Plymouth Hypnosis Center Offers Nontraditional Therapy

Many people view hypnosis as a hoax, a sham science that ranks with the likes of magic, fortune telling, and telekinesis.

Bryan Toder, owner of Plymouth Hypnosis Center, located at 401 Germantown Pike in Lafayette Hill, understands this. He knows that frauds and outlandish media representations have made the public cynical toward his profession. He also knows hypnosis actually works, and that it can be used to help treat a number of problems.

“I always get the question ‘Does it really work?’ and ‘Yes, it really does,” he says. “It’s very difficult to explain what I do, which is why I offer a free consultation. That way, people can come in, view my book of over 700 testimonials, and hear from me in person. Most people who come in are prone to be skeptical, and I understand that, because most people don’t know what it is I actually do. In a consultation, I help them to understand.”

Toder uses hypnosis to help people deal with a variety of issues, including weight loss, smoking cessation, stress management, overcoming phobias, improving study habits, and developing relationship strategies. He estimates having helped thousands of people conquer problems they were not able to beat with more traditional therapies.

“A guy came in my office a couple of days ago whom I had helped quit drinking,” Toder says. “He had been a successful businessman and drinking ruined his life. He came in to tell me I saved his life, and now he can go out with his friends comfortably for smokes or drinks. I helped another man lose 200 pounds. It really does feel good to help people; it’s very rewarding.”

Best of all, unlike more traditional therapies, treatment is not a long term thing.

“It may take a couple of sessions – because it would really be unethical to do one shot deals for anybody, whether it’s a dentist, a chiropractor, or anybody,” Toder says. “But it’s not the type of treatment you need to do forever. It’s a session, maybe a few, and by then we should be able to address the issue.

Toder, a Fort Washington native who currently lives in the Collegeville area, indicates there are only four types of people who can’t be hypnotized. Three types – children under six, people with IQ’s of 70 or less and those under the influence of drugs – can’t be hypnotized because they lack the ability to concentrate long enough. The fourth type is someone who stubbornly refuses.

“You can’t be hypnotized if you don’t want to be,” he says, “but even if you are, you’re always in total control. If it’s real hypnotism, people aren’t going to do things that are against their beliefs. I do shows at corporate events and colleges, and it’s just a clean, safe, fun hypnosis show. It’s an hour of fun, and volunteers do some goofy things like talking into their shoe, but it’s never crazy things. If someone tried to get someone to do something they didn’t want to do, it would break the trance, and they would just say, ‘No.’”

‘Wanting it’ doesn’t just apply to getting hypnotized. If you come to Toder with an issue, he says he can help, but the caveat is you have to truly want to change.

“I can’t wave a magic wand around and make it happen – you have to come in predisposed to truly want to change,” he says. “Most people don’t like to change or are afraid to do so. They have to want to change for this to work. Once they’ve decided to change, it’s actually easy. It just involves changing how people react to different situations. So for instance, if someone eats when they are stressed, I can help them through hypnosis not to do that. They can learn how to hypnotize themselves in those instances.”

Asked how he got into hypnotism, Toder laughs and says, “Well, it’s pretty cool, you have to admit,” before indicating he didn’t actually get into the profession until he was 43. He had been doing marketing for his father’s business and says watching a friend who was a professional hypnotist for entertainment purposes got him interested in making a career shift.

“It just seemed amazing,” he says. “Hypnotism is about doing things in a different way, and I really was fascinated by it and how it can be used to help people.”

So Toder went to train with Scott McFall, a hypnotist up in Bismarck, North Dakota who is widely considered the best in the world. He got his certificate and 9.5 years ago he opened Plymouth Hypnosis Center.

Now, Toder sees 15-20 people a day, and indicates he runs one of the most successful centers in the country. He’s also written a book, “Get Thin—Be Happy! Six Easy Steps to Weight Loss Success,” which comes with free access to a Web site (getthinbehappy.com) with downloadable hypnosis programs that allow people to be hypnotized over the Internet if they can’t make it in to his office.

In an effort to dispel popular misconceptions, Toder always makes it clear what he can and cannot or will not do. He does not treat psychological or medical problems, and will only help with pain management if someone brings a doctor’s note. He also doesn’t erase bad memories, but he can, if need be help people change the way they respond to them.

“If someone comes to me very upset about breaking up with a boyfriend and asks me ‘Can you help me forget them.’ The answer is, ‘No, I cannot,’” he says. “However, what I can do is turn down the volume of the feeling. I can help someone make it weaker so that they don’t have such intense pain related to it.”

He also emphasizes that hypnosis is 100 percent safe, with no side effects other than coming out of the experienced rested and relaxed.

“It’s important to recognize, people are hypnotized most of the day,” he says. “When they are driving, and all of a sudden they are home and don’t remember the journey and think ‘how did I get here?’ That’s called highway hypnosis. Daydreaming is hypnosis. It’s 100% safe, and really it’s something that happens more than people realize.”

For more information: www.plymouthhypnosis.com