Hypnotherapy - Gateway To Change!

Information Available
What is Hypnotherapy?
When should I see a Hypnotherapist?
How is Hypnotherapy Performed?
Does it hurt?
Can I get rebates from my health insurance?
The History of Hypnotherapy

What is Hypnotherapy?

The term "hypnosis" comes from the Greek word hypnos, meaning "sleep." Hypnotherapists use exercises that bring about deep relaxation and an altered state of consciousness, also known as a trance. A person in a deeply focused state is unusually responsive to an idea or image, but this does not mean that a hypnotist can control the person's mind and free will. On the contrary, hypnosis can actually teach people how to master their own states of awareness. By doing so they can affect their own bodily functions and psychological responses.
University of Maryland Website
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/hypnotherapy-000353.htm

Trance is not an unusual state of mind, and you may feel like you are not hypnotised. For most people they simply feel relaxed. There is a change in the brain wave activity, similar to that time just before sleep when the alpha state is entered. Your brain's waking state is a beta brain wave, just as you are going to sleep it changes to alpha and then to delta and theta in deep sleep. The alpha state is a very dreamy, pleasant state. During this time the mind is very open to visualizations and creating a rich sensory experience. The more real the experience becomes in the subconscious mind during this state, the more effect it will have on your waking behavior.

Under Hypnosis you will never do anything, or accept any suggestion that violates your morals or values. Stage hypnotists seem to make people do strange things while hypnotized, but the truth is that these people are doing these things because they have a desire to be outrageous. If the stage hypnotists chooses their subjects carefully they will have willing participants.

When should I see an Hypnotherapist?

Hypnotherapy can help with many of life's challenges. The following are some typical examples of problems people may come for but there are many other problems that may be helped.

1. Stop Smoking

2. Addictions: Gambling, Drinking, Over-eating (weight change using mind approach)
• Includes unlocking Anorexia & Bulimia underlying mind problems

3. Sex-related Problems (non-medical)
• Impotence
• Lack of libido
• Gender confusion
• Porno addiction

4. Relationship Problems
• Relationship assessment & handling
• Partner choices reviewed
• Memory problems & illness related to relationships
• Children (bullying) relief
• Doing too much for others
• Loneliness Problems
• Anger Handling

5. Stress, Depression, Motivation & Confidence Problems
• Motivation: Clearing motivation killers.
• Confidence building: From “I can’t do that” to “I can.”
• Depression/stress release: Answers to what is stressing you & how to handle stressors.

6. Phobias, Fears, Anxiety, Panic Attacks
Some Examples:
• Social phobia
• Driving phobia
• Snakes, spiders, any animal
• Fear of dark
• Fear of heights, elevators, buttons, etc.
• Public speaking, singing & any kind of performance fear
• Sweating & blushing too much

7. Self-esteem Problems at Work
• Job choice problems
• Boss problems – Being abused.
• Lack of confidence on the job – Being used.
• Body Image
• Self-image overall

8. Stress handling
• overall life assessment & handling.

9. Kid Problems
• Handle fears, too wiggly, too angry, unwanted habits, too lonely, etc.

10. Long standing trauma, grief release
• Be released from being too sad too long.

How is Hypnotherapy Performed?

Your Hypnotherapy session will begin in a comfortable, quiet environment with a conversation about why you have come, the issues you wish to deal with, and how they fit into your life so far. As you talk your practitioner will build up a picture of your case, where you want go to, and the obstacles that may be in the way. Sometimes this process takes a number of sessions to complete.

During each session at least one area will emerge as a key area to work on today. Your subconscious knows how to unravel the links between events that have led to your current thinking and behaviour and is willing to open this up to you.

At this point, with your permission, your practitioner will put you into trance. Trance disengages the conscious mind and allows the subconscious to unravel the links and begin to heal the problems. While in trance you will be able to continue your conversation and also to remember the incidents that helped to program your current thinking.

When you have finished processing your practitioner will gently bring you back to the present and allow you to review your session.

In summary there are several stages of hypnosis:

Reframing the problem
Becoming relaxed, then absorbed (deeply engaged in the words or images presented by a hypnotherapist)
Dissociating (letting go of critical thoughts)
Responding (complying with a hypnotherapist's suggestions)
Returning to usual awareness
Reflecting on the experience

Does it hurt?

No, Hypnotherapy does not hurt at all. After a session you may feel energised because of the emotional energy released. You may have been carrying these feelings for a long time and it feels good to have them resolved.

Other people feel tired and emotionally drained, and for them it is good to rest for a time afterwards.

The emotional healing will continue after your session, most noticeably for a few days but sometimes longer, and you may feel unsettled or tired. This is normal and just a part of your body's healing but if you are worried do not hesitate to contact your practitioner.

Can I get rebates from my health insurance?

Many Health Insurance providors do cover hypnotherapy and it is best to check with your provider about the level of cover you have.

The History of Hypnotherapy

Throughout history, trance states have been used by shamans and ancient peoples in rituals and religious ceremonies. But hypnosis as we know it today was first associated with the work of an Austrian physician named Franz Anton Mesmer. In the 1700s, Mesmer believed that illnesses were caused by magnetic fluids in the body getting out of balance. He used magnets and other hypnotic techniques (the word “mesmerized” comes from his name) to treat people. But the medical community was not convinced. Mesmer was accused of fraud, and his techniques were called unscientific.

Hypnotherapy regained popularity in the mid-1900s due to Milton H. Erickson (1901 - 1980), a successful psychiatrist who used hypnosis in his practice. In 1958, both the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association recognized hypnotherapy as a valid medical procedure. Since 1995, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has recommended hypnotherapy as a treatment for chronic pain.