"Since working with Carolyn, I've enjoyed healthier relationships, greater independence and increased energy. I would recommend her to anyone without hesitation. Carolyn's intelligence and intuition are unparalleled."
                  — Nina Marinkovitch,
                      affordable housing development consultant

"Carolyn's gentle, positive style takes the resistance out of visualization and inner journeying."
                  — Dodie Johnston, school psychologist

"Carolyn inspires a trust that made it possible for me to enter hypnosis at a deep level. She helped me transform difficult emotional states and limiting beliefs arising from neglect in childhood. I am much more confident and successful as a result."
                  — Caite Caperton,
                      school district human relations consultant

"Carolyn Shaffer is gifted! With the utmost of caring and skill, she opens the door to your awakening. I have recommended her profound therapy to many of my friends. We all agree— arrive in a fog and leave with clarity. Whatever our issues, we've felt bathed in love and light."
                  — Kay Kopit, www.ISurvivedDocumentary.com

"I'm struck by how fully present Carolyn is, how intently and creatively she listens, and how remarkably astute her comments are. I recommend her unreservedly."
                  — J. Cohen, speech and diction coach

"Carolyn, your kind, soothing voice has calmed me a lot, and I am doing much better since I saw you. You are truly a "pro" in the best sense of the word."
                  — Linda B., counselor

"I have myself experienced Carolyn's hypnotherapy work and value it tremendously. She is a good listener and skillfully interweaves the client's words and concepts with her own as she guides the process. She honors any spiritual orientation or concerns her clients bring to their work with her while remaining grounded in practical, earth-based goals. I have referred numerous people to Carolyn, confident they would be greeted with respect and receive skillful, compassionate, heartfelt support."
                  — Frances Hailman, PhD,
                      Founder, The Intuitive Hypnotherapy Institute

Exams and presentations

"Carolyn's session and custom recording helped me immensely when I argued before the California Supreme Court. I felt less anxious and more confident, easily recalling key facts and arguments when questioned by the justices. A colleague called my presentation 'brilliant.' "
                  — R. B., Deputy County Counsel

"Thanks to my work with Carolyn, I entered my three-hour, oral medical board exam feeling relaxed, ready, and confident. I stayed present under grueling questioning, recovered quickly from the stress, and passed the test."
                  — Jody Steinauer, OB/GYN

"Hypnotherapy with Carolyn Shaffer helped make the difference between failing the oral licensing exam on my first try and passing it with a top score on my second. Carolyn is sensitive, thoughtful, skilled, and tuned into the individual. I highly recommend her services."
                  — M.B., licensed clinical psychologist

"For the first time in my academic life, I am able to walk into an exam with full confidence and no anxiety, and I owe it all to Carolyn. Although I have experienced guided imagery before, with Carolyn, I was able to go to a deeper place and work through anxiety issues that have kept me stuck for years. I know I will be working with Carolyn for years to come."
                  — Debra S., graduate student

Surgery Preparation and Recovery

"I've recovered from surgery miraculously, easily and fast. I don't think I could have gotten here without you, Carolyn. Even my surgeon remarked on how centered and prepared I was."
                  — T. B., accounting manager

"I was out of pain from the minute I entered the operating room for hip replacement surgery and throughout my recovery. Listening to Carolyn's custom recording allowed me to avoid general anesthesia and its side effects. I was even able to stop the bleeding when informed that this was happening. The three-hour procedure felt like a few minutes. Since then, through three other surgeries— two uterine and one shoulder replacement— I have astounded the anesthesiologists with my ability to control pain and recover quickly. I credit Carolyn's preparatory sessions and recordings."
                  — Marni Temple, former public health nutritionist

"At first, I couldn't imagine how a telephone session with someone I'd never met would work. But it did! In minutes I relaxed deeply after months of being extremely tense. Carolyn's skill, warmth and custom recordings helped me prepare for and recover from major, high-risk surgery."
                  — D. Graham, hospital planner

Smoking cessation and other habit changes

"Carolyn's hypnotherapy has helped a number of my patients stop smoking, manage anxiety and develop healthier habits."
                  — Dr. Laura Stachel, obstetrician/gynecologist

Love, commitment and other relationship issues

"Carolyn skillfully helped me navigate a difficult transition in an important personal relationship."
                  — Gil Chasin, LAc., acupuncturist

"This has been the best personal growth work I've ever experienced— and I've tried a lot of approaches and seminars. My relationship with my wife immediately took a significant turn for the better."
                  — Curt Wear, general contractor

"Carolyn led a great workshop! I loved the powerful guided imagery and the nurturing group process. The greatest benefit? Discovering more about my role in relationship and what I can do to become the partner I want to be. Main complaint? The workshop was too short."
                  — Dawn Valadez, filmmaker and nonprofit consultant

"I feared I'd go through life single, but working with Carolyn cleared the way to finding the life partner I always wanted— a mate who has turned out to be more wonderful than any I had imagined for myself."
                  — S. Jones, professional artist

"Carolyn's workshop helped me transition through a difficult time after the end of a relationship. I appreciated the warm, welcoming atmosphere and the good balance of head and heart. The guided imagery effectively "cemented" the important ideas we talked about, and the "safe harbor" Carolyn created made it easy to share and feel supported."
                  — Jane L., engineer and manager

"I'm not settling for less any more. I now know that I can be happy whether alone or with someone."
                  — H. Ritter, small business owner

"Carolyn, you are so knowledgeable about love and commitment issues. The workshop was a real treat! I liked the guided imagery as well as the research findings you included. The benefits? A stronger sense of my own gifts and a deeper understanding of intuition and motivation in making relationship decisions."
                  — Karen Colaric-Corzan, educator

Pregnancy and childbirth
What the practitioners are saying:

"I strongly suggest that any woman facing labor receive hypnotherapy to release fears and learn to relax. In my experience, 90 percent of the challenge is emotional, unless a high-risk physiological factor exists. Many women program themselves for failure. They can change this. In one session, Carolyn helped a client of mine shift from paralyzing self-doubt to energetic self-confidence. I highly recommend her services. Her work makes my work easier."
                  — Susan Arroyo Kuss,
                      childbirth educator and childbirth assistant

"Carolyn is a gifted hypnotherapist— with a voice that is deep, soothing and reassuring. She helps pregnant women relax and contact their inner source of power. Best of all, she teaches them how to continue this on their own."
                  — Jeri Zukoski, certified nurse midwife

"Carolyn's work has been especially beneficial for clients of mine dealing with the emotional trauma of difficult past birth experiences. She's helped them let go of old fears, relax, and have a more joyful birth."
                  — Lindy Johnson, certified nurse midwife

"I've been sending clients to Carolyn for years. She gets results. Her hypnotherapy helps pregnant women reduce nausea and discomfort and gain the confidence to give birth naturally, even after a previous caeserian."
                  — Edie Silber, nurse practitioner

"I heartily recommend Carolyn's services to women facing childbirth or hospitalization for any reason. I consider hypnotherapy an excellent adjunct to prenatal care."
                  — Dr. Laura Stachel, obstetrician/gynecologist

Pregnancy and childbirth
What the birthing moms (and dads) are saying:

"Hypnosis is an invaluable tool! The powerful images distanced me from pain and kept me grounded and focused throughout labor."
                  — Linda Kelly

"My work with Carolyn helped me reduced my first-trimester nausea significantly. What I liked best was that she provided me with a relaxation tool that I could use on my own to control discomfort whenever it arose."
                  — Susan Lockwood

"After a dis-empowering first childbirth experience, I learned— with the help of Carolyn's skillful hypnotherapy— to trust myself during my second labor. The session gave me the confidence I had lost. I was able to stand my ground with my doctor and experience the kind of natural childbirth I knew I was capable of."
                  — Nancy Anderson

"The special recording Carolyn made for me was extremely helpful, given the level of anxiety I was experiencing with a high-risk pregnancy and mandated bed rest. When the anxiety became too much, listening to the recording helped me relax and even sleep. While a part of me doubted Carolyn's hypnotic suggestion that I would wake up feeling as if I had slept for hours, I actually did awaken from my naps feeling remarkably refreshed."
                  — Barbara Littleford

"I can vouch for the effectiveness of Carolyn's hypnotherapy sessions by telephone. As I sat in my comfortable Barca Lounger listening to Carolyn's soothing voice, I was transported across the 3000 miles separating us. From the first session on, my attitude about my pregnancy at age 42 shifted dramatically — from worry and uncertainty to deep relief and a profound sense of connection with my unborn child. The reassuring images from those hypnotherapy sessions have stayed with me throughout the child's life."
                  — Eleanor Cooper

"I highly recommend Carolyn's services, especially the custom recordings she makes. My VBAC [vaginal birth after caeserian] labor and delivery went remarkably well. My husband gave me verbal cues from the recording that helped me visualize my body and the baby working as a team."
                  — Vicki Smith

"The hypnosis training I received from Carolyn gave me the courage to have the kind of birth I wanted and the tools to go through a 33-hour labor relaxed and without fear."
                  — Serena

"Carolyn's self-hypnosis training helped us connect at a deeper level and become powerful partners during the birthing process and beyond. And Esther didn't need pain medication!"
                  — Michael Stein and Esther Neuwirth

Creating community

"The process Carolyn uses creates an environment safe enough to allow people to acknowledge differences and unconscious dynamics. By skillfully encouraging communication about these, she helps groups grow closer."
                  — Rev. Dan O'Neal, Unitarian minister

"Carolyn knows how to help groups of strong-willed individuals collaborate and get results."
                  — Michael Horst,
                      senior vice president, Urban Land Institute

"Carolyn and Kristin wisely present community, for the time being, as a choice. Over and over again, they say, 'If this is the way you would like to live, here are some of the ways you might go about it.' And in doing so, they have written the most comprehensive book I know about the community movement in all its variety."
                  — M. Scott Peck, M.D.,
                      author of The Road Less Traveled and other bestsellers

Carolyn as a speaker

"Carolyn gave a stirring keynote opening address on commitment and community at the Fellowship for Intentional Community conference. She started us on the path to our most successful weekend event ever by skillfully blending compassion with insight and underscoring her points with powerful stories from her personal experience."
                  — Laird Schaub, FIC Executive Secretary