Mental health is multifaceted, which means there’s not one correct way of getting through tough times. While therapy or medication can help, people like Courtney Caldwell find going outside the box works best.

It’s been about a year since she first walked in to Extraordinary Change Hypnosis.

“I feel like I came out of the womb like a high performing child, who then grew into a high performing athlete, who then became a high performing wife, mom and executive,” she explained. “So I don’t know what life is like not waking up sitting in anxiety every single day.”

Eye twitching, heart palpitations, and lists constantly going off in her head had her looking for help.

“Talk therapy, medication…Been there, done that,” said Caldwell.

That’s when she found Corrin Matthews-Rutkowski.

“When you come to see me, you’re looking for a life change,” said Matthews-Rutkowski.

A full time clinical hypnotherapist since 2007, she helps people with everything from anxiety and phobias, to smoking and OCD.

“Basically, when you sit down and you think about it, you’re like, If my mind could just change, I would change.’ That is the scope of what I work with,” said Matthews-Rutkowski.

She put in the work to get here, earning a bachelor’s in psychology, plus 420 hours of clinical training using hypnosis. It’s not your just-for-fun county fair act.

“The major misconception is that it’s like some kind of mind control, right?” said Matthews-Rutkowski. “Nothing could be further from the truth. All hypnosis is self hypnosis. The other person is just guiding you.”

While it’s not for people who have personality disorders or traumatic brain injuries that impact the memory, Matthews-Rutkowski says it can help almost everyone.

“I had a cardiologist that came to me. […] What he told me was, he’s not getting enough sleep at night,” recalled Matthews-Rutkowski. “We only had to do one session. When he came in for his follow up, he was sleeping like a king and therefore he was performing his surgeries with much more confidence.”

These are results Caldwell can attest to.

“After that first session, I felt an immense amount of peace,” she recalled. “I can’t tell you the last time that I felt that.”

Sessions can be done virtually. They’re all recorded so clients can go back to them.

“I feel that it’s a sense of hyper focus, but deep relaxation,” said Caldwell.

At the beginning, Caldwell would go back to those recordings multiple times a day. Now, it’s only a once a week or every few weeks.

Her message is that if it’s something you’re even considering, give it a chance.

“If you want a change and you don’t want to be that exposed nerve and you’re tired of hearing your spouses or your children or your parents say, ‘Oh, you’re a little tight right now. Like, are you OK?’ It’s time for a change,” said Caldwell.

Insurance doesn’t typically cover these sessions, which range from $50 to $150, but Caldwell does offer different discounts to try to alleviate costs.

She says that, especially with the holiday season upon us, people can feel more depressed or lonely. While the amount of sessions depends on the person and what they’re trying to work on, she says everyone deserves the chance to find that potential life change.