Meet Matt

Matt Morano, PhD. is a Educational Psychologist who specializes in working with a wide variety of clients from age 18 and up. His warm and inviting response to life evokes a sense of empowerment in everyone he meets.

Matt earned a PhD in educational psychology with a focus on counseling psychology and a Masters in counseling and development. He is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) and a hypnotherapist with additional training in mindscaping and Human Givens. From anxiety and performance issues to trauma to weight loss and smoking cessation, Matt can help you to achieve your goals.

Matt has been working within a university setting since 1993. He was trained in many conventional therapies: Cognitive Behavioral (CBT), behavioral, humanistic, etc and used those methods to help many people. However, since discovering the amazing effectiveness of hypnosis in 2010, he has been using hypnosis and guided imagery in combination with traditional therapies ever since. He has found the combination to be much quicker and more effective which helps the people with whom he works to achieve their goals even faster! He has recently been trained in Human Givens (a process widely used in the UK which focuses on the specific needs that all humans share). In addition, as a former college football player and coach, he has learned about the incredible benefits of achieving goals through the strength of the mind. Matt has been married for over 20 years to a wonderful woman (we are pretty sure his wife made him say that!) and he is a father of two fantastic young men!

There is much more to it than what you might think!

Matt was already a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) when he accidentally came upon hypnosis as a tool to help. It all started when his younger son was experiencing stomach pain. After visiting several specialists and still not finding any medical reason for his pain, he introduced his then 9-year old son to a friend who was an experienced hypnotist. After his son worked with the hypnotist for no more than 40 minutes and was given some tools to manage his pain -- his son was soon back to his normal, happy self with no hint that there were any issues, at all. Its been nearly 5 years since that appointment, and his son's pain is a distant memory.

Essentially, it occurred to him that if hypnosis can do this for a person, and after only one, 40 minute session, he was completely convinced and he wanted to be able to help like that, too. He immediately earned his hypnosis certification through the National Guild of Hypnotists and have been using hypnosis as part of his practice ever since. The use of conventional counseling approaches combined with the effectiveness of hypnosis creates an incredibly powerful process that can help many challenges that life can present.

If you have the desire to improve your life, Matt can show you the way! Matt has a great combination of a PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Connecticut, a Master’s in Education (MEd) from George Mason University in Virginia, and he is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the State of North Carolina.

In addition, he has training in Hypnosis, Human Givens, Substance Abuse/Addiction, Anxiety Management, Phobias, Depression, PTSD, Guided Imagery, Performance Enhancement, Couples Counseling, Divorce Counseling, MBTI, Motivational Interviewing, Emotional IQ (MSCEIT), and Group Counseling. In addition, Matt can help with lifestyle changes like weight loss and smoking cessation. ​Matt also has great experience in college admissions for both undergraduate schools, graduate, and professional school (medicine and dental). In fact, part of his doctoral dissertation addressed choice of major and decision making. In addition to helping with mental health challenges, Matt can also help adults and young adults with making decisions about college including choosing a school, choosing a program, financial aid, and making the transition to college (for parents and the students).