ANA Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation® Spotlight: Christy Cowgill, CRNA, RN, NC-BC, BCH
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Nurse coach uses hypnosis to support clients’ mental, emotional, and physical health
#healthynurse Christy Cowgill knew she was destined to become a nurse at a very young age. Bouts of severe asthma throughout her infancy and childhood required Christy to spend a lot of time in the hospital. She experienced firsthand the impact nurses have on their patients’ health.“The nurses were the ones who held me in that space during those years,” she says. “By the time I was in 6th grade, I knew I wanted to serve and care for others the way they cared for me.”
As a nurse, Christy first supported people living with cancer and HIV/AIDS, then became a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA). She didn’t realize at the time that her training in anesthesia would serve as an important springboard to her true calling.
The Hypnosis-Anesthesia Connection
While working as a CRNA, Christy learned about Ron Eslinger, a fellow CRNA, navy captain, and award-winning certified master hypnosis instructor. Ron used hypnosis in his anesthesia practice to help reduce patients’ pain during and after surgery.
“Through Ron, I discovered the long history of hypnoanesthesia,” Christy recalls. “Before the emergence of anesthesia medications we use today, some surgeons and nurse anesthetists used hypnosis to help patients during procedures. Through suggestive language, they helped patients enter a specific mind-body state. In this state, their brains would release ‘feel-good’ chemicals like serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins into their bodies.”
Putting Hypnosis Into Practice
Christy became a certified professional hypnotist, incorporating hypnosis into her own practice to enhance pain control and reduce anxiety during surgery.
“I learned a whole new language, a new skill set I could bring into the operating room,” she says. “It worked so well, people would ask if I had given them drugs before I administered any anesthesia — because they suddenly felt so calm and comfortable. It was their state of mind!”
According to Christy, hypnosis is a powerful tool for pain management. It can reduce pain from childbirth, surgery, wounds, and illness, and help prevent side effects like nausea that may result from medical treatments.
From Nurse Anesthetist to Nurse Coach
Christy spent 2 fulfilling decades as a CRNA, then decided she was ready for a career change.
“I realized I was experiencing burnout and needed a new focus,” she says. “I wanted to stay true to my calling as a nurse but wasn’t sure what form my new role would take.”
When Christy discovered the Integrative Nurse Coach® Academy, she knew nurse coaching was the answer. As a nurse coach, Christy uses holistic modalities to help her clients achieve physical, mental, and spiritual health and well-being. Unlike traditional treatment-based nursing, nurse coaching focuses on empowering clients to take charge of their health and reach their wellness goals.
The “Aha” Moment
It wasn’t long after launching her nurse coach practice that Christy had an epiphany.
“I already had a background in ‘guided imagery’ and hypnosis from my anesthetist career,” she says. “I realized it could be very powerful to combine hypnosis with the cognitive behavioral therapies of nurse coaching.”
Transforming Health Through Hypnosis
Using hypnosis, Christy began helping her clients achieve a mind-body state where they could clearly visualize the future they wanted for themselves. Then she would coach them through the operational details of what they needed to do to manifest their vision.
She says her clients benefited immediately. “In the very first session, I could help a client change their perception of what they thought they were capable of,” she says. “Hypnosis would remove fear and negative emotions and help them release unhealthy habits.”
According to Christy, once a client’s mind knew they could overcome their health challenge, their body quickly followed suit.
“It’s been demonstrated in research that combining cognitive behavioral techniques with hypnotherapy achieves faster, better results,” she says. “What took up to 12 sessions before hypnotherapy, now takes half as long.”
Far-Reaching Applications
Hypnosis can help people with a wide range of health conditions, Christy says, including:
- Addiction and substance use disorders
- Anxiety and depression
- Chronic pain
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Phobias: like needles or MRI
- Skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis
Hypnosis also helps people lose weight. It can ease the pain of labor and childbirth. And, it can help children overcome issues with nail biting and bedwetting.
Additionally, it has far-reaching applications for people seeking to improve their performance. “This can include test-taking skills, public speaking, sports, business, entertainment — any activity where you need the mind and body to work together,” Christy says.
Fostering a New Era for Nurses and Nurse Coaching
Until now, nurse coaches have not been instructed on hypnosis during their certification process. Thanks to Christy, coaching hypnosis will soon become part of the nurse coach toolkit. “I just submitted a chapter on the subject for the upcoming revised nurse coaching textbook,” she says. She also teaches a course on hypnosis for nurses to use in their practice.
Christy advocates for the incorporation of hypnosis in all aspects of health care. “I think we all can benefit from learning a better tool for approaching and empowering people,” she says. “Rates of medical trauma continue to rise, even though we have more ways than ever to help people. We need to change our approach and work alongside our patients’ minds and bodies, giving them back their power.”
Christy Cowgill, CRNA, RN, NC-BC, BCH is a nurse coach, certified professional hypnotist, and founder of Enter Into Calm.
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Blog #healthynurse Spotlight
07/21/2025 8:07am CDT
The #healthynurse Spotlight is a shout out to nurses who are making changes in their lives to improve their health and wellness. You can too! Read their stories for inspiration here.
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