A lot of people confuse and conflate stage hypnotism with hypnotherapy. Tabloid sensationalism and media mythmaking has fostered scorn and suspicion by making people think that hypnosis involves making people bark like a dog or being forced to act against their own volition. This is, of course, completely untrue.
Hypnosis and hypnotherapy both involve being guided into a trance state. This means that you control all of your actions, hear everything around you, and, most importantly of all, you cannot be forced to do anything against your will.
When a client is participating in a hypnotherapy session, they are induced into a deep state of relaxation, hyper-focus and increased concentration, and increased suggestibility. That said, there are those who say that they cannot be hypnotised; as long as you follow instructions and consent to “going under”, then you can be hypnotised. This is precisely why you cannot be hypnotised against your will – you have to “let go” and surrender to it.
Chances are, you have been in a trance state before.
Have you ever been “on autopilot” driving home from work?
Been lost in a reverie whilst listening to a favourite piece of music?
Been totally immersed in a book, film or video game and totally lost track of time?
If the answer is “yes”, then you were in a trance state.
Hypnosis harnesses the power of suggestion, yes, but advertising, music, films, and books routinely plant suggestions into our unconscious minds. Language and communication are saturated with suggestion. Hypnotherapy, therefore, can use this power of suggestion and the potency of the unconscious mind to help you to overcome a mental or physical ailment by utilising the practice of hypnosis for therapeutic purposes. Its many uses include:
- Stopping smoking/ weight control – hypnotherapy can help by focussing your mind and suggesting healthier behaviour.
- Relieving chronic and acute pain – by accessing the link between body and mind, a qualified therapist can help with childbirth or pain management after surgery.
- Treating the root causes of anxiety, addiction, PTSD, and depression that our conscious minds strive to conceal. The unconscious does not lie and the trance state is key to unlocking the hidden depths of our minds, memories, and motivations.
The trance connects our conscious minds to the unconscious. The latter is akin to a computer’s hard drive, where we store our every experience, emotion, and thought.
A qualified hypnotherapist, after inducing a deep, relaxed state in the client, effectively runs a search, pulling up repressed memories and buried emotions that lie at the root of our ailments and challenges.
Unhealthy, dysfunctional behaviour, such as smoking, angry outbursts, alcoholism and overeating have chains of events that lie at the heart of our current unhealthy choices. During a Hypnotherapy session, it is possible to trace back the experiences and unconscious decisions you might have made as a child that may be leading you to these types of behaviours.
If you think that hypnotherapy can help you, it’s time to book in a session.