What is hypnosis?
Our fears, anxiety, stress, phobias etc. are all built from adolescence through to adulthood, from the environment we live in, beliefs we have been taught by others and from our own experience. Through hypnosis we can reconnect with positive experiences when we were confident, open minded and believed in our own abilities to be the best possible version of ourselves.
Hypnosis is a joint process between you and the therapist in which you use your imagination – alongside hypnotic skills taught by the therapist – to bring about positive emotional and behavioural changes, aided by suggestion.
Hypnotic suggestion is a way of experiencing helpful ideas at a level deep enough to directly influence emotions and behaviour.
Psychological and emotional problems can be the result of negative thinking, and over thinking, hypnotherapy aims to encourage (“suggest”) positive ideas that lead to improvement.
Rather than a “trance”, hypnosis can be described as an increased ability to focus on a single idea or notion.
To be as effective as possible, you must be motivated, have positive expectations and allow yourself to be part of the hypnotic experience.
Thousands of positive experimental and clinical research studies on hypnosis have been published and it’s been recognised as an effective treatment by the British Medical Association (BMA) since the 1950s.
What hypnosis is not…
Hypnosis is not a state of sleep or unconsciousness.
Hypnosis is not a state of mind control. You cannot be made to do anything against your will.
Hypnosis is completely safe when used in a responsible and professional manner. You can’t get “stuck” in hypnosis.
Comedy stage hypnosis is very different to clinical hypnotherapy and should be viewed as such.
Hypnosis doesn’t increase the accuracy of your memory and can’t enable exact re-experiencing of events.
Can I be hypnotised?
Everyone can, in principle, be hypnotised if they wish to be. It’s been shown to help if you relax, think positively, and imagine the things being suggested.
Your skills as the hypnotic subject will be further developed through each of our hypnosis sessions.
What can hypnosis be used to treat?
Hypnosis can help with a wide range of different issues. Research tends to provide most support for its use in:
- Mental health
- Stress, tension & anxiety
- Treating fears or phobias
- Anxiety management
- Agoraphobia
- Pain management
- Overcoming sleep disorders
- Treating certain psychosomatic or stress-related illnesses
- Conquering habits such as nail-biting or smoking
- Personal development I areas such as performance and public speaking
- It can also be used to treat a wide range of other conditions on an individual basis.
There are also issues and ailments that cannot and should not be treated with hypnosis – I’ll advise you if that’s the case.