Does Hypnosis Work for Panic Attacks? What to Ask Before You Book

Hypnosis helps with panic attacks. This is what we're going to talk about today. If you decide to pursue hypnosis for panic attacks and stress regulation, nervous system regulation, I'm going to tell you all about how hypnosis is regulated, what credentials for hypnotists or hypnotherapists you should look for, and whether hypnosis is really effective for stress management, panic attacks, nervous system regulation, all of that.

My name is Eugene Berezin. I'm a registered hypnotherapist in the state of Washington. Let's get to it.

The short answer: yes, with a caveat

Can hypnosis help with panic attacks? The short answer is yes. It can be beneficial and quite effective for panic attacks. Again, with a caveat: the nervous system is complex, different people are different, they respond differently to different therapies. But hypnotherapy can be a quick and effective method for managing stress, managing panic attacks, nervous system regulation, this mental spiral that a lot of entrepreneurs have.

And hypnotherapy is excellent for pain management. Especially if it is pain management and anxiety and panic attacks all glued together, or mixed together, hypnotherapy can be one of the modalities, or the modality, that can help you specifically.

How to find a hypnotherapist

Now let's talk about how to find a hypnotherapist and what you should look for in hypnotherapists themselves.

In the state of Washington, where I am located, hypnotherapy is a regulated activity, a regulated business. Who can provide hypnotherapy? Registered hypnotherapists. It's a license in Washington State, which I have. And other mental health professionals, such as licensed clinical social workers, licensed mental health counselors, licensed psychologists.

Most providers aren't trained in hypnosis

The thing with hypnosis: not a lot of mental health providers are trained in hypnosis. In previous videos on my channel we talked about why providers are not trained in hypnosis. Back in the day it was the plan to teach it, at least in medical diagnosis, because there was, and there is, data that it actually helps with physical health. But it was dropped on the floor.

Most states don't regulate it

Now the majority of states do not regulate hypnosis. Meaning a hypnotherapist, or hypnosis, is kind of like a life coach. You can go and get a certification within a few weeks and be a certified hypnotherapist or certified hypnotist, and say, hey, I work with anxiety attacks, and I work with such and such issues.

Where I stand

This is where I stand. Panic attacks are important and complex. So if you go to a hypnotherapist, either for pain management or anxiety attacks or stress management, in my opinion you should go to a professional who is professionally trained in human psychology. And again, it's my opinion: preferably a master's degree in social work, psychology, counseling psychology, psychotherapy, and so on. So they understand how a nervous system operates.

Scope of practice: when I refer you out

It's essential to also understand your scope of practice. If I am seeing that it is outside of my scope of practice as a registered hypnotherapist, I will refer you out. That's why I'm building a network with other psychotherapists, medical doctors, lawyers, massage therapists and so on. When it's outside of my scope of practice, I can refer you out.

Hypnosis vs CBT and DBT: everything has its place

So does hypnosis help with panic attacks and nervous system regulation and stress management and anxiety? Yes, it does, and it works really well. I don't want to really compare modalities, CBT versus hypnotherapy, because everything has its own place. Sometimes CBT and DBT, cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy, can work wonderfully.

I am not one of the hypnotists who says, you know what, talk therapy doesn't work because it's all in your conscious mind, it's in your prefrontal cortex, and hypnosis goes deeper. Yes, it is true, hypnosis goes deeper. But different people respond differently to different therapies.

What hypnosis does: the unconscious made conscious

So yes, hypnosis works with the unconscious mind, or subconscious mind. This is true. Yes, hypnosis is a very therapeutic state of consciousness, when you can make the unconscious conscious, when you can identify what really triggers you. And there are many different methodologies and techniques that hypnotherapists can use. That is really beneficial.

Tactical: six to 14 sessions, then readjust

Also, a lot of the time, with short-term talk therapy and long-form talk therapy, with hypnosis you can be really tactical. You identify the problem, you know what to work for, and you know what good looks like. And then six to 14 sessions. Then we readjust and decide if it is a maintenance phase and we do lifestyle therapy, or if we need to readjust, or if I need to refer you out. I always do check-ins with my clients, every single session and throughout sessions too.

How I work: motivational interviewing, IFS, hypnosis

How I tend to work personally. I do a hypnotherapy session with a person, and my modality is: I use motivational interviewing to help people understand what they actually want, to get clarity. I use Internal Family Systems as my theoretical foundation. I use hypnosis, and after hypnosis I use motivational interviewing again to do integration.

Your personalized hypnosis recording

After hypnosis I create a personalized hypnosis recording that I send to you, so you can listen to it in between sessions. It will be personalized for you specifically, without calling out personal details. So if somebody sees it or hears it, I'm not going to identify personally identifiable information, but I'm going to curate the recording specifically for you, based on what we worked on in the session.

Question 1: how do you work with an activated person?

Now, what questions you might ask a provider who does hypnotherapy.

I would ask: how do you work with an activated person? If I'm activated in the session, or if I feel anxious in the session, how do you address that?

For me personally, how I address that: I let you process feelings in the session, in a safe environment. And there were instances where we would just use motivational interviewing to get out of this activated state, and spend less time with hypnosis. Although, does it really happen quite a bit? A lot of the time when people come to me and they're activated, they say, you know what, I really don't want to feel this way. Can we just do hypnosis? I just want it to go away.

Question 2: your education and credentials

Another question to ask your provider: what is your education, and what are your credentials?

My credentials: a master's in science, in psychology. Prior to coming to the United States, I worked as a psychotherapist in Moscow, Russia. I worked with a lot of people with chronic internal illnesses, and I learned quite a bit about stress management, pain management, and hypnosis has always been my passion. So credentials are important. What is your formal education?

Question 3: how do you do hypnosis?

And how do you do hypnosis? It's important to understand how a person works with hypnosis.

As I mentioned before, I use Internal Family Systems, IFS, or parts work, and I often combine it with ego states. Ego states is one of the therapeutic modalities that is often used in hypnosis and hypnotherapy. I combine both. I find that Internal Family Systems has a really good theoretical foundation that has the notion of Self and Self energy, which ego state therapy doesn't. So I bring Self energy and the notion of Self from IFS, and when it comes to ego states, it's really a way that can help you with certain skills or certain states that you want to achieve.

Your internal board of directors

You can actually create a board of advisors, or a board of directors, an internal board of directors, that can help you navigate life. I should probably do another video about that too.

How to request an appointment

If you have questions, please ask them in the comments. But more importantly, if you are considering hypnosis for your specific situation, you can go to goodhypnotherapy.org and request an appointment. I will review your information. If it is a good fit, I will send you the paperwork, and if everything checks out, we're going to start working together.

Next: in therapy, and it still happens

In the next video I'm going to talk about what to do if you are in therapy, if you are addressing your panic attacks and anxiety attacks, and it still keeps happening. Because it can be an issue. Sometimes people go to talk therapy, or even CBT, DBT, and it doesn't quite work. So what to do next.

Until next time.

Part 4 of the series A panic attack out of nowhere. The episode arrives on YouTube on November 6, 2026; the written version is here first.