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Hypnosis is the word used to describe a natural unconscious process which is experienced daily by everyone.
It is natural and can be considered to be the same mechanism by which we learn.
A precise definition of hypnosis has yet to be established, as hypnosis is a highly subjective experience and varies in quality from person to person.
It is like trying to define “love” and “spirituality”.
Hypnosis is the experience of total internal absorption, a powerful focus on something such as a thought, a feeling, a memory, an expectation, a sensation, or any specific aspect of your personal experience.
There is some evidence that hypnosis reduces the activity of the critical, analytical and sometimes inhibiting part of the brain. As a result it allows you to be more creative and imaginative by utilising the deeper and less conscious part of the brain.
It is through this process that you will be able to gain insights and new understandings, learnings and perspectives.
“The brain is the most advanced biological system in the known universe and each of our brains has more neural pathways than there are stars in the galaxy” (Richard Bandler)
The idea of how hypnotisable a person is a complex question and often very misunderstood. Most things are on a continuum, but we often focus on the extremes.
The vast majority of the population can experience hypnosis with 3% of the population been highly influenced and 3% been of low influence with the vast majority falling in between these extremes.
Most people do recognise that when watching TV or a movie, this could be described as an hypnotic experience and no one can really watch TV and say to themselves that they are not been influenced by what they are watching.
It is just that people are influenced to varying degrees.
It is worth noting that some people may believe that they are too strong minded to be influenced by the hypnotic process, however strong minded people make fantastic clients and achieve great outcomes.
The only people that are not recommended for the use of hypnosis or hypnotherapy are people suffering from dementia or schizophrenia and as such would be referred onto another appropriately qualified specialist.
There has never been a documented case of harm caused by the use of hypnosis. Below is the evidence provided by The Australia Society of Clinical Hypnotherapists:
Hypnosis is a normal, naturally occurring, healthy state of mind. It is totally drug-free. There has never been a single documented case of harm resulting from the use of hypnosis.
Leslie Le Crone, psychologist and authority on hypnosis, states: “As to self-induction, many thousands have learned it and I have yet to hear a report of any bad results of its use”.
In his book Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Dr William S Kroger states: “An associate of Pavlov, who used hypnosis for over fifty years in over fifty-thousand cases, reports as follows: ‘We have never observed any harmful influences on the patient which could be ascribed to the method of hypno-suggestion therapy, or any tendency toward the development of unstable personality, weakening of the will, or pathological urge for hypnosis'”.
Dr David Cheek, MD, who has vast experience in the field, writes, “We can do more harm with ignorance of hypnotism than we can ever do by intelligently using hypnosis and suggestion constructively”.
Dr Julius Grinker states, “The so-called dangers from hypnosis are imagery. Although I have hypnotised many hundreds of patients, I have never seen any ill effects from its use”.
Psychologist, Rafael Rhodes, in his book Therapy Through Hypnosis, writes: “Hypnotism is absolutely safe. There is no known case on record of harmful results from its therapeutic use”.
Dr Louie P Thorpe, Professor Emeritus, University of Southern California, in his book The Psychology of Mental Health, writes: “Hypnotism is a natural phenomenon, and there are no known deleterious effects from its use”. Clinical hypnotherapist, Gil Boyne, states: “In almost forty years of practice and more than 40,000 hours of hypnotherapy, I have never seen or heard of any harm resulting from hypnosis.
This is a myth, you are never asleep.
Clients who are familiar with meditation report that hypnosis feels very similar. Others clients report a sense of heightened awareness or calm and peacefulness.
We use what is refered to as Neo Ericksonion Hypnotherapy which is also evidence based.
Hypnosis is an experience therefore there is no right way or wrong way to experience hypnosis, there is just your way. It is personal to you.
You experience hypnosis everyday-anytime you chose to focus in a particular way on an event/emotion/experience or skill For example:
Have you ever had the experience of driving your car on a familiar route, a route that you have travelled many times, possibly your route to work or home. You suddenly realise, usually when you arrive at your destination, that you do not recall going through that set of traffic lights or turning at a particular junction?
Or when you are such an expert at something maybe in your job, while on the computer or undertaking a sport at which you excel. You find yourself able to undertake this task with a high level of skill (without thinking) whilst also engaging in a complex conversation or thought?
Most parents will be able to empathise with the need to sometimes ‘zone out’ background noise allowing you to focus on another task
Or becoming so absorbed in a book, that when you next check the clock 2 hours have gone by, yet it feels like 15 minutes?
Have you had the experience of watching a movie and having a physiological reaction i.e. crying because it feels so real?
Young people can spend hours on a game console and before they know it, it is 2am!
All of these are examples of this natural learning and absorbed experience. We just don’t usually think about them as been hypnosis.
This is a commonly asked question. In order to answer this, let’s start with asking the question what is the aim of each approach.
There is some cross over between approaches, but with one fundamental difference.
The similarities between all 3 are that they all involve the inwardly focused state, but the aims, outcomes and effectiveness as therapy are very different.
Mediation and relaxation could be considered therapeutic but not necessarily as therapy.
The aim of meditation is to calm oneself by calming or slowing thought and just been in the moment.
The aim of relaxation is to allow the body to fully relax and be without unnecessary tension According to the Oxford dictionary relaxation is when the body and mind are free from tension and anxiety.
The aim of hypnosis/hypnotherapy is to enable you to achieve insights, learn new associations, increase levels of creativity and awareness all of which allow you to bring about personal change. The person experiencing hypnosis may be relaxed, but hypnosis can also occur when in a non-relaxed state, however you will always be inwardly focused.
Hypnosis allows you to uncover and access skills and develop new approaches. At its core, hypnosis allows you to tap into all your vast unconscious resources creating the best version of you.
Research involving the use of FMRI’s (functional magnetic resonance imaging) is also indicating the that hypnosis is not the same as other approaches.
Consider the fact that Hypnosis can very effectively be used for people undergoing surgery to minimise the pain sensation for example, no relaxation or meditation technique could achieve these results.
It is an individual experience, however, it is an experience where you have the opportunity to step away from everyday life and take a breath and really focus inwardly.
Many people notice that this internal focus fluctuates in and out and this is the experience of most people.
As is the case with relaxation, the level of relaxation a person experiences can fluctuate. Some people report that it just feels like a normal conversation while others report a sense of heighten awareness.
You hypnotherapist will talk with you about your problem and ask some questions to gain more insight so they may develop a suitable treatment plan tailored to you. the plan will be discussed and agreed with you. you will also be able to ask any questions bout anything that may be causing you concern.
The hypnotherapists will then start the hypnosis session.
We will never ask you to lie down, unless you requests this, our belief is that we want you to feel comfortable and most clients remain seated in a comfortable chair during the hypnotherapy process.
The hypnotherapist will simply start talking and people are pleasantly surprised about how it feels just like a normal conversation.
The hypnotherapist uses a gentle, highly respectful conversational approach to help your conscious logical and analytical part of your mind to become less active. This then allows the unconscious process, where all you habits and patterns are stored, to be gently reformed into habits and patterns of thought that are more useful for you.
The clinical hypnotherapist will only work within the parameters agreed with you and what you want to achieve.
In summary hypnotherapy helps you take back control of your life, get back in charge of yourself and get out there living life again.
It is a safe DRUG FREE option
Many people are seeking alternatives to improve emotional and psychological well being and overcome emotional distress. and suffering.
Life happens, that is a given, and hypnotherapy is an effective and long lasting approach that most people, once tried, really understand its power for change.
When hypnosis is used in conjunction with the strategic psychotherapy approach the effect is even more powerful. It is about putting yourself back in charge of you. You are not broken!!
It is therapist directed, future-focused, solution-orientated approach helping people identify their ‘skills gaps’ and shows them how to develop new strategies and access their own resources.
It is modelled on the useful idea that our patterns of thinking and behaviour are a response to our perspectives, rather than on what has happened to us.
We know this to be true based on the understanding that two people can have the same event happen to them, one person may walk away with little thought about the event and the other may belief that their life is for ever changed or indeed will never be the same again.
The idea that we don’t see the word as it is, we see the world as we are.
Changing our perspectives changes our beliefs, interpretations and behaviours. ( Gordon Young, 2020)
Many types of therapies, such as counselling, psychology or psychiatry focus more on where a person has an issue or problem, they may investigate a person’s past and childhood. They often seek to ask 'why' a person is experiencing the issue.
Strategic psychotherapy helps people focus on ‘how’ they are doing certain patterns of thinking and behaving.
Most people will be familiar with being asked ‘why’ they have a particular problem. This conversation is often had on a daily basis with family and friends.
The Strategic Psychotherapy model helps people realise that this is not necessarily a useful question.
It teaches people how to get really curious about ‘how’ they are making certain distinctions in their lives and exposes the knowledge and skill gaps that maintain the person’s problem.
Theses skill and knowledge gaps may simply be a result of having never learned something in childhood or adulthood. Or may be a result of forgotten skills and knowledge.
We teach people how to recognise their un useful patterns and processes, interrupt them and apply something more effective.
We teach people how they can build resilience-not the form of resilience against life events, but a type of resilience that ensures that a person’s internal processes and experience supports their goals and increased their mental agility to bend and shift regardless of life’s adversities.
The most successful and happy people are those that are highly flexible in their approach to life, when things change or go wrong or turn out as not expected, they pivot quickly and approach the issue in a different way.
We often refer to this as cognitive agility. This approach uses specific discriminating questions that reveal problematic thought patterns that a person may be running unconsciously. These questions help you uncover what you know, what you don’t know, and what you think you know that just isn’t so – (Dr. Michael Yapko Ph.D.).
People report finding the process enlightening, uplifting, and most of all empowering.
They report that it is so refreshing to feel back In control of themselves.
This does not mean that they don’t experience issues in their lives, but it does mean that they are more readily equipped to handle them and their internal experience of these problems when they arise.
It provides people with a new level of personal empowerment and personal responsibility- it teaches people about their ability to choose how they respond in spite of the situation.
This model helps people understand that their problem is not permanent. It is not possible for a person to remain the same as they move through life’s experiences. They are continuously evolving.
We believe that people are not broken, but they may have forgotten how resourceful they are and may not be accessing the most resourceful parts of themselves.
Everyone has resources somewhere., no matter what has happened to them.
There is much media talk today about mental health and a strong focus on treating mental malaise like a medical problem which can lead people to believe that they are broken.
We show people how this approach may not be totally correct or useful.
It can appear, that our culture has become obsessed with looking into a person’s past to find out ‘why’ they have problems today.
Many therapy models use this approach.
Yes, things have happened to people in the past, anyone alive will have experienced unpleasant things somewhere, however, what is forgotten is that people have also experienced many neutral events in their past and many positives in their past too.
The past is not only a construct of negative experiences, but sometimes people can become overly focused on their past and unpleasant experiences.
The strategic psychotherapy approach helps people recognise that they are more than their past and that they are much more than what has happened to them- this helps people move forward with a more useful perspective.
The concept of personal control is often at the heart of many of our clients problems.
They often spend aN extraordinary amount of time trying to control things that they can’t and spend little time applying control and responsibility to the things that are within their control.
Trying to control things that are outside of your control is the fastest way we know to create anxiety in one’s life. We teach how you how to stop doing that.
We often see people that have tried many approaches and strategies to help alleviate their suffering, pain and negative experiences. In fact people come and see us as a last resort in many cases.
People will have tried such things as meditation, massage therapy, acupuncture, exercise and a whole range of other things.
While it is true that many of these approaches can bring some sense of relief to the issue, they don’t have the effect of helping a person make any significant personal change or different choices in their lives.
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