HYPNOTHERAPY

Some Historical Facts

Concentration typically increases dramatically during hypnosis and increased suggestibility is only one of many kinds of value that can result from access to the unconscious . There are many benefits from this. For example, many indigenous cultures have kept oral records for centuries or millennia. Successive generations of historians would enter hypnotic trances and recite detailed, prolonged ancestral records. A famous example involves Alex Haley's attempt to find possible validation for the childhood legends about his apparent African ancestor, Kunta Kinte, which was the basis of his book, Roots. His search led him to an African village historian who, a few hours into a trance recitation, was able to recall significant facts surrounding the disappearance of Haley's ancestor.

Achieving altered states of consciousness dates back thousands of years to early cultures where chanting and dancing were used as healing rituals. Healing through the hypnotic state can even be traced back as far as the Druids who referred to the altered state as "magic sleep". However, it was not until the mid 19th Century that the current methods of capturing a patients' total concentration through eye contact and verbal suggestion were established. Even then several schools of thought were developed and when Freud decided not to use hypnosis in his field of psychoanalysis it was many years before hypnosis as a tool for healing was again taken seriously. In 1955 the British Medical Association finally approved hypnosis as a valuable technique in the world of healing.

What is Hypnotherapy?

Hypnotherapy uses the power of the mind to help heal physical as well as emotional problems. It helps the client discover the underlying emotional and psychological causes to their ailments. There is extensive interaction between the client and the therapist in hypnotherapy, allowing the client to discover more about the emotional background to his or her current problems.

How does it work?

There is no doubt that our minds and bodies work together, when one is under stress, the other suffers. We have all experienced it - blushing when embarrassed, going pale with shock, having sweaty palms when nervous. These are just small instances of the way in which our minds can affect our bodies. Medical literature is now full of studies confirming that many diseases are psycho-somatic (caused in the mind) or stress-related. Some doctors have estimated that as much as 75% of modern disorders are actually induced through stress. Fortunately, the power of the mind has also been shown to be a primary factor in healing many diseases, even cancer. It is therefore important in any physical or emotional health problem not to overlook hypnotherapy on the road back to health.

Hypnosis is a naturally-occurring state. We experience it for example, when we daydream. Everyone is able to go into trance, as long as they feel they are in a situation where it is safe to do so.
In clinical hypnosis, the therapist helps the client access such an altered state of awareness for its many therapeutic benefits. Clinical hypnosis is a cooperative venture, based on mutual trust.

In trance, you hear everything that is said and can reject anything you find unacceptable, just as you would in any other conscious state. This concentrated state of attention, is ideal for accessing internal resources and solving problems.

Therefore, the unconscious mind - often the part that is creating or maintaining the problem patterns - can become more involved in the trance state during the process of looking for solutions.
Hypnotherapy can help to achieve positive and lasting results.

We have listed below only a selection of the many challenges we face, as fallible human beings. There are many others, and they can be discussed in strict confidence with the therapist: