Daniel Ryan
Danielryancrt@gmail.com
(347) 439-3574
Offices in Brooklyn, NY
& Chatham, NJ
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About
I offer clinical hypnosis, regression therapy and behavioral counseling for anxiety, depression, habit cessation, pain management and more.
I've been working with hypnosis, past life regression therapy and spiritual healing for over 15 years. I know how hypnosis can help people to better live in the present, face adversity and overcome obstacles. It offers immediate relief interrupting the patterns of thought and behavior that create stress. Regression therapy offers deep exploration of the mind, the unconscious and our memories. At countless trainings, lectures and seminars all over the world I've gained a tremendous amount of practical experience prior to the age of thirty-five. In my travels, I’ve observed the application of regression therapy and hypnosis in different cultures with different age groups and trained with the most highly regarded professionals in the field.
I see clients in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and at The Center for Integrative Healing in Chatham, NJ.
My father, Dr. Jeffrey Ryan, was also my teacher. A clinical psychologist, he specialized in hypnosis and regression therapy, and maintained private practice for over twenty-five years. He served as president of the International Association for Past-life Research and Therapies for 12 years. In the early nineties he introduced me to his work and I was instantly fascinated by the effect it had on people’s lives. I saw anxieties and fears that had lasted a lifetime disappear in a day. I was astonished at the breadth of information available in the unconscious and how people applied it to their lives. I witnessed some rare phenomena, a lot of blind faith, but mostly the quality of my father’s care.
Simultaneously I trained with Janet Cunningham Ph.D., author and President of the International Board for Regression Therapy, and Peg Davis; teacher, counselor and founder of BodyMind Wellness.
I received my undergraduate degree (BFA) from Emerson College where my research focused on literature, philosophy and sociology. I am board certified in hypnosis and regression therapy. I attend The New York School of Practical Philosophy and am in my fifth year of study in their ongoing program. In 2011, I co-founded the Center for Integrative Healing in Chatham, NJ. I maintain private practice in Brooklyn, NY and Chatham, NJ.
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FAQs
- Regression therapy
- Hypnosis
- Past-life therapy
- Hypnotherapy
- Past-life regression therapy
All the same thing? Kinda. They all include elements of each other, they overlap and cover some of the same ground. So why so many names? Early practitioners of regression therapy (starting in the mid-70s) were often censured from established mental health and medical communities. Professionals working in the U.S., U.K. and Netherlands were splintered and remained so. Hypnosis was already a nebulous concept in our culture. Small communities of regression therapists began establishing foundations in the 1980's. There was no name for what they were doing; A spiritual kind of healing rooted in clinical hypnosis and cognitive therapy. As a result there were many names, each requiring a separate explanation.
Professional organizations such as IARRT, IBRT and EARTh have been doing incredible work successfully connecting therapists all over the world for years, but there still remains a great deal of confusion over what regression and past-life work really entail. False or dated ideas about reincarnation, hypnosis and mysticism continue to pervade popular thought.
Q. What is Regression Therapy?
A. Regression Therapy is a cognitive therapy that uses deep breathing, visualization and talk to recover memories. We're looking backwards (hence the word regression) to better understand the present and more confidently create the future. Sometimes we explore the memories of what may or may not be past lives. This depends on the client's spiritual inclinations and interest. It is not always necessary. Regardless, we deeply explore the past looking for information that is useful in the present.
Q. What if I don't believe in past lives?
A. Doesn't matter. Maybe they are the memories of past lives, maybe not. The present is what matters. As with everything, openness and a positive attitude help.
Q. What about the hypnosis? Will I remember everything that happens?
A. Yes. You're cognizant through the whole experience. You see and feel everything. We keep a dialogue and I act as a guide.
Q. How much does it cost?
A. $150 for a 75-90 minute session. Reduced fee appointments are occasionally possible depending on your financial situation and my availability.
Q. Do you accept insurance?
A. I don't deal directly with insurance companies. If your insurance company offers benefits for out of network providers, see if they accept claims for hypnotherapy. I will give you a receipt that you can submit with your insurance claim.
Q. Do you believe in past-lives?
A. Yes and No. I believe in cycles and the continuance of life, and certainly I've seen a lot that would substantiate reincarnation. That said, I'm missing the empirical evidence that the rest of the world wants to see too.
When I was 16 my father told me he was looking forward to dying. I was incredulous and he grinned. "I want to know if there's past-lives or not." he said. Today I feel the same. I'm privileged to work as a regression therapist, but it has not lead to a belief in reincarnation. Instead, it's filled me with a great love of working with people, a passion for healing and a greater awareness of how important it is to live in the present moment.
Q. What is hypnosis?
A. Hypnosis is a natural state characterized by concentration, focused attention, and physical relaxation. In hypnosis, you are able to focus on only what's relevant, whether that's a narrow sliver of experience or an expansive connection with the whole world. It feels something like a sustained daydream.
In a state of hypnosis, the critical faculties of the conscious mind take a mini-vacation, allowing the unconscious mind to openly receive communication. Clinical hypnosis utilizes this line of communication to create lasting, therapeutic change in areas of life that are generally controlled by the unconscious mind.
If you want to break a bad habit (smoking, overeating, nail biting, etc.), resolve inner conflict, improve focus and concentration, enhance creativity, manage pain, overcome a phobia, improve sleep, or develop peak performance states, hypnosis is a remarkably powerful tool.Q. What if I can't be hypnotized?
A. Everyone can be hypnotized. Even if you have never experienced formal hypnosis, you experience states that are similar to hypnotic trance every day: zoning out, daydreaming, getting lost in a movie plot. If you are capable of these things, you can experience hypnosis.
There are many different hypnotic inductions — rapid, gradual, structured, conversational. I customize the hypnotic experience based on each client's needs and personality.
The major impediments to experiencing hypnosis are fears and misconceptions about what it is. I hope to dispel some of the common misconceptions here. Please feel free to email me at Danielryancrt@gmail.com if you have any reservations or concerns about trying hypnosis.Q. What is a typical session like?
A. A typical first session begins with a conversation about the problem you're having or the behavior you'd like to change. I will ask you some questions, and answer any questions you have about hypnosis.
After the initial consultation, we will move on to hypnotic induction, creative visualization, therapeutic suggestion, etc.
After you emerge from hypnosis, we will briefly discuss your experience. I will also teach you some powerful self-hypnosis techniques.Q. How many sessions do I need?
A. Most people find that one session is all that is needed to kick a lifelong habit. Some people require longer or multiple sessions. Milton Erickson, the seminal figure of 20th century hypnotherapy, saw some clients for 6 hours at a time.
Based on the history you provide during a phone screening, we will determine the optimal length of your first session. After the first session, you will likely have an intuitive sense about whether you would benefit from additional sessions. Clients who come for more than three sessions are usually tackling multiple problems in turn.Q. Will I lose control?
A. If you have seen people do crazy things at a hypnosis show, it is natural to wonder how much control the hypnotist has. It is important to remember that people who volunteer for stage hypnosis have an expectation about what participating will entail. The hypnotist selects people who seem uninhibited, and sends the reluctant back to their seats.
Context and motivation determine what makes sense as a suggestion. You will reject things that don't make sense. It would be difficult if not impossible to get someone to cluck like a chicken in my office, just as it would be difficult to suggest that the star of a hypnosis show quit smoking.
Hypnosis is a consensual state. I am literally incapable of making you do anything you're not comfortable doing. If I asked you under hypnosis to tell me your ATM PIN number, you would just say "no" and laugh at me (in hypnosis it is completely normal to talk, laugh, scratch an itch, or shift to get more comfortable in your chair).Q. Will I know what's going on while I am hypnotized?
A. Hypnosis is very relaxing, but it is not sleep. On the contrary, people become extremely alert during hypnosis. All your senses are heightened, and you are able to think clearly.
Relaxation and alertness may seem mutually exclusive, but they are not. The "deeper" you go into hypnosis, the more relaxed and more alert you become.
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Posts
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
, the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserved the Union, and ended slavery. Reared in a poor family on the western frontier, he was mostly self-educated.
- After Transcendent Experiences, Less Fear of Death
Norbert Litzinger remembers picking up his wife from the medical center after her first session and seeing that this deeply distressed woman was now “glowing from the inside out.”
There is a resurgence in experimentation with psychedelics taking place with terminal cancer patients. Psilocybin is being tested for it’s effect on depression and anxiety related to impending death, and the results are positive. Across the board, the subjects are responding to the strength of the experiences they have. They are moving past their fears (and scheduled mortality) in ways that have long-term, measurable results based on what takes place in their body and mind while tripping in a hospital bed.
“I don’t really have altogether a definitive answer as to why the drug eases the fear of death, but we do know that from time immemorial individuals who have transformative spiritual experiences come to a very different view of themselves and the world around them and thus are able to handle their own deaths differently.”
- In Therapy Forever? Enough Already
I have a theory that the talk therapy model of my parents’ generation doesn’t work for people under the age of 35. We saw it on television as young people while our attention spans were being clipped and need something more dynamic as a result. The psychologist answering questions with questions and analyzing from a distance is a cliché now, and has been replaced by the life coach, the alternative healer or perhaps even a pill. It seems to me that the new model of therapist is invested in his client’s health and an active participant. This may fly in the face of some old ideas, but from a position of creativity and tolerance for multiple hypotheses we can figure out the structure of the possibility space and be adaptive. “What is a therapist to do?” is not the question worth asking, but “what do our clients need?”
In my experience, most people seek therapeutic help for discrete, treatable issues: they are stuck in unfulfilling jobs or relationships, they can’t reach their goals, are fearful of change and depressed as a result. It doesn’t take years of therapy to get to the bottom of those kinds of problems. For some of my patients, it doesn’t even take a whole session.
“The important thing is this: to be ready at any moment to sacrifice what you are for what you could become.”
, an English writer and social critic who is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period and the creator of some of the world’s most memorable fictional characters. During his lifetime Dickens’ works enjoyed unprecedented popularity and fame, but it was in the twentieth century that his literary genius was fully recognized by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to enjoy an enduring popularity among the general reading public.
- Medical Hypnosis: You Are Getting Very Healthy
From the Wall Street Journal:
However it works, a hypnotic suggestion in the mind can have measurable effects in the body. One Stanford study asked subjects to imagine that they were eating, and their secretions of gastric acid increased by 70%. In a study from Harvard Medical School published in the Lancet in 2000, patients who had 15 minutes of hypnosis before surgery not only needed less pain medication afterward, but also took less time in surgery, saving an average of $331 each.
“There is a strong link to physiology—and it’s getting stronger, the more research is being done,” says Tanya Edwards, director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. She says about half of the center’s patients are referred by other Cleveland Clinic physicians, particularly gastroenterologists, oncologists and primary-care physicians looking for ways to help reduce patients’ pain.
We believe that we should work to be happy, but could that be backwards? In this fast-moving and entertaining talk from TED, psychologist and CEO of Good Think Inc., Shawn Achor argues that actually happiness inspires productivity.
“If we study what is merely average, we will remain merely average.”
- The Brain on Love
“…the brain is constantly rewiring itself based on daily life. In the end, what we pay the most attention to defines us.
When two people become a couple, the brain extends its idea of self to include the other; instead of the slender pronoun “I,” a plural self emerges who can borrow some of the other’s assets and strengths. The brain knows who we are. The immune system knows who we’re not, and it stores pieces of invaders as memory aids. Through lovemaking, or when we pass along a flu or a cold sore, we trade bits of identity with loved ones, and in time we become a sort of chimera. We don’t just get under a mate’s skin, we absorb him or her.”
Read the whole piece from the Times’ Opinionator.
The history of science is full of ideas that several people had at the same time. Some call it synchronicity. Click here for Malcolm Gladwell’s take. Sharing ideas is the only way they’ll grow.
…If you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.”
-George Bernard Shaw
I was sent this video of the inspiring psychiatrist and Holocaust-survivor Viktor Frankl. Speaking 40 years ago, he shares thoughts on the human search for meaning still very much relevant today.
“If you don’t recognise a young man’s search for meaning, you make him worse, you make him dull, you make him frustrated, you still add and contribute to his frustration… Let’s recognise this, let’s presuppose it, and then you will elicit it from him. You will make him become what he is, in principal, capable of becoming.”
- The Neuroscience of Your Brain on Fiction
“The brain, it seems, does not make much of a distinction between reading about an experience and encountering it in real life; in each case, the same neurological regions are stimulated.”
Reports The Times in a recent opinion piece titled “The Neuroscience of Your Brain on Fiction.” The same applies to reliving memories, daydreaming or imagining the taste of a strawberry. The brain functions as if it’s really happening.
If Soren Kierkegaard were alive today he’d be given a refillable prescription for Xanax, but his insights may be the better medicine.
Terrific examination of anxiety in the Times’ Opinionator. Treating stress and anxiety, without prescribing medication, as causal forces and not symptoms is the healthy direction for us to take.
- How Can You Use Hypnosis
Currently reading Trance-Formations by John Grinder and Richard Bandler. The two authors were students of the great Milton Erickson and wrote a few of the seminal books on Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Most were published in the 70’s and 80’s, fully embracing the fantasy kitsch of their time by often putting dragons and wizards on the covers. This explanation of hypnosis is offered early in the book:
Many people ask “What can you use hypnosis for?” The question is not “What you can do with hypnosis specifically?” but “How can you use hypnosis to do whatever you want to do?” Hypnosis is not a cure. It’s a set of tools. If you have a mechanic’s wrenches, that doesn’t mean you can fix the car. You still have to use the wrenches in a particular way to fix it. This is the most misunderstood aspect of hypnosis; it’s treated as a thing. Hypnosis is not a thing; it’s a set of procedures that can be used to alter someone’s state of consciousness.
John Grinder & Richard Bandler. Trance-formations; Real People Press, 1981
- Grit Is More Important Than Talent
In the late ’60s, Stanford psychologist Walter Mischel performed a now-iconic experiment called the Marshmallow Test, which analyzed the ability of four year olds to exhibit “delayed gratification.” Here’s what happened: Each child was brought into the room and sat down at a table with a delicious treat on it (maybe a marshmallow, maybe a donut). The scientists told the children that they could have a treat now, or, if they waited 15 minutes, they could have two treats.
Read more at the99percent.
- The Possibilities in Hypnosis
“Like many others whose knowledge of hypnotism comes from movies and stage shows, my husband and Mrs. Kanter misunderstood what hypnosis is all about. While in a hypnotic trance, you are neither unconscious nor asleep, but rather in a deeply relaxed state that renders the mind highly focused and ready to accept suggestions to help you accomplish your goals.”
- Still Can't Buy Love
“…just as the human body didn’t evolve to deal well with today’s easy access to abundant fat and sugars, and will crave an extra cheeseburger when it shouldn’t, the human mind, apparently, didn’t evolve to deal with excess money, and will desire more long after wealth has become a burden rather than a comfort.”
Researchers at Boston College prompted the very rich—people with fortunes in excess of $25 million—to speak candidly about their lives and the results are very interesting. It appears that they worry about their children, their relationships, money, religion, spirituality and security.
Me too. What great wealth does to psychology is a guarded area where little trust survives. This piece was enlightening.
Thanks to Jay Parkinson for turning me onto this.
Good friend and creative director, Matt Ferrin, made this time-lapse video with the help of his wife, Bree. Composed entirely of footage taken during their recent trip to Australia and accompanied by Max Richter, it’s immediately beautiful and meditative. If you were searching for a respite from your daily business, you found it.
In 2009, 478,590 men finished half-marathons— a 53 percent increase since 2004.
More than 275,000 men ran full marathons, a 26 percent increase over 9 years.
In 2000, 29,373 runners finished the NYC Marathon (the world’s largest). In 2010, 45,103 finished.
More than thirty new marathons were introduced in 2009 alone.
In six years, the number of USA Triathlon-sanctioned events has more than doubled— from 1,541 to 3,500.
(via Esquire, hence all the men-speak)
There’s a health consciousness arising in our culture in a very significant and fast way. When I was a kid, eating whole food was something 100 hippies were doing in California. Now it’s a full-fledged movement, ideology, with an entirely new industry to sustain it. The same thing is happening with exercise. Companies like Rapha, lululemon, and a few others are making this stuff cool. Makes me very happy.
Joining the conversation is one of the most powerful points of progress in the development of one’s existence. Don’t worry I’m not going to get all deep on you. I just mean that when one sits in a room and becomes a part of a discussion moving into the future, you feel that you are an agent of change…
When the worst earthquake in Japan’s history and the subsequent tsunami knocked out all power in the city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, editors at the Ishinomaki Hibi Shimbun, the city’s daily newspaper, printed news of the disaster the only way they could: by pen and paper.
Newseum Acquires Hand-Written Newspapers Chronicling Japan Earthquake : NPR
Nice handwriting.
