How art and hypnotherapy can bring you the inspiration you need

Rachel Kais, an acclaimed visual and performance artist, had no intention of becoming a hypnotherapist when she began her personal growth and healing journey six years ago, but a hypnotherapist inspired her. guided. While researching her hypnosis, she had the idea to introduce the process of hypnosis into her painting practice. The result is her latest project, The Oracle of Associated Light, a series of paintings created as a deck of cards and a guidebook. Visuals for Brian Eno’s Her Oblique Strategies Her version is fused with positive affirmations, making this project a tool to expand creativity and promote positive thinking. Her interview includes some great examples and resources to enhance your ability to find inspiration through psychological healing methods and art.

EB: What is the oracle of light involved?

RK: Oracle of Associate Light is a series of 63 paintings that I painted under hypnosis. Each of them is abstracted from powerful, positive words such as love, curiosity, victory, and freedom. We printed each image on playing cards and created a guidebook that further explained the pictures and words. Cards are tools used by creators, artists, writers, therapists, intuitives, and everyday people to set intentions and access their subconscious mind and imagination.

EB: In addition to your work as an artist, how and why did you become a hypnotherapist?

RK: About 6 years ago, I experienced depression after a series of traumatic events, including the betrayal of a business partner. After doing some research, I decided to try hypnosis.

There is a lot of evidence that it can help treat many conditions, including pain, depression, anxiety, and phobias.

According to the American Psychological Association, “Hypnosis can create an extremely relaxing state of internal concentration and focused attention in the patient, and this technique can be tailored to a variety of treatments, such as cognitive behavioral therapy.” Patients can also gain more power by learning to use hypnosis at home to reduce chronic pain, improve sleep, and treat symptoms of depression and anxiety. It’s about relaxing. ”

Hypnosis helped me feel better enough that I decided I wanted to understand and overcome everything that was contributing to the depressive state I was experiencing. In addition to hypnosis, I explored personal growth methods such as EMDR, Brainspotting, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Along the way, I discovered a pattern of getting involved with people who didn’t have good intentions towards me. I thought hypnotherapy could help me change that pattern by understanding myself and others better. This is because hypnotherapy allows us to bypass the critical mind and access the subconscious mind, where the beliefs and automatic movement patterns that determine our actions and choices are stored.

Hypnosis has helped me a lot. I wanted to learn everything about it. It wasn’t part of my original plan to open a private practice in hypnotherapy. However, I ended up really liking it. While studying, I realized that the work of a hypnotherapist is similar to that of an abstract painter. The association to a shape or object, or in hypnosis to a belief or action, must be modified and supported by all the other factors in play to create a new and powerful configuration. One day, I suddenly realized that if hypnotherapy can help me make profoundly positive changes in the way I feel, believe, and respond, it can also support my creative process in an equally powerful way. I realized that I might be able to do it. I thought. What would happen if hypnosis was applied to artistic activities? I became interested and started drawing in a hypnotic state.

EB: Was the “Oracle of Associated Light” art series and card deck also a result of inspiration?

RK: Yes, definitely! When I discovered hypnotherapy, I was feeling conflicted and dissatisfied with my work as an artist. I loved my clients and I was so grateful that people wanted my work. But for a long time I wasn’t interested in the kind of paintings I was making. I felt like my canvases were becoming less and less authentic. You could say I was in a mid-life/mid-career crisis. I had no idea what the next iteration of my work would be. Things got easier after I started experimenting with my first idea (aka epiphany) of entering a hypnotic state while painting.

One day, I drew about a dozen abstract works in a hypnotic state. I left them in the studio and stayed home for a few days. When I got home and looked at the picture again, I thought, oh this is oracle. It was as if they were talking to me, like they were works of art with their own voices and lives. They were like benevolent visitors. I knew what they were and what to do with them. It was more of a feeling than a thought or plan.

For me, epiphany is a feeling that feels like a “spiritual gut punch.” My inspiration taught me to relax, be myself, and follow my curiosity. I let go of what “should be” and “should be” and did what was right for me.

EB: How can art bring healing and inspiration, and what are your hopes for the Oracle project?

RK: Research shows that art influences the way we think, and that abstract art in particular induces the psychological distance necessary for inner exploration. We find for ourselves the meaning and emotion of what we see in the picture.There’s a great article about it reciprocal Citing the authors of a 2014 paper. Frontiers of human neuroscience who says “Abstract art ‘frees our brains from the grip of reality’ and allows us to access new emotional or cognitive states that are hidden in everyday life.”

That’s why I say that therapists, creators, people who love art and use tools that inspire can all use Associated Light Cards. For me, if this project sparks curiosity in people’s lives or helps someone overcome depression or something that is holding them back, then this project is a success. That’s my purpose, a project that celebrates overcoming. By looking at the abstract art on the cards you draw, you can observe what you are seeing and feeling while generating new insights and ideas, with or without a guidebook.

EB: How does hypnotherapy and other psychological healing methods trigger epiphanies?

RK: Therapy can help you process harmful events, get to know yourself, and access or uncover subconscious beliefs and fears that cause emotional pain. When you feel better, you think better too. A healthy mind has more access to all kinds of inspiration and goodwill. No therapy or therapist is right for everyone. Find the treatment and therapist that’s right for you. Hypnotherapy can be a powerful addition to psychotherapy when treating depression, trauma, and PTSD. It is also a powerful therapy for reducing general stress and anxiety, creating behavioral changes, turning fear into action, and increasing self-confidence.

Dr. Michael Yapko, a psychologist and fellow of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, says, “It’s clear that hypnosis works, and there is empirical support for that. It really helps people.” states.

It definitely helped me and I’m happy that I can now use it to help others.

rachel kais He is a nationally recognized artist and hypnotist. Her paintings are included in numerous private, corporate, and museum collections. Her current work focuses on the assignment of meaning to shapes and colors derived from language. Rachel maintains a studio art practice in Los Angeles, California and offers her hypnotherapy sessions to individuals and groups. rachelkice.com