When consulting hypnotist John Barboza was a kid, he found books about hypnosis in his local library’s occult section, right alongside books about black magic and white magic.

But to Barboza, hypnosis is not only a real phenomenon, but one that can help people overcome their struggles.

Barboza said he has helped people with day-to-day problems such as nail biting and stress eating, but that’s not all.

A man who was “feeling really, really down about a girl leaving him” once went to him for help, Barboza said. “When we were done he was so happy. He gave me a hug, said, ‘Thank you so much.’”

Barboza enjoys performing hypnosis because he gets to watch people “change negatives into positives and just change their lives,” he said.

He also trains people to become hypnotists, including Helena Daz.

“Hypnosis relaxes your mind so you are more attuned with your body, you are more attune to receive the suggestions that [will] help you move through your daily life,” Daz said.

When Daz was first introduced to hypnosis, she was “very skeptical,” which she chalked up to her mind telling her how people are “supposed to look, supposed to be and supposed to feel” during hypnosis, she said.

But with Barboza’s help she overcame her perceptions.

“People have this misconception of hypnosis because of society, social media, television,” Daz said. “It’s beautiful to see [people] just let [their] mind go and just be present.”

According to Daz, many people need help getting from one point to another, which is something hypnosis can make easier.

“It was beautiful to see how we all move at a different pace but we will always get the result that we want,” she said.

On Thursday, Sept. 26, Barboza gave a presentation on hypnosis at the Southworth Library to a crowd of over 40 people.

At the event, several audience members became hypnotized alongside volunteers on stage, including Stacey Jones-Mendonca, who ended up slipping out of her chair.

“I don’t know how that happened,” she said. “I needed it. I felt like it just happened, and I was just so relaxed.”

Jones-Mendonca didn’t go to the event with any more intentions than going to something she thought would be fun, but now she’s “so glad” she went, she said.

“I came in here feeling a little tight sitting in my chair, trying to stretch,” Jones-Mendonca said. “I’m feeling amazing right now.”

During his presentation, Barboza told a story about a time he accompanied a friend to a dentist operation to ease her and numb the right side of her mouth.

Barboza told her she was on a rowboat with her hand in the water, which was very cold and made her hand numb, he recalled.

He instructed her to bring her hand to her cheek and told her the numbness from her hand went into her cheek, he added.

Jones-Mendonca found Barboza’s dentist story “amazing,” she said.

“The ability, the power [hypnosis] has — are you kidding me?” she added. “You can use it in so many ways.”

After the presentation, another woman who was hypnotized came up to him, Barboza said.

“She told me her experience about when she went to a therapist a long time ago because of a death and that really helped,” he said. “[She said] this felt just like that.”