Entertainer hypnotizing Las Vegas

Southern Highlands soap opera actress one of few women in the industry

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Actress, entertainer and Southern Highlands resident Catherine Hickland has lived in Las Vegas for just under a year -- and is living and loving the Nevada life.

Hickland, who has been acting on soap operas such as "One Life to Live" for 26 years, came to Sin City for a signing of her book, "The 30 Day Heartbreak Cure," at the Town Square Borders. She began to fall in love with the city in a way she never had before.

"I've been to Las Vegas before, of course, but Town Square was so charming," she said.

She met with a friend who was living in Southern Highlands and said it had never occurred to her that people actually live in Las Vegas.

"I walked through the front door and felt I'd been there before," she said. "It was the strangest thing, like a past life feeling."

Hickland said she asked her friend if there were similar houses in the cul-de-sac that might be for sale.

"There was one down the street," she said. "I bought it that day."

At the time, she was still a regular player as the character Lindsey on "One Life to Live" and had an apartment in New York, where she'd lived for 20 years.

"I quit my job, sold my apartment and decided to follow my passion," she said. "I think it was the craziest thing I've ever done, but I don't regret it. I trust my internal GPS system."

Hickland said having the city as a home base was an ideal choice for her pursuit of what truly grabs her interest these days: hypnotism. She's been a hypnotist since she was a teen and studied under the famous showman Pat Collins.

"I just recently decided I wanted to do this full time," she said. "I'm touring. It's very exciting because there are very few women in the game."

Las Vegas hypnotist Marc Savard has worked extensively with Hickland and said he believes she has a natural ability for the art.

"Catherine is my star pupil," he said. "Her compassion for helping people, combined with her natural understanding of human behavior and the workings of the mind, make her one of a kind."

Hickland said she loves being an actress and motivational speaker but was burning out working 80 hours per week in New York. "I have been so happy with my decision to move here," she said.

She added that she enjoys working with people on stage and seeing their subconscious minds take over.

"You see what people really have stored in their imaginations," she said.

In the next five years, she said she sees herself as the star of a major reality television show chronicling her life as a female hypnotist living in Las Vegas.

"I want to do seminars and teach people how to get what they want in life," she said. "I want to help people make their lives better. That's the ultimate goal."

Contact Southwest and Spring Valley View reporter Amanda Llewellyn at allewellyn@viewnews.com or 380-4535.