Hypnotherapy; 21st century Voodoo or a powerful personal development tool?
Many people are aware that hypnotherapy is often used tohelp in the following areas:
Quitsmoking
WeightControl
Selfesteem & self confidence
Dealingwith fears & phobias
Yet these same people may also see Hypnosis &Hypnotherapy as akin to voodoo or black magic. Even the idea of ‘therapy’ canbe turn-off; however people just like you and me, do have problems they wouldlike to get rid of and Hypnotherapy provides a way to do that.
Fear sometimes gets in the way; I still have clients whocome to see me who and ask, rather nervously, “You won't make me run aroundlike a chicken will you?”
My answer is always the same, “no, not unless you want meto!”
Fear of the unknown is still the main reason why people areconcerned about seeing a hypnotherapistand yet when you understand what is possible, you can begin to realise what awasted opportunity this is.
So how on earth does it work and what actually happens?
Have you ever been to the cinema? Well of course most of ushave; and have you ever laughed or cried at a film? Watching the film youbecome so engrossed that the rest of the world seems to just disappear. Well,if your local hypnotherapist were to come in and flick the lights on, you wouldof course lose the image on the screen; it is after all just a projection. Theactors are just playing roles and the special effects are created by computers.
And yet...the script writers, actors, editor and directorcreate so complete an experience, that just for that time, in that place youare willing to go with the flow and focus all of your attention on that onething to the exclusion of all others. To allow your emotions to be affected inthis way is an example of what we call “environmental hypnosis”.
In the cinema, your feelings, your emotions are beingmanipulated by the film makers, but the hypnotherapist will work with you tohelp achieve your goals instead of simply pushing your emotional buttons.
The hypnotherapist will typically work with the client whowill be in a physically relaxed but still mentally alert state. It’s useful tothink of hypnosis as total concentration on a single thought or idea, normallythat concentration would be on whatever the therapist is suggesting at thatmoment. It’s whilst in this state, thatpositive changes take place at a subconscious level.
Our subconscious is full of learnt or conditioned responses,many of these are very useful; it would be terrible if each day we had to thinkabout how we signed our name or wondered which hand our knife and fork shouldbe used in.
However sometimes conditioned responses stem from an eventin the past and no longer serve a useful purpose. For example a fear of spidersis a conditioned response, we learn it from our parents in childhood and yetthere are no poisonous spiders in the UK and so no real reason to fearthem.
However if you're the one frightened of spiders, then noamount of logical talk will help. The fear is an emotional response that is rooteddeep in our subconscious. . The most effective way of dealing with this fear,lodged as it is in the subconscious is through the use of hypnosis. Othertalking therapies deal only with the conscious mind, but hypnosis gets right tothe root in the subconscious mind.
So Hypnotherapy is not voodoo, but it is a very effectiveway to make deep and lasting changes in your life. Why not check it out today?Most therapists offer a free initial consultation so that you can see if it isthe right thing for you
Prepared by John Burns of Somerset Hypnotherapy.
Telephone 01935 700333
www.somersethypnotherapy.com
Date: Jun 4 2007 9:13AM
Category: SOCIAL ARTICLES