Reach the layers that talk therapy never could. That is hypnosis.
My name is Micah Fleitman, LPC. I am a therapist trained in Clinical Hypnosis in Arlington, Virginia, and I help people who have understood their patterns for years but still feel stuck in them. By combining clinical hypnosis with EMDR, somatic therapy, and IFS, I work at the level where those patterns actually live.
There is a particular kind of frustration that comes from knowing exactly why you feel a certain way and still feeling it. You have read the books. You have done the therapy. You can explain your anxiety, your self-criticism, and your patterns in relationships. The understanding is real. The insight is genuine. And yet something does not shift. The reaction still comes. The loop still runs.
This makes sense. Not everything that needs to change lives is in the part of the mind you can reason with directly. Some of what keeps you stuck was written before you had words for it, in the body, in automatic responses, in protective habits that formed long ago and never quite updated.
What people are drawn to in clinical hypnosis is the possibility of reaching that layer. Not going around the analytical mind, but working with a quieter, more focused part of awareness where those older patterns can actually be met and gently reworked. The relief people look for is not just understanding something differently. It is feeling different in the moments that have always been hard.
Clinical hypnosis tends to resonate most with people who are already self-aware but feel like something is still out of reach. Here are some signs that this approach might be a good fit:
Healing from what has been holding you back is possible. You do not have to keep managing it alone.
What the experience actually feels like
Clinical hypnosis is not what most people imagine. There is no loss of awareness, no surrender of control, no suggestions you have not agreed to. What it is, in practice, is a deepened state of focused attention, something closer to the absorption you feel when completely engaged in a book or a problem you care about. In that state, the part of the mind that usually runs commentary, second-guesses, and defends can soften its grip, and the patterns stored underneath become more directly accessible.
In my sessions, I combine clinical hypnosis with EMDR, somatic therapy, and IFS, working with whichever approach fits what you are carrying that day. Some things are easier to reach through the body. Others respond better to the quiet focus of a hypnotic state. You stay aware and in control throughout. The pace is yours. Nothing happens without your full participation.
You already know something needs to change. Start there.
For years, I tried to outwork and outthink everything I was carrying. I understood my patterns clearly. But understanding did not change them. It was not until I found approaches that worked below the level of conscious analysis that things actually shifted. That experience is directly behind the way I practice now.
I am a licensed professional counselor working with trauma, anxiety, and the protective patterns that once kept people safe and now keep them stuck. My training includes clinical hypnosis, EMDR, and Internal Family Systems. I also hold an Advanced Certification in Complex Trauma and Dissociative Disorders from ISSTD, which shapes how carefully and slowly I approach this work. Sessions are available via secure teletherapy to clients throughout Virginia.
The people I work with often present well to the world. They are capable, self-aware, and have usually tried to work through things already. They come because something internal is no longer responding to effort alone. That is exactly what this is for.
Hi, I’m Micah Fleitman, LPC
Working at the Level Where Patterns Actually Live
Clinical hypnosis in my practice is not a scripted technique or a standalone program. It is one part of an integrated approach, used when it is the right tool for what a person is carrying. The sections below describe how this work unfolds in practice.
Most people are surprised by how ordinary it feels. There is no loss of consciousness, no blankness, no experience of being taken over. The state is better described as focused relaxation, similar to the absorbed feeling of being fully engaged in something that holds your attention completely. You remain aware of your surroundings, you can speak and move, and you are in full control of what you engage with.
For people who place a high value on being in control of their experience, this matters. The hypnotic state does not remove your agency. It quiets the mental noise enough that the parts of your experience that are harder to reach in ordinary conversation become more available. That is all it does, and it does so only with your active cooperation.
Talk therapy works through language and conscious reasoning. That is genuinely useful for many things. But some of the patterns that keep people stuck were not formed through conscious reasoning, and they do not respond to it directly. They were formed through repeated experience, through the nervous system learning what was safe and what was not, through protective adaptations that became automatic long before there were words for them.
Clinical hypnosis creates a state in which those deeper layers become more directly accessible. The analytical mind is still present, but its usual tendency to evaluate, interrupt, and defend is quieter. In that state, patterns that have been resistant to insight and verbal processing become easier to examine, meet with compassion, and gently shift. The word I would use is depth. Hypnosis goes to a different depth than ordinary conversation.
EMDR and clinical hypnosis address overlapping problems in complementary ways. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation to help the brain reprocess memories that are still emotionally charged, stored in the nervous system as if the event is still occurring rather than past. Clinical hypnosis works in a similar territory, using focused attention to access and gently rework the deeper beliefs and responses formed around those experiences.
In practice, I move between these approaches based on what a session calls for. Some things respond well to the bilateral processing of EMDR. Others are more accessible through the quiet focus of a hypnotic state. The integration is not a formula. It is a responsiveness to where you are on a given day and what needs attention. Connecting these approaches with IFS and somatic work allows the same material to be addressed from several directions, which tends to create more lasting change than any single method alone.
Anxiety, trauma, and old emotional patterns do not only live in thought. They live in the body, in tension held in the shoulders, in the way the breath shortens in certain conversations, in the automatic physical responses that happen before conscious thinking catches up. Clinical hypnosis works in close relationship with the body because the focused, relaxed state it creates is itself a somatic experience. The nervous system changes in that state.
I integrate somatic awareness throughout the hypnotic work, inviting attention to what the body holds and what it knows. Sometimes the body is the entry point. A sensation, a tightness, a feeling of weight or restriction can be a way into the deeper material that words alone might not reach. Working with the body rather than around it tends to create shifts that are felt, not just understood.
Nothing in clinical hypnosis happens at a pace you have not set. The work begins with building trust, establishing a sense of safety in the relationship, and making sure you understand what the process involves before we move into it. For people who have carried things alone for a long time, or who have learned that being vulnerable is not safe, this foundation is not a formality. It is the work.
Once the foundation is in place, the depth of each session adjusts to where you are. Some sessions go into emotionally intensive territory. Others focus on regulation, on helping the nervous system experience calm and steadiness as a real state rather than just a concept. There is no standard sequence. The work follows you, not a protocol.
Clinical hypnosis works with a range of experiences that share a common thread. They are things that have persisted despite real effort, things that are understood but not yet changed. Below are the most common areas I work with.
Anxiety often feels like a thought problem, but it is not only that. The worry loops, the anticipatory dread, the way the nervous system braces before there is any real reason to, these are patterns stored below the level of conscious reasoning. Understanding that you are safe does not always tell the nervous system the same thing.
Anxiety hypnosis works at the level where those patterns were formed, helping the body and mind learn what calm actually feels like rather than just knowing it is supposed to be possible. This is particularly useful when cognitive approaches have brought partial relief, but something persists. EMDR and somatic work are woven in as needed to address the specific memories or experiences that trained the nervous system toward vigilance.
Trauma is not always a single dramatic event. For many people, it is the accumulated weight of experiences that left the nervous system in a state of protection it never fully released. Old emotional patterns, automatic reactions, a pervasive sense of not being quite safe, these are some of the ways unresolved trauma lives in the present.
Clinical hypnosis creates access to the deeper layers where those patterns are stored, allowing them to be met with compassion rather than pushed past or managed. Combined with EMDR and IFS, this work supports the kind of healing that is felt in the body, not just understood in the mind. I hold an Advanced Certification in Complex Trauma and Dissociative Disorders from ISSTD, which shapes how carefully and slowly this work is approached.
The inner critic is one of the most exhausting things to carry. It runs in the background of achievement, relationships, and rest. It tells you that more is needed, that what you did was not quite right, that you need to be better before you can feel settled. For high-achieving people, especially, it can be nearly invisible because the external results seem to confirm it is working. But the cost is significant.
In IFS terms, the inner critic is a part with a protective function. It learned to push and monitor because at some point, that strategy felt necessary. Clinical hypnosis and IFS together create a way to meet that part directly, to understand what it has been carrying, and to help it relax its grip. The goal is not to silence it but to transform the relationship with it.
Specific fears and phobias work through a similar mechanism: an experience, or a series of experiences, taught the mind and body to respond with fear in the presence of a particular trigger. The response is automatic and feels far larger than the rational mind says it should be. That gap between what you know logically and what you feel in the moment is exactly where clinical hypnosis works.
In a focused, safe state, the original learning can be revisited and gently updated. The fear does not have to be rational to be worked with. It just has to be real, and it is. Avoidance behaviors that have narrowed your life, decisions made around what you cannot face, these are the kinds of things that tend to shift meaningfully through this approach
Racing thoughts at night, a mind that will not settle even when the body is exhausted, waking in the early hours with anxiety already running. These are among the most common ways a dysregulated nervous system makes itself known. They are also among the most debilitating because poor sleep compounds everything else.
Clinical hypnosis is particularly well-suited for sleep work because the hypnotic state and the state the body needs for rest are related. Learning to access a calm, focused, internally quiet state during sessions builds a kind of nervous system literacy that carries over into rest. This is not a scripted sleep program. It is support for the underlying regulation that sleep depends on.
Some habits persist not because of a lack of motivation or discipline but because they are serving a function that willpower alone cannot address. Avoidance behaviors, patterns of over-functioning or shutdown, emotional habits that loop even when you recognize them, these often have roots in the same nervous system learning that drives anxiety and trauma responses. They are coping strategies that outlived the context that created them.
Clinical hypnosis supports this kind of habit change by working with what the habit is protecting against, the anxiety, the discomfort, the state the nervous system is trying to manage. When that underlying material is addressed, the habit loses much of its pull. This approach is different from coaching or scripted programs. The focus is on what is underneath, not on the behavior itself.
You have already done the hard work of trying to understand yourself. Take the next step.
It is completely normal to arrive at a first session with some skepticism, some nervousness, or both. Most people who seek out clinical hypnosis have questions about what it actually involves, and a few concerns about whether they are going to be one of those people it does not work on. All of that is welcome. We talk about it.
In our first session, we will:
Safety and trust come first. For some people, that is established quickly. For others, it takes longer, and that is fine. Nothing moves faster than the foundation beneath it can support. There is no rush, and there is no predetermined sequence. The work follows your rhythm.
This is not therapy, and it is not an exercise you need to get right. It is just a small way to experience the kind of attention clinical hypnosis asks of you.
Find a place to sit quietly for a few minutes. Let your attention settle on your breath without trying to change it. Notice what is present right now, a thought moving through, a sensation somewhere in the body, a feeling that does not quite have a name. Do not try to resolve any of it. Just notice that it exists. See if you can stay with whatever is there without needing it to be different. That quality of attention, honest, patient, without agenda, is closer to what hypnosis actually feels like than anything involving a swinging watch.
What clinical hypnosis actually is
Clinical hypnosis is a focused, relaxed state of awareness in which the mind becomes more receptive to exploring thoughts, feelings, and patterns that are harder to access in ordinary conversation. It is therapeutic in nature, conducted by a licensed clinician, and used to support genuine psychological change. At its core, clinical hypnosis is a collaborative state of focused attention used for healing.
How it differs from stage hypnosis
Stage hypnosis and clinical hypnosis have almost nothing in common beyond the name. Stage performances select highly suggestible volunteers and use social pressure and entertainment framing to produce dramatic behavior. Clinical hypnosis is private, collaborative, and directed entirely by what you are willing to explore. There is no performance, no loss of control, no suggestion you have not agreed to. The relationship is therapeutic, not theatrical.
What clinical hypnosis is not
You do not lose consciousness. You are not asleep. You cannot be made to reveal information you do not want to share or behave in ways that contradict your values. The state is closer to deep absorption than to anything shown in popular media. Most people are genuinely surprised by how ordinary and how grounded the experience feels.
You remain in control throughout
No. You do not lose control in clinical hypnosis. You remain fully aware, you can speak and move, you can stop or redirect at any time, and nothing happens in the session without your ongoing cooperation. The hypnotic state does not bypass your judgment or your values. If a suggestion does not feel right to you, it simply will not take hold.
What the hypnotic state actually quiets
What hypnosis quiets is not your agency but your mental noise. The constant internal commentary, the self-monitoring, the impulse to analyze and defend, these soften in the hypnotic state. That quieting is what makes deeper material more accessible. It is not vulnerability. It is focus.
Most people can enter a useful hypnotic state
The idea that some people simply cannot be hypnotized is largely a myth rooted in stage hypnosis framing. In clinical settings, the relevant question is not whether you can be hypnotized but whether you can access a relaxed, focused state of attention, and almost everyone can. The depth varies from person to person, and some people are more naturally hypnotically responsive than others. But meaningful therapeutic work does not require dramatic depth.
What happens if the response is minimal
If a full hypnotic state proves difficult to access, that is not a dead end. I integrate EMDR and somatic therapy alongside clinical hypnosis for exactly this reason. The work can proceed through different doors. For many people, the combination of these approaches over several sessions gradually allows the nervous system to soften and deepen in ways that were not available at first.
Anxiety hypnosis and stress reduction
Anxiety hypnosis works by accessing and gently reworking the deeper nervous system patterns that drive chronic worry, overthinking, and stress responses. This is not relaxation training, though the sessions are calming. It is working with the source of the anxiety rather than its symptoms.
Trauma and stored emotional patterns
Clinical hypnosis is particularly effective for trauma and the emotional patterns formed in response to difficult experiences. Because it works below the level of conscious reasoning, it reaches material that has been resistant to insight-based approaches.
Inner critic and self-esteem
The persistent self-criticism and feelings of unworthiness that survive achievement and accomplishment often have roots in early experiences. Clinical hypnosis and IFS together address those roots in a way that verbal therapy alone rarely reaches.
Sleep disturbances and nervous system regulation
The focused, internally quiet state that hypnosis develops overlaps significantly with what the body needs for rest. Working on regulation through clinical hypnosis often produces meaningful improvement in sleep quality as a secondary effect.
Habits and behavioral patterns that persist despite effort
Habits that have not responded to willpower or behavior-change strategies often have an emotional or nervous system basis. Clinical hypnosis supports change by working with what the habit is protecting against, not just the behavior itself.
What I do not focus on
I am a licensed trauma-informed therapist. My work centers on trauma, anxiety, inner-critic patterns, emotional regulation, and psychological wellbeing. I do not offer smoking cessation programs, weight management coaching, peak performance training, public speaking confidence programs, or sports psychology. If those are your primary goals, I would encourage you to seek a practitioner specifically trained in those areas.
Online hypnotherapy throughout Virginia
I offer teletherapy only. All sessions are conducted online via a secure, HIPAA-compliant video platform. You must be located in Virginia at the time of your session, in a private space with a reliable internet connection and both audio and video. The Wilson Blvd address is my registered mailing address, not a clinical office.
Online clinical hypnosis sessions provide the same depth and quality of work as in-person therapy. Many people find that the familiarity and comfort of their own space actually supports the kind of inward focus that hypnotic work requires.
About the Arlington mailing address
My registered address is 1550 Wilson Blvd, Ste. 700 #226, Arlington, VA 22209, in the Radnor/Fort Myer Heights neighborhood near Key Bridge. If you need to send mail or documents, that address can be used for correspondence. There is no in-person reception at this location.
How do I find a Clinical Hypnosis therapist near me in Arlington?
If you are in Arlington or the surrounding Northern Virginia area, including Rosslyn, Courthouse, and Clarendon, the most important criteria are licensure, trauma-informed training, and a clear explanation of how the therapist actually works. I offer a free consultation where we can talk through your situation and whether my approach is a good fit.
Online hypnotherapy is the only format I offer
Yes. Online clinical hypnosis therapy is available to clients throughout Virginia through my secure teletherapy platform. The hypnotic state is fully accessible remotely, and many people find that working from a comfortable, familiar environment actually supports the depth and quality of the work.
What you need for online sessions
To work together online, you will need to be located in Virginia at the time of your session. A private space where you will not be interrupted, a reliable internet connection, and a device with both audio and video are all that is required. Sessions are conducted through a HIPAA-compliant platform.
Online Clinical Hypnosis Serving Arlington, VA
Secure Teletherapy for Arlington Near Me
I offer Clinical Hypnosis via secure teletherapy to clients in Arlington and throughout Virginia. My registered office is at 1550 Wilson Blvd, Ste. 700 #226, in the Radnor/Fort Myer Heights neighborhood near Key Bridge. All sessions are conducted online, which means you can access this work from wherever you feel most comfortable and private.
Online sessions are just as effective as in-office therapy for the focused, internally directed work that clinical hypnosis involves. Many people find the comfort and privacy of their own home actually supports the process rather than limiting it. Teletherapy requires a private space, a reliable internet connection, and both audio and video. You must be located in Virginia at the time of your session.
My fee is $300 for a 53-minute session, due at the time of service.
Insurance
I am out-of-network with all insurance plans. Your plan may have out-of-network benefits that reimburse between 50% and 80% of the session cost. I provide a monthly superbill you can submit directly to your insurance, or through a claims service like Mentaya or Reimbursify for an additional small fee. You can get a HIPAA-secure estimate of your out-of-network benefits through the link on my fees page.
What the evidence shows
Clinical hypnosis is recognized as an evidence-based intervention by the American Psychological Association and supported by major mental health and medical organizations. Research consistently shows it to be effective for anxiety, trauma, pain management, and behavioral change when delivered by a trained clinician. It is a therapeutic tool with a substantial evidence base.
Customized appointments versus scripted programs
There is a meaningful difference between customized appointments tailored to your specific situation and scripted hypnosis recordings or performance-based coaching programs. My sessions are personal, non-scripted, and responsive to what you are carrying on a given day. That responsiveness is part of what makes the work effective.
What actually determines the outcome
The effectiveness of clinical hypnosis depends significantly on the relationship between client and therapist, the quality of clinical training, and the integration of hypnosis into a broader therapeutic approach. In my practice, hypnosis is one part of an integrated method combining EMDR, somatic therapy, and IFS. That integration tends to produce more meaningful and lasting results than any single approach used in isolation.
Session length
Individual clinical hypnosis sessions are 53 minutes. Some sessions, particularly those integrating EMDR, may run slightly longer. We discuss this when scheduling.
Number of sessions
This varies considerably depending on what you are working on, how long it has been present, and how your nervous system responds. There is no standard program or predetermined number of sessions. Some people notice meaningful shifts within a handful of sessions. Others are doing work that calls for a longer, more gradual process. The work continues as long as it is useful and stops when you are ready.
NLP practitioner work versus clinical therapy
Neuro-linguistic programming is a set of communication and behavioral change techniques used by some coaches and NLP practitioners, often in combination with hypnosis in performance or mindset coaching contexts. My practice is clinical therapy, not coaching. I do not incorporate neuro-linguistic programming as a framework, as it falls outside my scope of practice as a licensed counselor.
What I do work with is Internal Family Systems, which addresses the inner parts and patterns that drive behavior at a psychological level, and somatic therapy, which works with how those patterns live in the body. These are evidence-based clinical approaches well-suited to the trauma-informed work I do.
I do not use a BioCharger or any bio-energetic technology in my sessions. My practice is clinical therapy delivered through conversation, clinical hypnosis, EMDR bilateral stimulation, and somatic awareness. If you are interested in technology-assisted wellness approaches, that falls outside the scope of what I offer. My focus is licensed clinical care for trauma, anxiety, and the emotional patterns that have persisted despite other efforts.
Licensure matters most
The most important credential to look for is a clinical license, LCSW, LPC, LMFT, or psychologist. This means the practitioner has met the educational, supervised training, and examination requirements to practice psychotherapy independently. A board certified hypnotist without a clinical license, however skilled, does not carry the same ethical obligations, scope of practice protections, or clinical judgment. Licensure is the foundation of authentic clinical care.
Training in hypnosis specifically
Beyond licensure, look for a therapist who has received specific training in clinical hypnosis from a recognized organization such as the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. A therapist who is both licensed and authentically trained in hypnosis brings both clinical judgment and genuine hypnotic skill to the work.
Trauma-informed training for deeper work
For anyone working on trauma, anxiety with deep roots, or long-standing emotional patterns, trauma-informed training is essential. I hold an Advanced Certification in Complex Trauma and Dissociative Disorders from ISSTD, which directly shapes how carefully and deliberately I approach this work. Going slowly, building safety, and never moving faster than the foundation supports is not just a preference. It is a clinical responsibility.
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