Hypnosis has been around for thousands of years. From ancient Egypt to the present day, hypnosis has been used in religion, medicine, psychotherapy, and even entertainment. Patients often undergo hypnosis to help relieve stress or overcome certain life challenges such as smoking, obesity, anorexia, bulimia, insomnia, depression, and other conditions.
Hypnotherapy is similar to psychotherapy except that it is performed while the patient is in a hypnotic or a dreamy state. Hypnotherapy aims to help change a patient’s behavior, attitude, and emotional state for improvements in life. Hypnotherapy is usually performed by a professional hypnotherapist or psychologist. In many cases, the hypnotist will train the patient in self-hypnosis so that the patient can build up the progress on his or her own.
What happens during hypnosis?
Before the actual hypnosis process begins, the patient and the trained hypnotherapist agree to the procedure. Hypnosis cannot be imposed on the patient. There will usually be a casual conversation between the two with questions and answers as well as an explanation of what is to come.
Then comes the real hypnosis. Hypnotherapists lead with their voice to gently guide the patient into a state of mental and physical relaxation. Patients appear drowsy, but they are alert enough to be aware of what is happening – especially in the parts of the mind that can make beneficial changes. The patient is brought to comfortable and pleasant thoughts and begins to dream of happy times or hope for the future. When hypnotized, patients often feel very relaxed. It’s like the cozy comfort of a bed when you’re very sleepy. Patients can end the session at any time if they start to feel uncomfortable. When the session is over, the patient can ask questions and discuss the hypnosis experience.
Hypnosis Today
Today, there are many ways to enjoy the benefits of hypnotherapy. They don’t even have to leave the house to benefit from hypnosis. There are websites that offer tutorials and tips on hypnosis, as well as training in hypnosis for those who want to become a qualified hypnotherapist.
For self-hypnosis, there are great products available online, such as hypnosis MP3s and CDs. With these tools, a person can experience the long-term benefits of hypnosis without paying the high fees of seeing a qualified hypnotherapist. However, a hypnotherapist, often times trained in psychology, have the skills to recognize your progress during hypnosis sessions. With self-help audio and videos, you might not get that same benefit.
Given the low cost of self-hypnosis products, they could make a good introduction to hypnotherapy. In other words, you don’t have much to lose. They are quick, easy, safe and effective tools to help you deal with complex situations in your daily life. Using self-hypnosis audios or videos, the procedure is fairly similar to a session with a hypnotherapist. You just follow along, but without feedback. If you feel it’s helpful, these self-help hypnosis products might be all you need. If you feel there’s some benefits but it’s not giving you the results you desire, then you might want to progress on to therapy with a skilled professional.
Hypnosis and hypnotherapy are not miracle cures, but they can be helpful in dealing with a wide variety of ailments, such as stress relief, anxiety, overcoming addiction, and coping with fear.
