The impact of a direct suggestion can heavily depend on its meaning to the individual being hypnotized. When offering suggestions, it’s essential to consider the language being used. A good example of this would be a particular case involving an individual from a different country where a common implication (as opposed to their dictionary definition) of the word “fat” would mean healthy, whereas calling someone “fat” in English would commonly be used offensively. In other words we benefit from considering cultural connotations, before we rush to decide that our own language is what works for the person being hypnotized. Rapport building and conversation is key to knowing the best approach. We are not the same, but the same in that we are all different.
Cultural environment plays a factor when indirectly influenced. Since studies have shown that indirect and direct language can equally be effective, it makes sense to consider the cultural desires and dislikes of the client when using indirect suggestion before putting the person into a deep trance.

Single parenthood is extraordinary and unparalleled. There is an assumption, however that in order for single parents to live their dreams, they must wait until a child grows independent. At this time, the parent’s mind grows weary and physical capabilities can diminish if a healthy diet and exercise is not part of their routine. Sometimes a typecast is mentioned as the reason for seeking help. “I’m a single mother” is mentioned as a stigma and not a simple statement of fact. To think independently may seem more difficult than to simply accept how many in society, family, and friends believe a single parent should live. Independence equals creativity. Assuming a role everyone else feels you should play impedes on your overall growth & individuality so that seeking a holistic health practitioner, a life coach or therapist offers little help if the individual is not willing to let go of those belief systems holding them back from reaching desired results.

http://www.drcutler.com/stress/study-explains-why-antidepressants-are-in...
Story date: Nov 3, 2009

Gene research finds no connection between stress and depression, mentions this article, and that many anti-depressants are focused on calming stress-chemicals in the body.

The article also says:

According to WebMD, alternative therapies like acupuncture, massage therapy, hypnosis and relaxation techniques are believed to be helpful in treating depression.

Author: Mark Vavoulis
Source: drcutler.com. Study is by Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

RE: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hypnosis/SA00084

Every professional hypnotherapist should know what the Mayo Clinic is telling consumers about hypnosis. Chances are that savvy consumers that are researching hypnosis will have read it. You might even link to it from your web site or profile as a resource for your potential clients to learn about the myths and truths about hypnosis.

Covered in the article are these topics:

• What is hypnosis?
• Who is hypnosis for?
• Types of hypnosis
• Myths about hypnosis
• How to choose a qualified professional
• Risks of hypnosis

It is, overall, a good article. The weakest section by far is the last section, "Risks of hypnosis," where it states that hypnosis can cause "headache, dizziness and nausea", though such side effects "are uncommon". We all know those aren't risks of hypnosis, in fact, those are often the symptoms hypnosis is used to reduce and eliminate, especially in conjunction with medications and medical procedures.

Hypnotherapists everywhere are discovering the extra business income available from selling MP3 hypnosis (recorded audio sessions) online. A few hypnotherapists are really making a lot of money this way.

I certainly recommend getting as many of your own MP3 audio sessions as possible up on the Internet for sale, and there dozens of ways to do that. You have all kinds of options, from services like Amazon that will take care of everything for you (and take 60% of the sale) to operating your own shopping cart (where you keep 100% of the revenue) and every combination in between.

Be sure to mention at the beginning of each session that the suggestions and imagery included in the MP3 sessions are generic, and that the advantages of seeing a hypnotherapist in person include personalized suggestions and world-model as well as customized imagery of your preference, and that these things do make a significant difference. This helps potential clients understand why they would want to call you and book an appointment.

I have found a method quite by accident that works with the special needs child to promote independence and increased ability to achieve self control. This method utilizes stories with both familiar and unfamiliar characters. These stories promote independent play by providing coaching by cd. The cd’s help the child to play more independently and also to learn new coping strategies. Relaxing music with familiar nature sounds seems to help the children to learn better. It also increases creativity in the children by helping them to compose their own fantasy people to introduce to the therapist. Children both benefit and enjoy it because they are in trance easily and naturally and they enjoy cds with their name and familiar people in the stories. The children that I have helped by this method have gotten increased self esteem and self efficacy.
One child could not be alone and play for more than two minutes. Now, he comfortably plays for fifteen minutes. Both the coached play and the blend of both the familiar and the unfamiliar seem to help.

Perhaps not surprisingly, in hypnotherapy for quitting smoking, the very same methods that work for most people may not work for others. In choosing just what methods to use for a person, I offer various options and follow the person’s gut level response. This is because there is such a wide variety of personal tastes and belief systems among people seeking hypnotherapy and because a gut level response is much more indicative of subconscious agreement. The only way any method can work is with agreement by the subconscious mind.

One of the amazing things about the subconscious mind is that your Imagination is the inner language of that mind. It's like a rehearsal room where you can practice being the person you wish to be. In your imagination, you can be anywhere you desire...just like when you were a kid in a classroom and you gazed out the window and drifted to some other place you'd rather be...perhaps to a beautiful island or transported back to the last few days of summer camp.

In your imagination, you can be anything you desire....a king or queen, a movie star, or a great athlete, or perhaps president. It's your own private place, where you can travel through time and space. And if used correctly it "dreams can come true..." If not, they are merely daydreams and fulfil us at the moment, but do not bring change into our lives.

Hypnosis offers means of communicating with the functions of mind that are below conscious awareness. Anyone who has ever tried to quit smoking cigarettes already knows that the urge to smoke comes from something gravitationally more powerful and monolithically more immune to persuasion than the conscious mind. These deep functions of mind are called the Unconscious, not because they don’t know what the conscious mind is thinking, but because the conscious mind is unconscious of what these deep functions are doing. A fleetingly remembered dream or a embarrassingly timed Freudian slip may give us glimpses into what’s really going on, but on the cruise ships of our lives, most of the action is not happening in the well-appointed first class dining room of consciousness, but in the unseen engine room whose vague pulse is the sound that consciousness has learned to ignore. Alarmingly to those whose identities are well-seated in their intellects, the powerful engines of these deep functions of mind can change and even cause our perceptions, feelings and thoughts.

"One of the great discoveries a man (or woman) makes, one of his/her great surprises, is to find he/she can do what he/she was afraid he/she couldn't do. Most of the bars we beat against are in ourselves --- we put them there, and we can take them down." --- Henry Ford

I would like to add to this quote. Some "bars" are put in our minds by others, and these, too, can be taken down. Consider the following statements that may run through one's mind, "I never keep the weight off," "You'll never amount to anything," "I can't hit a drive today, " "I know I'll fail, " "You're stupid, " "I have to have a cigarette with my cup of coffee, '' "I can't stop eating," "You don't like me. " The list goes on and on. Thoughts such as these reflect one's beliefs.