Vale recalled an attending event where participants were asked to score five questions, for a total of 35, to determine how happy they were. Most participants scored less than 30.
“It just broke my heart; these were people into their 30s and 40s and they were not happy,” she says.
She spent a year training with the Clifton Practise, located in Bristol, England, before opening her own practise. However, her successful combination of police officer by day, therapist by night came to an end in mid2018, when her husband was transferred to Nova Scotia with the navy. At the time, Vale wasn’t sure if she could be self-employed on her visa.
In July, she found out she could and immediately jumped at the chance to turn Verity Vale Hypnotherapy into a full-time business.
Vale is currently looking to build her business. Realizing she is still relatively new to the area, she wants anyone who has any questions to reach out through email, Facebook or Instagram.
“It’s about helping people to live their lives that is better for them, so things are a bit lighter and easier,” she says.
For more information, including contact information, visit verityvalehypnotheraphy.com.