In early January, she tried her first hypnosis session. For someone coming in for weight loss, like Petruccelli, Nance typically starts with questions like: Why are you here? Nance says hypnosis works by aligning the conscious mind, where you make plans, analyze, and set goals, with the subconscious mind, where automatic habits and emotional associations live. Your memories and stored knowledge make up the subconscious mind, the portion of the iceberg just under the waterline. “We’d be kidding ourselves if we pretended to fully understand consciousness.”In any case, since her first hypnosis session, Petruccelli has walked through the doorway to that dreamy tropical shoreline several times.