Latest / The Scene Projects / Annie Damato on Hypnotherapy, Healing Veterans, and Life After Service

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Annie Damato on Hypnotherapy, Healing Veterans, and Life After Service · The Scene Projects

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  This program is part of the Scene Projects podcast network.
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  Scene Project features interviews with independent musicians, comedians, and artists
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  from across the Midwest.
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  Become part of our community and support local art wherever you are.
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  Welcome in to another episode of Real Biz.
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  I am your host Bubba Starts, and with me today from Imagination Hypnotherapy, Annie Damato.
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  Annie, welcome to the show.
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  Thank you, Bubba, for having us.
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  It is absolutely my pleasure, introduced to you by a good mutual friend, Eric Moraine, and and
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  everything that they have done for us.
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  And, he actually did my, custom guitar strap that I have on there.
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  So a big shout out to Matthew and his family.
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  And, yeah, we miss him here in South Dakota.
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  I bet.
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  He's awesome.
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  Yeah.
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  Well, fantastic.
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  I appreciate him making the connection for us here today.
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  And, before we get too far into everything you're doing with the hypnotherapy, I would
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  love to hear a little bit of your and and your husband's, you know, backstory, how you kinda
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  got into the field, and then we can pick it up from there.
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  Absolutely.
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  So, so my partner, Scott Blaze, was the one that introduced me actually to the
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  hypnotherapy.
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  He had been practicing.
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  He's been practicing for over ten years.
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  And when he approached me for it, or or with it, I should say, with the business side of it,
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  I found it rather interesting.
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  I didn't know anything about hypnotherapy, but I've always been very open and, very consider
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  myself very holistically minded.
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  So it actually, you know, I have I am a big person of faith, and it was kinda dropped to me
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  at a moment of time that I didn't know I was going to need it.
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  I had been going through some serious health issues at the time and kinda had plateaued
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  where, I had progressed, but not a 100%.
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  I was probably about 70% better, but there was still that 30%, and we couldn't figure out what
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  that 30% was, what was happening, what was going on.
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  I had had brain surgery.
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  So my prognosis, I was supposed to recover in three weeks.
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  That never happened.
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  I was ill for about two and a half years.
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  Went through a year physical therapy and all that.
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  And, you know, finally, when I started, receiving, the hip the hypnotherapy, oh my
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  gosh.
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  I tell you, that to me was really, I I guess, what I was needing.
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  So, obviously, you know, there was something there in my subconscious mind that was, you
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  know, blocking me being able to fully recover.
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  So that was my first, I would say, like, my first really, not only on the from the business
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  side for, you know, helping clients, but my first sense of, wow.
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  There's really something else to this.
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  You know?
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  So, so from there, I partnered into the business, you know, helping Scott grow the
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  business.
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  And, you know, it was like story after story.
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  People would come in from all different walks of life, all different challenges, and, you
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  know, we would see them a lot of them coming in after trying, you know, many different
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  modalities, being on many, different prescriptions, and still not, you know, being
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  able to fully, engage in their communities, being able to live a fulfilling life.
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  And I was like, oh my gosh.
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  But, really, the biggest experience for me was when my son passed away.
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  You know, obviously, the the grief that someone goes through when they experience something as
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  traumatic as that, I can't even put it into words.
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  But, thankfully, hypnotherapy had been part of my life.
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  And that's when I really was like, oh my gosh.
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  If I have been able to overcome and I'm you know, there's obviously, you know, instances of
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  grief.
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  But if I have been able to overcome this huge loss and have been able to overcome, me being
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  able to overcome my illness, there is something definitely here that, you know, we need to get
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  this out to the world.
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  So, you know, one thing led to another.
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  We created a foundation through, we kinda fell it into our lap as well.
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  Someone came to us, you know, a veteran that we assisted.
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  And, you know, one thing led to another where, you know, a few sessions later, he was feeling
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  better.
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  And we were like, oh my gosh.
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  You know?
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  This is a group of people, who have been struggling for many, many years.
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  Right?
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  They have been a lot of them have been through many different chores, within, when they were,
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  in service.
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  But after service, their body doesn't really it doesn't go back to the same.
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  Right?
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  Them being being able to reengage back in the community and society, they feel like they
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  don't belong.
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  They don't belong after service.
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  They don't fit anywhere.
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  A lot of them are suffering with hypervigilance, sleep disorders, PTSD, and, you
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  know, many of them don't feel the relief.
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  And, unfortunately, like you had previously mentioned, you know, many resort to there is
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  nothing else for me to do here in this world, and they take their lives.
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  You know?
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  So, to us, that is very sad.
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  But on the other on the other end, right, it's us having this tool, this ability to being able
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  to offer, you know, something else, something that they can help them get unstuck.
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  Right?
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  Being able to live a more fulfilled life.
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  Help them live a more purposeful life.
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  So all those things, you know, finding the strength within because it's really we don't in
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  hypnotherapy, right, it's not strength from the outside.
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  We have that strength within, but the subconscious mind holds that.
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  But the conscious mind is the gatekeeper.
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  It's very easy to get stuck in those loops inside of our mind and forget the infinite
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  power that it holds.
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  And I think that hypnotherapy offers a very unique window into how little we know about,
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  how the how the mind truly works, what the human is truly capable of.
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  And you touched on something, with our veterans, operation combating veteran suicide
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  being a a large part of my life now as well, that the sense of community and the sense of
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  purpose and coming back from a unit where you are together every day with your brothers and
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  sisters often away from your home and your family, your wife, children, loved ones, that
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  you form those strong bonds.
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  And then those people are torn away from you when the tour is over, when your service has
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  ended, and you are expected to somehow go back to a person that you will never be again.
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  It's impossible.
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  And I would think that for most people, you're changed just by basic training.
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  Right?
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  Like, it's not an instance of you have to have gone and done a tour and to be overseas or to
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  be in war, you're a changed person.
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  And for everyone in your previous life, all, you know, be it your family members or loved
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  ones to expect you to not be a changed person can make you feel even more isolated and more
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  alone inside of the world.
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  And I think there's a lot of education not just on the veteran side or, you know, first
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  responders, I think we can kinda put into that as well, that there needs to be more there
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  needs to be more communication with the loved ones of these people about what the expectation
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  should be for that person.
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  That person is never going to be the same coming back as they were when they left.
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  You're you're going to be changed by these experiences.
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  And it's very hard for people who aren't a part of that Right.
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  To really understand and to respect and appreciate all of the things that our veterans,
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  our first responders go through and, or anyone who's been through a traumatic experience such
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  as yourself.
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  I'm very sorry to hear about the loss of your son and, you know, a a brain surgery.
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  Either one of those things would be the most traumatic thing for anyone, and you've had to
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  deal with both of those.
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  Was your son's passing away before the brain surgery?
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  No.
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  It was actually it was actually a few years after.
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  So, you know and the fact I just wanna take a step back because the fact that I am here, you
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  know, talking to you after overcoming so many and, obviously, you know, there's a lot of
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  other challenges, right, that I have thankfully been able to overcome and not just survive, but
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  to thrive to thrive.
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  And, you know, there's a lot of people that are just surviving that are just coping right now.
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  You know?
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  And and here I am thriving, you know, helping others.
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  And and, you know, I'm I believe that I am a true miracle, you know, that I'm here and, you
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  know, and I believe that there was a purpose for that.
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  There was a purpose there's a purpose that I am here.
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  You know, my son, when he was alive, he suffered from anxiety, and I learned a lot from
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  that from him.
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  And what one of the things that I learned is that, you know what?
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  It's not what they say.
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  It's what they don't say Because people suffer in silence when it comes to challenges,
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  emotional challenges.
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  Right?
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  When it comes to, you know, struggling, you know, with mental health.
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  Right?
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  They suffer in silence, one, because of the stigma.
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  You know I mean?
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  So, you know, the way I feel with what I learned my son is, you know, I hear you.
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  I hear your silent cry.
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  I hear you.
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  And I think that silent cry is deafening, when when you can understand that.
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  And it's something that as, many people who have not been through those traumatic
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  experiences, they may never know.
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  And, you know, talking about these things can be so powerful.
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  You know, there's a reason that talk therapy and group therapy and these things and sharing
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  it, you know, whether it's in a group or a one to one with someone can be so powerful.
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  I think because of the digital era we live in that people are so disconnected from one
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  another that it exacerbates the problem as well.
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  People don't communicate face to face.
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  I think there's a massive communication problem.
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  But there's some things that you would never want to tell another human being.
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  And I think especially for our for our veterans, for people who have maybe had to do
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  things that they don't want to remember, that's where hypnotherapy can be a powerful, powerful
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  tool because it allows the conscious mind to get out of the way.
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  And for these subconscious, feelings and for them to be expressed and to be expressed in a
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  way that you don't need to be fully aware of them and to get them out so that they can be
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  expressed.
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  I've seen, I'm a talker if you can't tell, Annie.
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  And I, I've seen a huge benefit to myself in having this podcast because I'm able to tell
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  these stories that I was holding and stories that I was telling not just to myself but to
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  others over and over and over again.
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  And I wasn't allowing myself to accept things and to move on.
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  And I've seen how much my podcast has been a help to me personally to now leave those on the
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  tape and and to walk away from them and to not have to tell those stories anymore.
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  And I think that's a powerful thing unto itself.
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  It's a reason that with our housing units, we'll be building with operation combating
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  veteran suicide that having a podcast studio inside of each one of these units is going to
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  be so important For veterans to communicate with other veterans that have been through, you
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  know, maybe not the same situations, but can understand the situations that each have been
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  under.
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  And things like hypnotherapy and having access to them is so important in this, you know, this
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  mission that we hold very dear to our hearts to reduce the twenty two veterans a day that are
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  taking their lives, by doing something about it, by being there for them, by seeing and
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  hearing these individuals, by sharing their stories if it's behind closed doors or onto a a
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  podcast where it can help other people.
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  I think that giving them a purpose to help others is so critical because getting out of
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  the military and ending their service to their country, they feel like their purpose is over
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  in life.
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  And they find it very hard to move into civilian life and to just be another face in
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  the crowd.
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  Absolutely.
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  Yeah.
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  Well, you know what?
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  When that uniform, their uniform comes off, you know, and their call is over, right, that
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  weight is carried home, unfortunately.
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  And where it can start to express itself in a multitude of other things, substance abuse or
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  physical abuse towards loved ones, emotional abuse, or the silence that we talked so much
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  about today?
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  Absolutely.
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  Absolutely.
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  Yeah.
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  I mean, you know, we develop as human beings.
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  Right?
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  We develop these coping mechanisms and we resort to certain things just as you said.
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  Right?
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  You know?
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  Whether it be alcohol, drugs, whatever it may be, you know, that's just a short, very brief,
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  you know, let me let me try to manage what I'm feeling.
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  Right?
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  No.
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  And as someone who has experienced substance abuse and has experienced, you know,
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  homelessness and in some degrees, hopelessness, you know, doing two years in prison, you know,
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  living for a year in Mexico on the run before prison.
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  Right?
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  Like, I've put myself into some absolutely stressful and traumatic situations.
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  You know, I I wasn't commanded to do those things.
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  I I definitely made my own choices in that.
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  But, I I understand what they've been through.
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  I understand the institutionalization of someone who is in the military.
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  Prison can be much in the same way, a very regimented and structured operation.
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  And people who are very comfortable inside of that once they're put back out into the world
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  in something that isn't structured and can be a bit chaotic, it starts to really, become
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  stressful and to make someone anxious and to change who they are as a person.
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  Absolutely.
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  Yeah.
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  And, you know, one of the things that I experienced after, you know, being sick for a
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  while as I had previously mentioned and then, you know, feeling better, you know, one side
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  because there was a lot of brain fog.
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  You know, it had been brain surgery, so I went I underwent a lot of brain fog.
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  But when I was filing finally feeling better and I looked around, it almost seemed like I
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  had been in, like, a kinda like a time warp, because it was I remember, like, I still had
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  Christmas decorations.
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  And when I kinda, like, you know, was feeling better and I looked around, it was almost
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  summer.
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  It had been, you know, just the end of spring.
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  And here, you know, a couple years later, I still had Christmas decorations up.
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  And it wasn't it was because I was ill, and I wasn't able to, you know, put things away and
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  all that.
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  So it almost seemed like I felt like, wow.
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  Society has moved on, and here I am.
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  I felt like I was left behind.
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  You know?
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  And it took me a little bit of time to reintegrate, you know, that feeling.
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  So I bet that's what a lot of people, you know, who come back from service, right, who get out
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  of jail.
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  That may be what they feel when they come back home.
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  It doesn't feel like home anymore.
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  It feels like they were left behind somewhere.
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  Right?
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  And the and the world has moved on.
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  No.
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  And that can be a very isolating and, an awful feeling to come back to.
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  And I don't think that it's something that you can mentally prepare for, you know, for for
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  veterans who go overseas, have young children to leave and come back.
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  And now that child is, you know, years older, especially with very young children, there's a
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  lot of changes that happen.
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  Having that child not be comfortable around you because they don't really know who you are,
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  that can be very traumatic to a young parent.
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  And I think that we need to, you know, address the fact that a lot of these people are very
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  young people that are going to war in their, you know, early twenties or even yet teenagers.
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  They aren't truly fully developed as human beings at both in the mental and the physical.
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  So to expect them to take on so much is, really tough.
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  And, obviously, with the status of the, you know, veteran affairs, and I know that there's
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  some really great people in there on the ground that are doing great things.
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  At the top of it, the bureaucracy and the, the systems are extremely broken.
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  And we could be doing so much better for these, which I think is why you find yourself now,
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  working with the foundation you mentioned earlier and doing the work that you're doing to
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  bring these services to the veterans directly and making those things available.
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  Are you able to share some more about the foundation and everything that you guys are
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  doing with them and separately before I let you go today?
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  Absolutely.
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  Yep.
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  So our foundation is After the Action Healing Foundation and it is a nonprofit foundation,
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  you know, that is dedicated to provide to providing trauma informed clinical health
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  sorry, clinical hypnotherapy for veterans and retired law enforcement.
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  You know?
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  So we exist for the moments after service ends, when that uniform comes off, when the call is
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  over, and that wait is still carried home.
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  Our mission is to offer safe, respectful path to healing that honors strength, protects
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  dignity, and helps those who served, reclaim their peace, and control beyond survival.
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  Our website is aftertheaction.org, and our phone number is 757703, 2236.
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  And, again, my name is Annie Damato, and my partner is Scott Blaze.
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  And we have numerous other hypnotherapists as well, waiting to serve.
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  There is a need.
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  But we are also obviously, you know, we also rely you know, the support of the community to
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  help.
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  We do have, obviously, we do accept contributions, and we do have, apparel that we
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  also, you know, sell to help provide the care that these, veterans and retired law
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  enforcement, officers need to be able to live a more fulfilled, more happier life, reintegrated
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  back into their community with their families and, you know, moving forward.
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  Annie, it's been absolutely wonderful to meet you today to learn more about imagination
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  hypnotherapy and after action.
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  I hope you can stick around for a few minutes with me, after the show, and we can talk some
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  more about how we can all work together with operation combating veteran suicide and the
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  scene projects and after the action to do more to help our veterans and first responders in
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  their darkest moments and to return to the light.
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  Thank you so much.
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  Thank you so much for having me.
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  Thank you to the listeners, and, we're here to help any way we can.
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  Thank you.
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  Annie, thank you for spending some time with me today, and thank you for being part of the
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  scene.
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  My pleasure.
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