If you are of average intelligence or higher, can count from 1 to 10, are not under the influence of excessive drugs or alcohol, and want to change your life, you can be hypnotized, along with 97 percent of the population, says Lisa Zaccheo, owner and board certified hypnotist at Mind Matters Hypnosis Center in Canton. Does this mean that with a simple "waaatch the waaatch. You're getting veerrryy sllleeeepppy," you can instantaneously stop smoking, eliminate eating disorders, or become a super athlete or artist? Or is this the type of hypnosis that makes one cluck like a chicken on stage? "No, this is what most people think of and it does not even vaguely resemble hypnotherapy," Zaccheo says.

In simple terms, hypnosis is a conversation with the subconscious part of your mind, she says. "the part that's referred to as the 'brains behind the operation' and is in charge of all our perceptions, emotions and behaviors." Contrary to popular belief, hypnosis is not mind control. Rather, hypnosis is your mind's natural learning state ­ a state of heightened awareness. And, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis requiring 100 percent consent by the participant. The hypnotist merely guides the client into the sate and together they work to change the programming or blueprint that's motivating the behavior in question. Not only is the client in total control during the session ­ hearing and remembering everything ­ he or she will be an active participant. The idea that you can "get stuck" in the state of hypnosis is a misconception. "At the mere thought of wanting out, your mind snaps you right back to your normal conscious level of operation." "Have you ever heard of anyone sent to the emergency rooms stuck in the state of hypnosis?" she asks.

Hypnosis works by allowing you to bypass the conscious level of your mind and access the subconscious mind which operates much like a computer. Like a computer, your subconscious mind must operate based on the programming that's been placed within it. Human programming is essentially everything that we've experienced since birth. Hypnosis allows us to get rid of the old, negative programming clouding our perceptions or motivating negative behaviors and health patterns and replace it with positive, life enhancing programming.

The benefits of hypnosis are wide and varied. "I'd say the number one benefit is that hypnosis allows you to access the balance of the brain's power ­ the 90 percent that we don't have access to on the conscious level." Essentially everything you need to know is already inside you, she says and adds, "it's just a matter of accessing the information and asking the right questions." Since hypnosis is your mind's natural learning state, it gives you the opportunity to learn new ways of being and doing that are healthier and more beneficial for you, explains the hypnotist. "Using hypnosis you can change whatever you set your mind to. It gives you the ability to have your mind working for you rather than against you or to its full potential."

Zaccheo has taken over 900 course hours in hypnotherapy including regression, clinical, forensic and child/adolescent hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy is her second career, her first being in advertising where she worked at the executive level at some of the largest agencies in the country. She has been working with hypnotic theory since the mid eighties as TV is a hypnotic device and commercials are often rated on their ability to create change at the subconscious level of the mind ­ hence the reason why some commercials are so effective at changing perceptions and motivating buying behaviors. Her decision to change careers came after experiencing hypnosis herself. Zaccheo opened Mind Matters three years ago after practicing out of her home.

Hypnosis is often a better option for treatment for a number of reasons. For example, hypnosis requires no drugs or artificial substances to be placed in the body. And it is fast, allowing for change in as few as one to five sessions depending on the issue. Combine non-reliance on medicine with speedy results, and hypnosis is often less expensive from a time and cost perspective than other treatments, says Zaccheo. Further, hypnosis teaches people how to create change in themselves rather than being reliant on an outside source.

Contrary to popular belief, there are no significant physical feelings that go along with the state of hypnosis because hypnosis is a state of mind or consciousness and not a physical state, she explains. "People tend to describe a very pleasant feeling of extreme relaxation, a heaviness or lightness in their limbs or a slight change in temperature. Some people describe a sinking feeling as they relax more deeply. Almost everyone will experience a time distortion where an hour session feels much shorter." When in hypnosis you hear everything that happened during your session. Breathing slows down and people tend to swallow more, but other than that it is not what people expect it to be. She describes it as "more a clarity of mind than a physical sensation."

Correcting different problems of course, requires a different number of sessions. Many issues, such as a sweet tooth or phobia, can be addressed in one or two sessions. Others that are more complex, such as weight issues, may take three to five sessions. Healing, depending on the issue, may take anywhere between one and five sessions. And, the severity of the issue and the length of time the issue has been in evidence also plays a role in the length of time required for resolution. Finally, Zaccheo points out, "Some issues present themselves in layers that need to be peeled away until there are no layers left."

Sessions at Mind Matters are all one-on-one. Zaccheo will only work on psychological, dental or medical issues with a referral from the individual's psychological, dental or medical professional. "I think the difference between the work we do here and that of some other centers is the philosophy of understanding the "why" behind the issue. My work is not about creating band aids; it's about understanding the thought, belief or feeling that's motivating a behavior," she says.

Author Susan Cornell went under Lisa Zaccheo's hypnotic "trance" to improve her golf swing.
She couldn't remember the last times she felt so comfortable, relaxed and aware at the same time.
Lisa tests Sue's level of relaxation in photo below by lifting her "limp" arm for her.

"You feel both extrememly relaxed and very aware at the same time." -Sue Cornell

Although she is a former senior vice president of marketing at an ad agency, she does very little advertising The majority of clients are referred by other clients. The balance comes from the patients of doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, chiropractors and other alternative health practitioners. She has been a guest recently on WDRC's "Mary Jones Show," and has received several clients from those "appearances."

Applications run the gamut from abuse to weight control. In between there's pain management, panic attacks, procrastination, public speaking, and a least 50 other issues Zaccheo addresses. Certainly, something like helping broken bones to heal more quickly is of much more value than commanding one to cluck like a chicken. But healing bones? Zaccheo believes that our mind can actually throw us into or create disease states and, conversely, has the power to do the opposite. She mentions Dr. Carol Ginandes, a Harvard psychologist at McLean in Boston, who has been doing studies with patients recovering from broken ankles and breast cancer surgery. Ginandes states that "through hypnosis, the mind can have a potent effect not only on the mental well-being, but also on the acceleration of bodily healing itself." Ginandes believes, as does Zaccheo, that the mind has the ability to stimulate the body's own healing mechanism to work more efficiently.

Weight control is one of the most common issues of Mind Matters' clients, but Zaccheo's program is not a diet. Instead, it allows the individual to return to their natural state of eating, she said. "We all have vague memories of that state when we were hungry, eating what our bodies requested and stopping when we were full." Over time we begin to make many misassociations with food that change our natural eating patterns. Food becomes comfort, company, etc. As a result of these misassociations or minds start craving food not because our bodies need food, but because we associate food with the feelings of comfort or company that we're craving. The Mind Matters program allows the individual to fully understand what connection(s) their mind has made with food or the other side of the 'food equals' equation. Once the client understands the connection, "they can allow their minds to come up with a whole host of new things to put on the other side of the equal sign that they're craving (for example, comfort ­ exercise, communicating, a good book, etc.) Their mind can come up with many new ways of getting comfort that have nothing to do with food. Once new connections are made, the cravings for food is gone and your mind/body can return to the natural state of eating ­ viewing food as nutrition," she said.