| Inside this article: |
- What is Hypnosis?
- What is a trance?
- How does hypnosis work?
- What is self-hypnosis?
- What is Clinical Hypnosis helpful or
useful for?
- Can anyone be hypnotized?
- What about the level or depth of trance?
- Will I cluck like a chicken?
- Is hypnosis like being asleep?
- Is hypnosis like transcendental
meditation?
- Is trance and relaxation the same thing?
- Can someone not wake up from hypnosis or
trance?
- Are hypnosis and biofeedback the same?
- What about all these hypnosis clinics?
- Hypnosis for cigarette smoking cessation
and diet control
|
| Just what is Hypnosis? |
| Hypnosis is a word that means
one person helping another to experience a trance. This trance
experience "belongs" to the person or paitent, so really all
hypnosis is self hypnosis. |
| What is a Trance? |
| Trance is a very natural,
everyday experience for all of us. You, the reader, have been in and out
of a trance a number of times since you woke up this morning. For
example, when you stare off into space and you daydream or fantasize,
that's a trance. When you have been riding down the highway and are lost
in your own thoughts or entranced in a conversation with a passenger and
are surprised that you have forgotten part of the ride or that you
traveled so far, that's a trance. A person can be entranced reading a
good book, entranced listening to music or watching a TV show. Trance is
a conscious experience but an altered or alternate state of
consciousness. |
| How does Hypnosis work? |
| All hypnosis involves a focus
of consciousness on something (e.g., the hypnotist's voice, staring at a
spot on the wall or imagining something in one's mind like consecutive
numbers). Since the person's conscious attention is concentrated or
focused, the person "lets go" of control of the unconscious mind. The
"unconscious" includes our automatic, unconscious behaviors and
experiences, and the functioning of the involuntary nervous system. The
unconscious usually is quite significant in terms of our emotional
experience. Many emotional illnesses and symptoms are thought to be
significantly influenced by unconscious processes. |
| What is Self-Hypnosis? |
| Self-hypnosis means going
into a trance by yourself. Usually a person will use a structured
procedure or "induction" which involves a focus of consciousness. After
practicing self hypnosis, many people can just "let go" into a trance
without needing the induction procedure. Most people find self hypnosis
more effective after first being hypnotized by someone else. |
| What is Clinical Hypnosis
Helpful or Useful For? |
| Hypnosis is not
a cure-all, however, sometimes the results of hypnosis can be very
dramatic and effective. The usefulness or limitations or hypnosis are
not yet fully established. Hypnosis is a tool to be used by a
professional within that person's profession and training. For
example, a dentist might use hypnosis to help a paitent with pain but he
or she should not treat phobias. More and more physicians are using
hypnosis for stress management. |
| Hypnosis can be very
effective in the treatment of a wide variety of emotional disorders,
such as phobias and other anxiety conditions, many sexual problems, and
unhealthy habits or compulsions. Of course, more complex conditions,
such as psychotic disorders or serious depressions, would usually
require medication and psychotherapy, but hypnosis might also be helpful
as a part of the treatment plan. Hypnosis can also be helpful in
treating acute or chronic pain. |
| Can anyone be Hypnotized? |
| Anyone can be hypnotized.
Besides the skill of the hypnotist, the two variables that are most
important for being hypnotized are: (1) the person's motivation and (2)
the person feeling at least some safety or comfort within the hypnotist
setting. Some people may have a more difficult time "letting go" into
trance than others and it may take longer for these persons to learn to
experience trance. |
| What about the level or
depth of trance? |
| Different experiences can be
associated with various levels of trance. However, there is little
relationship between the depth of trance and treatment effectiveness.
For example, just as many persons with whom I have used hypnosis for
cigarette smoking cessation were successful who experienced milder
states of trance as those who experienced a deep trance. |
| Would someone say or do
something against their will because of hypnosis? (In other words, will
I cluck like a chicken?) |
| This is a myth. No one would
ever say or do something against their morals or values because they are
hypnotized. Such misconceptions stem from portrayals of hypnosis in the
mass media and by stage hypnosis. |
| Is hypnosis like being
asleep? |
| Not really. Sleep, like coma,
is unconscious experiencing. However, with trance the person is quite
conscious but conscious processes might be slowed down or suspended to
some extent. The hypnotized person is aware of the hypnotist's voice and
of other things taking place in the environment, sometimes even more
aware than she/he would be normally. |
| Is hypnosis like
transcendental meditation? |
| Transcendental meditation
(TM) is a form of hypnosis. When the practitioner of TM is alone it is a
form of self hypnosis. However, the objectives may be different. In TM,
the objective is to clear the mind; with clinical hypnosis there could
be many different kinds of objectives. For more information on TM, do a
search at Google or try the
Transcendental Meditation Portal. |
| Is trance and relaxation the
same thing? |
| No. In most clinical
applications of hypnosis, there will be at least some relaxation or a
slowing down of bodily processes. However, a person can be in trance
even when the body is not relaxed. For example, most long distance or
marathon runners will go into trance after running a number of miles.
They might imagine being somewhere else and this will help them to
"leave their body in some way" (in a manner of speaking) and not
experience as much pain or discomfort. In other words, whether they know
it or not, they are doing self-hypnosis for pain control. |
| Can someone not wake up from
hypnosis or trance? |
| First of all, when you're
hypnotized or in a trance, you are not asleep. Sometimes a hypnotized
person who is coming out of a trance may feel a little groggy for a few
moments and may continue to feel calm or "slowed down" but the
hypnotized person can choose to become alert or come out of trance
whenever desired. |
| Are hypnosis and biofeedback
the same? |
| No. Hypnosis has been
described above. Biofeedback involves providing feedback to an
individual which then allows increased control over bodily functions.
For example, providing visual readout of finger tip temperature might
eventually allow a person to learn how to increase that temperature. For
more information about biofeedback, search at
Google or try the
Association for Applied Psychophysiology
and Biofeedback. |
| What about all these
hypnosis clinics? |
| Most involve group hypnosis.
These clinics are less costly but also less effective than hypnotic
treatment done on an individual basis. Group hypnosis situations are
often led by persons not trained in human behavior which can be
important for success in many cases. |
| Hypnosis for Cigarette
Smoking Cessation and Diet Control |
| I receive many inquiries
about this. I am the senior author of the text Modern Clinical
Hypnosis for Habit Control (find it at
amazon.com) and the treatment
strategies that my associates and I have developed are widely used.
|
| For over 500 people that I
have treated, hypnosis was 70% to 75% successful in helping them to stop
smoking. About 10% of these patients had a mild "slip" or relapse after
9 to 12 months, but most were then able to stop smoking after a brief
intervention (sometimes over the telephone). Treatment for smoking
cessation for most people is one 2.5 hour session and patients are
screened ahead of time. Important screening variables are motivation,
current stress in the person's life, and the extent of alcohol use. |
| Hypnotic treatment for diet
control involves 3 to 6 or more hourly sessions. Treatment is weekly at
first and then tapers. Success for weight loss has been 60% to 70%. It
is often necessary to address emotional issues or sensitivities that are
associated with overeating or being overweight. An important strategy in
the treatment of unhealthy habitual patterns is patients regularly doing
self-hypnosis. |
