Anxiety disorders remain the most common mental health challenge in the United States, affecting approximately 40 million adults—about 19.1% of the population each year. Major depressive disorder follows closely behind, with around 21 million adults—roughly 8.3%—reporting at least one major depressive episode in 2021. Research also shows that depression is more prevalent among women than men.
In the face of these widespread challenges, Sean Wheeler, CEO of Pure Hypnosis, offers a unique and transformative approach to emotional healing. Though he never set out to become a hypnotist—or to earn the nickname The Heartbreak Hypnotist®—Wheeler has spent over two decades helping thousands of clients move beyond emotional pain. His work focuses on calming what he calls the “survival brain”—the primitive part of the mind that often fuels anxiety, fear, and self-sabotaging behavior. Instead of simply managing symptoms, Wheeler guides individuals to retrain their mental patterns, fostering lasting emotional resilience and a more empowered relationship with their inner world.
From Personal Struggles to Professional Clarity
Before becoming one of Atlanta’s most sought-after hypnotherapists, Wheeler was facing challenges of his own. At 26, he was, in his own words, “struggling to make progress in life due to excessive anxiety and a negative attitude.” A single hypnotherapy session sparked a major turnaround. Within months, he saw improvements across his personal and professional life, so much so that he decided to leave his former career behind and pursue hypnotherapy full-time.
That personal transformation continues to shape his work today. “I became a completely new person,” he says. “Everything improved so quickly that I eventually decided to change careers.”
The Survival Brain: A Double-Edged Sword
A core part of Wheeler’s practice is helping clients understand how their brains are wired, and how that wiring often backfires in modern life. “The brain is designed to look for threats; it’s a survival machine,” he explains. “That’s great for survival, but one unfortunate consequence is excessive stress and anxiety.”
Known as negativity bias, this tendency to focus on potential danger can lead people to fixate on problems, even in safe environments. “No matter how safe or wealthy we become, the survival brain will always find and focus on problems or potential threats,” Wheeler says.
His approach helps clients learn how to quiet that internal alarm system. Rather than trying to suppress emotions, the goal is to understand them—and then build the tools to shift into more balanced, constructive states.
A Practice Built on Depth and Experience
Wheeler’s methods draw heavily from Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), a psychological framework that focuses on how language and patterns influence thoughts and behaviors. “If a hypnotherapist isn’t using NLP, they’re in the dark ages,” he says. He credits his training, including work with NLP co-founder Dr. Richard Bandler, with giving him the tools to more quickly identify the root of his clients’ challenges.
But experience also plays a major role. With more than 15,000 sessions to date, Wheeler says pattern recognition has become one of his greatest assets. “It allows me to more quickly identify and target the root cause,” he says, which he believes leads to more lasting results.
Interestingly, his background in comedy also informs his therapeutic style. “I combine the ability to make people laugh with the technical skills I’ve acquired,” Wheeler says. “It makes the entire process not only more enjoyable, but also more effective.”
Shifting Toward Prevention and Family Well-Being
In recent years, Wheeler has focused more on preventive care, especially in the context of parenting and early emotional development. Becoming a father shifted his perspective. “So many of my clients’ struggles had their roots in childhood experiences,” he says. “That made me hyper-aware of my role as a parent, and it reshaped how I work with clients.”
He’s also begun training other hypnotherapists to carry forward a model that emphasizes both prevention and depth. His long-term vision includes building a network of professionals who can help address emotional challenges earlier and more effectively.
Tools for Everyday Change
One part of Wheeler’s approach involves giving clients practical techniques to carry into their daily lives. After sessions, clients receive a recorded audio to use as a daily meditation or mental reset. They’re also taught to create personalized “triggers”—such as a calming word or image—that can help them access a more relaxed state on command. “Once learned, they can use their trigger to eliminate anxious feelings within seconds,” he explains.
He also encourages people to watch for signs that stress is taking control, like compulsive eating, excessive drinking, or mindless scrolling. “People do these things that they logically know are unhelpful because they don’t know how to eliminate those feelings appropriately,” he says. “They usually seek help when the effects of the behavior become a bigger problem than the anxiety itself.”
Looking Ahead
While hypnotherapy still exists on the fringes of mainstream mental health care, Wheeler believes it has untapped potential. “We need to focus on communicating it to the public in a down-to-earth and relatable way—something that still hasn’t been accomplished on a national level,” he says.
For now, he continues to refine his practice, train others, and promote an approach to mental wellness that prioritizes emotional regulation, self-awareness, and long-term change.
“Changing our thoughts is the primary means of solving the problem,” he says. “When you’re in a good emotional state, you’re not trying to escape. You’re just living better.”