When a lot of people hear the word “hypnotist” they picture an odd looking little man with a goatee on a stage waving a pocket watch back and forth in front of a poor, unsuspecting victim’s face.

Then they may picture that person getting down on all fours and barking like a dog at the hypnotist’s bequest.

Margaret Salt McLellan wants to dispel some of those myths during her new office hours at the Island Spa in Edgecomb.

McLellan said her form of hypnotherapy, far from a stage act, is effective in helping people overcome lifelong (bad) habits that may lead to unhappiness, health issues and low self esteem.

An advanced certified clinical hypnotherapist, McLellan offers sessions to help people tackle things like weight control, smoking cessation, phobias (such as public speaking and fear of driving over bridges), and pain management, including pain from cancer.

“People who have tried everything to quit smoking, and failed, have found hypnosis to work after only one session,” she said.

A graduate of the New England Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy, McLellan also performs sessions involving past life regression therapy. She calls it the fun, non-therapeutic application of hypnotherapy. “It’s my favorite hypnosis application,” she said.

McLellan said a lot of people believe they have had lives before the present one, and under hypnosis they can be taken back to a previous life.

“While it may sound kooky, a lot of folks enjoy this and derive a lot of comfort in this type of exploration,” she said. “We have all lived before and our past lives may hold the key to conflicts and phobias we carry in this life,” she said.

According to McLellan, we all have a soul mate, and that soul travels with us through many lifetimes. “Memory lives in our subconscious and hypnosis allows us to access it,” she said.

“The mind has two parts: the conscious and the subconscious,” McLellan said. “The conscious mind analyzes and rationalizes. It controls us. The subconscious mind controls the imagination, habits and emotions. It is who we are, and stores everything we have ever experienced.”

McLellan said that hypnosis is not sleep. “It's a heightened state of awareness actually brought on through deep relaxation. Hypnosis happens every day to us all. When the mind quiets just before sleep is the best example.”

She said that driving a car, one may fall into a light state of hypnosis, where the conscious mind will wander. “Fortunately, it is your subconscious mind that keeps you safe on the road.”

A typical session with McLellan will include an explanation of what hypnosis is. After that she will learn why the client is there, and what he or she hopes to achieve. Then she will “talk him or her into a very deep state of relaxation.” All the while the client will be aware and in control.

The next part is know as the “script.” What McLellan hopes to achieve during this process is to empower the client, through positive suggestion, to achieve his or her goal.

McLellan said that after a session, the client is brought back from a very relaxed state feeling refreshed and relaxed. “Fifteen minutes of hypnosis is so relaxing it can feel like hours of sleep.”

McLellan said hypnosis will “quiet the chatter of the conscious mind.”

Can anyone be hypnotized? McLellan said there are questions. “The only requirement for getting the desired therapeutic result is that the person has a conscious desire to change, and is in agreement with the suggestions.”

McLellan works from her home in Wiscasset, and is available at the Island Spa in Edgecomb on evenings and weekends by appointment. She will also make house calls, and will hold past life regression sessions for small groups. She can be reached at 207-687-8042.