If there’s one thing that Michelle Leyden Nguyen knows for sure, it’s that hypnotherapy works. The one-time night owl is now a devout early riser, thanks to a successful hypnotherapy stint in 2019—and Leyden Nguyen was so inspired that she decided to get certified to do it herself.

“After I did it, I was convinced this stuff was revolutionary,” shares Leyden Nguyen, who also used hypnotherapy to boost her confidence as an entrepreneur. “I used to fall into bed at 4 a.m., and now my alarm goes off at 7 a.m.; it’s been the biggest, most profound change of my life.”

The “stuff” Leyden Nguyen is referring to is rapid transformational therapy—a method developed by therapist Melissa Peer that utilizes not only traditional hypnotherapy techniques (such as positive reinforcement and use of trance) but also a concept called “Command Therapy” to create new mind-body connections and neural pathways. “Hypnotherapy has been around for thousands of years, but this is a new application that brings in modern concepts,” says Leyden Nguyen.

Though Leyden Nguyen works with clients on everything from weight loss to addiction to mental blocks, she’s also found a timely application: boosting immunity. This Friday, March 27, she will host a free webinar geared at helping others forge a sense of calm and mobilize their immune system against COVID-19. All attendees will receive a daily hypnotic meditation to help facilitate these outcomes.

“The idea is to work with your mind to tell your body that it is strong—and replace the fear with positive thoughts,” says Leyden Nguyen, who hopes to offer the webinar every Friday, depending on interest level. “I’ll be creating some helpful visualizations that will give metaphors to the immune system that translate to your body as strength.”

Though Leyden Nguyen’s webinar is geared at a group, she also works with clients one-on-one in her emerging practice. Sessions can be conducted online or in-person, during which Leyden Nguyen helps clients go into a hypnotic state to access their subconscious and identify formative memories connected to the problematic behavior. After the session, she develops a custom recording for the client to listen to daily over a 21-day period.

“They get to fall asleep to my Irish lilt,” jokes Leyden Nguyen, who originally hails from Ireland and moved to Cleveland in 2015.

For Leyden Nguyen, it’s all about drilling down to the essence and empowering clients to change their lives. “My work is about getting to the root of ‘why,’” she says. “With that knowledge, you can free yourself from [negative] thoughts and leave liberated.”