As a professional hypnotist, P.E.I.'s Darlene Waye doesn't have the power to control someone and make them do what she wants.
"Even Reveen (didn't) have that power," Waye said with a laugh.
Instead, hypnosis is a choice that helps people think more positively and change their lives for the better, she said.
And, like many people these days, she's decided to work from home after 11 years seeing clients in an office in downtown Charlottetown. Waye, a hypnotist, life coach and owner of the Atlantic Hypnosis Centre, is now going to be seeing clients online through Zoom.
She didn't have to move, but with the coronavirus (COVID-19 strain) pandemic changing how people live, she thought this would be a good time to try something new.
Not only does the move save her money by not paying commercial rent, it will also allow her to visit her daughters – one in Toronto and one who is planning to move to British Columbia for school – and still see clients virtually.
Waye has seen clients online before, but not on a full-time basis.
While it could be argued that performing hypnosis online may not work as well because it lacks the intimacy of an in-person session, Waye disagreed.
"Especially for people with fears and anxiety and phobias, doing therapy from the comfort of their own home is really a blessing because walking into my office could be scary for them," she said.
"Many people have that thought about hypnosis, that it's like a 'woo, woo' thing, and something that I do to you as opposed to what it really is – me teaching you to use the power of your own mind to make these changes in your own life. That really is what it is. I'm teaching people how to do hypnosis."
The move online has also increased her potential client list since she isn't limited to Island residents but can see anyone in the world.
Waye, originally from Hunter River, helps people with a variety of issues, such as anxiety, fears, phobias, body weight, addictions, smoking, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and past life regression.
"Fear of flying is really a big thing. I have many people that have flown because of the hypnosis that I've helped them with," she said.
Another example of how hypnosis can help someone is when they are afraid to drive after being in a bad car accident.
"What we think about, we bring about. And, what we can conceive and believe, we can achieve," Waye said.
"Normal talk therapy, quite often, retraumatizes the person by having them relive the bad things that happen to them in their lives whereas hypnosis, that's not the goal. The goal is to help you move on. We don't need to go back to every bad thing that ever happened to you in your life. We just want to move on in a more positive way, and put that bad thing that happened to you in a better place so that it's not bothering you every day."
Waye's first experience with hypnosis was actually as a client living in Ontario trying to quit smoking 30 years ago.
"I never thought that I'd be a hypnotist when that happened," she said. Years later, and after working in a few different careers on P.E.I., she decided to train in Toronto and become a consulting hypnotist.
Not surprising, she's had clients recently dealing with fears over COVID-19.
"A lot of people have anxiety around this. And, it's real. There is a virus out there. I think we live in a bubble in P.E.I. and we're not as affected as other parts of the world or Canada. For anyone suffering from anxiety, yes, it's a big fear," she said.
