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Hypnotherapy - does it work?

What is hypnosis and what is hypnotherapy?

Hypnotherapy - does it work? Hypnotherapy is different from hypnosis. The latter often conjures up images of unfortunate victims of stage hypnosis. Humiliated individuals are 'made' to do silly task and appear to have no control over what they are doing.

As human givens therapist I use hypnosis as part of your overall therapy. I understand that caution is necessary when accessing hypnotic trance states. Watch the video clip of a lecture on hypnotherapy by Ivan Tyrell, one of my trainers, further down the page.

As a therapist I make use of the natural trance states that we all go in and out of during the day and night to varying degrees. This really is not a state that is specific to hypnosis and somehow magically created in the counselling room.

A ‘trance’ state is a state with a narrow focus of attention. It is part of our genetic heritance - a given of human nature.

Trance and hypnotherapy

Hypnosis - how does it work? It may help you to understand what I mean if you think about what happens to you when you read a good book, when you are doing a video game, when you are engaged in a sport – your focus of attention is very narrow to the exclusion of all that is around you. Sounds seem to come from a distance, you are hardly aware of the temperature, pain levels are reduced, etc.

You are completely absorbed by the activity on which your attention is locked - as it is during the trance of the hypnotherapy.

Other ways you go into trance naturally

Here are examples of when you are in a trance state - naturally:

when you recall a memory – you have to exclude all environmental stimuli to be able to access a memory
when you learn something new – you have to connect new information with what is already stored in our brain
when you do something creative and/or practise a skill with which you are well-versed (what psychologists call ‘flow’)
when you are very emotional - with greed, anxiety, anger, lust, distress
when you are depressed your attention is locked on how you feel
when meditating, or doing yoga or tai chi
during a massage
during daydreaming - you may be oblivious of someone trying to talk to you

As you can see, some trance states come about very suddenly, some you slip into gradually. The depth of the trance depends on your level of involvement, either through focusing your attention or paradoxically: by relaxing - both you have control over!

Post trauma stress

The ‘flashbacks’ in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are ’post-hypnotic’ trance states, whereby a sensory reminder, such as a particular smell, certain sights or sounds can trigger of a re-experience of the original traumatic event.

Hypnotherapy - does it help?

Hypnosis - accessing hypnotic trance states - is done safely, creatively and effectively by a human givens therapist. This is an important part of the human givens approach. During hypnotherapy the aim is to:

enhance your awareness of—and build on your innate resources
increase your awareness and use of existing skills and abilities
encourage and support your sense of general well-being
deal with any stress and anxiety, depression
dissolve any anger
improve your sleep
resolve trauma, regardless of how long you have suffered

The link between hypnotherapy and dreaming

Don't worry if you find the following 'too much information' or too 'technical'. However, you may be interested to know that the deepest trance state we know is the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) state. We access this state when we are dreaming during sleep. To help understand this, imagine the REM state as the theatre and the dream as the play.

A hypnotherapist may guide your attention, purely for the purpose of therapy, in a similar way as happens naturally when you dream.

The difference is that in hypnotherapy you are responding voluntarily to the hypnotherapist, rather than involuntarily to a stimulus in your brain as when you dream.

Once you are hypnotised— you are relaxed and in trance - your body/mind responds in a way you might recognise from dream sleep:

your major muscle groups completely relax
you become less aware of the distractions around you
you may have to make an effort to speak or not even want to
you may or may not remember much about it later
your perception of time may be distorted - speeded up or slowed down

However, in the therapist's room you can still be aware, if only a little, of your surroundings, including the therapist's voice.

Myths and hypnosis

A lecture by Ivan Tyrral of MindFields College

What next?

Why not give it a try? What a relief it would be for you to have sorted that problem and feel your ‘old self’ again. You can sleep better, get over that depression and/or anxiety, feel more energetic and find a way forward, now that you no longer need to question 'does it work'.

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