WHY HYPNOSIS…
April 1, 2010
Hypnosis comes from the Greek Word Hypno = Deep Sleep
Hypnosis is a tool we use to access the subconscious part of our mind. The subconscious is the root or source of our behaviors, emotions, attitudes, imagination, intuition and motivation. It regulates our autonomic body functions – the part of us that dreams and our ability to access the super-conscious. It is the core of how we experience ourselves and interpret the rest of the world. With hypnosis, we are able to reach the subconscious mind to create change in our life.
Hypnosis is a highly focused state of attention and awareness and we use relaxation suggestions to create the hypnotic trance. It improves concentration and it’s the most powerful way to change your thinking and behaviors by eliminating blocks and limiting beliefs. With hypnosis, change happens with the use of therapeutic suggestions, post-hypnotic suggestions and anchoring. Having a specific goal to create and change behaviors is very important, so that you can suspend disbelief and eliminate blocks. The function of the hypnotic inductions given by the Hypnotherapist is to enhance responsiveness to suggestions. When the hypnotic state is achieved the client/patient will be able to respond more readily to the therapeutic suggestions.
As a result of how we were conditioned as we were growing up, we have repetitious and predictable responses (learned behaviors, patterns, and habits) acquired through our primary caretakers and the stimuli learned through our environment. As adults, our reactions are automatically triggered by the experiences with people and circumstances that we encounter through our day-to-day living; unfortunately, throughout all this, we forget that we have choices. We are connected to our triggers, which unleash behaviors that are either positive or negative, and we seem to be more connected to the negative behaviors than the positive ones. After awhile, we berate ourselves with criticism and self-doubt – “shoulda, woulda, coulda.” We don’t realize that we are making choices, maybe the wrong choices, because we are acting upon our subconscious behaviors, what our subconscious mind knows – how we were conditioned. Being able to step back for a moment and witness the choices that you make is very important, so that each and every time you make a choice, you can ask yourself whether there will be consequences for that choice, or if it’s going to result in happiness.
Hypnosis is an altered state of awareness and increased suggestibility. During hypnosis, the brain seems to temporarily suspend its attempt to authenticate incoming sensory information. Subjects in hypnosis are deeply relaxed and able to carry out instructions through visualizations or imagining situations suggested by the Hypnotherapist.
Hypnosis facilitates health by releasing stress and increases the relaxation response enhancing beneficial immune responses so that patients have fewer complications and require significantly less medication. It is a very valuable tool to overcome many problems. Convincing evidence has been gathered since the 1980s confirming how powerful medical hypnosis is in treating medical conditions by reducing anxiety, fears, along with increased comfort, faster healing. In addition, it creates more stability in the body’s functions that are controlled by the autonomic nervous system, an example being blood pressure. Hypnosis as an adjunct therapy to conventional treatments has been proven to be less expensive, less time-consuming and safe in helping with medical diagnoses and use of medication. The biological impact of hypnosis is very real and can now be quantified by science.
Hypnosis was approved by the American Medical Association as an “ethical medical treatment” in 1958. Many health plans have started to cover the cost of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Many HMOs are already covering Hypnotherapy if it is used in conjunction with psychotherapy or medical treatments. Hypnosis is an effective intervention for alleviating pain with cancer and other chronic pain conditions by using the relaxation techniques and can be classified as a well-established treatment. It has been of significant help in reducing anxiety for patients with pain and other debilitating illnesses that are constantly subjected to invasive procedures.
