Reprogramming Your Subconscious with David Wright, The Motor City Hypnotist

David: [00:00:00] And once we get the mind into that relaxed state, we’re able to tap into subconscious or unconscious thinking patterns, because that’s where all of our habits are stored is in our unconscious. And our subconscious things that you’ve done for years. You don’t even know that you do that They’re just habits that that are automatic and with hypnosis What we do is we relax the conscious part of your mind give suggestions to the subconscious part of your mind and therefore change behaviors 

Hope: Do you want to wake up feeling like you’re stepping into who you’re meant to be into the best possible version of you?

What if I told you that the key to your best life health and happiness are all around you? You just have to find what works for you You I’m Hope Pedraza, and I believe that there isn’t just one way to live a healthy and meaningful life, and that all you need is a little inspiration to make changes that last from the inside out.

Each week, I’ll be sharing tangible tips and inspirational interviews to help you on your journey. These are the steps to take to improve your life and live with purpose. This is Hopeful and Wholesome. [00:01:00] Hey y’all, welcome back to Hopeful and Wholesome. Thanks so much for listening today. I have on the show today David Wright.

David is a certified hypnotist, hypnotherapist, and he’s also a licensed professional counselor. And he is also known as the Motor City Hypnotist. Now, we are talking all about hypnotherapy today, about hypnotism, what it is, where people get stuck, the misconceptions people have about it, and even some ways that you can get started doing it on your own.

This one is really fascinating, y’all. This one is for your mind. Y’all take notes. Enjoy. Okay, y’all, so let’s get going. I’m so excited to bring on David Wright today. I am completely fascinated by this topic of hypnosis, so I can’t wait to learn more. But thanks so much for taking the time today to chat with me, David.

I’m so happy to have you. 

David: My pleasure. Glad to be here. 

Hope: Yeah. So let’s start from the beginning. Just let everybody know who’s listening, who you are and what you do. 

David: Okay, my name is David Wright. I am a licensed professional counselor [00:02:00] and a certified hypnotist hypnotherapist. So long story short, I have a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a master’s degree in counseling.

And so I do technically regular therapy, but I also do hypnotherapy as well. I kind of added that way early in my career to my bag of tools, let’s say. 

Hope: Nice. Okay. So tell us exactly what is hypnosis and why do you use it in therapy? 

David: Hypnosis, simply put, and I’ve done this millions of times over the years, simply put, it’s a relaxed state of body and mind.

And the important part there is the mind part. And that’s the, that’s the part that most of us have difficulty relaxing. And I can, I’m sure everybody’s experienced this phenomenon where you’re just exhausted and you lie down to go to sleep at night, your body wants to go to sleep, but your mind doesn’t shut off.

It just keeps running. And that’s the part that we want to quiet down and just be silent, if that makes sense. And once we [00:03:00] get the mind into that relaxed state, we’re able to tap into subconscious or unconscious thinking patterns, because that’s where all of our habits are stored is in our unconscious.

And our subconscious things that you’ve done for years. You don’t even know that you do them They’re just habits that that are automatic and with hypnosis What we do is we relax the conscious part of your mind give suggestions to the subconscious part of your mind and therefore change behaviors Okay, simply put that’s what hypnosis is.

Hope: Okay, so Explain this this is like for my personal benefit as well I’ve you know, i’ve seen stuff and here and i’m I do meditation. So what is the difference between hypnosis and meditation? 

David: Honestly, not much. And again, I, if I get clients that come to see me and they say they meditate a lot, I’m already like 90 percent there.

So really the, the only difference is meditation, you’re doing the same thing. You’re quieting your body and your mind. What we do with hypnosis, we just add that next [00:04:00] step is now we just give you suggestions while you’re in that state. 

Hope: I gotcha.

David: To make changes. So yeah, any of my clients that have done meditation regularly, or do yoga, anything that’s body mind related, they’re way ahead in the process, and those are typically people that I know will be very receptive to the process of hypnosis, because they do it most of the time themselves anyway.

Hope: So the results are going to be a little different if they’ve already got like in the habit of being able to quiet their mind. 

David: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, they’re much better. I hate to use the term subjects, but they’re they’re much better Subjects for hypnosis because they’re already used to quieting their mind.

Hope: Yeah. No, that makes sense So what kinds of things are people coming to you for and are they addressed – are you addressing with hypnosis? 

David: I do everything from smoking cessation is a big one that I work with. I do a lot of clients for weight management or weight loss. A lot of clients with anxiety and panic disorders benefit greatly from hypnosis because that [00:05:00] is just quieting that active mind down.

And I’ve done a lot of work with athletes in the Detroit area for sports performance to enhance their confidence or focus as far as sports goes. We have a lot of Detroit for, well, I guess just because of where we’re at, we’re, we’re big, uh, figure skating area. There are a couple of clubs here that have produced Olympians level skaters.

So I’ve done a lot of work with, with figure skaters because that is a very mental intensive sport and you’re by yourself, you’re all alone, there’s nobody to depend on. And most of the time, you’ll see a lot of these skaters that they can do a routine a thousand times and practice perfectly. But as soon as that light comes on and they’re in a competition, there’s this mental blockage or this mental disconnect.

Hope: Yeah, that’s so true. So what kind of benefits do you see people have from this? Like what are some of the most surprising changes, I guess, that you’ve seen some of your patients experience? [00:06:00] 

David: Some of them can be very, very practical changes. I saw a client probably it was during the summer. It wasn’t this past summer because of COVID, unfortunately, but near the end of last year, I saw a client who’d never been on vacation with her family because you couldn’t fly.

She had this fear and phobia of flying. 

Hope: Yeah. 

David: So I spent two sessions with her and she ended up flying across the country for the first time to go on vacation with her family. 

Hope: After two sessions? 

David: Yeah. After two sessions. 

Hope: That’s crazy. So people really overcome, and it’s just, it’s those suggestions that you’re putting in the subconscious.

Is that what it is? 

David: Yeah. Absolutely. 

Hope: That is amazing. That’s amazing. 

David: So once we make that change, it’s really, and I don’t want to make it sound simplistic, but in a way it is, because if you change the thinking pattern, you change the feeling and the behaviors that are associated with it. 

Hope: So I know some people, and you might have patients that come into you too, that are skeptical about it, right?

Like what is [00:07:00] this blue kind of stuff? Like what is this? 

So, and I’m sure there are people that come into that maybe you’re afraid of being hypnotized. So what are some of the, I guess, misconceptions that people have about that? 

David: There are great misconceptions. And I do this in addition to my clinical practice, I also do hypnosis stage shows, comedy stage shows.

So, so this is part of my whole pre talk is that regardless of what you’ve seen portrayed in media, as far as movies, TV. I’ve never seen hypnosis portrayed accurately, let’s say, and typically the whole misconception that somehow that that if I hypnotize you, I can control you and make you do things. That is definitely a misconception because you always have, even though you’re in that relaxed state.

Your mind always has the ability to accept or reject the suggestions I give you. So if, and I tell clients this when they, when they come in to kind of reduce that fear or eliminate it to say, if I give you a [00:08:00] crazy suggestion that, and then I do it and kind of, well, and especially for my stage shows, I do it a humorous way.

I said, if I hypnotize you and say, as soon as you walk off the stage, you’re going to, the first person you see, you’re going to punch him in the face. Of course, your moral compass is going to come in and say, well, no, I wouldn’t, I would not do that. So you’re going to say no to that suggestion. And just, just on a side note, I would never suggest that or give somebody that suggestion.

But that’s something where your mind would just say, well, no, I’m just not going to accept that suggestion. That, that just doesn’t, that’s not something I would do. 

Hope: So. And do you find, I mean, I’m assuming since you said people who are more apt to be able to quiet their mind have better results. So do you find the skeptics that come to you, does it take longer for you to kind of get them to that place where they can go into that subconscious?

David: It does sometimes. And it varies from person to person. And typically I kind of frame it this way that usually if people come to see me, even if they’re skeptical, there, there is some part of [00:09:00] them that’s open to it or they wouldn’t have made the appointment in the first place. And it’s very interesting because I over the years i’ve had clients come in and they’ll come in and sit down And and i’ll see from the intake information.

They want to stop smoking. Let’s say and they’ll come and sit down and say Okay, so you’re here to stop smoking and More than once a client has said, well, no, my, my wife and my husband sent me and I said, well, do you want to quit? That is the question, because if you don’t want to quit, this is not going to work.

If you’re doing this for somebody else and you’re not really invested in it, it’s not going to work. It would be like any other therapy. If you’re doing it unwillingly, it’s not apt to be very effective. 

Hope: Yeah, for sure. So I’m interested just because most of what we talk about here in the podcast, it’s like health and wellness and a lot of mindset stuff.

So for your patients, you come in who are doing like, say somebody comes in and they’re wanting to do, cause you said you work with people who are looking for weight loss. So what [00:10:00] kinds of things are you helping them with? Like what kind of path are you putting them down to help? Is it, is it a mindset shift?

Is it like, what things are they? What things are you helping them with, with the hypnosis?

David: So my approach when it comes to weight management or weight loss, if you want to call it that, I always like to say management because I think sometimes we focus too much on loss. And unfortunately, if you’re just looking to lose, sometimes that’s not a health, they don’t do it in a healthy way.

And that’s the concern. So the suggestions that I give for people looking for weight management are simple things like And these are things that you can implement even without hypnosis, but sometimes it’s that mental block that that mental habit that you’ve created over the years. So some of the suggestions I would give for weight management in hypnosis would be, you know, you’re going to, you’re going to put food on your plate.

And not have the main food sitting on the table where you can access it. Every time you take a bite of food, you’ll set your utensil down on the table and [00:11:00] just wait until you’re done chewing that bite to pick it up again. And all of these suggestions come together to just kind of slow the process down and becoming aware.

And I also focus very heavily on the difference between satisfied and full. That’s a big suggestion. And even just that, just being aware of when you’re satisfied by slowing that process down, you’re better able to catch it right at that level before overeating. 

Hope: Yeah, for sure. Yeah. So it’s like those little habits.

David: Right. 

Hope: That make it. Yeah, no, that’s a, that’s a great point. I think, I think that is a lot of it. I think a lot of it is awareness. I mean, I think with anything in life, but like with your health and stuff, right. It’s just being more aware of what you’re doing. So I think that’s a, that’s a really good point.

David: And I do focus in on a lot of, uh, because a lot of people have triggers for food. Right. Sometimes it’s emotional. It makes them feel good emotionally for whatever reason. So sometimes we need to get into that area and find out, well, what’s driving this? What do you, you know, what is this [00:12:00] emotional satisfaction you’re getting from food?

And then we try to divert that to something different and not break that link between that emotional satisfaction and food. 

Hope: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. How can hypnosis help with someone’s mental health if they’re struggling with, you know, whether it’s depression, anxiety or anything in that realm? How can it affect or benefit mental health?

David: It really goes back to, and on my podcast, the whole theme of my podcast and the tagline is change your thinking, change your life. And whatever you’re suffering with, whether it be anxiety or depression. Now I have to be careful on this because sometimes depression can be a chemical imbalance in your brain and there could be a physical cause to that chemical cause.

But put that one aside for a moment. Most of the time when somebody is depressed or anxious, it’s their thinking patterns. And that’s the part that we want to focus on. So with hypnosis, let’s say somebody suffers from a panic attacks or anxiety. Okay. Under hypnosis, we just turn [00:13:00] that trigger off your mind to say, whenever you start to feel that little bit of anxiousness come up, you’re aware of it immediately.

And it doesn’t get past that point and become out of control. 

Hope: Right. Yeah. So it goes back to that awareness, right? That you’re aware of your thoughts. You’re aware of what you’re thinking. 

Yeah. 

David: And let me add to that, because it’s an important part, because most people that have, that suffer with anxiety and panic attacks, What happens is that it happens once.

There’s a first time that it happens to people and immediately there’s this trigger that or this reaction that’s set in your mind. Now, the fear is not necessarily the thing you were afraid of. The fear is having a panic attack again, and it’s maybe you had it in a crowded grocery store, and now the fear is every time you go shopping, you’re gonna freak out, and that becomes the basis for more anxiety because now you’re limiting yourself.

And it affects other areas in your life. So the big thing is to realize that even the worst panic attacks, no one’s ever died from a panic attack. [00:14:00] And I try to put this into a logical context. As bad as you feel and as anxious as you feel during that, every time you’ve been fine afterwards. And that’s the thing I always try to emphasize is that as bad as it sucks while you’re in it, you always get out of it.

It’s not a permanent condition. 

Hope: Right, right, right, right. Yeah, no, that’s, that’s great. So how did you get into hypnosis? What is your kind of background there that got you interested? 

David: Well, I started early as far as, as far, I’ll start, I’ll make a long story fairly short. I started in high school and then in college during the summers, I volunteered at summer camp and I was a counselor for teenagers.

So I started way back when, just kind of getting into that field as far as I really enjoy this. So when I went to school, of course, of course, the natural progression was I majored in psych and I went to, got my master’s degree in counseling. Became a licensed therapist and as soon as I started practicing many years ago, I was using things like [00:15:00] meditation, like guided imagery, like mindfulness.

I was using all of these techniques in therapy and it was kind of the next logical progression that why don’t I just get certified as in hypnosis because that would, this is, I’m kind of doing all the steps to that anyway. So I get certified as a hypnotist and hypnotherapist and started using that in my practice.

And then years later, no, I’m going to say probably now, uh, it’s been nine, 10 years that I got into the entertainment side of things, which is kind of added to, to my, um, how do I say my exposure as far as what hypnosis can do now shows are meant to be funny and it’s meant to be entertaining, but I also, they also show the power of what hypnosis can do.

And then I apply that to, to the audience and to the volunteers that. Yeah, we’re having fun with this, but you see how this could affect you in, in many positive ways and things that you might be trying to change in your personal life. Right. So there’s always, there’s always kind of a lesson behind the shows too.[00:16:00] 

Hope: Yeah. Yeah. I like that. So let me ask you this. I’m curious. So you said before you did hypnosis, you were using mindfulness and imagery and all of that. So. Assuming there’s another side to that. So there’s therapists who don’t use the more, I guess, I don’t know if the word holistic is accurate, but I would, 

David: I would say holistic, sure.

Hope: So what made you go that route as opposed to, I guess, the more clinical route, if that’s what you’re referring to. That’s the right word for it. 

David: You know what? Actually, that makes great sense because I mean, it could be, and I don’t want to get too technical with everybody. Anybody who’s had psych one on one knows, knows an approach like psychoanalysis, which was invented by Freud.

That process is just, just to explain to the people just real quickly, psychoanalysis involves a client coming in, lying down, usually in the typical sense of. Psychoanalysis and then just talking stream of consciousness and the therapist doesn’t interact They just take notes and [00:17:00] then they have to decipher all of this Information that they’ve gotten from you and make connections in typically a full psychoanalysis Going three to four times a week could take five or six years So it’s not practical, it just doesn’t, and that’s a really clinical, deep, and I don’t know anybody that practices that just alone.

So for me, I always felt like going the, for lack of a better term, it’s like, why spend ten sessions talking about something, let’s get in right away and start, start to fix it. 

Hope: Yeah. 

David: And I know that does sound simplistic, but my approach is I want to get you to where you want to be as quickly as possible.

Hope: Yeah, sure. 

David: And unfortunately, I’ve been doing this almost 30 years. And I’ve worked with many, many therapists over the years at different clinics and different places. And I think some therapists lack a sense of urgency as far as let’s get you to where you want to be as quick as we can. And Because my goal is not to see somebody for 10 years.

My goal is to get you independent [00:18:00] as quickly as I can. 

Hope: Yeah, no, that makes sense. 

David: And I love my clients, but I don’t want to see you for years. If you could fix something today. 

Hope: Right. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, then that case you’ve done your job. If you can get them in and out as quickly as possible.

David: Absolutely. Yeah. 

Hope: That’s kind of the point. Yeah. No, that makes sense. That makes sense. So that mindfulness aspect just gets them where they need to be. Because you’re like getting to the root of the 

David: Mm-Hmm. 

Hope: problem. 

David: And it also now it allows them to be independent going forward once, once they learn these tools, and as long as they continue to practice them right now, now they have something that they can have the rest of their life.

Hope: Right? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That now makes total sense. So, and that was kind of leads me to my next question. I like to give people some takeaways here in these episodes. So for those of us, I’m assuming you, I don’t know, can you hypnotize yourself? Is that a dumb question? 

David: Yes. Yes. No, no, it’s not a dumb question.

You can actually hypnotize yourself. Yeah. 

Hope: Okay. Well. 

David: In fact, I just did a podcast [00:19:00] episode maybe four or five episodes ago on self hypnosis. 

Hope: No way. 

David: Mm hmm. 

Hope: That’s so interesting. 

David: And let’s let’s go off off because I know you have meditation. So you meditate and you know how to get to that level, probably very quickly, because you’ve probably done it a lot.

The next step in that process would be now once you’re in there is just do self talk self statements of something that you may want to change. Once you’re in that state of relaxation, body and mind. Now you can And you can do it a couple of ways. You can just think these things. You can say it out loud, as crazy as that sounds, but it’s not.

You can talk to yourself and give yourself suggestions. A lot of my clients that I’ve taught this to will actually record themselves. Giving themselves suggestions and they’ll just play it and do it that way. So there are a lot of options to do it, but as long as you can relax yourself and put yourself into that state and then just tell yourself what you want to change, that, yeah, self hypnosis is very effective.

Hope: So is it more or less like a mantra that [00:20:00] you’re telling yourself or is it different than that? 

David: It could be a mantra. A lot of times people will use, and people who have meditated know that a lot of times you’ll use a mantra to empty your mind and to get it relaxed. So no, you can do it that way if that’s effective.

Some people like mantras, some prefer to have more like guided imagery. 

Hope: Right. 

David: And I do both, depending on the person. And again, every person’s different and they respond to things differently, so you have to find what works for you. 

Hope: Okay. So for those who So maybe hypnosis would be like a step down the road, like for people who are kind of already getting into that mindfulness practice, right?

So maybe it wouldn’t be the first step? 

David: I mean, it could be the first step. As long as you can teach yourself to get to that relaxed state. And here’s what I would recommend, honestly, is just learn to get yourself into that relaxed state through meditation. Through just relaxing your body and your mind.

And when you’re able to do that consistently, now we can start [00:21:00] adding suggestions to that. And believe me, I say this to people, if you do nothing else past that, think of how valuable that part is. That at any point in time, you can just shut down your body and quiet your mind and just be relaxed. Just taking that and having that for the rest of your life is invaluable.

Hope: Yeah, totally. Yeah. So just getting to that place, you can quiet your mind. So how, if you could narrow it down to one, what would be your number one recommendation for people? Cause I know when me and my husband both got into meditation, it was, I mean, he’s, it was really, it was a challenge for him to really quiet his mind.

It’s hard for a lot of people. So what is like your number one tip for people to be able to take that first step to just. Quiet the mind and stop it from running. 

David: A lot of times if you just, and there are a lot of, there’s a lot of visualization techniques that you could start with. And some of the ones that I use and people can try these is, and I’ll try to describe this because sometimes people might have a [00:22:00] hard time getting what I’m saying, but sometimes if you just close your eyes and take a few deep breaths and try to focus on the inside of your eyelids.

And that’s the best way I can say it is don’t it’s almost like you’re pulling back and your focus is not out here But it’s like you’re just focusing on your eyelids and you might see, you know, crazy Movements and lights and that’s okay. You just want to focus on your eyelids with your eyes closed That’s one tip another tip if you want to do a little bit more visual as far as external Is just visualize yourself just wiping a whiteboard clean You Just erasing the whole thing so there’s nothing there but white and just focus on that blank board And if something pops in just wipe it away and just try to do that over and over again Those are probably the two best ways to get started as far as just trying to keep your mind.

Hope: Yeah 

David: relaxed 

Hope: Yeah, no, I like that visualization Well, and it’s funny the first thing you said I don’t know if I’ve [00:23:00] ever like heard it said that way out loud because I So my husband and I went earlier this year to this conference in Sedona to see Dr. Joe Dispenza. And he was talking and he didn’t say exactly that, but that was how I’ve been able to, it’s like looking at the back of your eyelids.

And I’ve never thought about it that way, but whatever metaphor he used for it, that was what I was doing. So that’s, that’s a great tip. 

David: And it’s weird because when I do it, and again, it’s, it’s different for everybody and it’s hard to verbalize what you see. For me, I’ll see just drifting shapes sometimes.

It’s almost like you’re looking into blackness, but there’s, you know, maybe a pin light here or there or pixelation, I like to call it. 

Hope: Right. 

David: And as long as you just focus on that, it’s even, even though there’s movement and things, but you’re, again, you’re trying to keep it as just, again, as close inside yourself as possible and not look outward.

Hope: Right. 

David: And I know that’s a very, General vague analogy, but that it’s almost like you’re looking inside [00:24:00] and not looking out. 

Hope: Yeah. No, it makes total sense. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. No, that’s a really good way to describe it. I like that. So where can people find more about you and what you do? And the which I know during the era of COVID, you’re probably not doing as many shows as you would like, but where can they find out what you’re doing?

David: Well, a quick interesting story. Typically, my summer season is my busiest season, with high school graduations, proms, college graduations, and I do fairs during the summer throughout the country. So this year, I ended up, because of COVID, Everything got canceled. So I probably got, or probably ended up having 30 to 40 shows canceled, which is usually kind of my busy time for shows.

So that’s when I decided to pivot and find another way to get out to a bigger audience. So that’s when I started my podcast in June. So that’s been going, I think we’re on episode 38 now. I do twice a week. So as far as where people can find me, and hopefully someday we’ll be able [00:25:00] to do shows again, we’ll see, we’ll see how things go, but my website is MotorCityHypnotist.com, so you can find tons of stuff there as far as information, clips regarding shows, you can find my podcast page there, you can find my store which has a lot of hypnosis mp3s and ebooks that might be helpful for people. 

Hope: Yeah! 

David: Regarding all kinds of stuff, hypnosis for anxiety, hypnosis for confidence, smoking cessation, weight management, tons of stuff there that they can take a look at.

And then the podcast is Motor City Hypnotist Podcast. It’s out on all the major podcast providers. 

Hope: Perfect. That’s awesome. Thank you. So I like to ask to end with the same question for everyone. What is the most important change people can make or thing that they can do to live with purpose? 

David: I think it’s changing your, and I’ll go back and it sounds general, but if you just take this and pinpoint the focus on it, it’s just change your thinking.

A lot of people fail at things and by fail, [00:26:00] that’s a strong word, but a lot of people don’t get the things they want out of life because they’ve had this built in thought process that they can’t do it. Or that they’re unable to do it. And then I, and I’ve said this on the podcast numerous times, you know, some of the most successful people in the world were not smarter or more talented than you were.

Hope: For sure. 

David: They just focused on doing it and they made it happen. 

Hope: Exactly. That’s great. 

David: So I would say, just, just get used to changing that thinking process and, and let yourself believe that you can be successful and that you can do the things that you want to do. 

Hope: Yeah. I love that. That’s great advice. I’m going to put all the links to everything that you’re doing in the show notes so everybody can find you and this has been super enlightening. So thank you. Awesome. 

David: I was, I love talking about hypnosis when I’m not able to do it, of course, 

Hope: for sure. Just another way to get the, I mean, I think it’s so important to dispel the myths. I think this could be super helpful for people. 

David: Yep, absolutely.

And again, [00:27:00] nothing to be fearful of and I want to emphasize that as you know, before we end. If you’ve had a fear of it, or you’re a little bit, you know, questioning about it, it’s totally safe, as long as you’re seeing somebody reputable, of course, that would be with any profession, and it’s something that can, really, it can change your life.

If you learn how to do it, and you make these changes in your thinking, you’ll automatically change how you feel and how you act. It just goes along, they’re connected. Your thinking and your behaviors are connected. 

Hope: Yeah, totally. Thank you so much, David. Thanks for all the info and the insight.

David: Thank you, Hope. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. 

Hope: Thanks for listening to Hopeful and Wholesome, y’all. If you found value in this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes, wherever you get your podcasts, and leave a review to let me know what you thought. I love to know what you find useful in these episodes, so I know how I can provide the most value I can to my listeners, and if you have topics that you want to know more about, I’d love to hear those as well, so shoot me a message on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

It’s at the Hope [00:28:00] Pedraza, or visit my website, hopefulandwholesome.com. Thanks y’all.