What is Hypnotherapy?

Hypnosis is a completely natural state which is similar to daydreaming. In fact daydreaming is a form of hypnosis because it is a "trance". Within clinical application it involves the person experiencing a sense of deep relaxation with their attention narrowed down and focused on appropriate suggestions made by the therapist.These suggestions help people make positive changes within themselves.

The altered state of Hypnosis can make things happen more easily. In the right state your mind can take in suggestion very easily. The state of pure hypnosis provides an ideal platform for your brain to take on new, refreshing concepts and behavioural patterns. Simply by considering suggestions within hypnosis your mind's attention and your neurology can more easily create change. Post hypnotic triggers add fuel to this so that more automatic associations can be created in your mind. (For example if you want to eat more healthily hypnosis can help you eat more slowly because every time you take a mouthful of food you will chew more.)

At it's purist level trance state can be a very powerful and positive state within the brain. For example creating effects such as catalepsy (muscle rigidity) simply through entranced (hypnotic) thinking and relaxation. In hypnosis pictures and images in your mind can create what are known as Ideo-Motor Responses - i.e. real physical changes in the body.

It is not:

A magic spell created by an overbearing bloke waving a watch! Hypnotherapy is not about being made to do things, in fact it is the opposite, it is about empowerment.  Whilst hypnosis is not about magic wands, the altered state it can provide can make things much more likely. At it's purist level hypnosis (trance state) can be a very powerful and positive state. For example it can be used to create effects such as catalepsy (muscle rigidity) simply being entranced thinking

Contrary to popular belief, hypnosis is not a state of deep sleep.  It does involve the induction of a relaxing, trance-like condition, but when in it, the patient is actually in an enhanced state of awareness, concentrating entirely on the hypnotist's voice.  In this state, the unconscious mind seems to more readily use suggestion for the client's own benefit. The therapist is able to suggest ideas, concepts and lifestyle adaptations to the patient, the seeds of which become firmly planted.

How Hypnosis works.

Hypnosis has been demonstrated to alter the flow of electrical energy in the brain and works by altering our state of consciousness in such a way that the analytical left-hand side of the brain is turned off, while the non-analytical right-hand side is made more alert. Provided the use of hypnosis is ethical and applied correctly pure hypnotic suggestion can be immensely powerful.

What Hypnosis can be used for.

Hypnotherapy can be applied to many psychological, emotional and physical disorders.  It is used to relieve pain in surgery and dentistry and indeed has been demonstrated to dramatically reduce infection and improve surgical recovery.  It can shorten the delivery stage of labour and reduce the need for painkillers.

More commonly with clinical practice it has also been shown to help people to overcome addictions, reduce stress, quit habits such as smoking, eliminate panic attacks and reduce anxiety and improve deep sleep. Hypnotic suggestion can also help with behavioural disorders such as OCD and stress-related problems.  Conditions exacerbated by tension, such as irritable bowel syndrome, psoriasis and eczema, and excessive sweating, respond well can be treated.