Today we’d like to introduce you to Tess Meissner.
Tess, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Sometimes when I think my journey of becoming a hypnotherapist, I feel like I’ve been following a trail of breadcrumbs left by my soul, just like children in fairy tales do to find their way back home. I had my first experience of hypnosis at 14 years old when my best friend and I stole a book about it from my dad’s bookshelf. Which is funny because I’m sure he would have just given it to me, had I asked. I took it to my friend’s house on a terribly hot summer day, and we decided to do past life regressions, to discover if we had known each other in other lifetimes. I guess you could say we were a little different than most 14-year-olds! I remember it feeling silly, initially.
Especially since we were fighting the sound of the construction happening at the neighbor’s house. But as we kept going, guided by the script in the book, something magical happened. We did it! Both of us had a visceral and powerful experience of “remembering” another time and place and receiving wisdom from a part of ourselves that was outside of time and space. This was my first introduction to the power of trance, and what that state of being can help us access in the unconscious mind as well as the soul. Needless to say, it left a lasting impression.
Life took many twists and turns along the way (as it often does), and it wasn’t until over a decade later that the soul breadcrumbs brought me back to trance work. In 2009, I began volunteering at a non-profit women’s holistic recovery program and took a leap of faith to do a year of AmeriCorps service there. After that year, I was hired as a co-director and ultimately worked there for 7 years as a facilitator of the transformational group and individual experiences.
I followed a lot more soul breadcrumbs throughout those years of working with women healing from trauma, addiction and disconnection from their authentic selves. I pursued training and certification in clinical and spiritual hypnotherapy, shamanic energy medicine, expressive arts methodologies, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), past life regression therapy, and much more. All these tools, combined with my own intuitive knowing, melded into a powerful and integrative approach to helping individuals access their own inner wisdom, creative capacity, resourcefulness and brilliance.
Infinite Truth Healing was born when I felt the call to start my own private practice in March of 2014 while continuing my non-profit work part-time. While it has grown and changed organically in that time, some core elements have remained consistent. Infinite Truth is a sanctuary created to remind people of their most capable, wise and yes, even magical Self; a space to explore the psyche and reconnect to their inner and spiritual resources; an invitation to deepen in love, forgiveness and acceptance of self and others.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One interesting challenge I’ve discovered is the trepidation that some folks have around hypnosis! Even those who come to me specifically for this element of my practice sometimes have fears about hypnosis. Pop culture and Vegas stage shows are full of sensationalized portrayals that often don’t do the field of hypno*therapy* any favors! I spend a fair amount of time dispelling myths and educating people that:
1) They are the ones in control of the process. Hypnosis isn’t something I do *to* clients. It’s a state they willingly enter, where I am merely a helping guide directing their attention to the resources and wisdom they already have within their unconscious mind and spirit.
2) Everyone can access some level of a trance state, as it’s a natural state we flow in and out of throughout our day. A light state of trance is all that is needed for most therapeutic work.
3) The experience of hypnosis is different for everyone – for some, it’s more visual, while for others it’s more about feeling and physical sensations. The more you practice trance, the easier it gets (just like anything else you practice).
People also have the impression that hypnosis is like magic – with a look into my hypnotic eye, they’ll lose that extra weight, stop smoking, resolve all of their childhood trauma, and release their phobia of public speaking! While transformation can happen very rapidly when working with the unconscious mind – which doesn’t know the difference between fantasy and reality and isn’t bound by linear time – changing the brain still takes time, repetition and consistency.
People come to me hoping I’ll “put them under” and program them to be completely different when they “wake up.” While I can certainly offer suggestions to their unconscious mind while they’re in trance, they ultimately have to take ownership over their mind, and the habitual patterns of thought, emotion and behavior that they have taught their own brain over the course of years. The wonderful news is, they have the power to transform all of that and teach their brain something different! I just happen to have a set of tools and skills to support them in doing so.
Infinite Truth Healing – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I like to say that Infinite Truth is equal parts practical and magical – although even the magical stuff is deeply practical when applied to self-empowerment and improving the quality of your life! My downright nerdy fascination with the intersection of science and spirit allows me to walk comfortably in both worlds, and work with folks on all ends of that spectrum with equal enthusiasm and joy. In my healing space, you’re just as likely to hear about self-directed neuroplasticity as you are to explore the karmic lesson behind a particularly painful experience (if you’re into that kind of exploration).
While I support individuals with a wide spectrum of issues and goals, some of my primary specialties are:
* Stress Management – providing tools and practices that relieve and sometimes completely release reactivity to stressors, symptoms of anxiety, or post-traumatic stress.
* Trauma Resolution – feeling safe in the body again; teaching mindfulness tools that support being present in the moment vs. stuck in old trauma responses; releasing emotional charge and reframing or bringing a more supportive context to past experiences.
* Spiritual Development – guiding individuals to connect to Higher Self, spirit guides, power animals, angels, or any other transpersonal helpers. Shadow work to reclaim/accept any parts of themselves they’ve disowned. Supporting empaths with energetic and emotional boundaries. Intuitive Development.
I offer individual therapeutic sessions and personal mentorship, as well as workshops and classes, corporate wellness offerings, and retreats.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Not long ago I was teaching a stress management workshop at a local yoga studio. After that class, a young woman walked up to me, thanked me for the tools I had taught, and revealed that she was roommates with an old client of mine, who was profoundly inspiring to her.
This moment was particularly moving to me because the client to which she was referring had spent over a year and a half stuck in her parents home, unable to leave the house due to crippling anxiety. Inspired by her clear readiness for change, I did in-home sessions with her, which eventually transitioned into traveling sessions in my car as she continued to expand her comfort zone. Our final sessions together were in my healing space – a huge milestone to her progress. But even that milestone paled in comparison to her moving out of her parents home, and boldly living a life that had seemed unattainable before.
That moment in the yoga studio, speaking to her roommate, was magical. But more than that, it was the cherry on top of the kind of therapeutic relationship that transforms both parties involved – one of mutual respect, personal ownership and trust.
Pricing:
- 4 Session Catalyst Package – $450
- 12 Session Breakthrough Package – $1300
- Individual Shamanic Healing Session – $150
- Past Life Regression Session – $150
- Corporate Wellness – $200+
- Workshops – $15 – $45
- Ongoing Groups/Classes – $75 – $200
Contact Info:
- Address: 4215 Spring St, #124 La Mesa, CA 91941
- Website: www.infinitetruthhealing.com
- Phone: 619-354-0043
- Email: tess@infinitetruthhealing.com
Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
