I am amazed at how often, when I meet someone and they learn that I am a hypnotherapist the first thing they then say to me is can you make me cluck like a chicken or quack like a duck! I am sure that this is often said a little tongue in cheek but for me it also says how misconceived hypnotherapy really is. When I explain what hypnotherapy actually is, people are often surprised at the difference between their perception and what it is in reality. This is largely due to how hypnosis is portrayed in the media, whether that’s through film, books or TV where it is often distorted or entirely untrue depiction, normally with a negative connotation. Some go so far as to suggest mind control, or being able to see all of someone’s secret thoughts. This is, of course, nonsense.
In fact hypnosis is an everyday phenomenon. I am sure that you can recall a time when you became so engrossed in a film or novel that the outside world disappeared for a while and you felt as if you were living in that other world, or a time when you drove a car from A to B but can’t really recall the whole journey. That state of mind is pretty much how hypnosis works. In other words, achieving a state of mind where there is a focused inward attention, with a lessening of peripheral perception or what is going on outside of yourself.
Hypnosis is often accompanied with a state of relaxation, although that doesn’t need to be the case. When working with depression, or with sportspeople to enhance performance, then a much more energised and upbeat approach is used to provide the right environment for working with, and getting the best results from, these issues.
Hypnotherapy is then a therapeutic approach that incorporates hypnosis. The reason for this is that when someone is hypnotised they are in a more suggestible state as their normal reservations are bypassed. Suggestions are also amplified and so are more likely to be accepted and acted upon. All suggestions made when in hypnosis, can also be made and may be successful without hypnosis, but it is the “turning up of the power of the suggestion” if you like that is enhanced with the use of hypnosis.
It is important to stress that this does not mean any suggestion is then accepted by the hypnotised subject. Free choice is not compromised in any way, and the person can decide whether or not to accept any suggestion made. The hypnotised subject remains in control and can decline anything they do not agree with or want to accept.
The therapeutic element of hypnotherapy then is to address the psychological root of an issue. This may be through behavioural or cognitive change or a combination of both. By cognitive I mean conscious intellectual activity in the mind, so thoughts, sensations, perceptions, ideas and so on.
Many conditions and issues can be successfully addressed using hypnotherapy such as weight loss, stopping smoking, anxiety, insomnia, fears and phobias and even the management of pain. There is an almost endless list as long as it involves a psychological element and you will find that many hypnotherapists specialise in a particular field.
You can also use it simply to relax and spend some time away from the usual stresses and strains, giving yourself, if you like, a mental massage.
It is a natural, gentle, chemical free way to bring positive change into your life.
For more details on what I can offer you in terms of hypnotherapy please call me on 07577202702. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have or to discuss booking a free, no obligation consultation.