Scientist by training, curious about people by nature.
I’m Irina Albulescu, PhD — a biologist, former medical researcher, and founder of IchangeWithin.
For 14 years, I worked in medical research, exploring questions in cardiovascular biology, emerging viruses and vaccine development. Science taught me to look beyond what is immediately visible: to observe carefully, ask better questions and look for the mechanisms and connections behind what we see.
Today, I bring that same curiosity to my work with people. As a certified hypnotherapist trained in OMNI Hypnosis and RTT®, I help clients explore the experiences, beliefs and patterns that may be influencing how they feel and respond today — and decide consciously what they want to carry forward or approach differently.
Curiosity has always been the thread
I started studying biology and chemistry at 14, long before I had a clear idea of where it would take me. What fascinated me was the possibility of understanding things we cannot see directly, yet which shape everything happening around and within us.
That curiosity eventually led me through Biochemistry and Molecular Biology studies and, in 2012, from Romania to the Netherlands for my PhD. Over the years I worked across cardiovascular research, virology and vaccine development, learning to investigate complex questions by looking for patterns, testing assumptions and connecting details that might initially seem unrelated.
When my interests gradually shifted towards psychology, emotions and hypnotherapy, I realised that the subject had changed — but my curiosity hadn't.
When understanding isn't enough
My interest in the mind became more personal after going through several difficult experiences and losses of my own. I was accustomed to approaching problems by understanding them: gathering information, looking for explanations and thinking things through.
But I began noticing something important: whet it comes to emotional issues, very often logic and reasoning don’t get the job done. And understanding something intellectually doesn't necessarily change how we feel about it.
That gap frustrated and fascinated me at the same time.
I started learning more about psychology, emotions and hypnosis, initially out of personal curiosity. Eventually that curiosity led me to train in Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT®) and later OMNI Hypnosis. What began as another subject I wanted to understand gradually became a new direction for my work.
How I approach this work
I rely on these principles:
Curiosity before conclusions
There can be a very valid conclusion about where a pattern came from. But I prefer to name that conclusion a "working hypothesis" and do the research/inner investigation. The focus is to explore what emerges from introspective conversations, look for possible connections and leave room for uncertainty and new findings.
Patterns in context
A response that feels unhelpful today may make more sense when we consider the experiences, relationships, beliefs and environments in which it developed. I find that connecting patterns to context is essential for understanding.
Your interpretation matters
My role is to guide the exploration, ask questions and help you notice connections. You decide what feels meaningful and what you want to keep, change or leave behind.
Understanding Hypnosis
Hypnosis is often portrayed as something mysterious or associated with losing control. Yet focused attention is already familiar to us — think of becoming so absorbed in a film, book, music or activity that everything else temporarily fades into the background. Hypnosis isn't the same as these everyday experiences, but it uses our capacity to focus attention in a more intentional and guided way.
What is hypnosis?
Hypnosis involves focused attention, reduced awareness of distractions and an increased responsiveness to suggestion.
Attention can be directed towards particular thoughts, images, sensations or experiences. In a therapeutic setting, this focused state can be used to explore experiences and responses, consider new perspectives, and rehearse ways of thinking, feeling or responding that are more aligned with what you consciously want.
Will I lose control or fall asleep?
Despite its name — derived from Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep — hypnosis is not sleep. You may become deeply relaxed and focused on your inner experience, while everyday concerns and your awareness of time or surroundings move into the background.
You remain in control throughout. I guide the process, but you remain an active participant and can speak, question, pause or stop at any time. The depth of hypnosis varies between people and sessions, and there is no particular depth you need to achieve.
What can hypnosis be used for?
Hypnosis has been studied across a range of psychological and medical applications. The evidence is stronger in some areas than others, and research continues into how hypnosis influences attention, perception and our responses to suggestion.
The Research
Research has explored hypnosis in areas including pain management, anxiety, depression, medical procedures and irritable bowel syndrome. Researchers also study what happens in the brain during hypnosis. A 2023 fMRI study using an OMNI-adapted Dave Elman induction found differences in how brain regions worked together during two hypnotic states compared with non-hypnotic conditions. Read Paper
The evidence varies across applications, and hypnosis is not equally effective for every concern or every person. Where a medical or psychological condition is involved, hypnosis may complement appropriate professional care.
This review of 15 studies, covering 17 controlled trials, found that hypnosis helped reduce anxiety symptoms compared with the studies’ control conditions. Benefits were also observed at follow-up in the seven trials that provided longer-term results. Hypnosis appeared more effective when combined with other psychological interventions than when used alone.
Read PaperA study involving 152 adults with mild to moderate depression compared hypnotherapy with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Participants received 16–20 individual sessions over six months. Both groups showed improvements, and hypnotherapy met the study’s criteria for being no less effective than CBT in reducing depressive symptoms. Follow-up assessments supported these findings up to a year after treatment.
Read PaperIn a randomised study of 200 patients undergoing breast biopsy or lumpectomy, a 15-minute hypnosis session before surgery included relaxation, calming imagery and suggestions for greater comfort. Patients also learned how to use self-hypnosis afterwards. Compared with supportive listening, patients receiving hypnosis reported less pain, nausea, fatigue and emotional upset at discharge, and required smaller amounts of some anaesthetic medications. The findings suggest that brief hypnotic preparation can help make the surgical experience more comfortable. Read the accompanying editorial extract
Read PaperThis trial randomised 354 adults across 11 hospitals in the Netherlands to six sessions of individual hypnotherapy, group hypnotherapy, or educational supportive therapy. At three months, adequate IBS symptom relief was reported to be 40.8% by the individual hypnotherapy group, 33.2% by the group hypnosis participants, and 16.7% by the educational supportive therapy group. The benefit relative to the control group was also present at 12 months.
Read PaperA randomised clinical trial involving 45 people with multiple sclerosis explored whether group-based cognitive hypnotherapy could improve psychological well-being. Participants attended eight weekly sessions or joined a control group that received no intervention. After the programme, the hypnotherapy group showed greater improvement in overall psychological well-being, including their sense of being able to manage everyday circumstances. These findings suggest a potential role for cognitive hypnotherapy in supporting people living with MS. The study assessed psychological well-being, rather than changes in the disease itself.
Read PaperA systematic review of nine studies involving 406 participants explored medical hypnosis for migraine management. The findings suggest that hypnosis may help reduce migraine symptoms. The approaches studied included guided mental imagery and techniques aimed at strengthening people’s inner resources and ability to cope. The results are encouraging, but differences in study designs and outcome measures prevented the researchers from combining them into a single numerical estimate of effectiveness. Methodological limitations also mean that stronger research is needed to establish how reliably hypnosis helps and which approaches offer the greatest benefit.
Read PaperParticipants with hip or knee osteoarthritis were randomly assigned to hypnosis, relaxation or a waiting list. Both treatments reduced reported pain and analgesic use; benefits appeared sooner in the hypnosis group.
Read PaperA review pooling 70 studies involving 6,078 adults found that adding hypnosis to usual care produced small additional reductions in pain, including chronic pain, pain during medical procedures and burn wound care. Benefits varied depending on the treatment hypnosis accompanied. The overall certainty of the evidence was very low, so these findings are promising but remain uncertain.
Read PaperWANT TO LEARN MORE?
I particularly enjoyed this conversation between neuroscientist Andrew Huberman and psychiatrist and hypnosis researcher Dr. David Spiegel. They explore what happens during hypnosis, hypnotic responsiveness and some of its clinical applications.
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