Defining and Demystifying Hypnosis

"Hypnosis is a natural but altered state of mind, in which the critical faculty is relaxed and selective thinking is established.

To understand therapeutic hypnosis is to comprehend the very nature of human miracles. While conventional medicine saves lives daily, by using hypnotherapy even more can be done to relieve suffering, speed recovery from injury, regain health from disease, and prevent illness."

Medical Hypnotherapy, Tim Simmerman 2007

In my own words, hypnotherapy is a perfect adjunct to conventional medicine and it is one of the most effective complementary practices to the other healing arts services available today. The methods and principles of hypnosis help clients achieve and maintain special goals, cure insomnia, reduce anxiety or stress, overcome addictions, alleviate pain, resolve emotional issues, reverse traumas, improve sports performance, facilitate natural childbirth, enhance memory or learning capacity, support surgical procedures and accelerate healing.

Scientific information, about the field of hypnosis from many reputable sources such as the National Institutes of Health and the Mayo clinic, has provided abundant evidence of the value of integrating hypnotherapy into one's approach to wholeness and optimal health. ( see side bar)

However, even with the increasing knowledge of integrative medicine and the mind-body connection, myths remain around the subject of hypnosis. Film and stage dramatizations, which are both deceptive and erroneous have done disservice to the field of hypnosis. The truth about hypnosis: Hypnosis is not a truth serum. The client is in control when hypnotized. He doesn't lose control nor is he under the control of the hypnotist. The client stays perfectly aware of his surroundings. One cannot become stuck in hypnosis. A client can't be made to do something that violates his values. Hypnosis is absolutely safe.

In the highly suggestible trance state, when one has ready access to the subconscious, negative beliefs and self-defeating thoughts, that may have originated in childhood, are most easily amended. By replacing ones counter-productive programming with a more accurate self assessment, a latent optimism is revealed, as well as the capacity to heal emotional wounds and physical pain. The hypnotherapist is an ally in the client's realization of their own goals, healing and wholeness. All the client has to do is bring a willingness to engage in the hypnotheraputic process, and a strong desire to reach their goals.

Hypnotherapy is an efficient, economically attractive process. People often need only three to six sessions to achieve their goals. Then, in order to maintain lasting results, clients are generally taught self-hypnosis techniques using individualized CDs that I have recorded for them.

....."I've recommended hypnotherapy to help ease chronic pain, lessen the side effects of chemotherapy, alleviate symptoms of autoimmune disease, and counteract anxiety and sleep disorders. Hypnotherapy can also be used to improve performance skills, as a form of analgesia or sedation for medical and dental procedures--even to stop hemorrhaging in accident victims. In general, I believe that no condition is out of bounds for trying hypnotherapy on."

Dr. Andrew Weil, M.D.

from:
Self Healing
Creating Natural Health for Your Body and Mind

Mayo Clinic -- April 2007
.....In some cases, hypnosis works as well or better than pain-relieving medications. Hypnosis has been shown to help relieve severe, acute pain associated with childbirth, burns, surgical procedures or dental pain. It can be especially helpful for people who can't take pain medications or for whom medications aren't effective. Hypnosis can also be a component of therapy for other wide-ranging medical conditions, including reducing anxiety before surgery, symptoms of skin inflammation (dermatitis), and asthma symptoms, as well as to aid in smoking cessation.

From a study for
Harvard Medical School

Regarding broken ankles . . .
Those who were hypnotized healed faster than those who were not. Six weeks after the fracture, those in the hypnosis group showed the equivalent of eight and a half weeks of healing. . . .

Regarding breast Surgery . . .
The result was clear . . . and the women who had undergone hypnosis healed significantly faster than the others. . . Prof. Ginandes (Harvard Medical School) believes that the study of healing after breast surgery "breaks the ground for studying a broad and exciting range of new adjunctive treatments. Since clinical hypnosis is a noninvasive, non drug treatment, finding that it can speed healing of wounds and other conditions could lead to fewer visits to doctors' offices and faster return to normal activities."