In today’s interview, Mystic Mag had a chance to interview Mark Johnson, who is a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, Certified Master Trainer, and Award-Winning Instructor. He is also a Lead Life Between Lives Instructor with the Michael Newton Institute. While he works with traditional hypnotherapy clients, Mark’s true passion lies in spiritual hypnotherapy. In addition to his client work, he offers instruction in both hypnotherapy and spiritual hypnotherapy, helping others deepen their understanding and practice in these transformative fields.
How has growing up with hypnosis as a normal part of your life influenced your passion and approach to hypnotherapy and past life regression?
Growing up, I never thought I’d be working with hypnosis and past life regression. It was great having the opportunity to watch Dad hypnotize family and friends, but I went in other directions.
I taught piano, keyboard and organ lessons in a classroom environment for 12 years, they moved into the IT world where I worked as a web developer for 12 years before going full time into hypnosis. There was a bit of overlap as I transitioned into working full time in hypnosis
When my mother passed in 2003, I got an idea, I want to learn hypnosis so I can talk to mom. She was on a vent when I went back to see her and never got to speak with her. As I started learning hypnosis on my own, I developed a new connection with my father. For the last 6 years of his life, we continued to develop that relationship, even though we lived ½ way across the country from each other.
After meeting my wife around the time Dad passed, I was eventually able to talk to Mom. My wife is a medium and 10 years to the day after Mom crossed over, she was doing a reading and Mom interrupted her and started talking to me through her voice. I eventually discovered that the idea, “I want to learn hypnosis so I can talk to Mom,” was actually a message from my mother.
I would not be where I am today had it not been for my father working with both hypnosis and past life regression as I was growing up in the late 1950’s and the 1960’s.
What unique insights or techniques have you gained from studying with renowned trainers like Brian Weiss, Michael Newton, and Dolores Cannon?
What I learned from all of my teachers, including the ones you mentioned in the question, was that it is important to learn what you can not only from my instructors, but also from my clients and students. I am constantly learning new processes, tips and tricks, even today. I also learned that teaching is another way to learn.
That said, studying with Brian Weiss gave me a solid foundation for working with past lives. I learned a great deal from Michael Newton in terms of helping my clients connect to past lives, spirit guides and higher self. In addition, I was also introduced to the idea of helping my clients connect with their soul as they explore the spirit world.
Michael talked abut placing a hand on the forehead of the client, with their permission, to help them access the deeper soul memories. This is one of the parts of working in person that I miss these days, since I now work 100% online with clients and teaching.
Dolores Canon was another influence that began the year after I took the LBL Training with Michael and his teaching staff. Learning QHHT allowed me to provide my clients with a deeper level of connection than is possible through a past life regression. In this session we visit past lives and help the client to connect with their higher self and guides to explore more about the life today. While I do not follow her process word for word, I did learn different ways to help people connect with past lives as well as connect with higher self, spirit guides and higher levels of consciousness. I have discovered that it is important to have a lot of tools in my tool box and not be afraid to reach in and grab something different I rarely use or have never used, when it fees right for the client.
Over the years I have taken what I learned from these instructors, from other instructors as well as from my clients and students and create my own version of Past Life Regression, Life Between Lives and Quantum Healing Hypnosis.
How does exploring past lives and the time between lives help clients achieve deep healing and connect with their higher selves?
In my initial conversations with my clients, I spend time asking them about their current situation as well as explaining the different options available through these 3 different sessions.
Past Life Regression provides an opportunity to connect with previous lives that may have an impact on the current life. Challenges in the current life can be related to a past life and I have discovered that they can be physical or emotional in nature. While Dolores often expressed the idea that Higher Self (which she called subconscious) could ‘fix’ anything for the client, I have found there is a greater impact on the client when we deal with past life issues where they originated, in the past life.
The depth of understanding that comes when a client visits the spirit world in an LBL session is difficult to put into words. Insights gained when spirit guides, the council or members of their soul group take the client by the hand and bring them forward in a way no other experience can.
Many of my clients want to connect with spirit guides and higher self. These people usually decide to start with the Quantum Healing Hypnosis session. My version of this session is based on what I learned from Dolores, though I often bring in what I learned from Michael as well as a variety of hypnotherapy processes. This is why I feel is it important to start learning hypnosis first, before attempting to help clients do advanced work like past life regression.
Some instructors will allow anyone to take their past life class with no prior experience. I feel this is unfair to the student, and the other students. In the past life regression class we hit the ground running, there is no time to cover the basics of hypnotherapy. Many of the processes we learn in the hypnotherapy training become building blocks for the deeper work in past life, Life Between Lives and Quantum Healing Hypnosis. I often bring some hypnotherapy processes into the spiritual work, when it feels appropriate. With that in mind, it’s critical to have that foundation before moving into the more advanced spiritual hypnotherapy work.
Connecting with spirit during these sessions often provides the client with what they need to be able to reconnect on their own after the session. Even those who are able to connect on their own, enjoy working with me, so that they can access even more information from spirit.
What role does your personal journey and past careers, such as music and programming, play in your work as a hypnotherapist and teacher today?
I used to mention that by using what I had learned in the past in previous careers, I teach people how to reprogram their mind. I was once told by a spirit guide that creativity is a form of meditation. So as I was teaching and playing music, I was actually going into a trance state, though in a different way than most people do.
I had 12 years of experience teaching music in a classroom, and now I have been teaching hypnosis for 14 years. The background in teaching music has helped me a great deal when it comes to teaching Hypnotherapy, Past Life Regression and Life Between Lives.
Chances are I would not be where I am today without the background in programming as a web developer. I learned a lot about sharing what people need to know online and a great deal about SEO (search engine optimization).
I gained a deep understanding about presenting my wife and myself online, as well as working with search engines so that we can be found online. By implementing ideas I learned on my last day job at match.com, I have been able to move my work 100% online. This includes working with clients and teaching hypnosis, past life regression and life between lives.
How do you approach teaching hypnotherapy and past life regression to ensure your students are equipped to facilitate profound transformations for their clients?
I have found that the best way to teach hypnosis and past life is to follow a 3 step process: discussion, demonstration and do the work. I was once taking with my father through my wife, and the first thing he said was, “I am here with Edgar Cayce.” I asked if he spent a lot of time with him and he said, “I am here with him now.” Then I asked, “if Edgar Cayce had something to say, what would that be?” “Do the work!” That is likely where I got that phrase.
New topics and processes are introduced to the students by explaining the process to the students. I review any materials they have about the topic and answer any questions they may have. Next they get to see it in action. In some situations I may use a student for the demo session, but I prefer to have them watch me work with a client. When teaching more advanced topics, I usually bring in people from outside the class. Often these are former students, clients, or others who are interested in learning hypnosis.
Watching what we just talked about is an important part of the process or learning. The students also come to the realization that this is not some cookie cutter system that works the same every time. One of my students likes to say, “Mark says expect the unexpected.”
The final step in the learning process is for the students to go to a room with a partner and trade sessions. They get to experience the new process as both the hypnotist and the client. This way they reinforce the learning in terms of doing the work. They also get to experience hypnosis as the client, and perhaps even explore challenges in their own life.
My journey in the world of hypnotherapy has been shaped by many different influences. These include watching my father work with hypnosis during my childhood, to my years teaching music and developing web solutions. Each of these experiences has contributed to who I am as a practitioner and teacher today. The path that led me here wasn’t a straight line and it certainly was not predictable. It was guided by personal loss, spiritual connections, and a deep desire to help others transform their lives.
Through studying with masters in the field and working with countless clients, I’ve developed my own approach that combines the best of various methodologies while allowing myself the option to adapt the work to each individual’s needs. Whether it’s past life regression, life between lives, or quantum healing hypnosis, the goal is to facilitate profound healing and self-discovery for my clients.
Teaching others to become skilled hypnotherapists has become one of my greatest joys, allowing me to continue learning while helping to expand this transformative field. By combining my background in education, technology, and spirituality, I’m able to bring a unique perspective to both client work and teacher training.
The journey continues to evolve, and I remain grateful for every experience that has contributed to this path. This includes those early days watching my father, to now helping others discover their own healing potential through hypnotherapy.
