What is Hypnotherapy?

In therapeutic Hypnosis, where the Hypnotist is in charge of your induction, you are relaxed physically while your mind is acutely aware.  The "daydreaming" that you would do would be about the ideas suggested by your therpist.  Can you begin to see why Hypnosis is such a very simple, yet incredibly profound and powerful experience?

    To further understand how Hypnosis works, it is important to be familiar with your mind and how it operates.  Your mind is something you rely on frequently each day.  How does your mind function?  

    To better understand the different parts of your mind and how they interact, read on

There are three main components of your mind:  the conscious mind, the subconscious mind and the over-seeing higher mind.  Each of these parts of your mind operates in your life.  It does so whether or not you are aware of its activity.  By increasing your awareness of each part and its functions, you put yourself into a position to determine how best to use your mind to create your own life.  

    Do you spend your day aware of where you are and what is happening in your mind?  Or, do you let your mind go on "automatic pilot," with little direction from you?  The answers to those questions are vitally important to the direction your life is taking.  

    We will focus in this section on the conscious and the subconscious elements of your mind.

Your Conscious Mind

    What is your conscious mind?  Your conscious mind is the part of mind of which you are aware most of the time.  It is logical, judgmental, analytical, critical.  It is the part of your mind that works so well on such tasks as the following:

    a)  organizing your schedule for the day, week, etc.;

    b)  seeing to the fine points required to insure that  you
          are on time for meetings or appointments;

    c)  reminding you of the details to which you must attend;

    d)  remembering telephone numbers, addresses, etc.

    e)  controlling your deliberate actions;

     f)  reasoning, reaching conclusions, organizing your
         impressions, and providing critical evaluations.

Your Subconscious Mind

TWO VITAL FUNCTIONS OF YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS

    Your subconscious mind operates much differently than your conscious mind does.  Your subconscious mind serves two vital functions in your life.

    First, your subconscious mind has memory of that which has transpired in your life.  If you need information from the past, your subconscious mind can be worked with to present it to you.

    How have you been using this ability of your subconscious mind during a routine day?  Do you tell yourself, "I can remember that?"  Or, are you fearful that you will not remember?  The former gives direction to your subconscious mind to quickly, accurately remember.

    Second, your subconscious mind works for you as a very obedient servant.  In other words, your subconscious mind creates EXACTLY that which it is commanded to create for you in your life.  Perhaps you wonder where these commands -- the programs that are being followed by your subconscious mind and, thus, being created as your life -- originate?

 

PROGRAMMING YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS

    Your subconscious mind has received programs in a number of ways.  Primarily,

    a)  from the things you have been told, especially when
          you were a child;

    b)  from things you observe;

    c)  from the messages you give yourself in your own
          mind; that is, from what you say to yourself.

    What you say to yourself and the thoughts that you think comprise the orders that your subconscious mind then creates as your life.  This is the basis of the concept of "self-fulfilling prophecy."

    So, why does the subconscious mind do this?

    It creates these ideas because you told it to do so, with your thoughts.  After all, you described to your subconscious mind what you wanted.  You did this via what you were thinking.  You told it what to do ... and, as the very obedient servant that it is, it just follows the lead you described!

  

    WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?

    Well, as an example, let's say that you are a smoker and that you are trying to stop smoking.  If, in the process of doing so, you said to yourself, "I can't stand it -- I have to have a cigarette."  What do you think would happen?  

    What you would notice is that, after saying these words, your craving would increase many-fold.  Your subconscious mind is right there, diligently at work.

 

    SO, WHAT GOOD IS THIS?

    The good news about your subconscious mind is that it will create whatever you have been thinking, whatever you have thus told it to!  In other words, your subconscious mind (in the same situation described above) can as easily create, "I will relax and breathe for five minutes ... and I know I will feel satisfied and comfortable!"

    Can you see how you can benefit from this in your day?

 

HYPNOSIS:  INTENTIONAL PROGRAMMING
 OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS

    Keeping in mind what has been said thus far, how would you purposefully direct your subconscious mind? 

    You can purposefully direct your subconscious mind's creations by carefully insuring that your thoughts are consistent with what you want in your life.  It is in strengthening this response that Hypnosis proves so effective.  HYPNOSIS WORKS WITH YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND TO CREATE SUCCESS IN YOUR LIFE.  

    Let me repeat that:  Hypnosis works with your subconscious mind to create success -- incredibly dramatic success -- in your life!  Does this give you an appreciation of why Hypnosis is such a powerful tool for change? 

HYPNOSIS ACCESSES YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS

    When you are relaxed and so-directed, your mind  shifts effortlessly into an Hypnotic state.  Remember that hypnosis is a very natural state of mind, so it is easy for it to make this shift.  In Hypnosis, it is your subconscious mind -- the deep part of your mind -- that becomes more accessible, so as more easily to accomplish the work of psychotherapy.  

HYPNOTIC SUGGESTIONS FOCUS
 YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS

    Since it is a function of your subconscious mind to create that which it is commanded to create.  The Hypnosis serves to take these suggestions to an even deeper, more effective level.  In Hypnosis, your subconscious mind is told specific positive things.  It is directed in ways specifically designed to support what you want to experience in your life.  

    What directions would you benefit from receiving through your subconscious mind in Hypnosis?

    Your subconscious mind is "re-programmed" through positive, focused thoughts that support you being successful.  It, then, creates what it has been told.  Can you begin to appreciate why your subconscious mind is the perfect vehicle to accomplish beneficial results in your life?!  

INTENTIONAL OR NOT:  SUBCONSCIOUS PROGRAMMING BECOMES YOUR LIFE

    Your subconscious mind then takes the suggestions -- the positive thoughts -- that you are given in Hypnosis and carries these ideas into your life.  This is what is known as "post-Hypnotic suggestion."  Even after the Hypnosis is completed, your subconscious continues to create that which has been carefully programmed.  

    Can you give commands to your subconscious mind?  Certainly, you have done this your entire life.  

YOU MAY ALREADY HAVE BEEN
 NEGATIVELY HYPNOTIZED

    There is a popular theory in Hypnosis that suggests that  we have -- through the many experiences earlier in our lives -- become Hypnotized in negative ways.  These ways then create destructive outcomes in our lives.

      According to this theory, when we engage in destructive patterns, we are operating under the effect of spontaneous Hypnotic suggestion given to us sometime in our past.  Even very simple activities can be hampered by misconceptions ... that the subconscious had Hypnotized itself to accept at some earlier time in our lives.     

    Following this line of thought, what therapeutic Hypnosis does, then, is to REMOVE that negative Hypnosis and negative programming.  Therapeutic Hypnosis replaces the negative programming with positive suggestions and positive programs for constructive change.  

TRAUMATIC EMOTIONS LINGER   

     Could your conscious mind forget an actual incident, while the emotion -- e.g., fear, anxiety, panic and phobias, like claustrophobia -- connected with that incident still remain embedded in your subconscious mind?  Certainly, this happens frequently.

    In such a situation, the emotion connected with the forgotten incident can, then, be activated when you are least expecting it.  What a surprise to you!  

    To deal effectively with these situations requires a modality to by-pass your conscious mind -- to get directly to the subconscious mind where the misconceptions and/or emotions are stored.  Such a modality would then provide positive, constructive direction to your subconscious to utilize stored emotions beneficially.

HYPNOSIS PROVIDES THIS MODALITY

    How does Hypnosis work to provide just such a modality?

    It works to avoid the conscious mind -- and its tendency to critical evaluation, doubt and misconception.  Hypnosis presents directions straight to the subconscious mind, where these ideas are accepted in their totality.  As a result, blocks are eliminated, causes are uncovered and trauma is lifted.  

    So, what happens when the Hypnosis  session is over?

    Once the Hypnosis is complete, the positive post-hypnotic suggestions become a part of your normal, waking, conscious state.  Can you imagine yourself beginning to think, feel and act in different ways as a result of the suggestions given to you during Hypnosis?  This is exactly what happens ... simply and effectively.

HYPNOSIS UNIFIES YOUR MIND:
Your WHOLE MIND Begins Working for You

    Something incredibly profound occurs during Hypnosis.  Even before being Hypnotized, you  consciously wanted to act in certain ways.  After the Hypnosis, your subconscious mind has become enlisted -- through Hypnotic suggestion -- to join forces with your conscious desires and intentions.  

    Can you imagine how powerful the merging of your conscious desires with your subconscious creativity can be?

CONSCIOUS WORKING WITH
 SUBCONSCIOUS ... FOR YOU

    This partnership of your conscious mind with your subconscious mind is a powerful force toward insuring success in the changes you desire in your life!  ALL of your mind has become harnessed and focused on success in your life!

    With the amazing phenomenon of Hypnosis, you begin to use Whole Mind capabilities to accomplish your dreams.  Can you see the truth of how more than ever before it has become true:  I CAN DO IT!!

    As a result, of the Hypnosis, your experience becomes transformed.  More, perhaps, than ever before, you have come into possession of the reality that THIS IS YOUR LIFE!

POPULAR MYTHS ABOUT HYPNOSIS

Surrender Control?

    Myth #1:  When under Hypnosis, the subject must surrender all control.  This may be the easiest of the myths to refute.  It is the subject -- not the Hypnotist -- that is in control during Hypnosis.  The Hypnotist is a guide.  It is the subjects who, by following the directions from the Hypnotist, allow their minds to achieve the altered, Hypnotic state.  All forms of Hypnosis occur via the active, focused actions of the subjects themselves.

Forced Against Your Will?

    Myth #2:  Under Hypnosis, you can be forced to do something against your will; like, commit a crime.  Since you are fully aware and alert during Hypnosis, you know exactly what is occurring.  Hence, you will not do anything under Hypnosis contrary to your moral principles.  As was pointed out in Myth #1, you are also fully in control during the Hypnosis.  Hence, there is no such thing as "force" or "against your will" possible during Hypnosis.  

Who Can Be Hypnotized?

    Myth #3:  Some people cannot be Hypnotized.   Numerous Hypnosis experiments have repeatedly shown that
            *  normal persons
            *  with moderate intelligence
            *  and the ability to concentrate
            *  who are motivated to do so
            *  and cooperate
 can be Hypnotized.  In fact, people seem to have the ability to improve and become even better subjects with practice. 

Weak Willed?

    Myth #4:  People who can be Hypnotized are weak-willing, longing for domination.  This may be the oldest myth in regard to Hypnosis.  It used to be believed that the Hypnotherapist created control over the subject by the strength of the therapist's character.  Today it is recognized that strong-willed, determined individuals often make the best subjects.

Mentally Ill?

    Myth #5:  Anyone who can be Hypnotized is mentally ill.  Unfortunately, this belief was actually advanced by Jean-Martin Charcot, one of eminent early Hypnotists.  It became the subject of bitter controversy.  It was later disproved by other doctors who demonstrated that intelligent, strong, healthy people made excellent subjects.

Not Exist?

    Myth #6:  Hypnosis does not exist.  This is a long-standing idea, based on the belief that the subject is just play-acting out of a desire to please the Hypnotist.  It is easily refuted by the massive documentation of major surgery performed with only hypnosis as the anesthetic.  For people to be able to control their pain "under the knife," Hypnosis is a state which certainly does exist.

Unconscious?

    Myth #7:  In Hypnosis, you are unconscious.  This is contrary to the very nature of the Hypnotic state.   Hypnosis is a state of altered awareness in which you are physically relaxed, with your mind alert and aware.  Hence, you are fully conscious while Hypnotized.

Is Hypnosis Sleep?

    Myth #8:  Hypnosis is a form of sleep.  Research studies utilizing brain-wave patterns (measured via electroencephalograph) demonstrate that the Hypnotized subject does not exhibit the brain-wave patterns of sleep.  In the relaxed state of Hypnosis, the subject may appear asleep.

Never Awaken?

     Myth #9:  As a subject in Hypnosis, you may be unable to be awakened.  Since during the Hypnotic state, you are alert and aware, awakening from Hypnosis is as easy as opening your eyes!  Either the Hypnotist or the subject can terminate the Hypnosis session at will.  

One Session Enough?

    Myth #10:  Hypnosis effects a "cure" in one session.  In some cases, Hypnosis can enable a subject to break a habit in two or three sessions.  However, since habit has become conditioned over time, it can take repetitions of Hypnosis to fully remove the full strength of the conditioning.

Extreme Depth Required?

    Myth #11:  A person must be in a deep, deep state of hypnosis in order to be helped.  Many excellent results are obtained by utilizing the beneficial suggestible state of light Hypnosis induction.  Hence, you need not be in a deep stage of Hypnosis to benefit from the experience.

 

*This site does not constitute a medical -related site and does not provide any medical diagnosis or medically related treatment. If you have any disease process we strongly suggest you see your physician.