Last Updated on December 22, 2025 by Joyce Runyan

Brenda sat down with Tonya Rivera to discuss a new, local resource you might want to explore in your own quest for health. Tonya is a certified medical support clinical hypnotherapist. She has recently opened Sagebrush Healing & Wellness at 315 S. 1^st Street in Tucumcari, in the same building as Huffman Counselling.

Tonya’s certification was granted by an independent board after completing a rigorous clinical course of instruction consisting of several hundred hours, over eight weeks, of both theoretical and hands-on experience.

Hypnotherapy was presented as a tool that can be used by individuals who seek help in modifying their own behaviors which they find to be problematic. Examples might include the person’s desire to stop smoking or lose weight. They find that the changes they need to make to achieve those goals are not always easy to manufacture on their own.

Hypnotherapy may then help create motivation for healthy change. It can help reduce anxiety or facilitate the use of better coping skills or problem-solving strategies. It can help with pain management, as people are taught to “dial down” their pain as you might turn down the volume on a stereo.

Tonya recounted the story of one of her patients who was too fearful to drive down the caprock South of Tucumcari, and hypnotherapy helped her overcome this. The patient now drives that route without issue. Tonya also mentioned having success helping people overcome the craving sensation that made quitting smoking difficult. Success in helping with weight loss endeavors was also noted.

She mentioned some recent science behind the practice. The hospital at UNM performed a study on patients with overactive bladder syndrome. One group took medicine to address it, while the other group took the same medicine and added hypnotherapy. The hypnotherapy group had better results.

Brenda asked about what we all tend to see in terms of hypnosis. Tonya pointed out that many misconceptions about hypnosis are out there. For one, you cannot get “stuck” in a hypnotized state. The hypnotized person remains aware of their surroundings; remains capable of rational thought and dialog; and can come out of the condition at will. They cannot be forced by hypnosis to act contrary to their nature or morality.

When we see stage hypnotism, Tonya assured us, you are seeing people who want to perform or do outlandish things. Hypnosis can’t make that happen. She asserted that the sort of hypnosis she is advocating is really just a deep state of relaxation, a state which people can and do enter even unintentionally through practices like prayer and meditation. Simply the act of relaxing like that may go a long way toward dealing with stress and anxiety.

If you go to see if Tonya can help you, a typical session will include discussion of the problem you’re hoping to solve, followed by the formulation of certain “affirmations” (things you want to be able to remind yourself about in a moment of stress or decision-making). You will work with her to create imagery looking forward to your success. You will be walked through a session of guided relaxation to “set” these things more deeply in your mind; and will be shown how to “hypnotize” yourself on your own.

You may already be convinced of the importance of visualization in goal setting. With Tonya’s help, you can amplify this power with images of goals completed by a certain date.

Hypnotherapy was not touted as a silver bullet sort of cure for everything, but as a tool that may be of some genuine help, especially for those who really want to change their behavior. If you really don’t want to quit smoking, this won’t override your actual desire to keep doing it.

If you’re genuinely hoping to adopt better behaviors, Tonya Rivera can assist you.

How to Access Your Mind’s Potential with Medical Hypnotherapy