What Is Hypnosis?
We have all experienced hypnosis. Several times a day, in fact, we enter a self-induced trance state. This is a part of the natural activity-relaxation rhythm of the body known as the ultradian rhythm. We often refer to this as "spacing out." It is also the state in which openness to learning is most likely to occur. Hypnosis is the focused use of this state to reprogram self-limiting unconscious patterns.
However, we've learned the unconscious cannot be commanded into a state of well-being. The old stage hypnotist approach—"Look into the mirror and feel confident"—has been replaced by a more sophisticated method pioneered by Milton Erickson, M.D. Erickson reasoned the unconscious is not an evil force trying to thwart our best intentions. Instead, each individual has all the resources necessary for change already residing within him or her. The hypnotherapist helps the client awaken these latent potentials. He/She conveys options to the client which were formerly unperceived.
In order to do this, the hypnotherapist uses a variety of techniques. He/She may dialogue with the unconscious, tell anecdotes and metaphors, stimulate memory recall, use age regression, reframe events or situations, help the client recall, reinterpret, or re-parent the original childhood trauma, or even assist in changing the original birth experience. Some esoteric hypnosis seeks to connect the client with past life events. Few good hypnotherapists use only hypnosis in treatment. Many use insight-oriented and behavioral techniques as well.
The problems treatable through hypnosis are equally diverse. Although hypnosis is commonly associated with habit cessation (losing weight, quitting smoking, etc.), almost any area treatable by conventional means can be enhanced through the use of hypnosis. The well-trained clinician using hypnotherapy can help clients suffering from depression, anxiety and grief as well as many other difficulties. Even forms of schizophrenia and multiple personality have been aided with hypnosis. The medical applications range from pain control and immune system augmentation to the more generalized use of stimulating the overall healing process.
Each client may experience hypnosis differently relative to the technique being used and the psychology of the client. For some, it is a heightened awareness; for others, a profound relaxation. Sometimes the client hears every word the hypnotist says, and other times the voice fades in and out or becomes completely inaudible. In Ericksonian work, the client is never put under the "control" of the hypnotist. The client is always free to alter the hypnotic experience or awaken at will.
Therefore, hypnosis is not an artificial condition imposed upon a "subject," but rather a skill to be learned by the client to correct an existing symptom or problem. It's not magic. However, when used by a competent and well-trained professional, it is an effective and dynamic therapy.
What Can Hypnotherapy Do for Me?
Did you know hypnotherapy could be used for almost any problem treatable by psychotherapy and for many physical ailments as well?
Hypnotherapy has received a lot of press lately as a very effective tool for changing personal issues and symptoms. Even medical doctors refer to hypnotherapists today. The National Institutes of Health and the American Medical Association have endorsed hypnotherapy as an effective alternative therapy. Medical uses include addressing problems associated with illnesses, pain management and developing the relaxation response. Hypnotherapy has a strong referral base of physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric social workers, and other professionals who have witnessed the results of modern hypnotherapy.
Professionally trained therapists can use this specialty to help you resolve the same issues you'd take to conventional therapy usually in far less time and with results that can last a lifetime. This is because the underlining premise of Clinical Hypnotherapy is to help you, the client, empower yourself to change by using the resources you've already got—unconsciously, that is! Through "contracting" and "dialoguing with the unconscious mind," new learning is developed to create lasting success. Hypnotherapy today is nothing like the fanciful hypnosis of the movies. We use no spinning disks or mesmerizing pendulums. You have a private therapist—no headphones with mass-produced inductions. All your therapy will be individualized for you, specifically. We teach you how to use the trance state to transform problems into solutions.
Remember, we can also work with your physician to assist in pain reduction and stimulate the overall healing process.
