WHAT IS Hypnosis & HYPNOTHERAPY?

The words 'hypnosis' and 'hypnotherapy' are derived from the Greek word 'hypnos', meaning sleep. Although trance therapies have existed in many different cultures throughout history, Hypnotherapy is believed to have first been used for psychotherapeutic purposes by early psychoanalysts like Sigmund Freud.

The style of hypnotherapy used by health care professional today is usually similar to a style developed by the American psychotherapist Milton H Erickson. Eriksonian hypnotherapy focuses on positive psychology and building possibilities for wellness, rather than on direct suggestions. This type of hypnotherapy is quite different to stage hypnosis whereby the hypnotist acts as the puppet master, controlling the hypnotized subject. Hypnotherapy using direct suggestions can be beneficial to some clients and can adapted for therapeutic uses, while suggestive and possibility hypnosis is more widely accepted by a larger portion of people.

While Stage Hypnosis can be entertaining, it’s important to distinguish how different it is to therapeutic hypnotherapy, which is respectful of clients boundaries and adaptive and protective defences. At Aim we do not work to push past clients defences but rather help create safety in the therapeutic experience of hypnosis.

To better understand trance, it could be thought of as a calm and focused state. Some people compare it to a plesant sensation of daydreaming or ‘zoning out’. Some describe it as being aware but somewhat removed from their physical senses. One way of looking at it, is that in a hypnotic state our critical faculties are suspended and we become more open to different possibilities and suggestions. Therapists can make use of this state by encouraging mental flexibility and behavioural changes.

DOES RESEARCH SUPPORT HYPNOTHERAPY?

The use of hypnosis as a therapeutic tool has its share of curiosity to scepticism, but these days the merits of hypnotherapy is no longer up for debate.

Research using a range of neuroimaging methods including positron emission tomography (PET),electroencephalogram (EEG), somatosensory event-related potentials (ERPs),and Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have all shown measurable changes in specific brain regions related to motor function and pain modulation in subjects during hypnosis (Faymonville et al. 2003),(De Pascalis and Perrone 1996; Miltner and Weiss 2007(De Pascalis et al. 2001; De Pascalis et al. 2008; Williams et al. 2010)(Derbyshire et al. 2009; Vanhaudenhuyse et al. 2009).

Adding to the positive research in the neuroscience, there has also been important research that helps our understanding of effectiveness hypnotherapy in the treatment of a variety of different clinical conditions. A number of meta-analyses (grouped research studies) show strong empirical support for the use of hypnotherapy in treating pain, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety and smoking (Patterson and Jensen 2003; Hammond 2007; Tome-Pires and Miro 2012),(Schaefert et al. 2014), (Rotaru and Rusu 2016), (Alladin and Alibhai 2007), (Hammond 2010),(Lynn et al. 2010).

Thanks to clinical research, hypnotherapy has become increasingly accepted among health care practitioners including counsellors, psychologists, doctors and dentists as a safe non-invasive therapeutic intervention (Halsband & Wolf, 2015).

Our approach to Hypnosis & HYPNOTHERAPY

Hypnosis & hypnotherapy is a tool that encourages a wider scope of possibility.

Hypnotherapy allows for a deeper sense of connection to our subconscious mind. We often learn ways of being in the world that are learned subconsciously, or without conscious choice.

It can be confusing and frustrating to see ourselves engage in behaviours or thought patterns that are unhelpful, and at times even harmful to ourselves and our loved ones.

Add to that the confusion of knowing on a conscious level what needs to change, but finding it difficult or next to impossible to actually make those changes,

So much of our learning is done subconsciously, and some that learning was at one time adaptive or even helpful in certain circumstances. Sometimes we outgrow our past ways of coping, and surviving, and sometimes our coping strategies have been harmful from the start. And still other times the very thing that we believed was helpful at one stage of our lives, ends up being the thing that harms us in another.

A lot of unhelpful learning happens on a subconscious level, it’s for this reason conscious efforts can often fall short and that the issues are better helped when addressed and un-learned subconsciously. This is where Hypnotherapy is most helpful.

Hypnotherapy can provide opportunities to increase resilience and lower physical and emotional reactivity to stress. Through the practice of hypnosis, clients learn how to regulate their emotional reactivity and move towards beneficial behaviour changes.

At Aim we believe everyone can benefit from better connection with their subconscious. Hypnotherapy can be particularly useful for those suffering from anxiety related symptoms or habitual behaviours such as over-eating, nail biting, stress-related skin problems, irritable bowel syndrome, migraines, chronic pain, phobias, panic attacks, confidence issues, perfectionism and sexual problems.

If you are ready to see how Aim Hypnotherapy & Counselling can help you, or if you have any questions, please contact us for more information.

References

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Alladin A , Alibhai A. Cognitive hypnotherapy for depression: an empirical investigation. Int J Clin Exp Hypn 2007;55:147–66. doi:10.1080/00207140601177897

De Pascalis V. EEG spectral analysis during hypnotic induction, hypnotic dream and age regression. Int J Psychophysiol 1993;15:153–66.

De Pascalis V , Cacace I, Massicolle F. Perception and modulation of pain in waking and hypnosis: functional significance of phase-ordered gamma oscillations. Pain 2004;112:27–36. doi:10.1016/j.pain.2004.07.003

De Pascalis V , Magurano MR, Bellusci A, et al. . Somatosensory event-related potential and autonomic activity to varying pain reduction cognitive strategies in hypnosis. Clin Neurophysiol 2001;112:1475–85.

Demertzi A , Vanhaudenhuyse A, Noirhomme Q, et al. . Hypnosis modulates behavioural measures and subjective ratings about external and internal awareness. J Physiol Paris 2015;109:173–9. doi:10.1016/j.jphysparis.2015.11.002

Faymonville ME , Roediger L, Del Fiore G, et al. . Increased cerebral functional connectivity underlying the antinociceptive effects of hypnosis. Brain Res Cogn Brain Res 2003;17:255–62.

Halsband U , Mueller S, Hinterberger T, et al. . Plasticity changes in the brain in hypnosis and meditation. Contemp Hypn 2009;26:194–215.

Hammond DC. Hypnosis in the treatment of anxiety- and stress-related disorders. Expert Rev Neurother 2010;10:263–73. doi:10.1586/ern.09.140

Lynn SJ , Green JP, Accardi M, et al. . Hypnosis and smoking cessation: the state of the science. Am J Clin Hypn 2010;52:177–81. doi:10.1080/00029157.2010.10401717

Patterson DR , Jensen MP. Hypnosis and clinical pain. Psychol Bull 2003;129:495–521.

Rotaru TS , Rusu A. A meta-analysis for the efficacy of hypnotherapy in alleviating PTSD symptoms. Int J Clin Exp Hypn 2016;64:116–36. doi:10.1080/00207144.2015.1099406

Schaefert R , Klose P, Moser G, et al. . Efficacy, tolerability, and safety of hypnosis in adult irritable bowel syndrome: systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychosom Med 2014;76:389–98. doi:10.1097/PSY.0000000000000039

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2016/07/study-identifies-brain-areas-altered-during-hypnotic-trances.html