“I don’t get it,” he complained. “This is what I always wanted to do, but I feel aimless and I’m bored to death! Even my personal artwork is tiresome to me, all of these black and grey aliens and tentacles and stuff… I wish I was inspired to try something different!”

“Have you ever tried exploring a different medium, maybe something that relies a little bit more on chance and whimsy, like collage? Or maybe dreams – have you tried keeping a dream journal?” I asked.

“My gosh, no,” he replied. “I don’t even remember what I dream about most of the time. Do you think I should?”

“Couldn’t hurt to try,” I shrugged. “So what’s your favorite outdoor activity?”

“I REALLY enjoy canoeing,” he replied. “I don’t know why, it’s just so peaceful.”

Taking that as my cue, I lead him through a brief induction, giving him permission to relax every muscle in his body, from the tips of his toes to the top of his head. When he had fully entered a trance state, I guided him verbally on a canoe trip down a river.

“You can just let the river take you,” I said. “Or you can paddle in any direction you want. If you get tired, it’s very easy to pull over to the bank and anything you need is right there, waiting for you. Light a fire and eat some food, if you like; or simply lay down under a tree and take a nap. This is your river and you have permission to explore it at your own pace.”

With an expression of pure pleasure on his face, he seemed to sink into an inner world which I was loathe to disturb, but as the hour drew near, I realized that it was time to count him back out.

“How do you feel?” I asked. “Good,” he replied, “but I don’t really remember what we talked about. Is that normal?”

“For some people, yes. That’s fine though, it just means your subconscious accepted the suggestions on a deep level. See how you feel tomorrow.”

The next day he called me to report an astonishing event:

“I was taking a shower this morning getting ready for work and all of a sudden I started bawling! I remembered a dream I had last night that was so powerful it seemed completely real – realer than where I’m sitting right now!

I was canoeing down a river and I was holding on to a florescent orange ball that I knew was important for some reason. At some point  I hit white water and I  got washed out of the boat and lost my orange ball. I was struggling to swim to the shore, but when I got there, you were already there waiting for me. You reached down, pulled me out of the water, handed me the orange ball and told me that it was mine to keep and I would never lose it again.”

“Wow, then what?” I asked.

“Well, I was driving to work, right? And I saw an orange ball exactly like the one in my dream by the side of the road, like one of the promotional things that Dunkin’ Donuts gives out! I pulled over and snagged it right away, I have it in my pocket right now!”

“Hmmm,” I replied. “That’s incredible. What does it mean to you?”

“I don’t know, actually,” he said. “But you know, I have been thinking a lot recently about quitting my job and moving to Venice Beach and just freelancing. I’m good enough at design that I can find clients on my own and I’d really rather have the freedom to be able to surf during the day.”

Jason called me a month later from his new apartment in Venice Beach to let me know that his freelance business had taken off and he was happier with his life than he’d been in a long time.

While he never did pick up collage, he had begun experimenting using color in his sketches, branching out from monochromatic aliens to watercolor paintings of tourists on the boardwalk.

No further sessions were required.

Imagine my surprise when she showed up for her appointment a few days later looking like Linda Hamilton in the first “Terminator” movie – so sinewy and ripped she could have put an Olympic sprinter to shame!

Chatting a bit to establish rapport, I learned that she was here in Miami Beach on an expired visa, hated her day job as a waitress at a sports bar, and spent most of her free time applying for acting work at modeling agencies around Miami. “It’s terrible,” she exclaimed:

“I never get the job! They never call me back! They only want women who are over 5’10” and I’m only 5’6″! Maybe if I keep losing weight, I will look taller?”

“Hmmm,” I replied. “So is acting is what you really want to do? Are all agencies like that?”

“Of course not,” she scoffed. “That’s just Miami, it’s so superficial here! I don’t even want to do  TV commercials, I want to be a real actress doing stage plays but I’m not finding any success at all!”

As we continued our pre-talk, she confessed a secret wish to move to New York and do off-Broadway theater. It emerged that although her parents back in Italy were extremely supportive, she was still too worried about the risk of relocating to consider pursuing her ambitions full tilt.

“What if I’m lonely?” she asked. “What if I can’t find a job? What if I hate NYC?”

“Let’s try an experiment,” I said, and lead her through a progressive relaxation exercise. As she fell into a trance, I set the stage.

“Imagine that it’s 6 months from now and you’re already in New York,” I told her. “See what you see, smell what you smell, hear what you hear. You’ve been living in a cute little apartment in Brooklyn for a few months now. What does it look like? Do you have a kitchen table with flowers on it? What do you see out the window?”

“Incredible!” she murmured as she began to describe her surroundings in vivid detail.

“So what is your life like here?” I asked. “Do you go to acting workshops at night or during the daytime? Were you able to find a bartending job that you actually like?”

“Yes!” she announced, “it was all a lot easier than I thought it would be! And I have a great acting coach too!”

“What are your friends like? Have you met anyone else there you can connect with? Are you really the only aspiring actress in New York on an expired visa? ”

“No!” she replied, giggling. “I have wonderful friends from all over the world and most of them are in my exact same situation! I’m having the time of my life, this is the best decision I ever made!”

“And how do your parents feel about this? Are they worried for you?”

” They are so proud,” she said, sniffling. “Especially my father. He says he always knew I had it in me.”

Satisfied, I prepared to lift her back out of her trance and told her to take one last look around so she could recognize this place when she saw it again in person.

Counting slowly backwards from 10, I watched carefully as she opened her eyes.

“I don’t know what to say,” she said. “But that was amazing. Thank you so much, I’ll call you soon for another session!”

Aurora emailed me a month later to let me know that she had sold all of her belongings shortly after our session and moved to NYC to pursue her dream. She apologized for taking so long to get in touch and explained that between work and rehearsals, she had just been too busy.

No further sessions were required.

This being Miami, Lydia also worked on the side as a medium for spiritualist seances, but we didn’t get into that since it didn’t seem to an issue for her.

Inducing a trance state, I lead her through a very gentle progressive relaxation, continually reminding her that she had nowhere else to go or be and had full permission let go of her stress – that this was her time to take care of herself.

Satisfied that she was in a state of heightened subconscious receptivity, I next lead her on a guided visualization to a magical well deep underground, the font of a subterranean stream which would continually replenish her life force.

I explained (and she signaled her agreement by nodding) that it was her job to guard this special well, that the cavern in her mind’s eye was a kind of retreat to which she could return to rest and replenish at any time, and that only when she was satisfied that this well was full to overflowing should she even think about spending any more of her energy taking care of other adults without receiving a thing in return.

A gentle smile lit up her face as I let her know that she should drink from this magical well until she wasn’t thirsty anymore, and that when she felt ready, we could begin our return together to the normal, waking world.

As she emerged from trance, blinking her eyes in wonder, she suddenly started sobbing, tears streaming down her face.

“I’ve never experienced that kind of peace and quiet before,” she informed me:

“The place you took me, such tranquility! I love the spirits I channel (in seances), but they never shut up – I have to listen to them all day long, every waking moment, sometimes it drives me crazy! I haven’t had a break from them since I was a little girl – that was the first time I’ve been alone with my own thoughts in years!”

In a follow-up call a week later, Lydia reported greatly reduced stress and a new satisfaction with her life. No longer overwhelmed by the non-stop chatter in her own head, she now found it much easier to set boundaries with other people.

No further sessions were required.