Our Team
Dr. Holly Forester-Miller, LCMHC, NCC
Holly Forester-Miller, Ph.D., LCMHC is President of Medical Hypnosis Consultants, PLLC in Durham, NC. Dr. Forester-Miller is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor with a private practice providing general psychotherapy as well as hypnosis for almost 40 years and has been running workshops and training healthcare professionals in the use of clinical hypnosis for over 30 years. Dr. Forester-Miller is a Fellow in The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, as well as a Fellow in The Association for Specialists in Group Work.
Dr. Forester-Miller has been using hypnosis/self-hypnosis regularly with her clients since 1983. She had her first major surgery with no anesthesia and no bleeding in January 1989. Her mentor in the field of hypnosis was Kay Thompson, DDS. So much of what she knows and does is based on her learning from the amazing person and professional that Kay Thompson was.
She utilizes hypnosis in therapy sessions, when she and her client agree it would be useful, as well as teaching individuals to use self-hypnosis as an aid in their psychological growth or for medical applications, including pain management, preparing for surgery, minimizing side effects of cancer treatments, and healing. Thanks to Kay, Holly views hypnosis as a tool for expanding possibilities for healing whether it be for helping someone with physical disease or procedures such as with cancer, or for mental health issues such as anxiety. Holly uses self-hypnosis regularly herself and has had three major surgeries utilizing self-hypnosis in place of general anesthesia, and with no measurable blood loss.
Dr. Forester-Miller was a professor of counseling for 20 years while maintaining a part-time private practice. For the past 20 years she has had a full-time clinical mental health practice and taught part-time at Duke University School of Medicine for 15 of those years. She has been offering clinical hypnosis workshops for 30 years both in North Carolina and previously in West Virginia. Dr. Forester-Miller has also taught for the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH) at both the National and Regional Workshops in Level 1, Level 2 and the Advanced Track for over 15 years. Holly has lectured on Clinical Hypnosis, Self-Hypnosis, Medical Hypnosis, Self-Hypnosis with patients with Cancer, and the Impact of Language on Healing throughout the US, and in Germany, China, Scotland, India, Malta, Switzerland, Montreal, New Zealand, and Greece.
Holly has been an Approved Consultant in Clinical Hypnosis for the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis for over 20 years and for 7 years was Chair of The Training and Consultation Workshop for ASCH. She has chaired and served on numerous ASCH committees, as well as served on the Executive Board as Treasurer. She was the Guest Editor of the special issue of the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis: The Benefits of Hypnosis in Cancer Care which included her research: Self-hypnosis classes to enhance the quality of life of breast cancer patients (2017, vol.60). In 2018 Dr. Forester-Miller received the Clark L Hull Award for Scientific Excellence in Writing on Experimental Hypnosis for that article.
For 15 years Dr. Forester-Miller in association with the Duke Cancer Patient Support Program taught Self-Hypnosis classes for patients with cancer. She designed these classes as part of a grant funded by the Komen Foundation of the Triangle. She continues to offer these classes on-line, as well as working individually with cancer patients in her private practice
To find out more about the services, classes and trainings Dr. Forester-Miller offers please see the various topics in this website.
Dr. Perry G. Stanley
Perry G. Stanley, Ed.D. is a licensed psychologist with a private practice who has provided counseling, psychological services, and marriage and family therapy for over 45 years. Dr. Stanley is a Clinical Fellow as well an Approved Supervisor of The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and has obtained Certification in Clinical Hypnosis from the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. An experienced teacher, trainer, and consultant, Perry has conducted numerous workshops and has taught both undergraduate and graduate students .
Having received his initial training in clinical hypnosis in 1995, Perry immersed himself in the advanced study and practice of clinical hypnosis in 2013 when he was working on a crisis stabilization unit during an opioid crisis. Perry observed that a significant percentage of those who were dependent on opioids had little to no history of substance abuse until after an accident or surgery and the treatment of pain with opioids. Dr. Stanley realized that a third or more of those who become dependent upon opioids would benefit from treatment for chronic pain, and that clinical hypnosis could provide the assistance they needed. Perry sought out training from some of the leading experts in the field to enhance his skills for using clinical hypnosis to alleviate pain and maximize comfort for those with chronic pain and other chronic conditions. Dr. Stanley has developed expertise in the treatment of a range of conditions including chronic back pain, gastrointestinal issues, sleep disturbance, fibromyalgia, trauma, working with patients with cancer, for assisting individuals in preparing for medical procedures, and in teaching patients how to use self-hypnosis.
Dr Stanley uses self-hypnosis regularly including for his own health issue. He has used self-hypnosis to resolve sleep problems, to be able to fly with little to no knee pain, and to alleviate nerve pain. He was able to use self-hypnosis rather than opioids following the surgical removal of a ganglion cyst, and has comfortably tolerated multiple cardiac MRIs. Perry’s successful practice of self-hypnosis resulted in him developing the highest expectation that the daily use of self-hypnosis will be beneficial to anyone who is motivated to practice this skill consistently.
