WHAT IS HYPNOTHERAPY? ------------------------------ Clinical hypnosis is a peaceful, pleasant state of total relaxation, the process of allowing yourself access to the abilities of your subconscious mind. The subconscious acts the way it has been programmed to act, very much like a computer does.. Much of this programming occurred before we were old enough to choose between ideas that were helpful and those that were not. Hypnosis is the key to the mind, your mind becomes more concentrated on the positive changes you want to make or to see more clearly around problems and feelings. This special state of mind is not a sleep state and one does not lose control. It can be compared to a condition of meditation or being absorbed to the point of where one is not distracted. It is a natural state of mind in which one can then experience a quiet, calm point inside from which problems, solutions and a greater understanding emerges. Hypnotherapy can provide a powerful, effective means for both uncovering mental blocks, tensions and obstructive attitudes and allowing the creative, healing process of the subconscious mind to do its work. WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM A HYPNOTHERAPY SESSION -------------------------------------------------------------------- * Privacy and professional confidentiality * * Assurance you will not be programmed to respond to post-hypnotic signals which act against your own beliefs or moral standards of behaviour * * Guidance from a respected therapist in a state of mind where you are completely in control of your thoughts and actions * * Therapy that is short term and effective * * Relief from stress and the ability to replace negative habits with new behaviour of your own choice * MORE ABOUT HYPNOTHERAPY --------------------------------- Franz Mesmer (l724-l8l5) is a man most often associated with hypnosis in the form of animal magnetism. He was a brilliant man of great imagination, a good physician and scientist as well as a musician. He was a friend of Mozart and Hayden. His theory was that invisible forces operate in nature as for example tides, magnetic iron and also man. Mesmer applied this theory to his patients and on one occasion cured a young woman of hysteria by holding magnets to her body. This confirmed his theory of magnetic forces curing illnesses by restoring a harmonious balance of nervous fluids. He had further success with patients who convinced him that his theories were correct. Mesmer's main contribution to clinical hypnosis was not his theories but his method of inducing the trance-state. He recognised that therapeutic work could be best carried out in a hypnotic state (but not yet at that time called hypnosis). Although Mesmer pointed to the many cures he achieved with his patients, the established medical and scientific societies of his time criticised his theories and put down his work as due to imagination. He was eventually forced to move out of Austria by a hostile medical profession and moved to Paris where Mesmerism became a fashionable fad. Unfortunately Mesmer attracted many charlatans and a wave of magnetism swept throughout France. Out of this emerged a man called Marquis de Puyesegur (l75l-l828), who was a follower of Mesmer. Whilst treating a patient, he discovered that he could produce a trance-state without the violent crisis which was often considered a necessary part of the process of healing. Moreover, his subjects could talk whilst in trance. Although overestimating the powers of a magnetised person, he did find that nobody could be put into a trance-state against their will or made to do anything which was against their moral judgement or critical reasoning. Around l800, a great controversy raged over Mesmer's death, magnetism flourished in Europe, especially in Germany, Denmark and Russia (not in England). A few physicians in England were working with magnetism, but with the rise of natural sciences in the l880's, anything with a faintly mystical orientation became completely outside the medical profession. In l84l, James Braide, a Manchester Physician, became interested in the Phenomenon and for the first time proved that the trance-state was brought about not by external influences, but by internal means from within the patient. In other words, it was a psychological process. Braide mistakenly coined the word "HYPNOSIS" which comes from the Greek word "hypnosis" meaning sleep. During the First World War clinical hypnosis was revived due to the shortage of psychiatrists and was used to deal with the treatment and removal of symptoms from traumatic wartime experiences. In the Second World War Hypnotherapy was again used, this time to an even greater extent as an effective short-term therapy. Success in the treatment of war-neurosis created a new interest in clinical hypnosis, which has lasted to this day. However, in the post-war years confusion as to the methods and reasons for its success made hypnotherapy a hit-and-miss affair. Milton Erickson provided much scientific backing for the use of hypnotherapy in psychiatry and psychotherapy. Understanding of the hypnotic state is still incomplete and does not go far beyond the well-known fact that it isolates or activates one area of the brain from another and reduces "cortical" activity. Unfortunately, films, novels and especially stage- hypnosis have all given a misleading idea of what hypnosis really is. In fact, in hypnosis you are not in a trance-state whereby you relinquish all control to the hypnotist. This state can be very light or deep but the principles of awareness and choice remain unchanged. You can hear everything going on around you and can come out of hypnosis any time you wish to. All that happens is that the subconscious mind, the part that stores memories, emotions, dreams and automatic functions, begins to open up. This part of the mind also takes care of processes that are beyond our normal conscious control such as: heartbeat, digestion and the general running of the body. Hypnotherapy is applied in several ways, for example, as a therapy for administering suggestions for change such as stop smoking, breaking negative habits, weight loss, increasing performance etc. or for analysing and understanding deeply rooted fears and anxiety- states as well as psychological disorders. Some of these difficulties can be taken on board in early formative years and only emerge fully in later life in differing forms not fully understood by the person involved. Clinical hypnosis is also useful in controlling pain and easing childbirth. Many attempts have been made to base hypnosis on a scientific foundation by testing subjects in controlled laboratory conditions or sifting through many thousands of case studies now on record. Most of the theories that try to explain hypnosis are inconclusive and greatly influenced by the operator. Serious practitioners of clinical hypnosis all agree on one point: the depth of hypnotic state can vary from very light to very deep. It would be incorrect to assume that the deeper the state the better the result and the quicker the cure. A deep state of hypnosis is effective for controlling pain, numbness for injections or for regression and as an adjunct for therapy. Good results for processes such as weight loss, smoking cessation and improving concentration etc. can be obtained in a surprisingly light state of hypnosis providing the therapist has the required sensitivity and skills. Hypnosis in itself will change nothing. It can be a pleasantly relaxed and interesting experience that relieves stress and removes tension. What is done with that special state of mind is the deciding factor. Nobody can be hypnotised against will or without consent; it is not dangerous and it is a common error to think that dull-witted people make the best subjects. It can be the reverse, as experience shows that those with a good imagination and intelligence often make good subjects providing they can set aside their critical faculty for a moment. We are all "hypnotised" almost every day to some degree. It can be whilst we are absorbed in a book, watching a good film or any time when the mind is concentrated. Have you never been "lost in thought" or daydreaming?