Health & Healing

A hypnotherapy session always begins with a client sharing their concerns, problems, or issues at hand, just as one would do to begin a regular talk-therapy session. The hypnotherapist listens and takes careful notes to insure that key words or phrases spoken by the client be used during the trance-state portion of the session. By attending to the exact verbiage, it takes the client deeper into their emotions where their real work begins.

An induction into a state of hypnosis can involve many different techniques, however, the goal is to bring the client into deeper and deeper states of relaxation. It’s common for a client to feel like they are not hypnotized, as the conscious mind remains active throughout the entire session. The more a client allows themselves to let go into deeper states of relaxation, the more beneficial the session. The ironic thing is, though, most clients don’t call a hypnotherapist unless they are ready to do the deep work of their soul. So relax and enjoy!

Study Group Materials (required)

Study Group Materials (required)

doi: 10.4065/​80.4.511
Mayo Clinic Proceedings April 2005 vol. 80 no. 4 511-524

by James H. Stewart, MD

Abstract
Hypnosis became popular as a treatment for medical conditions in the late 1700s when effective pharmaceutical and surgical treatment options were limited. To determine whether hypnosis has a role in contemporary medicine, relevant trials and a few case reports are reviewed. Despite substantial variation in techniques among the numerous reports, patients treated with hypnosis experienced substantial benefits for many different medical conditions. An expanded role for hypnosis and a larger study of techniques appear to be indicated.

Read this article in PDF form, free, at the Mayo Clinic Proceedings web site, here. (If needed, Click the "PDF Free" link the right-side box).

If you are new to using hypnotherapy or self-hypnosis as a tool for improving your life and health, you may be wondering why the core of it all seems to revolve around relaxing and relieving stress and tension.

Most of the inductions (hypnosis sessions) that you can download online or on CD uses a progressive relaxation process to reach a deep state of trance. Many free downloadable sessions are only focused on deep relaxation and releasing stress and tension from around the body - and nothing else.

Why is that? In today's modern world we expect direct, efficient, cause-and-effect, software-controlled, exact science and results-driven approaches and methods. You may have a dozen issues you would like to address directly with hypnosis, why waste time on this basic relaxation stuff?

A good quote is from Dale Carnegie's book, "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living":

“Seventy per cent of all patients who come to physicians could cure themselves if they got rid of
their fears and worries.”

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.

After a hypnotherapy appointment, how do you know if you were hypnotized? Speaking only from my practice of hypnotherapy, the answer is simple: everything else being equal, you were hypnotized if you got positive results.

Sometimes, hypnosis feels just like your normal state of consciousness. Suppose you tried your hardest to change the problem and then sought out hypnotherapy. Then, looking back on your hypnotherapy appointment, you feel like all that you did was close your eyes, and nothing else occurred. IF you still got your desired results, then that seems to indicate that your unconscious mind received and accepted the posthypnotic suggestions that were given at the appointment.

How Deep Do You Want Your Trance State to Be?
Although each person reacts differently to trance induction, a good hypnotherapist will be able to choose the induction technique that fits best with your personal history, dominant learning modalities and stated desires. A skilled hypnotherapist can get you to the level you want and keep you there. Every day, every one of us goes through trance states. The following examples of everyday trance states can give you an idea of what sounds good to you, if and when you seek therapeutic hypnosis.

Sometimes personal change seems harder than it ought to be. People who have accomplished many other projects with success sometimes feel surprised and disappointed when they hit a roadblock in a seemingly minor enterprise. And the feeling of frustration isn’t helped when other people explain that it just takes willpower to change eating habits, adopt a more relaxed attitude, or give up those last two cigarettes per day.

Whenever many people are working longer hours just to get by, and many others are searching longer just to get a job, it becomes medically more important for people to become skilled at relaxing their bodies and calming their minds quickly and effectively, on a daily basis. Here is an exercise, based on the pioneering work of Dr. Milton Erickson, that you can learn to use in the next twenty minutes. While this method is easy to learn and use, it can be applied in almost any situation without anyone else knowing that you are self-inducing an alpha brain wave state. To follow is a fictional example that you can use as a reference as you apply the steps to the situation you are experiencing right now. Before beginning to experiment with this method, it is imperative to make sure that you are in a place where it would be safe for you and those around you if you fell asleep. This exercise is never to be used while driving or operating any machinery (not even so much as a battery-operated mini-fan.)