WHAT IS HYPNOSIS?

Hypnosis (AKA Hypnotherapy) places an individual in an altered state of consciousness. It's a process that allows the subconscious part of the mind to become dominant and highly receptive to suggestions and visualizations. Hypnosis works by making positive, ACCEPTABLE suggestions directly to the subconscious mind at a time when the client truly wants those changes to take place. It's also safe because it is so natural. Going to sleep and waking up both involve hypnosis so every human being has experienced hypnosis numerous times.

Only two things are needed for successful hypnotherapy. First, a strong desire on the part of the client to make changes. Second, a good rapport with the therapist. "Hypnosis" is actually the Greek word for sleep, but does not involve sleep or loss of conscious control. A person in a hypnotic state often looks like they are asleep, but this is not the case. When under hypnosis the client is conscious and relaxed and may freely exit hypnosis at will. There is no loss of control in the hypnotic process.

Hypnotherapy is often used in medical, dental and psychological applications. For example, in medical applications, hypnotherapy is highly effective in smoking cessation, as well as in pre-birthing and post-birthing recovery. In dental applications, it's used to reduce anxiety about dental work, or to terminate teeth grinding. The psychological applications are numerous as well, such as elimination of phobias, stress reduction, etc.

All hypnosis is actually self-hypnosis. A typical client is seen several times, then self-hypnosis is taught. Hypnosis is effective at changing behavior because the subconscious is the seat of all emotions and behaviors. Every experience that we have had is stored in the subconscious mind. Hypnotherapy, which involves the client as much as the therapist, allows both participants to explore, to add, or to remove information from the subconscious by the use of repeated suggestions and visualizations. Thus, behavior is modified.

ISSUES ADDRESSED BY HYPNOSIS

Smoking Stress Management Goal Achievement (Athletic) Goal Achievement (School Grades) Goal Achievement (General) Child Birth Facilitation Intuitive Ability Development Fears and Phobias Low Self Esteem Breaking Negative Habits Performance Enhancement

Weight Loss Pain Control Bed Wetting Sexual Problems Anxiety Tapping into your Inner Creativity Relationship Improvement Memory Enhancement Mediation Facilitation Behavior Modification Sleep Enhancement

"Consider The Alternative", LADIES' HOME JOURNAL, November, 1994, Henig, Robin,P.115.

Hypnosis has been accepted by the medical mainstream for the past thirty five years as a way to induce a state of relaxation in people with stressrelated conditions. Obstetricians have also used hypnosis for drug-free pain relief during labor; some dentists use it instead of anesthesia during root canals. By now, proponents say hypnosis not only relieves stress and combats pain, but actually stimulates healing.

Reports are accumulating that hypnosis - really self-hypnosis, since the practitioner merely teaches patients how to put themselves into a trance - can relieve symptoms of sickle-cell anemia, make burn patients heal faster, help asthma patients widen their airways and smokers conquer their addiction. One scientific explanation that has been offered for how hypnosis works is that it allows the patient direct access to the limbic system, the region of the brain that controls emotion and involuntary activities like digestion, hormone control and circulation.

While in an hypnotic state, a patient is vulnerable to suggestion (and visualization) and can be encouraged to shift focus away from certain bodily sensations (pain, for instance) or to exert more control over bodily functions such as breathing and heart rate... " Hypnosis isn't for people who would like to magically get rid of their problems without actively participating," says Karen Olness, M.D., professor of pediatrics and family medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. "It won't work unless the patient participates."