Hypnotherapy uses guided relaxation with a trained therapist to achieve a heightened level of focus and concentration to address specific issues or habits. Hypnosis is usually considered an aid to psychotherapy counseling or therapy, because the hypnotic state allows people to explore painful thoughts, feelings, and memories they might have hidden from their conscious minds.

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In addition, hypnosis enables people to perceive some things differently, enabling patients to overcome addictions or self-destructive behaviors. Hypnotherapy generally is used for either suggestion therapy or analysis. Suggestion therapy relies on the hypnotic state to improve the patient’s ability to respond to suggestions. This is generally utilized when the patient wishes to change problem behaviors such as smoking or drug use, or even as a method for coping with chronic pain. Analysis hypnotherapy utilizes the relaxed state to explore the underlying cause of a disorder or symptom, such as a traumatic event that a patient has blocked from their conscious. Clinical or medical hypnosis is used by professionals trained in medicine, psychology, social work, counseling, nursing, and dentistry. Generally, it is used as an aid to psychotherapist in their treatment sessions.

Conditions & Treatment

The hypnotic state allows a person to be more open to discussion and suggestion. It can improve the success of other treatments for many conditions, including:

– Phobias, fears, and anxiety
– Sleep disorders
– Depression
– Stress
– Post-trauma anxiety
– Grief and loss
– Smoking Cessation
– Overeating
– Drug Abuse

– Pain Management
– Skin Conditions
– Digestive Disorders
– Side Effects of Cancer, Chemotherapy, and Radiation
– Immune Diseases
– Depression
– Headaches
– Surgery and Recovery
– Tinnitus

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Hypnosis is not considered dangerous or hazardous for patients. Hypnotherapy does not cause brainwashing or mind control. A therapist cannot make a person do something that the patient doesn’t want to do. The greatest risk, as discussed above, is that false memories can potentially be created and that it may be less effective than pursuing other, more established, and traditional psychiatric treatments.

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Hypnosis is performed by a licensed or certified mental health professional who is specially trained in this technique. The readiness and ability of patients to be hypnotized varies considerably and hypnotherapy generally requires several sessions in order to achieve meaningful results. However, the patient can learn the technique of self-hypnosis which can be practiced at home, to reinforce the usefulness of formal sessions with the therapist. This can help counter distress and anxiety-related conditions.

History

Hypnosis has been in use since the beginning of recorded time. The Ancient Greeks, Chinese, and Egyptians practiced forms of hypnotherapy. The Greek physician Asklepios practiced a form of hypnotic suggestion that, according to records, showed some success. There were other physicians throughout early history whose forms of treatment could be considered hypnotherapy such as the Persian Avicenna at around the end of the first millennium, or the Swiss Paracelsus in the 1500’s. In the mid 1700’s a gentleman by the name of Franz Anton Mesmer became known for his “Mesmer-ization” of patient’s and was eventually discredited thanks in large part to a group of scientists that included Benjamin Franklin.

The current definition of hypnosis is dated from the mid-1800’s who were influenced by the results obtained by Mesmer a half century earlier. This new group of physician eventually eliminated many of Mesmer’s suppositions from their hypothesis and began to label what Mesmer had successfully discovered, the power of suggestion. The inventor of the stethoscope John Ellotson became interested in what was then known as mesmerism. In 1843 a Scottish surgeon named James Braid is credited with creating the term hypnosis in honor of Hypnos the Greek god of sleep. Throughout the 19th century many physicians attempted different forms of hypnotherapy including Sigmund Freud in the 1880’s.

Emil Coue, a French pharmacist, published a book titled Self-Mastery Through Conscious Autosuggestion in 1920. He believed that one should always use positive statements when dealing with the sub-conscious because negative statements are ignored. By the 1930’s interest in hypnotherapy had inspired psychologist Clark Hull to write Hypnosis and Suggestibility. He concluded that hypnosis was not sleep but a trance like state where the patient was susceptible to suggestion and motivation. Hull’s work led to the creation of Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (SCEH) in 1949. Later, in 1957, a cohort led by Dr. Milton Erickson created the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH). Both organizations look to progress the understanding of clinical hypnotherapy. The SCEH through experimental research and the ASCH through advancing the clinical use of hypnosis.

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The advancement is technology that has allowed researchers to map the human brain has also allowed the effects of hypnotherapy to be understood more clearly. One of the most important discoveries is that the human brain cannot tell the difference between real events and imaginary ones. If someone receives a hypnotic suggestion their brain reacts as if that suggestion were real. The brain responds to suggestions over time, very similar to the effects of long-term meditation practices. With hypnosis, the patient is able to harness the power of the mind to improve physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.