Why Healing Happens in the Present Moment
My friend Rob is training to be a councillor, and we often spend time co-working together. This month’s blog topic is chosen and co-written by him, based on his studies.
When we think about time, we often imagine it as fixed and measurable. The minutes, hours, and days ticking by on a clock. In therapy, and in our life, time isn’t really experienced like that. It bends and shifts according to our emotions, our attention, and our awareness. I work with clients who are stuck in past experiences, or constantly worried about the future. Real change happens in the time of now. Not the clock-time that passes mechanically, but the felt sense of presence. Meaning it’s not about analysing the past, but feeling connected in the present.
The Two Ways of Experiencing Time
In ancient Greek, there were two words for time: Chronos and Kairos. Understanding the difference can help us understand how therapy works. And then how healing really happens.
Chronos: The Clock
Chronos is what we usually think of when we talk about time. It’s objective and measurable, the minutes on a clock, and the days on a calendar. In chronos, the present is just a vanishing point between past and future. It slips away the moment we try to hold onto it. In chronos, the “now” barely exists. It’s always moving, constantly devoured by the past.
Kairos: The Moment That Matters
Kairos is something entirely different. It refers to a qualitative moment. This is something felt, lived, and meaningful. Kairos isn’t measured in seconds; it’s measured in significance. It’s the moment you felt seen, or a pause where everything shifted. You can’t tell a story about kairos without turning it into the past. These are the moments that take your breath away, that make you feel deeply alive or connected. In therapy, these are the moments that change us.
Hypnotherapy: Healing within Kairos
Healing doesn’t happen because we’ve analysed every detail of the past. It happens when we feel safe enough to stay with what’s arising right now.
In hypnotherapy, the most important moments often happen in silence. A deep breath, a shared look, a sense of connection. These are kairos moments. When the client recognises an understanding of their feelings, needs or moods. When the therapist responses with the appropriate support. Building trust that their emotional state is acknowledged and validated.
In these moments:
Felt experience takes priority over explanation
Emotions are met and mirrored, not dissected
You might not be able to explain what happened, but you’ll remember how it felt. That moment becomes a turning point. Not because it was understood, but because it was lived. Change happens, not through words alone, but through presence and connection.
The Transformative Power of the Present Moment
When two people are fully present with one another, there is an unspoken, shared sense of being known. These moments:
Are felt, not just understood
Are shared without needing words
Can transform the relationship
Sometimes even rewrite the emotional past
This is why hypnotherapy focuses on the body and mind together. The breath, and the felt sense, not your history and past experiences. It helps you connect to the now, where change is possible.
The present moment lasts an average of 3 to 4 seconds (psychologist Daniel Stern). It’s within this 3–4 second window that we register meaning. Facial expression, gesture, eye contact, etc and create connection. These brief moments form the building blocks of consciousness. They are at the very heart of therapeutic change.
Finding Kairos in the Everyday
Whether you're in therapy or simply trying to be more present in your own life, look out for moments of kairos. These aren’t dramatic events, but quiet, meaningful moments when you feel truly here.
And if you’re working through anxiety, trauma, or self-doubt, know that healing isn’t a matter of time passing. It’s about creating space for presence and learning to meet yourself in the now.