CLINICAL HYPNOTHERAPY

What is Hypnosis?

It may be surprising to many to learn that we experience trance states many times in the course of our lives. Even passing into ordinary sleep involved a kind of trance state. The experience of hypnosis is similar—neither asleep nor awake and a little like daydreaming with a pleasant feeling of deep relaxation behind it all.

Hypnosis is a different state of consciousness which you can naturally enter so that, for therapeutic purposes, beneficial corrections may be given directly to your unconscious mind. In this way, hypnosis is an effective way of making contact with our inner (unconscious) self, which is both a reservoir of unrecognized potential and knowledge, as well as being the unwitting source of many of our problems.

What is Clinical Hypnotherapy?

Clinical Hypnotherapy is growing in popularity as more people seek a safe, natural method of improving and enhancing their lives.

Hypnotherapy involves entering a deep state of relaxation, similar to those few moments before you drift off to sleep, and conducting specialized therapy. Clinical Hypnotherapy means using advanced methods of hypnosis and other techniques to treat a variety of medical and psychological problems. It is estimated that upwards of 85% of people will readily respond to Clinical Hypnotherapy (the remaining 15% can still be treated using other techniques that psychologists provide as a matter of routine).

It may even succeed where other, more conventional methods of treatment have not produced the desired results.

Why do professionals use Clinical Hypnotherapy?

Modern Clinical Hypnotherapy is an integrative field of study. This means that the best elements of many other forms of therapy have been integrated into Clinical Hypnotherapy. This includes behavioral psychology, cognitive psychology, EMDR, NLP, as well as the most effective elements from the classical theories proposed by Freud, Jung and Adler, as well as the latest psychological research in terms of how the mind functions.

Hypnotherapy allows you to directly access your emotional or ‘subconscious mind’; this is the part of your mind that is the most powerful and stores all your memories. It is very seldom tapped to its full potential and it is estimated that we only use about 10% of our potential brain power.

The subconscious is also the seat of all emotions and this in turn affects all of our behaviors. It also affects the physical state of mind (mind-body connection) and is responsible for the functioning of the immune system, which is why hypnotherapy can actually help with physical as well as emotional disorders.

The subconscious mind ‘tape records’ all experiences and hypnotherapy allows access to emotions and past events suppressed, represses, or forgotten by the conscious mind.

The subconscious can access facts, information, causes of feelings, behaviors, and attitudes; these can then be strengthened or changed according to the client’s wishes.

How can it help physically?

Some of the many issues that can benefit from Clinical Hypnotherapy include:

How can it assist in everyday life?

Being able to think and act positively is achieved through an awareness of self-management. The person who manages events, emotions, and personal progress is freer from stress, inadequacy, and other negative traits.

Hypnosis can create and enhance self-confidence, assuredness, and a sense of well-being. Self-doubt, negative childhood imprints, and other self-defeating negativities can be converted to positive learning experiences for excellence.

Hypnotherapy can help belief in personal power (the ability to act) resulting in the complete turn-around of lives and fortunes. Self-esteem and self-confidence are essential to well-being. A person must like, respect, and admire the person he or she sees in the mirror. Life events, in childhood or in later years, can damage self-esteem and confidence, reducing the chances of reaching one’s full potential. Past negative programming and negative beliefs caused by judgmental parents, teachers, relatives, or peers can inhibit progress.

However, Clinical Hypnotherapy and Hypnoanalysis can reveal the causes, create understanding and modify self-doubts and beliefs, enabling individuals to achieve their full potential.

Can I be hypnotized against my will?

No! It is a fact that no-one can be hypnotized against their will and even when hypnotized, a person can still reject any suggestion. Thus, therapeutic hypnosis is a state of purposeful (confidential) co-operation.

For more information on Clinical Hypnotherapy, visit the South African Society of Clinical Hypnosis or the Milton H Erickson Institute of South Africa.