James Giunta NCAS’94, SCILS’00

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James Giunta has organized World Hypnotism Day events in New Jersey. In 2013, the International Association of Counselors and Therapists named him its Hypnotist of the Year.

Photography: 
Matt Rainey

Forget everything you’ve ever imagined about hypnosis; James Giunta is not going to make you quack like a duck. As a full-time certified hypnotherapist practicing in Red Bank, New Jersey, Giunta NCAS’94, SCILS’00 helps people conquer fears, change bad habits, or come to terms with issues from their past that still haunt them.

Contrary to popular belief, hypnotists are not mind-controlling Svengalis. Hypnosis, Giunta says, is simply a state of reverie, similar to a daydream. In a hypnotized state, a person’s subconscious emerges and conscious thought is temporarily quieted. “You are detached from your immediate surroundings,” he says, “and it’s possible to accept a suggestion that can cause a behavioral change.” It is also impossible to extract secrets from someone who is hypnotized. “If clients want to keep something to themselves, they can,” he says.

A client may know on a conscious level that smoking or overeating is unhealthy. But subconsciously, the client thinks “smoking is relaxing” or “that brownie will make me happy.” Undergoing hypnosis can help in two ways: it allows the hypnotist to uncover the harmful subconscious thoughts a person is having, and then it provides a gateway for the hypnotist to plant suggestions to promote healthier behavior.

Following a series of unfulfilling jobs in communications and corporate training, Giunta became a certified hypnotherapist in 2008, after two years of training. He owns a practice called Trance Formation Hypnosis and has worked with about 500 clients. Outside of his practice, Giunta has organized World Hypnotism Day events in New Jersey, and he teaches a certification course run by the National Guild of Hypnotists. In 2013, the International Association of Counselors and Therapists named Giunta its Hypnotist of the Year.

Giunta says  his goal is to empower his clients to get in touch with their subconscious themselves. “Hypnosis has more to do with my client and very little to do with me,” he says. “I’m like the coach on the sideline; they’re the one on the field playing the game.”