Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy – Trance like Form

Hypnotherapy is a kind of complementary therapy with the use of hypnosis, which is an altered state of consciousness. Hypnosis related to hypnotherapy or hypnotic is a trance like form which involves heightened focus as well as concentration and is usually conducted with the help of a therapist along with the usage of verbal repetition and with mental images.

Whenever a person is under hypnosis, they tend to feel calm and relaxed and are open to any suggestions. It can be referred to a form of psychotherapy which is used to create a subconscious change in a person to form new responses, of thoughts, attitudes, feelings or behaviours. The person when hypnotized portrays certain unusual characteristics compared with non-hypnotized matter with notably heightened suggestibility and responsiveness.

Hypnosis could be used to gain control over any undesired behaviour or to enable a person to handle anxiety or pain and it is essential to know that though a person is open to suggestion at the time of hypnosis, one should not lose control over their behaviour. It is an effective method to handle stress and anxiety specially to reduce the anxiety and stress, prior to a medical process like in the case of breast biopsy.

Hypnosis Promoted as Treatment

For various long term conditions and in order to break certain habits, hypnosis is promoted as a means of treatment though there is no strong evidence to support its uses. However, hypnosis seems to have some effect though there is a disagreement among scientists on how it works.

Some are of the opinion that it is a relaxing technique which uses the power of suggestion, relying on the placebo effect. Studies on hypnosis have been done for other condition which include – pain control which could be beneficial for pain associated ailments of cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, headaches, temporomandibular joint problem, fibromyalgia and dental procedures. With regards to hot flashes, hypnosis could relieve the symptoms of hot flashes which could be associated with menopause or in behaviour changes where it is used with some success in the treatment of insomnia, smoking, phobias, bed-wetting and obesity.

Conducted by Health Care Profession/Trained Therapist

When hypnosis is conducted by a health care professional or a trained therapist, it is considered complementary, safe and an alternative medicine treatment though it would not be appropriate to conduct on people having severe mental conditions.

Rare adverse reactions to hypnosis could include headache, anxiety or distress, drowsiness of dizziness and creations of false memories. Care needs to be taken prior to using hypnosis for age regression in order to help one relieve the earlier events of their life and the practice is controversial with limited scientific evidence to support its use.

Hypnosis could cause strong emotions and may alter the memories or even lead to creation of false memories. No special preparation is needed to conduct hypnosis though it is a good idea to be in comfortable clothing which will enable the individual to relax and ensure that one is well rested in order to avoid falling asleep at the time of the session.