Hypnotherapy

Lucy holds an Advanced Diploma in Practical Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy from the Irish School of Ethical and Analytical Hypnotherapy in Cork, Ireland.

What is Hypnotherapy?

Hypnotherapy is a very effective and speedy technique of psychotherapy. It utilises the natural phenomena of hypnosis to gain access to the roots of many kinds of physical, emotional and psychological problems, which are deeply embedded in the person's subconscious. Hypnosis cuts through the client's built-in habits, strategies and inhibitions, to release those deeply buried memories for evaluation, enlightenment and assimilation. Thus hypnosis can be used to bring about rapid and permanent change. Using hypnosis, with its calming and relaxing effect, positive suggestions can be planted in the subconscious mind by a therapist to alter negative habits which have lead to difficulties for a presenting client.

What is Hypnosis?

Hypnosis is a deep state of relaxation, and an altered though absolutely natural state of consciousness. It is also a heightened state of suggestibility. Hypnosis is a very old aid to healing which has been used for thousands of years. The use of hypnosis and its benefits was documented in the ancient Egyptian, Greek and Persian cultures. Hypnosis is only possible if there is complete consent and co-operation between a hypnotherapist, who uses acquired knowledge and techniques, and a client, who uses imagination and creativity, to induce this deeply relaxed state.

During hypnosis the client becomes sufficiently relaxed - mentally and physically - for the subconscious mind to become much more accessible than is ordinarily the case. The suggestions of the therapist are absorbed by the subconscious mind without interference from the client's conscious mind. The subconscious mind is also the storehouse of a person's total experience: the memory of everything that has ever happened to a person is stored there. During hypnosis long forgotten incidents which are still affecting a person can be brought back into consciousness, allowing the presenting symptom to disappear. Thus a patient can be helped to come to terms with the effects of long past traumas, phobias, and compulsive-obsessive behaviours which may have plagued him or her for many years.

What is Hypno-analysis?

Hypno-analysis or analytical hypnotherapy is the combination of hypnosis and psychoanalysis in an exclusive form of treatment. This form of therapy uses the relaxing and calming action of hypnosis and the probing action of psycho-analysis. Hypno-analysis requires approximately eight sessions of therapy, compared to years of treatment under psychoanalysis. The success rate using hypno-analysis is very high. A client can experience the release of memories and emotions which have been buried in the subconscious mind for decades. These suppressed emotions may have held the client captive with fears and phobias, psychosomatic pains and aches, or with deep emotional, psychological and behavioural problems, manifesting especially in social, personal or sexual relationships. Hypno-analysis can bring about a surprising feeling of liberation, enlightenment, and self-insight. Thus presenting symptoms are not only treated, but the source of the problem is released so that long-term healing occurs.

What does it feel like to be hypnotised?

Unlike many myths, fears, mystery and misconceptions which surround the subject of hypnosis, the reality is that people who are hypnotised are in complete control of what they are doing. Although the word hypnosis comes from the Greek word ‘hypnos’ meaning sleep, the experience of being hypnotised is in fact a state of heightened awareness. At anytime during hypnosis the client can bring themselves out of trance, get up out of the chair and attend to anything which needs their attention, e.g. answer the telephone or the doorbell. The trance experience is quite an everyday occurrence for most of us. We often become completely absorbed when watching a film, reading a book or having a conversation. It is a pleasant, relaxed, and perfectly natural experience, where we become very focused, and highly suggestible.

The induction of hypnosis can take many and varied forms, but in a clinical setting the method generally used involves the subject relaxing comfortably in a chair or on a couch. The hypnotherapist talks in a rather monotonous but soothing tone of voice. In some cases the subject may be asked to gaze at a bright object or rotating disc, whilst the hypnotherapist speaks. Drugs are never used. Nearly everybody can be hypnotised. The ability of the person to be hypnotised lies within the individual, and has nothing to do with their lack of will power.

During hypnosis, people usually feel deeply relaxed, lethargic, disinclined to move and very peaceful. Their limbs often feel heavy, and their bodies warm and comfortable. Sometimes people feel they are floating, and they may see beautiful colours or pictures in their minds. There is no standard 'hypnotised feeling' and some people insist that hypnosis did not occur, when in fact it certainly did. There are many physical signs of hypnosis which can be observed by the therapist: regular deep breathing, rapid eye movement, eyelids fluttering, facial flush, limbs become limp and relaxed, and many others.

What problems can be treated using Hypnotherapy?

Hypnotherapy is used in the treatment of hundreds of problems including: phobias, nervous disorders, nail-biting, some skin disorders, allergies, nervous tension and anxiety, fears and compulsions, nightmares, insomnia, sexual problems, fetishes, enuresis, shyness and blushing, nervousness and decision making, public speaking and confidence, and migraine.

Hypnotherapy can also help with pain alleviation when the source of the pain has been deemed by a medical doctor to be psychosomatic. Hypnosis has been used by obstetricians as the sole analgesia for childbirth. Some behaviour difficulties such as over-eating, cigarette smoking and insomnia are also amenable to resolution through hypnotherapy. Sports performance can be greatly enhanced using hypnotherapy, as can student's performance and concentration during study and examinations.