HYPNOTHERAPY SESSIONS

WHAT ISN’T HYPNOSIS

Perhaps the best known method of inducing hypnosis is known as the progressive relaxation (or sometimes, the progressive muscle relaxation) induction. This involves consciously relaxing the muscles—usually from the feet to the head or head to the feet—and then increasing the amount of relaxation. The result is total relaxation of body and mind. This is very similar to the state when you’re arousing from sleep (technically called a hypnopompic state) or when you’re falling asleep (technically called a hypnagogic state).

But although they’re similar, and although deep relaxation often accompanies hypnosis, they are not the same. Real hypnosis is more than just deep relaxation or sleep. James Braid (1795–1860) observed a display of what was called Mesmerism and discovered he could create the same phenomena and surprising cures through the use of a specific altered state of consciousness and suggestion. He called this “nervous hypnosis” and published a book entitled Neurypnology. Very soon after he realized that hypnosis—named after Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep—had nothing to do with sleep at all. Rather, it was about intense, singular focus. So he corrected himself and tried to rename hypnosis, “monoideism.” Thankfully, it didn’t stick as being called a hypnotist sounds much better than being a monideationist!

I would add that it is easily possible to instantly induce a state of hypnosis that requires no relaxation of the body or mind at all. So hypnosis is not about relaxation or sleep. In the previous paragraph I used the expression “altered state of consciousness.” Unfortunately, there are many such altered states. When playing sports you may enter such a state. Certain drugs cause such states. Reading a great book or watching an exciting movie can put you into an altered state. Being in love results in such a state. None of these, however, is hypnosis. Hypnosis includes being in an altered state of consciousness, but that is not the totality of hypnosis. Hypnosis is more. And to understand hypnosis, we have to look at the way the mind functions.

PARTS of the MIND

What I am about to share is a metaphor. The mind, in reality, is a whole. It works excellently as a unit. However, to understand it, we can divide it into parts based on functioning. I would contend that the mind is a non-physical part of us that is usually linked to us through the physical organ called the brain. They are not the same, but they are related.

Everyone knows that a major part of the mind is the conscious. The conscious mind does your thinking and makes decisions. It does one thing at a time very well and tends to multitask very poorly. The subconscious or unconscious mind does everything else for the body. It controls all of the organs and stores all memories and beliefs. If the conscious mind makes decisions, it is the unconscious that does the work–often without our conscious even being aware of it—to manifest the decision made by the conscious. The memories and beliefs held in the unconscious may influence the conscious mind, but the conscious still makes the decisions.

Let’s say you’re a smoker and decide (conscious) that you want to quit smoking. Your unconscious (which behaves sort of like an agreeable six-year-old child and will explicitly obey any instructions) should be ready to turn you into a non-smoker. However, we all know that for most people it’s not that easy. Why not?

There is a third part of the mind known as the critical factor. This part of the mind is a type of filter. It works with information from both the conscious and unconscious minds, along with beliefs and memories from the unconscious. On its own it may alter and even oppose the orders of the conscious mind on their way to the unconscious mind. For example:

Consciousness: “I am going to quit smoking.”

Critical Factor: “Are you kidding? Don’t you know smoking is more addictive than heroin? There’s no way you could do this.”

Unconscious: “I can’t stop smoking. I can’t help you stop smoking. It’s soooo addictive. I’ll make sure we continue smoking.”

As a result, the unconscious mind, in spite of your conscious desires, actually works to keep you a smoker.

THE REAL SECRET OF HYPNOSIS

When you are hypnotized or practice self-hypnosis, the real key has nothing to do with relaxation or an altered state of consciousness. These are merely side effects that may accompany hypnosis. The important part of hypnosis is that you bypass the critical factor. Do that and here’s what happens:

Consciousness: “I am going to quit smoking.”

Critical Factor: —

Unconscious: “Okay! I’ll do everything to make that a reality.”

So the most important part of hypnosis that differentiates it from other states and practices is the bypassing of the critical factor. Books, trainings, CDs or DVDs in hypnosis should show you exactly how to do this. If they don’t, they’re not teaching hypnosis.

HYNOSIS FOR ANXIETY & STRESS MANAGEMENT:

Hypnosis can be used for stress management in two ways:
First, you can use hypnosis to get into a deeply relaxed state, fighting tension and triggering your relaxation response and get out of the “fight-flight” state (aka “survival mode”). This will help you prevent health problems due to chronic stress.

Second, hypnosis can also help you achieve various healthy lifestyle changes that can reduce the amount of stress you encounter in your life. For example, you can hypnotize yourself to stick to an exercise program, keep your home less cluttered, feel more confident setting boundaries with others, release anxiety etc.

HYNOSIS FOR SELF-ESTEEM:

Do you have a generally negative (low) opinion of yourself – and a limited view of your choices and options in life? Does your self-esteem need a major boost?

‘Self-esteem’ is a fashionable concept. Just about every social and personal ill you can think of has been attributed to the effects of low self-esteem. Millions of words have appeared on the subject – but sadly they’re not all helpful. You could easily get the idea that high self-esteem is the ‘holy grail’ and what you ‘should’ have. But actually, if it is too high it can bring just as many problems as if it is too low.  So, here are a few more words about self-esteem. Pay attention, it’s important.

Why does looking after your self-esteem matter?

Your opinion of yourself, what you think of your own ‘worth’, really does make a difference in your life. If you mistakenly value yourself too low, many things can go wrong. For example, you may:

• blameyourself for things that aren’t your fault
• underestimateyour own abilities
• expectthings to go wrong for you

But when you have an appropriate, balanced view of yourself, you can

• be much fairer to yourself
• be more objective about your strong points
• have more confidence in your abilities
• feel calmer when you think about yourself and your future
• think more positively about life in general

So, rather than going flat out for high self-esteem, the best way forward is to work on building it to a healthy level that will help you get more out of life and feel more comfortable with yourself. This is where hypnosis comes in…

Hypnosis can help you boost your self-esteem

Building self-esteem and confidence is one of the main reasons clients come to see me. By using Strength-building Imagery journeys and customized hypnotic suggestions, each and every powerful session will allow you to relax very deeply and connect with the core truth about YOU. This  experience will:

• remind you of your unique blend of core values, character, skills and talents
• skyrocket your self-confidence
• build your inner strength to  withstand difficult times
• help you feel positive about yourself  and optimistic about life
• improve your intimate, social and professional relationships

HYNOSIS FOR FEARS & PHOBIAS:

There are many mental and emotional problems I help clients with in my practice. Fears, phobias and anxieties of all kinds are very common and improvement can be seen right away. According to my knowledge, there are about 300 recognized phobias. A phobia is an irrational fear, the experience of which can produce an irrational response – such as pulling your hair out, or a massive response where your body systems are involved (sympathetic nervous system). We describe it in our everyday language “sweating with fear”, “paralyzed with fear”, “butterflies in the stomach”, etc. The name “phobia” originates from the ancient Greek God of Fear – Phobos. A phobia can be considered to be “a fear of a fear” or “an extreme reaction to fear triggered by a stimulus”.

As mentioned above, phobias are very common. One in 9 people have a type of phobia. And one in 20 people have panic attacks at some stage in their lives, quite commonly triggered by a phobia. There is little that conventional medical science can do for your phobia, other than prescribing an anti-anxiety or an anti-depressant drug.

Hypnotherapy can make a real difference in most cases by eliminating or decreasing the severity of the phobia. Typically for fears and phobias I use a technique called Circle Therapy and Systematic Desensitization, where I usually regress the client in hypnosis to the original event that caused the fear, then I “systematically desensitize” the fear by making them experience that event again, but in circumstances where they are dissociated from the actual trauma of the event. Then I change or re-frame that event so that the client no longer has that fear. For example, in the case of a fear of flying, while in a comfortable and relaxed state of mind, the client goes through the whole experience of a flight, starting with preparing at home for the trip, then booking the flight, driving to the airport, going through airport controls, boarding the aircraft and experiencing the take-off, the flight, and finally landing safely at the destination. While they are in the hypnotic state, I give the client suggestions to create a new association in their subconscious mind that everything goes smoothly and well, and that they enjoy the whole experience of flying from then on. Most often, follow-up sessions are recommended in order to maintain the gains made and prevent any potential recurrence of the fear. 

In dealing with various fears and phobias, I find them all fascinating and it’s very rewarding to see clients experience life-changing improvement after just a few sessions. As is the case of any other presenting problems though, in order for hypnotherapy to work in eradicating or diminishing fears and phobias, the client must work in cooperation with the hypnotherapist. There are many types of fears that clients may come in with, such as fears of animals, heights, fear of open spaces, fear of water, fear of public speaking, and others.