FAQ

Since some of the hypnotherapy techniques Dr. Bob provides can be done successfully through video sessions, we are now offering virtual hypnotherapy for phobia and trauma symptoms to residents New York State, where he is licensed to practice. If you are a New York State resident, you are eligible to receive these cutting-edge techniques through secure video sessions. Contact Dr. Bob to see if you qualify.

Address is 302 Fifth Avenue, 8th floor. It’s at the corner of Fifth and West 31st.

You will need to use a pay-for-parking garage. To find garages, use the Best Parking app on your smartphone

Monday-Friday. I see people either in the early morning (7-9am) or late afternoon (5-6pm).

Our initial session is typically 90 minutes. Ongoing sessions are 50-60 minutes.

The initial 90-minute session is $575. Hypnotherapy – $475/session. Psychotherapy – $375/session.

No. I can provide you with a statement that you can submit to your insurance for out-of-network coverage that you may be reimbursed for. I do not accept assignment from insurance companies.

My clients report life-changing resolution of phobias, traumas, and bad memories. So yes, it’s worth it!

Credit card, Apple Cash, PayPal, G-Pay, and cash. Payment is taken at the time of or in advance of a session.

Call me for a free 20-minute consultation. From there we can set up your initial appointment.

After our phone consultation, I will email you the forms; you can either complete and email them in advance or arrive 20 minutes before that first appointment to complete them. This way we can preserve our session time for the clinical work.

Cancellation must be at least 24 hours prior to scheduled appointment time in order to not be charged for the visit.

Appointments cancelled less than 24 hours prior to appointment time will incur a $200 charge. Cancellations within 2 hours of appointment time incur the full fee for that visit.

16 and up.

I am everyone friendly and prize diversity in my practice.

You will come away with a clear idea of the desired outcome, and you will be prepared to receive cutting-edge methods for achieving them.

Interesting, effective, and fast with life-changing results.

In order to learn how to do this, I was a subject of these methods in my training classes for over 20 years. I also periodically have used psychotherapy. I did have some brief hypnotherapy from my trainer after 9/11, and it helped me put that experience squarely behind me.

Masters and Doctoral degrees in clinical social work plus over 20 years of hypnotherapy training.

No.

Yes, in the State of New York.

Yes, a brief note summarizing what we did after the session is over.

No. You will sit in a comfortable chair in my office.

You can ask anything you want. If it is relevant to the topic we’re discussing, I will answer it. If it’s not, I might ask you why you asked it.

If you’re coming for a phobia or trauma and are committed, you will have the result you want in 5 visits or less.

Sometimes, when they experience tremendous changes and feel relief from them.

When it comes to a phobia or trauma, you need not tell me anything. We can employ my methods content free.

Anyone who is committed to change.

My approach is both collaborative and directive.

Anyone who is not committed or willing to make a commitment to change.

I help you create the conditions for you to learn and experience change in your life.

Eye Movement Dissociative Reprocessing. It’s not something I do because I have another technique that is the basis for EMDR and works much quicker and more effectively. It’s called EMI (Eye Movement Integration) and has been around a lot longer than EMDR. Some people think that the developer of EMDR, Francine Shapiro, took her ideas from EMI and adapted them.

The risk is that you change so much that people close to you might not recognize you and then your relationships change. The benefits of not having a phobia or PTSD anymore is self-evident.

Physical movement is always good to dislodge oneself from a stuck state to an active state. On my Resources page, I list some online resources, including a free happiness course at Yale.

That will depend on the feeling you get from our initial phone consultation. Not every therapist is a match for every client. I have no problem with a client asking to be referred out, if they don’t feel I am the right therapist.

Adult men and women who have a problem, have an idea of what they want help with, and are punctual and committed to change.

“Hypnosis is an induced passive state in which there is an increased amenability and responsiveness to suggestions and commands, provided that these do not conflict with the subject’s own conscious or unconscious wishes” (Dorland’s Medical Dictionary, 1974 edition). Generally, this responsiveness and ability to focus is related to the ability of the hypnotist and on the rapport between hypnotist and client.

Hypnotic state and trance state are often used interchangeably. When someone is in a trance state, they’re in a state of focused attention on a singular thought, feeling, or activity. The trance state provides freedom from one’s ordinary conscious tendency to focus on distracting, irrelevant, or negative conscious considerations. Most of us regularly experience trance. For example, when we’re engrossed in a book, TV show, or movie, and are so focused that we don’t hear what someone just said to us or are not aware of other distractions in our environment, we are in a trance state.

My training and practice is in Ericksonian Hypnosis and NLP, which stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming. NLP is a communication model to influence thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in ourselves and others. It often involves language patterns that induce a very ‘light’ trance. Clients are awake in a relaxed state and in complete control of their consciousness, as they are asked to bring up images, thoughts, or feelings of experience in the past or a desired future.

In hypnotherapy, the therapist takes a very active role in guiding the content and imagery of the session. The client allows the therapist to drive. In psychotherapy, there is more discussion between client and therapist where the client drives the content of the discussion.

Hypnotherapy sessions require advanced preparation by the therapist and are typically quite structured. Psychotherapy sessions are by comparison less structured and more responsive to what the client brings to the session.

Post-Traumatic flashbacks or nightmares, bad memories, and phobias. I have specialized training in the use of techniques developed by the world’s greatest clinical masters that are the most effective methods of trauma and phobia resolution.

Our initial session will be spent gathering information about the problem or issue you would like to resolve.

Once I have a good understanding of your current state and the problem you wish to get help with, I will begin asking you questions about your desired state. By the end of session #1, we will have designed a desired outcome.

The next few sessions will involve the change operations that will be done to help you achieve your desired outcome. Once we achieve it, we’ll do a follow-up visit to see if there are any additional concerns or considerations before we close out our treatment.

The actual change technique depends on the type of issue you present that you want resolved. If you are coming to get phobia or trauma resolution therapy, there are specific techniques used that I will describe, usually in the first or second session.

Not typically but I wouldn’t want to rule it out. I have been known to occasionally give them! 😊

Hypnotherapy and NLP when we’re targeting a specific issue for a desired outcome.

Yes, it is an option for some issues. Typically, when the client has not yet designed an outcome and wants to use therapy as more of a sounding board.

If you’re a first-time client, you can simply call for the free phone consultation. If we already know each other, text is fine for appointment scheduling or other housekeeping issues.

If you’re reaching out for the first time via text or email, please include your full name, date of birth, phone contact, and best times for me to call you back.

By bicycle in almost any weather condition, except heavy rain or snow.

I like physical activity (biking, hiking, walking), movies, theatre, and taking my dog out to experience the world.

Once while cycle touring at age 20, I slept in a cemetery in Maine on the way to Nova Scotia by bicycle. It was actually very quiet and relaxing!

That easy, just ask me by calling, texting, or emailing! 😊

Coaching is a form of 1:1 teaching with the goal of promoting new ways of thinking and engaging with the world. It can be delivered by phone, video, or direct contact. Due to the current global coronavirus pandemic, right now it is only being offered via Zoom video or telephonically.

We will discuss your challenges, concerns, and your desired outcome. We will set some goals that you want to accomplish. Then we will set about crafting a plan to help you achieve these goals.

When you have achieved the goals, you can either set new ones or end the coaching work. We can also decide to have regular coaching check-ups if you decide you still want contact but don’t need it as frequently as when you first started coaching.

My 30+ years of therapy experience plus my Hypnotherapy training, plus my 15 years of working with executives on Wall Street, distinguish me from other coaches who don’t have this background.

Right now, many people are talking about the impact this global pandemic is having on them, and they need strategies to deal with:

• Fear of the virus
• Adjustment to working from home
• Economic insecurity (“what happened to my 401K!”; “will I have a job in 6 months or even 1 month?”)
• Worries about loved ones who we are not cohabitating with
• Worries about loved ones we are cohabitating with
• Grief from loss of normal routines
• Dealing with loneliness and social isolation due to “social distancing”
• Dealing with conflict at home now that everyone is there all of the time
• The regular adversities of life including job problems, spouse problems, parenting problems, eldercare problems, grief and loss, worries about the future, and sadness about the past.

$200/hour

Since coaching is NOT therapy, it is not a considered a health service and is therefore NOT reimbursed by insurance.

I encourage my clients to take free online Resilience and Happiness classes and even provide a link to one on my Resources page.

How Resilience Coaching is different is that it takes the concepts you might learn in a Resilience class and applies them to YOUR life and your unique circumstances.

Coaching is somewhat of a middle ground between a class with didactic learning and therapy where the focus is solely on your difficulties. We take certain concepts of Resilience and figure how to apply them to you!