I had a young lady a few years back reach out to me to ask if I would consider working with her. She identified as a Wiccan and had been turned down by a number of hypnotists who would not work with her because of, what she claimed was her religion. As someone who is a part of a minority religion myself, I understand what that is like and that not to worry because I was actually pretty culturally competent in her religion as I had many friends who were Wiccan or other forms of pagan and had even practiced it for a number of years myself.
I already knew, based on what a few other hypnotists had said about Wiccans as to the reasons why, plus I had my own share of challenges when I was identifying as such.
A lot of times Wiccans are coming for help with past life regressions. Many professional hypnotists simply do not do these because the APA does not like or approve of them. While I am trained to do them and enjoy doing them, it is incredibly rare that I do these things. I am generally doing it not through the practice and only in combination with other mental health providers and almost always at least one religious official and under only heavy screening and people are at their wits end. Basically, it is complicated to work around the issue.
In addition, Wiccans are more likely to know or have preconceived knowledge of what their lives likely were which may or may not be accurate. The person at HMI who taught PLR claimed to be Cleopatra. Surprisingly, I have met at least a half dozen others who also claimed to be Cleopatra. I assume none of them really were, but if the hypnotist does not produce a Cleopatra lifetime they blame or sue the hypnotist and leave bad reviews on the hypnotist. I’ve had to turn down a few because they were very specific as to what life time they wanted to experience which I cannot guarantee. I only work with people who are fully open assuming I do it at all and they have passed all the other screenings.
For those two things, it has nothing to do with the religion, but instead what is requested.
In addition, as much as I love my Wiccan friends and clients, I also have to screen for anything that is unusual regardless of who you are or what you believe. I do believe in ghosts and unusual happenings (I did a few ghost hunts in Savannah), but if someone is telling me about hallucinations which could be the sign of something else, I will send out a referral just to be sure it isn’t something more serious. We can talk about Reiki until the cows come home. Tarot, herbs, shamanism, etc. I love it all. UFOs, Bigfoot, whatever. However, if something could be amiss, I might have to refer someone out. It is just the way it is.
In addition, while I do not believe mental health should be a stigma, due to the nature of the culture, New Age related followers (of which I am also at some level a part of) are often very open about their mental health diagnoses and are more likely to disclose it. Since my hypnotherapy malpractice insurance does not allow me to work on anyone with any diagnosis without a mental health referral, I cannot see someone with a diagnosis without the referral.
That has nothing to do with Wiccans as a religion, but is a requirement of the malpractice. Those things are applicable to everyone, not just Wiccans.
So if anyone Wiccan is feeling like they are being discriminated against due to their religion, which I rarely ask my clients that anyway, please know you are welcome here in this practice. Just if you need a referral, please bring it.
Melvin S. Marsh is a certified life coach and hypnotherapist serving Atlanta GA, Augusta GA, Statesboro GA, and Savannah GA. He performs hypnotherapy and life coaching appointments both in person and worldwide virtually. He can be reached at www.afterhourshypnotherapy.com .
