Are You Curious About Hypnosis?

Clinical hypnotherapy has been growing rapidly in popularity. Even before the pandemic, online hypnosis sites were recording up to 20 million visits a year, particularly from people seeking advice on insomnia and anxiety disorders.

The air of mystery created by certain movies and urban myths is being replaced by a growing body of research and evidence. Clinical hypnotherapy often delivers results in a relatively short period of time making it an attractive choice for people who wish to move on with their lives. It is effective for a wide range of everyday symptoms including, migraine headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety disorders, depression, and procedural pain.

In 2020, The American Journal of Medicine reported that clinical hypnotherapy was one of the safest and most effective evidence-based treatments for alleviating suffering and described the action mechanism underlying hypnosis as simpler to understand than taking paracetamol.

Can Everyone Be Hypnotized?

90% of the general population can easily experience a light hypnotic state. In fact, if you have experienced driving on autopilot or been totally absorbed in a Netflix series then you are familiar with the naturally occurring state called waking hypnosis.

Going into hypnosis feels amazing. Your mind and muscles relax simultaneously, and most people experience a sense of deep relief or mental and physical well-being afterward. Relaxation is a fundamental part of clinical hypnotherapy. When you work with a therapist, you can release emotional or psychological blockages that have been holding you back and re-focus your mind on the outcomes that are important to you.

Is Hypnosis Safe?

Clinical hypnotherapy is a collaboration between a therapist and the client. It is similar to counselling but with one essential difference. Your therapist will always include the state of hypnosis and very often teach you self-hypnosis so that you can continue the benefits yourself.

Teamwork is essential to all successful therapeutic outcomes.?The first step involves taking a detailed case history which allows the client to talk about their concerns, the problem, and the objective they wish to achieve. Just being able to describe your emotions in words helps you to organise your thoughts and feelings and see things from a clearer perspective.

Once the goal is established your therapists will ask you to close your eyes and the clinical hypnotherapy begins. Brain images show that the region known as the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex starts to slow down during hypnosis. This indicates that the person is deeply emmersed in the therapeutic process.?But irrespective of the depth of hypnosis the client remains in control and can simply open their eyes at any time and end the session.

Clinical Hypnotherapy Explained

During clinical hypnotherapy, the client experiences a sense of safe distance between themselves and the presenting problem. This creates a therapeutic space to review and reprocess events or memories without any of the accompanying distressful emotions such as shame or guilt. It also gently removes any limiting beliefs that can sometimes hold people back and affect the therapeutic outcome.

The power of clinical hypnotherapy comes from the words your therapist uses. These are designed to create impactful mental images. With the right suggestions, people can break smoking habits in just one session, change lifetime behaviours, come to terms with dying or relationship breakups and even learn to manage their chronic pain with reduced dependence on pain killers.

Studies from Europe and the USA confirm that clinical hypnosis is a neurobiological phenomenon. They provide a better understanding of how the brain works, finally taking clinical hypnosis out of the realm of mystery and establishing better insight into the link between the brain and body.

The result is a growing acceptance of this safe, transformative and often liberating therapy.

What Does Hypnosis Mean?

The term hypnosis was coined by the Scottish Surgeon, James Braid who thought it was a special form of sleep. Today we understand that clinical hypnosis is a state of focused absorption, characterised by a sense of dissociation and an openness to new ideas. There is also an abstract sense of time which allows the client to revisit old memories and imagine future outcomes in minute detail.

Despite these new insights the term “hypnosis” has captured the public imagination and is here to stay. In fact, studies show that people are much more likely to anticipate positive results from the treatment when the term clinical hypnosis is used to describe it.

Therapy Of The Future

Research and new comprehensive training standards mean that clinical hypnotherapy is no longer considered a fringe treatment. But this brings a higher standard of professional responsibility and all agencies are unanimous that adequate training is necessary for clinical hypnotherapy to take its place as the most effective treatment waiting to be prescribed.

The LSCCH – LCCH Asia group have collectively dedicated over 35 years towards safe ethical training. Students benefit from a unique balance of academic learning and clinical experience that prepares them for the real world of therapeutic practice.

Our network of practitioners now extends across the globe, with therapists in the UK, Canada, Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia. Many have showcased their work and collaborative endeavours at the International Virtual ‘Your Mind Matters ‘conference which is organised twice a year. The next event, on 11 June 2022, focuses on the impact that communication and clinical hypnosis can have on clients and healthcare outcomes. The theme is Revolutionising Healthcare and we hope to meet you there.