Author: Julie Blum: jblum@columbustelegram.com – 18th March 2017

COLUMBUS — Cathy Tierney was living in fear.

She finished her treatment for breast cancer, but still couldn’t shake the thought that the disease might return. It wasn’t so much a concern for herself, but for her family. “The cancer experience changes everything. I had completed my treatment. I had chemotherapy and surgery, but I didn’t feel well. I had a fear that it was going to come back, and I couldn’t get past it,” Tierney said.

She wanted to get back to where she was before her diagnosis in the spring of 2013, both emotionally and physically. Following a friend’s suggestion, she tried hypnosis. The experience, she said, literally changed her life. “I had no fear of the cancer coming back,” Tierney said of her mindset after undergoing hypnotherapy in Omaha.

The difference it made in her life led her to become a certified hypnotherapist. She wants to help others through her business, Abundant Health & Hypnosis, which she started about a year ago. Tierney is a registered nurse with a master’s degree. She taught for 10 years at Central Community College-Columbus and currently teaches at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing Northern Division in Norfolk.

Hypnosis is complementary medicine, Tierney said, and something health care providers are becoming more open to. “I don’t diagnose or treat any medical condition, but this is a therapy you can use in conjunction with what you are working on with your counselor, your health care provider, your primary provider,” she said. Hypnosis can be used to help people control their weight, stop smoking, manage stress, resolve fears and address other issues.

Tierney said hypnosis isn’t for everyone, and she is upfront about that with potential clients. A free initial consultation helps determine if hypnosis might work. If so, one to four sessions typically follow. During a session, clients can sit in a recliner at her 3763 39th Ave. business. The lights are dimmed while soothing music plays to help them relax.

Tierney said hypnosis is a very-relaxed state that opens a person’s subconscious to suggestions and changes. She likens the experience to cleaning out files on a computer. “Your mind is like a computer with all kinds of files in there. Essentially, you tell me what files you don’t want anymore that are no longer serving you, and we replace them with things that you want. If you want to be happier and feel less stress, that is the goal for the session,” she said.

Tierney is certified through the International Association of Counselors and Therapists.

Source: http://columbustelegram.com/news/local/life-changing-experience-leads-tierney-to-hypnotherapy/article_ce4d27e2-527c-5382-91c8-0fa60ccc7608.html