GILROY
– Deborah Korte, 53, once worked at a Silicon Valley hard drive
manufacturer as a quality engineer. Now, with her personal coaching
business, she has transformed herself into a
”
quality-of-life engineer.
”
She specializes in using hypnosis to help people change
themselves through the power of the subconscious mind.
GILROY – Deborah Korte, 53, once worked at a Silicon Valley hard drive manufacturer as a quality engineer. Now, with her personal coaching business, she has transformed herself into a “quality-of-life engineer.”
She specializes in using hypnosis to help people change themselves through the power of the subconscious mind. Some people think of hypnosis as just silly stage stunts such as pretending to be a chicken or dancing like a ballerina while in a “trance.” Korte, however, believes hypnosis, if properly used, can vastly improve everyone’s life.
Korte grew up in San Jose and moved to Gilroy in 1981. She has two children: Elyse, 18, who just graduated from Gilroy High School, and Jacob, 19, now attending California State University at Fullerton.
When not helping her clients find personal growth, Korte likes to attend street fairs and play with her three cats. She recently helped sell tickets at the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce’s beer booth during the Garlic Festival.
In the past couple of years, her Gilroy-based business has grown rapidly as she helps South Valley residents recondition their brains for dramatic inner transformation.
“A while back, I was going through some transitions of my own,” said Korte, describing how her interest in hypnosis started during the stress of a divorce and caring for an invalid mother. “I was looking for something that was personally based that I could do for myself. I believe all healing comes from within anyway.”
Combining hypnosis with a technique known as Neural Linguistic Programming (NLP) — a way of “reframing” reality through self-talk – she has helped clients lose weight, give up cigarettes, reduce stress, build their self-esteem and improve their sex life.
“During hypnosis, you’re in a very focused, relaxed state. You’re not asleep,” she said. “You’re very focused on your subconscious mind.”
Connecting with the subconscious during a session, clients discover within themselves the healing power for personal transformation.
“Sometimes people think they need permission to heal,” Korte said. “They go to a doctor or clergy or shaman – but all the healing comes from inside.”
For example, one of Korte’s friends had an allergic reaction to cats. The friend wanted to aid a woman with cancer who kept several of the feline critters as pets. Through the power of hypnosis, Korte’s friend quickly overcame her allergy.
“It’s an over reaction of your body,” she said. “The body is thinking that the allergen is going to kill it. Hypnosis helps the body realize that it’s just a teeny-tiny particle and it’s not going to kill you.”
Korte tells her clients that all hypnosis is essentially self-hypnosis.
The clients really put themselves in the hypnotic state, and Korte serves more as a guide in the journey into a deep state of relaxation.
Based on how it’s sometimes portrayed in movies, some people might be a bit skeptical of hypnosis, thinking it’s some strange kind of voodoo.
But hypnosis has been accepted by the American Medical Association since the 1950s, Korte said. It is a legitimate way to control pain, and many dentists use it instead of Novocaine.
Korte herself is a “hypno-birther,” teaching women how to relax and ease their discomfort during natural child birth.
Hypnosis can also help people advance in their careers, Korte said.
“I’ve helped a lady with job interviews,” she said. “She’d go into a job interview and just choke. …Now her self-esteem is really good.”
And it can also help children in school.
“One of my funnest clients was an 11-year-old boy,” she said. “He had been labeled with ADD (attention deficit disorder). He was having a lot of trouble in school and getting poor grades. …With only a couple of things, I was able to help him get A’s and B’s.”
Korte has seen her business grow as word spreads about her skills in teaching local residents how to improve their lives.
She enthusiastically believes in the metamorphosis power of the inner self.
“The mind is a miracle,” she said. “The intention is all there. …There’s been healers throughout time, (and) what they’ve done is merely work with people and their minds.”
