Clinical Hypnosis

WHAT IS HYPNOSIS?

Hypnosis is a state of relaxed, inwardly-focused attention. This state is called a “trance”. Research indicates that adults go into a trance-like state every one and a half to two hours and that seems to be a way that we have of recharging or rebooting the brain. If you’ve ever been totally absorbed in reading a book or watching a movie at a movie theater and have been completely oblivious to people and things around you, you’ve experienced a trance-like state. Another often experienced example is driving a well-known route from point A to point B and not remembering how you got to point B. We are so focused on our thoughts that we don’t consciously notice the details of what we are doing or what we are driving past. There is nothing magical about hypnosis. It is a state of consciousness that we enter naturally. But we usually don’t call it trance or hypnosis. Hypnosis can be considered to be the process of intentionally bringing about a trance either by the individual himself or herself (self hypnosis) or with the guidance of someone trained in hypnosis.

WHAT IS CLINICAL HYPNOSIS?

When the mind is in this relaxed, attentive, inwardly focused state, the mind can be used more powerfully. People are better able to tap into and use their inner resources. There is more access to the unconscious, habitual mental processes which can create psychological struggles and emotional suffering. With this increased access, there comes both increased self awareness and the ability to more effectively make changes. The research is clear that hypnosis can lead to positive changes in psychological, physiological and neurological functioning.

In clinical hypnosis, the hypnotherapist collaborates with the client, guiding him or her in the process of entering the the relaxed, inwardly focused state and in using the resources of this state to address psychological distress. The primary tools of clinical hypnosis are: visualization, suggestion, exploration of the unconscious and self hypnosis.

  • Visualization or guided imagery, in which the hypnotherapist helps an individual vividly imagine a desired change in behavior, can have a very powerful effect in a hypnotic state of mind.
  • Suggestions or ideas presented to an individual while that person is in a state of hypnotic, concentrated attention can have a significant impact on the mind if those suggestions and ideas are compatible with what the person wants.
  • Hypnosis can be extremely effective in bypassing the interference and criticalness of the conscious mind and so can assist an individual become increasingly aware of habitual and unconscious thoughts, perceptions interpretations and emotions which lead to psychological suffering.
  • With training and practice, an individual can learn to induce the hypnotic trance for oneself without the facilitation of a hypnotherapist. Then, in self hypnosis, the individual can make use of the resources of the hypnotic state.

MYTHS ABOUT HYPNOSIS

The hypnotized individual loses his free will. When someone is hypnotized, he maintains all the aspects of his personality, including free will and personal strength.

The hypnotized individual is under the control of the hypnotherapist. Hypnosis is done voluntarily and at no time is the person under hypnosis “under the control of the hypnotherapist”. The hypnotherapist acts only as a facilitator. When hypnosis is used for entertainment, the stage hypnotist elicits volunteers from the audience who will be cooperative with the hypnotist and who will be agreeable and outgoing enough to “act like a chicken” for entertainment purposes.

You can be hypnotized without your consent. For hypnosis to be successful, the individual under hypnosis needs to be a willing and active participant.

When hypnotized, you experience amnesia of the hypnotic experience. Rarely, it may occur that someone in a very deep hypnotic state experiences amnesia. The vast majority of times, individuals remember everything about the hypnotic experience.

Hypnosis can be a quick and almost magical answer to psychological problems. Hypnosis, like any other tool of psychotherapy, works more effectively with some people than with others and with some psychological problems more than others.

USES OF HYPNOSIS IN PSYCHOTHERAPY

  • Anxiety and stress management
  • Depression
  • Sports and athletic performance
  • Sleep disorders
  • Pain management
  • Concentration Problems
  • Psychological Trauma
  • Relaxation end