Barb Davies | Hypnotherapy & Counselling
You may have tried to think your way through anxiety, self-doubt, overwhelm, emotional patterns, or behaviours that no longer serve you. You understand things logically, yet you still find yourself reacting in ways you wish you could change.
Perhaps you overthink, people-please, struggle with confidence, feel emotionally overwhelmed, or notice old patterns showing up in relationships, work, or how you feel about yourself. You may know what you “should” do, but something keeps pulling you back into familiar thoughts, emotions, or reactions.
Real change requires more than willpower and positive thinking.
Many of the patterns that shape how you think, feel, and react happen automatically through the nervous system and subconscious mind. They are often influenced by past experiences, chronic stress, learned beliefs, emotional conditioning, and protective responses that developed for a reason, even if they no longer serve you.
My work helps you understand those patterns and create meaningful, lasting change through neuroscience-informed approaches such as psychotherapy, clinical hypnotherapy, nervous system regulation and capacity building.
Helping you create meaningful, lasting change from the inside out.
Professional Background & Approach
You want to feel calmer, more confident, more in control, and able to respond to life in ways that feel aligned with who you are and how you want to live. Yet despite your best efforts, you may still find yourself repeating emotional patterns, overthinking, feeling overwhelmed, doubting yourself, or reacting in ways that do not fully reflect who you want to be.
Many of the thoughts, emotions, habits, and protective reactions that shape your experience happen automatically as a result of how your brain and nervous system work. Past experiences, stress, learned beliefs, emotional conditioning, and subconscious patterns can all influence how you think, feel, and respond.
Your attention, perception, expectations, and the meaning you give experiences also play an important role in shaping outcomes. When you begin to better understand yourself and how your mind, brain, and nervous system work together, change becomes possible and often easier than you may have realized.
If you are interested in hypnosis certification training, self-hypnosis, personal growth, or professional development, please visit Healing Minds Academy to to explore my training programs, online courses, workshops, and resources.
Hypnotherapy & Counselling
Support for anxiety, trauma, confidence, emotional patterns, stress, and personal growth through psychotherapy and clinical hypnotherapy.
Transformational Coaching
Coaching for professionals, entrepreneurs, and individuals ready to create meaningful change in mindset, confidence, relationships, health, or business.
Training, Courses & Events
Explore hypnosis certification training, online courses, workshops, self-hypnosis resources, hypnosis audios and professional development opportunities.
Professional Bio
Barb Davies is a Registered Social Worker and Psychotherapist (RSW), Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, Certified Hypnosis Instructor, and Transformational Coach with over 20 years of experience in counselling, mental health, and business. Prior to working in social work and hypnotherapy, Barb worked as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), giving her a unique understanding of the pressures, mindset and challenges many professionals, entrepreneurs, and business owners face.
She holds an Honours Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and has completed extensive additional training in Clinical Hypnotherapy, Scientific Hypnotherapy, Mindfulness, Meditation & Self-Hypnosis, Sports Performance Mind Coaching, Hypnobirthing, Breathwork, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), coaching, and the Advanced BLAST Technique® Practitioner approach, a bilateral stimulation method similar to EMDR used for trauma, PTSD, grief, fears, phobias, and other emotionally distressing experiences.
Through her clinical work and practitioner training, Barb developed The PRIMER™ Method, a neuroscience-informed framework for understanding and guiding cognitive, emotional, behavioural, and subconscious change. The PRIMER™ Method forms the foundation of her hypnosis training for professionals through Healing Minds Academy and also informs the work she does with clients and students.
Barb works with pre-teens through adults and supports clients experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma, PTSD, grief and loss, emotional overwhelm, confidence and self-esteem challenges, relationship patterns, stress, and personal growth concerns.
She also helps clients with other concerns that typically respond well to evidence-based hypnosis approaches. Barb is passionate about helping people better understand how attention, perception, expectations, subconscious conditioning, and the nervous system can influence outcomes. She also teaches practical skills such as self-hypnosis, mindfulness, meditation, nervous system regulation and capacity building strategies.
In addition to working with clients, Barb is the Founder of Healing Minds Academy, where she trains hypnotherapists and helping professionals in modern, trauma-informed, neuroscience-informed hypnosis approaches. She is also the Founder & Executive Director of Amethyst Wellness Group, a multidisciplinary mental health practice, and serves as Director of the Canada Hypnosis Conference, one of Canada’s leading professional hypnosis events.
Barb works with clients in-person at The BodyMind Centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario, as well as online and by telephone.
Hypnotherapy services may be covered under counselling or psychotherapy benefits when provided by a Registered Social Worker (Ontario clients only). Direct billing is available with over 30 insurance providers, helping make care more accessible and convenient for clients.
Barb Davies Hypnotherapy & Counselling has received multiple local awards, including the CommunityVotes Thunder Bay 2024 and 2025 Platinum Award for Professional Coaching, recognition among the top Psychology & Counselling providers in the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal Reader’s Choice Awards, and recognition as one of the Three Best Rated Hypnotherapists in Thunder Bay since 2019.
Outside of work, Barb enjoys spending time with her partner Sam and family, cooking, gluten free baking, travelling, attending sports and cultural events, golfing, camping, and getting lost in a good book, often related to neuroscience, psychology, or personal growth.
Qualifications
Certifications
- Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist/Advanced through ICBCH (International Certification Board of Coaches and Hypnotists, formerly known as the International Certification Board of Clinical Hypnotherapy)
- Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist at NGH (National Guild of Hypnotists)
- Certified Hypnosis Instructor at ICBCH
- Certified Advanced BLAST Technique® Practitioner (EMDR, PTSD and Trauma) through the Warwickshire School of Hypnotherapy
- Certified in Scientific Hypnotherapy by USBSH (United States Board of Clinical Hypnosis)
- Mindfulness, Meditation & Self Hypnosis Certificate through Warwickshire School of Hypnotherapy
- Sports Performance Mind Coaching Diploma through Warwickshire School of Hypnotherapy
- Hypnobirthing Instructor
- Certified OldPain2Go® Practitioner
- Certified Life Coach Practitioner
- NLP Practitioner Certificate
- Breathwork Healer Certificate
- Reiki Level 1 Certificate
- Personal Financial Planning Certificate
- Mental Health First Aid Certificate
- ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) Certificate
- Non-violent Crisis Intervention Certificate
- Asking the Right Questions 2: Talking with Clients about Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Workshop Certificate
Experience
- Over 20 years of counselling and coaching experience
- Over 20 years of business, sales and marketing experience
- Registered Social Worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers
Education
- Honours Bachelor of Social Work degree
- Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology
Recognition
- Recipient of an Ontario Volunteer Service Award presented by the The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration for volunteer contributions in the mental health field.
- 2025 CommunityVotes Thunder Bay awards for Professional Coaching (Platinum), Psychology Clinic (Platinum), Therapy and Counselling (Gold) and Weight Loss and Nutrition (Gold)
- 2024 CommunityVotes Thunder Bay awards for Professional Coaching (Platinum) and Psychology Clinic (Silver)
- 2024 Chronicle Journal Reader's Choice award for Psychology & Counselling
- Three Best Rated Hypnotherapy in Thunder Bay award 2019 to 2024
Free 15 Minutes
A complimentary discovery phone or online consultation is available for you.
Let the change begin.
