Hypnotherapy

What is Hypnosis?

The technical definition of Hypnosis is Hypnosis is a state of hyper-suggestibility where the conscious and subconscious (unconscious) minds dissociate.
It is a state of mind where the subject is more likely to accept the operator’s suggestions.

But a description rather than the definition of hypnosis may be easier to understand.
In general, hypnosis is characterized as

• • A State of Increased Relaxation where the conscious mind becomes subdued and ideas and suggestions can be introduced to the unconscious more easily. Notice that I said “in general,” meaning for most people, but not everyone.
  • You Have Been in Hypnosis Often Without Even Realizing It.
  • Hypnosis is the alpha level of consciousness.
  • You pass through this daydream like state as you fall asleep at night.
  • And you pass through it again as you awaken in the morning

Research has proven that if you watch a lot of television, you are in this alpha state for two-thirds of your viewing time. If you have ever watched a sad TV show and reacted with a tear in your eye, you have been hypnotized by the television.  You entered a state of increased suggestibility where you uncritically accepted the suggestion of sadness on the TV screen and reacted with a sad emotion, your tear. In other words your reasoning ability, which is contained in your conscious mind, was bypassed. You did not reason that the show was just a play; you accepted the action as being real. So you reacted with real emotion.

There are many definitions and many hypnotists even disagree amongst themselves about a true definition, one of the simplest definition would be ‘Hypnosis is an artificially induced state of relaxation where the susceptibility of the mind to suggestion is increased.’

When we talk about hypnosis, we are really talking about suggestion. To induce hypnosis, suggestions are given to the client forthem to enter a state of relaxation and are accompanied by the repetition of carefully chosen key words from the clients own model of their world, and using phrases that focus the attention and induce a state of increased suggestibility. In other words, this extreme state of relaxation and focusing of the attention makes the client more responsive to suggestion. Hypnosis represents a ‘peak experience’ where the suggestions given by the hypnotist are remembered both in the conscious and unconscious mind  and acted upon if the client so desires.

To What degree Is A Client Hypnotised?

The degree to which a person is hypnotised is directly linked to the degree to which that person responds to suggestion, all hypnosis is self hypnosis, and the client chooses to what degree or level of relaxation they are most comfortable with . You Are Always In Control Of Your State and Your Actions

Hypnosis is also a ‘consent state’ where the hypnotised subject always retains ultimate control of their actions. Hypnosis works particularly well when a person’s belief system overrides their skepticism. That does not mean to say that only gullible people can be hypnotised – on the contrary, hypnosis requires a certain amount of concentration on the part of the subject. Imaginative people who can lose themselves in daydreams often make good hypnotic subjects, but this is not always the case as scientifically minded people are also easily hypnotisable.

A Brief History of Hypnosis

In the 17th century, Dr. Franz Mesmer discovered that by passing magnets over a patient’s body, he could cure all sorts of diseases. Mesmer thought that this was to do with the ‘animal magnetism’ of the universe. Unfortunately, Mesmer’s cures were limited to psychosomatic illnesses and his spectacular results were liberally interspersed with failures. Without realizing it, Mesmer was really relying on Suggestion as well as the Placebo Effect. Given the standards of medical practice of the day, Mesmer’s ideas were probably more effective than the bleedings, leechings and mercury poisonings that were considered normal treatment at the time!

When he was branded a charlatan and run out of Vienna by the medical authorities he set up in business again in Paris. A Royal Commission was set up to examine his claims in detail and again he was expelled by jealous doctors and physicians. ‘Mesmerism’ acquired a bad name and was largely forgotten until the end of the 19th century when Dr. James Braid and Dr. John Elliotson, working independently in England, looked again at Mesmerism. Both realised that the practice related to simple verbal suggestion. Braid called the phenomena Hypnosis, after the Greek god of sleep, Hypnos.

Just as Braid and Elliotson were beginning to have some success with hypnosis as a way of relieving pain during surgical operations, the chemical anesthetic ether was discovered. Ether was fast, reliable and worked every time, whereas hypnosis was time consuming, unreliable and distrusted by skeptical medical practitioners and so it was forgotten about until after the second World war. Hypnotism was relegated to a popular music hall entertainment and audiences gasped at the sight of needles being inserted into the arms of unsuspecting volunteers and subjects being told that they were chickens (still a popular stunt with stage hypnotists today!)

Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy

In the last twenty years or so, hypnotherapy has grown worldwide to industrial proportions. There are over 5,000 hypnotherapists in Britain.
Hypnotherapy is most often associated with stopping smoking and losing weight, but the list of conditions that can be improved using hypnotherapy is almost endless. Hypnosis often provides a short cut when dealing with fears and phobias and more recently pain management. The beautifully relaxing feeling of being hypnotised provides a ‘comfort zone’ where patients can explore their tribulations and the hypnotherapist can assist in helping the client to decide what the problem is, where it came from in the first place, and what needs to be done about it – following these simple steps: 1) desire for change; 2) change in thinking; 3) attitude change; 4) behaviour modification.
Hypnosis is a relatively narrow field of study and surprisingly, you don’t need any qualifications to set up as a hypnotherapist! The techniques are comparatively straightforward but a background in psychology is desirable. After all, if you are going to become a television engineer, it’s not enough to know how to turn the TV on and off – you should at least have some understanding of electronics!

There are many different methods that are used to reach the unconscious mind to invoke change. Each method has it’s strengths, and it’s weaknesses.Every person is different, so it stands to reason that the best results will be obtained by utilizing the methods that each person will respond to.With “Traditional Hypnosis,” we simply make direct suggestions to the unconscious mind.  In case you are wondering, as far as I’m concerned, the terms unconscious and subconscious are interchangeable – they refer to the same part of the mind.  This type of hypnosis works well for someone who generally accepts what they are told without a lot of questions.

Most hypnosis audios sold today are based on “Traditional Hypnosis” techniques. The reason for this is that it really doesn’t take much training or experience to write a script and just tell someone what to do. Unfortunately Traditional Hypnosis is not very effective for people who are critical or analytical in their thinking processes.

By contrast, Ericksonian Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming techniques work far better for most members of today’s generation! This is because today people are taught to question everything, rather than just follow the flock. So these methods do work very well on people who are critical or analytical in their thinking processes.

These methods are much more effective at reaching and influencing the unconscious. However, it can take years of training, study, and most of all experience to learn how to apply these techniques effectively.  This is a challenge that is only accepted by the truly dedicated.With “Ericksonian Hypnosis,” we use little stories, called metaphors, to present suggestions and ideas to the unconscious mind.  This is a powerful and effective method, because it usually eliminates the blockage of and resistance to suggestions that is often caused by the conscious mind. There are two types of metaphors, “Isomorphic,” and those of the imbedded command or “interspersal” nature.

Isomorphic metaphors offer direction to the unconscious by telling a story that offers up a moral. The unconscious draws a one-to-one relationship between elements of the story and elements of a problem situation or behaviour.

As a Master NLP Trainer who has trained with over 28 international trainers over a period of 20 years, I personally endorse the NLP techniques as an enhancement to hypnotherapy and creates a lot more options and flexibility with a client achieving their results faster and more effectively.
With “Neuro-Linguistic Programming” (NLP), rather than using suggestions, we use the same thought patterns that are creating a problem, like an excessive appetite or stress, to eliminate the problems.  NLP in the hands of an experienced practitioner can be very effective. I utilize many different NLP/Hypnosis techniques in my hypnotherapy practice, and in my training programs.