Frequently Asked Questions:
Where has hypnosis helped people in there lives?
- Losing Weight
- Giving Up Smoking
- Quitting Destructive Bad Habits
- Overcoming Alcohol Dependency
- Overcoming Drug Dependency
- Overcoming Eating Disorders
- Overcoming Fears That Are Holding You Back
- Overcoming Obsessional Issues
- Quitting Destructive Bad Habits
- Anger Management
- Overcoming Sleeping Disorders
- Overcoming Grief
- Building Self Confidence
- Dealing With Stress And Anxiety
- Overcoming Phobias
- Having Successful Relationships
- Overcoming Abusive Childhood or Adult Situations
- Job Performance
- Overcoming Alcohol Dependency
- Overcoming Drug Dependency
Is hypnosis real?
Yes – Hypnosis is a genuine psychological therapy process. It’s often misunderstood and not widely used. However, medical research continues to clarify how and when hypnosis can be used as a therapy tool.
What exactly is hypnosis?
Hypnotherapy is a complementary therapy, and it shouldn’t be the only therapy a person uses to enhance their mental health. Hypnosis is a treatment option that may help you cope with and treat different conditions.
To do this, a certified hypnotist or hypnotherapist guides you into a deep state of relaxation (sometimes described as a trance-like state). While you’re in this state, they can make suggestions designed to help you become more open to change or therapeutic improvement.
Trance-like experiences aren’t all that uncommon. If you’ve ever zoned out while watching a movie or daydreaming, you’ve been in a similar trance-like state.
True hypnosis or hypnotherapy doesn’t involve swaying pocket watches, and it isn’t practiced on stage as part of an entertainment act.
Is hypnosis the same thing as hypnotherapy?
Yes and no. Hypnosis is a tool that can be used for therapeutic treatment. Hypnotherapy is the use of that tool. To put it another way, hypnosis is to hypnotherapy what dogs are to animal therapy.
How does hypnosis work?
During hypnosis, a trained hypnotist or hypnotherapist induces a state of intense concentration or focused attention. This is a guided process with verbal cues and repetition. The trance-like state you enter may appear similar to sleep in many ways, but you’re fully aware of what’s going on. While you’re in this trance-like state, your therapist will make guided suggestions designed to help you achieve your therapeutic goals. Because you’re in a heightened state of focus, you may be more open to proposals or advice that, in your normal mental state, you might ignore or brush off. When the session is complete, your therapist will wake you from the trance-like state, or you will exit it on your own. It’s unclear how this intense level of inner concentration and focused attention has the impact it does. Hypnotherapy may place the seeds of different thoughts in your mind during the trance-like state, and soon, those changes take root and prosper. Hypnotherapy may also clear the way for deeper processing and acceptance. In your regular mental state, if it’s “cluttered,” your mind may be unable to absorb suggestions and guidance.
Is hypnotherapy safe?
Hypnosis that’s conducted by a trained therapist or health care professional is considered a safe, complementary and alternative medical treatment. Every time you daydream you actually enter a state of Hypnosis. Hypnosis is a natural state of mind and body relaxation. However, hypnosis may not be appropriate in people with severe mental illness.
Hypnotherapy is the ability to tap into the subconscious mind where your thoughts and feelings have been active since you were conceived and then to change the negative thoughts and feelings into positive ones.
The process of hypnotherapy is to put you into a slight state of trance which feels a bit like you are going to sleep. It is relaxing and feels good and the results are excellent and successful. Within 3-4 sessions many problems can be resolved completely
Hypnotherapy is an amazing treatment whereby you access the subconscious mind, healing your emotions, releasing negative thoughts that no longer serve you and replacing them with amazing positive beliefs.
Are there any side effects or risks?
Hypnosis rarely causes any side effects or has risks. As long as the therapy is conducted by a trained hypnotist or hypnotherapist, it can be a safe alternative therapy option.
Some people may experience mild-to-moderate side effects including:
- headache
- drowsiness
- dizziness
- situational anxiety
However, hypnosis used for memory retrieval is a controversial practice. People who use hypnosis in this way are more likely to experience anxiety, distress, and other side effects. You may also be more likely to create false memories.
What can hypnosis be best used for?
Hypnosis can be used in two ways, as suggestion therapy or for patient analysis. Suggestion therapy: The hypnotic state makes the person better able to respond to suggestions. Therefore, hypnotherapy can help some people change certain behaviors, such as stopping smoking or nail biting.
Hypnosis is promoted as a treatment for many conditions or issues. Research does provide some support for using hypnosis for some, but not all, of the conditions for which it’s used.
Research Trusted Source shows strong evidence Trusted Source for the use of hypnosis to treat:
- pain
- irritable bowel syndrome
- post-traumatic stress disorder
- insomnia
Does Hypnosis Conflict with Religion?
No! Anybody who says it does, either doesn’t understand Hypnosis or their particular religion. At our centre we work only on treating and improving each individual’s selected lifestyle.
Can Children be Hypnotized?
Yes. Research shows that up to 85% of children are highly susceptible between the ages of 6 & 12 years. We recommend 12 years and up.
Will I wake up?
Our clients reach stages of relaxation during our sessions and will always be awake and refreshed afterwards.
What Is Post-hypnotic Suggestion?
This is a suggestion that the hypnotist make to you while you are under hypnosis, that will continue to be effective once you are out of the hypnotic state.
How long do the effects of hypnosis last?
Answer: That depends on a number of factors, including the willingness of the subject and the skill of the hypnotherapist. Generally, you can say that the changes last exactly as long as they last, and not one second longer. The more thorough the preparation phase, the faster, deeper and longer-lasting the change.
Does hypnosis work for anxiety?
Yes – Research has shown that hypnotherapy can help relieve stress, fear, and anxiety. It can also be used to help in coping with the symptoms of panic disorder. … For example, once the hypnotist has helped the client become relaxed, he may ask the person to focus on their panic attacks.
Is hypnosis effective?
To be the most effective the hypnotherapy sessions are 4-7 days apart. Hypnosis can be effective in helping people cope with pain, stress and anxiety. It may also be effective as part of a comprehensive program for quitting smoking or losing weight. Some therapists believe that the more likely you are to be hypnotized, the more likely it is that you’ll benefit from hypnosis.
Can hypnosis relieve pain?
Hypnosis can alleviate the sensory and/or effective components of a pain experience, which may be all that is required for acute pain. Chronic conditions, however, may require a comprehensive plan that targets various aspects besides the pain experience.
What does hypnosis feel like?
There is this sense of distance from where you are, the passage of time gets distorted and often you feel a pleasant, almost euphoric state of peace. The depth of a hypnotic trance varies, it can be very light or extremely deep. … Hypnosis does feel very nice and relaxing, almost like taking a nap.
How long does it take to be hypnotized?
Again this is really dependent on both your hypnotherapist and your circumstances. One off services such as smoking cessation or gastric band hypnotherapy can last around two hours, while a general hypnotherapy session will usually take 50 – 60 minutes.
The first session is approximately 2 hours, as there is a lot of ground to cover:
- Discussion of client problem & history
- Explanation of how Hypnosis works
- A session of light beneficial hypnosis to help you start feeling better immediately
Can everyone be hypnotized?
Not Everyone Can Be Hypnotized. The brains of people who can be easily hypnotized are different than the brains of people who can’t be hypnotized, according to new research from the Stanford University School of Medicine. … Hypnosis is a trance-like state in which a person has a heightened focus and concentration.
Does hypnosis really work for weight loss?
Yes – When you’re under hypnosis, your attention is highly focused, and you’re more responsive to suggestions, including behavior changes that can help you lose weight. A few studies have evaluated the use of weight-loss hypnosis. … Weight loss is usually best achieved with diet and exercise.
Is Hypnosis is dangerous?
Hypnosis in itself is not dangerous but can be harmful if conducted by an unskilled practitioner. For example, a car isn’t dangerous but if it is driven by a bad driver it can cause a fatality or a serious road accident.
Does hypnosis work for depression?
While it may not work for everyone, hypnotherapy is what’s known as a complementary therapy. A person can use hypnotherapy in addition to other treatments for depression to enhance an overall sense of well-being, lift mood, and boost feelings of hopefulness.
When and where is it used?
Since hypnotherapy is an adjunct form of therapy, used along with other forms of psychological or medical treatment, there are many applications. Hypnotherapy can be used to treat anxiety, phobias, substance abuse including tobacco, sexual dysfunction, undesirable spontaneous behaviors, and bad habits. It can be used to help improve sleep, learning disorders, communication, and relationship issues. Hypnotherapy can aid in pain management and help resolve medical conditions such as digestive disorders, skin issues, and gastrointestinal side effects of pregnancy and chemotherapy. It can also be used by dentists to help patients control their fears or to treat teeth grinding and other oral conditions.
What to expect from hypnotherapy?
Although there are different techniques, clinical hypnotherapy is generally performed in a calm, therapeutic environment. The therapist will guide you into a relaxed, focused state and ask you to think about experiences and situations in positive ways that can help you change the way you think and behave. Unlike some dramatic portrayals of hypnosis in movies, books, or on stage, you will not be unconscious, asleep, or in any way out of control of yourself. You will hear the therapist’s suggestions, but it is up to you to decide whether or not to act on them.
What to Look for in a Hypnotherapist?
Look for a hypnotherapist who can proof to you his or her recent hypnosis or hypnotherapy courses that they have done. More than 300 hours of approved training in hypnotherapy. In some cases, accredited practitioners of alternative health care and such traditional medicine, may also be approved for membership. Of course, in addition to looking at qualifications, you should also find a hypnotherapist with whom you feel confident and comfortable in a therapeutic relationship. Ask for references.
Will I lose control?
No – During hypnosis the client remains in control and the therapist holds no special powers. Unlike stage hypnosis, hypnotherapy is a therapeutic process that uses hypnosis for client centered positive change.
Why I can’t be hypnotized?
Virtually everyone can be hypnotized but not everyone chooses to be hypnotized. The state of hypnosis is a natural state that we all experience every day – it’s when the brain is in what is known as the alpha state and occurs on waking, when we drift off to sleep, sometimes when reading a book or even watching a movie – like day dreaming.
However, no one can ‘hypnotize’ you against your will, so if you are not willing to participate and choose not to accept any suggestion given, then you wont go into the state of hypnosis. The choice is entirely yours.
What happens in hypnosis, will I remember?
It’s important to realize that one does not go ‘under’ hypnosis (as one goes under anesthetic); one goes into hypnosis as they would go into meditation. So as opposed to loosing awareness, there is in fact a heightened state of awareness while hypnotized and while some do experience some amnesia, the majority of people generally remember everything that occurs throughout the process.
What if I don’t come out of ‘trance’?
Trance is nothing other than a natural occurring state that can feel no different from being deeply relaxed, much like that feeling of just before you fall asleep. In this state you can decide at anytime to just become more awake and alert like when you are asleep and you wake up.
Why Hypnotherapy is not seen as a miracle cure?
Hypnosis offers no miracle (if it was, perhaps it would be called “Hypno-miracle”). Each person is the expert of their own life and one has to accept personal responsibility for one’s own problems and in the context of hypnosis it means being active in one’s resolution.
What Will I Experience When I Am Hypnotized?
This depends to a large extent on whether you are visual, auditory, tactile, sensory .. etc. However, the primary experience is one of complete peace, relaxation and an easy focused attention. It’s a bit like sitting in the garden, in the dappled shade of a big tree, where you can tune in to nature, and you are somehow intensely aware of the smell of the flowers, or the feel of the breeze on your shoulders, the sounds of the birds, a little bee buzzing lazily somewhere in the distance. Or perhaps snuggled in bed, lost in a favorite book, where the world outside simply disappears for a while or sitting in a group gathered around a camp-fire or braai, and lazily gazing into the flames, where voices drop and the stories start to come out and how comfortable and natural and beautifully lazy that all feels. Exactly like that!
Will I Lose Control While I am In Hypnosis?
Nope. The fallacy of ‘being controlled’ in hypnosis is just that – a fallacy. Even in the deepest states of complete relaxation, you are completely in control of everything you say and do. No one can ‘make’ you say or do anything which would conflicts with your normal code of behavior. The truth is that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis, and you are in control at all times.
Is It Possible to ‘Get Stuck’ in Hypnosis?
No – One can get ‘stuck’ in hypnosis – and the main reason we cannot get stuck in hypnosis is that we all go in and out of various ‘mind-states’ all day long – some of which are actually a natural state of hypnosis. Every time you are completely focused on any activity, to the exclusion of the outside world – where time simply disappears – you are actually in a light state of hypnosis.
Some classic examples of very natural states of hypnosis are just before you fall asleep – that lovely drifty-floaty feeling of complete relaxation, or when you are completely focused on a movie, or listening to music, or daydreaming in the garden, with the sun on your shoulders, and tuning in to nature. Or when you are enjoying an activity so much that you forget about the outside world. Artists when they are being creative, and get into that ‘flow’ are in a state of hypnosis.
We all drift in and out of these wonderful states of mind all day long – and they are all completely natural – including those wonderful relaxing floaty drifty times of hypnotic relaxation.
So no one can get stuck in hypnosis because we all go in and out of hypnosis every day of our lives.
What Techniques Are Used?
During hypnosis, you are shown how to access a deep state of relaxation, you are taught techniques and coping skills, while deeper issues are being resolved. The hypnotist facilitates tapping into your deepest resources, shifting limitations and blocks, to help you step into your power. And there is a deep sense of inner satisfaction from taking action towards achieving your goal.
How Many Sessions Will it Take to See Lasting Change?
Hypnosis works very quickly – you can expect great and lasting changes within 3 – 6 sessions. Stop smoking with hypnosis is one single powerful session – and yes – it works!!
What Happens in The Brain During Hypnosis?
Science is making huge progress into understanding what hypnosis is and how it works. New studies have done much to understand the effects of hypnosis – click these links to learn more:
Readers Digest article:
- How does hypnotherapy work and should you try it
- Scientists find patterns in the brain
- Science discovers how hypnosis works
Who Can Benefit From Hypnotherapy?
Everyone – hypnosis literally has endless applications! Anything you think you can do – you can!
Studies have shown that your subconscious mind is 30 000 times more powerful than your conscious mind. Hypnosis is a completely natural way to connect to the powerhouse of your subconscious mind bring about the changes you want to see in your life.
Is it officially recognized?
Hypnotism is legally acknowledged and defined by the Hypnotism Act 1952, in the UK Book of Statutes.
In their 1892 Hypnotism Report, the British Medical Association (BMA) officially recognize the hypnotic trance: The Committee, having completed such investigation of hypnotism as time permitted, have to report that they have satisfied themselves of the genuineness of the hypnotic state.The Committee also acknowledged that as a therapeutic agent hypnotism is frequently effective in relieving pain, procuring sleep, and alleviating many functional ailments (BMA, 1892).
In 1955 a follow-up report was commissioned which endorsed the findings of the original 1892 Committee, and added the conclusions that hypnotism is of value and may be the treatment of choice in some cases of so-called psycho-somatic disorder and psychoneurosis. It may also be of value for revealing unrecognized motives and conflicts in such conditions. As a treatment, in the opinion of the Subcommittee it has proved its ability to remove symptoms and to alter morbid habits of thought and behaviour. In addition to the treatment of psychiatric disabilities, there is a place for hypnotism in the production of anaesthesia or analgesia for surgical and dental operations, and in suitable subjects it is an effective method of relieving pain in childbirth without altering the normal course of labour. (BMA, 1955).
In 2002, Skills for Health, an organization licensed by the UK Government to act as the Skills Sector Council for the health sector, published a set of National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Hypnotherapy, developed in collaboration with lead bodies in the hypnotherapy field.
