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What is hypnosis? |
David Owen
September 2005
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LOOK INTO MY EYES
When I meet people for the first time and I say I am a Hypnotherapist, those who are familiar with Hypnosis are very positive, whilst those who are not will inevitably say "Look into my eyes" assuming they have caught up with the wonderful "Little Britain" or verbalise a fear that it is a means to exert control and is a dark and dangerous practice.
HYPNOSIS IS:
- A state of relaxation in which you are very aware of what is going on, and you are always in complete control at all times.
- It is completely safe and it is very similar to daydreaming or the time just before sleep and just before awakening.
- You are not asleep and you will remember the whole session, since this is necessary for change to occur.
- Your secrets are completely safe, since you will only say what you choose to say.
- You only enter hypnosis if you want to.
HYPNOTHERAPY IS:
An effective and speedy technique using hypnosis to gain access to the sub-conscious mind, to change programming and conditioning from childhood, release memories for evaluation, and a means to bring rapid and permanent transformation.
BENEFITS OF HYPNOTHERAPY:
- Promotes good health by assisting people break free of any destructive thought patterns that spoil their quality of life.
- Ability to cope with the pressures and stress of modern day living.
- Facilitates effortless change.
WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE?
Each person has a different sensation but most people experience a sort of lethargy with heaviness in their arms and legs with heightened awareness of their surroundings.
William Wesley Cook ("Practical Lessons in Hypnotism"-1901), writing about hypnotism states:
- People who advocated its positive use used to be denounced as "...wizards, charlatans, impostors and mountebanks."
- "What was held up for ridicule is now regarded as a dignified science. What was attributed to evil machinations is now regarded as one of the greatest blessings to the human race."
This positive view of the future has not come to fruition, for a number of reasons:
- A critical question is who can practice the skill. It is subject to strict legislation and remains the subject of a tug of war between the medical profession and non-medical practitioners. These factors mean that research and advancement has generally always come from exceptional individuals rather than the product of teamwork and concerted efforts to develop.
- Stage hypnotism, which emphasises the capacity to control the volunteers during the act. What is seen is taken at face value and as a general public we do not see the selection of suggestible volunteers willing to act in a foolish manner, we do not realise their active participation and willingness to be embarrassed and we are led to believe the lie that amnesia occurs.
- The basic human fear, that we can be controlled politically, religiously or psychologically.
Dave Elman ("Hypnotherapy"-1964) states:
- "...there is really no such thing as a hypnotist...all you can ever do is show a patient how to go over the hurdle from a normal waking or sleeping state into the peculiar state of mind known as hypnosis."
- " A more accurate term than hypnotist is hypnotic operator. As the operator you teach the subject how to achieve the trance state ... and then, if the subject is willing, you stimulate his imagination - acting, so to speak, as a dream pilot."
- "At all times and in all degrees of hypnosis, the subject has complete power of selectivity. He therefore reacts only to suggestions that are reasonable and pleasing to him"
- "...in every stage of hypnosis, the subject is in control and can select the suggestions he will accept."
- "He can hear, see, feel, smell, taste, speak. He is completely aware and can therefore cooperate. The single exception to this control is what I will call the critical faculty... For example, you can suggest anaesthesia, erasing pain without a chemical agent.... But his critical faculty - the disbelief that such fantastic feats are possible - is bypassed in hypnosis."
- "...in hypnosis the body and mind are equally suggestible, operating as a harmonious unit."
- "The three requisites for hypnosis are (1) the consent of the subject; (2) communication between the operator and subject and (3) freedom from fear, or reluctance on the subject's part to trust the operator."
CONCLUSION
As Hypnotism begins to lose some of the negative public image that still blights the desire to explore and embrace this phenomena, modern research is beginning to support the work of earlier pioneers such as Mesmer, Freud, William Brown, and Dave Elman.
Ultimately defining what hypnosis is becomes unimportant since the critical facts are that with the individual's faith, trust and consent it can help with the following conditions:
>Addictions
>Anxiety
>Agoraphobia
>Arthritis
>Alcoholism
>Asthma
>Anger/Frustration
>Amnesia
>Allergies
>Anorexia
>Bed-wetting
>Blushing
>Claustrophobia
>Compulsions
>Confidence
>Childbirth Fears
>Depression
>Exam nerves
>Failure syndrome
>Frigidity
>Gambling
>Guilt Feelings
>Hay fever
>Headaches/migraines
>High Blood pressure
>Impotence
>Indecisiveness
>Indigestion
>Inhibitions
>Insomnia
>Over eating
>Memory
>Neurosis
>Panic attacks
>Phobias
>Premature ejaculation
>Public speaking
>Psoriasis
>Sexual/marital problems
>Self esteem
>Sport performance
>Shyness
>Smoking
>Stammering
>Stress
>Tension
>Ulcers
>Weight
>Worry
Copyright: David Owen (September 2005)
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