Hypnosis - What is Hypnotism

The image of the man dangling the watch back and forth before the patient's eyes and saying "You are getting sleepy... You are getting sleepy... You are getting sleepy" is ingrained into our brains as the primary mode of hypnotizing someone. Once a person goes under, the hypnotist can get the unconscious to say or do just about anything on command. While hypnotism is accepted in the entertainment industry, the scientific community generally snubs such practices. Nevertheless, recent therapeutic trends suggest that the power of the mind cannot be discounted.

Austrian physician Franz Mesmer is sometimes called the father of modern hypnotism, and in the late 1700s, he proposed that it was a mystical force called animal magnetism that flowed from the hypnotist to the patient.

Hypnotists James Braid and Hippolyte Bernheim argued that mesmerism is something far different from hypnosis and that their work centered on the idea of passing a direct suggestion, while simultaneously encouraging deep relaxation, occasionally under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

However, modern Ericksonian hypnosis, popularized by Milton Erickson in the sixties, purports that indirect suggestions have a greater influence over the mind.

While there is much dissension over who is right, the hypnosis techniques are practiced in centers, clinics and living rooms around America to help folks mentally and physically.

In 2000, Harvard researchers sought an answer to the question:

• Does being hypnotized change the brain?

In their study, they asked a group of men to hold a brick out in front of them as long as they could, which was five minutes for most fully conscious subjects. However, under hypnotic suggestion, they held the brick out for fifteen to twenty minutes.

Next, subjects were hypnotized and placed in an MRI scanner. A computer screen showed them patterns of yellow, red, blue and green rectangles and recorded their brain activity. Then they were shown the same rectangles in shades of gray and were asked to imagine the colors. When they were not hypnotized, both activities showed brain activity on the right side only, but when they were hypnotized both the left and the right hemispheres responded. "What we have shown for the first time," lead researcher Stephen Kosslyn concluded, "is that hypnosis changes conscious experience in a way not possible when we are not under hypnosis."

So, if being hypnotized can change the way the brain works, can it change our habitual behavior? Can we use hypnotherapy training to lose weight? While not all studies have been conclusive, there are some signs that a hypnotic suggestion for weight loss really works.

In a 1985 study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, two groups underwent a nine-week weight management program and the hypnotized group continued to lose weight two years later, while the non-hypnosis group showed no future benefits.

In another study of sixty women, the thirty hypnotized women lost an average of seventeen pounds, while the control group only lost an average of half a pound (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1986). In 1996, it was discovered that adding weight loss hypnosis to a weight loss plan increased weight loss by 97% and increased post-treatment effectiveness by more than 146%!

Hypnosis center therapists use a number of different hypnotic techniques to help their patients. For example, age regression and revivification can help sufferers of mental disorders who need to connect with repressed past memories to regain something.

Folks suffering from insomnia, anxiety or anger disorders will benefit from guided imagery hypnosis sessions instead.

Hypnoanalysis, pioneered by Sigmund Freud, has patients recall moments from the past to confront them and release pent-up emotions. Folks may benefit from direct suggestion and repetition tactics or from confusion and indirect suggestion. Different techniques of hypnosis work for different folks, so it is good that therapists are familiar with more than one technique.

The Power of Hypnotic Suggestion

If you have already been hypnotized or meditate on a regular basis and are thinking of going to a hypnotist, you may want to know more about hypnotic suggestion. During this process, your hypnotherapist may supply you with more thoughts and ideas that will help to enhance the treatment that you have already received.

Here is some additional information on hypnotic suggestion, as well as how you can practice these principles on your own.

One of the main components of this principle is post hypnotic suggestion, which is the coercion of a patient into a pattern of thinking that will start to come to life after the patient has been hypnotized. This is mainly what folks think of as the silly things, such as stand on one leg or bark like a dog that a hypnotist may tell a person to do when they are being hypnotized. However, hypnotic suggestion can be very important when it comes to therapeutic hypnosis, since this is what will help patients to overcome habits or bad feelings after their treatment.

Hypnotic suggestion is particularly helpful in patients that are undergoing hypnotherapy in order to lose weight, since the hypnotist will be feeding the patient positive and healthy ideas about weight and health while that individual is hypnotized.

Studies have shown that folks that are overweight have an improper relationship with food in many cases, or have negative feelings about their bodies, or about doing the things for themselves that will help them to lose weight.

During a hypnotherapy session, the hypnotist will be able to replace these thoughts with positive associations of health and food. The hypnotic suggestion comes afterwards, because the patient is able to remember and apply these things after their session, and will most likely make different diet and exercise choices.

Hypnotic suggestion can also help folks to overcome addictions such as alcoholism. Folks turn into alcoholics for a number of different reasons, including genetics, depression, and the need for approval. The hypnotist may ask the person about the reason for alcoholism while the patient is under hypnosis, and this will help the hypnotist to replace these thoughts with positive ones. When the patient comes out of the hypnotism, he or she will be able to think about why they are drinking, and will not engage in the behavior mindlessly. It may take more than one session in order for this treatment to be effective, but many folks have reported being significantly cured from this addiction after the first session.

Clinical Hypnotherapy

Today, clinical hypnotherapy is used for acute pain in the cases of burn or trauma victims and women going through childbirth. Clinical hypnosis is also used for chronic pain conditions like cancer and fibromyalgia. Children with migraines and adults with bladder problems are also being treated by this method.

Hypnotic suggestion may help you lose weight, quit smoking, think more positively, open yourself to the possibility of fostering healthy relationships and deal with anger or fear more effectively. While little is understood about the mind's inner workings, many studies are illuminating the way.

The mechanisms behind clinical hypnotherapy and pain reduction are yet to be scientifically proven, although there are a number of viable theories. One school of thought is that the brain shifts its attention to increase its pain threshold. It is possible that the brain can train itself to disassociate from the pain and focus on other things to circumvent the feelings of discomfort. Another theory suggests that the deep state of trance and relaxation induced by clinical hypnosis actually triggers the brain to release neurotransmitters, acetylcholine and dopamine, which is similar to what happens as we fall asleep.

An additional form of clinical hypnotherapy is known as hypnoanesthesia, which is a practice that dates back to the 1800s, before modern day anesthesia was developed.

In 1990, researcher Eron Grant Manusov found that hypnoanesthesia, which is anesthesia without chemical induction, is only possible in around fifteen percent of the population. However, if the patient is suggestible, that number increases considerably.

Different studies discovered that patients who were given chemical anesthesia were able to receive hypnotic suggestions while in a state of trance. This resulted in those folks having reduced hospital stays, requiring less medication and needing less anesthesia in future procedures.

A 2005 clinical hypnotherapy study done at the University of Iowa found similar findings using magnetic resonance imaging, that there is reduced activity in areas of the pain network and increased activity in other areas of the brain.

The primary sensory cortex, the brain's pain center, showed limited functioning. On the other hand, the left anterior cingulate cortex and the basal ganglia lit up with overwhelming activity. The left anterior cingulate cortex is the area of the brain associated with heart rate, blood pressure, reward anticipation and decision making processes. The basal ganglia, which are a group of nuclei in the brain, comprise the motor control, cognition and learning center of the brain. No wonder clinical hypnotherapy can change a person's beliefs and behaviors!

The researchers concluded that these regions maybe an inhibition pathway to block pain signals from reaching higher cortical areas responsible for pain perception. The limitation of hypnosis techniques is that it is believed only ten percent of the population is highly hypnotizable, while eighty percent may be hypnotizable and the remaining ten percent cannot be hypnotized at all.

How are Hypnotherapists Trained

Hypnotherapists are able to treat clients with a variety of medical disorders ranging from asthma, bed wetting and depression through to cancer pain, eating disorders and gastrointestinal problems. You would therefore think that somebody with so much power over the human body would require a full university degree together with some form of medical training.

However, because hypnosis techniques are considered entirely safe, certification is not closely regulated in the United States. Although medical hypnotherapy training is possible and helps lend credibility to the profession, it is not essential, which is one of the reasons why so many folks want to learn how to hypnotize someone else.

Primarily, hypnotherapists are self-motivated entrepreneurs who are naturally positive folks with an eagerness to help others. Because the job itself is so flexible, a lot of therapists start off part-time, seeing folks on the weekends or evenings while building a client base. They may team up with healing centers, physical therapy offices, counselors, reiki yoga centers or acupuncture clinics to gain business. Marketing and networking are central to the success of a hypnotherapist. A number of professionals work from home in order to keep overhead costs down, while others gain employment at a hypnosis center. Once they become established, experienced specialists typically branch off to hold weekend workshops and retreats, teach classes or offer group sessions. Others will use their talents for entertainment purposes and take to the stage.

It can take twelve to eighteen months for new hypnotherapists to gain recognition in their communities. Numerous hours will be spent handing out business cards, hanging up flyers, advertising online and networking with local affiliates. Initially, it can be tough to make money solely off hypnosis sessions, so it is important that newcomers try to keep costs as low as possible and spend the rest of their hours marketing.

There are also weekend seminars and fifty hour certification courses offered that can assist a professional differentiate him or herself from the masses. In many cases, a person can gain hypnotherapy certification with just four hours of hypnosis training. The more experience aspiring hypnosis therapists have, the more confidant they will be in opening their doors to clients.

Over recent years, hypnosis techniques have been turning many heads, as the medical and psychological values are recognized. This is a great opening for folks who are interested in the inner workings of the mind, but may not have the money to attend medical school. There are several different approaches to the topic of hypnosis. Some focus on the medical effects such as pain management, while others approach it from a life coaching perspective. Hypnotherapists should generally be caring, empathetic, engaged, and confident as well as hardworking entrepreneurs in order to be successful.

How Does Hypnosis Therapy Work

The term hypnosis stems from the Greek word hypnos, meaning sleep. Hypnosis Therapy or Hypnotherapy employs several techniques that create a feeling of deep relaxation in patients, which then leads to an altered state of consciousness known as a trance. Therapists use hypnosis techniques to open a gateway into the mind, where they can actually influence folks on how to change their embedded behaviors.

While it has not been proven beyond reasonable doubt, a number of patients have reported the use of hypnosis sessions to quit smoking, lose weight, overcome obstacles in their marriage and find a sense of empowerment.

In a hypnotherapy session, the patient's body relaxes, blood pressure decreases, heart rate decreases, oxygenation of the blood increases and brain wave activity may be altered. By contrast, the mind becomes more attentive, more focused and more awake. While patients are in this deep concentration, they are more in touch with their emotional side, the left and right brain hemispheres are communicating better, mental gatekeepers open up and they are highly responsive to suggestion. A patient may be given a list of reasons to stop smoking or convinced to eat smaller portions. Perhaps a series of coping mechanisms can be directed into the subconscious realm to help a person calm down and overcome anxiety, anger disorders, stress or depression.

Hypnosis therapy is used to treat a wide host of ailments, both mental and physical. Most recently, researchers discovered that the mind plays an important role in pain management, particularly with cancer patients or those undergoing surgery.

Studies show that hypnosis meditation can lessen one's need for medication and shorten recovery time. Thinking negative thoughts can lead to stress, which has powerful ramifications on the body. It can disrupt a woman's menstrual cycle, create a cold sore, make a person ill with a cold, disrupt sleep patterns, generate ulcers, facilitate hair loss, exacerbate psoriasis, lead to heart disease and contribute to obesity.

Nowadays, hypnosis sessions are used in treating obesity, asthma, anxiety, pain, sleep walking, thumb sucking, nail biting, smoking, inflammatory bowel disease, insomnia, addiction, warts, bedwetting, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, eczema, psoriasis, acne, migraines, stress, tinnitus, cancer pain, obesity, anorexia, bulimia, indigestion, phobias, depression and the pain of childbirth.

The problem with hypnosis therapy is that not everybody is susceptible to hypnotic suggestion. The subject must be an open-minded, willing participant who pledges to remain attentive, suspend disbelief and go along with what the therapist is saying. A common misconception is that hypnotists can mesmerize somebody against his or her will, plant suggestions and cause the subject to act against his or her free will. The process itself is mysterious, although there must be a certain level of agreeableness before healing can occur.