Hypnosis: The First Step in My Healing Journey

! There's a gift for you at the end of this post :)

The Search for Answers

Four years ago, my life was going through a major transition. My relationship was showing signs of coming to an end, and I wanted to find a way to navigate that process without creating another trauma—for me or for him.

I started researching alternatives, and somehow, hypnosis appeared on my path. Maybe it was my subconscious guiding me, maybe it was just curiosity. I had already secretly studied hypnosis, trying to practice self-hypnosis for addiction. But this time, I decided to fully commit to the process.

That’s how I began my first hypnosis experience.

The First Session: Discovering the Present

In total, I had six sessions over eight hours. From the very beginning, my therapist made it clear that hypnosis was a work of trust. Unlike conventional therapy, which I had been doing for six years, the focus here wasn’t on reliving stories or analysing traumas with the rational mind—it was about feeling what was stored in my body.

And in the very first session, I realised how disconnected I was from my emotions.
When she asked how I was feeling, I simply couldn’t answer. Instead, I told her what I had done.

She showed me that this was a natural defense mechanism of my ego—a way to survive the wounds of abandonment, rejection, and childhood abuse. Before working on any trauma, I first had to relearn how to feel.

At the end of the session, when she asked again how I was feeling, my response was: "I feel cold."
She smiled and said: "Welcome. You are finally present."

I left the session with a clear instruction: not to drive, not to check my phone—just sit on the grass and observe. And that’s what I did. I stayed there for an hour, feeling the world as if it were the first time I had ever stepped on Earth.

Letting Go (2022) - Cura Series - Tyvec water resistant paper, gold leaves on wood board

The Session on Abuse: Letting Go

When it was time to work on the childhood sexual abuse I had experienced, I was already more connected with myself.

This time, when my therapist asked how I was feeling, I was able to respond: "I feel a weight on my chest."

She asked me to give that weight a shape, and in my mind, it appeared as a black ball. During hypnosis, she guided me to remove that ball from my chest and hold it in front of me, seeing it from the outside.

Then, a transformation process began:

. First, I reduced its size, making it less overwhelming.
. Then, I turned it into something lighter—a white flower.
. Finally, I placed it in a river and watched as it floated away, disappearing around a bend.

At the conclusion of the session, my therapist explained a fundamental principle: hypnosis facilitates the decoupling of emotional responses from cognitive processes. As cognitive science suggests, the mind is an ever-active generator of thoughts, yet it is not the mere presence of these thoughts that burdens us, but rather their entrenchment within the body—manifesting as emotional and physiological blockages. Through hypnosis, this somatic imprint can be gently unraveled, allowing for a more liberated and adaptive state of being."

That session was a turning point. For the first time, I felt that I had let go of something I had carried for decades.

The Abuse (2023)
This work is one of my most challenging pieces, yet it was a necessary step in my life. It represents the abuse I experienced at the age of five at the hands of someone I considered a close friend.

The True Transformation

By the end of my hypnosis treatment, I realised that hypnosis hadn’t helped me with my breakup. Instead, it helped me become a better person to handle the process—whether I stayed with my partner or not.

Before hypnosis, I felt like I was living a double life, as if there were two versions of me. But I walked out knowing that there was only one story, one truth. I no longer needed to hide or pretend. I was just me.

Four Years Later: Hypnosis Finds Me Again

Since that first experience, a lot has changed.

. I held three solo exhibitions.
. I changed careers and started working with spirituality and healing.
. I deepened my studies in holotropic work.

And, interestingly enough, life brought me back to hypnosis—but now in a different way.

This time, I dove into the study of self-hypnosis. I completed a foundation course with Marisa Peer, got certified, and now I’m incorporating these techniques into my collage workshops. During the intention-setting part, I always guided a meditation to help participants connect with their subconscious before creating. Now, I’m refining this process with a more structured method, so that art is not just improvisation, but something that comes from a deep and meaningful place.

And with this confidence, I began creating my own guided meditations.

A Love Letter to Hypnosis

To close this blog post, I want to share a gift with you: my first meditation recording.

"I Am Free" – A meditation I originally created for myself and now share with the world. Available in Portuguese and English, lasting 8 minutes and 30 seconds.

Because, in the end, hypnosis was what started this transformation journey four years ago. And today, it returns as another tool that I use, teach, and share—not just for my own growth, but to help others reconnect with themselves.

Click below to listen to the meditation and, who knows, maybe start your own healing journey.

The journey continues…