Should I Seek Professional Hypnotherapy for Grief, Loss, and Bereavement
- Jun 4
- 7 min read
Annyx Day is the founder and CEO of Living Life Above, Moving Yourself Forward, a RTT Practitioner/Certified Hypnotherapist, and a RTC Success Coach. She helps and guides her clients excel in their personal and professional lives.
Grief is, unfortunately, inevitable and prevalent. What if there was an alternative way to heal from grief, loss, and bereavement? I have heard from others that hypnotherapy works, so why does professional hypnotherapy offer healing from grief, loss, and bereavement?
The National Council for Hypnotherapy states, “hypnotherapy can be a highly effective complementary tool for managing grief. It works by helping your subconscious mind process deeply buried emotions, ease the physical tension and exhaustion that often accompany loss, and reframe painful thoughts so you can move toward acceptance”.
It is important to understand that there are different stages of grief and everyone goes through them at their own pace. The stages of grief, widely known as the Kübler-Ross model, outline emotional responses to profound loss. They include: denial (disbelief), anger (frustration), bargaining (seeking control), depression (sadness), and acceptance (coming to terms). These stages are highly non-linear and everyone grieves differently. Furthermore, there is no specific order to these stages, let alone the length of time people experience each stage. It is so important to find a hypnotherapist specializing in grief, loss, and bereavement to allow his/her guidance to assist you and your loved ones through these different stages and help you heal from such loss. Too often, I see people trying to navigate grief, loss, and bereavement alone. I have first-hand experience, which was once me.
What does the Kübler-Ross stages of grief model look like?
It is important to recognize that everyone experiences grief differently. Outlined below are the different stages of grief:
Denial: A defense mechanism that buffers the immediate shock of a loss. You may feel numb or refuse to accept the reality of the situation. Disbelief is at the forefront and one negotiates that the event ever happened.
Anger: As the masking effects of denial wear off, the pain re-emerges and is often redirected as anger. This can be aimed at yourself, others, or the circumstances. Frustration sets in and takes a strong hold on oneself.
Bargaining: An attempt to regain control over a helpless situation occurs. You might find yourself making mental negotiations (e.g., "If only I had") to avoid the pain of the loss. The underlying effect of seeking control masks the pain of being “left behind”.
Depression: A quieter, more profound stage where the reality and the weight of the loss truly set in. It often involves intense sadness, withdrawal, and a sense of emptiness.
Acceptance: This stage does not mean you are "okay" with the loss, but rather that you are coming to terms with the new reality and integrating the experience into your life.
Sharing my personal experience with grief, loss, and bereavement
I write this article from experience. I have known too many people who have passed, some I knew professionally, and some I knew personally. Some were co-workers, some were acquaintances, some were family members, and some were friends. Some deaths were as a result of illness, some as a result of tragic accidents, some as a result of suicide, and some were as a result of old age. Regardless of the unfortunate circumstances, they all left a mark, their mark. As I am writing this, all of their faces are flooding my mind with sadness, laughter, wonder, and of course, memories.
My best friend died of breast cancer at age forty, twelve years ago. For years, I carried the heavy, heavy load of grief and even after seeking traditional therapy, I still felt the heaviness of grief. I wore the mask of courage when I needed to, but that deep sadness resided in my throat. I could not even say her name because when I thought of her, I would immediately come to tears and no sound would come out when I spoke her name. My voice would disappear completely. I would reminisce about all the moments and memories we shared, and all I could think of was why this happened. Two months after the death of my friend, I suffered a miscarriage. Now I had double the grief, double the heaviness, and a deep, deep sense of “where do I go from here”. I was lost in those feelings and emotions, and seeking traditional therapy two years after, only got me so far.
My catalyst for change
Life went on and I wore the mask really well. When I enrolled in Marisa Peer’s Rapid Transformational Therapy® (RTT®) school five years ago, part of the RTT certification was to do sessions to heal your issues before you graduate and go on to help others heal from their issues. I chose grief for one of my RTT® sessions and it changed my life. Immediately, the heavy weight of grief lifted and no longer had a choke hold on me. I could speak about my best friend without the tears taking over. In fact, I have not really shed a tear since that session when I think of my best friend.
Furthermore, I no longer talk about the heaviness of grief and I now celebrate her and the great memories we shared together. When I think of those memories, I do not say “I wish I could have those times back,” instead, I say, “I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to create those great memories with her!” Intellectually, there is a big difference between the two sentences and physically, you can feel the difference in your mind, body, and soul. The latter sentence speaks from a place filled with inner peace and freedom. I also healed from my miscarriage and no longer feel the heaviness of the loss.
Now, I pay it forward
Admittedly, hypnotherapy seems unconventional for healing grief, loss, and bereavement. However, in my experience, more people are moving away from traditional therapy and seeking hypnotherapy for grief, loss, and bereavement. Some people ask me, “Would hypnotherapy work for something so delicate”? Yes, it does.
What I do as a RTT® Practitioner and Certified Hypnotherapist, and when I help my clients with grief, loss, and bereavement, I always tell them, “It is not about letting go of your loved ones. It is about letting go of the heaviness of grief”. Some of my clients are a bit reluctant towards the idea of hypnotherapy (which is part of the RTT® methodology) because they think they will forget about their loved ones. But I assure them it is the complete opposite. My clients remember memories and things they had subconsciously put aside, especially at the end, when they were taking care of their loved ones, when the day-to-day seemed fleeting.
During my clients’ RTT® sessions, they mention how grateful they are to remember specific memories, to remember accurate conversations, to have the opportunity to say what they never had time to say, and to experience the spiritual closeness of their loved ones. As a result, I could see the tension release from my clients’ faces, I could feel the heaviness of grief lift from my clients’ body/shoulders and leave the room, and I could see a sense of inner peace and freedom radiate around my clients before they embody this inner peace and freedom.
Furthermore, many of my clients may have come to see me for other issues such as anxiety, stress, addictions, motivation, concentration, procrastination, confidence, etc, but are able to heal unprocessed grief from their past during their RTT® sessions. More often than not, their unprocessed grief is closely intertwined with the original issues they wanted help with.
As for my clients who see me specifically for grief, loss, and bereavement, most of them are in the depression and acceptance stages of grief. They know the heaviness of grief is too much to keep carrying forward and they understand that their lives could be very different if they experienced hypnotherapy.
Professional hypnotherapy for grief, loss, and bereavement works
The number one reason my clients choose to work with me for grief, loss, and bereavement is that they do not want to go to traditional therapy for months or even years to feel better and to feel like they actually grieved properly. All of my clients who healed from grief, loss, and bereavement had no more than two RTT® sessions. Yes, two.
In closing, I recently met with one of my clients who had one session for grief over a year ago and she said her results were immediate. In addition, she no longer feels the heaviness of her Mom’s sudden passing, and she could celebrate her every single day, even on Mother’s Day, with a smile on her face and filled with inner peace and freedom. She never thought this possible, she is so grateful for this experience, and she recommends it to anyone suffering from grief, loss, and bereavement.
If healing from grief, loss, and bereavement is too heavy to carry, if you think/feel you are ready to move forward, or if you know someone who would greatly appreciate RTT® sessions with me, contact me here, or 613-797-8096, or go here, and I will be honoured to help and guide you!
Annyx Day, B.A., M.A., RTT Hypnotherapist and RTC Success Coach
Annyx Day is bridging the gap between people’s personal and professional excellence. Regardless of the various careers she upheld, one theme always stood out to her. Why do people do what they do in their personal as well as professional lives, and what is behind people’s behaviours? Her life’s purpose has always been to help people and to inspire people to move beyond life’s obstacles and challenges and to live a better, more evolved life. Annyx is the founder and CEO of Living Life Above, Moving Yourself Forward, a Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT) Practitioner/Certified Hypnotherapist, and a Rapid Transformational Coaching (RTC) Success Coach.
