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PRETEND · Today · 51 min

The Hypnotist, Part 1 (Revisited)

When I was eight months old, I pulled a rice cooker full of boiling water and oil off the kitchen counter, and it spilled down the left side of my body. I still have the third-degree burn scars, but I have no memory of it happening. So I booked a session with a hypnotherapist in Raleigh to see if regressive hypnosis could take me back to that kitchen. Before I go under, I try to answer a question: what is hypnosis, really? Listeners tell me how it helped them quit smoking, switch careers, and get through childbirth without an epidural. A hypnotist tells me what she believes the mind can heal. This is Part 1 of a four-part series. Keep listening on Spotify: Part 2: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1yPCr0SVefi5vT1BDGYakK Part 3: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4UquzkRVaDn1k4FOTn9Pwe Part 4: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Ecb3wRhrS1WffWu5bpOFD Who’s Afraid of LaDonna Humphrey is back with three new episodes. Part 19 is available on Patreon right now: https://www.patreon.com/pretendradio/posts/whos-afraid-of-174853114. Everyone else can hear it next week. Have you been hypnotized? Send me a voice memo at javier@thisispretend.com. Get early access and bonus content: PRETEND+ on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/pretend/id6443456985 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/pretendradio Written and Produced by Javier Leiva Music by Joe Basile | thechicken.net © 2026 Creative Babble LLC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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When I was eight months old, I pulled a rice cooker full of boiling water and oil off the kitchen counter, and it spilled down the left side of my body. I still have the third-degree burn scars, but I have no memory of it happening. So I booked a session with a hypnotherapist in Raleigh to see if regressive hypnosis could take me back to that kitchen.


Before I go under, I try to answer a question: what is hypnosis, really? Listeners tell me how it helped them quit smoking, switch careers, and get through childbirth without an epidural. A hypnotist tells me what she believes the mind can heal.


This is Part 1 of a four-part series. Keep listening on Spotify:

Who’s Afraid of LaDonna Humphrey is back with three new episodes. Part 19 is available on Patreon right now: https://www.patreon.com/pretendradio/posts/whos-afraid-of-174853114. Everyone else can hear it next week.

Have you been hypnotized? Send me a voice memo at javier@thisispretend.com.


Get early access and bonus content:
PRETEND+ on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/pretend/id6443456985
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/pretendradio


Written and Produced by Javier Leiva Music by Joe Basile | thechicken.net


© 2026 Creative Babble LLC

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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